Chapter 5 The Seaside
If I don't protect my people, who will?
The sky was beautiful this evening, with thin, rosy clouds and the sea shimmering with golden light.
Even the sand was still warm; walking barefoot on it felt like stepping on clouds.
Lin Yujing followed Chen Jingshu for only a few steps before she saw a bonfire, a barbecue grill, and a table full of seafood and fruit.
Behind the campfire was a red banner.
The eye-catching yellow headline reads: "Welcome Lin Yujing, the heroine, to Pengzhen No. 1 Middle School!"
Before she could even process the surprise, she heard two loud bangs of fireworks going off in the sky.
The next second, a dazzling array of fireworks began to fall.
Lin Yujing gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes brimming with joy.
"Welcome, sister-in-law!!!"
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Wow! Ha!"
At that moment, a group of teenagers wearing Hawaiian-style floral shirts all rushed to her side.
Everyone was dancing and gesturing wildly, as enthusiastic as monkeys that had just emerged from a tropical jungle.
"Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law! Welcome! Welcome to my place!" The loudest shout came from the blond-haired guy she met in the old alley yesterday, "Brother Jing! He's my good older brother! I've been waiting for you, sister-in-law, through wind and rain!"
"This is AKA Pengzhen rap Chu Yan, skr!"
This was the first time Lin Yujing had experienced such a special and warm welcome ceremony, and she felt only moved and surprised.
At the same time, it is like a butterfly drawn to light, unable to resist looking towards the source of warmth.
Chen Jingshu stood beside her with one hand in his pocket, just smiling.
"Chen Jingshu, thank you." Lin Yujing smiled, a genuine expression of gratitude.
Unexpectedly, Chen Jingshu suddenly raised his hand, giving her no chance to dodge, and his delicate fingertips gently and tenderly stroked her cheek.
Lin Yujing's heart was instantly thrown into chaos, her eyes flashing as she saw a colorful firework fragment that he had pinched off her face.
Looking at Chen Jingshu, he remained calm, with a hint of nonchalant arrogance. "If you have to say thank you for every little thing, I'm afraid you'll start thanking me as frequently and dependently as breathing in the future."
After saying that, the young man raised an eyebrow at her with an air of unrestrained elegance.
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After a brief welcome party, the crowd dispersed in twos and threes.
Some were lighting the campfire, some were grilling skewers, and others were preparing juice and fruit.
Lin Yujing, the main character, was left to rest under the tent by Chu Yan and Chen Jingshu, enjoying everything with peace of mind.
"Sister-in-law, this is pure fruit wine brewed at home. Try it!" Chu Yan smiled, revealing a row of neat white teeth. Looking at his striking yellow hair, he looked even more like a monkey that had escaped from the rainforest.
She has lost all her roguishness and is now full of adorable charm.
"Thank you, just call me Lin Yujing." The term "sister-in-law" is still too ambiguous.
Chu Yan, however, seemed not to understand her meaning and quickly shook her head to explain, "That's so impolite. Besides, you have no idea how many people want to be our sister-in-law..."
"Chu Yan." Chen Jingshu's arm draped lazily over Lin Yujing's arm, which, to others, looked like a harmonious family relationship. "Changing how you address me."
"Sister-in-law is shy!" Chu Yan clapped his hands and suddenly realized, "Then I'll call sister-in-law Jing-jie. You can tell she and Brother Jing are a couple just by hearing that."
Lin Yujing sighed, speechless; he still didn't understand.
He then looked at Chen Jingshu, thinking that they were good brothers and that Chen Jingshu should be able to explain things to this monkey with his peculiar way of thinking.
But Chen Jingshu simply crossed his legs, a knowing smile on his face, looking quite pleased with himself.
"How many years is Sister Jing's birthday?" Chu Yan was probably an E person. At this moment, even if a fish jumped out of the sea, he would probably chat with it and ask whether it was expected to be braised or roasted.
"Winter Solstice, December 22nd." Lin Yujing didn't mind the well-intentioned curiosity, nor did she want to isolate herself too much or draw a line between herself and others.
"Ah!" Chu Yan was a little embarrassed, and glanced at Chen Jingshu, saying, "So it's your younger sister!"
This group of childhood friends were born in the same year, mostly in the first half of the year.
Before Chu Yan could finish speaking, Chen Jingshu kicked him with his raised foot, his narrowed eyes filled with dangerous jealousy as he said, "How dare you call someone 'sister'?"
Lin Yujing and Chu Yan's relationship was somewhat like a case of "becoming acquainted through conflict," and even when he welcomed her today, his voice was the loudest, so Lin Yujing had a good first impression of him. "Just call me Yujing."
Lin Yujing was too distant, while Jingjing was too intimate.
Removing the surname seems just right.
After all, no one had ever asked her these questions.
Even their names aren't called much...
Chu Yan left satisfied, leaving Chen Jingshu and her staring at each other.
Then he said, as if picking a fight for no reason, "I think... now that you're under my protection, it doesn't seem appropriate for me to still call you 'boss'."
"So what? You can call me Yu Jing, just like Chu Yan does."
Between them, there's Chen Jingshu and Lin Yujing. A-Shu means quiet. Jingshu means the eldest.
These have all been called by various names, and there's no specific designation for any particular name.
Chen Jingshu rested his chin on his hand, feigning hesitation for a moment, "Can he compare to me? Or should I call you 'good boy'?"
He squinted slightly, staring intently into her eyes.
As he spoke, he used his hand, which was resting on the back of her chair, to tug at the end of her high ponytail.
An ambiguous, flirtatious scent inexplicably filled the air.
"Isn't that a bit too ambiguous?" Lin Yujing said with a hint of shyness.
