That night, for Tan Yin, there was finally no thunderstorm, no mishap, no accident — she slept beautifully. The weather the next day matched the mood Tan Yin woke up with: a clear sky stretching for miles, sunshine everywhere.

Light, playful noise drifted in from the courtyard. Tan Yin pulled open the curtains and looked out, discovering that in the pool at the center of the guesthouse courtyard below the balcony, several classmates were already splashing around and having a water fight.

Jiang Yilu had just finished changing into her swimsuit and was urging Tan Yin on while checking herself in the mirror: “Hurry up and change into your swimsuit. Coming to the beach and not playing in the water or getting in the pool would be such a waste.”

The research and fieldwork of the past few days were done, photos taken, sketches drawn — today there was no itinerary at all, a full day to relax. Everyone had already been to the beach, and all the water activities worth doing had been done, so today almost everyone had, without any prior arrangement, ended up staying in at the guesthouse.

Although the guesthouse’s rooms were fairly simple in their facilities, the pool at the center of the courtyard was excellent, easily rivaling a five-star hotel. This pool was very large, with several smaller pools connected around it, and by now had already been divided up into territories by several different groups. The area near the small water-side bar was shallower, suitable for quietly soaking and sipping drinks — a few girls were chatting over cocktails there. The main pool had been taken over by the boys as a water polo zone, and they were now busy calling out to each other and forming teams.

Watching the lively crowd below, Tan Yin felt tempted too — she hadn’t gotten into the water once since arriving at the beach. With that thought, she quickly dug her swimsuit out of her luggage and began changing in record time.

“Wow, that bikini is something else — your cleavage is breaking through the atmosphere, Tan Yin.”

Tan Yin ignored her. The swimsuit she’d bought was a three-piece set — a bikini underneath, with a dress-style cover-up on top. Once she put the cover-up dress over it, it looked even more conservative than Jiang Yilu’s one-piece.

Sure enough, once she put on the outer dress, Jiang Yilu looked crestfallen: “What a waste. You’ve got a perfectly good bikini and you’re not even wearing it — and look at this dress over it, what style is this even supposed to be? Tiny floral print — my god, generously call it ‘vintage,’ but bluntly put, it’s just tacky! Your bikini looks great, but this cover-up is honestly kind of ugly!”

“This dress cover-up was never meant to be a matching set with the bikini — the bikini only came as this two-piece. This floral one I got for forty yuan with free shipping off Taobao, I just threw it on to try — for that price, what were you expecting?” Tan Yin wasn’t bothered. “As long as it’s wearable, it’s fine.”

Once they’d both changed, they slipped on flip-flops and ran downstairs. There was a light buffet area by the guesthouse pool; Tan Yin grabbed a bite before getting into the water ahead of Jiang Yilu.

It was still early, so the pool wasn’t crowded yet. With the sun shining on the water, it wasn’t cold at all — quite warm, actually. As soon as Tan Yin got in, she happily spun herself around in the buoyancy, but just as she swam over to the water bar to order a drink, Jiang Yilu’s shrieking rang out from the shore.

“Tan Yin! You’re on your period! Get out of the water right now! It’s a bloodbath in there!”

Tan Yin turned around and, half laughing and half mortified, discovered that red really was spreading through the water behind her — except of course it wasn’t blood. It was her forty-yuan floral cover-up bleeding color in the water!

Cheap goods really are worthless!

There was nothing for it — Tan Yin had to scramble out of the pool, run back to her room, and grit her teeth as she peeled off the color-bleeding dress. She’d worn it in the first place because she worried the bikini alone might be a bit much, but once she’d actually gotten in the water, she noticed the other girls were uniformly in plain bikinis, while she and Jiang Yilu had looked like walking antiques in comparison. Now that the cover-up had bled its color so badly, she figured she might as well not wear it at all — the bikini wouldn’t look out of place anyway.

By the time she got back to the pool, it had become nearly packed. The pool was mostly taken over by the boys playing water polo. Tan Yin only glanced over briefly, but that was enough to spot Chu Hang among the crowd. In the pool, his well-proportioned upper body was fully on display, muscles perfectly defined — every movement of his seemed like a flawless demonstration of strength and beauty.

