Chapter 118: Testing the Waters

Zhang Can then called Wang Qian to ask when he planned to leave. Wang Qian asked if he could depart the next day. Zhang Can laughed and said, "No problem. We're all ready on this end, just waiting on your decision."

"That's good. Tomorrow then. I'll come pick you up. Take it easy today," Wang Qian replied.

After hanging up, Zhang Can turned to Zhu Senlin and said, "Old Zhu, we leave tomorrow. You should hurry home and make sure everything is prepared. Tomorrow we set off. I'm going out for a bit now."

Zhu Senlin nodded quickly, agreed, and drove off. Zhang Can then addressed his sister and Liu Xiaoqin, "Do you have enough money? I'll prepare a little more for you. I'm leaving tomorrow, so be careful with everything. Come to work in the morning, try to leave early in the afternoon, and avoid staying out late. No need to push yourself too hard. Don’t go out at night. If anything happens, wait for me to come back!"

Zhang Hua shook her head silently. Her second brother suddenly leaving for over ten days felt strange; she was quite dependent on him.

Liu Xiaoqin, however, said, "No need to prepare more money. We have enough. You’ve given us so much it would last ten years. We don’t need any more. You... you be careful. Go early and come back early..." Her eyes reddened as she spoke. A girl in love is always sentimental.

Liu Xiaoli said nothing. She found it hard to say anything. Though she was Zhang Can’s first love, that was in the past. Now, Zhang Can was her brother-in-law. Even if she wanted to, she had to hide her feelings deep in her heart. She could see everything about Zhang Can but could not have him. It was painful. Then she thought about her sister—pure and innocent—while she was already a faded flower past her prime. How could she compare? Besides, her sister was family. Though jealous and envious in her heart, she did not want to take her sister’s place. She understood that Zhang Can no longer had feelings for her as before. Even if she wanted to take him back, it was unlikely she could.

Zhang Can nodded and waved his hand. "Alright then, get more familiar with the shop. I’m going out for a walk."

There was no need to worry about the shop now, so that was settled. Zhang Can went outside and got into his car, driving off without any particular destination in mind. He reached into his pocket and felt the waterproof pearl he always kept close to his body. A thought stirred in his heart, and he turned the car toward the seaside.

With nothing else to do and still thinking about the incident in the bathtub last night, he wanted to try diving again in the deep sea. In the bathtub, he could only test his ability to breathe through his skin, but he couldn't gauge how much pressure he could withstand or if he had other powers. Only in such an environment could he test those limits.

Once this idea took hold, Zhang Can sped up and headed swiftly toward the sea. It was still early, only eleven o’clock, and the midday light was strong—perfect for diving deep.

He parked at the spot he had been to before and slipped down to the quiet shore. There was no one around. Zhang Can stripped off his clothes, leaving only his shorts, and, with the waterproof pearl in his mouth, was about to enter the water when suddenly a head popped up near the rocks with a voice calling out, "Wait!"

Zhang Can was startled and turned to see that it was Su Xue.

He was taken aback and a little anxious. What was Su Xue doing here all alone?

"You... what are you doing here?" Zhang Can asked nervously but quickly composed himself. "I just wanted to dive and swim, nothing else. I won’t do those kinds of things anymore. Even if someone throws a box, I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it!"

He hurriedly clarified, hoping that as long as he didn’t get involved in that kind of trouble, it wouldn’t concern her. The past was erased thanks to Wang Qian. Surely she wouldn’t make things difficult for him anymore.

Su Xue’s beautiful eyes fixed on Zhang Can, making him a bit embarrassed. He instinctively covered himself with his hands. Su Xue couldn’t help but laugh. This man was rather mysterious—sometimes ordinary, sometimes enigmatic, and now shy. It was rare to see.

Zhang Can had seen women before and had his wild moments, but Su Xue, though beautiful, was untouchable to him. He had never entertained even the slightest impure thought about her. Because of this, he felt awkward and shy in her presence.

“I didn’t mean anything else. The boss gave me a day off, and tomorrow I’m going with my brother-in-law to Xinjiang. I had nothing to do, so I came to the sea to relax, just sitting and watching the waves. I didn’t expect you to be here as well. You... really just want to swim?” Su Xue asked kindly, a rare softness in her tone.

