Missing persons
Not long after I finished tidying up the room, my phone started buzzing incessantly.
Group notification: Meet in the lobby on the first floor before 11 o'clock.
When Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi arrived on the first floor just in time, the lobby was already packed with people.
Si Cheng and Wen Tezhu stood at the very front, looking every bit like leaders on an inspection tour.
The two exchanged a glance, then tacitly disappeared into the middle of the crowd, perfectly concealing themselves.
Look up.
Wow, Lin Weiwei and the others had already taken the center position and were standing right under Si Cheng's nose.
Wen, holding a tablet, scanned the crowd to confirm that everyone was present. He then turned to Si Cheng and whispered, "Mr. Si, everyone is here."
"Ahem!" Si Cheng cleared his throat, and the hall fell silent instantly.
He glanced around, paused subtly for a second in Qu Shiyao's direction, and then casually moved away.
"Since it's a team building activity, you're free to do whatever you want these next two days," Si Cheng said succinctly.
"The restaurant on the first floor serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There's a chef on the beach who's in charge of grilling skewers and other food. Okay, meeting adjourned."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd scattered with a "whoosh," moving as quickly as if they were being chased by dogs.
Si Cheng was instantly surrounded by a throng of beautiful women, their perfumes almost choking him.
He frowned and looked up, wanting to call out that name, but found that Qu Shiyao was no longer in the hall.
At this moment, in front of a barbecue stall on the beach.
Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi arrived at the battlefield at top speed, precisely surrounding the barbecue master.
"Master! 10 lamb skewers! 20 beef skewers! 5 chicken wings! 10 squid skewers! 6 grilled corn skewers! 10 grilled gluten skewers! And two more lamb kidney skewers!"
Qu Shiyao spoke at lightning speed, reciting the names of the dishes without even taking a breath.
Jin Yuxi nodded vigorously, her eyes fixed on the sizzling, fragrant meat skewers on the grill, her mouth practically watering.
Clearly, in Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi's dictionary, team building is roughly equivalent to "eating".
Swimming, beach volleyball, and barbecue skewers?
Hi! You must be Qu Shiyao?
A woman with a sexy bikini and a hot figure walked over, swaying her hips.
She slightly raised her chin, her tone carrying a hint of condescension, "We're going to play volleyball, but we're short one person. Want to join us?"
His eyes swept over Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi, and he thought to himself: These two aren't playing with the group, and they're eating like crazy. They must be isolated.
Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi were enjoying their skewers, their mouths greasy, when they heard this and turned their heads at the same time, their cheeks bulging.
"Thank you...no need, no need! Let's have some pills!"
Qu Shiyao mumbled incoherently, holding up a half-eaten beef skewer in one hand, glistening with oil.
The woman's lips twitched violently: "..."
Well, all my worry was for nothing. They're enjoying their meal!
She turned and left dejectedly.
In the distance, a man holding a volleyball asked eagerly, "How is it? Is she coming?"
The woman rolled her eyes: "He's busy, don't bother him while he's eating!" Could she not see through the man's intentions?
"Oh..." The man craned his neck and looked regretfully at Qu Shiyao's back as she ate with great concentration.
Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi only stopped, satisfied, after the barbecue stall owner's wrists ached from exhaustion.
The two patted their round bellies and let out a loud burp in unison.
"belch--"
"belch--"
Then, supporting each other, like two clumsy penguins, they wobbled and staggered towards the villa.
"I'm full and satisfied... time for a nap..." Jin Yuxi hummed contentedly.
The system was utterly speechless as it watched its host demonstrate such complete mastery of the essence of team building.
So, on this beach team-building trip, all you did was develop your stomach???
By the time Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi woke up after a good night's sleep, it was almost dark outside the window.
"Oh! It's already five o'clock!" Jin Yuxi rubbed her eyes and sat up.
As the two stepped out of the villa, they heard a high-pitched, piercing female voice coming from the distant beach: "President Si! Go! President Si! Great shot!!!"
Looking in the direction of the sound, wow!
The beach volleyball court was surrounded by layers of people, and in the center of the crowd was the "handsome men and beautiful women" team led by Si Cheng.
Si Cheng was wearing tight swim trunks, showing off his muscular physique;
The three people beside him were all wearing sexy swimsuits. Two of them were familiar faces, namely Lin Weiwei and Zhang Li from their office!
The scene was quite a sight to behold.
Qu Shiyao and Jin Yuxi had no interest in the excitement. Dressed in long sleeves and trousers and carrying some equipment, they walked toward another, relatively quiet beach.
"start!"
Upon arrival, Qu Shiyao deftly took off her coat, revealing a tight-fitting black wetsuit underneath.
She put on her flippers, diving mask, and snorkel in one smooth motion, using both her hands and feet.
"Shiyao, take this!" Jin Yuxi solemnly handed over a sturdy basket.
Qu Shiyao took the basket, slung it over her shoulder, and turned to walk towards the sea.
"Shiyao! Be careful in the sea!"
Jin Yuxi stood on the bank, like a young wife seeing her husband off to war, waving her handkerchief and shouting at the top of her lungs:
"I want sea cucumbers! Big ones! And crabs! Octopus! Lobster would be even better! Sea urchins are fine too!..."
