Chapter 25
People were walking around on the beach; it was peak tourist season, and there were many people. The two of them followed the flow of people to rent life jackets for a safe swim.
Shi Xing grabbed Yoda's hand: "Slow down, don't get bumped." He then carefully pulled Yoda to his side.
Yoda muttered, "Oh dear, I'm not a child anymore. I'll make way for the others."
However, Yoda was already used to Shi Xing's protection, and despite his words, he obediently followed behind Shi Xing. It was just that there were so many people, and everyone was in a vacation mood, so people were constantly running around them.
While grabbing Yoda, Shi Xing could only twist and turn constantly as others attacked him in order to avoid them.
Yoda, seeing his hands behind his back looking awkward, took the initiative to grab Shi Xing's clothes: "Let me hold your clothes, that way you can walk. If you keep walking like this, you'll be all twisted up in no time."
Although Shi Xing agreed to Yoda's request, he still turned to look at her from time to time.
After walking only a few steps, Yoda could feel the sand constantly seeping into his shoes, rubbing against the soles of his feet. He couldn't help but kick his shoes, but it didn't help; the rubbing only intensified. He tried shaking his feet to fling the sand out, but that didn't work either. No matter what posture he used to shake some sand out of his shoes, it would always get back in the next second when he landed.
Shi Xing saw Yoda's actions and knew what was going on. Without saying much, he bent down in front of him and said, "Get on, I'll carry you."
Yoda watched as Shi Xing reacted just as he had countless times before. In the past, Yoda would have jumped onto Shi Xing's back in an instant. After he regained his balance, the two of them burst into laughter.
But now, Yoda looked around at the people coming and going, and felt a little embarrassed. With the sudden increase in age, it seemed his skin had become thinner too. Was time not only a butcher's knife, but also a skin-scraping razor?
Seeing that Shi Xing's feet were also stuck in the sand, Yoda decisively refused: "Your feet are already a little sore from walking on the sand. If you carry me on your back, you'll be even heavier, and it definitely won't hurt any more. It's only a few steps, let's hurry up and get across. Once we put on our life jackets, the seawater will wash the sand away, and it won't hurt anymore, right?"
Yoda saw the footprints left by the others and suddenly had an idea: "How about you walk in front and compact the sand so that I won't get so much sand in my head when I'm behind you?"
Shi Xing nodded, "Okay." Seeing Yoda's smiling face, Shi Xing didn't insist any further. Yoda pulled on Shi Xing's clothes and followed Shi Xing's footprints.
Although doing so wouldn't really make a difference. The sand is fluid; even if Yoda stepped in Shixing's footprints, they would still get into his shoes when Yoda stepped in them again. However, looking at Shixing's retreating figure, Yoda was content as long as it put his mind at ease.
Yoda followed Shi Xing for only a few steps before seeing a beach shoe shop for sale nearby.
This time, Yoda and Shixing had come in a hurry and hadn't prepared suitable shoes, but there were plenty here. Yoda turned around, and Shixing was still walking forward. People were coming and going, and just then a group of people came by and separated the two of them.
However, the two walked slowly and weren't far apart. Yoda simply walked to the stall first, remembering the current shoe size: "Could you please give me two pairs?"
Yoda changed his shoes first; indeed, beach shoes are better for the beach. They only let in water, not sand, and they made walking very smooth.
Carrying the two pairs of shoes, Yoda hurried back to catch up with Shixing. But even if she didn't catch up, it didn't matter, since the two of them were heading in the direction where they rented life jackets, and there was only one stall there. They could just go there to find him.
Yoda strode over, only to find Shixing nowhere to be seen at the stall. Turning back, he saw a crowd gathered near where he and Shixing had parted ways. Yoda had a bad feeling.
"Excuse me, could you please make way?" Squeezing through the crowd, sure enough, it was Shi Xing in the middle. He was kneeling on the ground, covering his head, looking very uncomfortable. People around him were talking to Shi Xing, but he didn't answer, as if he couldn't hear them.
Yoda rushed over: "Ah Xing, how are you? What happened to you?"
Upon hearing the familiar words, Shi Xing suddenly looked up and saw Yoda. His eyes went from confusion to certainty, and in the next instant, he hugged her tightly.
A kind-hearted person nearby stepped forward: "Your friend seemed to be in a lot of pain just now. He walked around here a few times and then collapsed. Is he alright? Should we take him to the hospital? Is it some kind of emergency?"
You looked closely at Shi Xing. His hands were gripping tightly, making him feel a little sore, but his expression was much more relaxed than before.
Knowing that Shi Xing should be alright, she still smiled and said to the kind person, "He might have had a little heatstroke because of the hot weather."
The others glanced at the bright sun in the sky; it was indeed very hot. Since nothing else was wrong, the crowd dispersed. People walked away in twos and threes, their slippers dangling.
Only the enthusiastic person who had spoken to him earlier remained standing. He had rushed in to see what was going on, and his flip-flops were now just flip-flops. He glanced enviously at Yoda's beach shoes and quickly asked, "Your shoes are nice. Where did you buy them? I want to buy a pair too."
