Private tutoring, tuition fees are negotiable.
Faced with Meng Yihe's arrangement, Cui Yu smiled helplessly, raised his hands in surrender, and said to Meng Yihe, "Fine, fine, I'll sleep on the sofa. After all, Director Meng is the project commander-in-chief, and his orders are still valid during my vacation. I'll obey your arrangements."
Seeing her brother's "frustrated" yet cheerful expression, Cui Xuyue covered her mouth and chuckled.
The minor room allocation dispute was thus resolved.
After a short rest, everyone gathered in the hotel lobby, ready to begin their real vacation. Everyone changed into cool summer clothes, their faces beaming with excitement and relaxation.
"First stop! Water park! Let's go!" Xu Rui waved his arms and shouted impatiently, instantly igniting everyone's enthusiasm.
The hotel's shuttle took them to a huge water park nearby. As soon as they entered, they were greeted by giant water slides, a winding lazy river, a surging wave pool, and all sorts of screams and laughter.
"Wow!!!" Cui Xuyue was the first to exclaim in amazement, her eyes wide with wonder.
"What are you waiting for! Charge!" Xu Rui shouted, pulling Wu Hao, who was still a little hesitant, towards the entrance of a huge horn-shaped slide.
Lin Xueyue and Shen Xinyi smiled and chose the relatively gentle lazy river, intending to relax first. Zhao Lei and Gao Yuan became interested in the giant high-speed slide that required a long queue and had already begun to study the route.
Cui Yu smiled as he watched his team members blend into the crowd, then looked at Meng Yihe and his younger brother beside him: "Let's not stand there any longer, which one do you want to play first?"
Cui Xuyue immediately pointed to the family-style, winding slide with a large floating ring for three people and said excitedly, "Brother! Brother Meng! Shall we play on that first!"
Cui Yu looked at Meng Yihe, raised an eyebrow, and asked for his opinion with his eyes.
Meng Yihe looked at the slide, which wasn't particularly exciting but looked quite interesting, and then at Cui Xuyue, whose face was full of anticipation, and nodded silently.
"Okay! That's it!" Cui Yu said with a smile, and the three of them walked towards the entrance.
The three of them took a huge sky-blue three-person float and clumsily dragged it to the entrance of the slide.
The staff skillfully helped them sit down: Cui Xuyue took the lead and sat at the front, Meng Yihe was arranged in the middle, and Cui Yu sat at the back, responsible for using her legs to secure the float and control the direction.
The atmosphere became a little awkward the moment we sat down.
Meng Yihe's back was almost pressed against Cui Yu's chest. He could clearly feel the other's body temperature through the thin, damp clothes, which made his body stiffen involuntarily. He subconsciously leaned forward, trying to create some distance, but he couldn't move forward too much.
Cui Xuyue, who was in front, was completely unaware of what was happening and excitedly wiggled around, saying, "Wow! Are we going down? Brother, hurry up!"
"Don't move around, or the boat will capsize." Cui Yu warned his younger brother with a smile from behind. His arms were casually placed on both sides of the float, seemingly relaxed, but they kept Meng Yihe in the middle and his younger brother in front of him firmly within a controllable range.
With a gentle push from the staff, the float carrying the three people slid down the winding, transparent pipe.
"Wow!" Cui Xuyue's cheers rang out instantly.
The initial speed is not fast; the water flow carries the float slowly downwards, passing through the dimly lit pipes, where you can still see the blurry scenery outside.
But soon, the slope became steeper, and the speed suddenly increased!
The floats plunged downwards, and at the bend, centrifugal force flung them against the pipe wall, then bounced back to the center with the help of the water flow, creating huge splashes that pelted down on them.
During the first rapid descent and sharp turn, Meng Yihe, who had been tense all along, couldn't help but gasp. Her hand instinctively gripped the handrail of the floating ring beneath her, her knuckles turning slightly white.
He rarely experiences this kind of completely out-of-control thrill.
"Hold on tight!" Cui Yu's voice rang out from behind, tinged with laughter, mixed with the sounds of flowing water and wind.
During an almost vertical descent, the float suddenly jolted, and Cui Yu's arms seemed to tighten unintentionally, firmly securing the person in the middle.
Cui Xuyue burst into laughter ahead, dancing with excitement.
After several consecutive rotations and plunges, the slide finally leveled out, and the water flow gently pushed them toward the light at the exit. The floats rushed out of the pipes and fell into the warm pool water at the end, splashing up a large spray of water.
All three of them were soaked to the bone.
His hair was plastered tightly to his forehead, and he looked rather disheveled.
Cui Xuyue wiped the water off her face and shouted excitedly, "This is so much fun! Brother! Brother Meng! Let's play again!"
