Chapter 309: Opening The Next Box

Zeyu found the cargo plan in a drawer beneath the chart table, folded so many times that one corner had nearly torn away.

He carried it downstairs between two stiff folders and spread it across the mess-room table after breakfast. Shichen moved the dishes out of his way while Zhiyi leaned forward to look at the rows of numbered rectangles.

The ship had seemed large enough from the water. Looking at the plan, Zeyu realized how little of it they had actually seen.

Some cargo sat beneath the open sky, stacked higher than they could safely reach without machinery.

Other loads were below deck, behind hatches they hadn’t tried to open. He followed the container numbers along one side, comparing them with the delivery list until he found a match.

"This one should be near the walkway," Zeyu said, holding his finger against the paper while Shichen checked the number. "Household goods. If the doors face the way I think they do, we can get to it without moving anything."

Qinghe set his cup beside the plan and bent to read the description.

"Does that mean clothes and blankets, or are we about to find enough dining tables for a hotel?" Qinghe asked, smiling as he looked toward the oversized sleeves covering Zhiyi’s hands.

"There’s a packing list somewhere that would tell us," Zeyu replied. "For now, I’m willing to open it and hope. I’d settle for shoes that stay on when I lift my feet."

Hanchuan stood behind Zhiyi’s chair, reading over her shoulder. He had already been outside with Jingwei to check the little boat and the weather, and the ends of his hair were still wet.

"We’ll start with that one," Hanchuan said, tapping the marked rectangle. "But we look before we undo anything. I don’t want a load falling on someone because we’ve finally found a door we can open."

Zeyu folded the plan along its existing creases and slipped it between the folders again.

He had spent enough years around deliveries to know how easily a shifted load could turn dangerous. The cargo on this ship had survived a journey none of its packers could have planned for.

Outside, the rain had stopped, leaving the deck wet beneath a low gray sky. Water dripped from the containers overhead and ran along the edges of the walkway.

Zeyu kept one hand near the rail as they went forward, listening to Shichen read out the numbers until they reached the one he had marked.

The doors faced a narrow working space between two rows.

There was room to stand and open them, though not enough to forget where the edge of the passage was. Hanchuan moved Zhiyi beside him while Jingwei examined the locking bars.

Zeyu checked the lower corners and the frame. The metal was scratched, with rust around several fittings, but nothing suggested the doors had been forced outward. A seal still joined the handles.

"The frame looks straight," Zeyu said, crouching to examine the bottom edge. "We’ll secure the door before we release it. If anything’s leaning against it, I want it opening a few inches instead of hitting us."

They took their time arranging the restraint.

Shichen worked beside Jingwei while Zeyu found a position where he could reach the handle without standing directly in front of the door.

The bar resisted at first, and he had to change his grip before it began to turn.

When the door finally moved, it scraped across the frame with a noise that made Zhiyi draw closer to Hanchuan.

Zeyu paused, watching the narrow opening. Nothing pressed through it, and the restraint remained slack.

He opened it farther once Jingwei had checked inside with the flashlight.

Cardboard boxes filled the container from side to side, secured in rows.

The air smelled of dry packaging, plastic, and something faintly floral. Zeyu stood in the doorway for a moment, looking at the undamaged cartons nearest his feet.

Qinghe came beside him and turned his light toward a printed label.

"Bath towels," Qinghe read aloud, sounding pleased enough that Zeyu smiled. "If the rest of it is like this, I’m happy to carry boxes all morning."

Shichen checked the neighboring stack while Hanchuan remained outside with Zhiyi.

There were sheets, pillows, and boxed bedding farther in, along with smaller cartons whose labels faced the wrong way.

Zeyu resisted the urge to start pulling things out until they understood how the load was secured.

They cleared only what they needed to reach the first carton. Jingwei cut the wrapping while Shichen held it steady, and Zeyu eased the box free without disturbing the row behind it.

He carried it outside and set it on a dry section of the packing sheet Qinghe had brought.

Zhiyi crouched beside Hanchuan as he opened the flaps. Pale blue towels lay folded inside, packed so tightly that the first took both hands to lift.

She accepted it from him and pressed her fingers into the thick fabric.

"These are much softer than the ones upstairs," Zhiyi said, rubbing a corner between her thumb and finger. "Can we use these instead?"

Hanchuan smiled at her expression and brushed his hand over her hair.

"That’s why we opened it, sweetheart," Hanchuan replied. "Choose enough for all of us, and we’ll take them back with the bedding."

Zeyu turned away before she noticed how closely he had been watching. He remembered ordering linens for rooms they might never use, choosing quantities from a screen while someone else handled the deliveries.

Now he was standing beside a box of towels, relieved that she could have something soft against her skin.

They found pillows next, then sheets and light blankets. Qinghe kept count while Zhiyi chose bundles, trying to judge which would fit the narrow cabin beds.

Shichen held up two packages for her to compare, patiently turning them when she wanted to see the measurements.

Zeyu went back to the container for another carton. Without the first row in front of it, he could see a smaller box tucked alongside the bedding.

He wiped dust from the label, then leaned closer to make certain he had read it correctly.

Women’s shoes, packed by size.

He carried it outside and set it beside Zhiyi before opening the lid. Several individual boxes lay inside, each marked with a size and a small picture of the shoes within.

"I’m not promising they’ll fit," Zeyu told her, taking out the nearest box. "But I’d like you to try these before you walk back in those slippers."

Zhiyi looked from the box to his face, and the smile she gave him made him glad he had brought it over himself.

Hanchuan found a low crate for her to sit on while Qinghe checked her heel. Zeyu knelt in front of her with the first pair, loosening the laces before lifting one shoe toward her foot.

The toe barely reached halfway on.

"Well, that one’s mine for looking at the wrong label," Zeyu admitted, laughing as he put it back. "Stay there. I’ve got an entire box, and I’m not giving up after one pair."

Zhiyi rested her hand on his shoulder while he reached for the next size. Behind them, Jingwei called Hanchuan over to look at another label farther inside the container, but Zeyu kept his attention on the shoe in his hands.

For once, finding what she needed might only take opening the next box.