47/Seaside
The day after the college entrance exam, Chen Mian was looking at part-time job postings on her phone when Shen Yu, who lived next door, refused to go to his own room and instead sat on the floor of her room playing games.
There aren't many part-time jobs available for soon-to-be graduates who haven't received their diplomas yet. Even if they have excellent past grades, they lack connections, and the prices offered by parents of younger students who are interested are not high. Considering the round-trip travel expenses, it's practically the same as working for free.
As I turned the page, a message popped up in the WeChat group, tagging all members.
Someone in Class 3 of the Literature Department was calling for a trip and kept tagging the class monitor, Chen Ke, to organize it.
About twenty or thirty minutes later, Chen Ke tagged everyone and asked what they thought.
Lin Lin was the first to jump out and support: anywhere is fine.
Zhao Lili chimed in with a dissenting voice: What do you mean "anywhere is fine"? We still need to consider safe cities!
After criticizing her, he then privately messaged Chen Mian.
Lily: I have some really explosive news, it's unbelievable! Did you know that Lin Lin and Chen Ke are together?
When Chen Mian saw the news, she wasn't really surprised. She had guessed that something was going on between Chen Ke and Lin Lin when she saw Chen Ke comforting Lin Lin at school. Perhaps it was their shared dislike of her that brought them closer.
Chen Mian, who had unintentionally become a matchmaker, typed out a string of ellipses.
She received another message asking if she wanted to go on a trip.
The message just popped up.
Her hair was tugged, and Shen Yu asked her in a nonchalant voice, "Want to see the sea, Chen Mian?"
Chen Mian was taken aback. "To see the sea?"
"Yes, let's look at the sea."
Chen Mian looked up at him with her almond-shaped eyes, her expression seemingly harmless.
The visual illusion it gives people is: I am well-behaved.
But upon closer inspection, Chen Mian's so-called obedience was nothing but an act. He was an expert at infuriating people, and his best skill was pretending to be ignorant while knowing the truth. Most of the time, he was eloquent and persuasive, and he would only pretend to be obedient and call out Chen Mian's name when he was needed. Otherwise, his catchphrase was "Chen Yu, you are so annoying."
Shen Yu reached out and pinched her cheek, then counted in his mind.
one two three.
I have to say, Shenyu, you're so annoying.
But Chen Mian didn't ask him; she simply asked, "Just the two of us?"
Shen Yu released his grip and stared directly at her, as if trying to see through the truth behind her strange behavior. After a few seconds, he said to her, "There are still a few burdens."
The destination wasn't too far away. Apparently, Chen Yin's parents didn't allow her to travel for too long. It was in a nearby coastal city. The villa was bought directly by You Huai's family and was regularly cleaned. She could move in with just her bags and see the beach without even leaving the hospital.
Chen Mian and Shen Yu set off first. The driver took less than three hours to reach their destination on the highway. When they arrived, it was almost night. As soon as they opened the car door, they saw a red-haired guy squatting at the door, looking like a burning flame under the light. Chen Mian was startled and reached out to grab Shen Yu's clothes. Just then, she heard Shen Yu curse, "Chi Sheng, can't you find somewhere else to be non-mainstream?"
Then the red-haired man raised his head.
He wasn't the handsome type like Shen Yu, nor the easygoing type like You Huai. Instead, he was a different kind of guy—someone who looked unapproachable, like someone who had been fighting since childhood, a typical troublemaker whose entire being screamed "bad boy."
He stood up upon hearing this, looking aggressive and speaking in a fierce tone.
But what they said wasn't quite right.
Because he said so.
"You don't know anything about fashion. You know what 'red and bright' means? My dad made me come back from abroad as soon as I dyed my hair this color. What does that prove, you know?"
Chen Mian was there, so Shen Yu didn't argue with him. Seeing that the person was still blocking the door, he found his side more and more of an eyesore. It wasn't that it was ugly, but the color was too bright. In the middle of the night, it looked like a stick figure, and even the villa behind it looked like a luxurious matchbox.
He just sneered and replied, "That means your dad wants to beat you up."
Chi Sheng: "..."
Chen Mian remained quiet throughout, silently serving as her background figure, until Shen Yu pulled her into the villa, where she discovered an old acquaintance in the living room, Qiao Zhiwan.
Qiao Zhiwan was sitting on the sofa making a phone call. Because of the distance, you could only vaguely hear her saying things like "be careful."
Chen Mian stopped in her tracks.
Shen Yu, who was next to her, immediately took out his phone and called You Huai.
