Xue Jinxu had heeded her husband's advice. They left the place to retire to Apartment 301. All the while she was quivering with anxiety and shock. She was abnormally silent even in the car.

Butler Lee had been made on board the rescue operation. He had subst.i.tuted Chen Linyun and had been doing the coordination with authorities and checked with the Safety and PR Teams on the latest updates on behalf of the COO.

Chen Linyun carried Jinxu in his arms then laid her on the bed. He held her hand and kissed it tenderly. His countenance still had the worried expression from earlier that day. It was already around noon. He urged her to rest.

"My dear, please try to find sleep. We will take care of the matters." He rubbed her hand that was trapped between his. He placed it on his cheeks. "It pains me to see you like this. I'm here now beside you. Clear your mind, and rest first, alright?" He kissed her palm.

Xue Jinxu did not respond. She was originally gazing at a distance. He could not even distinguish if she could hear her. The only consolation that he got after a while was that she slightly tightened her grip on his hand.

"I have a meeting this afternoon." She said softly, after some minutes had pa.s.sed, while trying to get up. She was still trembling uncontrollably.

Chen Linyun stopped her. "Rest first. Try to calm down and sleep. I'll wake you up just in time for your meeting."

He stood up to plant a kiss on her forehead. His heart was bleeding for the wife. The wife's heart was bleeding for all those hundred crew and s.h.i.+p personnel that were inside The Great Adventurer when it capsized. More than the s.h.i.+p itself, or the standing of their company, she was too worried about the people's welfare and safety. She could not rest knowing that there were still a few personnel missing, and the extent of the casualty had not yet been finalized. At least, so far the rescued survivors only had minor wounds and concussions. No case of death was tallied yet.

She sighed and closed her eyes. She could not imagine it to reach to that extent. A life is a life regardless of who it was or how it had been. To think that those people were with her for more than two weeks. Those people were her employees. Her tremors started to worsen.

After a while, finally, sleep visited her. It certainly had helped calm her nerves. Once in a while she woke up from her sleep. She heard low voices in the living room. Physically weak that she had been, she shortly returned to her slumber. At least now she had Chen Linyun beside her, looking after her, and facing her worries for her. She was immensely grateful. Her safety blanket was hard at work.

That same Sat.u.r.day at around three in the afternoon, at the conference hall of Xue s.h.i.+pping, the exectuives were convened in an emergency meeting.

She was back to being the strong-willed, commanding leader COO.

"I was gone for only a while, and this incident happened? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" She roared. "Can anyone kindly enlighten me please?!"

When she found herself deeply infatuated with Chen Linyun, she had discovered that she had indeed become lenient with her employees, and the way she managed their business had somehow eased up. However, despite a certain degree of complacency, she had never neglected her duties. Most surely, she had never once expected anything to the extent of the capsizing of The Great Adventurer would ever happen in this lifetime, or the next.

The Technical Marine Head, Director Yun Lifeng reported, "According to the crew, the anchor had been let down while the s.h.i.+p was still sailing away at anchorage. They said that the Captain had instructed it. They found it odd, but since the Captain ordered it, they did what they were told." The TM Head paused. "The Captain did not stop the cruise s.h.i.+p's movement, nor slowed it down. The anchor held in place at the seabed and impeded the movement, causing the keeling over."

BAM! She had slapped the table hard. "Where's the Captain?!"

Director Yun Lifeng clenched his fist on top of the table before answering. "The Captain abandoned s.h.i.+p. There was, no doubt, a foul play here."

She closed her eyes while ma.s.saging her head with her fingertips. Once she heard the part 'foul play' a certain devious person came in mind - s.h.i.+ Fan Hai. Once she opened her eyes it revealed a piercing murderous glare. The executives that had seen those pair of eyes shuddered.

The representative from Legal spoke, "We already filed a case against the Captain, and have placed his name among the disgraced captains. Other s.h.i.+pping companies will surely not take him in in the future. It's similar to saying that he's banned."

"Okay. But the damaged reputation of Xue s.h.i.+pping could not be restored that easily, could it?" She asked.

"We will hold a press conference after this meeting to put the blame on the Captain - that this incident was initiated soley by him, and by no means could be linked to the company."

"You think that's enough? You said so yourself, we're putting the blame on him. I understand that it was the truth, but the people outside don't know it. It might backfire to us. They might say that we are bullying the poor Captain. Think of other ways to deliver it to the public. You have to capture the sentiments of the people."

"I have delegated a team to block any news in the internet. It was a difficult task since the scope is big, but surprisingly, someone had been helping out behind the scenes in cleaning up evidences. It was a great help to my team, I admit." The PR Head said.

'Chen Linyun. That was his doing?' She was reminded of how her husband works: behind the scenes, with his laptop. Her eyes momentarily glistened with warmness.

"How soon was the s.h.i.+p righted? Four to five hours, if I'm not mistaken. What happened in this period? Has the s.h.i.+p been righted already?"

The TM Head also reported, "Ma'am, Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines have lent a group of skilled people and machinery to help us right the vessel. They were at the site now as we speak."

'Zhu Li Qiang is helping too?' She appreciated the gesture, but could not help but think, 'What's the price to pay?'

"Are we not capable enough ourselves to perform the righting of our own vessel that we still have to rely on other company's help? I believe we are more than capable. Aren't we the leading s.h.i.+pping company?!"

"Reject the help of Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines."

The Technical Marine Head, Director Yun Lifeng's mouth twitched, but nodded in agreement.

"How is the condition of our crew and personnel? Xue Jinxu asked.

The Safety Head answered, "All a hundred had been rescued and found. The Captain had been rescued too and had safely reached the land; however upon his return to land he went missing again."

"The casualties only incurred minor injuries such as open wounds, some broken bones and concussion. No one needed operations or surgeries. All were alive." He summed up his report.

She had let out a sigh of relief. 'Thank G.o.d, all survived!'