Chapter 383: Setting Sail

“All together now!” Qian Duoduo shouted. “Ready… heave!”

With a slight lurch from the crowbars, the small boat slid smoothly down the slipway and into the sea, kicking up a tremendous spray.

The boat bobbed violently in the waves for a few moments. For a split second, Lin Ziqi thought it would capsize, but it quickly stabilized. Qian Duoduo wasted no time wading into the water to grab the bowline and pull it back.

The girls all pitched in, hastily rigging the mast and sail. The Cang was fitted with a Bermuda rig, common for small vessels, which was light, agile, and made for easy sailing whether running with the wind or against it.

“Hoist the colors!”

Zhong Xiaoying attached a Morning Star flag to the ensign staff at the stern. She took a step back, stood tall, and, unprompted, began to sing in a low voice:

When the Senate, by Heaven’s decree, First rose from the azure sea, This was the charter, the charter of the land…

The other young Elders were taken aback for a moment. It was the Senate’s anthem, “Rule, Senate,” a complete knock-off of “Rule, Britannia.” Although it was performed at every major state occasion, many of the Elders didn’t take it seriously, privately dismissing it as just another product of the Senate’s widespread, quirky sense of humor. The young Elders, having grown up around this sentiment, were largely indifferent to the song.

But now, standing at the bow, Zhong Xiaoying sang the rather awkward “national anthem” with such solemnity that the giggling and playful atmosphere immediately subsided.

A sea breeze swept past, unfurling the Morning Star flag, and the other girls couldn’t help but join in:

The nations, not so blessed as thee, To lesser kings and lords must fall, While thou shalt flourish, great and free,

Their voices grew stronger, rising to a crescendo for the final chorus:

Rule, Senate! Rule the waves, the land, the sky! Our people never, never, never shall be slaves!

After the song, Qian Duoduo waved her hand. “Hoist the permission pennant!”

At her command, a triangular pennant ascended to the masthead. Zhong Xiaoying was gathering the mooring lines, about to cast off, when Qian Xuanhuang, the Qian family’s maidservant, emerged from the Feiyun and came running toward them.

“Duoduo, wait!”

She was a petite figure, and the large wicker picnic basket in her hand made her stumble as she ran. Qian Duoduo had no choice but to tell the others to hold the boat.

Qian Xuanhuang finally made it to the jetty, breathless. She handed the basket to Qian Duoduo. “This is from your mother. She said you always forget to eat when you go sailing, so she insists you eat on the boat. Also, you must be back before dark, or she’ll spank you for sure when she gets back tomorrow morning…”

“Alright, I know,” Qian Duoduo said, accepting the basket with a sigh of resignation.

“And your father said you absolutely must take this pistol!” Qian Xuanhuang slipped a holster from her shoulder and handed it to Qian Duoduo.

“It’s so ugly…” Duoduo grumbled.

This wasn’t one of the cool American models her brothers had brought back. It was a genuine Hainan-made article: a canvas strap attached to a papier-mâché holster, which held the standard-issue firearm for female Elders—a .357 S&W snub-nosed revolver.

“Your father said—”

“Okay, okay, I get it. If I don’t take it, they’ll both be on my case,” Qian Duoduo said, taking the holster. “Anything else?”

“No… nothing…” Qian Xuanhuang was still catching her breath. “Oh, and your sailor’s cap.”

“I almost forgot this!” Qian Duoduo’s face, which had fallen at the sight of the spectacularly ugly holster, brightened immediately. She eagerly took the hat and perched it on her head.

“Perched” was the right word. She had bought the hat six years ago, and at the time, it had been a little too big. Now, it wouldn’t fit over her head at all. Unwilling to part with such a “stylish” cap, Duoduo had begged her mother to lengthen the chinstrap so she could still wear it, fastened under her chin.

“Weigh anchor! Set sail!” Qian Duoduo stood legs astride at the bow, shouting with imperious flair. Zhong Xiaoying cast off the lines, and Sonia deftly trimmed the sail. The boat caught the wind and glided gracefully away from the jetty.

“Fair winds!” Qian Xuanhuang called, waving from the jetty. Qian Duoduo waved back. Zhong Xiaoying asked, “Where are we headed?”

“This is a shakedown cruise, so let’s just sail along the Cape Hainan coastline. Just stay out of the port area.” Qian Duoduo retrieved a chart board and pencil from a storage compartment and called out loudly:

“Starboard, report the bearing of the battery flagpole!”

“Starboard reports! Bearing to the flagpole is one-seven-zero degrees!” shouted Zhong Xiaoying, who was acting as lookout with a pair of binoculars.

“Wind direction?”

“Southeast, force three to four!” Sonia reported from the sail.

