“Hey, where is everyone?”

As the three women were about to glare at them, they noticed the two had submerged into the sea.

When they resurfaced, they were a pair of lovebirds.

“They kissed!” He Sijiao stated definitively.

“In the seawater?” Zhou Fu found it a bit absurd. If they really kissed, who were they trying to hide it from?

Were they not even allowed to watch?

Tang Siwen frowned, inexplicably feeling a bitter, salty taste in her mouth…

"Ptooey."

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

After emerging from the sea, Xia Xinyu quickly spat out the seawater that had entered her mouth during the *mua*, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

After spitting it all out, she still felt uneasy, so she stuck out a small bit of her tongue, like a kitten trying to cool down when it’s too hot.

Then, she saw Chen Yuan staring blankly at her, saying with hurt feelings, “Was kissing me that difficult?”

“Ah?” Xia Xinyu finally realized what was happening and quickly waved her hands, panicking. “No! It wasn't difficult at all. It’s just that seawater got in my mouth, so it felt really salty…”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“No, really!” Seeing that Chen Yuan was about to misunderstand and think she found his kiss reluctant, Xia Xinyu immediately hugged Chen Yuan's arm, her face flushed with embarrassment, and explained, “Really, it wasn't. It was really… a good kiss. I'm not lying.”

*Of course I know you're not lying.*

*How could I not know it was a good kiss?*

*It was great.*

*Like encountering the most beautiful siren in the sea, bewitching the young sailor, making him teary-eyed and dizzy…*

*Damn it, seawater is so harsh, my eyes are a little sore.*

But at that moment, he had no time to worry about the pain. Looking at Xinyu hugging his arm, he slowly reached out to put a hand on her back…

“Ooh-la-la—”

Then, they heard the chorus of teasing from the two women.

*Snow Leopard, shut up, don't ruin my good time.*

“No, it's not.” Xia Xinyu quickly let go and stammeringly explained to everyone, “There was a… there was a spider that scared me!”

“Hahaha, a spider?” Zhou Fu was amused and chimed in with He Sijiao, “See, someone is blaming the intimacy on a spi…”

“Spiders at the beach… actually seem pretty common, huh.”

Unexpectedly, He Sijiao, just like when she had been gossiping with her about Chen Yuan, suddenly lacked confidence and even spoke up for him.

*Seriously, Jiao-jie, how many weaknesses do you have?*

*It’s such a pleasure to work with you (smile).*

“Let's go to the shore,” Chen Yuan said to Xia Xinyu.

“...Okay.” Xia Xinyu nodded and walked slowly beside Chen Yuan, then whispered when they were a little further away from the onlookers, “Are you happy?”

*Guys should be happy when they get kissed, right?*

Xia Xinyu didn't know, she had never been kissed before.

She had originally thought of kissing him directly on the lips, but at that moment, she suddenly chickened out.

So she closed her eyes and kissed his cheek instead.

Although it might still be too small of a gesture for Chen Yuan.

But this was already the limit of what she could do.

*If you're not satisfied… then you come and do it.*

*I'll be the passive one.*

“Happy.”

Then, she received Chen Yuan's two-word reply, and he even smiled quite cheerfully, just like he had that day at the basketball game, sunny and outgoing.

“Nothing, no other feelings?” Xia Xinyu continued to ask softly.

“I want to return one,” Chen Yuan said straightforwardly, looking at her.

“…”

Xia Xinyu bit her lip, not knowing what to do. She looked up at him, feeling a little shy, then lowered her head, turning her gaze away. After hesitating for a long while, she finally said in a low voice, her face flushed, “Do whatever you want… I won’t refuse you. I'm your girl… Of course, I'll listen to whatever you say…”

Xia Xinyu's words were almost becoming a murmur, her voice getting softer and softer, more and more unclear.

But Chen Yuan finally understood.

“So, that means it's okay?” Chen Yuan asked, chasing her eyes.

“I, I don't know…”

Xia Xinyu's face turned even redder, and she didn't understand why he had to chase her gaze, so she continued to avoid it. After dodging until she really couldn't dodge anymore, she said, “Don’t, don’t ask me.”

*Why do you have to ask for someone else's opinion before you act?*

*Of course, it's because I don't want to go against the girl's wishes.*

But looking at the girl's attitude, her wishes seemed to be surprisingly aligned with his own.