As soon as the call connected, I heard the phone ringing at the door.
You Huai shouted directly, "I'm here, I'm here, I'm here! Don't rush me, don't rush me, don't rush me!"
He pushed two suitcases, the wheels making a sputtering sound on the cobblestone path. Behind him was Chen Yin, wearing a sundress. The two looked like the princess and her helper. But as soon as the princess reached the door, her gaze fell into the house, and she saw Qiao Zhiwan standing there. She immediately exploded like a firecracker, blurting out the question Shen Yu had been wanting to ask You Huai, "What is Qiao Zhiwan doing here?!"
You Huai raised both hands to assure them, "It has nothing to do with me."
Qiao Zhiwan looked at Chen Mian again.
Chen Mian's reaction was lukewarm.
Chi Sheng raised his hand and said, "Let me introduce you. This is my cousin. My dad asked me to bring her out to relax. Aren't you classmates? What's going on? It seems like there's some unresolved personal grudge?"
Shen Yu laughed in anger.
You Huai played the emotional card, saying that it was really not very nice of him not to go on a trip with his brothers after graduating from high school.
His other brother, Chi Sheng, who had been exiled to the frontier, finally returned home and, instead of being scolded at home, came out to help with their travel plans.
As a result, his two biggest rumored girlfriends at school were brought into the spotlight by these two scoundrels.
You Huai wanted to lick Chen Yin's boots, and he understood.
But isn't it a bit strange that Qiao Zhiwan is Chi Sheng's cousin?
The unlucky year and the inconvenience of going out mentioned in the lunar calendar were probably written for him.
Now Chen Mian, Chen Yin, and Qiao Zhiwan are all together. So the fun is theirs, and the crematorium is his?
Shen Yu leaned against the cabinet, raised his hand and pointed towards You Huai and Chi Sheng, and said to Chen Mian, "See that? A stick figure and a sycophant, neither of them are good people. Stay away from them, you hear me?"
Chen Mian: "..."
You Huai said coldly, "Who are you calling a simp?"
Chi Shengtian, innocent and naive yet somewhat foolish, asked, "What stick figure?"
*
The room on the second floor is a double room facing the sea.
Chen Mian put her things down, and downstairs it was noisy and chaotic. It was all the sound of Chen Yin arguing with You Huai. Occasionally, Chi Sheng would try to persuade her like a troublemaker, and then the argument would escalate.
Chen Yu was taking a shower in the bathroom, while Chen Mian sat on the bed, receiving one WeChat message after another. The class group messages she hadn't finished reading yesterday were still being discussed enthusiastically about travel destinations. She didn't finish reading them, so she deleted the history, exited WeChat, and swiped her finger around the screen before finally stopping at the text messages.
Countless messages were intercepted.
When I opened them, they were all from the same person.
The content is obscene, full of profanity, occasionally containing explicit sexual content featuring genitalia, and also includes color illustrations with accompanying photos.
Chen Mian never opened it; she just cleaned it up periodically.
The most recent one was sent at the end of May.
It's rare that I didn't swear; I just spoke to her.
—Chen Mian, I am your father.
Chen Mian calmly deleted the message that looked like a curse.
The sound of water in the bathroom stopped, and a rush of hot air rushed out the moment the door opened. Shen Yu was only wearing a pair of beach shorts, his upper body was bare, his muscles were smooth, and the tattoo on his chest was conspicuous. He had a towel covering his head. When he saw Chen Mian still sitting on the bed, he asked her if she wanted to take a shower.
Chen Mian's gaze was always drawn to the tattoo on his chest. She stared at it for a while before shaking her head.
"Come back and shower later."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a knock at the door. Chi Sheng shouted from outside, "Stop dawdling in there! Can you come downstairs already? It's like a world war is about to break out downstairs."
The term "world war" is still too conservative.
They were preparing for a barbecue, but Chen Yin and Qiao Zhiwan didn't get along and started arguing after a few words. You Huai was at his wits' end, and Chi Sheng, who loved watching the drama unfold, didn't care about the people he brought and just sat there playing on his phone. He listened as You Huai acted like a neighborhood committee auntie, sometimes telling the girls to calm down, and sometimes separating the two of them to assign them tasks.
And that's how it went; a few minutes later, they started fighting again.
It's like being trapped in a loop.
Chi Sheng regretted it a little, feeling that he shouldn't have come. He wondered what the two people upstairs were doing. They were probably done with their sex. When he went upstairs, Qiao Zhiwan asked him, "Cousin, are you going to find Shen Yu?"
