Squeak—
The door to a room on the second floor was pushed open, and a girl wearing a straw hat, a plain brown shirt, and trousers jumped out.
She carried a small bamboo basket in her left hand and a wooden shovel in her right, turning back to urge, "Hurry up, or they'll have picked up all the seashells."
"Coming." The man behind her responded, carrying a bamboo basket he had borrowed from the waiter. Inside were a cloth (originally an oil paper used to wrap clothes) that could be laid on the sand, a clean floral dress, a mosquito repellent sachet (which hadn't been sold), a food box, and a water bag.
He thought for a moment about what else he needed, "I'll go and bring the bamboo umbrella too, it'll be very sunny at the beach."
Ah Mian was anxious and had already gone down to the first floor.
She watched with a puzzled expression as Ji Hengzhi and Wang Zixuan sat at a table eating. Ji Hengzhi also noticed her, and seeing that she still looked innocent and carefree, he slowly said, "Hey."
"What are you looking at? I was just calling you. Just a friendly reminder, you should think carefully about whether the person next to you in bed is a human or a ghost."
Ah Mian always ignored his sarcastic remarks, but seeing that she wouldn't listen to him again, Ji Hengzhi became furious: "Don't take him for a good person. He won't even know how he died one day. These kinds of bandits are the most ruthless. If you go against his wishes, he'll kill you without hesitation!"
He hesitated several times before finally swallowing the rest of his words.
Ji Hengzhi had, of course, already noticed that the scroll on his desk was missing.
This time, Ah Mian finally reacted. She glared at him and tapped the table a few times with a wooden spatula: "If you talk nonsense again, I'll call my husband to beat you up!"
"..."
Ji Hengzhi didn't act loudly as usual. Instead, he looked at A-Mian with a gaze that A-Mian couldn't describe—a gaze that seemed to contain pity, sadness, or perhaps some kind of weariness.
He was put in a sack from behind, but that doesn't mean he went blind. In his panicked run, he did catch a glimpse of the assailant's trouser legs and shoes.
Amian was completely baffled. At this moment, Meng Chijian had already gone downstairs with a bamboo umbrella on his back and led her away.
"Why are you laughing like that?" Wang Zixuan clicked his tongue. "It looks kind of creepy."
Ji Hengzhi picked up his chopsticks again: "That's why I said you're just a little rascal. You've never been in love before, have you? You'll understand when you fall in love with a woman, even if... you still don't want to see her sad and crying."
“Come here, brother, let me tell you something: women will only slow you down when you draw your sword,” Wang Zixuan said, burying his head in his rice. “Besides, dating is pointless and a hassle.”
"Alright, food can't shut you up. There won't be much good food at the beach later."
Ah Mian was stealing glances at the profile of the person next to her on the road.
Meng Chijian was wearing a straw hat just like her, and from her angle, you could see his chin and straight nose.
Everything looks the same as usual.
"Can you swim?" Meng Chijian asked.
Amian shook her head.
At this time, most young women could not swim, firstly because their clothing was inconvenient, and secondly because their families would worry about the danger of being swept away by the water.
"Go and see if there are many people. If it's not low tide and the sea is calm, we'll find a secluded place and I'll teach you how to swim. Once you've learned, hide behind a rock and cover yourself with an oilcloth. I'll keep watch for you while you change back into your dry clothes."
"good!"
A-Mian was immediately relieved.
In fact, ever since she married Meng Chijian, she had heard many people talking about him behind his back. The villagers of Qingshan Village had all sorts of "legends" about him. Many people thought he was cold-hearted and even speculated that he would use the lives of his relatives to exchange for military merits; others were mysterious and said as if they had seen it with their own eyes that he must have killed many people on the battlefield, and might even have robbed the people.
However, Ah Mian had long since discovered that most of the rumors were false, and Meng Chijian was not as they claimed.
Ji Hengzhi probably felt the same way. He wanted to slander Meng Chijian because he had asked him to compete in ice skating during the winter, but Meng Chijian ignored him completely.
After all, Meng Chijian's big hands carried her baskets every day, made farm tools needed by the people, washed the bluestone slabs in the yard, and wove exquisite straw sandals and bamboo baskets. How could such hands kill someone?
When you arrive at the beach, you can see some fishing boats going out to sea in the distance, and children with tanned skin chasing and playing on the beach.
"You're not allowed to go near the beach yet, you're only allowed to play on the sand... Lu Amian! Did you hear me?"
"I heard it! I heard it with both ears!" Ah Mian rolled up her trouser legs and immediately started picking out pretty seashells and conches on the beach.
Meng Chijian spread out an oilcloth not far from her, stuck a bamboo umbrella in the sand, sat on the oilcloth, took out his water bag, and leisurely watched the sea and people playing while drinking.
"This pattern is so pretty, Xiaojing will definitely like it." A-Mian found a seashell with a pale purple top and a white surface with many fine lines, picked it up and put it in her bamboo basket. She collected a bunch of seashells, and later, imitating others, she put a conch shell next to her ear, "It really makes the sound of waves!"
Conch shells are rarer than regular seashells, so speed and agility are key. The children on the beach mainly grab conch shells, and because they know the terrain and are good swimmers, even Ah Mian can't beat them. Sometimes, she'll see a conch shell with beautiful markings, and just as she's about to go over, someone else will snatch it away.
However, Ah Mian didn't care much, after all, everything was very strange to this person who had never seen the sea before.
She moved to another spot and dug around haphazardly, asking, "What's this?"
Some kind of soft, moving little creature lived inside a broken seashell. A-Mian poked it with her shovel. "Could it be poisonous?"
Seeing no reaction, she picked it up and ran to show it to Meng Chijian.
"This might be an octopus. I've never seen one before, but I've heard people talk about it. It's a fish with eight legs. It should be non-toxic, and some people cook it."
"It looks like it's going to die; it's been dried out and turned into water."
"Perfect timing, have some water."
Amian hummed in agreement, then picked through the basket and pulled out a seashell the size of her palm. "This is the biggest and prettiest one, I'll give it to you."
Meng Chijian took it, put it to his ear and listened. "It sounds like someone is talking inside."
"How is that possible?"
"If you don't believe me, come and listen."
Meng Chijian raised an eyebrow and subtly adjusted the bamboo umbrella, just enough to cover the two of them.
A sea breeze blew by, and A-Mian suspiciously moved closer. Meng Chijian was waiting for her to walk into his trap, so he pulled her into his arms. A-Mian listened intently.
She heard the ethereal and lingering sound of the tides, the deep sea as distant as the sky.
Someone whispered in her ear:
—Lu Amian, I love you.
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