*Then…*

*Stare—*

At this moment, three gazes were cast over again, hitting Chen Yuan and Xinyu directly.

*Snow Leopard, close your eyes, don't ruin my good time again!*

“My eyes, they’re a little sore…” Xia Xinyu blinked, feeling a dryness, as if there were small stones stuck in the corners of her eyes, making her particularly uncomfortable.

Just as she was about to rub them with her hand, Chen Yuan quickly stopped her, saying, “Don't, let me rinse them with clean water for you.”

*You should still wear swimming goggles when swimming in the sea.*

But Chen Yuan had only opened his eyes for a second, so it wasn't a big deal.

And Xia Xinyu, clearly, was a little too stubborn in her pursuit of ‘plotting’ this matter.

*Seriously, if you didn't want to be seen, you could have just found an opportunity, right?*

*Weren't you pretty good at using blind spots before?*

In short, a kiss was a small matter, but inflammation would be hard to deal with.

So Chen Yuan led Xia Xinyu to the beach, washed her eyes with clean water, then asked Zhou Fu for eye drops and braced himself to speed up the process.

Finally, Xia Xinyu finally recovered and felt no pain at all.

But Chen Yuan was a little overwhelmed.

He had overspent too much.

He felt that he couldn't overdo it, or he might not be able to get hard when it really mattered, and that would be too embarrassing.

“There seem to be more and more people on the beach…”

Xia Xinyu suddenly noticed that there were gradually more tourists.

There were even jet ski rides available.

“Yeah, because the weather has cleared up,” Chen Yuan said.

“Didn't the weather clear up a long time ago?” Xia Xinyu didn't understand.

Xia Xinyu's weather had cleared up a long time ago, but the weather in Ningcheng had only just cleared up.

*What does the phrase "the weather in Ningcheng has only just cleared up" want to express?*

*It doesn't want to express anything!*

*Damn it, is there a problem with me saying 'the author wrote that it was raining outside because it was really raining outside when they were writing'?*

“Come, come, let's take a group photo!”

Just then, He Sijiao waved to the two of them.

“Let's go, it's time for tourist photos,” Chen Yuan said.

“Wait.” Xia Xinyu called out to Chen Yuan, adjusted her wet bangs a little, and asked uncertainly, “Is this, okay?”

“Looking good, looking good,” Chen Yuan nodded in agreement.

“Saying it looks good once is true, saying it twice is…” Xia Xinyu said leisurely.

There was no other way. Chen Yuan could only stick his fingers into her hair like a hair stylist, tousling it methodically to make it look more fluffy, and then use the same method to tidy up her bangs.

Previously, her wet hair clinging to her skin did make Xia Xinyu look a little casual.

But now, this state of silky strands covered in water droplets made her look even more charming.

Looking around, among all the swimsuit-clad girls on this beach, none were as beautiful as the one beside him.

Some say it's a feeling of novelty, and after looking at it for a long time, it won't be as stunning.

However, that obviously didn't apply to Xia Xinyu.

Since that day at the reservoir, Chen Yuan had been looking at her every day.

She had always been the most beautiful girl in his eyes.

*That sounds a bit like a scumbag's lines.*

*Let's make a bet, will Chen Yuan still think so many years later?*

“A little lower,” Xia Xinyu also said to Chen Yuan.

Then, he lowered his head.

Xia Xinyu then used her fingers to tousle Chen Yuan's hair, tidying up his appearance to the best she approved of.

Then, smiling, she took his hand and ran towards the waiting crowd, “Let's go take pictures, everyone's getting impatient!”

Following Xia Xinyu's steps, he saw the dark hair like a dark current, dancing so lightly again…

The scene from underwater came back to his mind.

And the lingering power of that kiss was now gradually manifesting.

Today, he would return the kiss.

…………

Standing at the door of the bathroom on the first floor of the villa, holding a basin in his hand, Chen Yuan was absorbed in the group photos taken by Zhou Fu with a selfie stick.

Are people who are beautiful and photogenic really this invincible?

Tang Siwen and Xia Xinyu, under the original camera, were so beautiful that they could debut as idols.

As for the others, it was mainly to capture the atmosphere of lasting friendship, which was also pretty good-looking, but there was still a certain gap compared to those two little beauties.

Of course, Zhou Fu had other special skills to compensate, allowing her to be locked onto at first glance even without standing in the center position.

