On camera, below the ship, beside the seawater splashed like shattered snow, a sea turtle quietly followed Xu Gui and his crew, its size truly deserving the description "huge."
"Where did this turtle come from?" everyone wondered. "What does it want by following us?"
The eldest cousin said, "I don't know, it suddenly appeared when we were fishing..."
Xu Gui looked down for a few seconds, then suddenly turned to Lu Baiyi and asked, "Is there any way to get it onto the ship?"
Lu Baiyi: "It should be possible... I'll ask the crew."
Fortunately, after asking the crew, they received a positive answer, and after some effort, they successfully retrieved the sea turtle from the sea and placed it on the deck.
The sea turtle already looked quite large in the sea, but after being brought onto the ship, its size looked even more intimidating.
"Is this some kind of ancient tortoise?" the second cousin said, stroking his chin. "It must be thousands of years old." Otherwise, how could it be so large?
Third Cousin bent down, looking at the marks on the sea turtle's back, and frowned, "Why is its back all pitted and uneven?"
"Those are barnacles," said the worker who had just helped pull the turtle from the sea. "These things love to parasitize sea turtles or whales. Judging by the number of barnacles on this turtle's back, it's probably suffered quite a bit from them lately."
The worker guessed, "It followed our boat, probably seeking our help, right?"
Third Cousin asked curiously, "Are sea turtles that smart?"
The worker smiled and said, "All creatures have the instinct to seek help from the outside world... If you live at sea for a long time, you'll find that it's very common for marine creatures to ask for help."
They often encounter many sea turtles troubled by barnacles, or fish that have accidentally eaten plastic bags, and these clever creatures will seek help from humans.
"Oh, I see..." Third Cousin and his companions exclaimed in amazement, having learned something new.
"Huh?" Fu Xia suddenly looked at Xu Gui, curiously asking, "Xu Gui, you knew this, which is why you said you wanted to pull it out of the sea, right?"
Xu Gui: "Sort of."
As someone of a similar kind, she could sense the distress signal from the sea turtle, so she couldn't just leave it there. Moreover, this sea turtle might have sensed Xu Gui's presence and that's why it came over.
Once they confirmed that the sea turtle was calling for help, Xu Gui and the others began to help remove the gibbon parasites from its back. There were so many gibbon parasites on its back, densely packed, it was enough to trigger trypophobia.
And these things were quite firmly attached, so Xu Gui and the others had to use some tools to remove them.
Of course, the process of cleaning inevitably caused the sea turtle some pain, but the sea turtle itself didn't seem to care about the pain, because it looked so docile, remaining motionless as Xu Gui and the others helped clean the gibbon parasites from its back.
Xu Gui and his group were numerous, and it took them almost an hour to clean the rattan off the sea turtle. At this point, the turtle's shell looked pitted and rather shabby.
However, after cleaning, the turtle seemed to be in good spirits, appearing quite relaxed, and even shook its head.
"Shall we put it back?"
"Let's put it back."
Before putting the turtle back, Xu Gui reached out and stroked its head, and the turtle affectionately rubbed its head against his palm.
Watching this scene, everyone couldn't help but have a very subtle sense of déjà vu.
One netizen pointedly remarked: "Why do I feel like this sea turtle's actions are full of dog-like qualities?"
That action of rubbing against someone's palm—isn't that dog-like? No wonder they felt the atmosphere was awkward.
In response, another netizen couldn't help but sigh:
"I knew it! No matter what kind of creature it is, as long as it falls into Xu Gui's hands, it's full of dog-like qualities. First the ornamental fish, now the sea turtle—how can Xu Gui not be considered a dog-training expert?" After releasing the sea turtles, it was almost noon. Xu Gui and the others packed up, and it was time for lunch.
Their ship had already sailed far from human habitation; as far as the eye could see, there was only the vast blue sea, without even a small island.
If someone were adrift on such a sea, they would likely feel a sense of panic. Fortunately, Xu Gui and his group were together.
Since they were at sea, it would be a waste not to eat seafood.
After all, freshly caught seafood is the sweetest and most delicious, a flavor that can never be found on land.
The ship had fishing tools, and the crew caught quite a few, selecting the best ones to cook.
Fu Xia and her cousin also caught several fish, which they steamed.
After a lively meal, a crew member asked Lu Baiyi whether they should continue south. The crew member found this strange; the hosts hadn't mentioned a destination, only that they should keep heading south.
But they had already been sailing all morning; were they really going to continue south? The captain, unsure, sent someone to consult Lu Baiyi.