Cui Yu chuckled, shaking the water from her hair, and looked at Meng Yihe in the middle. Meng Yihe seemed not to have fully recovered from the earlier shock; her chest heaved slightly. Her usually icy face was flushed with excitement. Her eyes were brighter than usual, less sharp, and more misty with a bewildered look.
It actually looks surprisingly vivid.
Cui Yu stared at Meng Yihe for a moment, then his smile deepened as he deliberately asked, "Director Meng, how are you feeling? Can you fight again?"
"...Not bad." Meng Yihe quickly composed himself, regaining his usual cold demeanor.
Cui Yu saw it clearly and said to her younger brother with a smile, "Let's go! I'll listen to you and go rehearse one more time!"
As he spoke, he jumped off the float first and naturally reached out his hand to Meng Yihe, who was still in the water.
Meng Yihe looked at the hand in front of her, its knuckles distinct and dripping wet. After hesitating for a moment, she ultimately ignored him and nimbly stood up by supporting herself on the edge of the float.
Cui Yu didn't mind, smiled and withdrew his hand, called to his younger brother, and the three of them dragged the floats and headed back towards the slide entrance.
While Cui Yu and his two companions were "fighting" the winding slide, other corners of the water park were filled with the figures and laughter of the Xinghuan project team members.
Xu Rui and Wu Hao finally lined up for the daunting giant funnel slide. Clinging to double floats, they were thrown from a great height, swinging and spinning at high speed inside the enormous funnel opening. Waves of weightlessness washed over them.
Xu Rui's screams almost drowned out the sound of the water. He didn't stop the whole time, and his legs were weak when he got off, but he still excitedly grabbed Wu Hao and shouted, "One more time!"
Although Wu Hao was also terrified, he still complained to Xu Rui, "Shut up! You're going deaf!" But his body betrayed him and he went to join the queue again.
Lin Xueyue and Shen Xinyi leisurely floated around the river several times. Wearing cute sun hats and sunglasses, they lay on their floats, drifting along, enjoying the sunshine and breeze, occasionally splashing each other with water, chatting and laughing. Their scene contrasted sharply with the more thrilling rides nearby, making their experience exceptionally pleasant.
Zhao Lei and Gao Yuan then challenged the most thrilling slide, a near-vertical freefall. They plummeted almost vertically from a height, crashing into the pool and creating a huge splash. Upon surfacing, Zhao Lei excitedly gave a thumbs-up to the man on the shore who was taking their photos. Gao Yuan silently wiped the water from his face; though he didn't speak, his tightly pursed lips betrayed his excitement at successfully completing the challenge.
Zhao Lei didn't forget to shout, "Did you take a picture? Wasn't that angle cool?!"
After a long day of fun, all three of them returned to their hotel room drenched in sweat and exhausted, but felt unusually relaxed.
Cui Xuyue collapsed onto the bed as soon as she entered the room.
"Ah—I'm so tired—but it's so much fun!"
Cui Yu smiled and helped him up.
"Don't lie there, go take a hot shower first, don't catch a cold. After you're done, it's time to get down to business."
"Huh? We still have to study..."
Cui Xuyue's face immediately fell, and the happy filter of her vacation shattered in an instant.
"Have you forgotten the agreed-upon conditions?" Cui Yu raised an eyebrow, his tone gentle but brooking no argument.
"Playing wildly during the day and taking extra classes at night is only natural."
Cui Xuyue let out a wail, but resignedly got up and went into the bathroom.
After showering, Cui Yu and Meng Yihe changed into dry home clothes. Once they finished, Cui Yu spread out the textbooks and workbooks she had brought on the desk, looking every bit the temporary tutor.
Meng Yihe took the professional book he brought from home and sat on the sofa, intending to use this time to read quietly and isolate himself from the slightly noisy "family tutoring" scene.
The only sounds in the room were Cui Xuyue rustling through her books and Cui Yu explaining in a low voice.
"Brother, this question... doesn't seem to be answered this way, does it?"
After a while, Cui Xuyue scratched her head and pointed to a math problem in confusion.
Cui Yu leaned over to take a look.
"Hmm? Let me see...it does seem like there's a problem..."
Just then, a cool voice drifted over from the sofa without the person looking up, "The auxiliary lines are wrong. They should connect to AC, not BD."
Cui Yu and Cui Xuyue were both startled and turned to look at the sofa.
Meng Yihe remained in his reading posture, as if he hadn't said those words.
Following the prompts, Cui Yu thought about it again and immediately realized, "That's right! Connect to AC! That works! Director Meng is really amazing!" He laughed and patted his younger brother on the head.
"Did you hear that? Even Brother Meng is better than your brother."
Cui Xuyue stuck out her tongue and quickly corrected herself. After a while, Cui Xuyue read a passage of English text haltingly, her pronunciation somewhat inaccurate.
