The weather by the sea could change in an instant. Tan Yin had earnestly finished her fieldwork survey, and after parting ways with Chu Hang, had just had lunch with Jiang Yilu, when she saw that the gloom of the morning outside the window had completely cleared, replaced by bright sunshine.

“Let’s go! To the beach!”

It wasn’t just Tan Yin and Jiang Yilu — the other classmates too began enjoying this hard-won sun and sand. Some went to try parasailing or jet-skiing; some built sandcastles; some sat drinking at beachside bars nearby, chatting idly. For a while, the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant.

Tan Yin sprawled out on a beach lounger under a parasol, drinking fresh coconut juice, while Jiang Yilu lay beside her. At that moment, Jiang Yilu was staring at something not far off, muttering fiercely, “Smash it! Smash it right at his face!”

“Ahh, ahh, ahh!!! Why didn’t that land?! If only it had smashed his face swollen!”

“Come on, mess up a pass already!!!”

“Yes! Chu Hang! Go! Wreck Xu Yu, that shameless jerk!”

“One more hit!!! Chu Hang!! Charge!!! Smash Xu Yu flat on the sand! Make him eat sand like a dog!”

…

Ever since sitting down, Jiang Yilu hadn’t taken her eyes off Xu Yu, who was playing beach volleyball nearby with Chu Hang, Duan Yingfei, and another girl. Chu Hang and Duan Yingfei were on one team, while Xu Yu was paired with the other girl.

Beach volleyball was a sport with a lot to look at, since both male and female players tended to show off their figures nicely. Chu Hang wore typical beach sportswear, his well-defined muscles peeking through just enough to be pleasing to the eye, while the two girls wore bikinis, their good figures fully on display.

This foursome drew the attention of most people on the beach, and Jiang Yilu had been staring unblinkingly at them ever since the four started playing — though unlike the admiring gazes of the other girls, Jiang Yilu’s eyes shot out pure, undisguised killing intent. She practically prayed for Xu Yu to get hit, but unfortunately, things didn’t go her way — Xu Yu was actually playing quite well, evenly matched with Chu Hang, and only made frequent mistakes in the second half due to his female partner dragging him down.

Tan Yin had no interest in sports whatsoever. She lay on her lounger gazing at the sky, letting the sea breeze blow over her, not even bothering to watch this eye-catching game of beach volleyball, indifferent to the cheers rising and falling around her as the match progressed.

Eventually she grew a little bored lying there, so she sat up to look at the sea. Tan Yin had only meant to take in the ocean view from a distance, but as she watched, something felt off. Today’s waves and winds were quite strong, the tide coming in fiercely, unsuitable for swimming, so almost no one was in the water near the shore — most people were lying on the sand. Yet in her line of sight, she saw that some careless pair of parents somewhere hadn’t been watching their child — a little boy was picking up seashells on the wet sand where the tide had just receded, and the incoming waves were gradually carrying him further from shore. Meanwhile, out at sea, a large wave was visibly building — a wave of that scale, just one, would be enough to sweep the child completely out to sea.

“Someone save him! Save him! There’s a kid over there on the beach!”

Time was short — Tan Yin shouted this even as she barely thought before flinging aside her coconut and sprinting toward the sea. Unfortunately, her voice was drowned out by the cheers following a volleyball point, and she was quite far from the shoreline. By the time she managed to scoop up the little boy and turn to run, the wave had already arrived. Tan Yin tried desperately to shield the child in her arms, letting the crushing force of the wave slam into her own body. The wave’s force was tremendous, and once it passed, the water surged back out toward deeper sea.

Fortunately, thanks to Jiang Yilu’s shouting, people finally started running toward the water to help. Tan Yin gritted her teeth and, with everything she had, shoved the child in her arms forward, watching him get caught by several men who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, their hands scrambling to grab him. Her heart finally eased with relief — but in those brief few minutes, Tan Yin herself had lost her best chance to save herself. Although she kept trying to swim toward shore, she was utterly unable to fight the force of the waves. Not only did she choke on several mouthfuls of seawater in a row, but she was also being carried further and further out by the current.

Quite a few men jumped into the water to try to rescue her, but none of them swam fast enough, and as they watched Tan Yin drift farther and farther from shore, several eventually gave up midway, valuing their own safety.

As Tan Yin struggled and flailed, fear finally began creeping into her heart. Would she really be swept away? Would she actually die? She, who came out unscathed even after being struck by lightning — was she really going to lose her life to the sea now? Her thoughts spun wildly, and just as her composure slipped, another wave hit her, driving her under. Tan Yin failed to time her breath and choked on a huge gulp of seawater; her rhythm broken, everything fell into chaos. She was swallowed by another wave, the salty, briny water burning in her airway, leaving her feeling suffocated, the seawater stinging so badly she couldn’t open her eyes. The terror of the boundary between life and death lasted only an instant — and just as Tan Yin was on the verge of despair, she felt a hand.

