Liang Minfeng woke up groggily, yawning repeatedly. He glanced at his phone, then slowly got out of bed. Seeing Li Haochen still holding a large plastic bucket, he walked over curiously, "What's this?"
"Can't you see?" Li Haochen placed the bucket on the ground and walked into the bathroom without acknowledging Liang Minfeng.
"Wow, so many conches? Did you buy these, Lao San?" Liang Minfeng was startled by the sheer quantity of conches. Although he hadn't eaten them, he knew they weren't cheap here in Binhai.
Li Haochen, who was washing up in the bathroom, shouted back grumpily, "Who would spend hundreds of yuan on conches to feed three pigs like you?"
"Damn it, when you come out, I'll show you the 'Shadow Grasping Dragon Claw Hand'!" Liang Minfeng had a strong urge to beat Li Haochen up.
"Clang~~"
"Lao Si, what are you doing loitering around there?" The volunteer duo, who had just returned, asked curiously as they saw Liang Wencong circling a plastic bucket.
"Yo, our volunteer duo are back from their good deeds so quickly?" Liang Minfeng teased Chen He and Liu Dehui with a punchable expression.
Chen He and the other looked exhausted and slumped onto the bed weakly. "No energy to deal with you, pig. Wait until I recover my strength, and I'll sort you out."
Li Haochen, who had just finished showering, was half-naked, revealing his muscular physique. He wiped his hair and said, "You're back? What happened to you two, looking so tired?"
"What else? Went volunteering, hahahaha!" Liang Minfeng interjected.
Li Haochen chuckled, picked up a knife, and walked out to the small balcony. Before long, he returned with three young coconuts that had small holes poked in them. "Here, have a taste. Fresh young coconuts."
As soon as food was mentioned, the two lying on the bed like salted fish moved with such speed that Li Haochen was amazed.
A gust of wind blew past. One moment the three young coconuts were in Li Haochen's hands, and the next they were in the hands of three people, being enjoyed.
"Wow, this coconut water is so delicious."
"Mmm, sweet and fragrant, with an endless aftertaste, like drinking the dew of the heavens."
"Tch, Lao Da, stop showing off your pathetic vocabulary. You need to learn from me, with my poetic and picturesque verses, to truly show how extraordinary this coconut water is. Ah, young coconut, your juice is so incredibly delicious!" Liang Minfeng's lewd and punchable expression instantly earned him international gestures from the other three.
"Lao San, where did you buy these young coconuts? They're really good, much better than the ones on the pedestrian street," Li Dehui asked while drinking.
Li Haochen, carrying the conches, walked onto the balcony to clean them. He fabricated a story, "I went to a secluded cove in Dalong Village this morning to pick shells and got these."
"Pick shells? You picked these conches?" Liang Minfeng asked in disbelief.
"Do you think I gave birth to them? You idiot!" Li Haochen shot him a look.
Chen He and Liu Dehui, who came from well-off families and had some understanding of Li Haochen's background, immediately stepped forward to stop him from cleaning the conches and tried to dissuade him.
Chen He grabbed Li Haochen and said, "You guy, why are you washing them? Quickly take them to the pier and sell them! Lots of people buy them there, and they're really expensive!"
"Yeah, Lao San, hurry and sell them. There must be several hundred yuan for this many," Liu Dehui also said with concern.
"It's fine, I've already sold quite a bit and made a few hundred yuan. I brought these back for everyone to try." Li Haochen poured the cleaned conches into a basin of water, sprinkled some sea salt, wiped off the moisture, and smiled. "They need to be kept in water with salt to expel the sand before eating. We'll process them tonight and have a conch feast."
"You guy, alright, let's go out for a feast tonight. How about inviting Li Huilan and her dorm mates?" Chen He said with an ulterior motive, smiling.
"I second that!"
"+1..."
...
Ring ring ring~
"Haochen, dinner's ready, aren't you coming?"
"No, I have something later. You guys go ahead and eat." Li Haochen had just received a WeChat message from Murong Yanran and naturally wanted to ditch his three large "light bulbs."
Li Haochen hurried to the lakeside pavilion at Binhai University, eagerly anticipating her arrival.
Suddenly, a couple walked along the lakeside path. The familiar figure caused a ripple in Li Haochen's heart. As if sensing something was amiss, Li Qianrong looked up towards the lakeside pavilion.
"Haochen?" Li Qianrong's voice clearly showed a trace of emotion as she stared directly at Li Haochen not far away.
"You know him?" The boy next to Li Qianrong asked with a hint of jealousy.
"He's my high school classmate. I repeated a year, I didn't expect him to be here. Zhihao, I'm going to talk to him." Li Qianrong said.
"Let's go together!" Zhang Zhihao didn't give Li Qianrong a chance to refuse. He wrapped his arm around her waist and walked towards the lakeside pavilion, as if asserting his claim.
As Zhang Zihao held Li Qianrong's waist, Li Haochen clearly felt uncomfortable. "She's already dating!"
"Haochen, long time no see."
"Yeah, it has been over a year!" Li Haochen nodded to Zhang Zihao beside him as a greeting.
"I heard you got the top score. Why did you choose to come here?"
"Why did I choose here?" Li Haochen looked at Li Qianrong and smiled. "I'm a fisherman. I love the sea, so I chose to come here."
Hearing Li Haochen say this, Li Qianrong breathed a sigh of relief, but a hint of loss flashed in her heart.
"Oh, a fisherman. That's good. Although it's a bit harder, the income is quite good. Seafood is so expensive these days, hehe!"
As the two were talking, Zhang Zhihao's out-of-place remark suddenly interrupted, causing Li Haochen considerable displeasure. Although Li Qianrong felt a bit awkward, she didn't stop or blame him.
Li Haochen chuckled and didn't reply. Zhang Zhihao continued to flaunt his superiority, "Junior, I'm Zhang Zhihao, the Vice President of the Student Union. If you have any difficulties in the future, come find me. After all, she's your classmate, so I'll definitely take care of you."
"Heh, thank you then, Vice President Zhang." Li Haochen smiled slightly, emphasizing the word "Vice."
"You~" Zhang Zhihao hated it most when people mentioned "Vice" in front of him. He glared at Li Haochen, wanting nothing more than to humiliate him. Just as he was about to explode, Li Qianrong, standing beside him, hooked her arm around Zhang Zhihao's arm and said in a fawning manner, "Zhihao, why are you arguing with ordinary people like him? We're not on the same level anymore. Just ignore him. Let's go, I'm starving!"
"Oh, right. Why would I, a person of higher status, stoop to argue with these commoners? I almost lowered myself." Zhang Zhihao, after being spoken to by Li Qianrong, felt his twisted sense of superiority being satisfied. He happily kissed Li Qianrong and said, "You're the best, my darling. Come on, I'll buy you that bag you liked a few days ago."
"Really? My dear, you're so good!" As soon as Zhang Zhihao finished speaking, Li Qianrong's face lit up with joy. Ignoring Li Haochen beside them, she playfully stood on tiptoe and kissed Zhang Zhihao.
Watching the two walk away arm in arm, Li Haochen shook his head and sighed, "You've changed after all!"