The sound of turning pages on the sofa paused for a moment.
The voice sounded again, calmly correcting the pronunciation of the two words, and then added: "Pay attention to the third rise and fall in intonation."
Cui Xuyue opened her eyes wide in surprise, then repeated it once more, and it was indeed much smoother.
He secretly mouthed "wow" to his brother.
Cui Yu couldn't help but laugh and teased towards the sofa, "Teacher Meng, why don't you come over and tutor us together? The tuition is negotiable."
Meng Yihe finally looked up from behind the book, glanced at him indifferently, didn't say anything, and just lowered her head to read the book again.
However, when Cui Xuyue encountered a physics concept that he just couldn't understand, and Cui Yu explained it twice but he was still confused, Meng Yihe on the sofa finally closed the book, stood up and walked over.
He picked up the workbook, glanced at the questions, and then, in extremely concise and logically clear language, reinterpreted the core principle of the concept from a different perspective, even casually drawing a diagram on a draft paper.
His explanation method differed from Cui Yu's gentle guidance; it was more direct and to the point, yet unexpectedly, Cui Xuyue understood it.
"Oh! I see! So that's how it is!" Cui Xuyue suddenly understood, and her eyes lit up.
Cui Yu leaned back in his chair, watching a top strategic director and a middle school kid discussing basic physics problems, and felt a strange harmony in the scene.
The room was warmly lit, with professional guidance and occasional discussions continuing, creating a cozy, home-like atmosphere.
The counseling session lasted for nearly two hours.
Cui Xuyue finally finished her studies for the day, closed her book, and let out a long sigh of relief, as if she had accomplished some great mission.
"Finally done!" He slumped in his chair, rubbing his sore eyes, but his face showed the relief of having completed the task.
"Brother, Brother Meng, thank you! I feel like I've become a little smarter!"
Cui Yu smiled and ruffled his hair: "Stop being silly, get ready for bed, we have to go out tomorrow."
"Okay!" Cui Xuyue skipped and hopped to the bathroom to wash her face.
Cui Yu tidied up the books scattered on the table. After finishing, he glanced at Meng Yihe sitting on the sofa, then at the sofa that was clearly not comfortable for an adult male to sleep on. He hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Um... I probably can't sleep on the sofa, how about..."
Before he could finish speaking, Meng Yihe interrupted him without looking up, her tone still indifferent: "No need, I arranged it, I'll take responsibility."
He was referring to his earlier decision to "arrange" for Cui Yu to sleep on the sofa.
Cui Yu was momentarily speechless at his words, then chuckled: "Director Meng, aren't you misapplying your sense of responsibility? This isn't a project accountability issue."
Meng Yihe paused for a moment as she turned the pages of the book. She didn't speak, but she also didn't seem to change her mind.
At this moment, Cui Xuyue finished washing up and came out with her hair still not completely dry. Seeing the atmosphere between the two, she blinked and asked, "Brother, Brother Meng, aren't you going to sleep yet?"
"I'm going to sleep now," Cui Yu replied. "Go dry your hair before you sleep."
"Okay." Cui Xuyue obediently went to find the hair dryer.
Cui Yu glanced at Meng Yihe, who seemed determined to let him settle down on the sofa, shook her head helplessly, and went into the bathroom. When Cui Yu came out after washing up, the main light in the room was off, leaving only a dim reading lamp on the bedside table.
Cui Xuyue was already asleep on her bed, breathing evenly.
Meng Yihe had already lain down—as he had arranged beforehand, he was sleeping on the bed by the window.
On that single sofa, there were extra pillows and blankets.
Although Meng Yihe lay down, her body was clearly tense, unlike the sleeping Cui Xuyue who was relaxed.
Cui Yu didn't say anything in the end, but walked to the sofa and silently began to tidy up, preparing to make do for the night. The sofa was indeed short, and he couldn't even stretch his legs out when he lay down, so he could only curl up in a somewhat cramped position.
In the darkness, time ticked by, second by second.
The sound of waves rhythmically lapping against the shore.
Suddenly, a slight noise came from the bed by the window.
Meng Yihe sat up and sat quietly in the dim light for a few seconds, seemingly going through an intense internal struggle. In the end, as if defeated by some emotion, he quietly got out of bed and walked to the sofa.
Meng Yihe stood in front of the sofa, looking at the tall figure who was clearly uncomfortable. He frowned and said in a low voice, "Get up."
Cui Yu was taken aback by what he heard. He opened his eyes and saw Meng Yihe standing in front of the sofa in the dim light: "...What?"
Meng Yihe seemed even more agitated, repeating in a harsh tone, with a hint of self-abandonment.
"Go to bed! The sofa is too small, how are you going to sleep? Do you still want to play tomorrow?"
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