Apparently not.

In the few seconds of abrupt silence, the young master of the Ming family keenly sensed this fact.

A little too late. Ming Weiting took a step back, and before he could think of a new answer, he was unceremoniously chased upstairs by the broom.

Luo Chi was in the kitchen cooking when the door behind him was suddenly pushed open. He heard the sound, and just as he turned around, he saw Ming Weiting striding in. “What’s wrong?”

“I said the wrong thing.” Ming Weiting said, “The lady’s skills are truly impressive.”

Ming Weiting gestured to him and hid behind the door, peeking out. Luo Chi, not understanding, hid behind his new friend as well. He put down the spatula, bravely poked his head out, and acted as a lookout for the young Ming master.

Mom was still downstairs.

Mom was downstairs, and for some reason, there was a large, open suitcase. Perhaps it was to stuff the fleeing young Ming master into and throw him into the sea.

Combined with the earlier conversation about bandits, Luo Chi couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild for a moment, making himself laugh. He then gently and quietly closed the kitchen door.

Luo Chi raised his hand and touched Ming Weiting’s forehead. “Are you alright?”

Ming Weiting shook his head. “It’s fine.”

He had already reflected on his answer and asked Luo Chi for advice, “When people on land receive an invitation, do they not set off immediately?”

Before coming, Ming Weiting had made a meticulous plan. A ship at sea has no reason to linger, so once an invitation is accepted, the course is changed immediately. Every time Ming Weiting reported to his father that he was leaving, he would turn the rudder the next second, not wasting time by staying put. This time, when he returned, he took the opportunity to talk with his father. It was the first heart-to-heart conversation the father and son had had in years, and their relationship became much closer. So, before turning the rudder, the two ships communicated via signal lights for thirty seconds longer than usual. Even so, this had caused some degree of sea traffic congestion by occupying other ships’ routes, and his father’s ship had blasted its horn to shoo him away.

Luo Chi returned to the stove and, hearing this, asked curiously, “How ‘immediately’?”

Ming Weiting thought for a moment. “Ten minutes.”

Luo Chi unfolded the spare prep table and was pulling out a chair for him. When he heard this answer, he first took a moment to recall the original question.

…When people on land receive an invitation, how long does it take for them to set off?

Ming Weiting was here to invite him onto his ship.

Ming Weiting intended to give him ten minutes to grab his suitcase, rush from home all the way to the port, and jump onto his ship.

Luo Chi thought about it for a while himself. After Ming Weiting sat down, he still worriedly checked his new friend’s head. “Are you really okay?”

“Really,” Ming Weiting said, thanking him and shaking his head again. “The lady showed mercy.” Ming Weiting looked up and asked, “Is ten days enough?”

Luo Chi laughed. “That’s too long, it won’t take that long.”

While he was cooking just now, Luo Chi was already planning this. Ming Weiting’s arrival was quite sudden, and he had barely had time to prepare—although he did have some mental preparation, the fact that the ship was already at the port, ready to leave whenever he wanted, felt completely different. He wasn’t sure about his mother’s situation and hadn’t made any further arrangements. Even if he did decide to go, this trip would likely be a long one, and he hadn’t packed anything yet.

Besides… for such a long trip, he couldn’t possibly leave without a proper goodbye to his mother.

Luo Chi sorted out his thoughts for a moment and explained his situation to Ming Weiting. It was the first time he had been invited out by a friend, and he was both nervous and excited. If he hadn’t been writing in the journal for days with the pen the other had given him, he might not have been able to articulate his thoughts so comprehensively.

“It’s okay, any amount of time is fine.” Ming Weiting shook his head. “It’s just that I couldn’t wait myself and wanted to invite you out to sea.”

Luo Chi’s mouth fell open, his ears suddenly hot, and he forgot half of the next sentence he had just organized.

Ming Weiting asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

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“Do you know how to shell pine nuts?” Luo Chi mumbled, rubbing his ears. He was planning to make a final dish of corn with pine nuts. He thought for a moment, “It’s very simple, I’ll teach you—”

“I do,” Ming Weiting said. “I practiced beforehand.”

