Trafford's Trading Club

561: The Story on The Cruise Ship 561: The Story on The Cruise Ship Editor: TheSloth Heaped with barbecue doused in three-times-extra chili sauce, polar surf clams sushi with more wasabi than rice, stir-fried noodles that looked as black as charcoal—a whole row of these ‘gourmet dishes’ were laid out in perfect order before Officer Ma, all courtesy of Subeditor Ren, under the guise of filial piety.

Officer Ma felt downright uneasy, and quietly leaned over to his wife, whispering, “Honey, what did I do to piss off this auntie today?”

“No idea… How about you just eat a bit?

I brought Baoji Pills, you should be fine…”

Officer Ma swallowed hard… Is this gonna kill me?

Will it kill me?

Is it really going to kill me?

So Officer Ma shuddered, took a gulp of water, and decided his way out would be through Luo Qiu.

Putting on an awkward grin, he said, “So, Luo Qiu, you’ve been wandering around all afternoon.

What do you think of the Baiyu Cruise?

Sure, it’s a little old, but it’s not bad, right?”

“Not bad.”

Luo Qiu paused while eating a plate of sashimi that You Ye had brought back for him.

“I also ran into some interesting stuff.”

Officer Ma watched as Ren Ziling placed yet another plate of oysters in front of him—and, unbelievably, the oysters actually seemed… normal!!

He didn’t celebrate too soon, though.

Instead, he carefully sniffed at them… Yep, nothing weird in the smell, they looked super fresh!

Nice!

Safe to eat!

Officer Ma couldn’t wait—he drizzled some lemon on top, slurped one down, and looked totally satisfied.

“Mm!

These oysters are good!

I’m sticking with this!”

“Go ahead, eat more, it’s good for you.” Ren Ziling smiled gracefully and sat down, unusually elegant.

Lizi moved her lips, like she wanted to say something, but when she saw Sister Ren acting way less reserved than usual, she quickly dropped it… Whatever she’d wanted to say, she just swallowed it back down.

Sister Ren, if you keep shoving oysters at Officer Ma, can he really handle it…

“By the way, there’s actually a legend about this Baiyu Cruise,” Officer Ma said, chomping on the oysters and turning to the group.

Luo Qiu perked up.

“What kind of legend?”

Ren Ziling stretched her ears to listen, too.

Seeing he’d hooked everyone, Officer Ma cleared his throat and widened his eyes dramatically, lowering his voice like some mystery storyteller.

“Let me tell you guys—there’s a hidden treasure on this Baiyu Cruise!”

“Treasure!” Lizi’s eyes went wide and she cried out in surprise.

Officer Ma quickly motioned for silence, then nodded emphatically.

“Back when this ship was brought in from overseas, our country didn’t have the tech.

I heard someone secretly hid treasure in it during construction, no one knows who.”

“And then?” Ren Ziling immediately lost all interest.

Officer Ma shrugged.

“And then, year after year, people kept coming aboard, hoping they’d find the treasure.

But after all these years, I’ve never heard of anyone actually finding it.”

Lizi shook her head with a disappointed look.

“All these years, this ship gets serviced every year—even a cockroach couldn’t hide that long.

If there really was a treasure, would it still be here?

And when they delivered the ship, you think the shipyard would just give it away knowing there was a treasure inside?”

“Probably just a publicity stunt, right?” Ren Ziling shrugged.

“Back then, who could afford a luxury cruise, anyway?

You gotta hype it up to get people on board.”

“Hahahaha, I’m just telling the tale.”

Officer Ma dropped the whole mysterious act.

“You’re right, it probably is a gimmick.

The original production company publicly cleared it up—the ship was thoroughly checked before handover, so there’s no way this treasure thing is true.

Actually, the legend only started spreading after the Baiyu Cruise officially launched.

At first, the rumor made the cruise super popular for a while.

Not just that—even the staff was hard to hire at first, but thanks to this story, tons of people suddenly wanted in.

