The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 41.1

Chapter 41.1

The surface of the sea was struck again, and a massive splash erupted.

“Jiang Musheng!” Zheng Hangyi screamed. He felt that Jiang Musheng must have gone insane to jump in to save Yun Ran without even confirming that she had fallen in.

“Sailors! Where are the sailors!” Zheng Hangyi yelled.

The sailors on the cruise ship were hiding in the aft cabin, already completely drunk. No one would have expected that someone would fall into the water at a proper cruise party.

The governor said, “We’ve searched the whole cruise ship, and we can’t find either Cecilia or Miss Yun.”

Zheng Hangyi’s heart sank. “It’s over. Did the two ladies get into a fight over Jiang Musheng and both fall into the sea?” Although he could swim, he was only a half-decent swimmer and didn’t have the confidence to save them. Jumping in would only add to the chaos, so he didn’t act rashly. Fortunately, the governor was capable and immediately called for a few young, promising men who had an interest in Cecilia to jump in and rescue them, promising that whoever could bring Cecilia back to shore would be allowed to marry her.

A moment later, three more splashes erupted on the surface of the sea. The three young men disappeared from view.

Although Yun Ran couldn’t swim, she held on to the swimming Cecilia’s leg, and this delayed her from sinking for a long time. She just couldn’t hold her breath any longer. Cecilia was so annoyed that she kicked her leg hard for a long time before she finally shook Yun Ran off. Without something to hold her up, Yun Ran began to sink, as if gravity had lost its hold on her. Her body felt heavy, then light, yet the water pressing in on her from all directions felt as heavy as a million tons. She watched as Cecilia broke free and swam up, getting farther and farther away from her.

She really couldn’t hold her breath any longer. Not for a second. She opened her mouth, and salty seawater flooded in. Her body, which had been weightless, became heavy again, as if she had swallowed a big lead ball. She sank endlessly, but still hadn’t reached the bottom.

How deep is the sea? Are there sharks? Will I be eaten by a shark?

Yun Ran closed her eyes, and her world turned a deep, dark black. Suddenly, colors appeared. Like a flickering carousel, her short and turbulent life began to flash before her eyes.

The unsettling days she spent running through the alleys of the Kowloon Walled City. The day her father saved her from that group of boys, the first time she had a home and a safe haven. It was also the day that Jiang Musheng first entered her heart in the form of a nightmare.

So early. I put Jiang Musheng in my heart so early.

Later, when her father disappeared, she decided to entrust herself to Gu Hongfei, a senior classmate. He couldn’t protect her, and Jiang Musheng walked out of her nightmare and descended like a god, saving her. After that, Jiang Musheng went from being a nightmare to a terrifying dream. And then, Jiang Musheng went from a terrifying dream to a beautiful, unreal fantasy.

The three characters, Jiang Musheng, made up all of her dreams during her youth, and they were also the final dreams she held on to as she was about to be put to eternal rest in the sea. If only she had met Jiang Musheng a little earlier, she thought in her last moments of consciousness.

On the cruise ship, after learning that Cecilia and Yun Ran had both fallen into the water, no one was in the mood to continue having fun. The pleasant music was shut down by the governor on the grounds that it was too noisy, and the phonographs were silenced. The atmosphere on the cruise ship was heavy. Everyone stood at the railing, waiting for a miracle to happen, waiting for the few brave men who had jumped in to bring the two beautiful girls back to the surface.

The first person to surface was Cecilia, who had managed to swim up on her own. “Cecilia!” The governor saw his daughter and quickly threw out a rope he had prepared to pull her up. Cecilia got on board and lay exhausted on the deck.

Zheng Hangyi anxiously asked, “Where are Jiang Musheng and Yun Ran?”

Cecilia’s weak and tired face also showed a hint of anxiety. She sat up with a burst of energy. “Jiang Musheng went in too?”

The governor wrapped his soaking wet daughter in a white bathrobe and didn’t say a word. Cecilia forced herself to stand up. “Jiang Musheng can’t swim. Why didn’t you stop him! What do we do now?”

