CHAPTER XXIV
When we got back to shore, the orange sun was only half of our face left. The dim afterglow of the setting sun was no longer able to emit enough light and heat, and with it the temperature dropped. The moment I left the warm water, I couldn't help but shiver a little. The word Birerong flashed through my mind, and the physical theories I had learned didn't seem to be enough to convince me to accept the teasing of the sea...... The water that adhered to me sucked up some of my heat, and the gust of sea breeze that swept through my body took away another part. I shuddered and clenched my arms, trying to hold on to what little warmth I had left.
"Let's go change our clothes first." Xu Mingyao showed us the location of the locker room.
"Good!" After everyone answered, they picked up the bags containing toiletries and walked to the locker room one after another. Only then did I realize that they all wrapped themselves tightly in big bath towels and looked very warm.
I didn't want them to see that I was unprepared, so I sat down and pretended to rest, and when they were all gone, I grabbed my clothes and followed them. After entering the locker room, I began to hesitate whether it was better to change clothes directly or rinse my body with clean water before changing. After all, after more than ten minutes of the combined effect of the sea breeze and my own body temperature, I have been wet and dry for seven or eight minutes, and although my hands and feet are not warm, they are far less cold than before. However, I couldn't stand the smell of my body more than the cold. So, I lifted the shower head above my head and poured myself from head to toe with cool water until I could no longer smell the salty smell of the sea. What should I do without a towel? I decided to emulate the animals that go into the water, and I kept shaking my body to try to shake off all the droplets on my body. The results weren't too good. After getting dressed, I took a good look at myself in front of the mirror. Although the clothes and pants were not soaked, the large and small water stains on them were very obvious and looked dirty. Fortunately, the light of the setting sun gradually dimmed, and in the hazy night, the wet suit was not too noticeable.
Wet clothes don't feel good on your body, but they can keep out the wind somewhat. I trotted back to the colorful umbrella and moved my limbs while waiting, but the amount of exercise was really hard to dispel the chill on my body. I gritted my teeth, rubbed my frozen hands, rubbed my frozen numb feet, and shivered in the cold sea breeze. I hope they will come and meet soon, that dinner will be over soon, that we will be back to the cottage so that I can take a warm bath...... Xingyuan said that she brought bubble bath powder, which has a peach flavor...... Thinking of this, my body seems to have warmed up a bit.
As it turned out, I was overly worried. That night, they didn't have time to notice my embarrassment, after all, there was much more to it than that.
"Xingyuan, your blush color is so beautiful, is it waterproof?" Xin Tian stopped in front of Xing Yuan, his eyes shining.
Hearing this, Xingyuan was slightly stunned. "I didn't wear blush......"
"Is it a sunburn?" Yu Menghan leaned his face forward, and after examining it carefully, he came to a conclusion: "It doesn't look too serious, just apply some aloe vera gel in a few days!" ”
"What's wrong?" Xu Mingyao, who came back from returning the swimming ring, happened to hear their conversation. He hurriedly pulled Xingyuan under the street lamp and stared at her with a look of worry and concern.
"It's okay......" Xingyuan covered her reddened cheeks with both hands to prevent Xu Mingyao from seeing it.
"Does it hurt?" Xu Mingyao tightened his brows and looked serious. Seeing that Xingyuan shook his head shyly, he turned to Yu Menghan again and asked, "What did you just say you wanted to paint?" I'm going to buy it! ”
"I don't need to buy it, I have it! I'll apply it when I get back to my room. Xingyuan took Xu Mingyao's hand and said softly.
"Okay...... Then you have to remember. Xu Mingyao muttered in a low voice, with a hint of blame in his tone.
Hearing this, a sweet smile appeared on the corner of Xingyuan's mouth. "Yes."
I didn't expect swimming to consume so much physical strength. I had a very full lunch, but the sun had just set, and I felt hungry again. I deliberately slowed down and distanced myself from them so that I wouldn't be heard grumbling from my stomach. And my foresight also made me miss the opportunity to cheer with them.
"Whoa!" Yang Fan danced happily and shouted, "Great! ”
Immediately afterwards, the girls also let out a series of exclamations.
I approached with curiosity and saw that they were looking down at something.
"What are you looking at?" I leaned forward and asked.
"Lobster to eat tonight!" Yang Fan was excited and preemptively announced.
Lobster? I was stunned for a moment, then looked at the white foam box at my feet by the light of a pale yellow flashlight. I saw that more than half a box of crushed ice cubes were laid at the bottom of the foam box, and various seafood were stacked on top of the ice cubes. Against the backdrop of almost transparent Xiaoice blocks, the three gray-blue lobsters appear extraordinarily huge. Although the red crabs that occupy the center of the box looked tempting, my eyes were caught in the big lobsters and I couldn't take my eyes off them.