Before he could answer, Chen Yin sneered and said, "Are you some kind of Pacific policeman? Everything is none of your business."
...
Chi Shengren leaned against the door, his face full of frustration. "I'm fed up. Is this a trip? Or is this a damn mediation conference?"
The atmosphere was chaotic, with a constant cacophony of noises echoing like the crashing waves.
The charcoal on the grill burned brightly, while the sea was shrouded in darkness, resembling a dangerous swamp.
Shen Yu was a little irritable. In fact, he hadn't been in a good mood since he arrived here. Chen Mian beside him didn't say much. She seemed quite well-behaved. When given water, she would hold the cup and take a sip from time to time. When given skewers, she would hold them in her hand, wipe the skewers with a tissue, and chew on the meat with her cheeks moving back and forth.
Like a small animal.
But Shen Yu always felt that behind Chen Mian's silence lay some turbulent undercurrents that he couldn't fathom.
Just like the sea behind it, it's unfathomably deep.
In fact, Chen Mian had been in this state ever since the college entrance examination. Her gaze towards him was indifferent, unlike before. Even when she was silent, you could still find some reproach in her eyes. She would keep looking at him with those eyes and wait for him to give in on his own.
But not recently.
Shen Yu has no experience in comforting people. When he was angry or wronged since childhood, his parents would simply and bluntly solve the problem with money, buying him toys, snacks, or having their assistant take him to the amusement park for a day.
He didn't know any other way, and he didn't know how to ask Chen Mian what was wrong.
It sounds pretentious to ask this question, since it's just a tiny, insignificant change.
But he was still quite unhappy.
The surroundings were noisy, and Chen Yin and Qiao Zhiwan occasionally bickered. You Huai mocked Chi Sheng's hairstyle, and Chi Sheng mocked You Huai for being a nanny.
Chen Mian not only ignored him, but his friends also acted like idiots.
Shen Yu became even more agitated.
Until someone gently tugged at her clothes.
Chen Mian looked up at him, and amidst the commotion, asked, "Shall we go for a walk, Shen Yu?"
It's like magic.
The incomprehension is gone, the dissatisfaction has vanished.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and his dark eyes stared intently into Chen Mian's eyes.
He was clearly happy, but he pretended to be nonchalant and indifferent. He put down the barbecue he was holding, nodded to her, and said, "Okay."
Shen Yu lowered his eyes. The ground beneath his feet was soft sand, and the girl standing beside him held his hand.
The noisy sounds were left behind.
They walked along the coastline into an unknown distance.
The road seemed endless, and all that remained was Chen Mian holding his hand.
The joy that had been suppressed in my heart gradually emerged in this silence.
They rushed to tell him.
—You're finished, Shenyu.
—Did you see that?
—Your tail is wagging incessantly at Chen Mian.
All sorts of voices were clamoring in my mind, even more annoying than the argument between Chen Yin and Qiao Zhiwan.
Shen Yu lowered his eyes and let out a soft click of his tongue, as if he were venting his anger on someone.
Then he felt Chen Mian reach into his pocket and take out a lighter.
She knows nothing.
Thinking about this and that is his thing, worrying about gains and losses is also his thing.
He was a perfectly carefree young man, but here he turned into Lin Daiyu, and Chen Mian is still here stealing his lighter.
"Chen Mian, you—"
Before she could finish speaking, a flame shot out from her hand, and a silver, wire-like object appeared in her hand without her noticing.
The crimson flames ignited the thing, and Shen Yu finally recognized it as a sparkler.
A crackling sound.
It was as if countless stars were blooming from her palm.
The light instantly illuminated all the darkness.
"There was a bag of fireworks in the living room, I don't know who bought it, so I took out a sparkler."
Chen Mian's voice rang out amidst the rolling tide.
“Chen Yu, this is my first time seeing the sea, but you must have seen it many times. But is this your first time seeing sparklers on the beach?”
Shen Yu no longer knew what his emotions were.
The voice had its own separate response system, and subconsciously complied with her, saying yes.
The sparkler burned to the very end.
Darkness descended once more.
Chen Mian reached out and embraced Shen Yu, who was standing there stunned in the endless night.
On May 20th, Shen Yu gave her a birthday wish: that all darkness could see the light.
On June 1st, as the last note of the piano faded and Shen Yu walked up to her, she closed her eyes.
Then make a wish.
"Shenyu, you must be happy every day."
/
A cute puppy wags its tail online.
The first volume concludes at chapter fifty.
Want pearls (reaches out)
Want to see comments? (reaching out)
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