Diving (Part 2)

The girl in the little black dress stood with her arms crossed, her skin gleaming almost blindingly in the sunlight. Perhaps because the sun was too harsh, her squinting gaze carried a hint of impatience, but with her striking features, it only lent her a unique sort of beauty.

Fu Haoyao stood frozen on the spot, feeling a wave of heat rush straight to his head.

He thought to himself, is this normal? Getting this worked up over seeing someone in a swimsuit—that's a bit perverted, isn't it?

"You—turn around!" Fu Haoyao said gruffly.

But his tone was harsh while his expression said the complete opposite.

Seeing this, Bai Yan let out one of those meaningful smiles again.

Annoyed by the look, Fu Haoyao turned around himself and ran off to a spot far away from Fu Liangxia, squatting down like a mushroom.

Su Xingshu and Fu Liedong, who arrived right after, paused at the sight. Su Xingshu glanced at Fu Haoyao, who looked like a golden mushroom, and remarked, "What's wrong with him now?"

"Maybe he remembered something embarrassing," Bai Yan said with a knowing smile. "You know how Fu-er's mind jumps around."

Could it be that he got embarrassed because of her?

Fu Liangxia, who had been told to turn around, seemed to think of something. She glanced down at her own swimsuit—not particularly revealing—and silently revised her estimation of Fu-er's innocence up another notch.

Soon, Cheng Xingzhou also arrived. He had timed things perfectly; the moment he showed up was exactly the scheduled meeting time.

But as Fu Liangxia's gaze swept over the boys who had come later, she noticed their builds seemed subtly different from before. She couldn't tell why, but they all looked especially...

"They look like they just finished working out," Bai Kewei whispered in her ear.

Fu Liangxia: "Huh?"

"Male actors usually do push-ups before filming shirtless scenes to make their muscles look better," Bai Kewei said, gesturing for her to look closely. "See their muscle tone? They're clearly in an excited state."

They knew they'd be showing off their upper bodies, so they were deliberately flaunting their plumage.

Bai Kewei pursed her lips.

Just then, the instructor in charge of their diving activity arrived and called them onto the boat.

The instructor was a local, speaking English with an accent and what seemed to be local slang, though it wasn't hard to understand.

Fu Liangxia listened closely—he was asking whether they'd dived before and if they needed instruction.

Being second-generation heirs, hardly any of them hadn't dived before. Even Bai Kewei had done it during a trip to the south. Upon discovering that basic instruction wasn't needed, the instructor seemed quite pleased and said excitedly, "Then we'll head straight to a more exciting area."

Fu Liangxia thought little of it, figuring the diving spot didn't make much difference anyway—it wasn't like they'd be taken out to the deep sea.

But as they boarded the boat, the instructor cautioned them to do warm-up stretches to prevent leg cramps, which could be dangerous.

As he spoke, he handed out life jackets and even complimented the boys on their physiques.

The boat wasn't large, and they were all seated on the deck. Fu Liangxia and Bai Kewei were the last to board, leaving only two open spots: one next to Fu Liedong and one beside Little A.

Remembering Fu Liedong's earlier remarks about special admits, Fu Liangxia promptly pulled Bai Kewei to sit next to Little A.

She was afraid Fu Liedong's brain would short-circuit and he'd blurt out something unpleasant again.

Su Xingshu, who had secretly hoped she'd come to him, darkened at the sight.

Fu Liedong was useless—they were siblings, and yet their relationship was this bad.

Little A, on the other hand, wasn't surprised by her choice. He glanced at Fu Liangxia as she settled beside him, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. In a casual tone, he said, "As expected, I've got more charm."

"Dream on," Fu Liangxia replied. For some reason, she was always careful with her words around others, but with Little A she could let her guard down and easily fire back. "You're just slightly less annoying by comparison."

Little A didn't seem offended. His smile only widened. "Mm-hmm, my pleasure."

He was about to say something more when a voice came from behind his head.

"What's that?!" Fu Haoyao pointed at something, his tone exaggerated.

Everyone's attention was drawn by his words.

Following the direction of his finger, Fu Liangxia vaguely spotted a pale blue creature speeding toward them.

As it drew closer, the creature burst out of the water, revealing its sleek, graceful form—a dolphin.

"It's just a dolphin. I thought it was a sea monster," Little A said flatly, a hint of mockery in his voice. A dolphin was enough to make him fuss like that? Who'd believe he wasn't doing it on purpose?

He turned and gave Fu Haoyao a slight smirk.

It was a smile that saw through everything.

Fu Haoyao admitted to himself that he had deliberately interrupted their conversation. Watching the two of them chat and laugh had made his heart sour and bubbling, and he'd only wanted something to divert Fu Liangxia's attention.

At that, he shot Little A a cold glance but said nothing. Meanwhile, Bai Yan, who was seated beside Little A, leaned over to peer outside and said, "A dolphin? Where? Let me see."

Because Bai Yan was tall, the motion brought his body right next to Fu Liangxia on Little A's other side. His cool strands of hair brushed against the girl's cheek, and he seemed not to notice as he said, "Oh! It really is a dolphin!"

