The sun was setting in the west, and only a few people remained on the island: an English gentleman with his shirt half-open, a scruffy pirate, and a girl in a lady's dress. They sat on the beach, each holding a glass, chatting and laughing while continuously pouring wine down their throats.
"This wine is really good!" Keira Knightley took another sip from her glass. "It's my first time drinking whiskey that tastes this good."
Clearly, it wasn't her first time drinking.
Matthew tapped the glass in his hand and said, "Depp, you came well-prepared. You even had your assistant bring the glasses."
Johnny Depp didn't respond to Keira Knightley, nor did he pick up on Matthew's words. He simply opened another bottle of tequila, took three new glasses from the box in front of him, placed them on the sand, and poured a small amount for everyone. In Captain Jack Sparrow's effeminate voice, he said, "Come, try Mexican tequila."
Matthew picked up his glass and took a sip. He had drunk tequila before and found it passable. Keira Knightley, however, spit it out immediately after drinking it.
"What is that taste?" She fanned her mouth with her hand. "It's so strange."
This bottle of tequila wasn't like brandy; it had a rather strong, pungent taste.
"Will, Elizabeth..." Johnny Depp seemed to still be in character as Captain Jack Sparrow. He raised his glass to Matthew and Keira Knightley. "To our fantastical adventure, cheers!"
Matthew and Keira Knightley also raised their glasses. "Cheers!"
Soon, the small glass of tequila was empty, and Keira Knightley couldn't help but let out a burp.
Matthew looked at her. "Getting drunk?"
Keira Knightley pouted and said, "You're the one who's drunk!" She snorted and added, "It's fine if I get drunk; at least I won't get seasick."
She didn't drink any more tequila, instead pouring herself half a glass of whiskey. She then poured some for Matthew and Johnny Depp, saying, "No one goes home today until we're all drunk."
Getting truly drunk was, of course, impossible. There were only five or six people left on the island. When the speedboat arrived, someone immediately came to inform them it was time to leave. Matthew and Johnny Depp were still quite sober, but Keira Knightley was slightly tipsy, shouting to continue drinking.
Matthew pulled her onto the speedboat. As soon as the speedboat started, the sea breeze hit them, and Keira Knightley, feeling the effects of the alcohol, became drowsy and fell asleep in the back seat of the boat.
There was plenty of space on the speedboat, so the five or six people sat relatively spread out. The sun was about to set, and the wind on the sea was much stronger than before. Matthew, who had drunk no less than Keira Knightley, felt a bit sleepy and dozed off in the seat in front of her.
The sun quickly dipped below the horizon. In a hazy state, Matthew opened his eyes and saw that the tide seemed to be coming in.
"The tide is coming in!" someone at the front, near the driver's seat, reminded the speedboat driver. "Be careful!"
The speaker was the assistant producer in charge of external relations for the crew; he had arranged for all these yachts and speedboats.
"Don't worry, don't worry!" the driver said in accented English. "There aren't many reefs in this area, so relax."
As the water rose, some reefs that had been exposed became submerged, and the driver noticeably slowed the speedboat to avoid any accidents.
Matthew drowsily closed his eyes again. Just as he was about to fall asleep, the speedboat suddenly jolted. He reflexively opened his eyes, gripping the boat's railing. The boat immediately veered off its original course, made a sharp turn, and stopped.
"We hit a reef! We hit a reef!" panicked shouts immediately broke out.
At this, Matthew fully sobered up.
From behind, Keira Knightley's groggy voice came, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Matthew looked back and saw her clutching her head, looking completely confused.
"We hit a reef!" someone shouted. "We hit a reef!"
There was clear panic in that voice.
"Don't panic!" The driver was still relatively calm, reminding them, "Everyone, check if there's any water leaking in."
Matthew glanced at Johnny Depp. He didn't know if he was drunk and confused, but he sat calmly in the seat next to him, eyes narrowed, with no expression on his face.
"Here!" a prop master shouted. "Water's coming in here!"
At these words, more panicked voices erupted on the boat, instantly turning into a chaotic clamor.
The speedboat was ten meters long. The driver in front had already called for rescue. Matthew went to take a look and saw that the leak in the speedboat wasn't large; water was only slowly seeping in. He breathed a sigh of relief, realizing the boat wouldn't sink anytime soon.
However, the boat's engine had some problems. After the driver checked the damage and restarted the speedboat, it couldn't pick up speed, only moving slower than a person walking. Still, this prevented the rising tide from carrying the speedboat in an unknown direction or hitting another reef.