Someone had grabbed her hand.

Though she tried hard to open her eyes, the waves were simply too fierce, and Tan Yin could only be dragged forward blindly, like someone blind. In a moment like this, Tan Yin had no room to think of anything else — she gripped the other person’s hand tightly, eyes shut, only able to feel the seawater striking her face over and over.

“Xu Yu, pull harder! Did you even eat lunch?! Can you do this or not?!”

“Come on! Xu Yu, gānbǎ, give it your all! They’re almost back!”

Not until the voices from shore grew clearer did Tan Yin’s heart finally begin to relax.

She was saved!

Only when her feet touched sand again did Tan Yin finally settle completely. Only then did she have a spare moment to wipe the seawater from her face and open her eyes.

Then she saw Chu Hang — an utterly, thoroughly bedraggled Chu Hang. Completely stripped of his usual elegant coldness, his soaked clothes now clung tightly to his body, and his face bore a gash from something in the water, blood mixing with the seawater on his skin, lending his handsome features a hint of fierce, savage intensity.

Even Tan Yin, who had remained calm as a seasoned veteran lying in the same bed as Chu Hang while watching him take off his shirt, felt her heart suddenly pound wildly in this moment.

Chu Hang, at this moment, was anything but elegant. He undid the rope that had been tied around his body so Xu Yu could tow him back to shore, then, frowning, pulled off his shirt with movements that could even be called rough. After that, he wiped the blood off his face with total indifference, the gesture careless — yet to Tan Yin, it carried a strange kind of allure. Beneath the refined, elegant surface of a pampered young master, there was blood, ferocity, and a trace of wildness. Tan Yin found it hard to imagine how two such completely different qualities could exist within a single person.

This stark contrast added a layer of complex beauty to Chu Hang’s sharply defined face, and in that moment Tan Yin found it almost impossible to look away — she stared at him, practically transfixed.

It was also at this moment that Chu Hang, frowning, turned back, as if suddenly remembering something, and glanced at Tan Yin — but this impatient glance had barely swept over her before Chu Hang turned away again, as if slamming on the brakes. His voice, too, took on an unnaturally harsh edge—

“How much longer are you going to keep holding my hand?”

Only then did Tan Yin notice her hand was still gripping Chu Hang’s tightly. As she hurriedly let go, she discovered that Chu Hang’s fair arm now bore a distinct claw mark — she had bruised his arm from pinching it so hard.

Tan Yin looked a little sheepish. “I didn’t realize I was actually so afraid of dying — I clawed you up like this. I guess a person’s potential really is limitless when they’re on the brink…”

But Chu Hang, as if he didn’t want to look at her, kept his head turned away, leaving Tan Yin only a view of his cold profile.

Tan Yin still wanted to say more, but was tackled by a rushing Jiang Yilu, who threw her arms around her. “Tan Yin, you scared me half to death! I thought you were a goner!”

“…”

As Jiang Yilu spoke, she wrapped the beach towel she’d just grabbed from the lounger around Tan Yin. Seeing that Tan Yin still looked a bit dazed, she quickly cinched the towel tighter around her, lowering her voice. “Wrap it up tight, you’re about to flash everyone.”

Duan Yingfei, looking worried, hurried over to Chu Hang with a voice on the verge of tears. “Chu Hang gēge, you scared me so much! That was so dangerous just now! What if the rope tied around your waist had come loose — you would’ve been swept away too!”

Xu Yu also dropped the rope he’d been using to tow Chu Hang and Tan Yin and rushed over. “Chu Hang, are you okay?”

Chu Hang didn’t say anything, but Jiang Yilu spoke up mockingly, aimed at Xu Yu. “If you’d had any less strength, they’d both be goners by now. I saw you giving it your all playing beach volleyball in front of a bunch of cheering women, all spirited and glowing — how come the moment it came to saving Chu Hang, you suddenly went weak and useless, like you had some kind of kidney deficiency?”

Xu Yu was usually quite gentle and gentlemanly, but ever since the mix-up at the guesthouse that night, he’d been at odds with Jiang Yilu — whenever he ran into her, his usual grace completely fell apart. Right now, he looked like an enraged lion with his fur standing on end. “I just spent all my energy playing beach volleyball, okay?!” he said angrily. “Kidney deficiency? Me, Xu Yu, kidney deficient?!” He continued furiously, “And another thing, how do you know I was spirited and glowing while playing beach volleyball? That means you were definitely watching me the whole time! You’re secretly paying so much attention to me behind my back — I think you have inappropriate feelings for me!”