"Lobster...... Is it delicious? I blurted out.
Yang Fan looked at me dumbfounded, as if I had asked the stupidest question in the world. For a moment, everyone fell into an awkward silence.
"It's hard to say what others do, but I bake it to ensure that it is delicious, I don't believe you can taste it later!" Probably finding the atmosphere a little strange, Xu Mingyao's father came over with a smile to help me out.
"Thank you, uncle......" I managed to squeeze out a smile.
"I'm going to taste it too!" Yang Fan hurriedly rushed to Xu Mingyao's father to behave obediently, for fear that others would forget his share.
Xu Mingyao's father couldn't help but laugh at Yang Fan's appearance, and laughed: "Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry, everyone has it!" ”
Xu Mingyao's father and Yang Fan talked and laughed all the way, hooked shoulders and backs, as close as brothers. I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, they walked forward in a chic manner, without looking back, leaving Xu Mingyao alone to reluctantly move the twenty or thirty pound box to the barbecue grill. Xingyuan naturally insisted on helping, but Xu Mingyao was naturally reluctant to let her get her hands.
The bonfire that belonged to us was burning, warm and bright. I sat down by the campfire, resting my chin in my hand, and fell asleep in a daze. Just as I couldn't understand how they could be so happy to talk about their dreams and the future, they couldn't understand how I could be so uninterested in such an exciting topic.
"Yin Ran?" Xingyuan gently touched me on the shoulder, waking me up from my sleep.
"Huh?" I rubbed my sleepy eyes and replied softly. At this time, not only was I not anxious to go back to the cottage, but I hoped to spend a while in this warm corner.
"Do you want chicken wings?"
The sense of smell is preceded by visual recovery. I took a deep breath and was refreshed by a rich aroma that permeated us. "It smells so good!" I came to my senses and saw Xingyuan dangling a barbecue fork with chicken wings in one hand in front of my eyes.
"Yes!" I happily took one of them and found that the chicken wings on it were raw......
"There's a sauce there, you can season it yourself." Xingyuan grinned and pointed in the direction of the barbecue, then turned her attention back to her own chicken wing.
I have no experience in barbecue, so I can only rely on learning Xingyuan's practice to draw a scoop from a gourd. After brushing the wings back and forth with honey and barbecue juice a few times, I tried to reach the wings around the campfire. To avoid getting too close to the flame and scorching the wings, I cautiously moved the fork a little away and kept it that way. The hand holding the fork soon began to sore, and the chicken wings showed no signs of ripeness, and I was a little frustrated. At this moment, Xu Mingyao's mother walked towards us with two plates.
"The long-awaited lobster!" Yang Fan jumped and shouted to meet them, and took them.
"Why do you take so much, only one per person, right, Auntie?" After speaking, Xin Tian reached out aggressively to grab the plate in Yang Fan's hand.
Yang Fan didn't want to give it, but when he saw Xu Mingyao's mother smiling and nodding yes, he had to keep his mouth shut.
Probably seeing the anxiety in our hearts, Xu Mingyao dropped the task of planting chicken wings and got up to pick up the lobster for us. Five minutes later, we each held our own share of lobster and waited contentedly for the three members of the Xu family to sit down.
"Eat, don't wait for me!" Xu Mingyao's father couldn't resist us, so he had to put down the busyness on the barbecue grill and come over to eat a few bites with us. "How's it going, is it delicious?"
I stared intently at the steaming, oily lobster on the plate, salivating, and seeing the others moving, I grabbed the lobster and took a bite, regardless of the manners and hot mouth. Instantly, a mixture of the salty umami of lobster and the spicy flavor of chili and garlic gush out, and the moment it touches the taste buds, it bursts out with just the right amount of layered flavor. The crispness of the surface and the tenderness of the inner layer combine to create a unique and wonderful taste that is unforgettable. Delicious! It's delicious!
"Not enough to eat...... Yang Fan looked at us sadly after devouring all the shrimp and crabs on the plate.
It's rare for me to resonate with Yang Fan, and this is one of them. No amount of such a delicious thing can be eaten!
"Haha! I'm pretty good at it! Xu Mingyao's father gave his share to Yang Fan and smiled triumphantly.
"That's what you can do." Xu Mingyao's mother's teasing caused everyone to laugh.
"How can you underestimate barbecue! There's a lot of attention to here! After speaking, Xu Mingyao's father began to talk about and show off his unique secrets.
I don't care about lobster at all, after all, I can't imagine when I'll be able to eat it again. I listened to Xu Mingyao's father's words and Yang Fan's praise without saying a word, and what I was thinking about was how to get out the crab meat hidden in the crab shell and eat it.
"Yin Ran, eat more." Xingyuan quietly put half a crab on my plate. It turned out that she was afraid that the crab shell would pierce her hand, so she never ate crabs. The musician's hand is very precious.
