Chapter 465 — A Real Shark

Perform for Zhong Yongliang? Wei Zhao was not so bored as that. He set about roasting his own present over the fire rack. "Wei Zhao, can you really make fire by drilling wood?" Gu Mengyao had been standing by without a word all this while, but hearing from Shen Yushu that Wei Zhao could drill wood to make fire, she was suddenly curious.

"I can." The young miss had spoken, so naturally Wei Zhao could not refuse to answer.

"Then drill for us and let us see?" Gu Mengyao did not want Wei Zhao to get into trouble. From the look of Zhong Yongliang, he probably meant every word he said! Wei Zhao was her follower, and Gu Mengyao did not want him to be hauled off either.

"Oh, all right." Wei Zhao casually picked up two pieces of wood and made ready to drill.

"Hold on—what are you doing standing so far from me? If you've got the goods, perform right in front of my eyes!" Zhong Yongliang waved a hand to stop Wei Zhao. That Wei Zhao had actually agreed to perform took Zhong Yongliang somewhat by surprise, but the more readily Wei Zhao agreed, the more he feared Wei Zhao would pull some trick.

"Do you want me to perform right in front of your eyes?" Wei Zhao thought, Zhong Yongliang, you chase Gu Mengyao, fine, chase her—what did you have to go and rig up a solar barbecue grill for? Wei Zhao had paid him no mind, but now the fellow had turned his spearhead on Wei Zhao himself. Wei Zhao was rather puzzled. Was the boy's hide itching again? Or had he taken leave of his senses?

At any other time, Zhong Yongliang would never have dared to pick a quarrel with Wei Zhao so lightly, but today was different. This spring outing was one he had organized, and the plane was one he had chartered; in a sense, then, Zhong Yongliang was the man in charge of this outing! Thus, if Wei Zhao had brought a fire source aboard the plane, it was his responsibility to stop and discipline him—which was why Zhong Yongliang dared to act so.

Had Wei Zhao simply owned up, Zhong Yongliang would not have been so angry; at most he would have said a few words. Confiscating his fire pile would have been the extent of it. But Wei Zhao had actually gone and produced fire by drilling wood!

Zhong Yongliang had heard of drilling wood to make fire, but he had never actually seen it! Besides, if drilling wood really could make fire, then those expedition teams and survey parties would not need to guard their tinder so jealously—they could simply find two sticks and make fire whenever they pleased, could they not?

"Fine, then drill right there on my hand. Let's see if you can make fire!" Fearing Wei Zhao would cheat, Zhong Yongliang demanded to hold the other piece of wood himself. He truly did not believe Wei Zhao could conjure fire so easily.

"Heh. Suit yourself. If you get burned, don't come looking for me!" Wei Zhao had been wondering how to teach the fellow a lesson, and now, to his surprise, Zhong Yongliang had volunteered to hold the wood for him.

"Fine, I won't come looking for you! If I get burned, I'll call it my own bad luck! Everyone here can bear witness!" Zhong Yongliang sneered and said with scorn, "Only I doubt you've got the skill!"

Wei Zhao said no more. He placed one piece of wood in Zhong Yongliang's hand, then took the other and rubbed it gently against it.

"Ha! I thought you had some clever trick—rubbing like that, you could go at it a lifetime and never get a spark!" Zhong Yongliang burst out laughing at Wei Zhao's motions. "Since you're so eager to make a fool of yourself, suit yourself!"

Zhong Yongliang thought to himself that he had disgraced himself often enough today; now it was Wei Zhao's turn! He was gloating when suddenly he heard a "poof," and then a scorching heat came searing into his palm.

"Gah?!" Zhong Yongliang discovered that the wood in his hand had actually caught fire and was blazing away! In a panic he flung the wood from him, howling, "It's burning, it's burning..."

The others had all benefited from Zhong Yongliang's generosity, so they could hardly laugh at him now. But Shen Yushu cared nothing for that; seeing Zhong Yongliang's comic state, she burst out laughing, and Kang ** laughed along with her.

Zhong Yongliang felt himself utterly shamed—he wished he could dive headfirst into the sea! Just as he was about to turn and find some excuse to slip away, he saw a shark fin swimming to and fro out in the water!

At the sight, Zhong Yongliang was overjoyed. Gao Xiaofu was a true friend—he had come at just the right moment! He had actually rigged himself up as a shark again, and this time in deep water. Even if Shen Yushu were ten times the woman, she could never hurl a stone that far—not even an Olympic shot-put champion could do it.

"A shark's attacking again!" Zhong Yongliang bellowed, instantly diverting all his classmates' attention. "Everyone wait here—I'll deal with this shark and be right back!"

Zhong Yongliang had already thought up his excuse. In a little while, once he had finished off the "shark," he did not intend to drag it back to shore—nor could he, since what he had bought from the supermarket was a single frozen shark, and dragging it out again would serve no purpose.

But he could very well say that this shark was in deep water, too far out for him to drag back, and that they already had one shark and could not possibly eat it all, so there was no need to haul up another.

To avoid the awkwardness left by the earlier fire-drilling affair, Zhong Yongliang now dashed headlong into the sea and charged straight at the shark.

"You brazen shark, watch Liang-ge teach you a lesson!" Last time Shen Yushu had beaten him to it; this time Zhong Yongliang could not afford to fail, so he had to get there quickly and put this shark down before Shen Yushu could strike again!

"..." Wei Zhao stared at Zhong Yongliang's fervently charging back and nearly burst out laughing—because this shark was a real shark! He had to admire Zhong Yongliang's nerve, charging at it like that.

"Liang-ge, what are you doing?" Gao Xiaofu stared in astonishment at Zhong Yongliang, who had just run off. He was somewhat shocked! Because that shark was not the one he had planted, and so—Gao Xiaofu thought of a terrifying possibility...

But Zhong Yongliang had already run far ahead, and could not make out Gao Xiaofu's shouts at all. He was still charging enthusiastically forward, and was just about to reach the shark and take it on when he suddenly froze!

Because he saw the shark open its huge, blood-red maw at him!

"Ga?" Zhong Yongliang stopped dead at once. "Xiaofu?"

The shark did not answer. It swam toward Zhong Yongliang with its mouth wide open. This was a shark drawn over by the smell of blood: earlier Gao Xiaofu had been bleeding from the head, and afterward the boys in the class had used seawater to rinse the butchered shark meat, so the shark had slipped in through the gap Zhong Yongliang had opened in the safety cordon...

"My God!" Only now did Zhong Yongliang see clearly—this was no Gao Xiaofu, but a real shark!

Zhong Yongliang was terrified. With a shriek he swam for the shore in a panic, and this time he put every last ounce of strength he had into it, breaking into a mad sprint! It was a little humiliating, but compared with losing his life, that hardly mattered anymore!

Feng Xiaoxiao was frantic. While gathering shells in the sea, she had accidentally lost the bracelet on her wrist! It was a keepsake her mother had left her, so Feng Xiaoxiao no longer bothered with the shells and carefully searched the seabed for the bracelet...