71: Chapter 71 Although I fell into the water, I have a great idea!

When this wave hit, Lu Li only felt the boat's hull lift up abruptly and then slam down heavily.

With a bang, splashes of water flew everywhere.

The boat's body shook violently, and Lu Li instinctively gripped the bottle-formed edges of the boat, not daring to loosen his grip even a bit.

A short exclamation quickly came from the front.

Shen Qingxue's sitting posture was already somewhat unstable, and the boat's body was slapped abruptly to the left by the wave, causing her whole body to instantly lose its center of gravity.

"Splash!"

Water splashes flew high into the air.

Lu Li wiped the seawater off his face, and when he opened his eyes again, the spot in front of him was already empty.

Shen Qingxue had fallen into the sea.

Fortunately, she was wearing a life jacket, so she flailed in the water a couple of times and quickly stabilized herself.

But a rare trace of panic appeared on her cold and aloof face, and her hands and feet paddled unconsciously in the water, trying to find a point of leverage.

"Look here!"

Lu Li shouted out loud.

Shen Qingxue turned her head sideways, her soaked hair covering half of her face. Through the gaps in her hair, her gaze looked over somewhat blankly.

On the shore, Director Zhou was also startled by this scene, but he quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

Because Shen Qingxue was wearing a life jacket.

Moreover, the rescue boat had already sped over in that direction.

However, the netizens in the livestream instantly blew up.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! The goddess fell into the ocean!"

"Where are the lifeguards? Hurry up, lifeguards!!!"

"The Program Team really isn't acting like human beings. How are they supposed to play when they encounter waves like this?"

"Nothing bad is going to happen, right? Look at the goddess; she seems a bit off. Does she not know how to swim?"

"She should be fine with a life jacket, right?"

"Life jackets aren't warm, and besides, try wearing that thing yourself; you'd panic to some extent too."

"Where is Lu Li? Lu Li, at least move a bit!"

"Wait, Lu Li jumped down after her too???"

While the netizens were anxious to no avail, Lu Li had already moved.

Without any hesitation, he directly threw the oars into the boat, held onto the boat's edge, and leaped into the sea in a single bound.

"Plop!"

Splashes flew up once more, and Lu Li quickly used the buoyancy of his life jacket to appear beside Shen Qingxue shortly after.

"Don't panic."

Lu Li's voice was right by her ear. Shen Qingxue turned her head and saw him swim right next to her.

Lu Li raised one hand from the water and tightly grasped Shen Qingxue's wrist with a force so great that the shape of her knuckles could be felt.

"Let's go, let's get back to the boat first."

Shen Qingxue opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but choked on a mouthful of seawater instead and began to cough.

Lu Li didn't waste any more words either. Grasping her wrist with one hand and paddling with the other, he kicked hard with both legs in the water, dragging Shen Qingxue inch by inch toward the plastic boat.

The resistance of the seawater was much greater than imagined, and coupled with holding Shen Qingxue making it difficult to exert force, moving forward even an inch took great effort.

The rescue boat was almost there, its sound coming from afar and growing closer.

But Lu Li didn't glance at it even once, his gaze locked tightly onto that plastic bottle boat a few meters away as he swam over bit by bit.

The rescue boat definitely couldn't be relied upon; getting onto it would probably directly judge the game as failed.

He himself didn't care, but Shen Qingxue would probably feel quite uncomfortable; after all, her desire to win was much stronger than his.

"Holy shit! He went down! He actually jumped down!"

"The rescue boat has already arrived, and he's still swimming by himself?"

"Did he not see the rescue boat?"

"Getting on the rescue boat means directly losing. They've already made it this far, how could they possibly admit defeat?"

"That makes sense, but the question is, why isn't Lu Li slacking off this time?"

Finally, Lu Li's hand touched the side of the boat.

With one hand, he tightly grasped the bottle-formed edges of the boat, while his other hand supported Shen Qingxue's back, pushing her upward with all his might.

