Chapter 57: Sunlight, Beach, and Sea Breeze
Inside the inn, due to budget constraints, Lu Zhiyin and her two companions only booked two rooms.
Lu Zhiyin and Zhu naturally shared a room, while Ouyang Qing had her own.
Ouyang Qing was a bit displeased with this arrangement, but she accepted it.
In Lu Zhiyin and Zhu’s room, Lu Zhiyin sat on the soft mattress, dangling her legs.
The inn’s environment was good. While the rooms weren’t as spacious as a large hotel, they were surprisingly clean.
The walls were spotless, and the incandescent lamps showed no signs of damage. The bedsheets and duvet covers were disposable, so there were no worries about hygiene.
“Hey, junior, can you tell me what happened in the car today?”
As Zhu took out clean clothes from her suitcase, she asked Lu Zhiyin.
After a day in the car, Zhu was a bit tired. She planned to take a hot bath and sleep well so she’d have energy to accompany Lu Zhiyin the next day.
“Ah… are you asking why I let that person get so close to me?”
Lu Zhiyin recalled the events of the day.
She couldn’t understand Ouyang Qing’s behavior. Didn’t she treat her like a toy? Didn’t she look down on her and try to avoid touching her as much as possible? Why was she actively leaning on her now?
Lu Zhiyin couldn’t understand and didn’t intend to investigate the answer.
At this point, Ouyang Qing’s thoughts were no longer important.
“Mhm.”
“I was just threatened.”
Answering Zhu’s question truthfully, Lu Zhiyin rolled up her sleeve.
She looked at the words Zhu had written on her forearm.
Her fingertips traced the ink on her skin, and seeing the clearly visible characters for “friend,” she felt at ease.
As long as Zhu was okay, nothing else mattered.
“As I thought…”
Zhu paused as she reached for something and sighed.
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t help you.”
Zhu walked closer to Lu Zhiyin and gently hugged her.
“It’s okay, senior. You’ve already done more than enough for me.”
Lu Zhiyin shook her head. Zhu owed her nothing, and what she had already done was more than she could ever repay. Lu Zhiyin didn’t want to owe her any more.
After a small interlude, Zhu took a bath. She and Lu Zhiyin chatted about unremarkable topics on the bed for a while before both of them fell asleep.
Lu Zhiyin realized that when lying next to Zhu, she never had any bad thoughts or felt uneasy, which was a stark contrast to how she felt with others.
…
The night passed without dreams, and the next day, Lu Zhiyin woke up first, as usual.
She lay in bed with her eyes closed for a while, waiting until Zhu woke up. Afterward, she and Zhu got ready together, then found Ouyang Qing, and the three of them left the inn.
They took a taxi to the beach on the outskirts of the city.
“…”
The three of them got out of the car together.
Looking down from the roadside, Lu Zhiyin saw a long, gentle slope. Below the slope was a wide beach, and further out, a stretch of blue.
Climbing over the railing beside the road, Lu Zhiyin stood at the top of the slope and looked out at the beach.
Scattered crowds were present on the golden sand.
Some were building sandcastles, some were collecting shells, and of course, there were couples strolling hand in hand.
The scene Lu Zhiyin had only seen on television before her eyes now.
“…It doesn’t seem… particularly special?”
“…”
Zhu heard Lu Zhiyin’s remark.
After a moment of hesitation, she took Lu Zhiyin’s hand and pulled her to run down the slope.
The speed going downhill was incredibly fast, and the salty sea breeze blew past Lu Zhiyin’s ears, making her heart pound.
The speed of the descent stimulated her senses, and with her mind blank, Lu Zhiyin followed Zhu’s rhythm.
Before long, they reached the bottom of the slope.
“Phew… Ha… Ha… Ha…”
After running down the dozens of meters long slope in one breath, Lu Zhiyin was panting.
The exertion allowed her to cast aside her somewhat dejected mood, which was exactly the effect Zhu had desired.
“Just looking is meaningless. You should experience it yourself.”
Bending down, Zhu scooped up a handful of dry sand and placed the warm grains into Lu Zhiyin’s hand.
The rough grains scraped her palm, and the warmth of the sun-baked sand transferred to Lu Zhiyin’s skin.
Hmm… this texture was quite different from the sand used for construction work.
“Mmm…”
Mustering some interest, Lu Zhiyin took off her shoes and stepped barefoot onto the beach. Her soles sank slightly into the sand, enveloped by the warm grains, as if she were being massaged by thousands of hands.
She held her shoes in one hand and Zhu’s hand in the other.
They walked aimlessly on the beach.
Behind them, Ouyang Qing watched them from afar, listening to Zhu’s words of encouragement to Lu Zhiyin.
“Looking is meaningless.”
Closing her eyes, Ouyang Qing followed Lu Zhiyin’s example, took off her shoes, and walked barefoot on the sand.
The sunlight in the coastal city was brighter than inland, making her entire body feel warm.
Time passed by, gradually approaching noon, and the beach became more crowded.
Lu Zhiyin and Zhu walked slowly, with Lu Zhiyin deliberately moderating their pace.
She carefully felt the sensation of the sand and shells rubbing against her skin.
Unknowingly, the dry sand became damp, and the blue dominated her vision.
Further out, the vast sky and the sea merged into one. As she got closer, Lu Zhiyin truly felt her own insignificance and the breadth of the world.
Her heart was calmer than ever before. Lu Zhiyin sat on the beach near the water, watching the waves wash ashore, one after another.
She squeezed the damp sand beneath her.
The sand formed a ball in her palm. With a clench of her fingers, the sandball crumbled.
Lu Zhiyin looked at Ouyang Qing, who was not far away.
At that moment, Ouyang Qing was standing in the shallow water by the sea, her gaze fixed on the distant pedestrians.
“Hey, do you want to build a sandcastle together?”
After a brief hesitation, Lu Zhiyin waved at Ouyang Qing.
“…Okay.”
Turning her head, Ouyang Qing slowly walked over to Lu Zhiyin’s side.
After some deliberation, Ouyang Qing dropped her pretense and sat down on the sand.
“How do we build it?”
Ouyang Qing had never tried to create something with her own hands. As a deity, she could usually create anything she wanted with just a thought.
However, she didn’t intend to use her divine power this time. She was here for fun, and honestly, creating things with divine power wasn’t very enjoyable.
“…I don’t know.”
Lu Zhiyin also didn’t know how to build a proper sandcastle. This was her first time trying this game.
“But, it’s just for fun, so it doesn’t have to be perfect. We can build it however we want. Use the sand to recreate whatever you imagine.”
Lu Zhiyin shook her head.
She then leaned over to Zhu, whispering and discussing what kind of castle they should build.
As for Ouyang Qing… she pondered what she wanted.
Having quickly found her answer, she began to shape the wet sand into the form she desired, using her hands instead of divine power.