Yoda pointed in a direction, watching him stagger away in the direction he had come from, before looking at Shi Xing. The pain on his face had completely faded, and he wasn't in as much pain as before. However, his hands were still tightly clenched, not loosening at all, and he just stared at him quietly.
Yoda suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. It wasn't because she was hurt, but because her shoes were still stuck between Shi Xing and herself. Even though they were slippers, it was still uncomfortable to have them on her stomach. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so unacceptable for Shi Xing to keep hugging her like this.
"Ah Xing, what's wrong? Are you feeling any better?" Yoda looked at Shi Xing carefully.
As Shi Xing gradually regained his composure, he looked at Yoda and said, "Where did you go? I turned around and you were gone."
Yoda explained, "I saw they were selling beach shoes over there, and neither of our shoes fit, so I went over there and bought a pair. What's wrong? Do you want to go back and rest?"
Shi Xing sighed, stood up, hugged Yoda, and said to her side, "Don't do this again. Don't leave me when I can't see you." His voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible if he weren't right next to her.
There was no accusation in Shi Xing's tone; it was as calm as asking what to eat for dinner. But suddenly, Yoda's nose stung, as if someone had hit the bridge of her nose hard, and tears welled up uncontrollably.
Afraid of being seen by Shi Xing, Yoda gently sniffed, holding back her overflowing tears. She understood that Shi Xing must have been hurt by the fact that she had secretly run back and gotten injured during the earthquake.
I never imagined the hurt would last this long. But it's okay, Yoda rested her head on Shixing's shoulder and promised, "I will never leave you without your knowledge again, never." Yoda silently vowed in her heart: I will stay with you until you get better, until you are the same as before, until you will never feel sad because of what you have experienced.
Xie Yiyi and her husband played in the pool for a long time, but the baby got hungry, so they had to take him home.
The two women carried their baby ashore, only to find Yoda and Shixing embracing on the beach. Xie Yiyi told her husband to take the wet baby back to the hotel and wait for her, then walked towards the two of them.
"Sigh, can you two be a little more mindful of how you show affection? In public, with lots of kids watching, you're just hugging each other like that. You even booked separate rooms when you booked the hotel, and now you're hugging each other in public like this. I really don't know whether to call you conservative or open-minded."
Yoda was a little embarrassed and nudged Shixing before letting go. Yoda handed the beach shoes he had bought to Shixing.
Shi Xing squatted down and slowly put on his clothes. Yoda was a little embarrassed: "Don't talk about us. Are you going back? We haven't even gone into the water yet."
Xie Yiyi sighed, "I don't know what's wrong, the baby won't go into the water. He's so happy swimming at home. He won't even touch the seawater. I picked him up and put him in, and he immediately did a split. After all that, he's hungry, so we're going home."
Just now, to get the baby into the water, she and Li Mi took turns lifting him up, trying to get him to accept it, but it didn't work. When they tried to lower the baby into the water from above, he did a perfect 360-degree split. When they held him from behind and brought him closer to the surface, he did a little swallow pose, absolutely refusing to get a drop of seawater on him. At first, watching the baby's various resistances was quite amusing, but after a while, their backs ached from exhaustion, and they couldn't take it anymore.
Since they were already there, Li Mi held the child on the shore and let Xie Yiyi swim. However, the deeper Xie Yiyi swam, the more she felt the burning gaze from behind.
Thinking of this, Xie Yiyi couldn't help but complain: "The two of them, one big and one small, are staring at me intently from the shore, making me feel like I'm abandoning my family and swimming away. You can go into the water and play too, it's very comfortable in the sea when it's hot. Let's get together again when we have dinner later, okay?"
Yoda nodded, and after Xie Yiyi left, he looked at Shi Xing and said, "Let's go back and rest too."
Shi Xing shook his head: "Let's go, didn't you want to go play in the water?"
Yoda confirmed again and again that Shixing was not struggling at all. Seeing that Shixing had returned to normal, and thinking about how to motivate him with a normal life, Yoda decided to continue playing.
"Alright, let's go." Yoda reached out and pulled Shi Xing along. They laid out their shoes in circles on the sand. Sure enough, walking was much more comfortable for both of them in their beach shoes.
After putting on their life jackets, Shi Xing checked them many times to make sure they were secure before he and Yoda slowly entered the water.
Yoda gradually submerged himself in the water, the scorching heat of walking under the sun slowly dissipating, leaving only the cool seawater surrounding him.
Yoda stretched out his hands; although he couldn't swim, he figured it would be fun to float on the surface and paddle around a bit. Shixing, standing beside him, remained motionless like a wooden stake. Yoda asked worriedly, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Shi Xing realized he couldn't be so paranoid anymore and tried to dispel the terrifying scenes he imagined. He smiled at Yoda, and seeing that the other person was relieved, he looked at the calm water and told himself: It's all fake, the real Yoda is right in front of me, I just need to control my fear.
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