So, this photo wouldn't be posted.

But it couldn't be posted casually, or it would be too much of a loss if someone caught a glimpse of his phone and saw Xinyu's swimsuit at a glance.

So, he put this one in ‘Class 18.’

*What, Xia Xinyu's class affiliation is in Class 3 of Fourth High?*

*When you marry a chicken, follow the chicken; when you marry a dog, follow the dog.*

Even the most noble Fourth High master has to become an honorary Eleventh High person after dating an Eleventh High person.

*Conversely… it works too.*

*I'm also half a Fourth High person.*

After a while, Zhou Yu came out after taking a shower, and was so frightened to see Chen Yuan at the door that his hand trembled.

The soap in his hand slipped and fell to the ground.

Zhou Yu bent down to pick it up.

Then, Chen Yuan began to make the motion of unbuckling his belt, startling him.

“No, what are you doing?” Zhou Yu cautiously straightened his body.

“I'm taking a shower, what do you think I'm doing?” Chen Yuan retorted.

“Then can't you go inside to unbuckle your belt?”

“Then don't fucking block me.”

“...Tsk.” Zhou Yu stepped aside, letting Chen Yuan in, then bent over awkwardly.

“Hey!”

Because of Chen Yuan's sudden low reminder from behind, Zhou Yu immediately covered his rear, shivering in fright.

But after seeing the other party's mischievous smile, he got angry, “Idiot!”

“Hurry up and crawl, I'm going to close the door.”

Chen Yuan gently pushed the soap out the door with his foot, closed the door, indicating that he wasn't messing with him.

Zhou Yu then carefully bent down, and at that moment, Chen Yuan suddenly opened the door, “Yu-zi ah…”

“You crawl!” Zhou Yu was annoyed and cursed, “Dentist, *xi ba, shake it!*”

“I was just asking you how to use the hot water, why are you so excited?”

“Please, don't be so disgusting, okay?”

“A benevolent person sees benevolence, and a lewd person sees lewdness.”

Chen Yuan smiled mockingly, intending to close the door, and then suddenly saw Zhou Fu, who had been lurking on the stairs at some point, looking at this place, revealing an auntie smile.

*Damn it, is this chapter becoming your welfare chapter?*

“Hey? What are you doing here?” Zhou Yu asked Zhou Fu, confused, as he went upstairs.

“There are too many girls, so I'll just wait downstairs.”

“Oh, then I'll go up first.”

“Okay.” Zhou Fu nodded to Zhou Yu, then looked at Chen Yuan with a loving expression, full of joy.

*Snap*, Chen Yuan closed the door.

Ignoring the idiot.

Just like that, he released the hot water, took a shower, washed his hair, lathered the important spots with body wash, and then spread it around, the classic men's shower method.

Five minutes later, after finishing his shower, he opened the door, and then saw Zhou Fu, who was standing in front of him with a plastic bag containing a change of clothes.

“Did you teach Xinyu how to swim today?” she asked with a smile.

“Yeah, she learned pretty fast.”

“You're really good, that way you can have as much physical contact as possible,” Zhou Fu said with a gratified smile, as if saying, "The child has grown up."

“A benevolent person sees benevolence!” Chen Yuan retorted again, then went upstairs.

“Chen Yuan.”

Chen Yuan heard her call him, turned around, and then saw the black lace panties hidden in the corner of the plastic bag…

*Hiss, so bold?*

That's right, for Zhou Fu's size, sellers all assumed that they were for married women, so it would be difficult for her to buy something that wasn't sexy.

*Too bad for our Xinyu, who mainly wears cute and refreshing things…*

“Everyone has decided to play ping pong together later,” Zhou Fu said.

“Okay, I'll go upstairs to dry my hair first.”

Chen Yuan went to his and Zhou Yu's room, dried his hair, then played on his phone for forty-five minutes. At around 9:30 PM, the four girls finally finished showering and changed into more casual sportswear.

Among them, Xinyu wasn't wearing a skirt either, but a pair of light cyan loose jeans, plus a knitted sweater and a long ponytail, making her look quite homely.

Everyone was like this in the ping pong room.

“Let me introduce the rules.”