Lu Baiyi listened, glanced at Xu Gui, and told the staff to wait while he went to ask Xu Gui. Xu Gui looked at the vast sea, thought for a moment, and said, "Now, let's head a little east..." "Can I ask where we're going?" the staff member couldn't help but ask. Xu Gui casually replied, "Well, I'm not really sure either. I'll know when we get to our destination."
The staff member: ?? The staff member was somewhat confused: Was that really a serious statement?
Lu Baiyi said, "Just do as Miss Xu says, let's head east now." The staff member: "Okay." After all, the one who pays the bills is the boss.
The viewers in the live stream also heard this conversation, and everyone was genuinely confused: So, what exactly is Xu Gui and her group going to sea for? Going to sea without even a destination? They don't understand, they don't understand at all. The captain also didn't understand, but he knew one thing: if you're paid to do something, you have to obey.
So, Xu Gui's ship smoothly began heading east. About an hour later, Xu Gui seemed to sense something and suddenly stood up, walking towards the edge of the deck. Suddenly, Fu Xia and the others spotted a creature in the sea and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, isn't that the big turtle we encountered before?" They looked closely and saw a huge turtle floating on the azure sea. While turtles all look alike, this one still bore traces of the barnacles Xu Gui and his group had cleaned from its back, making it unmistakably the same turtle. But how did this turtle reappear before them? Hadn't they released it? Had this turtle been following them all along?
"...But weren't turtles supposed to be slow?" Fu Xia couldn't help but ask. "At its speed, it shouldn't be able to keep up with our ship, right?"
Her second cousin casually said, "Maybe it took a shortcut?"
Fu Xia: "..." That reason was so solid, I simply couldn't refute it.
"Wait, is there something in that turtle's mouth?" Her third cousin's eyes were sharp; he immediately noticed that the turtle seemed to be holding something in its mouth, and in the sunlight, it even seemed to be reflecting light.
Because the ship was at a certain height, everyone couldn't see it clearly, and seeing the turtle lingering by their ship's side, unwilling to leave, everyone couldn't help but guess that it might have encountered some trouble, so they had to trouble the staff to pull it out of the sea again.
As soon as it landed on the deck, the big turtle very purposefully went straight to Xu Gui's side, looking up at her.
"This big turtle, it seems like it came specifically to find Xu Gui?" Fu Xia couldn't help but say.
There were so many of them, but this big turtle rushed straight to Xu Gui as soon as it came up, as if it could recognize people; it was really amazing.
Xu Gui watched the giant tortoise's movements, her eyes flickering for a moment before she crouched down to meet its gaze.
The tortoise looked at her and suddenly spat something
out of its mouth: "Pfft!" Something rolled onto the deck with a soft thud. Following the sound, everyone looked and saw a wet, glistening stone on the deck.
No, it wasn't a stone; to be precise, it was a gemstone.
"Wow, what a huge ruby!" Fu Xia exclaimed, dumbfounded.
Indeed, it was a ruby, a vibrant, rich red, and of excellent quality. When Xu Gui picked it up and held it up to the sunlight, its perfect, clear luster became even more apparent.
Fu Xia's older cousin couldn't help but lean closer, her breath catching in her throat, and exclaimed in amazement, "What a brilliant ruby!" (
It's worth mentioning that Fu Xia's older cousin was a jewelry designer, frequently dealing with various gemstones and possessing considerable expertise in their quality.)
The ruby in Xu Gui's hand was almost the size of a baby's fist. Even more remarkable was its exceptional quality; the gem was a pure, flawless, and translucent pigeon-blood red.
Fu Xia couldn't help but ask, "Cousin, is this stone very valuable?" She didn't know much about gemstones, but she loved buying jewelry, and judging by her less-than-perfect eyesight, this gem looked incredibly valuable.
Hearing this question, her older cousin swallowed hard and said, "I think this gem isn't just valuable, it's priceless..."
Such a large and exquisite piece...
"At least tens of millions." She was being modest; the real value of such a thing depended on its marketability. If someone was in demand, selling it for a hundred million wasn't impossible.
Hearing her words, everyone gasped, and their gazes towards the ruby in Xu Gui's hand changed.
This was truly a treasure.
"Wait!" Yuan Lu suddenly spoke up, looking at everyone with a dazed expression. "Does this mean that Teacher Xu has already earned a hundred million?"
Xu Gui had already earned over 73 million, and according to his older cousin, this gem should sell for at least 20 million, right? Adding that to what Xu Gui had already earned, wouldn't that make a hundred million?
Yuan Lu's words immediately made everyone realize. After careful calculation
, they found it was indeed true.
"So, Xu Gui has already completed his one hundred million challenge?"
Such a big thing, so sudden? They weren't prepared at all!