He had also learned to make wheat bread. Both of these had been mentioned in the journal. There were still some other things he was practicing. As for why the journal didn’t warn him about how to speak without getting hit by Mrs. Ren’s broom… Ming Weiting thought about it and felt it was quite in line with his own style. If he were to meet another version of himself, he wouldn’t specifically remind him to be careful with his words to avoid a beating.

…After all, they share weal and woe. He had already been beaten for this matter.

Luo Chi was a little surprised and proactively handed over the whole box of pine nuts. Ming Weiting took the pine nuts and tools, skillfully shelled them, thought for a moment, and added sincerely, “The lady’s skills are truly impressive.”

Luo Chi’s lips twitched slightly, and he couldn’t help but cough. He had only been upstairs for a few minutes and, for a moment, didn’t know whether to ask his new friend, “How did you say the wrong thing again?” or to be proud that “Mom’s skills are indeed impressive.”

Luo Chi had seen his mother get angry and chase people away before. The first time was probably more than a year ago. At that time, he had recovered from his injuries and left the hospital. Because every time Mrs. Luo saw him, it would cause a scene, he was fostered at the Ren family’s house.

At that time, Luo Chi’s name was still “Luo Zhi”—it seemed like many people knew him, and no matter when or where, someone was always staring at him. However, this was not a good thing at all, and not something to be happy about.

When Luo Zhi himself was completely unaware, he had already become a bad boy in the mouths of many people.

Luo Chi briefly told Ming Weiting about the situation at that time. He put on gloves, opened the oven, took out the freshly baked pastries, and placed them one by one on a plate. “You investigated me, so you probably heard about it, right?”

“Those are very boring people,” Ming Weiting frowned. “You don’t have to listen to them.”

Luo Chi smiled. “I know.”

He had already washed his hands, tasted a cookie himself, and nodded in satisfaction. “I found out later.”

It was actually a rather unpleasant experience. He often didn’t even know what outrageous things he had supposedly done or what rebellious words he had said in those rumors. Later, at a party held by the Ren family, a few mischievous children of the same age ran over and deliberately asked him in his face if he was there to collect debts from the Luo family, if he was intentionally trying to get revenge on the Luo family and ruin them, and disturb a perfectly good family.

…Later, these boys were all chased out by a furious Ren Shuangmei. Their parents came to plead, some to question, but they were all unceremoniously driven away by Ren Shuangmei. Ren Shuangmei also taught Luo Chi that if he ever encountered such people again, he should teach them a good lesson.

“That was the first time I knew,” Luo Chi said softly, “that even if I argued or fought with someone, as long as I was in the right, Mom would hold my hand and go fight with them.”

Luo Chi took a pine nut-filled pastry. Seeing that Ming Weiting was busy shelling pine nuts and couldn’t take it, he directly handed it to him. Ming Weiting thanked him and took a bite of the pastry from his hand.

Luo Chi asked expectantly, “Is it good?”

Ming Weiting wanted to answer but found his mouth was full, so he nodded. He wiped his hands clean, took the rest of the pastry, and carefully ate it, catching the crumbly crust with one hand.

He had eaten many kinds of pastries, most of which tasted similar and were beautifully decorated finished products. These pastries looked ordinary, but it was rare to find one fresh from the oven, with a crust so thin and crispy it melted in your mouth, and a filling that was still warm and slightly molten.

Luo Chi noticed his gaze, couldn’t help but smile, and gave him another pastry. “Have another one, we still have dinner later.”

Ming Weiting nodded, took another bite of the pastry, and looked up at Huo Miao. “Why do you know how to do so many things?”

Luo Chi gathered the shelled pine nuts into a small dish. Hearing this, he thought for a moment, smiled, and shook his head. “At first, I was just obsessing… but later, I discovered that I just like learning things.”

In the beginning, Luo Chi forced himself to learn everything because he was always scared. Among the families that Ren Shuangmei chased away, one was a very important business partner of the Ren family at the time. The cooperation between the two families later soured, and the Ren family was overwhelmed with work because of this, and the atmosphere at home was not pleasant. During that time, Luo Chi hid in a small study and buried himself in learning many things.

