Zhou Ji himself didn’t expect that he could actually be out of the single status!
He was overjoyed, sticking to Ning Zhiyu’s side after coming out of the haunted house, wishing he could be her pendant. Everyone except Jiang Yumo was shocked, no one expected that Ning Zhiyu would loosen up at this moment. Yan Qing even ran to Ning Zhiyu’s side, holding her hand with a worried expression, saying, “Zhiyu, if you’re kidnapped, just blink, or if someone is impersonating you, blink too.”
Zhou Ji：”?”
He was also afraid that Ning Zhiyu might change her mind, so he quickly stepped in front of her, threatening and warning Yan Qing, “Yan Qing, if you say one more word, Zhao Zheng won’t survive tonight, I’m telling you.”
Zhao Zheng : “D*mn!!”
Yan Qing blinked her eyes and said devoutly, “Can such good things happen?”
Jiang Yumo was happily holding onto Duan Ye’s arm.
Ning Zhiyu had to reluctantly speak up, looking as if she had no choice but to agree because Zhou Ji’s pestering had left her with no other option, “So many ghosts are listening.”
In fact, all of them knew that Ning Zhiyu would eventually agree to Zhou Ji. They just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. But thinking about it, they all understood. They could only say that Zhou Ji’s luck was truly extraordinary. If he had developed feelings for Ning Zhiyu during high school time, their story might not have progressed. The timing now was perfect—college entrance exams were over, and they have become adults. It was simply a case of right time, right place, and right people.
To some extent, Zhou Ji was luckier than Duan Ye.
Of course, Zhou Ji’s nature was to take things a step further. Just after getting out of being single, he was already thinking about wearing couple outfits with Ning Zhiyu. Unlike Jiang Yumo, Ning Zhiyu couldn’t accept such silly clothing at the moment and coldly rejected the idea. Zhou Ji was a bit disappointed at first, but he thought to himself, since he’s already Ning Zhiyu’s boyfriend… then wearing couple outfits would be inevitable eventually. There was no need to rush and cling to Ning Zhiyu.
Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao shivered in discomfort when they saw this.
The two of them openly commented, “What’s going on? We originally thought Brother Duan’s love brain was already enough…”
Enough for what?
Enough to make it unbearable to watch, but over the past few years, they got used to it. Everyone knows that Brother Duan has no limits when it comes to Jiang Yumo.
At least Brother Duan shows some restraint outside, but Zhou Ji is completely…
As long as you look at Zhou Ji a few more times, you can save on today’s dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast.
“This is like ‘the disciple surpasses the master’!” Zhao Zheng evaluated this way. “Yes, that’s it. Brother Duan Ge is the master, Zhou Ji is the disciple, the disciple surpasses the master!”
Duan Ye : “…”
He raised his eyes and glanced at Zhou Ji in front of him, who was practically jumping up and down with enthusiasm. He fell into contemplation. Could he be seen like this in others’ eyes too?
Zhao Zheng spoke loudly, and Zhou Ji heard. Zhou Ji turned his head and made a shooting gesture at Zhao Zheng, then sneered, “If you can’t use idioms properly, then don’t use them.”
Is that idiom used like that?
“Illiterate,” Zhou Ji retorted.
Zhao Zheng argued back, “Who’s the real illiterate between us? Do you think I haven’t read books? Idioms are always four characters long, can such a long sentence1 be an idiom?”
Zhou Ji started arguing with Zhao Zheng, “Who told you idioms must always be four characters long?”
Zhao Zheng took out his phone, “I have our teacher’s number. If you don’t believe me, why don’t we call and ask?”
Ning Zhiyu sighed deeply. Could she admit that she regretted it? She quickly distanced herself from Zhou Ji and linked arms with Sun Mengting and Yan Qing.
Guo Shichao sneered and said to the four girls, “You all had a good laugh, huh? These two unfilial brats of mine are just like this, their desire for victory is damn strong!”
Zhao Zheng and Zhou Ji were still arguing about whether it was an idiom or not. Duan Ye couldn’t stand it anymore, he signaled to Guo Shichao, and the two of them went over to separate the two elementary school students.
“See that?” Guo Shichao laughed at them. “Today you got to witness what a debate between two young kids is like, this is it.”
It wasn’t until they returned to the hotel that Zhao Zheng and Zhou Ji still hadn’t reached a conclusion from their argument.
Is that really an idiom2?
Young people seem to have endless energy. After playing wildly in the amusement park all day, they still weren’t satisfied and wanted to go play by the seaside at night.
The hotel they checked into was very close to the beach, just a ten-minute walk away. When the eight of them were discussing where to travel, the four girls almost simultaneously answered “seaside.” While Ningcheng had rivers and a creek, it lacked a sea. So, of course, they wanted to go to the beach.
The four girls crowded into a room, changing into swimsuits.
They were all still young. When they went to buy swimsuits together, they would blush even at the sight of sexy bikinis. Those weren’t even options for them. In the end, all four of them bought separate swimsuits that were more suitable for their age.
The boys mostly just wore swim trunks.
Originally, no one paid too much attention to this matter. But after changing into swim trunks, even the carefree Zhao Zheng couldn’t help but keep looking in the mirror. His already dark face turned suspiciously red. “… D*mn, this is my first time.”
The first time he was only wearing swim trunks and playing in the water with girls.
Why did it feel a little uncomfortable?
He couldn’t help but cover his upper body.
