"What are you still standing there for? You'll get a stuffy nose from the cold!" Liu Yuning reminded me.
I stood up and waved my hand, "Isn't this a bit too much?"
"It's fine. I'm ordering you as captain now, come up and sleep!" Judging by Liu Yuning's demeanor, she was probably serious. I felt embarrassed this time. I packed up my mat and sat down next to her. She suddenly said, "You can share the blanket with me, but don't get too close, or I'll..."
"Okay!" I immediately cut her off, not wanting my 'second brother' to be threatened again.
She quickly turned her back to me and fell asleep. I awkwardly hid under the blanket, maintaining some distance from her. The bed wasn't that big to begin with, and having to deliberately keep my distance made it barely better than sleeping on the floor.
But there was no other choice. I had to make do for now, otherwise, I wouldn't have any energy tomorrow when we reached the tourist area.
I don't know when it was, but I was almost startled out of my wits by a knocking sound again.
Knock, knock...
I heard a hoarse voice from outside the room, "Are you two asleep yet?"
It was the driver, Huang Po!
I initially didn't want to respond, but Liu Yuning, as if on purpose, said, "No, what's up? Huang Po!"
Her words almost made me jump. She wasn't asleep yet!
"No, I'm here to bring you some late-night snacks! Everyone else has eaten, but you two haven't!"
Damn it! I inwardly grumbled, wondering if this old lady suspected we were faking being a couple.
I quickly scrambled up, and Liu Yuning also sat up. I went to the room door and opened it, only to be extremely uneasy by the haggard face before me.
Huang Po lowered her head, her curly white hair scattered haphazardly. Her hands, covered in wrinkles and calluses, pushed a wooden cart with a metal lid covering it, presumably containing some food.
"Here are your late-night snacks. Eat them and get some rest. We should arrive at the tourist area around 9 AM tomorrow," Huang Po said in a hoarse voice, like wood being grated by a chainsaw.
"Alright, thank you for your trouble, Huang Po!" I said politely, intentionally. To my surprise, she deliberately stretched her neck to peek into our room.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Where's your wife? Writer He!"
"She's awake! Is there something you need her for?"
"No, just sleep well! Don't wander around at night. This sea area is said to be a bit eerie!"
"Really?"
I was about to say something else when Huang Po revealed a set of yellow teeth, gave a strange smile, handed the food to me, and turned to leave.
Looking at her frail figure, I muttered, "Can she even steer a ship?"
A few minutes after she left, I finally looked at the plate in my hands.
There were two plastic bags, each containing a food box.
We had eaten instant noodles earlier, but that certainly didn't fill us up.
I brought the late-night snacks back into the room. Seeing the food, Liu Yuning said, "There won't be any problems, right?"
"Probably not. I can test it with silver needles!" As soon as I finished speaking, I took out two silver needles from my clothes, opened the food boxes, and inserted them into the food. Seeing no change, I said, "It's fine to eat!"
"What era are we in? You're still testing for poison with silver needles?" Liu Yuning rolled her eyes at me.
"This is my grandpa's..."
"Enough! Stop mentioning your grandpa all the time! This fried noodles looks pretty good!" Liu Yuning picked up her chopsticks and started eating ravenously, without any regard for manners.
I joined her, eating my own portion of fried noodles. The taste was excellent, and the portion was generous.
I couldn't help but marvel inwardly at Huang Po's culinary skills.
This time, we were truly full. I checked my phone; it was already past 3 AM. She actually delivered the late-night snacks at this hour.
But it was good. At least we were finally full.
We rested for a bit and then slept on the bed again, just like before. For some reason, after about half an hour of sleep, Liu Yuning mumbled, "Come here! Come here! I want..."
Damn! My head exploded, but I dared not move. Liu Yuning continued, "Come here! I told you to come, didn't you hear me?"
"I..." I hesitated for a moment, but I couldn't resist. I slowly moved closer. Just as I was about to touch Liu Yuning's body, she suddenly said, "Finally caught you!"
I breathed a sigh of relief. So, she was dreaming about catching a criminal.
I couldn't help but let out a wry smile and slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next day, we were woken up by knocking on the door of the room outside. Liu Yuning and I immediately woke up. The moment we saw how close we were to each other, we both jumped back a few steps, startled. "How could this be?"
"I didn't do anything!" I quickly explained.
"Hmph! Did I talk in my sleep again last night?"
"Yeah, you seemed to be dreaming about catching a thief."
"Okay! It seems like something's happening outside. Let's get dressed quickly!"
I nodded and immediately started putting on my clothes. When Liu Yuning saw me wearing only my underwear, her face instantly flushed red like a ripe apple in a garden.
"Why aren't you wearing clothes while sleeping?"
"I am!" I replied casually, and within a minute, I had all my clothes on.
Liu Yuning asked me to turn my back to her. I said, "Got it! I'm not interested in your body!"
"Ah, you're lying!"
"Okay, I'm lying. Hurry up, they're knocking again!"
As I spoke, I shouted to the person outside the door, "It's okay, just a few more minutes, we'll be ready!"
"Get up quickly, everyone is waiting outside. We've already arrived at the tourist area."
Huang Po's urgent voice came from outside.
I acknowledged her. Liu Yuning finally finished dressing and took out a mirror, as if she was going to put on makeup.
Damn! I inwardly complained. Women like to put on makeup, and female police officers are the same.
I estimated she would take at least another 20 minutes. There was nothing I could do but go to the door and open it. "Have they all disembarked?"
"Yes, only the two of you haven't gotten up yet! I say, young people, take it easy, or you'll regret it later!" Huang Po said earnestly.
I felt extremely awkward. She must have been thinking about something else.
I coughed and said, "We'll be right there!"
Huang Po left first. When we finally walked out of the ship, we were greeted by a vast tourist area. Coconut trees were planted everywhere. There were hotels, amusement parks, cinemas, restaurants, souvenir shops, commercial streets, scenic spots, and more. The area was probably tens of thousands of square meters. If it weren't for our police duties, I would have loved to spend a whole week here!
Surrounded by the sea on all sides, to be precise, we had arrived at an isolated island.