Chapter 384: The Voyage

“So you’re just going to let her be?”

“Ziqi, she doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand how the Senate seats and property work. And I can’t be bothered to educate her—what’s the point? My father is an Elder, I’m an Elder. When my family crossed over, we were penniless. We have nothing but the basic shares every Elder gets. Even if her son becomes an Elder someday, he can only inherit my father’s portion. Mine is still mine. She can’t touch it.”

“But—”

“Ziqi, I’ll be eighteen next year. Once I’m eighteen, the General Office can arrange separate housing for me. I’ll move out and live on my own. Out of sight, out of mind. Once I’m no longer the thorn in her side, she’ll think her son will inherit everything, and she’ll stop causing trouble.”

“But isn’t that just letting her walk all over you? What did we come all this way for, if not to change our lives and live freely?” Lin Ziqi said, unconvinced.

Zhang Yunmi lowered her head. “Ziqi, I’m not like you. Your father has a maidservant, but no children with her. My father now has two more children, do you understand? Sooner or later, I won’t be part of the Zhang family anymore.”

The words struck Lin Ziqi with the force of a physical blow. In that instant, she understood everything. Dealing with Yunyu would take nothing more than a word from Yunmi’s father. The old saying crystallized in her mind: “When a man takes a new wife, his children get a new father.”

“Your father… he’s really…” She clenched her fists, stopping just short of spitting out the word “scum.” “…he’s gone too far!”

Zhang Yunmi shook her head. “I don’t see it that way. Dad has to think about my little brother and sister. It’s difficult for him. It would be easier if he were like some of the other Elders, who treat their children as byproducts of their pleasure-seeking, and their maidservants as mere flesh-pots, not caring about the children at all. But that would be too cold. He has his own life to live…”

“Yunmi, you’re too kind…” Lin Ziqi’s eyes welled with tears. She threw her arms around her friend. “Come and live with my family.”

“Don’t, don’t,” Zhang Yunmi said, gently pushing her away. “What would that look like?”

“I don’t care!”

“I live in the dorms most of the year anyway, I’m only home for a few days…” Zhang Yunmi was getting breathless from the hug. “Okay, sweetie, let go…”

Just then, Qian Duoduo turned around and shrieked, “What are you two doing, hugging like that?”

“We’re having an affair, can’t you tell?” Lin Ziqi tossed her head and declared loudly.

“I want in!” Qian Duoduo, in a fit of pique, leaped forward and burrowed into Zhang Yunmi’s arms. The Cang rocked violently from side to side, eliciting a chorus of screams from Lin Ziqi and Zhang Yunmi.

The Cang sailed slowly along the coastline. The Qiongzhou Strait was a “total security zone” under a permit system. Though traffic was heavy, safety was not a concern, as patrol boats frequently skimmed across the water. The girls chattered endlessly as they sailed. When they were hungry, they ate the sandwiches Aibeibei had made; when thirsty, they drank the ice-cold kvass that had been cooling in the sea. The sky was high and clear, the breeze gentle, the sea calm—a picturesque scene. They wished the voyage would never end…

Lin Ziqi asked Qian Duoduo, “Why is this boat called the Cang? It sounds like a Japanese name.”

“It’s a Japanese place name, to be exact,” Qian Duoduo confirmed.

“But why?”

“Dr. Zhong named it. He said it was to commemorate a novel he once wrote,” Qian Duoduo explained. “I asked him for a lot of help building this boat, and since I had no other way to repay him, I made him the ‘godmother’… I mean, ‘godfather’.”

“Dr. Zhong wrote a novel?” Lin Ziqi was surprised. The Dr. Zhong she knew was a typical “mad scientist,” a “tech geek,” who seemed completely detached from literary pursuits.

“Dr. Zhong is a man of many talents; he can do anything,” Zhong Xiaoying interjected, her eyes shining with adoration. She let out a sigh of pure, girlish infatuation and murmured to herself, “I want to have his babies so bad…”

A roar of laughter erupted from the girls, so loud it startled the seagulls into a squawking frenzy.

Lin Ziqi clutched her stomach. “You could, you know. It’s not like you’re actually… related.”

Zhong Xiaoying’s face turned beet red. After a long pause, she said, “The Doctor said that wouldn’t be right. He doesn’t want to be a ‘creepy dad’…”

This sent the boat into another fit of hysterics. Qian Duoduo was rolling on the floor of the cockpit, and Zhang Yunmi was weak with laughter. Only Sonia stared at them, completely baffled.

The laughter continued for a while before Qian Duoduo managed to pick herself up, wiping tears from her eyes. “Xiaoying,” she said, catching her breath, “you can’t just say words like that in front of people, especially ‘creepy dad.’ People will think…” She couldn’t finish, breaking into laughter again and slumping to the deck, too weak to stand.