No one could answer that question. Everyone could only wait silently, praying that the few young men who had jumped in later would be able to bring Yun Ran and Jiang Musheng back safely. Zheng Hangyi guarded Jiang Musheng’s leather shoes, his suit draped over his wrist, waiting with a sense of urgency. He blamed himself for not being able to stop Jiang Musheng. If he had, maybe only Yun Ran would be the one not to come back. You must come back. No matter if you can save Yun Ran or not, Jiang Musheng, you must come back, Zheng Hangyi prayed.

“Look! They’re coming back!” someone yelled excitedly.

Everyone cheered. Zheng Hangyi also saw a hand, whitened from being in the water, emerge from the sea, and its owner came to the surface. It wasn’t Jiang Musheng. Two more hands surfaced, one after the other. They were still not Jiang Musheng’s. Zheng Hangyi’s anxiety made him bite his lower lip until it broke.

Someone already made a pessimistic conclusion. “It seems we won’t be able to find them. We’ll have to get people to salvage them tomorrow.”

“You’re full of it!” Cecilia, wrapped in the white bathrobe, her teeth chattering, cursed. “Since Jiang Musheng dared to go in, he can definitely come back. He’s never been an impulsive fool who acts without thinking!”

The person quickly shut their mouth. Zheng Hangyi was grateful that Cecilia could say something so hopeful at that moment, but his own heart was pessimistic. Even the most rational person could lose control in an extreme situation. Just like Jiang Musheng today. He couldn’t stop him.

Time was getting late, and the governor ordered them to return. Cecilia pleaded, “Dad, please wait a little longer for Jiang Musheng. If he really swims to the surface but can’t get back on the ship, what will happen? Please wait a little longer, Dad!”

The governor asked the others on the ship for their opinion. No one dared to suggest they return, as that would mean directly going against the governor’s daughter. It was better to do them a favor. They didn’t have to do anything except stay on the ship. Besides being a little boring, there was no harm in it.

The area around the railing, which had been crowded with people, had thinned out as hope faded. Everyone went inside to rest. Only Cecilia and Zheng Hangyi stubbornly waited outside. For the first time, Zheng Hangyi had a positive impression of Cecilia besides her being pretty. In his eyes, Cecilia truly loved Jiang Musheng. One hundred percent.

Perhaps because the wait was so long, he wanted to make some small talk. “Cecilia, did you push Miss Yun?”

Cecilia still stared intently at the sea and didn’t turn to look at him. “Why do you think I pushed her and not that she pushed me?”

“I don’t think she has that much nerve.”

Cecilia said, “You’re only half right. I did push her, but she also dragged me down with her. We’re even!”

Zheng Hangyi said, “How can you be even? Cecilia, you can swim, but Yun Ran can’t!”

“I don’t care if she can or not. I was also harmed by her and fell into the water. We’re even!”

“If you hadn’t pushed Yun Ran, Jiang Musheng wouldn’t have gone in!”

Cecilia was speechless. It was true that she was the one who had started it. The little bit of goodwill that Zheng Hangyi had for her was gone. Extreme love and extreme hate. This was the kind of cruelty only Cecilia, who had lived a life of luxury with no worries about survival, could possess. An innocent cruelty.

“Do you believe Jiang Musheng can come back alive?” Zheng Hangyi asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Cecilia countered. “If you don’t believe it, why are you standing here with me? You might as well go inside and rest with the others.”

“You’re right.” Zheng Hangyi realized that he still held a sliver of hope that Jiang Musheng would come back safely. But he also knew that this hope was slim, and when dawn broke, all hope would be dispelled by the light. Can Jiang Musheng really come back?

They waited outside for a whole night. The sky was completely bright, but they still hadn’t seen Jiang Musheng or Yun Ran. They were soaked with the salty, humid sea air, and there was no longer any reason to prevent the ship from returning. The governor ordered the ship to head back to shore. The mentality of everyone on the cruise ship had changed, and they were all preoccupied with their own careful thoughts. If Jiang Musheng was really dead, who would the Jiang family fall to? Were their business deals with him still valid? Who was the most likely new head of the Jiang family? They had to be the first to form a connection, and they had to connect with the right person.

Zheng Hangyi’s eyes were red. He was thinking about how he would tell Xueyu the bad news.