"We... we won't be able to go back, will we?" Keira Knightley reached out from behind and grabbed Matthew's arm. "We won't... we won't sink to the bottom of the sea, will we?"
Matthew glanced at her. Keira Knightley had hit her head, and the area below her left temple was red. He gently patted her hand to comfort her, "It's okay, someone will come to help us soon!"
Although the sun had set, the sky was still bright, and they were very visible on the sea. As long as the boat didn't sink, nothing bad would happen.
Keira Knightley's drunkenness had long been scared away. She was, after all, a girl under eighteen and still somewhat flustered, especially feeling uneasy being alone in the back row. She clumsily came over and squeezed in between Matthew and Depp.
She grabbed Matthew with one hand and tried to grab Depp with the other, but after looking at Depp's thin frame, that hand returned to Matthew's arm.
Matthew could feel that Keira Knightley was gripping his arm very tightly, almost painfully.
"It's going to be okay," Matthew reassured her again. "Rescue will be here soon."
As he said this, he looked back. The island was faintly visible, and he wondered if, should the boat truly sink, they could use the rising tide to return to that island and wait for rescue.
"What's wrong? Why aren't we moving?" Johnny Depp woke up, completely confused. "Why have we stopped? Are we going to spend the night in the Caribbean? Don't be silly, the Flying Dutchman could come at any moment."
The Flying Dutchman was a ghost ship frequently mentioned since the seventeenth century, rumored that encountering it meant never being able to return home.
Everyone in the crew had, of course, heard of the Flying Dutchman.
Keira Knightley involuntarily gripped Matthew even tighter. Matthew looked at Johnny Depp, who seemed to live in another world, and said, "Alright, Depp, don't scare Keira!"
Johnny Depp smiled, magically pulled out the remaining bottle of whiskey from beside his seat, unscrewed the cap, held it to his mouth, took a direct swig, and then offered it, saying, "Want some?"
Keira Knightley shook her head. Matthew took the bottle, also drank directly from it without touching his lips to the bottle, and then gave Depp a thumbs-up. "Good wine!"
He continued drinking because he had heard the sound of an engine.
Soon, two smaller speedboats appeared on the horizon. Jerry Bruckheimer, who had originally stayed on the yacht, personally led the team to their rescue.
This reef incident ultimately passed without serious harm.
Matthew was fine; everything was normal after he returned, as the situation at the time wasn't particularly dangerous. Johnny Depp was also fine; no one knew what world that eccentric truly lived in.
The more troubled one was Keira Knightley; she was clearly shaken.
After such an incident, filming for the crew couldn't continue. Besides Helen Herman, who was already in Acapulco, Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley's agents quickly arrived at the set.
Actually, it wasn't a big deal. The crew provided some appropriate compensation, and the incident passed. The crew additionally gave Matthew a bonus of three hundred thousand dollars; he didn't know what compensation the other two received.
Presumably, Depp would have gotten a better deal, and Keira Knightley's would be similar to Matthew's.
The crew specifically revised the filming schedule, giving the three a five-day break. Johnny Depp returned to Los Angeles. Matthew, being a lone wolf wherever he went, simply stayed in Acapulco. Keira Knightley, after her mother arrived, also decided not to return to the UK and stayed.
Both became idle, and they agreed to go swimming together. Keira Knightley could swim but wasn't proficient. After this incident, she decided to practice seriously.
Matthew boasted about his excellent swimming skills and successfully became Keira Knightley's swimming coach.
However, for the first swimming lesson, Keira Knightley refused to get into the water.
"Are you here to practice swimming? Or to admire the scenery?"
On the hotel beach, Matthew, wearing square swim trunks, walked along the water's edge with Keira Knightley. Keira Knightley pouted and pointed to the chest area of her one-piece swimsuit. "My psychological trauma hasn't healed yet. I feel dizzy just seeing the seawater now. I'm not like you; I need to solve my psychological issues first."
She pointed to her chest, and Matthew unconsciously glanced there.
Keira Knightley noticed Matthew's gaze and said, "Don't look at me with such lecherous eyes."
"Lecherous eyes?" Matthew snorted disdainfully, then glanced at Keira Knightley's chest again. He then puffed out his own chest, making his pectoral muscles more prominent, and said, "Your chest isn't even as big as mine. What's there to look at?"
Keira Knightley stopped, about to say something, but seeing Matthew's muscular chest, she stammered and couldn't get any words out.
After a while, she finally said, "Big chests on men are a deformity!" Then, she deliberately taunted, "You can go buy a B-cup."
Hearing this taunt, Matthew deliberately tilted his head and asked, "Alright, Keira. Let me ask you, do you even have an A-cup?"