Though it was water polo, it wasn’t a strict, serious match — just a playful game, so the boys weren’t wearing helmets or face guards. Chu Hang’s wet hair hung down, giving him a slightly softer look than usual. In a pause between serves, he brushed his hair back with a careless, unhurried gesture, yet his eyes stayed fully focused on the ball — focused enough that it was hard to look away.

Damn, he really was kind of sexy.

Tan Yin stared at Chu Hang for a good few seconds before finally tearing her gaze away. There was no staying in the main pool — Tan Yin decided to walk around it to the shallow pool behind it, where Jiang Yilu was currently sitting on the edge gossiping with the other girls.

Honestly, the previous night Chu Hang hadn’t experienced any more strange auditory or visual hallucinations — he’d simply slept badly again, plagued nearly all night by nightmares. In the dream he’d turned into a rabbit being chased by a leopard, its fur sleek and gorgeous, its movements agile — no matter which way Chu Hang ran, it always managed to cut off his escape. The strangest part of the dream was that every time the leopard pounced and knocked him down, it would turn into Tan Yin, straddling him in that same leopard pose. Chu Hang couldn’t remember any other details, only that Tan Yin’s legs had been long and pale…

It was all Xu Yu’s fault! Bringing up such a vulgar, shallow topic last night.

Chu Hang felt a flare of irritation, and without meaning to, put more force into his next shot. Sure enough, a wail of pain came from Xu Yu’s direction.

“Chu Hang! Are you playing water polo or taking out your anger on me?!” Xu Yu complained. “What is up with that shot? Why does it keep going for my face?” He resignedly climbed out of the pool. “Forget it, I’m going to take a break and get a drink. The rest of you keep playing.”

Chu Hang watched Xu Yu leave and felt his temper settle down a little. With Xu Yu gone, a few other architecture students took his place, and Chu Hang finally managed to play a few calm rounds. But soon, inexplicably, the guys on the opposing side started making basic mistakes one after another — easy balls they should have caught, they’d just stand there in the water, distracted, and miss them completely; serves that should have gone in cleanly went wildly out of bounds instead.

Whether it was water polo or any other sport, the appeal wasn’t just winning or losing, but the thrill of an evenly matched contest. Now, with the other side making mistake after mistake, the match had become downright boring for Chu Hang.

Just as Chu Hang was puzzling over what was wrong with the guys across from him, his own teammate suddenly zoned out too. He was clearly distracted, his eyes darting from the ball to the shore. Chu Hang pressed his lips together and followed his teammate’s gaze — and finally found the answer.

Tan Yin, in her bikini, was walking along the edge of the pool toward the other end — a pair of legs, long, straight, and pale. Her figure really was, as the other guys had said, quite something.

In that moment, even as stubborn as Chu Hang was, he had to admit that Tan Yin wasn’t entirely worthless beyond her face after all.

But still — were her legs really nice enough to make grown men lose focus mid-game?

Chu Hang looked at the other boys playing water polo, contempt rising in him to new heights. His classmates were really too shallow, too vulgar, too unreasonable — over a pair of legs…

What was infuriating was that Tan Yin, the very cause of the water polo match’s collapse, was completely oblivious to it. She kept strolling leisurely along the poolside, scrolling on her phone, and wherever she passed, the water polo players in that section stopped functioning properly…

Irritated, Chu Hang aimed a shot straight at a guy whose eyes kept drifting toward Tan Yin.

“Ow!”

Chu Hang put real force behind that shot, and the distracted guy, not even looking at the ball, had no chance of catching it — he only managed a yelp before Chu Hang’s shot sent him tumbling into the water.

Facing the stares of his other classmates, Chu Hang said, calm and unbothered: “Oh, just a small slip.”

…

Tan Yin was apparently texting someone back — she walked along the edge of the pool, stopping and starting. Though she had no intention of causing trouble, the other boys in the pool clearly kept drifting out of water polo mode one after another.

