In this world, schools have swimming classes, and average students can swim dozens of meters. This “average” category includes Kong Hanyue, Liu Manman, Hu Lianglu, and You Xue, but not An Siyao.
An Siyao never attends physical education classes at school, reportedly because An Tianfeng fears unexpected incidents might occur during class.
After entering the sea, An Siyao, hugging an airbag tied behind her back, floated on the ocean’s surface. Watching her cautiously treading water and occasionally startled by waves, Xia Yu felt he needed to do something.
He scanned the surroundings and fixed his gaze on Liu Manman.
Liu Manman, wearing sunglasses, was drinking cola. Beneath her was a large inflatable scallop, opened like a shell. Sitting inside the inflatable scallop, she floated on the water’s surface as if relaxing on a sofa.
Xia Yu silently circled behind Liu Manman and submerged into the water. He grabbed one side of the inflatable scallop and slowly pushed upward.
The inflatable scallop gradually tilted. Liu Manman, realizing something was wrong, made a confused sound.
“Hmm? Hmmmm?”
Liu Manman hurriedly tightened the cola bottle cap. By then, the inflatable scallop had already tilted more than thirty degrees, and she slid off into the water.
Fortunately, the tilting speed wasn’t too fast, giving her some time to prepare.
Rising to the surface, Liu Manman wiped water from her face and looked toward where her inflatable scallop had been. However, there was no trace of the scallop on that patch of sea.
“??? Where is my scallop? Where did my big scallop go? It was just here!”
After scanning around in confusion, Liu Manman had to accept the reality that her inflatable scallop had disappeared.
She thought maybe a wave had come by, knocked her off, and carried the scallop away.
Helplessly, Liu Manman swam back to shore, threw the cola bottle onto the beach, and looked around again, hoping to find her scallop, but she still had no luck.
Fortunately, she had other options.
Entering the villa, Liu Manman opened her suitcase and took out a large bag. Carrying the bag downstairs, she found the only maid who had stayed behind at the villa and asked if there was an inflating device.
The maid led her to a small hut by the beach and waved to another maid stationed on an elevated platform nearby.
The maid on the platform, who had been watching everyone at sea, threw down a set of keys.
After opening the hut door and finding the inflating device, Liu Manman inflated her rubber raft. Together with the maid, she dragged the raft to the seaside and excitedly started paddling.
Seeing this, Kong Hanyue and You Xue climbed onto the rubber raft as well.
The rubber raft could seat four people, so three passengers weren’t crowded.
“Where are Xia Yu and the other two?” Liu Manman asked, scanning around and not seeing anyone else.
“They might be on shore. An Siyao can’t swim,” Kong Hanyue replied.
Liu Manman nodded. An Siyao couldn’t swim, and Xia Yu and Hu Lianglu had gone ashore with An Siyao. It was a very reasonable explanation.
Originally, there had been one more seat on the small boat, and she had planned to invite Xia Yu, but apparently, it wasn’t necessary anymore.
“Let’s go occupy that rock!” Liu Manman pointed to a rock about a meter high not far away.
On a nearby, lower rock sat another maid, who also served as a lifeguard, keeping an eye on everyone.
Kong Hanyue and You Xue looked at the rock and became very excited.
Since there were an odd number of people on the rubber raft, You Xue sat in the middle while Kong Hanyue and Liu Manman rowed hard. Soon, they reached the rock.
First, they examined the front side, feeling that climbing up might be difficult. Liu Manman and the others decided to check the back of the rock.
The rubber raft slowly passed through the shadow of the rock and arrived at the other side. Seeing the scene there, Liu Manman’s expression froze.
She saw Xia Yu and An Siyao.
Normally, she should have been happy about having two more people to play with, but right now, she was furious.
Because Xia Yu and An Siyao were sitting on her inflatable scallop.
Seeing this, Liu Manman understood everything immediately.
Her chest heaved violently as she shouted at Xia Yu, “So that’s why my scallop suddenly capsized and disappeared. It was you messing with it!”
Facing Liu Manman’s anger, Xia Yu replied with a look of innocence: “Actually, I just picked it up from over there.”
“Do you think I’ll believe that?” Liu Manman snorted and didn’t pursue the matter further. She wasn’t the first time being pranked by Xia Yu and had almost gotten used to it.
Both Kong Hanyue and You Xue wore expressions of nonchalance, completely calm.
