Memories

About Anshi Yi's clock——

Ye Shuang's gaze flickered, and his memory returned to that pure white laboratory, where the numb-faced lab staff and test subjects wore expressionless looks.

Memories rushed in like a tide, until Chen Hai beside him patted his shoulder. "Hey, hey? Hey?"

"Oh..." Ye Shuang snapped back to reality and glanced at Chen Hai beside him. "What's up?"

"You're asking me what's up? You were just spacing out—got tired of the big melons on your secretary in a bikini and now into the small ones?" Chen Hai said.

Ye Shuang: "..."

"Why are you so hung up on the big melon thing?" Ye Shuang said, exasperated.

"Whoa! Called it, didn't I?"

"Alright, stop thinking about that stuff all the time. You're a dad now, for crying out loud." Ye Shuang stood up and stretched his limbs. "Why are you always so raring to go like a breeding stud?"

"Damn you, it's not like I'm like you... sometimes when you're pent up, it's really uncomfortable, alright?" Chen Hai pursed his lips.

"You're not actually having thoughts about those girls, are you?" Ye Shuang asked.

"Nah, not that far. I like the ones who come on to me." Chen Hai said, crossing his arms. "If they don't make the first move, I don't feel it."

Ye Shuang gave Chen Hai a long, hard look. "You really should go see a doctor. This is turning into an obsession."

"Bullshit, you're exaggerating."

At that moment, Ye Shuang glanced over at An Shiyu's side, but the two fishes had already walked off into the distance, so the clock was out of sight.

He had mustered his courage once before, but Ye Shuang still hadn't gone back to that timeline again.

Shaking his head, Ye Shuang walked over to the shoreline. The waves lapping in from time to time let his soles feel that icy chill.

Looking down, Ye Shuang bent over and dug a moon shell out of the sand.

From here, he could also see the iconic landmark of the distant Haizhu City—the Sun and Moon Shell.

Holding the shell in his hand, Ye Shuang lined it up with the building not far away, as if the two could overlap perfectly.

"Phew." Perhaps thanks to the sting of the seawater, Ye Shuang's mood had settled a little. He let his gaze wander left and right, searching for the figures of An Shiyu and Anshi Yi.

He really ought to go in and take a look after all.

But the figures of the two fishes were nowhere to be found. Instead, Ye Shuang's eyes landed on Bai Yuyou, who was walking toward him.

Bai Yuyou wore a simple two-piece white swimsuit. She spun around once in front of Ye Shuang. "Do I look good?"

"Not bad." Ye Shuang said, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

At that moment, the girl in front of him noticed the shell in Ye Shuang's hand. "Shell."

"Yeah, this is called a moon shell. It's pretty good for making soup." Ye Shuang handed the moon shell to Bai Yuyou, who took it and looked at it for a while. "I want to pick shells with Ye Shuang and make a wind chime."

"A wind chime again?" Ye Shuang smiled.

Bai Yuyou said, "Does Ye Shuang not want to?"

"No, it's not that. Shells can also be made into other things. Let's collect some and take them home." Ye Shuang said.

"Okay."

The matter of the clock was set aside for the moment. Ye Shuang accompanied Bai Yuyou along the sand, picking up shells. Perhaps because noon had passed, the sun was no longer so blazing. With the gentle sea breeze blowing, the sunlight falling on them felt warm and cozy.

"Ye Shuang, this one's pretty."

"Ye Shuang, this one's big."

Bai Yuyou stayed glued to Ye Shuang's side, still as clingy as ever. She held onto his arm, her melons practically wrapping around him.

"Look! Super Keke No.1 Castle!"

Tang Keke and a few other members of the light music club were piling up sand, and a little sand mound appeared in front of everyone.

"You call that a castle? That's more like Patrick Star's house." An Shiyu stood to the side, looking at Tang Keke's masterpiece. "Mediocre."

"Bet you can't make anything better than mine!"

"Easy."

Before long, An Shiyu had made two little mounds for Tang Keke.

"Hahaha, aren't yours just little mounds too?"

"Two is bigger than one. Isn't that better than yours?" An Shiyu said with dead-fish eyes.

"Who said more means better?"

A bunch of girls chattering away—before they knew it, evening had arrived.

"Finished washing up——"

Everyone took turns washing off on the yacht, then urged the next group to rotate in, since the seawater had dried and stuck to their skin, and there was no way they were going back into the tents feeling all sticky like that.

Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou and the others also went back to the yacht to shower.

The yacht's shower stall was tiny, but Bai Yuyou still wanted to shower with Ye Shuang.

"It's too cramped. Not happening."

"It's fine—we can wash while holding each other."

"How could we possibly wash holding each other..."

"It's doable." Bai Yuyou said softly, and even raised a finger to demonstrate. "I cover my body in bubbles, then rub against Ye Shuang."

Ye Shuang: "..."

Where did you learn that from?

In the end, Ye Shuang still shooed Bai Yuyou in to shower on her own.

Even though everyone's showers were quick, there were too many people, and by the time the whole round was done, the sky had gone dark.

In front of the tents, everyone lit a campfire and started preparing dinner.

The grill Ye Shuang had set up was rented from nearby, charcoal included. He was skilled at adding charcoal, and once he felt the temperature was right, he placed the wire mesh on top, followed by skewers of meat and seafood.

"Should've rented one more stove." As Ye Shuang said this, the two fishes standing beside him nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah. Is it ready yet?"

"Not that fast."

Ye Shuang gave them a glance, lingering a little longer on Anshi Yi before his gaze dropped downward.

After noticing Anshi Yi's shorts, he looked away.

"What's the matter? Look at my underwear and it'll cost you ten grand. Get a monthly pass and it's 88 with a discount." Anshi Yi noticed Ye Shuang's gaze and spoke up.

"What the hell is a monthly pass?"

After twenty-odd minutes, the skewers started coming off the grill in batches. But with so many people, even though Ye Shuang grilled in large quantities, each person only got one or two skewers. In the end, Chen Hai had to run off and rent another stove just to satisfy everyone's appetite.

"Lobster has to be steamed."

"Cheese-baked, obviously."

"These meat skewers are so good, just like the ones from the shops outside."

"Whoa, what's this?"

"Grilled cow happiness."

"Ew?"

It took about two hours for Ye Shuang's group to finish dinner, but thankfully the process was fun, and everyone had a pretty good time.

After cleaning up, everyone sat down and chatted casually.

But it was mostly chatter on the girls' topics, so Ye Shuang and Chen Hai very knowingly sat in the corner and cracked open a couple of ice-cold beers.

After all, sometimes you just can't force your way into those conversations.

"How about we tell some ghost stories?" An Shiyu suddenly spoke up.

"Agreed~" Anshi Yi chimed in.