As time went on, everyone caught on, and people just stopped talking about it.”

Ren Ziling squinted.

“Come on, Old Ma, were you one of the eager treasure hunters?

I heard you were jobless before you became a cop!”

“Pfft!

With my brains, you think I’d fall for some story that’s obviously fake and go apply to be a repairman?” Officer Ma said with disdain.

That’s when everyone truly appreciated Officer Ma’s ‘brains.’

“But if there really was treasure, that’d be kind of cool,” Lizi said, batting her eyes.

“Just imagine—a vast ocean, treasure hunters boarding the cruise and battling it out, using every trick in the book.

Isn’t that super exciting and romantic?”

“In this day and age?

Treasure hunters?” Ren Ziling laughed.

“What do you think this is, a novel?

Or some ancient era?

Silly girl.”

“Yeah, true.” Lizi chuckled, dropped it, and dug into her food, totally satisfied.

Suddenly, Ren Ziling stood up, “Luo Qiu, I’m gonna get something to drink.

Your water’s finished, right?

Want me to grab you anything?”

“I’m good, not thirsty.” Boss Luo shook his head.

“You help yourself.”

Ren Ziling shrugged, turned around, but clenched her fist so tight she was about to go nuts.

“Old Ma!

Want another plate of oysters?!”

“Oh, sure!

I think I can handle more!”

If I can’t finish you off, I’ll write my name backwards!!!!

…

…

Baiyu Cruise, engine room at the bottom of the ship, off-limits to non-crew.

A shadowy figure snuck in, cautiously creeping along.

He scribbled something in a little notebook.

But then he heard footsteps and instantly scrambled up onto a pipe, lying flat and holding his breath.

Below, two crew members walked through the grated passage.

“Got any plans for after we get back the day after tomorrow?” one crewman asked.

“Yeah, made a date with my girlfriend.

Gonna catch ‘Singers’ at the Beautiful Lotus Gymnasium!” The other laughed.

“Yeah, that show’s pretty hot lately, right?

Which band is coming again?”

“‘Again’!

Let me tell you, my girlfriend is a hardcore fan.

I just think they’re okay.”

“Women are all about emotions, man…”

Their voices faded as they walked off, and the guy hiding on the pipe finally hopped down—it was the self-proclaimed Baiyu Cruise engineer: Qian Guoliang.

Qian Guoliang glanced around, frowning, then stared at a page in his little notebook, muttering to himself, “The numbers still don’t line up… So where is it?”

Just then, Qian Guoliang frowned again as a shadow flashed past on the side… That figure seemed to notice Qian’s stare and instantly bolted.

Qian Guoliang narrowed his eyes and chased after him in a flash.

The two dashed around the engine room for quite a while, skillfully dodging all the security cameras.

“You’re not getting away,” Qian Guoliang suddenly barked.

Up ahead was a locked steel door; there were no other exits.

The pursued figure turned around.

Judging by his thin frame, it was a man, but with a mask on—no clues to his face.

“Easy, easy,” the masked man raised his hands, voice relaxed.

“I’m not here to cause trouble, just wandering around, got lost is all.”

Qian Guoliang replied coolly, “Oh?

You don’t look like a tourist.”

“Sir,” the masked man chuckled, “you don’t look like a crew member either, so what are you doing here?”

Qian Guoliang snorted, “If there’s nothing else, let’s both just move along.”

The masked man shrugged.

“Alright, I’ll go finish my meal.

Later.”

He started walking past Qian Guoliang—then suddenly swung his arm up, neatly blocking Qian’s incoming punch.

“Knew you’d try that!”

Qian Guoliang missed the punch and instantly spun around for a kick.

The masked man reacted lightning fast, grabbing hold of Qian’s knee.

The two got tangled up in a close-quarters brawl… But it didn’t look like a couple street punks fighting—it was more like two fighters in a no-holds-barred ring!

“Who’s there?”

Suddenly, a voice yelled from nearby.