He Sijiao put a few bottles of Laoshan Holy Water (Laoshan Herbal Flower Snake Water) that she had bought when they came back on the table next to them, along with six clean paper cups with names written on them, and said, “We're going to play a question and answer ping pong game. The person who loses has to drink a sip of the holy water.”

“Hiss—” Seeing this thing, Chen Yuan was numb. “Why would anyone spend money to buy this mop water-flavored drink?”

As one of the classic punishment games in karaoke, ninety percent of Laoshan Holy Water sales are in various entertainment venues.

The fact that this thing hasn't been discontinued is entirely due to the evil of human nature driving this sinful industry.

It's like stale mop water, with nothing but disgustingness.

“Is it hard to drink?” Xia Xinyu asked curiously, looking at it. “It looks pretty pure.”

“It's like the bowel cleansing medicine you drink when you get a colonoscopy, extremely disgusting,” Zhou Yu said with a pained expression.

Then, no one resonated with his experienced opinion.

*Fine, everyone has a good stomach.*

“Well then, let the two boys go first,” He Sijiao said.

Although they didn't like drinking ‘holy water,’ both were quite confident in their ping pong skills, and since everyone had to take turns, they couldn't escape anyway.

So the two took their positions and held their paddles very naturally.

Then, Zhou Fu used a phone app to look up some questions, raised her hand, and said, “Let's begin.”

Chen Yuan served, and Zhou Yu received.

At this moment, Zhou Fu asked, “Please name a Japanese female celebrity you know.”

“Ishihara Satomi!”

Zhou Yu answered directly while hitting the ball, very confidently.

“...Yui Aragaki,” Chen Yuan paused for a moment, but barely managed to answer and hit the ball back.

Then, Zhou Yu froze, as if he had crashed.

Seeing that the ball was about to bounce off the table, he rushed to receive it and said,

“Mikami… I'll drink.”

In the end, Zhou Yu put down his paddle and raised the cup with his name on it, taking a sip of the holy water.

It was so ‘spicy’ that he grimaced, as if he had drunk soju.

“Hey? You don't even know that?” He Sijiao thought Zhou Yu was really a noob.

“Yeah.” Zhou Fu didn't understand either, giving random examples, “Haruka Ayase, Kanna Hashimoto, Aimyon, there are so many famous big stars.”

“Is that all you know?” Chen Yuan smiled.

“Ah?” Zhou Fu didn't understand.

At this moment, Zhou Yu also smiled bitterly, “If I hadn't been weakened by the update, would it be this little brat's turn to be arrogant here?”

Indeed, Yu-zi's knowledge was still very broad.

But having a girlfriend restricted him too much!

“Did he just say half of something, Mikami something,” Xia Xinyu asked, confused.

“I think I know what it is,” He Sijiao realized, then glared at the two boys.

“What?” Tang Siwen asked, puzzled.

At this time, Zhou Fu used what He Sijiao had told her before, “If boys are talking about something you don't understand, just think about it in a dirty way.”

“So corny.”

After He Sijiao said this, she stood opposite Chen Yuan, as the second opponent.

Then, He Sijiao served, and Chen Yuan received.

“Name the specially designated cities in the state plan (a total of five).”

“This is easy! The city we're in is one,” He Sijiao shouted after hitting the ball, “Ningcheng!”

“Very energetic,” Chen Yuan also said, hitting the ball back, “Lümen!”

“Qingniao!”

“Shenchuan!”

“The last one…”

He Sijiao started brainstorming, then said confidently, “Fucheng!”

“That's wrong,” Zhou Fu interrupted with a smile, explaining, “The fifth one is Yunlian.”

“Eh? Then what is Fucheng?” He Sijiao was dumbfounded, in disbelief.

“A prefecture-level city,” Chen Yuan said with confidence.

“What the hell? How can a provincial capital only be a prefecture-level city?” He Sijiao was unconvinced. “Could it be a sub-provincial city?”

“It's just a prefecture-level city, you idiot,” Chen Yuan continued to mock.

Just as the two were about to argue, Zhou Fu searched on Baidu and then said, “Chen Yuan is right, an ordinary prefecture-level city.”

“Damn Fucheng, you ruined me!” He Sijiao angrily put down her paddle, drank the sip of holy water, then showed a disgusted, retching expression, as if her soul had been taken away.

“Next one.”

Chen Yuan directly became poop turned into an ice cream cone – acting high and mighty.

“I'll go, I'll go!”