The system nearly short-circuited upon hearing this: [...] Are you ordering seafood delivery here? And with specific dishes included?
Qu Shiyao, who had already walked into waist-deep water, paused, silently turned around, and slowly raised her noble middle finger towards the "ordering machine" on the shore!
Jin Yuxi: "..." Okay, that's a bit too much to ask.
Qu Shiyao took a deep breath, plunged into the sea, and disappeared after a few bubbles rose to the surface.
System: [Host, take it easy. This setup is barely good for a shallow-water trial run. Don't think you're a deep-sea fishing vessel!]
"Don't worry about what I do!" Qu Shiyao replied in her mind.
When Qu Shiyao finally dragged her heavy basket back to shore, soaking wet, from the sea, the sky had already turned completely gray.
She quickly changed into dry clothes in a secluded spot on the shore before dragging her "trophies" toward the villa.
She sensed something was wrong even when she was still some distance from the villa.
On the beach, figures could be seen everywhere, and several beams of flashlight beams darted erratically in the dim light, accompanied by anxious shouts that rose and fell in waves.
"Qu Shiyao—!"
"Qu Shiyao! Please respond if you hear me—!"
"Qu Shiyao! Where are you—!"
Someone even held a megaphone and shouted, "Shiyao! Shiyao! Please respond if you hear me! Please respond if you hear me!"
System: [? ? ?] It quickly checked its auditory module.
It's not broken! What's going on? Is this a massive missing person notice? Is it looking for its host?
Jin Yuxi was pacing anxiously at the edge of the crowd, muttering to herself.
Suddenly, a cold hand landed on her shoulder.
"Ah—!" Jin Yuxi was so frightened that her soul almost left her body, and her instinctive reaction was to slap him with her backhand!
Snap! My wrist was firmly grabbed.
"Yuxi, who are they looking for?" Qu Shiyao asked, grabbing Jin Yuxi's wrist with a bewildered expression.
With his other finger pointed to his colleagues who were holding flashlights and megaphones and looked anxious, his eyes filled with bewilderment.
When Jin Yuxi recognized Qu Shiyao, she first breathed a sigh of relief, then her expression became extremely complicated as she looked Qu Shiyao up and down.
His clothes were dry, his hair was half-dry, his complexion was rosy, and he was dragging a large basket of seafood.
And look at that group of people still shouting at the top of their lungs...
"My dear aunt! You're finally back!" Jin Yuxi slapped her thigh, lowered her voice, and spoke rapidly.
"You've been in the sea for too long! Mr. Si needed to talk to you this afternoon, but couldn't find you anywhere, so he came to ask me! I accidentally let it slip that you went into the sea to fish... uh, explore the ocean!"
"His expression changed drastically, and without saying a word, he ordered people to search for you everywhere! This commotion scared me to death!"
Qu Shiyao's expression froze instantly, as if she had been struck by lightning, and she stood there blankly:
“Didn’t I… tell you very clearly that although I would come up for air halfway through, I would stay in the sea and was expected to come back in the evening?” Her voice was filled with disbelief and blankness.
"I told you! I swear I told you everything clearly!" Jin Yuxi spread her hands, her face filled with despair.
"But President Si wouldn't listen! He was so aggressive, it felt like he was going to call the police to bail you out if you didn't show up! It made me start to question my own existence, thinking you really had been carried off by some deep-sea monster!"
Just then, the guy with the megaphone took a deep breath, preparing to yell again: "Poetry—!"
He felt someone tap his shoulder and turned around impatiently, only to be met with Qu Shiyao's perfectly intact face, which even had a somewhat inexplicable expression!
"Ahhh—!" The guy was so scared that his megaphone fell to the ground. He staggered back several steps, looking like he had seen a ghost in broad daylight, his face deathly pale.
The system spoke slowly, posing a probing question:
[Host, look at this. Do they really want you to come back alive, or do they wish you'd stay in the ocean forever as the Sea King? Why do they all act like they've witnessed your seventh-day memorial service?]
After calming down, the guy finally confirmed that the person in front of him was indeed the living Qu Shiyao. He immediately picked up the megaphone, his voice cracking with excitement:
"Found her! Found her! It's Qu Shiyao! She's back! She's alright!!"
That shout instantly drew the attention of all the searchers.
Dozens of flashlight beams shone down at once, and in the focus of the beams, Qu Shiyao stood there with an innocent look on her face, a large, wet plastic basket at her feet.
Inside the basket, several crabs with their claws outstretched were trying to escape, several plump sea fish were still thrashing about, and there were even a few round sea urchins and several thick sea cucumbers...
Under the lights, these deep-sea visitors exuded an extremely fierce and out-of-place aura.
Everyone was silent.
The air seemed to freeze.
Only the crabs in the basket continued to make persistent "click-clack" scratching sounds.
Si Cheng pushed through the crowd and walked over, his face ashen. He looked at Qu Shiyao and the basket of spoils at her feet, then at his exhausted colleagues around him.
A breath caught in my throat, unable to rise or fall.
Qu Shiyao blinked, bent down and picked up a blue crab that was still waving its large claws from the basket. Amidst the stunned gazes of the crowd, she spoke very sincerely:
"Um...Mr. Si, and everyone...you've all worked hard? How about...we have an extra meal tonight?"
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