Except…

“Ow, that hurt so much!”

“Chu Hang! Don’t hit me in the face!”

“Mom, help!”

“Chu Hang, you’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”

Somehow, everyone realized that the moment anyone’s mind wandered, Chu Hang’s “critical hit” would soon follow.

Faced with everyone’s accusing questions, Chu Hang remained utterly calm: “Slip-up.”

“That many slip-ups? You’ve had five in a row! Four of us got hit, and Gangzi got hit twice! You’re calling all of that a slip-up?”

“Mm.” Chu Hang was perfectly composed. “All slip-ups.” He glanced up at the others. “But if none of you had been distracted, you’d have dodged every one of my so-called slip-ups.”

“…”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together. “All right, are we still playing?”

“No, no, we’re done — you’re radiating killing intent, I feel like if I keep playing with you I won’t live to see tomorrow’s sunrise…”

…

In the end, faced with Chu Hang’s astonishing “skills,” everyone scattered like startled birds. Chu Hang had no choice but to climb out of the pool too, walking over to Xu Yu’s side. But just as he turned around, he happened to see Tan Yin leaning against the water bar, chatting with Jiang Yilu, her rose-colored lips gently biting a straw as she sipped a drink. The sunlight fell on her face, her skin seeming to glow from within, the bridge of her nose carrying a delicate, coy curve, her eyes looking almost seductively soft. Her face was very fair — as fair as her legs…

Chu Hang felt his thoughts veering off somewhere strange, and he pulled his gaze away almost abruptly, forcing himself not to dwell on it. Inside, he was seething — this intermittent auditory and visual hallucination had already tormented him to this extent! Even his normal everyday life was becoming involuntarily abnormal.

Xu Yu, suspecting nothing, glanced at the nearby barbecue grill with great interest: “Chu Hang, I’m going to go get some barbecue. Wait here for me a bit.”

Chu Hang said nothing, only pressed his lips together and followed after Xu Yu.

This time it was Xu Yu’s turn to be surprised: “You’re coming too? Didn’t you say you hate barbecue smoke and find it unhealthy and never eat it?”

“Changing things up once in a while isn’t out of the question.”

“Oh…”

“I think Xu Yu might have some kidney deficiency issues, you know — Chu Hang barely made a couple moves and Xu Yu was already getting hit. Not much stamina, this liberal arts boy — no match for us science and engineering architecture guys. So weak!”

“Wow, Xu Yu really is a shameless flirt — did you see, Tan Yin, the moment he got out of the pool he went straight to the drinks area and already chatted up five different girls…”

“No stamina, but his appetite is huge — look how much sushi he’s eating.”

…

Tan Yin was leaning in the shallow pool, sipping her drink and listening to Jiang Yilu complain — she’d clearly locked horns with Xu Yu and was seizing every opportunity to take a jab at him. After half an hour of nonstop criticism, Xu Yu and Chu Hang had both left one after the other, and Jiang Yilu, clearly worn out, finished off an entire glass of orange juice with a parched throat but still felt she hadn’t recovered.

“I’ve worked up an appetite just from cursing him out,” Jiang Yilu said bitterly. “Tan Yin, I’m going to go get some barbecue. Want to come?”

Tan Yin wasn’t hungry yet. “I’ll soak in the water a bit longer, you go ahead.”

Jiang Yilu left, and the classmates who’d been playing water polo in the main pool all headed to the barbecue grill too. For a moment the pool grew quiet. Tan Yin got out of the shallow pool and went into the main pool, swimming a couple of pleasant laps, and the pool gradually filled with activity again. Another batch of guests from the guesthouse wandered over and got in too — not many people, but a bit noisy. Tan Yin was about to leave the pool to find Jiang Yilu at the barbecue area, but just as she started to get up, she felt something snap behind her back, like a rubber band snapping against her skin — and almost at the same instant, she felt the bikini top on her chest go loose…

The strap on the back of her bikini top had, of all things, snapped!!!