Among the four of them, Guo Shichao was the fairest and thinnest. He looked at his arms, then at his ribs, and suddenly began to worry. He was afraid that he might end up with the nickname ‘White Chicken’ in the future.
Duan Ye calmly took a pair of beach shorts from his suitcase and put them on.
Among the boys, there would be childish competitions, whether in basketball, height, or, of course, physique.
Zhao Zheng always admired Duan Ye, and now he was praising him, “Brother Duan, your physique is truly amazing. You’ve been working on it for a long time, right?”
“Work out? For a long time?” Zhou Ji looked over.
Zhao Zheng leaned on Duan Ye’s shoulder, “You’re out of date, Brother Duan and Sister Mo had long planned to travel after the college entrance exams. Sister Mo already mentioned wanting to come to the seaside. Brother Duan has been preparing for almost a year!”
Zhou Ji grumbled, “Sly, cunning, and scheming!”
Really scheming, it seems like he has been planning this day for a while.
Prepared and ready, Duan Ye stood out among the four. Zhao Zheng looked sturdy in his clothes, but a bit overly so. Clearly, the few girls weren’t quite able to appreciate it yet. Guo Shichao and Zhao Zheng presented a stark contrast. Guo Shichao was tall too, but thin and fair. Yan Qing and Sun Mengting kept their distance from him, unwilling to stand next to him, afraid of being contrasted as dark-skinned and chubby.
Zhou Ji frequently played basketball with Duan Ye, and they were the same height, but Zhou Ji was missing a certain charm.
In this moment, with only beach shorts and swimsuit trunks, the difference between them was evident.
Zhou Ji exuded a youthful aura, indicating he was around eighteen or nineteen years old. Duan Ye was different; he fell somewhere between a youth and a man, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and a lean and powerful abdomen, giving off a sense that he could bear the weight of the world.
Yan Qing’s eyes were fixated!!
Before she could even tease Yumo of how lucky she was, Jiang Yumo pinched Yan Qing’s waist playfully, saying with a sinister smile, “Keep staring, and I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
Yan Qing winced, “Heartless woman, valuing love over friendship. Is this how you treat your sisters?”
Jiang Yumo used her eyes to warn Sun Mengting again, and Sun Mengting immediately lowered her head decisively. However, she still defended herself and Yan Qing, saying, “It’s not our fault they’re not wearing shirts. How can we be blamed? We’re just… reacting normally!”
Jiang Yumo’s possessiveness instantly surged. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking very arrogant and cold as she said, “Nobody is allowed to look! If you look again, I’ll hit you!”
“Okay…” Yan Qingqing secretly glanced at Zhou Ji.
Zhou Ji… He’s not bad either.
Ning Zhiyu walked over, her voice gentle and soft, “You’re not allowed to look at him either, okay?”
Yan Qing and Sun Mengting immediately felt unhappy and protested, “Okay, we won’t look. But, to soothe our wounded hearts, you should treat us to shaved ice…”
Sun Mengting continued, “And also grilled squid, sweet osmanthus cake, clam noodles, spicy duck neck… then it’s a deal!”
Jiang Yumo exchanged a glance with Ning Zhiyu.
These two are like bandits! Taking advantage of the situation, raising the price on the spot!
But…
They could only reluctantly agree.
Yan Qingq and Sun Mengting happily accepted the terms, even raising three fingers to make a pledge, “From now on, when I look at Brother Duan and Zhou Ji, I absolutely won’t sneak glances, and I definitely won’t stare at their abs… Seriously, I didn’t see clearly just now, how many abs does Brother Duan have?”
Jiang Yumo : “Well done, Yan Qing, you’re dead!”
The boys helped the girls carry the swim rings, and the group of eight walked towards the beach under the setting sun. The beach was already bustling at this time, crowded with people. Looking around, it was like dumplings in a pot. But this didn’t affect their good mood. Playing in the water at the seaside was truly enjoyable. Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao were bored and fully focused, digging a huge pit in the sand, planning to bury Zhou Ji later.
Duan Ye was holding onto Jiang Yumo in a swimming ring, slowly walking into the sea. Waves splashed, soaking Jiang Yumo’s hair in seawater. She was ecstatic, laughing heartily from time to time. Duan Ye watched over her, protecting her like the bravest and most loyal knight.
As dusk fell, fewer people remained on the beach. The eight of them found a secluded spot to sit, enjoying the sea breeze and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, feeling comfortable and content.
rokumi’s note : Hello, this is rokumi. Recently, I found out that my translations are being reposted on other sites without my knowledge. Thus, I’m thinking of taking a measure by posting a fake chapter a day earlier, then replace the content with the actual chapter on the usual update time. So, you might have seen the link to the next chapter now, but the content will be random duplication of past chapters. I will replace it with the actual chapter tomorrow (the usual update time is 11.00 UTC but it could be a few minutes earlier or later since I’m going to replace it manually so as to not mess up with the links). This will go on for the next chapters too. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.
Hope this works… (>人<；)
- the raw for ‘the disciple surpasses the master’ is 青出于蓝而胜于蓝 which is eight characters long ↩︎
- by the way, it really is a Chinese idiom. While there are many four-characters idioms, there are also idioms that were shorter or longer than four characters. ↩︎
Thank you for the chapter! I’m sorry that’s happening, plagiarism sucks 🙁
Noted and thanks for continuing to bring us this sweet novel.
Angry 😠 at those evil who stole yr wonderful hard work.
Thanks 😍