441: Happy New Year

Yang Qi spent thirty thousand yuan on fireworks and firecrackers, and in the end, the group set off two-thirds of them.

Of course, the remaining one-third of the fireworks and firecrackers were saved to be set off at midnight; these were called the 'Opening the Door' firecrackers.

It was already half-past nine, and everyone returned to the living room to play cards and chat. The participants were the four elders: Yang Limin, Bai Dahai, and their wives.

Yang Qi and the other young people started a five-man queue in their game.

They played until midnight, then everyone went outside again to set off the 'Opening the Door' firecrackers. They didn't stop until all the remaining fireworks were finished.

"Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"

Amidst the rounds of blessings, everyone headed back to their respective homes.

Bai Xue drove Yang Qi toward the Sea View Villa, as Yang Qi was busy on his phone, calling people to offer New Year greetings.

For those leaders with whom it wasn't convenient to speak on the phone, he sent text messages. The content certainly couldn't be the flashy, copied-and-pasted stuff from social media circles; even just the four words "Happy New Year" were more sincere than a copy-paste.

For those he could call, he called every single one to offer greetings. Naturally, he also received many calls from friends during this time.

And so, New Year's Eve passed!

As for why Yang Qi's family didn't return to their hometown for the New Year? Wasn't that obvious? The whole family was already here, so why go back?

Home is where the family is!

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Yang Qi and Bai Xue got up and went to his mother's place for a meal. Both received red envelopes from both sets of parents.

It was the New Year, and it was only right for the younger generation to receive gift money from their elders. The two of them accepted the gifts with generous thanks.

Then, the two families went to the The City together for the day. They visited markets, an amusement park, and watched movies, having a grand old time.

That evening, Yang Qi received an invitation from Liu Yao and went to a bar in the The City to have drinks with them.

From the second to the seventh day of the New Year, it was an endless cycle of visiting relatives.

The second day is the traditional day to visit the wife's family. Yang Qi and Bai Xue woke up early and first brought gifts to the Bai family home.

Then they accompanied them to visit the maternal grandparents' home. After having lunch at Chenjiaping, they finally rushed back home.

That night, both families had dinner together at the Bai residence.

Since their own hometown was too far away, his parents had already called his maternal grandparents and other relatives to offer greetings, explaining they wouldn't be back for the New Year and would visit in April instead.

The next two days were the same; Yang Qi was like a puppet on strings, following Bai Xue's family every day to visit the Bai relatives.

By the evening of the fourth day, after a passionate bout of intimacy, Yang Qi and Bai Xue lay soaking in the pool.

"Hubby, Luo Jiao and Chen Qianqian are coming over tomorrow. They said they want to go out to sea fishing with us."

"I made plans with them to head out tomorrow at noon, preferably to somewhere we can dive. Are you coming?"

Yang Qi naturally knew that Luo Jiao was the daughter of Deputy Director Luo of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Chen Qianqian was from the family of Deputy Director Chen of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.

These two had become quite close to Bai Xue later on and had turned into best friends. The other two girls were busy with their studies and had less contact with Bai Xue, so they were probably just considered general friends.

"Then we can only head south. Sure! I'll go too. I'll go refuel tomorrow morning, and you girls can buy supplies."

Yang Qi gently stroked Bai Xue's smooth back as he spoke.

The next morning, Bai Xue drove the dodge ram to the The City to pick up the girls and buy supplies. Yang Qi went to the town pier to refuel and top up the fresh water.

"Hello, Brother-in-law!"

"Hello, Brother-in-law!"

Yang Qi, who was supervising the filling of fresh water for the setting sail, heard two crisp voices call out from behind him.

He turned around and saw that Bai Xue had indeed arrived with Luo Jiao and Chen Qianqian.

"Hello. Where's the luggage? Let's load it onto the boat now!"

Yang Qi then helped carry their suitcases up. Once the four of them had moved all the other supplies onto the setting sail and checked everything over...

He immediately started the fishing boat, sounded the horn, turned the rudder, and slowly steered out of the pier.

To satisfy the girls' desire to dive, Yang Qi increased his speed and headed straight south.

Even when they encountered two or three schools of fish along the way, he didn't stop. There was even a large school of Pacific Saury, but catching them with just rods would definitely be too slow.

He simply put them out of his mind and pretended not to see them, continuing forward. Even his lunch was brought to the Cockpit by Bai Xue for him to eat.

The setting sail traveled non-stop toward the south until the sky began to darken into evening.

This place wasn't very far from where they had hidden the gold bricks last time, and it wasn't near the main shipping lanes.

Yang Qi found a reef to drop anchor and stop the boat; there was also a large coral reef underwater here.

While it couldn't compare to the scale of Pratas Island or the Xisha Islands, it was more than enough for the few of them to dive and play.

The small reef also had a small patch of beach, the only flaw being that it wasn't white sand.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue first found a suitable spot to drop the Crab traps. This task had long since become a routine.

As long as the water depth was right, they would drop the Crab traps before stopping the boat. Then they would just leave them and pull them up the next morning.

It didn't require any effort from them; these were just extra harvests.

Luo Jiao and Chen Qianqian had already spotted the colorful coral on the nearby reef flat. Their excitement was beyond words.

Yang Qi smiled, untied the inflatable boat, and installed the outboard motor. He called for the three women, who had already changed into their wetsuits, to get off the boat.

The water on the reef flat was too shallow; the setting sail definitely couldn't enter, so it had to stay anchored over fifty meters away.

Yang Qi didn't know how well Luo Jiao and the other girl could swim, even though they both puffed out their chests and claimed their diving skills were top-notch.

He still didn't feel at ease and only stopped the inflatable boat once it reached a depth of over a meter.

Amidst the girls' dissatisfied mumbling, Yang Qi instructed once more:

"Everyone check your equipment. Don't wander too far. Safety first."

"We know, Brother-in-law!"

"Okay, Brother-in-law!"

Yang Qi gave Bai Xue a look, and the three women entered the sea one after another. Bai Xue naturally understood that Yang Qi wanted her to look after their safety.

Where they entered the water, the depth only reached their waists. As they bent down to submerge, the colorful coral reef came into view.

All sorts of vibrant tropical ornamental fish darted in and out of the coral, making for a very lively scene.

Moreover, these fish didn't seem to fear humans much. As long as you didn't reach out to catch them, the little fish would even swim around you.

Luo Jiao and her friend were clearly stunned by this beautiful sight.

After freezing for a dozen seconds, the two immediately took out their cameras to snap photos. Although the underwater scenery seen on TV and in short videos was beautiful beyond words...

It certainly wasn't as shocking as being personally immersed in this magnificent environment... PS: I've been quite busy lately, so my writing time is a bit tight. The chapter release might be a bit late, please understand!