◎Sea-Viewing Fund◎

The iron door slowly slid open in front of them with a passable signal, but Chun Zao’s chest continued its turbulent beating. Her palm was sweaty, and so was the hand interlocked with hers, burning hot as they tangled together. In the dim environment, during those brief five minutes, she experienced an entire fireworks show inside her skull.

Chun Zao’s gaze froze.

Outside the door crowded NPCs with glowing green eyes and terrifying faces. The moment they spotted each other, they swarmed in, competing to be first.

Yuan Ye reacted extremely quickly, turning around to shield the girl against the wall.

His arm braced beside her cheek, no matter how the “zombie horde” behind him threatened and pushed, he didn’t let his body press against her.

But the boy’s earnest and powerful gaze from inches away could grind out a dull ache in Chun Zao’s heart.

And there was that slightly disheveled smile that occasionally appeared.

For a moment, she couldn’t help but slightly raise her hands, wanting to embrace him, to tell him: he could come close to her, she could also protect him, even if it meant bearing harm and walking toward destruction, she wouldn’t retreat or fear.

But she restrained herself.

…

After being led out of the escape room by staff, the surroundings returned to clarity, but Chun Zao was still in shock, raising her voice to complain: “You two are such screw-ups!”

After working hard for an hour, they were back to square one. Because Tong Yue and Lu didn’t unlock the elevator door within the time limit, their escape room challenge ended in failure.

That’s why there was that final “zombie outbreak” scene.

Tong Yue picked at her ear with a defeated expression: “What? Our combined IQ might only be half of yours. Isn’t this the natural result? If you ask me, we should have split into boy-girl teams—Chun Zao’s brain with me, Yuan Ye’s brain with Lu Jingheng. That’s the only way we could have succeeded.”

“But—” she beamed: “Would you two be willing? I don’t want to be the villain.”

Chun Zao was speechless. Thinking of that heart-stirring scene in the escape room, her fingers trembled slightly.

Yuan Ye came back after collecting discount coupons from the staff, hands in his pockets, his expression and voice showing no abnormality: “Where should we eat later?”

Chun Zao glanced at him. How could this person calm down so quickly? While she still had aftershocks in her body, her palm retained that wet feeling. She quietly clenched her fist.

Tong Yue asked excitedly: “Brother-in-law treating again?”

Yuan Ye smiled faintly: “Sure.”

As a fellow “family member,” Lu Jingheng naturally didn’t want to fall behind as a freeloader: “Let me handle lunch.” He looked at the two girls: “What do you want to eat?”

They finally chose a Thai restaurant with a good reputation and high ratings.

Chun Zao browsed the menu, becoming uneasy about the prices: “This is a bit expensive.”

Tong Yue propped her chin, spooning coconut sago cake into her mouth: “No big deal. Lu Jingheng’s New Year money is five digits, and the escape room wasn’t cheap either.”

Chun Zao was so shocked that her jaw nearly dislocated. She turned to ask Yuan Ye, “How much was the escape room?”

Tong Yue said, “258 per person, and that was the group rate.”

Chun Zao was stunned: “That expensive? You didn’t tell me.”

Yuan Ye said breezily: “What’s there to tell?” He raised an eyebrow slightly: “What, want to manage my money?”

Chun Zao fell silent, holding her cup with both hands to sip water.

“Eww—” Tong Yue shuddered, face contorting as she frantically rubbed nonexistent goosebumps on her arms. When Lu Jingheng paid the bill after dinner, she turned the tables, mimicking Chun Zao’s surprised reproach with ten times more sweetness: “So expensive~ You didn’t tell me~”

Both boys laughed out loud.

Chun Zao could only chase after Tong Yue with her apple-red face.

—

Since Chun Zao had a crucial transaction at 2 PM, the four-person team disbanded early. Yuan Ye hailed a taxi with its vacancy sign lit, heading to the next destination.

They climbed into the back seat one after another.

Yuan Ye asked: “Same place as before, Chengkang Gate?”

Chun Zao shook her head: “No, Pizza Hut on Qingping Road.”

Yuan Ye told the driver and commented, “Pretty above-board location this time.”

Chun Zao was speechless for a second, then smiled slightly: “Right, unlike some people who keep going to shady internet cafes.”

Yuan Ye frowned then smoothed his brow: “I haven’t… been there in quite a while.”

Chun Zao fiddled with the zipper pull on her backpack: “We haven’t met during vacation, who knows if you went?”

“Heaven knows,” Yuan Ye leaned back against the seat, his jawline sharp and clear, “when have I not replied to your messages immediately?”

That was true. Chun Zao curved the corners of her mouth.

Yuan Ye glanced at her from the corner of his eye, taking in every bit of the girl’s slightly protruding smile. He lifted the hand closer to her, taking her backpack to his side.

Suddenly finding her arms empty, Chun Zao turned to look at him.

The boy hooked two fingers on the strap, bouncing the bag in the air twice before placing it on his lap.

“This heavy?” He was somewhat surprised: “How much winter homework are you writing for them?”

Chun Zao pressed her lips: “It’s okay, not as much as last year.”

Yuan Ye pondered for a moment: “Hey, that fund of yours, how much money do you need?”