“Since you’re here, where is Lulu?” You Xue interjected.
“I’m here.” Hu Lianglu, hugging an airbag, floated out from the shadows nearby.
This startled not only Liu Manman and the others but also Xia Yu, who hadn’t noticed her hiding there.
“Now that everyone’s here, let’s start landing!” Kong Hanyue redirected everyone’s attention to the rock.
“We can’t climb this,” Xia Yu replied. “I’ve already checked it out.”
“Aww,” Liu Manman and the others were disappointed.
Seeing their expressions, Xia Yu pointed behind him: “There’s a cave over there.”
“What cave?” Liu Manman and the others became excited again.
Xia Yu looked at the maid on the rock. He hadn’t been there himself; the maid had told him about the cave.
The maid took off her coat, jumped into the water, and led the six people along.
Following the direction of the rock, the group spent three minutes reaching a low cliff. Below the cliff was a cave that wasn’t really a cave.
The cave wasn’t deep and didn’t seem naturally formed but rather like it had been dug by human hands.
“This was dug by the master,” the maid explained.
It was actually dug? Just how bored was An Tianfeng?
“He and his friends like to swim here as their destination,” the maid continued, explaining the significance of the indented wall. “There’s a barbecue grill inside for barbecuing.”
Xia Yu and his group didn’t want to barbecue there. It was too dark and oppressive inside.
They returned to the beach, packed up, and went back to the villa.
It was already noon, and the sun was blazing.
After taking a shower and eating lunch, Xia Yu returned to his room. He yawned, lay on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.
…
…
Awakened by a knock on the door, Zhu Mei got up from the bed.
Rubbing her aching head, it took her two minutes to fully wake up from her dream.
In her dream, she had been back in the mountains, thinking about the brown bear.
Looking at the pendant beside the bed containing some of the bear’s ashes, Zhu Mei sighed.
Knock knock knock—
The knocking sound came again.
Putting on the pendant, Zhu Mei opened the door. Outside was Li Hua.
“What’s wrong?” Zhu Mei asked.
“There’s a problem,” Li Hua replied. “It’s the fifth prince. He beat up one of the leaders of Gray Reef Company.”
The public order in District 26 wasn’t very good, with some forces walking the line between legality and illegality. Gray Reef Company was the largest underground organization in the city, entrenched in the counterfeit goods street.
“What should I do?” Zhu Mei asked Li Hua.
“Have Prince Bing apologize and pay some money. If the other side targets us, it will be very troublesome and might even expose our identities,” Li Hua analyzed.
Zhu Mei nodded, indicating she would follow Li Hua’s advice.
The two headed to the third floor together. In the elevator, Zhu Mei couldn’t help but ask again, “Why did Bing get into a fight with someone from Gray Reef Company?”
“The fifth prince often visits the counterfeit goods street, trying to befriend people from Gray Reef Company. Today, he made some progress and contacted a mid-level member. They went to have dinner together. At the table, they encountered a leader who was hostile to that mid-level member. He didn’t even investigate the situation and recklessly stepped in, and then this happened,” Li Hua explained.
Zhu Mei rubbed her still-painful head and frowned, “I told him not to cause any trouble!”
“The fifth prince is just trying to revive the royal family, but he’s a bit reckless,” Li Hua replied.
Zhu Mei knew her younger brother Zhu Mengbing wanted to ally with Gray Reef Company, which was rumored to have access to firearms, to retake District 232.
She didn’t agree with this plan. District 232 had been divided among rebels, the puppet government, and the imperial guards. What could they achieve by going back?
“Didn’t I say not to do these boring things anymore!” Zhu Mei was somewhat annoyed. What she wanted was a quiet life, not constantly seeking excitement.
“Your Highness!” Li Hua didn’t use Zhu Mei’s nickname, indicating her seriousness. “Don’t say things like that.”
Zhu Mei opened her mouth but eventually said nothing.
The two arrived at the third floor and saw Zhu Mengbing sitting on the sofa, restless.
Zhu Mei scolded her younger brother according to Li Hua’s plan.
Afterward, Zhu Mengbing, along with three others and Li Hua, went to the bank first to withdraw money and then to apologize.
Watching them leave, Zhu Mei left the third floor and returned to her room on the 23rd floor.
Lying on the bed, she felt a sense of unease.
