Eight hours later, in the dead of night, the plane finally arrived. Xia Yu and the others emerged from their respective compartments and disembarked under the guidance of the flight attendants.
Xia Yu, An Siyao, and Hu Lianglu were in high spirits, while Kong Hanyue, Liu Manman, and You Xue seemed rather listless.
Kong Hanyue and Liu Manman had been restless throughout the flight, and You Xue, dragged along by the two, hadn’t managed to rest well either.
“I can’t walk anymore. Yu, carry me,” Kong Hanyue whined, leaning on the handle of her suitcase, half-asleep.
“As if,” Xia Yu replied, buying three cans of coffee from a vending machine nearby and handing them to the three exhausted girls.
The coffee needed some time to take effect, but its cold temperature helped them perk up slightly.
Xia Yu turned off airplane mode on his phone and saw a message from Yu Ningmeng, who wanted him to call her immediately after landing.
Puzzled about what could be so urgent, Xia Yu dialed Yu Ningmeng’s number.
“Where are you now?” Yu Ningmeng asked.
“At the airport, just got off the plane,” Xia Yu answered.
“You don’t need to go to the hotel. Someone will come to pick you up; they’ll be wearing white clothes and holding a sign.”
Following Yu Ningmeng’s description, Xia Yu scanned the area and successfully located the person she mentioned.
The person was holding a sign that read “Ms. An Siyao.”
Not approaching immediately, Xia Yu asked Yu Ningmeng, “What’s going on?”
“I learned from the District 26 government that An Tianfeng owns a piece of land there, so I acquired it for Yaoyao,” Yu Ningmeng answered.
“…Let me confirm first, you mean land, not delivery, right?” Xia Yu felt a bit stunned.
“Yeah, I heard it’s near the beach. When you get back, have Yaoyao go to An Tianfeng to complete the procedures. Of course, you can go too if you’d prefer.” Yu Ningmeng’s tone was calm; she intended for Xia Yu to go in An Siyao’s place to claim the land from An Tianfeng.
Yu Ningmeng dared to give away anything belonging to An Tianfeng, no matter how valuable.
Xia Yu, of course, wouldn’t be dazzled by a piece of land. An Tianfeng wasn’t Yu Ningmeng, and trying to get something from him might result in being stuffed into a sack one day.
Not picking up on Yu Ningmeng’s words, Xia Yu noticed another point: “You’re also connected to the District 26 government?”
“Don’t you know the surname of the president of this district?” Yu Ningmeng replied.
Xia Yu quickly searched online and found out that the president of District 26 shared the surname Yu.
Well, that was impressive.
“I’ll tell you, this president has absolutely nothing to do with our Yu family,” Yu Ningmeng added after a pause.
“???”
“People with the surname Yu are common; how could they possibly be related just because they share a surname?” Yu Ningmeng’s tone was cheerful, clearly enjoying teasing Xia Yu. “But our Yu family does have several projects in collaboration with the District 26 government, so we’re somewhat connected.”
Xia Yu didn’t respond, thinking about how to get back at her later.
“That’s all. I’ve sent you a phone number on QQ; if anything happens, call that number.” With that, Yu Ningmeng hung up.
Putting his phone back into his pocket and dodging Kong Hanyue’s attempt to sneak onto his back, Xia Yu led the group to the man in white.
The man in white had probably seen their photos and immediately recognized them.
Under his guidance, the group boarded a bus heading toward An Tianfeng’s private land.
The airport in Haiming City wasn’t far from the city center. Half an hour later, they arrived at the city’s edge, at the foot of a small mountain.
According to the man in white, the other side of the mountain was An Tianfeng’s private territory.
After the man in white took his leave, a middle-aged woman with a beard approached the group. She was An Tianfeng’s housekeeper, and now An Siyao’s.
Following her, Xia Yu and the others crossed the mountain and arrived at a flat area.
The moonlight was bright, and they could clearly see the scenery on the plain.
There was a small villa on the flat land, modern in style, looking as if several metal plates had been put together, simple yet futuristic.
In front of the villa was a large expanse of golden beach, with moonlight shining on the rippling waves, sparkling with silver light.
“This is amazing!” Kong Hanyue excitedly pulled Liu Manman’s arm.
Liu Manman looked at the rocks on the sea surface, already planning how to occupy them while nodding: “It’s more interesting than my island.”