Chun Zao had no specific concept. How could a person’s dream have an easy upper limit? She could only answer vaguely: “Of course, the more the better.”

And with considerable ceremony, she corrected: “It’s not called ‘that fund,’ it’s called the ‘Sea-Viewing Fund.'”

“Okay,” Yuan Ye repeated her answer, sighing: “The more the better… Women, truly greedy.”

“What—” How was that greedy?

She pretended to be angry, trying to reclaim custody of her backpack, but it was firmly held down by him and couldn’t be moved.

Grabbing the strap and trying twice more with no effect, while Yuan Ye became increasingly leisurely. Fine, if he loved being a porter so much, let him. Chun Zao gave up this physically mismatched struggle, turning to look at road signs and buildings outside the window.

After reaching their destination, the two crossed the pedestrian walkway. Chun Zao’s backpack was still carried by Yuan Ye, only returning to its owner when they met An Yi and another unfamiliar boy at Pizza Hut.

An Yi had pre-ordered several set meals, a full table of food and drinks as a warm welcome.

“Who’s this?” Chun Zao sat across from her, beginning today’s second meal.

An Yi introduced generously: “My boyfriend, Little Xue.”

Chun Zao paused. It seemed “Little Lin,” whom she’d met once last winter break, was now history.

But the problem was, she hadn’t anticipated this development—one of the homework sets still used “Little Lin’s” exclusive handwriting.

An Yi also looked curiously at the fair-skinned, beautiful, and very handsome guy who sat with her: “Chun Zao, is this your boyfriend?”

Chun Zao’s face heated: “No, don’t talk nonsense.” She wasn’t close to An Yi, so she was too shy to speak directly.

“Then he’s…?”

Yuan Ye answered for her with slight amusement: “Bodyguard.”

An Yi choked on her Coke with laughter, teasingly looking at her usually gentle old classmate: “Who would have thought, Chun Zao, you’re quite into role-playing.”

Chun Zao: “…”

Unable to defend herself, she could only get to business, taking out a thick stack of worksheets from her backpack: “Check these.”

The pretty girl with newly dyed pink hair was completely casual, with a “I trust your work” expression, not even glancing before stuffing all the worksheets into her bag and handing back cash: “Same as last year.”

Chun Zao counted the money, pulled out three bills, and handed them back: “Don’t overpay again, I felt bad about last time.”

An Yi’s new boyfriend said: “Hey, just keep it—”

An Yi pouted in agreement: “Exactly, it’s an old tradition, why be polite? We won’t be able to do this next year anyway. This is our last collaboration, right? I’ll miss you.”

She even pretended to wipe away tears dramatically.

“Mainly…” Besides being moved, Chun Zao was also a bit hesitant. She glanced at the stranger beside An Yi, saying awkwardly: “I didn’t change to a boy’s handwriting this year, I thought…”

An Yi suddenly understood, laughing heartily: “What does that matter? You’re too professional and too cute.”

Yuan Ye, hearing this, nodded approvingly. Her reasoning was exactly what he’d thought.

Chun Zao hummed and said no more.

After saying goodbye to An Yi, Chun Zao opened navigation and headed straight to the nearest bank, planning to immediately deposit this year’s ghostwriting earnings into the bank card she’d secretly opened earlier. Getting that card had been quite an ordeal, and she’d even used Tong Yue’s phone number.

She pressed the bell and entered through the glass sliding door. Yuan Ye followed but didn’t come close.

Chun Zao stood at the ATM and turned to look at him strangely: “Why are you standing so far away?”

The boy’s shoe scraped the ground, indicating the yellow one-meter line reminder.

Chun Zao laughed: “Is that necessary?”

Yuan Ye said casually, “A bodyguard should have a bodyguard’s awareness.”

Chun Zao: “…”

She rolled her eyes at him, turned back, and deposited her money. Yuan Ye watched her quiet, elegant figure for a while, then stopped standing still and walked to another unused ATM.

Chun Zao contentedly pulled out her card, hearing the continuous swishing sound of money being counted from the machine beside her.

She stepped back to look and saw Yuan Ye with lowered lashes, focused on the cash slot.

She wondered: “You need to withdraw money?”

Yuan Ye glanced over: “Mm.”

“Buying something?”

Yuan Ye didn’t answer.

He took out the stack of pink bills, put away his card, walked back, and got straight to the point: “Starting today, I want to invest in your Sea-Viewing Fund.”

The interrogative phrasing was purely superfluous—he knew she probably wouldn’t agree.

Sure enough, the girl was startled by his sudden action and the thickness of the money, frantically waving her hands: “No way, this is too much—no, I wouldn’t accept a single penny. This is my independent fund—” She was already endlessly grateful when he’d previously suggested and helped her sell notes.

Yuan Ye said lightly, “It’s not for you. Money stored anywhere is still stored—just safekeeping my future travel expenses.”

Chun Zao was stunned: “What travel expenses?”

He grasped one of her hands, folded the money, pressed it into her palm, and wrapped her hand tightly along with it, not allowing her to struggle free or refuse.

This was his impulse, but also his firm decision.

The teenager’s tone was utterly solemn, like a promise, like an oath:

“The summer after college entrance exams, I also want to see the sea.”

“With you.”

Author’s Note:

Preparing to activate the first round of time magic, hold on tight