Jiang Musheng had learned to swim from her father when she was very young. As the Jiang family’s first child, swimming was one of the essential skills for survival in this cruel world. After she learned, she never revealed it to anyone outside the family, especially after she decided to live as a boy. She couldn’t participate in any water-related activities, so as not to expose her true identity. But tonight, to save Ah Ran, she jumped into the sea without hesitation.

Before this, she didn’t even know that she was capable of doing this much for Ah Ran.

When she found Ah Ran, her body was sinking. A jellyfish with a faint blue glow was swaying beside her. She swam over quickly, shooed the jellyfish away, put her arm around Ah Ran’s waist, and swam with all her might to the surface. It wasn’t easy to carry a person who had already lost consciousness, but to her, finding Ah Ran in the vast, dark sea was the greatest fortune. She used all her strength to bring Ah Ran to shore. Her old wound on her right shoulder flared up, but she grit her teeth and persevered. Finally, she brought Ah Ran to the shallow water where they could stand. It was high tide, and waves were rolling in, crashing over them. Jiang Musheng used her own body to shield Ah Ran. Between heaven and earth, it seemed there was only the sound of the waves, her, and Ah Ran. The seawater made her hair stick to Ah Ran’s face. Jiang Musheng gently helped part it and said softly, “It’s okay, Ah Ran. We’re on shore now.”

She carried Ah Ran onto the beach, found a relatively flat place for her to lie down, and began to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She placed her hands on Ah Ran’s chest and began chest compressions. On the sixth compression, Ah Ran coughed up water. She did a few more, then gently pinched Ah Ran’s cheeks to open her mouth and gave two breaths. After a few cycles of this, Ah Ran finally opened her eyes.

“Mr. Jiang.” Yun Ran wasn’t sure if she was still alive. She raised her hand to touch Jiang Musheng’s face. It was cold and unreal. Jiang Musheng didn’t move, letting her touch her.

“Ah Ran, are you feeling better?”

Yun Ran didn’t seem to hear what she said. She just kept touching her face and talking to herself. “It seems I really have fallen for Mr. Jiang. My last thoughts were of him, and the first person I saw after I died was him. I wish I could have told you I like you a little sooner.”

Ah Ran likes her? Jiang Musheng was shocked by the key point she had just heard. A storm raged inside her. She had finally heard what she had wanted to hear, but for some reason, she felt a pang of sadness.

“Mr. Jiang, I’m sorry. I didn’t know my father had kidnapped Xueyu before, and I blamed you for everything without finding out the truth first,” Yun Ran confessed groggily. She was awake, but not completely. The world she saw at the moment was gray, like a black and white movie, very much like the scenes people were said to see after they died.

Jiang Musheng touched her forehead. “You’re lucky to be alive. You don’t even have a fever.”

Yun Ran didn’t believe her. Is there still a chance for me to live?

Jiang Musheng pulled her up and asked her, “Can you walk?”

Yun Ran shook her head. Do I still have to walk after I’m dead? People always say ghosts float. So when a person dies, they should be able to float, right? Do ghosts have different classes, too? Rich ghosts and poor ghosts? Ghosts that can fly and ghosts that can only walk?

“I’ll carry you.” Jiang Musheng turned her back to her and crouched down. Yun Ran didn’t hesitate to climb onto Jiang Musheng’s back. She couldn’t do what she wanted when she was a living person. As a ghost, she no longer had to think about the consequences.

Jiang Musheng had no idea how absurd Yun Ran’s thoughts were at the moment. She planned to carry this person, who she had so fortunately found again, to the nearest place to stay. The place they had come ashore was very remote. They could only find a place to spend the night and figure out a way to get back tomorrow.

In the middle of the night, Jiang Musheng knocked on the door of a fishing family’s house. Yun Ran, lying on Jiang Musheng’s back, kept swinging her feet and even reached out to touch a fishing net that was hanging nearby. What a real texture! Yun Ran thought to herself. She reached out again to touch Jiang Musheng’s face and neck, confirming once more that Jiang Musheng truly didn’t have an Adam’s apple.

Just then, the door opened from the inside. An old woman poked her head out and looked at them strangely. Yun Ran pulled her hand back, thinking to herself, So this is what it feels like to be a ghost! It feels so real!

“You…” the old woman began, then trailed off.

Jiang Musheng quickly said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you so late. We had a bit of an accident and would like to stay for the night. We can pay you.”

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