Kong Hanyue turned her head in surprise. She hadn’t expected Liu Manman’s family to be rich too.
“Which district is your island in?” Kong Hanyue carefully asked.
“It’s in the second district, on the Taiting Ocean,” Liu Manman replied.
Kong Hanyue nodded. It wasn’t one of the small community islands; this must be expensive.
Too bad, Yu can only marry one. Sighing, Kong Hanyue felt a little melancholy.
The car quickly arrived at the villa. Xia Yu got out first and saw the servants standing on both sides of the door: four maids, a chef, an assistant cook, and two drivers.
The housekeeper introduced the servants to the group and led them into the villa.
Inside, the villa was just as modern as outside, even more technologically advanced than An Siyao’s previous residence. At least An Siyao’s villa didn’t have automatic doors that required iris recognition.
“Why are there so many maids here?” Xia Yu asked the housekeeper.
“Master liked to come here with friends a few years ago, and there were six maids then,” the housekeeper replied.
While marveling at how much fun An Tianfeng must have had, Xia Yu went upstairs to choose a room.
The villa wasn’t large, with only five rooms on the second floor, while there were six people in Xia Yu’s group.
Either two people would have to share a room, or one person would have to stay downstairs with the servants and bodyguards.
Staying downstairs with the servants and bodyguards wasn’t very suitable.
“I want my own room, and so do Xue, Manman, and Lu,” Kong Hanyue grabbed the four girls, trying to create an opportunity for Xia Yu.
You Xue and Liu Manman had no objections, and Hu Lianglu looked at Xia Yu, took half a step forward, then retracted it, not opposing.
An Siyao looked into Xia Yu’s eyes, waiting for his response.
Xia Yu really wanted to agree, but considering that everyone in the villa was An Tianfeng’s people, and if something happened, the trip might turn into something else, so he could only painfully refuse.
“You Xue, you can share a room with Manman,” Xia Yu said to You Xue.
“Eh? Okay,” You Xue and Liu Manman agreed.
“Why? If you don’t want her, let Xue share a room with me!” Kong Hanyue protested.
“Actually, I can also share with someone else,” Hu Lianglu stared at An Siyao, hinting.
Xia Yu pretended not to hear their words and finalized the arrangement.
Looking at the disappointed Hu Lianglu and Kong Hanyue, Xia Yu chuckled inwardly.
Hu Lianglu wanting to stay with An Siyao? No way Xia Yu would agree to that.
And Kong Hanyue wanting to stay with You Xue was also impossible. Kong Hanyue wasn’t a considerate person; sometimes Xia Yu couldn’t help but want to discipline her.
When You Xue stayed at Kong Hanyue’s villa before, Xia Yu noticed that Kong Hanyue liked to boss You Xue around. Back then, You Xue didn’t mind and even seemed happy, so Xia Yu let it slide.
But now, You Xue had finally become somewhat independent, no longer trying so hard to please others. She even discarded the camera equipment from Ning Qiuer after using it, and was gradually becoming the person Xia Yu wanted her to be. There was no way Xia Yu would let Kong Hanyue interfere and ruin it.
“Hurry up and tidy your rooms, then come downstairs for dinner,” Xia Yu waved his hand.
Everyone chose their rooms and went in to organize their luggage. Xia Yu chose the room with a window overlooking the beach, You Xue chose the room opposite his, and An Siyao chose the room next to his.
After tidying up and having a late-night snack, the tired group went back to their rooms to rest.
The next morning at nine o’clock, Xia Yu woke from his sleep.
Morning sunlight shone on his face, a bit glaring. He had forgotten to close the curtains the night before.
Getting out of bed, Xia Yu opened the door and saw You Xue opening her door too. You Xue yawned sleepily, clearly woken by an alarm.
She kept her head down, eyes closed, walking the routine she had practiced at home.
Because she was in a new place, the routine that usually led her smoothly to the bathroom went wrong, and You Xue headed straight for the hallway wall.
Xia Yu timely grabbed the girl’s shoulders and turned her in the right direction.
Following You Xue to the bathroom, Xia Yu watched her stand in front of the sink, continuing her drowsy routine. She reached to her right, where her cup and toothbrush would be at home, but in this villa, the toothbrush and cup were on the left.
As You Xue failed to find them after a couple of tries and started to open her eyes, Xia Yu handed the toothbrush and cup to her.
