The Arrival of Summer Vacation

In the end, Chen Qin decided to take Chen Hai home first, along with Zhou Min—after all, it was a family matter for the Chens, and Ye Shuang had no intention of tagging along for the drama. Zhou Min’s motives were clearly more complicated than they appeared on the surface, and now they could only wait for the paternity test results.

At that moment, Ye Shuang noticed An Shiyu, the ever-amused troublemaker, swaying as if about to follow them for some gossip. He promptly grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back.

"Ah Ye, I’ll take this pig home first, alright?" The window of the Porsche rolled down, revealing Chen Qin wearing sunglasses as she flashed a playful smile.

With one hand still holding onto An Shiyu’s collar, Ye Shuang waved with the other.

"Yeah, drive carefully."

"Heh." Chen Qin removed her sunglasses and blinked coquettishly before shifting gears and driving off.

The tires crunched over the gravel road as the Porsche gradually disappeared into the distance. Ye Shuang watched for a moment before turning back and dragging the expressionless "fish" in his grip back into the villa.

"Hungry? Let’s go back and have some morning tea," he suggested, glancing at the girls. With Fu Gui and the others gone, the villa had suddenly grown quiet.

"Hungry," Bai Yuyou was the first to respond.

"I’m actually pretty hungry too—it’s almost noon," Tang Keke added, checking the time. Who would’ve thought that after waking up early, they’d skip breakfast and end up with nothing but a raw mess of drama?

"Alright, let’s go." Ye Shuang smiled.

Since the villa was rented, they’d have to wait for the landlord to inspect and inventory everything before professionals came to clean up. As long as nothing was missing or deliberately damaged, the deposit would be refunded.

"After morning tea, we can also take a look at choosing majors," Ye Shuang said as he drove, briefly glancing in the rearview mirror at the pink mini car turning ahead before addressing Tang Keke and Bai Yuyou in the backseat.

"Majors."

"Yeah, starting from fourth year, you’ll specialize in specific fields—basically learning vocational skills," Ye Shuang explained. "Though a lot of people don’t end up working in their majors after graduation."

"Future… career." Bai Yuyou pondered.

"Why even bother with general education in the first place? Just start with majors," Tang Keke groaned, rubbing her temples. "Ugh, I barely passed—almost got held back. Most of that knowledge is useless anyway."

"Why study at all…?" Ye Shuang mused as he drove.

"If success is the only goal, then yeah, a lot of what you learn might seem unnecessary."

"But if all life ends in death, why bother living at all? Whether it’s studying or life itself, the point is to enjoy the journey."

"The essence of education is to teach you perspective—humility, discernment, the ability to see the world differently and solve problems in multiple ways."

"And then… to become a better version of yourself."

Ye Shuang paused before adding with a chuckle, "Of course, choosing to be a couch potato is also an option. If you just want vocational skills, there are specialized schools for that."

"Keke, want to be a couch potato?" Bai Yuyou asked curiously.

"Nah, I’ll stick to studying. Otherwise, my brother will lecture me and I won’t even have a comeback," Tang Keke sighed, scratching her head.

"So, any thoughts on majors?" Ye Shuang circled back to the original question. "Did the career advisor give any good suggestions?"

"Yeah."

"What was it?"

"Don’t study civil engineering."

"…"

……

By the time they finished morning tea, it was already 2 p.m. Since the teahouse was inside a shopping mall, they passed by a fruit store on their way out—summer fruits were neatly displayed in chilled cabinets, looking irresistibly fresh.

Bai Yuyou’s head turned like an owl’s, her body moving forward while her gaze remained fixed on the fruit shop, eyes practically glued to the display.

"Let’s buy some fruit," Ye Shuang said, noticing her fascination.

"Okay."

"Everything’s fresh—what would you like?" The shopkeeper greeted them warmly.

"Hmm…" Ye Shuang scanned the selection, but Bai Yuyou’s eyes were locked onto the row of watermelons. She picked one up, cradling it quietly with an adorably blank expression.

"How much for the watermelon?"

"Seven yuan per jin," the shopkeeper replied.

"Wait, is the rind made of gold?" Ye Shuang was taken aback by the price—he remembered buying them for mere cents per jin from roadside stalls before.

"It’s Ganmei watermelon—seedless and super sweet," the shopkeeper defended. "Trust me, I wish it were cheaper too, but that’s just the market price."

"Seedless, huh…" Ye Shuang sighed dramatically.

"All those years I spent mastering Seed Machine Gun… wasted."

Shopkeeper: "?"

"We’ve got cheaper ones too—one-fifty per jin," the shopkeeper offered, pointing to another variety. The store’s most affordable option was even just eighty cents.

"Nah, we’ll stick with this one. Give me three."

"Sure."

After weighing them, the shopkeeper announced, "That’ll be 256 yuan total."

"Also, two boxes each of the 3J cherries and honey mangoes."

"Got it. Want to sign up for a membership? It’s free."

"No thanks, we don’t come here often," Ye Shuang declined. They were just passing through for tea.

"Members get a free pack of tissues."

"Sign me up."

Armed with their haul, the trio stepped out of the shop. Bai Yuyou hugged her watermelon, gently stroking its surface as if it were precious.

"Yuyou, why are you petting the melon?" Tang Keke asked.

"It’s cold… feels nice," Bai Yuyou murmured.

"It’s gotta be delicious!" Tang Keke reached over to touch it too—holding such a chilled watermelon in the summer heat was undeniably soothing.

"Back before fridges, you’d never get to eat ice-cold watermelon like this."

Ye Shuang chuckled. "Actually, you could. My family had a well in the yard. We’d dunk watermelons in there during summer, and when we pulled them out, they’d be so cold your teeth would ache."

"Wouldn’t they sink?"

"Nope."

Back at the apartment, Ye Shuang placed the watermelon on the table and went to fetch a knife from the kitchen.

With a crisp snap, the blade split the fruit cleanly in half.

The vibrant red flesh, almost entirely seedless, looked mouthwatering.

"Wow, that’s amazing!"

"Yeah, looks delicious." Ye Shuang handed one half to Bai Yuyou. "You take this half—Keke and I will share the other."

Bai Yuyou stared at the semicircular watermelon before abruptly biting into the rind.

"Bitter…"

"Dummy, use a spoon." Ye Shuang lightly bonked her head.

Once divided, the three settled on the sofa to eat while watching TV—joined by Yi Wan, who gnawed on a discarded rind from the table.

As Ye Shuang bit into the crisp, sweet flesh, his gaze drifted toward the floor-to-ceiling window.

The wind chime swayed gently, its seashell ornaments shimmering in the sunlight.

Summer vacation had arrived.