Zhu Mengbing always wanted to reclaim their homeland, and people like Li Hua shared the same idea. They would keep causing trouble and eventually bring disaster.
However, Zhu Mei was powerless. Although this group outwardly followed her leadership, in reality, they were only using her to manage the disobedient Zhu Mengbing.
Rubbing her temples, Zhu Mei lay back down and fell asleep again.
Half an hour later, her door was knocked on again.
The knocking was urgent. When Zhu Mei opened the door, she saw a panic-stricken Zhu Mengbing.
“Why are you here? Where is Hua?” A sense of foreboding flashed through Zhu Mei’s mind.
“She’s downstairs, slightly injured,” Zhu Mengbing replied.
“What happened?” Zhu Mei’s head hurt even more.
“We went to apologize, but they led us into an ambush, intending to capture us. Fortunately, Hua noticed early, and we managed to escape.” Zhu Mengbing became angry here; those people from Gray Reef Company were too treacherous.
Pushing past Zhu Mengbing, Zhu Mei went to the third floor and saw Li Hua having her wounds treated. They were gunshot wounds, three in total: one in the abdomen, one in the leg, and one in the arm.
None of these were fatal areas, so Zhu Mei felt relieved.
“This is the most secure area in District 26; nothing will happen,” the butler said while sweating. Gray Reef Company wouldn’t let them go, and he was trying to reassure himself rather than others.
The top ten districts had well-established public order systems with no organized criminal forces. However, the lower-ranked districts were different; those organizations were truly capable of putting people in burlap sacks and sinking them into the sea.
“Now we can only stay here,” Li Hua said with effort. A doctor was removing the bullet from her leg, and she had to endure the pain without crying out.
“Shouldn’t we leave?” Zhu Mei asked with concern.
“They only had two guns, proving Hai Ming City’s public order is indeed good. Right now, we’re next to the municipal government and foreign embassies; they won’t dare to use guns. Leaving would be very dangerous,” Li Hua replied.
Zhu Mei didn’t speak, and the matter was settled.
After the wounds were treated, Zhu Mei helped Li Hua to her room and laid her down on the bed.
Standing up, Zhu Mei looked at Li Hua’s pained expression.
“Was it necessary?” she asked, “So many people have already died, first our parents, my bear, and then our older siblings, followed by Ah Wei and the imperial guards…”
Zhu Mei’s words stopped as she gripped the pendant on her chest, “And Xiongxiong, who had nothing to do with this at all. It was all because I dragged it along…”
Covering her face, Zhu Mei quietly wept.
“Meimei, District 232 has been our territory for generations,” Li Hua said, “We must reclaim it.”
“Territory, you just think about territory!” Zhu Mei glared at Li Hua with wide eyes.
“I didn’t…”
Zhu Mei interrupted Li Hua, “You did! I wanted to bury Xiongxiong’s ashes in the mountains, but you wouldn’t even let me do that!”
“Although they withdrew their people, who knows if they left any traps behind. It’s too dangerous to go back to the mountains…”
Dong—
Zhu Mei didn’t want to hear Li Hua’s explanation anymore. She kicked over a nearby stool and ran out of the room.
Returning to her room on the 23rd floor, Zhu Mei threw herself onto the bed and hugged the stuffed bear by her pillow tightly.
…
…
In his sleep, Xia Yu felt a tickle by his nose. By reflex, he reached out and grabbed something, followed by a crisp startled cry.
Opening his eyes, Xia Yu saw Liu Manman, whose neck he had grabbed. Liu Manman had a handful of hair in her hand, which she had used to tease Xia Yu.
Beside Liu Manman stood An Siyao, Kong Hanyue, You Xue, and Hu Lianglu in neat formation.
The four of them were grinning, clearly enjoying the prank on Xia Yu.
The only unhappy one was Liu Manman.
Liu Manman patted Xia Yu’s arm that was holding her neck, struggling slightly, “Let go! Why are you holding my neck!”
“You brought it upon yourself,” Xia Yu released his grip.
Still angry, Liu Manman swung her hair at Xia Yu’s chest. The soft texture of her hair, no matter how hard she hit, felt like a tickle to Xia Yu.
“You, I was all prepared to stop you from attacking inappropriate places, but you ended up choking my neck! My scene of benefits turned into a murder scene with you!” Liu Manman muttered.
Ignoring her, Xia Yu looked at Kong Hanyue, “What are we doing this afternoon?”
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