Xia Xinyu thought this looked pretty fun, so she took the initiative to go on stage, holding the paddle upright, “But I'm not very good at ping pong, so don't smash the ball, okay?”

“Understood, it's all about having fun,” Chen Yuan gave an okay sign.

So, the two began.

“Name an illegal activity you know, note: not a crime.”

“This is easy,” Chen Yuan gently hit the ball over to Xia Xinyu, feeding her the ball, and said, “Riding a scooter without a helmet.”

“…” Xia Xinyu was so focused on receiving the ball that she forgot to think for a moment, and only added when she touched the ball, “Riding *on* a scooter without a helmet!”

“Riding a shared bicycle with someone!”

“Uh… uh, sitting on the *back* of a shared bicycle!”

“Xia Xinyu is so sneaky…” He Sijiao exclaimed.

“Does it feel like this is something they've done?” Zhou Fu vaguely smelled the scent of dog food.

“Browsing pornographic websites!”

“Hey, how can you look at that ki… gambling!” Xia Xinyu almost lost the point because of denouncing Chen Yuan's bad habits.

“Adults entering a ball pit… of course, that's not illegal,” Chen Yuan thought of another one in the moment of receiving the ball, “Nude chat!”

“The scene is gradually getting explicit,” He Sijiao complained.

“It feels like Xinyu can't hold on much longer, mainly because she has to divide her attention to receive the ball…”

“Uh, young love… young love at Fourth High!” Xia Xinyu quickly added.

“No, does that even count?” Zhou Yu complained.

“It counts,” He Sijiao said with a serious face, based on the principle of girls help girls, “Military law.”

“Hacking!”

“Uh… uh…”

Xia Xinyu panicked, received a ball, but was still in a daze. She only spoke up after the ball was about to fall on the table, “Cohabitation without marriage!”

“Now, that really can't count,” Zhou Fu had already let Xia Xinyu off once, and now she became strict with the law.

“Then why did I hear about illegal cohabitation?” Xia Xinyu asked.

Zhou Yu said, “That should be when someone has a spouse, hasn't divorced yet, and is cohabitating with someone else, right?”

“Yes,” Zhou Fu nodded.

“Then that kind of thing doesn't count for Xinyu and Chen Yuan?” He Sijiao asked curiously.

“No! We live across the hall!” Xia Xinyu explained, her face flushed.

“Ah haha, sorry, sorry.”

He Sijiao just wanted to make a joke, but the way the other party seriously answered made the joke seem especially unfunny.

“Haha.” Zhou Yu looked at He Sijiao and laughed monotonously.

“Thank you,” He Sijiao also thanked him monotonously.

“Drink, drink this kind of thing…” Xia Xinyu held the cup, smelled the scent, and felt a little apprehensive.

“You can double the amount for Chen Yuan and let him drink it for you,” He Sijiao said.

Then, Xia Xinyu chugged the water in one gulp, making an ‘ee’ sound, her face looking subtle.

“…” He Sijiao.

*What a wife-protecting treasure.*

“Hard to drink.”

Although she had never drunk mop water, she felt it was quite similar.

And this kind of water was actually five yuan a bottle…

“Chen Yuan is actually letting them win all the time. Do I really have to go on stage to win?” Zhou Fu suddenly took on the posture of a finale protagonist, and her tone suddenly became showy.

“You are?”

But Chen Yuan was even more showy.

Playing this kind of game, he basically wouldn't lose.

“I'll go.”

At this time, Tang Siwen came on stage.

“Oh, the smartest person in Class 18!” He Sijiao began to build up the atmosphere.

And Tang Siwen was also quite confident, saying calmly, “I won fourth place in the Xia Hai City Riddle Competition for the elementary school group.”

“That title sounds so cool,” Xia Xinyu also applauded a little.

“Indeed,” Zhou Yu remembered and said, “Tang Siwen also seemed to be quite strong in geography before the class split.”

“Wouldn't that mean she's proficient in everything, from astronomy to geography?” He Sijiao exclaimed.

In response, Tang Siwen just curled the corners of her mouth into a faint smile.

Preparing to receive the ball.

“Name a type of person you are attracted to.”

*Thwack.*

The ping pong ball fell on the table and then bounced to the ground.

Holding the paddle, Tang Siwen mechanically turned her head to look at Zhou Fu: “..."

(End of chapter)