Luckily Tan Yin’s reflexes were quick — she immediately clamped a hand over her chest and dove right back into the pool, then carefully wedged herself into a corner by the pool wall, pressing tightly against it. Though the water offered some buoyancy, as long as she held the bikini firmly in place and kept everything below her neck submerged, staying low-key against the pool wall, she wouldn’t draw much attention.

Fortunately there weren’t many people in the pool right now, and they’d all clustered together, paying no attention to Tan Yin at the edge — but that was also the unfortunate part, since Tan Yin, scanning the pool, didn’t recognize a single one of them. As for the people on shore, most had gone off to the barbecue; the few girls remaining were far from the pool, lounging in beach chairs sunbathing. Tan Yin tried calling out a couple times, but they were either deep in conversation or had earbuds in with their eyes closed, resting — not one of them heard her.

This was getting awkward.

Tan Yin didn’t dare make any sudden moves and could only keep soaking in the pool, silently praying Jiang Yilu would hurry up and remember her poor friend still hadn’t gotten any grilled meat, and show a little socialist solidarity of friendship…

Unfortunately, no matter how long Tan Yin waited, not only did Jiang Yilu not show up, not a single soul appeared. The classmates who’d been chatting nearby earlier had all happily run off toward the barbecue area.

Just as Tan Yin was on the verge of despair, she finally saw a figure walking this way! But when the person got closer, Tan Yin realized, to her rotten luck, that the one walking toward the pool was Chu Hang.

If only it had been a girl!

Not only was it a guy, it was Chu Hang…

An intense internal struggle raged inside Tan Yin — with something as mortifying as a snapped bikini strap…

Chu Hang looked like he’d come to the pool area to buy bottled water. Once he’d gotten it, he didn’t linger and turned to leave right away.

If he left now, who knew how long she’d have to wait for the next person to come by? What’s more, this pool might soon fill up with more people…

Tan Yin bit her lip and decided to risk it.

She looked up pitifully: “Chu Hang, Chu Hang, could you help me with something?”

Chu Hang apparently didn’t hear her at first; Tan Yin had to raise her voice before she finally caught his attention.

Sure enough, Chu Hang’s expression was as cold as ever. He looked down at Tan Yin, still in the pool: “What is it this time?”

Chu Hang just stood there on the shore, looking down at Tan Yin without any intention of bending down. With such a distance between them, if Tan Yin spoke loud enough for Chu Hang to hear, the other men in the pool would inevitably hear it too — this would be an epic-level disaster in the making…

“My leg seems to be stuck on something at the bottom of the pool — could you take a look for me?”

Chu Hang frowned slightly but apparently believed her excuse. Without a word, he got into the pool, and before Tan Yin could say anything else, he shot her a glare, then held his breath and dove underwater. Very quickly, Tan Yin felt a pair of hands gently touch her ankle — perhaps the movement of the water softened the motion, but the way Chu Hang checked her ankle could genuinely be called gentle.

Chu Hang’s movements were minimal, keeping skin contact between them to an absolute minimum, entirely proper. Still, Tan Yin found herself tensing up for a moment, and instinctively moved her leg a little.

Chu Hang soon surfaced. He wiped his face, though his hair and eyelashes were still dripping wet: “Tan Yin, what trick are you playing now?” His expression was cold. “What’s wrong with your leg — isn’t it perfectly fine?”

“It’s not my leg.”

Chu Hang was clearly growing impatient. “Not your leg — then what is it? Tan Yin, did you deliberately trick me into getting into the water?” His voice had a note of exasperation he could barely contain. “I’ve told you many times — using this kind of method to get someone’s attention is really pointless…”

Tan Yin looked away, staring at the water’s surface, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum: “I — my bikini strap broke.”

Chu Hang froze.

Tan Yin kept her arms crossed over her chest, not daring to move at all, terrified that even the slightest movement would expose her. Yet even with her strong nerves, she couldn’t help but flush deep red, all her usual eloquence deserting her.

Tan Yin’s voice came out low and hesitant: “It just broke, I can’t move right now.”