“Yes, yes, just to dive and swim. No other reason!” Zhang Can quickly answered.

“Good. I brought some diving gear in the car. Come with me to get it, and we can dive together,” Su Xue nodded and beckoned him over.

Zhang Can thought for a moment, put on his shorts properly, but left his shirt off, then followed Su Xue up to the road.

Her car was parked at a bend on the other side of the road—a Toyota SUV.

Su Xue opened the trunk and turned to Zhang Can. “Come here!”

When Zhang Can approached, he saw two sets of diving suits inside. The styles were a bit different. Su Xue picked one up and handed it to him. “You wear this one.”

Zhang Can took it, thinking it was fortunate that she had brought him diving gear. Originally, he wanted to test how deep he could really dive, but now with Su Xue here, that plan was disrupted. Yet with her equipment, it was perfect—she probably didn’t know about his abilities or the waterproof pearl. Using normal diving gear wouldn’t raise her suspicions.

Su Xue grabbed the other set and closed the trunk. “Let’s go,” she said, carrying the diving suit and air tank.

The equipment felt heavy in Zhang Can’s hands, but Su Xue carried hers effortlessly, as if it were a light handbag.

Zhang Can knew Su Xue was skilled in martial arts; carrying weight and fighting was far beyond what an ordinary person like him could handle. Fighting her would be asking for trouble.

What Zhang Can didn’t realize was that the gear Su Xue gave him and the gear she carried herself were vastly different. His was a basic diving suit made of ordinary material, with an air tank lasting about half an hour and a suit that could only withstand depths of fifty to sixty meters. Su Xue’s set, on the other hand, was the world’s most advanced diving suit worth over a hundred thousand US dollars. It could enable an average person to dive to nearly a hundred meters, and a trained expert could reach depths of 120 to 130 meters.

Don’t assume advanced gear merely increases depth capability by a few times; water pressure rises dramatically with each additional meter. Untrained or physically weak individuals diving to fifty or sixty meters risk internal organs being crushed by intense pressure, with every bit of air in the body being compressed into a vacuum.

Human bodies cannot naturally withstand depths below a hundred meters without machinery. The deepest manned submersibles reach about ten thousand meters, yet the ocean’s depths far exceed human reach—even with machines. While Mount Everest and other peaks have been conquered, the ocean’s depths—tens of thousands of meters down—remain inaccessible to us, shrouded in mystery far greater than any mountain peak.

At the rocky shore, Zhang Can struggled awkwardly to put on the diving suit—having never worn one before, he didn’t even know how to attach the air tank until Su Xue showed him.

Su Xue found this odd. Zhang Can had previously said he had discarded his diving suit. She knew the spot where he had thrown the box was about a hundred meters deep. Without a suit like hers, he couldn’t have dived that deep. His clumsy behavior suggested he had never used one before. So how had he dived so deep?

Zhang Can didn’t dwell on it. Clumsily dressed, Su Xue slipped behind a large rock to change, teasing, “Zhang Can, if you have the guts, come sneak a peek!”

Startled, Zhang Can jumped into the water with a splash, fearing to dare sneak a look at such a fierce woman. Besides, she seemed vain enough not to want anyone watching.

Su Xue laughed at how her words had scared him into the sea. This man was bold at times but timid as a mouse at others. Surrounded by beautiful women, he should be a lecher, yet he had never shown the slightest desire toward her.

Was she not beautiful enough? Su Xue immediately dismissed the thought. She knew her looks were exceptional.

Women often played this game: when men liked them, they acted aloof and highborn; when no one noticed, they felt humiliated.

Zhang Can made Su Xue feel humiliated, though she hadn’t yet admitted it. Now her sole focus was to assess his diving ability—to see what kind of person he really was.

Once dressed, Su Xue emerged from behind the rock and smoothly slid into the water. Zhang Can had already swum about seven or eight meters when he saw her ready and quietly turned toward deeper water.

Su Xue’s high-end equipment and expert swimming skills allowed her to catch up to him in no time, much faster than Zhang Can.

Before he noticed, she was already beside him. Surprised, Zhang Can turned to see her right behind him.

She pointed downward, signaling him to dive. Zhang Can bent over and plunged beneath the surface, with Su Xue following closely.

Watching his movements, Su Xue found Zhang Can’s diving awkward and clumsy—not at all like an expert.