“You, mister, your kidneys clearly aren’t doing so well, yet you sure think highly of yourself.” Jiang Yilu looked incredulous. “Me, having inappropriate feelings for you? I’d have inappropriate feelings for Tan Yin before I’d ever have them for you!”

Tan Yin: ???

“Thank you so much! Really, thank you so much!”

Just as Tan Yin, utterly baffled, hadn’t had time to say anything, a couple came walking over with the little boy who had just been rescued. The child’s mother held his hand. “Quick, thank the big sister! If not for her, you would’ve been swept away by that huge wave.”

The child’s father, playing along, gave the boy a smack on the head, growling a warning at him. “Are you going to run off like that again next time?! Run off again and you’ll drown, you little brat! Ever since you were born, all you’ve done is cause trouble — you’re a real curse on this family!”

Having said this, the man turned and gave Tan Yin a smile, his voice sounding thoroughly grateful. “Thank you so much, classmate. What school are you from? I’ll have our company write your school a thank-you letter and send a banner. Also, here’s my business card.” He handed over a card as he spoke. “This is our family’s company — it’s a nationwide chain. Classmate, once you graduate, just come find me, and whatever position suits you at our company, you can pick freely… The kid’s too naughty, if not for you, something terrible would’ve really happened!”

Tan Yin took the business card, thanking him out of reflex.

“What are you thanking him for.”

Chu Hang’s voice cut coldly into this friendly scene of gratitude as he reached over and snatched the card right out of Tan Yin’s hand. “Tan Yin, you’re not the one who should be thanking them.”

Chu Hang, his expression hard and cold, looked at the couple. “You two should be grateful you were born in China — that even if this kind of parental negligence resulted in serious injury or death, you wouldn’t be held legally accountable. You might even receive sympathy from others, with people thinking, ‘how pitiable that the child was lost.'”

The woman looked embarrassed. “We… we happened to have something come up just then…”

“Right, you had something come up, so the responsibility for your child’s safety just gets tossed onto someone else.” Chu Hang pointed at Tan Yin, his tone stern. “If she had been swept away by the waves today trying to save your child, would you still feel this at ease? She risked her life to save the child you were supposed to be watching, and you think handing over a business card and some vague, empty promise makes things right?”

Chu Hang had always been reserved and composed, never one to make a scene in public. But today, his attitude toward this couple could even be called hostile, fiercely, almost aggressively confrontational.

And this middle-aged couple, clearly much older than Chu Hang, seemed positively meek in front of him. “This… we…”

“If you don’t fulfill your responsibilities as parents, your child might get hurt. And if your child doesn’t get hurt, it’s because someone else’s child risked everything to save yours.” Chu Hang stared at the couple. “What you owe isn’t thanks — it’s an apology.”

“We’re… we’re sorry… we’re sorry, classmate, we were wrong…”

Chu Hang glanced at the little boy, whose eyes were still wet with tears from his father’s smack. “You should apologize to your child too.”

At Chu Hang’s words, the onlookers who had gathered nearby couldn’t hold back either, and a few older aunties immediately began scolding the couple as well.

“Only good at making babies, not raising them.”

“Dressing themselves up all nice and proper, and turning out to be such lousy parents.”

…

In the end, though the couple looked humiliated and awkward, they couldn’t withstand the pressure of the surrounding onlookers’ judgment, and apologized to Tan Yin, then perfunctorily comforted their son before hurrying off with the child as if fleeing the scene.

The whole matter finally came to a close, and the crowd of onlookers on the beach dispersed. Having come out of the sea and dried off in the sun, Tan Yin still found the thick, salty stickiness of the seawater unpleasant, so she wiped her hair and prepared to head back to the guesthouse for a shower. Chu Hang, evidently with the same plan, was walking ahead of her.

The two walked one after the other along the beach, Chu Hang clearly not wanting to talk to her, not even turning his head. Eventually, it was Tan Yin who cleared her throat, hurried to catch up, and broke the silence.

“Chu Hang, thank you.”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together, looking straight ahead.

Tan Yin felt a little embarrassed. She shook out her hair and, half-talking to herself, tried to find something to say. “You didn’t have to throw away the business card though. Who knows, maybe they’d have given me a nice reward — like a big red envelope, to show their gratitude…”

“Tan Yin, no reward is worth more than your own life.” To Tan Yin’s surprise, Chu Hang suddenly cut her off, his voice still cold, yet beneath that flat tone ran a current of anger.

Tan Yin was stunned for a moment. “I wasn’t really going to save someone hoping for a reward…”

“I know you weren’t.” Chu Hang looked away, gazing at the distant beach. “You might have acted out of kindness, but even kindness needs limits — kindness needs sense too, not just recklessly throwing away your own life.” His voice turned fierce. “Don’t ever do something that stupid again.”