Lin Ziqi chuckled. “Duoduo’s right, that’s not a nice thing to say.” Imagining the look on Dr. Zhong’s face when he’d said that to Zhong Xiaoying, she had to suppress another giggle.

Zhong Xiaoying nodded, looking confused. Just then, Lin Ziqi turned to Qian Duoduo. “Duoduo, you’re just a primary schooler. How do you know about ‘creepy dads’? ‘Fess up! ‘Fess up! ‘Fess up!”

Qian Duoduo tilted her head. “However you know, that’s how I know. Let’s not pretend to be all innocent!”

“Tsk, you’re not even a teenager…”

Qian Duoduo hated it when people made fun of her age and was about to retort when Zhang Yunmi spoke up. “Duoduo, what about that girl you always used to play with? I haven’t seen her around lately. I saw you two rowing together just last week.”

“You mean Xiao Quan?” Qian Duoduo said. “Her grades were too poor to make the selection group. She used to come over to my house all the time, but for some reason, she hasn’t been around much recently.”

Zhang Yunmi suggested, “Her mother works at the General Hospital, doesn’t she? Have your mom ask her directly.”

Lin Ziqi chimed in, “Dr. Ai is so busy, she’d never remember. You should go to the hospital and ask yourself.”

“That would be making too big a deal of it. Would I be going as a friend, or as an Elder gracing her with an inquiry? What if she just doesn’t want to hang out with me anymore? If I ask, her mom might go home and give her a beating without even asking why. Forget it. If she wants to go, I can’t stop her…”

She delivered this with the world-weary air of an old woman, and her mangled proverb sent the others into another fit of laughter. Lin Ziqi asked, “Why would her mom beat her? Who a kid is friends with is their own business, right?”

Qian Duoduo sighed dramatically and shook her head. “Ziqi, my dear, you are so naive! Who are you? Who are we?”

Before Lin Ziqi could answer, she answered her own question. “We are Elders! We may not have voting rights yet, but we are one-five-hundred-and-thirteenth of the real deal. How many naturalized citizens and natives in Hainan are desperate for a chance to get close to an Elder? If Li Quan’s mother finds out she’s avoiding me for her own reasons, she’ll beat her to death.”

Zhang Yunmi nodded. “Duoduo has a point.”

Qian Duoduo continued, “Didn’t our history teacher tell us? ‘The Son of Heaven’s wrath stains the ground with blood,’ and ‘The King of Chu loved a slender waist, and the palace ladies starved themselves.’ We may not be emperors, but our every word and action can affect many people. We must be careful in all things.”

Lin Ziqi was a little bored. She hated these kinds of grand, preachy pronouncements—so pretentious. She was about to change the subject when the didi-didi of a PHS phone rang out, startling her. Not a single PHS phone in the entire Senate still had a working battery. They all had to be connected to external power sources, meaning they were no longer portable.

Qian Duoduo quickly knelt, opened a hatch, and pulled out a sealed drawer. Inside was a PHS phone, mounted on a special rack and wired to a battery the size of a thick dictionary, which was fixed to the floorboards.

This was another of Dr. Zhong’s innovations, giving the Cang instant communication capabilities. The phone’s range was limited, but so was the Cang’s sailing area. It was more than enough for emergencies.

She answered the phone. “Bopu Port, this is the Cang. Captain Qian Duoduo speaking.”

“This is Dongmen Chuiyu,” the voice on the other end was clear and loud. “Is Zhang Yunmi on your boat?”

“She is. Let me get her.”

Zhang Yunmi didn’t seem surprised that Dongmen Chuiyu was looking for her. She took the phone.

“This is Zhang Yunmi…”

“Yunmi. Old Wu, Little Zhang, Little Huang, Yuan Ziguang, and I just watched the Four Seasons’ first rehearsal. It wasn’t ideal. The center position clearly lacks presence. So, we’ve decided that you should take position zero for this performance.”

“Well, I have no dance training to speak of,” she said, a note of nervousness in her voice. “And if I take the center position, won’t it hurt everyone’s morale? They’ll feel like there’s no hope for them to move up.”

“Don’t worry about it. For the first performance, we need to set a clear example for them. To be honest, the girls’ stage presence isn’t quite right yet. Besides, you won’t be performing long-term.”

“That may be true, but…” Zhang Yunmi was still hesitant.

“It’s fine, just do it,” Dongmen Chuiyu’s voice was full of confidence. “Show them how it’s done.”

“Alright,” Zhang Yunmi agreed, though she didn’t sound very confident.

Qian Duoduo asked, “Yunmi, you’re dancing in the cultural festival? Have you ever taken dance lessons?”

“No,” Zhang Yunmi shook her head. “You know my family situation. They would never have sent me to dance classes.”

“Then why are you dancing?” Qian Duoduo was a bit confused. Her professional mindset couldn’t grasp how someone could perform without training.

“It’s fine. IDOL dances are easy,” Zhang Yunmi said.