"Thank you!" When I saw the large piece of yellow crab paste condensed on the crab's body, I secretly rejoiced.
I saw Xingyuan hand the crab claws to Xu Mingyao, and her plate was half empty. Later, Xu Mingyao silently poured his lobster onto Xingyuan's plate and refilled her plate. Xu Mingyao's mother, who saw everything in her eyes, showed an approving smile. Somehow, I suddenly felt a sour nose and felt a little uncomfortable.
"Study hard, if you do well in the college entrance examination, I will make sure you have enough lobster!" Xu Mingyao's father inexplicably put away his smiling face, looked around at us seriously, and put down the "cruel words".
"Whoa!" Yang Fan cheered loudly again.
Xu Mingyao's parents prepared a lot of delicious food for us, such as grilled oysters, grilled corn, grilled eggplant, grilled sausages, grilled grilled grilles and even grilled marshmallows, but I didn't ask for anything because I was obsessed with roasted chicken wings. It's a pleasure to watch it slowly turn golden brown and fragrant under your own careful cooking. In addition, I have also discovered that chicken wings are best only when I am hungry, so I don't intend to let other foods deplete my stomach capacity and prevent me from enjoying the deliciousness of chicken wings. After eating and drinking, we worked together to clean up, remove garbage, and give the sea a clean beach.
When I got back to the cottage, I felt tired and sleepy again, and I wanted to take a peach-scented bubble bath or lie down on a fluffy bed and get some good sleep. Unfortunately, things are often not as good as they should be. There is only one bathroom, and there are five guests, not to mention bubble baths, and even a hot shower has to wait in line. To my surprise, Xingyuan, who has always been understanding and courteous, begged us to let her wash first. We certainly won't say no. I have to admit that the waiting time is very difficult. The campfire dried my wet clothes, but it made me sweat a little. The sticky sweat not only stuck to the clothes, but also inadvertently stuck a lot of rough sand, and I couldn't shoot it off, which was very annoying. The thought of having dirt on my skin makes me feel uncomfortably stuffy.
I glanced at Li Jiamin, who was sitting on the sofa nervously, and Yu Menghan and Xin Tian, who were sitting on the floor angrily, and sighed secretly. "You guys wash first, I'm not in a hurry." With that, I went to the balcony and took advantage of the refreshing sea breeze to relieve the boredom in my heart. If it hadn't been for Li Jiamin, we could have leaned back on the sofa and squinted for a while, but now, in order not to stain her sleeping place, we had to stand or sit on the floor. The inconvenience and unhappiness caused by her can be seen from this, no wonder everyone does not want to see her.
I stared at the dark night sky and the dark sea, completely oblivious to the passage of time. It wasn't until I heard the familiar sound of music drifting from not far away that I suddenly realized that my calf was already sore. The faint sound of the violin was enough for me to tell that it was Debussy's "Moonlight", one of Xingyuan's specialties. There are no trees around the cottage and the view is very open, which allows me to follow the sound to find the player. Sure enough, the person who is rich in leisure and elegance is Xingyuan. Wearing a white dress, she was standing on the lawn more than ten meters away from the fence of the small villa, holding the piano with her left hand and pulling the bow with her right hand, with a graceful posture. I moved my eyes to the tall back sitting next to Xingyuan, and saw that Xingyuan's only audience was Xu Mingyao. The moonlight and starlight are so wonderful, even though they hang in the sky all the time, even if their brilliance is so bright and moving, it is easy to ignore their existence if you don't bother to pursue and gaze at them. Just like I was bored, I didn't want to enjoy the scenery in front of me, so my eyes were only dark. The soothing and soft music flows and spreads quietly through Xingyuan's superb performance. Even if the sound is slight, it's intoxicating enough. I looked at the dark blue sky, the bright full moon, the shining stars, and the deep purple sea, but I felt relaxed. The breeze blows across the brocade-like sea, stirring up thin folds, rippling ripples, starlight scattered, romantic and dreamy, revealing a touch of poignant.
As a bystander, I was still moved by the beautiful things in front of me, not to mention Xu Mingyao who was in it. At the end of the song, Xu Mingyao hugged Xingyuan into his arms and hugged him tightly. I hurriedly turned around and ran back into my room, afraid to witness them kissing.
Finally, I got my wish to try the peach-flavored bubble bath. Looking at the rainbow-colored bubbles floating on the water, my mind began to blur. Xingyuan is so nice...... Not only did she have everything I dreamed of, but she also got the love I didn't dare to pray for...... It turns out that there really is fairytale love in the world...... Maybe one day I can find my beautiful love? Thinking of this, I closed my eyes and silently made a wish in my heart. However, I forgot that the ending of fairy tales is not all good......