He always felt insecure, always felt that as long as he tried his best to be useful, to be of some help, he wouldn’t be kicked out.

“…Later, I stopped obsessing.” Luo Chi said, “Because Mom is here.” He pursed his lips. “Later, I realized that I am the luckiest person in the world.”

Ming Weiting shook his head. “I am.”

Luo Chi was slightly taken aback and asked curiously, “Why?”

“The first time I came ashore, I heard the best guitar solo and had the most enjoyable chat.” Ming Weiting said, “And now I’ve eaten the most delicious pastries.”

“My life is very boring,” Ming Weiting said. “The sea is always the sea, it seems to be always the same. The passengers on the ship look different, but it seems there’s no real difference.”

Luo Chi’s face had just flushed. Hearing him say this, he widened his eyes in surprise. “That night, everything we talked about was very interesting.”

Luo Chi was stunned for two seconds and couldn’t help but laugh.

“I wasn’t interested in those landscapes and exhibitions originally.” Ming Weiting said, “But after leaving that day, just imagining the possibility of inviting you to see them with me made me feel expectant.”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it. One night, I told myself, why not just come find you.” Ming Weiting said, “So I came.”

Luo Chi’s ears burned. He clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and quickly whispered, “I was looking forward to it too… I was waiting for you to come.”

Ming Weiting finished shelling the rest of the pine nuts, wiped his hands clean, and looked up at him seriously.

“I wasn’t interested in these things originally either.” Ming Weiting found that the message in the journal was completely correct. “But now, I find that I’ve come to like guitars, chatting, and pastries.”

Ming Weiting added, “And shelling pine nuts.”

“That’s just the beginning,” Luo Chi muttered warmly, bouncing back to stir-fry the vegetables, holding the spatula with full confidence. “Just wait, you’ll like corn with pine nuts in a moment.”

Ming Weiting actually thought so too. He got up to help Luo Chi, took the plate Luo Chi handed him, and went downstairs to give Mrs. Ren the freshly baked pastries.

At the top of the stairs, Ming Weiting heard that Mrs. Ren downstairs had already packed a suitcase for the little boy. That suitcase would go with Luo Chi on the ship, to many places, and would inevitably get bumped and scratched, so it was undergoing rigorous impact testing.

…That was the most optimistic explanation.

A less optimistic explanation was that Mrs. Ren was happy for the little boy to go out and play, but her heart was still extremely reluctant. So, she was quite angry with the guy who came knocking on the door to snatch her little boy away. For some reason, Mrs. Ren had shown mercy to this guy who deserved a beating. So, this anger was transferred in equal measure to the suitcase that needed testing, via the broom.

Ming Weiting stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the suitcase.

Mrs. Ren flexed her right wrist, took a deep breath, and exhaled longly. She looked up and smiled benevolently at young Mr. Ming. Mrs. Ren wiped off some sweat, smiled, and waved the broom at him in greeting.

…

Luo Chi was skillfully stir-frying the corn kernels when he noticed that Ming Weiting had actually come back with the pastries, and he turned around in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Ming Weiting was holding the plate of pastries, his actions preceding his thoughts, and had already quickly retreated to a safe zone.

The high seas were a complex place with many conflicts. Ming Weiting had been taken out by his father at the age of seven and had seen all sorts of weapons, from cold steel to firearms, and had even handled many of them. To him, whether it was a gun, a dagger, or some homemade weapon, they were all nothing special, just tools that amplified destructive power, and each had a corresponding countermeasure. As long as you mastered the countermeasures and used them skillfully, combined with reasonable advance defense, you could usually avoid most potential harm.

…But now it seemed that what mattered was not the tool, but the person using it.

Ming Weiting closed the kitchen door, recalled the scene he had just witnessed, and composed himself.

“About a tool like a broom,” Ming Weiting said, “I originally had no special feelings.”

He explained up to this point, then paused very seriously, leaning against the door and thinking. “But now, I find that I want to run as soon as I see a broom.”