Xia Yu intentionally flipped the toothbrush, holding it by the bottom with the bristles up.
You Xue opened her eyes halfway after grabbing the cup and toothbrush. Xia Yu had thought his plan would fail, but to his surprise, You Xue, still half-asleep, didn’t notice the toothbrush was upside down. She grabbed the bristles, squeezed toothpaste onto the handle, and put it into her mouth.
After brushing twice, the girl felt something was off. She took out the toothbrush and looked at the toothpaste-covered handle, puzzled.
Click—
Xia Yu took a photo with his phone.
Finally waking up, You Xue heard the shutter sound. She turned and saw Xia Yu, realizing he had played a trick on her. Angrily, she threw the toothbrush into the cup: “Mean older brother!”
Xia Yu didn’t care at all. He reached out and messed up You Xue’s hair, then sent the photo he had just taken to the QQ group chat.
This was a small group created for the trip, and replies soon came in.
“Is this trying to brush your hands with the toothbrush?” Hu Lianglu replied.
“This is not good for the toothbrush,” Liu Manman replied.
“Cute,” An Siyao replied next.
“666,” from Yu Ningmeng.
Wait, Yu Ningmeng?
Xia Yu looked at the number of people in the group. There were clearly only six people on the trip, yet there were seven in the group.
How did she sneak in?
Vengeful Xia Yu used his group admin privileges to kick Yu Ningmeng out.
Feeling pleased, he put his phone aside and joined You Xue to start brushing his teeth.
After they went downstairs to the dining area and finished breakfast, Kong Hanyue finally got up.
After she finished washing up and eating, the group sat on the sofa, looking at each other hesitantly.
The girls were hesitant about actually wearing their swimsuits, while Xia Yu and Kong Hanyue were infected by their hesitation.
Finally, Kong Hanyue tentatively said, “Shall we go to the beach?”
The four girls then sprang into action, going back to their rooms to change.
Xia Yu also returned to his room. Compared to the girls’ hesitation, he was somewhat eager.
Soon, he had changed into his swimsuit and put on a large T-shirt, coming downstairs to the living room to wait.
The first to come down was Kong Hanyue, wearing a simple black swimsuit and a black coat.
“What do you think? Your mom’s still got it, right?” Kong Hanyue proudly paraded in front of Xia Yu.
“You’re blocking my view, old woman,” Xia Yu replied.
Kong Hanyue: “???”
“I’ll get you for this!” Grabbing a fruit plate from the coffee table, Kong Hanyue chased after Xia Yu.
Xia Yu quickly ran out of the villa, using the open space to evade her.
Although Kong Hanyue kept in shape, her stamina was far from Xia Yu’s, and she soon got tired and squatted on the beach.
At this time, the remaining girls were also ready.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Xia Yu’s face lit up with a smile. However, when they actually came out, his smile slowly faded.
First came Liu Manman, wearing a purple swimsuit. The color wasn’t the issue; it was the style.
It was a one-piece swimsuit with a square-cut design.
Essentially, it was like wearing a tank top and square-cut shorts, covering everything except the arms and legs.
Liu Manman dressing like this disappointed Xia Yu a little, but behind Liu Manman came An Siyao, dressed the same way, though hers was white.
Then came Hu Lianglu, the third to emerge, who was even more covered, with her upper arms also wrapped up.
Where was the beach eye candy they had been promised?
Xia Yu’s gaze fixed on Liu Manman. A few days ago, Liu Manman had called Xia Yu, threatening him that she would recommend conservative swimsuits for An Siyao. Xia Yu had thought she was just kidding, but he hadn’t expected her to actually follow through!
Understanding Xia Yu’s thoughts, Liu Manman quickly clarified, “It’s not my doing. I only picked this style for myself; I didn’t say a word to your Yaoyao.”
Hearing this, Xia Yu sighed deeply, disappointedly squatting on the ground. Looking at the sand beneath his feet, he looked utterly despondent.
You Xue came to his side, trying to comfort him.
The girl was wearing the swimsuit Xia Yu had imagined, which gave him a little psychological comfort.
The originally shy girls, seeing Xia Yu’s exaggeratedly disappointed expression, relaxed and laughed together as they headed to the beach.
It was already ten o’clock, and the sun was getting hotter. Under Kong Hanyue’s leadership, they did a set of exercises and then went into the water.
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