Then Chen Jingshu chuckled softly, patted her head, and teased, "Sister Lin, you're not that old, but you know a lot."
“You…” She raised her head slightly and met Chen Jingshu’s roguish yet affectionate eyes.
He seemed to be waiting patiently, just in time for her to fall into the carefully woven circle of logic.
“Good girl, you’re new to Pengzhen and don’t know the local culture. In Pengzhen, elders are used to calling younger people ‘good girl.’ Tell me, where’s the ambiguity?” He kept staring into her eyes, not giving her any chance to look away.
You're taking advantage of me!
"Oh, so in your city, this is called taking advantage?"
The girl was both ashamed and angry, her porcelain-white face flushed red. "You...this is clearly unethical..."
She hesitated for a long time, but still felt too embarrassed to continue.
He could only feign anger and turn away, ignoring Chen Jingshu.
"Are you angry?" Seeing her expression change, Chen Jingshu became nervous, his tone becoming somewhat urgent. "Jingjing, can I call you Jingjing?"
"..." is considered a default statement.
"Jingjing." The repeated word, spoken by him, carried an inexplicable tenderness, like reading poetry. "Jingjing, does calling me that make it less ambiguous?"
Lin Yujing looked at the distant sea, a slight glint in her eyes, thinking: Where is the ambiguity?
Anyway, whenever it's him, he calls her by her full name, which is very ambiguous.
-
Fortunately, Chen Jingshu was quickly pulled away to barbecue, and Qu Xi arrived at some point and sat down next to her.
"That's rare! This is the first time I've ever seen Brother Jing treat a girl so well." Qu Xi looked at her with admiration. "You're also the first girl that Brother Jing brought to play with us."
Lin Yujing had a deep understanding of Chen Jingshu's attractiveness to girls, whether from information provided by someone or from what she had heard and witnessed.
She didn't respond, so Qu Xi continued, "Even the bonfire welcome party prepared for you tonight was organized by Brother Jing, who spent the whole afternoon preparing it."
"Prepared for me?"
“Yes! Brother Jing was worried that you wouldn’t be able to make friends in the new environment of Pengzhen, so he took the initiative to introduce everyone to you. On the way here, he kept telling us that you have an introverted and quiet personality, and that we should be more enthusiastic and proactive.”
At this moment, the fishing lights on the sea are like stars, and the hazy moonlight shines on the young man, making him handsome and bright, comparable to the blazing sun.
Chen Jingshu suddenly turned his head, and the two stared at each other across the bright campfire.
For some reason, she thought of that line: "Like a drifting butterfly, possessing a lamp that burns eternally."
The sudden explosion of firewood from the campfire, with its bright flames landing on the beach, flickered for a few moments before finally extinguishing into white ash.
Her heart felt as if it had been scalded, and she sighed that there was no such thing as a light that would stay on forever. Then, feeling a lump in her throat, she looked away.
-
That night, after a hearty meal and drinks, a sudden downpour began outside the tent.
Everyone's first reaction was to drop their bowls, chopsticks, and wine glasses and rush towards the sea without prior arrangement.
Seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys and girls.
Laughter, noise, cheers.
Like an epic documentary about youth, running towards the moonlit beach.
Lin Yujing was also drawn in and rushed into the rain.
It was like a free soul that had been locked inside a body, escaping through the crack in the light that the boy had pried open.
It was a feeling of ease and freedom she had never experienced before.
The seawater was a little cool at night, but she felt as if she were experiencing heat, youth, and fearlessness.
Then, whether it was seawater or rainwater, it splashed onto her face.
"Yu Jing, you want to fight us at sea? Fight back!" Chu Yan stood not far from her, shouting arrogantly.
It was Lin Yujing's first time fighting at sea, and with the waves crashing and her feet bare, she could barely maintain her balance.
After being repeatedly pounded by seawater and rain, it couldn't even open its eyes.
Just as she felt she was about to fall into the sea and gulp down several mouthfuls of seawater, a strong arm suddenly appeared around her waist and pulled her into a hug.
The boy used his back as a shield, creating a safe haven for her.
The rain was still falling, but things gradually cleared up before her eyes, and the moonlight finally took on a tangible form.
"Brother Jing, you can't protect him like this." Chu Yan was the fiercest in sea battles, always able to take on ten men at once. His only defeat was when Chen Jingshu pinned him down in the sea and made him beg for mercy.
From then on, it was like a memory etched into his genes; every time he jumped into the sea, he would inevitably chase after Chen Jingshu to challenge him.
Today was the first time Chen Jingshu had unilaterally admitted defeat to him, but Chu Yan felt that he had lost more thoroughly than ever before.
Chen Jingshu, in particular, didn't even move an inch, only nodding as he looked at Lin Yujing.
With gentleness and indulgence, and a tender, laughing tone, she said:
"If I don't protect my people, who will?"
A note from the author:
"typhoon"
Singer: Jingjing
[娓娓][怦怦][绯绯][影影绰绰][摇摇曳曳][手握微音][I've been to many places alone, and the scenery is in my mind, but I want to add sound to the scenes where you appeared. He appeared in my heart, a typhoon blew up, swirling up the grass and trees, then it rained, carrying the gray sky away. Is this considered an adventure...?]
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I gained a lot of followers today, which makes me quite anxious. I'd love to know how the new readers discovered the wild jay shoots of peaches!
This is my first time writing a story about a cunning and ruthless female protagonist. I've been working on it again and again to build up my confidence, and I hope everyone will enjoy it!
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Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 00:00:53 and 23:35:47 on August 25, 2023!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Gucheng Jiuxiang (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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