The moment Tan Yin mentioned the bikini, Chu Hang almost instinctively glanced at her chest, then his gaze snapped away as if scalded, and he even turned his face aside, as if trying to avoid any impropriety. From Tan Yin’s angle now, all she could see was the beautiful line of his profile.

Seeing that he believed her, Tan Yin dared to explain: “I asked you to come into the water not to trick you — I just didn’t want anyone else to hear, it would be too embarrassing…” She hugged her chest pitifully, nearly in tears. “I really didn’t mean to…”

Chu Hang said nothing. He pressed his lips together tightly, then swiftly climbed out of the pool.

Now Tan Yin really was about to cry — her hands had to stay clamped over her chest, and she couldn’t reach out to grab Chu Hang’s arm, so all she could do was watch pleadingly and beg: “Chu Hang, don’t leave, please help me, I won’t forget this favor, I’ll repay you tenfold, I’ll work like an ox and horse for you, hey, don’t go…”

But Chu Hang, as if being chased by something, didn’t even keep up his usual composed pace — he strode away without looking back, leaving Tan Yin only his cold retreating figure.

“…”

Just as Tan Yin was falling into complete despair, Chu Hang reappeared. His lips were still pressed tight, his expression still cold and distant, but now he had a bathrobe in his hands.

He got into the water and, with movements slightly rough, wrapped the towel around Tan Yin, then helped her out of the pool.

The entire time, he never once looked at Tan Yin, clearly not wanting to say a single word to her either — he just silently helped hold the bathrobe closed around her the whole way.

“Thank you…” Tan Yin was so moved she nearly wanted to kneel in gratitude. She thought back, ashamed of having assumed the worst — that Chu Hang had held a grudge and deliberately walked off to let her suffer — and along with the gratitude came overwhelming embarrassment. Tan Yin lowered her head. “I — I can get back on my own now. Thank you, Chu Hang.”

Chu Hang’s gaze drifted elsewhere, his voice still cold, though the very end of it carried a fleeting trace of awkwardness: “I’ll walk you back to your room.”

Neither spoke after that.

The two of them stayed silent the whole way back to her room.

Only when Tan Yin opened her door did Chu Hang finally speak, lowering his eyes to the ground: “I’m leaving.”

“Mm… thank you…”

Chu Hang didn’t respond right away; he hesitated, clearly unable to hold it back: “Next time, don’t buy that brand of swimsuit again — the quality is terrible.” He sounded a bit awkward. “I don’t see anything special about the design or style of that swimsuit either — I don’t know how you picked it.”

“Because it was cheap…” Tan Yin explained. “I actually had a dress cover-up to go with it, but it bled color, so I took it off. I figured the dress was only forty yuan with free shipping, so of course the quality would be questionable — I thought the bikini, being more expensive, would be fine, who knew…”

“Your bikini was expensive?”

“A whopping sixty yuan!”

“…”

Chu Hang, the wealthy young master, was clearly stunned by Tan Yin’s extreme poverty. He glanced at her, at a loss for words for a long moment, and finally managed to squeeze out three words: “I’m leaving.”

Often, when something happens, a person is in a state of shock and their emotions haven’t fully caught up, so they can appear remarkably composed — but once the moment passes and they finally calm down and reflect, the wild embarrassment and shame come flooding back.

Tan Yin got into her room, changed her clothes, and her first instinct was to dive onto the bed and bury her whole face in the blankets.

What a disaster of a scene!

What had she even said to Chu Hang just now! She’d been so tense and mortified she nearly died, so how had she managed to act so composed and chatty?!

And as if that weren’t enough, at that very moment, Tan Yin’s phone buzzed with a transfer notification.

On WeChat, Chu Hang had transferred her 250 yuan. Attached was a note —

“Last time, checking the hotel backend, strictly speaking I benefited from your good fortune, so I’ll cover the cost entirely.”

Just as Tan Yin was staring blankly at this message, another one from Chu Hang arrived —

This time, he’d transferred her an additional 1,000 yuan.

The label on the red envelope read, plain as day — “Charitable donation.”

“…”