Chapter 1 Buried in the Shark's Mouth

A small coastal city in the south, it was time to knock off work.

From a certain small factory, a group of off-duty men and women emerged, among them a middle-aged woman who caught everybody's attention.

This woman, dressed in an unremarkable grey work uniform, kept her back straight and never glanced sideways, radiating an aura which loudly proclaimed 'Keep Away', and stood out starkly among the languid crowd.

She was pretty, her face simple and unadorned like everyone else's, except for her outstanding red lips. On her entire body, the only splash of vivid color was her fiery red lips - the only part of her face with lipstick applied.

That dash of red was striking amidst all the grey, seemingly declaring her difference and advertising her aloofness.

Others were laughing and joking, but she alone, within three feet of her, no one approached. But her expressionless face also declared her disdain.

Reaching a corner, she stopped in her tracks, because a constrained man was standing in front of her, blocking her path. The man tightly clutched a wildflower, wanting to hand it over but too afraid to, the trembling wildflower kept shaking.

The woman lowered her eyelids, not looking at the person before her, her face still indifferent.

"Chu Wan, I... I've thought it through, I still want to take care of you," the man seemed to muster tremendous courage, nervously saying, "You...even though you're six years older than me, I'm willing. They say a woman three years older is like a golden brick, I'm willing... to hold two golden bricks."

"Ha," the woman's red lips quirked slightly, and she replied indifferently: "I'm not interested." She then bypassed him and continued on her way.

The man watched the person in front of him getting farther and farther away, saw her straight back, and couldn't help feeling a pang of pain, shouting, "I won't give up! This weekend I'm going back home for a bit. We are celebrating the Fish Festival, and I'll be going out to sea. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

The straight back of the woman ahead suddenly stopped, the man widened his eyes, hesitated for a few seconds, then hurried over.

"Chu Wan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell again?" he asked with concern.

But he saw the woman named Chu Wan, her eyes fixed on something ahead, as if deep in thought.

A faraway scene flashed through Chu Wan's mind.

"Daddy, daddy, I want more sugar-coated haws."

In the bustling market, an eight-year-old little girl was sitting atop a tall man's shoulders, giggling with joy and happiness all over her face.

The man dressed in a green military uniform was full of affection, persuading her, "Darling, you've eaten two sticks today already, if you eat more, mommy will scold us when we go back."

"Giggle giggle giggle..." The girl's laughter rang out like a silver bell, "Daddy, then you get me something else."

The man gave it some thought and then said, "How about this, next time daddy comes back, I'll take you to the seaside, we'll take a big boat and go fishing out at sea, how's that?"

"Great!" The girl cheerfully agreed, "Pinky promise, hook it."

"Okay, pinky promise, hook it."

Small and large hands were shimmering in the sunlight, glinting with Mei Hao.

There was never a next time...

Chu Wan's eyes moistened, she lifted her gaze to the anxious man in front of her, and her red lips parted slightly, "You're going home to go fishing at sea?"

Hearing Chu Wan asking him a question, the man thought that Chu Wan finally cared about him and couldn't hide his excitement, nodding quickly, "Yes, don't worry, I'll be back soon, I will for sure come back to find you."

Chu Wan, growing impatient, asked again, "You're going home to go fishing at sea?"

"Ah?" The man became a bit baffled, and instinctively said, "Yes, every year during the Fish Festival, our family's men all go out to sea. It's a tradition in our place, so I need to go back..."

"I also want to go," Chu Wan said.

"What?"

"I want to go fishing at sea."

The man was somewhat at a loss: "That... going out to sea, it's not fun at all, and it's very dangerous, you might encounter sharks..."

"I want to go fishing at sea!" Chu Wan spoke resolutely, cutting off the man's feeble attempt to stop her. Her sharp eyes fixed on the man, with a stubbornness that brooked no refusal, as if in the next second she would turn her head and cease all contact.

The man dared not refuse any longer and quickly said, "Oh, okay, alright, I'll take you." With him by her side, nothing should go wrong, right? This was the first time Chu Wan had made a request of him; he had to agree.

Three days later.

On the vast ocean, a fishing boat floated amid the boundless blue waves, with Chu Wan standing at the bow, her back straight, looking into the distance, feeling the breath of the sea.

"So this is what it's like to fish at sea," she murmured softly.

The man stood cautiously beside Chu Wan, to guard against any mishap.

In the middle of the deck, there were a few other men picking out fish, shrimp, and other seafood from the nets, their faces filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

"What's that?" Chu Wan suddenly asked the man beside her, pointing towards the distance.

Gradually on the rippling blue sea, shadows the size of footballs began to appear. The man looked a few times and then furrowed his brow; they seemed to be sharks—how had they come across a school of sharks?

"It looks like a school of sharks, Chu Wan, quick, get away from the bow, it's dangerous, we need to steer clear of here." The man said with some concern before turning and shouting to the people on deck, "There's a school of sharks ahead, turn around quickly."

In the chaos, the school of sharks got closer and closer to their fishing boat; Chu Wan could even see the sharp teeth of the sharks.

The young man came over to pull Chu Wan's arm, but suddenly Chu Wan turned and hugged the man, causing his body to freeze; he was incredulously immersed in the fragrance before him.

Chu Wan spoke gently, which was rare: "Wu Zhong, thank you, you're a good person."

After speaking, she let go of the man, and before anyone else could react, she leaped from the fishing boat.

"Chu Wan!" the man shouted, his soul seemingly lost, wanting to jump after her, but he was held back by others on the board.

Chu Wan swam like a champion, moving agilely through the water, gliding and darting smoothly, as she swiftly swam towards the school of sharks.

So, she had never forgotten how to swim. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and with each stroke, she moved toward the sharks, reminiscing the times when that man had taught her to swim.

Another heart-wrenching scream came from the boat, "Chu Wan—"

Chu Wan looked back once, her face beaming with a radiant smile, a smile of relief, an expression of finally being freed, a smile that the man had never seen before. In the next second, she felt a piercing pain in her body, and then her vision went dark; she lost all consciousness.

Chu Wan, a woman with no father, no mother, no son, no daughter, alone in this world.

A boy, named Wan Chu'er, cowardly, rebellious, angering his mother to death;

As a young woman, she marries and wreaks havoc, scattering a harmonious home;

In her middle age, she changed her name to Chu Wan, traveled to a distant place, cold as ice, living her life alone.

At the age of thirty-five, she perished in the jaws of a shark.