Chapter 185 Gathering

Author: September Sauce

Chapter 185 Gathering

a certain port.

Feng Ping stood on the bow of the Chongren No. 1 semi-submersible barge, looking at the many ships that continued to sail into the port from a distance, with a leisurely expression.

And standing next to him is Feng Ru, the first mate he has brought out in recent years - or rather, his own son.

Just half a month ago, he received a mysterious phone call. The man on the other end of the phone made an appointment with him to meet at the Fishery Bureau and conveyed an important task to him.

The content of the mission was very simple. It could even be said that before going to the Fisheries Bureau, he had roughly guessed what they wanted him to do.

But what surprised him was that the mission lasted 18 months.

He was confused.

It's just building an island. It's not like I haven't done this before.

Does it really take that long?

Or to put it another way, if it takes so long, how big will the island you want to build this time be?

It can't be bigger than the Yongxia Island that was built before, right?

You know, more than ten years ago, when they built an 8,000-square-meter island on Yongxia Reef, it only took them 6 months.

And this time, 18 months?

He asked the man at the interface his question, but the latter did not answer him.

He just told Feng Ping that this mission was very difficult and dangerous. If he didn't want to go, he could put it forward and let someone else take Feng Ping's place.

This proposal was rejected on the spot by Feng Ping.

Are you kidding me? Do you look like someone who is afraid of death and danger?

Since he is the captain of Heavy Duty No. 1, he must take on heavy responsibilities.

Not only him, but also his own son cannot hide behind him.

Therefore, no matter how his wife persuaded him, Feng Ping still brought his son Feng Ru with him, hoping to take this opportunity to let him exercise well and truly take over his responsibilities in the future.

Feng Ru's performance also made him quite satisfied. Not only did he not escape, but after receiving the mission, he immediately led all the sailors on the ship to inspect and repair the ship, just to make the ship in the best condition.

Meet the challenges of the next full 18 months.

At this time, he had completed all the inspections, and there was only one last night left before the official departure.

Thinking of this, Feng Ping turned around, patted Feng Ru on the shoulder and said:

"Good boy, you have worked hard these past ten days - but you are also a bit like a captain."

"How's it going? Is everything going well?"

Feng Ru nodded and replied:

"It went well. All the equipment has been put on the ship. Several hidden dangers that I told you before have been eliminated. I have also prepared additional maintenance materials. I will unload them when I get there. If there is any damage to the ship, they will be repaired directly on site.

good."

"Not bad, very thoughtful."

Feng Ping smiled happily, and then asked again:

"How are you? Are you afraid?"

"Afraid?"

Feng Ru repeated doubtfully.

"Why should we be afraid? Building islands is not a war."

Feng Ping rolled his eyes and said in a slightly resentful tone:

"Do you think that building an island is not a war? Do you think that when we built it in the past, they really let you build it under your nose?"

"What we are going to this time is Treasure Island!"

"To put it mildly, that's their territory. Their warships are patrolling everywhere, and there might be fights every day!"

"A fight is not a war."

Feng Ru muttered, but after seeing his father's dissatisfied eyes, he quickly said:

"I know, I know, I will pay attention to safety. But it's you, if you really can't do it, just don't go? It's still too late to regret it now."

"If I don't go, can I rest assured just letting you go? At least I still have some experience. You idiot, what can you do if you go?"

Feng Ping hit Feng Ru hard on the head and said in a stern tone.

"I can do anything you can do!"

Feng Ru became more stubborn at this time. In fact, he was not bragging.

Technically speaking, he is indeed fully qualified to do the job of captain. The only thing he lacks is experience.

——

However, this is also what Feng Ping is most worried about.

He frowned slightly and hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"Our mission this time is different from the jobs we usually do in front of our own homes."

"This time, it's the same as when we were on Yongxia Island."

"In the final analysis, the work itself is not difficult, the difficult thing is how to do it."

Hearing this, Feng Ru instantly became interested.

He turned to Feng Ping and asked:

"So what on earth did you do there back then? I've never heard of you talking about it, tell me this time?"

Looking at his son's expectant eyes, Feng Ping hesitated for a moment and finally spoke.

"Actually, there's nothing that can't be said about that matter. The reason why I haven't mentioned it to you before is because I thought it wasn't time for you to worry about it yet."

"However, now that we have reached this point, there is no harm in talking about it."

Feng Ping's eyes gradually became a little blurry, as if he was recalling the thrilling six months more than ten years ago.

After a full two minutes, he continued:

"At that time, the island was not called Yongxia Island, but Yongxia Reef."

"In May 1987, I received the task of building an island there, but it was not until January 1988 that our ship officially left the port."

"On the first day we arrived there, the monkey's boat chased us."

"I remember that that day, two armed ships, carrying construction materials and their sailors, rammed straight into our fleet."

"I had just arrived at that time, and I was still a fool just like you are now."

"Have I never seen anything like this before? I was immediately frightened. Seeing those monkeys holding up guns, I thought there was going to be a war. I even thought about my last words."

"But fortunately, our escort formation was also there, and within half an hour, we forced them back."

"I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the matter was over."

"But I didn't expect that in the first two months we were there, things like this happened almost every day."

"Monkeys don't care if you are a soldier. For them, if they can kill you and stop your project, it is already a big profit."

"So, we were always on tenterhooks and couldn't sleep well, for fear that they would use cannons to bomb us that night."

"What's even worse is that we were very unlucky during those two months. The weather was very bad, the wind and waves were strong, and the work was delayed in starting."

"We even thought at the time that this project was going to be ruined."

"It wasn't until the end of February that the superiors finally made a decision. We couldn't wait, and we had to work hard even if we had to fight hard."

"We use explosives to blow up rocks that cannot be dug by reef dredgers; and use small boats to transport rocks that cannot be penetrated by barges."

"Even in some shallow water areas, people have to carry the building materials up on their shoulders."

"They were all dumbfounded. They never imagined that we could continue to do this despite being harassed like this."

"So, they are also crazy. As our progress speeds up, they have more and more warships."

"The situation is very critical, no joke."

Speaking of this, Feng Ping paused, and Feng Ru's expression became heavy.

From his father's words, he could completely tell how difficult and dangerous the environment was at that time.

It's really hard for them to build that island in such an environment.

No wonder my mother didn't want me to go this time. It seemed like this was indeed a fatal job.

"So what happened next? Why was it built again?"
To be continued...