Chapter 495: Going to the Beach To Buy Seafood?

“Head to the beach.”

Wang Yun tossed the words over his shoulder casually.

The production team had given them a measly 200 yuan in survival funds.

If they were going to make things difficult, they were clearly going all the way.

When Director Zhou handed over the money, Wang Yun’s expression visibly darkened. But he didn’t say much. He just took the cash and led the group out.

There were eight of them, including Wang Yun. Hailing a cab was out of the question. So they set off on foot. After all, they had a 30-minute head start before pursuit began.

Wang Yun pushed his pace to the limit.

Even Xiao Gang and Old Hu struggled to keep up.

As for the others, they were clearly winded, but to their credit, they still ran.

Even the youngest, Xiang Xiang, didn’t complain once. Running was his specialty, after all.

Thirty minutes passed in a flash. Wang Yun’s group had already covered ten kilometers toward the coast. Their destination, however, was still thirteen kilometers away.

The program inspectors had already mobilized.

They had to keep moving.

The tracker mark on their wrists was still highly visible.

“Pick up the pace! If you can’t keep up, then drop out!” Wang Yun shouted back.

His words lit a fire under the others. Gritting their teeth, they forced themselves to run harder.

***

Meanwhile, the closest pursuing team—the elite police family—was closing in fast. They had access to transportation, but to avoid missing anything, they chose to advance on foot for now.

Three drones flew overhead above them, scanning every inch of their surroundings.

Wang Yun pressed on, unaware that he and the inspectors were now separated by a mere three kilometers.

The livestream chat exploded with tension. No one had expected the first real crisis to come from Wang Yun’s team.

He was supposed to be the one with the easiest escape.

But tension meant Wang Yun’s shock value was rising fast.

And that was exactly what he wanted.

Wang Yun had a plan. He ran so recklessly because he could feel his shock value increasing. And when that meter spiked, it usually meant danger was approaching.

Using it like radar, he pushed himself even harder.

The inspectors were definitely getting closer.

“Boss! I can see the ocean ahead. It’s low tide!” Xiao Gao ran up, gasping for breath.

Wang Yun raised an eyebrow.

They were still about three kilometers from the shore. If Xiao Gao could see the sea from here, his eyesight wasn’t bad at all.

“I can smell it too,” added Big Mouth. “We’re almost there. The sea breeze is getting stronger.”

Wang Yun was a little surprised.

One had spotted the sea from kilometers away. The other could smell the salt in the air from the same distance. One with sharp eyes, one with a keen nose.

Maybe this team wasn’t so hopeless after all.

“Yeah. We’ll reach the beach just in time for low tide.”

With that, Wang Yun picked up the pace again.

The others exchanged puzzled looks.

Low tide? Why head to the beach now?

Were they planning to hide there?

But even if they were, the water would be ice-cold in this season. Still, they didn’t argue. They just gritted their teeth and followed.

If they had to wade into freezing seawater to survive, so be it.

It was almost sunset. They could stay hidden until nightfall.

The only real concern was Xiang Xiang.

The boy was still very young. If they really had to enter the water, it would be especially hard on him. But there was no time to hesitate. They’d signed up for this, and hardship was part of the deal.

Seven minutes later, the group reached the coast.

Whooosh!

The crashing waves were deafening, the salty wind slapping their faces like knives.

Wang Yun’s eyes lit up.

Just as he’d hoped, everything was lining up perfectly.

“This way.”

He gestured for the others to follow and took the lead again.

Ahead, a few workers were sitting on the sand, sorting through their haul.

Clearly, they made a living from fishing.

During low tide, all sorts of seafood got trapped along the shore or wedged between rocks.

Locals often took advantage of this, coming out to scavenge.

With luck, one haul could cover three days’ worth of meals.

Some people went into the water to gather seafood, while others stayed on shore to sort and collect. Dividing up the work made things efficient. The catch could be cleaned and sold at the market by nightfall.

“Hey there, boss, busy?”

Wang Yun approached a fisherman crouched by a bucket of seafood.

Squatting down with a smile, he greeted the man.

The fishermen were all in their fifties or sixties. This wasn’t a young man’s job.

“You want to buy seafood?” the man asked cheerfully. “I’ll give you a good price, handsome. Just caught these this morning. I’m heading to Sero Market soon. Prices there go for double!”

The boss was the friendly type. He immediately started chatting, assuming Wang Yun was a customer.

Wang Yun pulled out two hundred yuan and handed it over.

The man blinked in surprise. The tub in front of him was worth about two hundred at most.

“Boss,” Wang Yun said, smiling faintly, “I’m not here to buy seafood.”