Put on a show for Zhong Yongliang? Wei Zhao was not nearly so bored. He set the clams on the grill and went right on roasting them himself. "Wei Zhao, can you really make fire by drilling wood?" Gu Mengyao had stood at the side saying nothing all this while, but when she heard from Shen Yushu that Wei Zhao could drill wood for fire, she was instantly curious.

"I can." The young lady had spoken; Wei Zhao could hardly refuse to answer.

"Then why not drill one and show us?" Gu Mengyao did not want Wei Zhao to land in trouble. From the look on Zhong Yongliang's face, he might well mean what he said. Wei Zhao was her attendant, and she did not want him hauled away.

"Oh. All right." Wei Zhao picked up two pieces of wood at random and made ready to drill.

"Hold on. Why are you standing so far off? If you have the nerve, do it right in front of my eyes!" Zhong Yongliang waved a hand to cut Wei Zhao off. That Wei Zhao had actually agreed to perform was a surprise to Zhong Yongliang, but the more readily Wei Zhao consented, the more he feared the man was up to some trick.

"Do I need to do it right in front of you?" Wei Zhao thought: if Zhong Yongliang wanted to court Gu Mengyao, then court her, fine. What did he have to go build a solar barbecue grill for? Wei Zhao had paid him no mind, yet the boy had aimed his spearhead straight at Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao was rather puzzled. Was the fellow itching for a beating again? Or had he taken leave of his senses?

On any ordinary day, Zhong Yongliang would never dare provoke Wei Zhao so lightly, but today was different. This spring outing was of his making; the plane was chartered by him. So in a sense, Zhong Yongliang was the man in charge of this spring outing. That being so, if Wei Zhao carried a fire source aboard the plane, it was his duty to stop him and discipline him, and that was what gave Zhong Yongliang his nerve.

Had Wei Zhao simply owned up, Zhong Yongliang would not have been so angry. A few words of reproof at most; confiscating his fire pit would have been the worst of it. But Wei Zhao had actually produced this drilling-wood-for-fire business!

Zhong Yongliang had heard of drilling wood for fire, but he had never once actually seen it. And if drilling wood really could make fire, then expedition teams and survey parties would not have to guard their carry-on fire sources so jealously. They could simply find two sticks and make fire whenever they liked.

"Fine, then drill it in my hand. Let us see whether you can make fire!" To keep Wei Zhao from playing tricks, Zhong Yongliang demanded to hold the other stick himself. He truly did not believe Wei Zhao could call up fire just like that.

"Heh. Suit yourself. If you get burned, don't come looking for me!" Wei Zhao had been wondering how to teach this fellow a lesson, and here Zhong Yongliang was volunteering to have the drilling done in his own hand.

"Fine, I won't come looking for you! If I get burned, I'll count it my own bad luck. Everyone here is witness!" Zhong Yongliang gave a cold laugh, his tone dismissive. "Only, I'm afraid you haven't got the skill."

Wei Zhao wasted no more words. He laid one stick in Zhong Yongliang's hand, then took the other and began rubbing it lightly against it.

"Ha! I thought you had some clever trick up your sleeve. Rub like that and you could go at it a lifetime without striking a spark!" Zhong Yongliang burst out laughing at Wei Zhao's motions. "Since you're so eager to make a fool of yourself, be my guest!"

Zhong Yongliang thought to himself that he had embarrassed himself plenty today, and now it was Wei Zhao's turn. He was gloating, still grinning, when suddenly there came a "poof," and on its heels a scorching heat seared up from the center of his palm.

"Ga?!" Zhong Yongliang discovered that the stick in his hand had actually caught fire and was flaring with flame! Frightened out of his wits, he flung the stick away at once and began to howl. "It's burning me, it's burning me..."

Everyone present had enjoyed Zhong Yongliang's hospitality, so none of them could very well laugh at him now. But Shen Yushu did not care. Seeing Zhong Yongliang's comical state, she burst out laughing, and Kang Xiaoxia laughed along with her.

Zhong Yongliang felt himself disgraced beyond words and wished he could dive headfirst into the sea. He was just about to turn and find some excuse to slip away when he caught sight of a shark fin swimming back and forth out in the water!

At the sight, Zhong Yongliang was overjoyed. Gao Xiaofu was a true friend; what timing he had! He had played shark again, and this time out in deep water. Surely even Shen Yushu, however formidable, could not throw a stone that far. Not even an Olympic shot-put champion could manage it.

"There's another shark attack!" Zhong Yongliang bellowed, and at once drew all his classmates' attention away. "Everybody wait for me. I'll settle this shark and be right back!"

This time Zhong Yongliang had his story all worked out. Once he had finished off the "shark," he had no intention of dragging it back ashore, because there was no way to drag it back ashore anyway. He had bought just one frozen shark from the supermarket; hauling it in again would serve no purpose.

But he could perfectly well plead that this shark was out in the deep, too far off for him to drag in, and that one shark was already more than they could finish, so there was no need to haul up another.

To shake off the awkwardness left by the wood-drilling business, Zhong Yongliang this time sprinted straight into the sea, charging at the shark.

"You bold shark, just watch Big Brother Liang take care of you!" Last time Shen Yushu had beaten him to it; this time Zhong Yongliang could not afford to miss. He must race over and finish this shark off before Shen Yushu could strike again.

"..." Wei Zhao watched Zhong Yongliang's eager back, and nearly choked laughing. For this shark was a real shark! He could not help but admire Zhong Yongliang's nerve, charging at it like that.

"Brother Liang, what are you doing?" Gao Xiaofu stared in astonishment at Zhong Yongliang, who had run off into the water. He was rather shaken! For that shark was not his doing, which meant... Gao Xiaofu thought of a terrifying possibility...

But Zhong Yongliang had already run far away and could not make out Gao Xiaofu's shout at all. He kept charging enthusiastically forward. He was on the verge of reaching the shark when he suddenly froze!

Because he saw the shark open its enormous bloody maw at him!

"Ga?" Zhong Yongliang stopped dead in his tracks. "Xiaofu?"

The shark gave no answer. It swam at Zhong Yongliang with its mouth open. This was a shark drawn in by the smell of blood. Gao Xiaofu's head had bled earlier, and afterward the boys in the class had rinsed the cut-up shark meat in seawater. So the shark had slipped in through the gap Zhong Yongliang had opened in the safety cordon...

"Mother of God!" Only now did Zhong Yongliang see clearly that this was no Gao Xiaofu. It was a real shark!

Zhong Yongliang was terrified. With a shrill scream he went scrambling, wetting himself in his panic, back toward shore, running with every ounce of strength he had. It was somewhat humiliating, but compared with losing his life, that was nothing!

Feng Xiaoxiao was frantic. While gathering clams in the sea, she had somehow lost the bracelet from her wrist! It was a keepsake her mother had left her. Feng Xiaoxiao could no longer spare a thought for the clams; she searched the seafloor carefully for the bracelet.

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