Qian Duoduo marked their position on the chart, plotting a course based on the wind and currents. It was overkill, really; for a simple sail along a familiar coastline, a captain’s experience would have been enough. But she had made it a habit, following her father’s advice to constantly practice her navigational skills.

While the other three were busy sailing the boat, Lin Ziqi, who knew nothing of these things, finally had a chance to ask her best friend about her family affairs. She hesitated several times, wondering if it was appropriate to bring up such a personal matter so abruptly. Zhang Yunmi, for her part, seemed completely carefree. Her swimsuit was still damp beneath the shirt she’d thrown on, and with the sea breeze fluttering the white fabric, she had the fresh, artistic air of a poetess.

After much hesitation, she finally decided to speak. No matter what, she was Zhang Yunmi’s best friend—the closest person to her in this world, besides her father.

“Yunmi,” she began cautiously, “is everything okay at home?”

“Hm? Yes, everything’s fine,” she answered nonchalantly, her gaze fixed on the scattered sails dotting the sea.

“But… I heard from my dad that…”

“That what?”

“That things at your house have been a little… unpleasant lately.”

“Oh, you mean Yunyu.” Zhang Yunmi didn’t take her eyes off the sea. “She has been acting up a bit, it’s true.”

“A bit?!” Ziqi was shocked by her friend’s breezy reply. “What she’s been doing… you call that ‘acting up’? It’s practically a rebellion!”

Zhang Yunmi was startled by Ziqi’s reaction, but she answered calmly, “She’s a person, not a plastic doll. Of course she has her own thoughts and feelings. And when you have feelings, you need to let them out. Besides, didn’t you used to say that life-secretaries are people too, and shouldn’t be treated like mindless, obedient slaves?”

Lin Ziqi was at a loss for words. When she’d said that, she hadn’t imagined a servant like Yunyu could exist. It had been nothing more than a fit of naive, bleeding-heart sentimentality. After all, every life-secretary she had ever seen or heard of was eternally grateful, dedicated to repaying the kindness of the Elders—someone like Meng Lan. Even if Meng Lan had her faults, her intentions were good; there was no malice in her, only a bit of clumsiness at worst.

“But—” Lin Ziqi argued, “It’s one thing for her to have her own desires and opinions. But she’s supposed to be serving your family! Is slacking off and pulling long faces what you call service? My dad said she even hit your little sister… What’s that about? Your sister might not have a seat in the Senate, but she’s still a second-generation Elder. Since when does the ‘other woman’ get to lay a hand on her?”

Zhang Yunmi turned to face her. “Ziqi, I never realized you were such a feudalist…”

“What?!” Lin Ziqi didn’t understand.

“Aren’t you just saying she’s just a concubine, with no right to discipline the ‘young master’?” Zhang Yunmi gave a slight smile. “She’s hitting her own child. The child’s father isn’t worried, so what does it have to do with me?” As she spoke, her chest rose and fell in a few quick breaths.

Lin Ziqi could tell her friend’s calm exterior was a facade. She pressed on, “I don’t care about feudal ideas. Let’s talk facts. She owes everything to the Senate, and this is how she repays an Elder? It’s ungrateful, and it’s wrong!” She continued, “Your father is in his forties, isn’t he? Now he has two young children. Can they get a proper upbringing from a mother like that? What’s going to become of them?”

Zhang Yunmi’s expression was complicated. She sighed. “Ziqi, I just feel like my father has had it rough. He wasn’t doing well back in our time, that’s why he signed up for this. And now, in this new world… it’s more of the same. He’s just…” She sighed again and fell silent for a long moment before continuing, “…he’s a useless man. If I wanted to deal with Yunyu, I could do it myself. I’m an Elder. I could slap her, and she’d have to kneel. Or I could go the official route, report her to Director Xiao at the General Office, and they’d have her sent to the labor camps…”

“Exactly! Even if you don’t want to do it yourself, what’s the General Office for?” Lin Ziqi said eagerly. “This is exactly their job!”

Zhang Yunmi shook her head. “Ziqi, you’re oversimplifying things. Of course I can go to the General Office. But the problem is, if I do, Yunyu will definitely be taken away.”

“So what if she’s taken away? Just get a few new life-secretaries. Didn’t some Elder mention last time that the maid training program has too many graduates and they’re having to transfer them to the College of Arts and Sciences?”

Zhang Yunmi shook her head. “A child’s own parents are still the best for them. It would be easy for me to punish her, but what about the children? What about our family? My father… he’s been unlucky his whole life, never had a moment of peace. Now, he finally has a decent life and some status. I just want him to have some quiet, happy days…”

“And you think this is giving him happy days? Isn’t that Yunyu woman making trouble for him every single day?”

“Heh. I know what she’s thinking. It’s all for my benefit. I’m the thorn in her side,” Zhang Yunmi said lightly. “Her little schemes… you think I don’t see through them? I’ve seen enough soap operas to understand.”