491. At the Beach
Thanks to their epic Mahjong marathon, the gang finally made it to the beach just as evening was rolling in.
The sky was a murky gray, and at the horizon, the sun’s leftover glow was disappearing faster than you could say “sandcastle.” The Walking Street next to the beach lit up like a Christmas tree, brightening up the area with a cheery glow.
As the chilly evening sea breeze blew in, Ning Chu shivered and instinctively ducked behind Wen Yang, trying to escape the biting cold.
“It’s so cold…”
In May, the daytime temperature here could reach around 25 or 26 degrees Celsius, and it typically only dipped a bit above 20 at night. A coat usually did the trick, but being near the ocean, Ning Chu definitely felt the temperature drop.
But Yan Xinya’s enthusiasm was unwavering. As soon as they got off the bus, she grabbed Lily and rushed off toward the Walking Street. “Where can we rent a tent? Let’s hurry and rent a big one!”
Lily stumbled along, nearly losing her balance from Yan Xinya’s energetic tug. Meanwhile, Qian Qian eyed the two girls and then took a quick glance back at the two couples behind them. Without much hesitation, she decided it was better to follow Yan Xinya than to stick around and watch lovey-dovey antics.
The Walking Street was built right along the beach, and it only took a couple of steps down to reach the sandy shore.
Ning Chu looked around curiously in this unfamiliar place, muttering, “This beach isn’t that different from mine back home~”
She looked up at Wen Yang, only to find him staring off into the distance, lost in thought.
“Never seen it before, huh? Pretty cool, right?”
“Yeah, it’s nice.”
“My grandfather used to take me here all the time to collect shells and crabs. We’d fill a bucket! Then we’d cook them up for dinner, though they didn’t have much meat. Just a fresh experience,” she reminisced, linking her arm with Wen Yang’s as she rattled off childhood memories. “I think when I was about five or six, my mom took me camping by the beach too. I think my older brother and the neighbor’s aunt came along… Can’t remember much, but it was cold at night.”
“That sounds interesting!”
“Hmm, but after my mom went to work, she didn’t take me out very often.”
So, in a way, Ning Chu’s lack of adventures as a child was all due to that suddenly missing father.
“If you want, I can take you to the beach again when summer vacation comes?” Wen Yang suggested with a smile.
“Oh, you just want to see beautiful girls in swimsuits, right?” Ning Chu shot him a suspicious glance, shaking her head. “Forget it, I’m not interested in that right now.”
Night fell quickly, and aside from the glowing Walking Street, the beach was pitch black, with only the ink-black sea faintly visible, like a bottomless pit.
The strong sea breeze kept nudging Ning Chu closer to Wen Yang, who had become her cozy windbreak.
The Walking Street seemed a bit idle; you could easily see from one end to the other, and she quickly spotted Yan Xinya bouncing around like a child let loose in a candy store.
Rushing over, Yan Xinya noticed her arrival and excitedly pointed to a tent rental shop. “Ning Chu! Let’s get a huge tent, and all five of us can sleep together!”
“Uh…”
“You want to sleep with Wen Yang, don’t you?”
Ning Chu hesitated for a second, but before she could think, the wolf girl was already teasing her. “Oh~ Doing that kind of thing at the beach sounds super thrilling~”
Ning Chu’s face turned as red as a tomato, and she leaped at Yan Xinya. “Shut up! I would never think of that!”
“You said the same thing last night! And what happened? You only got back with Wen Yang at dawn!”
“I was just walking around with him!”
“No one’s buying that!”
After a lively banter, they decided to rent one big and two small tents. Worrying about the night getting chilly, they also rented sleeping bags.
On the beach, near the Walking Street, there was a special camping area that only had a handful of tents, so they had plenty of space to enjoy themselves.
The three tents were quickly set up in a circle with a waterproof picnic blanket in the middle, complete with a portable stove and the pre-purchased skewers.
Sure, there was a self-service BBQ spot on the Walking Street with tables set up on the beach and plenty of lights… but Yan Xinya was too pumped to bother with all that.
“The fire is too small.”
Lily sat in front of the portable stove, staring at the wobbly flame blown this way and that by the wind. She shook her head. “Can’t cook anything like this.”
“No way!” Yan Xinya exclaimed, rushing over and blocking the wind with her body. “Will this help? Qian Qian, come help block the wind!”
She turned her head to see Qian Qian already off in the distance, playing with the sand in her slippers.
“What’s so fun about sand? So childish…” Yan Xinya pouted, then looked over at Ning Chu and Wen Yang. “Come help block the wind! Otherwise, we’ll be eating sand for dinner!”
“Coming.”
Ning Chu wasn’t too worried about dinner. The Walking Street was right next to them, so they could get anything they wanted, as long as it wasn’t too pricey.
She sat down beside Wen Yang, effectively blocking the wind and helping stabilize the stove’s flame.
Finally, Lily pulled out a grill pan and placed it on the stove, leisurely brushing oil on it while putting on the marinated skewers.
The sizzling sound and the mouthwatering smell of barbecued meat wafted through the campsite, leaving Yan Xinya eagerly eyeing the skewers, occasionally prompting, “Is it done yet? What’s taking so long?”
“Is it ready?”
“Why is it so slow?”
Lily, though, remained patient, finding Yan Xinya rather amusing. “The fire’s small; there’s no rush.”
“You guys keep cooking; I’ll check on the tent.”
Seeing that it would be a while before the meat was ready, Ning Chu stood up and headed toward their tent.
The wind had made the tent wobble a bit, so she anxiously walked around to make sure it was secure before she zipped it open, poking her head inside.
Ducking into the tent to escape the wind felt like a warm hug, and she plopped down on the sleeping bag, rummaging through her backpack for her stuff.
The triangular tent was pretty cramped, barely wide enough for Ning Chu and Wen Yang to lie down, and too low for Ning Chu to stand up straight.
She pulled out the fully-charged mosquito repellent lamp, insect-repellent spray, power bank, and small lamp—little bits and bobs she had snagged from Lily’s place without spending a dime, but now had to return.
“Is this tent a bit too small?”
Wen Yang squeezed in after her.
He was a big guy, and the small space was definitely not cutting it; he had to move around gingerly.
“It’s fine, right? Big tents are expensive~”
Ning Chu said while applying insect repellant to her neck and exposed arms. “Later, you can give Lily and the others some spray too. We can’t let those bugs bite!”
“Got it.”
“The train ticket for tomorrow’s three o’clock is booked,” she added, pausing for a moment, her cheeks slightly flushed as she continued, “I don’t think I’ll sleep well in this tent tonight… Let’s just book a hotel room in the morning to catch a proper nap?”
“Also to check your health. We can’t have you collapsing on us and losing to that guy.”
Wen Yang quickly realized the Little Succubus was feeling some kind of pressure and needed to blow off some steam!
