Chapter 15: Beach Vacation (2)
The sea breeze gently blew across the beach at night, while the sound of the waves echoed softly in the distance.
Inside the hotel, two girls wearing the same pajamas were lying on one bed.
(Despite the room having two beds.)
Neither of them was asleep.
Looking at each other, the round-faced girl spoke first.
"Ran'er, are you really planning to make Li Nuo-chan our lead singer?"
"Why not? He's [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold]. You all agreed to it in the beginning."
"But he's a boy. Did you forget that she hates boys the most?"
"Does he look like a boy to you?"
"Um... not really."
"And does his singing voice sound like a boy's?"
"Uh... not really."
"Then that's settled."
"But..."
"Alright, Xiao Lu. That's enough. Let's sleep."
…………………………
The Next Morning
Zhou Qikuan got up early.
He sat cross-legged on his bed with his arms folded and his eyes closed, as if he were meditating.
Even after Li Nuo finished brushing his teeth and washing his face, Zhou Qikuan was still sitting there in exactly the same position.
"What are you doing so early in the morning? Have you lost your mind?"
Li Nuo could not help complaining while changing clothes.
"I have reached enlightenment!"
Zhou Qikuan suddenly opened his eyes and shouted.
"You reached enlightenment over what?"
Li Nuo was startled.
"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form."
"That's enough."
Hearing that nonsense after all this time, Li Nuo rolled his eyes.
"You don't understand."
"You're right, I don't. Take your time, Master. I'm heading out."
"Where are you going?"
"To work."
Unable to stand Zhou Qikuan's strange behavior any longer, Li Nuo grabbed his bag and left after changing clothes.
The cool morning sea breeze blowing against his face felt wonderful.
The café was near the beach, only a few minutes' walk from the hotel.
As soon as he entered the café, he saw two familiar faces.
"Oh? You're up pretty early."
After putting his bag on a nearby table, Li Nuo looked at An Ran'er in surprise. She was sitting inside chatting with Yu Lin.
"Is it strange for me to wake up early?"
"Uh, that's not what I meant."
"Hmph."
Seeing the two of them start bickering again after only a few sentences, Yu Lin covered her mouth and laughed.
Then she turned to Li Nuo.
"You don't actually need to come this early. We don't get many customers in the morning."
"Really...?"
Li Nuo immediately regretted waking up so early.
If he had known that, he would have slept longer.
An Ran'er suddenly noticed something.
"You seem to like that outfit a lot."
Li Nuo had come directly to the café already wearing the maid outfit. She looked at him with a teasing smile.
"Y-You're talking nonsense. I just... thought it would be more convenient to change at the hotel."
"Oh? Reaaally~?"
An Ran'er grinned mischievously.
"O-Of course."
Feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, Li Nuo's cheeks turned slightly red, and he quickly looked away.
"Alright then, I'm leaving."
Seeing his embarrassed reaction put her in a good mood. She waved her hand and stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"Xiao Lu and I are going surfing today. She's already waiting for me."
"Oh. Alright."
"See you later. We'll come find you again at noon. Sister Yu Lin, I'm heading out."
"Be careful."
Yu Lin smiled warmly. Li Nuo stood there, staring at An Ran'er's departing figure.
Only after Yu Lin patted him on the shoulder did he snap out of it.
"Well, since you're already here, help clean the café first, Xiao Li."
"Yes..."
There were not many people at the beach that morning. Most of them were surfers taking advantage of the stronger morning waves.
Others were people heading home after watching the sunrise.
"Ran'er, look! Look! I'm standing up!"
Ye Feilu wobbled on her surfboard while shouting excitedly.
"Oh mighty ocean, submit beneath my feet!"
"It's just a tiny wave. Why are you so excited, idiot?"
An Ran'er stood steadily on her own surfboard and rolled her eyes.
The moment she finished speaking, a wave hit her and knocked her into the water.
Ye Feilu burst out laughing.
Just as An Ran'er was about to paddle back out, she noticed a huge wave approaching.
Her expression changed immediately.
"Xiao Lu! Watch out behind you!"
Hearing the warning, Ye Feilu turned her head. But before she could react, the giant wave swallowed her whole.
At that moment, Zhou Qikuan was walking alone along the beach.
He was still depressed while thinking about everything that had happened the day before.
As he walked, he heard a familiar voice.
Looking toward the sound, he saw An Ran'er standing there with a surfboard in her arms.
"Classmate An, what's wrong?"
Seeing how worried she looked, he walked over.
"Xiao Lu... Xiao Lu got swept into the sea by a wave!"
"What?!"
Zhou Qikuan immediately looked toward the ocean.
Sure enough, he spotted a small figure struggling helplessly among the waves.
Without another word, he ran straight into the water.
No matter how hard the waves crashed into him, they could not stop him.
He fought his way forward with all his strength.
Finally, at the very last moment, he managed to grab Ye Feilu, who had already lost consciousness after swallowing seawater.
After bringing her back to shore, Zhou Qikuan looked at the unconscious girl.
His first thought was to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Looking at the girl's closed eyes, he steadied himself.
Taking a deep breath, he puckered his lips and slowly leaned closer.
Before his lips could touch hers, the girl suddenly opened her eyes.
The first thing Ye Feilu saw was a huge face and a pair of lips sticking out like a flower.
She screamed in shock.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Slap!
A loud slap landed directly on his left cheek.
"I was trying to save you!"
Zhou Qikuan covered his swollen face and looked wronged.
"Are you okay, Xiao Lu?"
Only after seeing Ye Feilu safely rescued did An Ran'er finally relax.
She hurried over.
"I'm... cough, cough... okay."
After coughing up some seawater, Ye Feilu buried her face in An Ran'er's chest and started crying.
"Waaah... I swear I'll never surf again!"
"There, there. Don't cry."
An Ran'er gently stroked her head and comforted her.
"Well... if everything's okay now... I'll leave first."
Looking at the crying girl in An Ran'er's arms, Zhou Qikuan scratched his head awkwardly.
He had no idea what to do.
"Wait!"
Hearing that he was about to leave, Ye Feilu stopped crying. She turned toward him.
"Th-Thank you... for saving me."
Zhou Qikuan waved his hand.
"No need to thank me, no need to thank me."
Unfortunately, his expression became strange again.
The corners of his eyes drooped, his nostrils flared upward, and his mouth curved into a wide grin.
He looked almost exactly like a gorilla.
"Y-You..."
Seeing the same expression he had worn yesterday, Ye Feilu felt a little nervous.
"Me?"
The moment Zhou Qikuan noticed her frightened expression, he realized he was acting weird again.
He quickly tried to return to normal.
"Haha... sorry, sorry."
"Pfft!"
Looking at his ridiculous appearance, Ye Feilu could not hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
For the first time, she suddenly felt that this boy named Zhou Qikuan was actually pretty cute.