Shen Qingxue groped around in the water twice and also grabbed the other side of the boat's hull.

"Climb up."

Gritting her teeth and relying on the buoyancy of her life jacket and Lu Li's pushing force, Shen Qingxue pushed herself upward with strength, sprawling her entire body onto the boat's hull.

She rolled into the boat, her soaked clothes clinging to her body, and her hair still dripping water as she sat there panting heavily.

The rescue boat stopped just a few meters away, two lifeguards standing at the bow with somewhat bewildered expressions.

Catching her breath, Shen Qingxue immediately turned around, extended a still-trembling hand, and raised her voice a bit higher than usual.

"Hurry up and come up!"

Lu Li was soaking in the water, supported by his life jacket, his lower body bobbing up and down in the seawater.

He didn't take Shen Qingxue's outstretched hand; instead, he let go of the boat's edge that he was holding onto and retreated half a meter backward.

"Adjust your posture and sit steady first. I suddenly have a good idea."

Shen Qingxue was stunned for a moment, and then her brows furrowed.

"What good idea? You're not coming up?"

"Of course I'm coming up, but you sit properly first. You'll know what the good idea is in a moment."

As Lu Li spoke, he grabbed the rear position of the boat and then raised his head to look at Shen Qingxue.

"Right, you know how to control the direction, right? Just don't let the boat spin around in circles in place."

The corners of Shen Qingxue's mouth twitched. Seeing Lu Li's face—which was soaking in the water yet still managed to be cheeky—she almost couldn't hold back.

"Duh, of course I do."

"That's fine then."

Lu Li nodded, grabbed the stern, and kicked his legs hard in the water, instantly pushing the stern forward by a good chunk.

"You should come up first!"

Shen Qingxue's voice finally carried a hint of anxiety.

"No rush, no rush, I'll come up in a bit. Haven't you noticed? Our speed has become much faster."

As Lu Li spoke, he really just stayed soaking in the water like that, kicking his legs rhythmically to push the boat forward.

"???????"

"What is he doing? Is he pushing the boat???"

"A human-shaped motor, how about that? I really didn't expect this kind of operation."

"Oh my god, what kind of operation is this? A human-shaped motor!"

"I'm dying of laughter at Shen Qingxue's expression: angry, anxious, yet unable to do anything about him."

"Fair is fair, the speed is indeed a lot faster than before."

On the sea surface, the rescue boat's engine chugged along, moving slowly behind the plastic boat.

The two lifeguards stood at the bow, looking at each other without knowing whether they should intervene.

"Um… Teacher Lu, would you like to come up first?"

a lifeguard tentatively shouted out.

Lu Li looked back at him and waved his hand.

"No need, no need, just follow along. I'll push for a bit; consider it exercising."

The lifeguards' mouth twitched, not knowing what to say.

The livestream's online viewer count continued to skyrocket, and the camera steadily focused on this scene on the sea.

Lu Li was soaking in the water, supported by his life jacket, his two legs constantly kicking beneath the water surface, pushing the plastic boat forward inch by inch.

Shen Qingxue sat in the boat, holding the oars in her hands, occasionally paddling to adjust the direction.

The two of them cooperated quite tacitly after all.

"I can laugh at this scene for a day."

"Don't laugh, you wouldn't be able to get past the second stage either if you came."

"Lu Li pushes the boat while the goddess steers; I declare that they have officially entered the human industrial age."

"Lu Li is truly fierce; this time I really admire him."

"How can a human-shaped motor not be fierce?"

...

On the sea surface, Lu Li didn't know how long he had been pushing before the lifeguard finally couldn't help speaking up.

"Teacher Lu, you've already pushed for nearly two hundred meters. Are you really not coming up to rest for a bit?"

Lu Li didn't stop his movements, only turning his head to take a look.

"Holy shit, two hundred meters? That fast?"

Afterwards, he raised his head to look forward again. The outline of the opposite shore was already clearly visible, and the waves on the sea surface had also become much smaller.