Fu Liangxia: "..."

Be a decent person for once, will you? Stop teasing Fu-er—look at the kid... wait, where's the kid?

She turned to look and saw Fu Haoyao rise from his seat, stride two steps to stand behind Bai Yan, and bring his hand down hard on the latter's head. "Sit properly, or you'll get thrown off later."

Through gritted teeth, he grabbed Bai Yan by the collar and pulled the face that had been far too close to Fu Liangxia away. The veins on his hand bulged slightly, making it look less like he was afraid Bai Yan would fall overboard and more like he wanted to toss him into the water himself.

Even more like a dog now. A loyal little pup that patrols around its owner, baring its teeth at any stranger who gets too close.

Bai Yan, having been yanked, wasn't angry at all. Smiling, he said, "Fu-er, I never knew you cared about me so much."

Fu Haoyao ignored him, but Fu Liangxia heard Bai Kewei beside her snicker quietly, "Fu-er's face is dark and he won't even look at you, but he's pretty practiced at yanking Bai Yan away."

Fu Liangxia raised a hand to her forehead, though she didn't take Bai Kewei's words too seriously.

Why Fu-er was angry—whether it was jealousy over her talking to Little A, or why he'd pulled Bai Yan away—had nothing to do with her.

She liked it when people showed her favor, but she wasn't the type to wither without it. She had her own life, her own things she wanted to do. Unless someone's affection started affecting her, she wouldn't be soft about it.

And Fu Haoyao wasn't that annoying yet. He was more like a puppy that didn't know how to express its affection, which was rather amusing to watch.

...

About twenty minutes later, they arrived at the designated diving area.

The instructor tossed a life ring overboard, then opened the boat's hatch and gestured for them to enter the water in order.

Having confirmed that they all knew how to dive, the instructor didn't give special coaching. After correcting their postures, he swam ahead into the water, and the others followed one after another.

They submerged into a coral reef area. In the clear currents, endless clusters of coral crowded together on the seabed. Colorful little fish darted past their eyes, and some with poor sense of direction even bumped into their dive masks.

Fu Liangxia trailed slowly behind the group. Ahead of her, Bai Kewei was holding a handheld camera specifically for underwater photography, recording as she went.

She vaguely recalled that Bai Kewei had joined a photography club and had even won awards in some competitions—she must really love it.

Seeing how absorbed Bai Kewei was in her filming, Fu Liangxia didn't want to disturb her.

She swam past her, then suddenly caught sight of something below that drew her attention, and unconsciously swam in that direction.

It was golden and shiny—looked a bit like gold.

Fu Liangxia couldn't be sure, but her instinct for anything valuable drove her closer.

Gradually, she drifted away from the main group.

And because the coral formations were massive while Fu Liangxia was slender, once she slipped among them, she vanished completely from sight.

The instructor up ahead was still gesturing for them to keep up and not fall behind.

Bai Kewei, despite holding the camera, still noticed the instructor's signals. She was about to look for Fu Liangxia beside her when she realized in horror that Fu Liangxia was nowhere around.

Panicking, she hastily tugged at the arm of the person in front of her, using gestures to convey that someone was missing.

After pantomiming, Bai Kewei turned to swim back and search, but was stopped by the other person.

The boy used motions to tell her to go notify the instructor ahead while he would turn back and search. While there weren't any dangerous marine creatures in this area, the fear was that Fu Liangxia had suddenly cramped up—if she were immobilized, things could get dangerous.

Bai Kewei didn't want to agree, but the boy darted off the moment he finished gesturing, leaving her no chance to react. To save time, she had no choice but to follow his plan.

As for Fu Liangxia, she really was that unlucky—just as she approached the golden area, her "random affliction" triggered.

What was scarier than a cramp was that her limbs suddenly went weak, losing all strength. And as her control over her body slipped, the breathing tube between her lips came loose, and she sank toward the deeper seabed.

Fine bubbles immediately streamed from her mouth. Even though Fu Liangxia reacted fast and held her breath, she still felt water rushing into her throat.

Thankfully, she was wearing a life jacket. Relying on that life-saving buoyancy, she used every last ounce of strength to grab hold of a coral beside her.

The rough surface quickly cut into her palm, but Fu Liangxia dared not relax her grip. She was afraid that if she let go, she'd never have a chance to survive again.

Faint traces of blood spread through the water. Just as Fu Liangxia was certain she would suffocate to death, a figure above her rapidly closed in.

The man's eyes were deep and heavy, his strokes cutting through the water as nimbly as a shark. Swiftly and firmly, he seized her arm.

Bai Xin lowered his head.

In the dim light beneath the sea, all he could see was the nearly colorless pallor of her face, her lips drained of blood, and the raw greed for life hidden deep in those beautiful eyes.

He paused, seeming to hesitate. But the moment he saw her about to pass out from lack of oxygen, Bai Xin pulled her into his arms, clamped his other hand over the breathing tube, and pressed his cool lips to hers.