I Want to Play

An hour ago—

"Um... An Shiyu."

"What?"

At a corner, three girls peeked out one after another, their heads stacked together. Not far from them, a black helicopter stood parked.

"Brother was just taken away by Chen Qin. I don’t think it’s a big deal, right?" Tang Keke whispered. "Do we really need to steal a helicopter?"

"Because I want to play," An Shiyu said.

"Huh?" Tang Keke froze.

"No, what if he’s in danger? It’s good to check on him," An Shiyu corrected herself, speaking with righteous conviction.

Tang Keke: "..."

"That first sentence was your real intention, wasn’t it?!"

"Tch, don’t focus on the details." An Shiyu turned to Bai Yuyou. "Oi, you wanna see the old man too, right?"

Bai Yuyou nodded.

"Two against one. Let’s roll."

With that, An Shiyu crouched and crept forward—

"Wait?!" Tang Keke had no choice but to follow.

Since it was a private island, security was lax. The guard was even scrolling through videos of blonde, blue-eyed beauties on his phone—after all, slacking off is a universal skill.

The three girls quickly reached the helicopter. Tang Keke lowered her voice, "Hey, An Shiyu, do you actually know how to fly this thing?"

"Probably," An Shiyu replied without turning her head.

"That 'probably' is making me very uneasy?!"

"Fine, then just distract the guard with your big backpack."

"Never mind... I’ll get scolded."

The girls stood at the helicopter’s rear, hidden from the guard’s sight. Seeing the locked cabin door, An Shiyu patted her pockets and pulled out a key.

Tang Keke: "..."

"Where’d you get that?"

"Who knows? It just magically appeared in my pocket. So weird." An Shiyu inserted the key, twisted it lightly, lifted the handle, and the door opened.

As the short-haired girl nimbly climbed into the pilot’s seat, Tang Keke looked utterly speechless.

Bai Yuyou turned to Tang Keke and said, "Keke, a key appearing out of nowhere is indeed magical."

"Why are you believing this?!"

With no other option, Tang Keke climbed in too. Since the front could only seat two, she and Bai Yuyou took the back.

Before An Shiyu lay a dashboard full of instruments and strange switches.

"An Shiyu, do you really know how to fly this?" Tang Keke asked again, her half-foot already on the path to the underworld at the sight of the complicated controls.

"Stop nagging." An Shiyu gave her a deadpan look.

She pointed at the pedals at her feet. "Left pedal turns left, right pedal turns right. Push the control stick forward to go forward, pull back to go backward..."

"Got it? Easy, right? Anyone with hands can do it."

Bai Yuyou nodded. "Mm. Easy."

Tang Keke looked like she was about to cry. This dummy believes whatever An Shiyu says!

"What about all these instruments?!"

"Who cares? Fuel gauge, voltage, pressure, radar—whatever. Not important." An Shiyu casually flipped several mechanical switches above her head.

"Just hit the gas and leave the rest to fate."

The helicopter roared to life, the deafening sound of the rotor blades filling the air. An Shiyu put on noise-canceling headphones and said,

"Put your headphones on."

"Okay."

Tang Keke and Bai Yuyou complied. Tang Keke then asked, "Should we buckle up?"

"Nah. Just make sure you land in a cool pose when you get flung out. Don’t wanna be scattered in pieces everywhere." An Shiyu’s lazy reply sent Tang Keke scrambling to fasten all three or four seatbelts.

The helicopter’s noise was too loud to ignore. The guard, still watching videos, finally looked up—

"Wait, was there a flight scheduled today?"

He pressed the earpiece of his walkie-talkie. "Hardy, who’s flying the chopper today? Is it you?"

"Hardy?"

"Hardy?!"

Realizing something was wrong, the guard jogged toward the helicopter—just as it began lifting off.

"Hardy?!!" he shouted frantically.

From the cockpit, An Shiyu seemed to hear something. She glanced outside.

"What’s all the yelling? Woof woof?"

The helicopter ascended, and the breathtaking scenery instantly captivated the girls. Tang Keke, initially terrified, relaxed a little when she saw An Shiyu actually knew what she was doing.

"Wow, the view is amazing."

The ocean shimmered like blue gelatin, endlessly mesmerizing.

"Mm... Let’s go for a spin." An Shiyu steered the helicopter forward.

"Wait, weren’t we supposed to find Brother?!" Tang Keke realized something was off.

"What? Can’t hear you."

"Find Brother!"

"Still can’t hear. Speak up."

"FIND—BROTHER—!!!!!!"

"Why are you screaming so loud?" An Shiyu looked mildly disgusted, but then she seemed to remember.

"Oh, right. That was a thing."

Tang Keke: "..."

"Where do we look?" An Shiyu asked.

"You’re the one who said we were going to find Brother!" Tang Keke was dumbfounded.

"Eh, doesn’t matter. Chen Qin’ll bring him back soon anyway," An Shiyu said dismissively. "She won’t keep him forever. Probably just a day or two of fun."

Tang Keke was baffled. "Then what was the point of stealing the helicopter?!"

An Shiyu declared with conviction,

"I wanted to play."

"I knew it!"

Just then, Bai Yuyou pointed. "Over there. I smell Ye Shuang."

"Smell? Yuyou, even if you were a bloodhound, you couldn’t—"

"I’m a rabbit," Bai Yuyou replied.

"That’s not what I meant."

An Shiyu, however, turned the helicopter toward the direction Bai Yuyou indicated. She didn’t care where they went—she just wanted to fly.

The private island was sizable, so it took a while to reach the other side—an undeveloped area with no buildings in sight.

"Brother wouldn’t be here, right?" Tang Keke said. But then she spotted something odd on the beach—a symbol made of arranged rocks.

"Is that..."

"S.O.S.?"

"Is Brother over there?!" Tang Keke asked urgently.

"Probably."

An Shiyu began descending. As they got closer, two figures emerged from the trees. Once the helicopter fully landed, the girls leaned out to greet them.

"Yo."