Late-Night Talk

The guests sat on the beach, enjoying the sea breeze around a bonfire, eating skewers and drinking beer. They did not call it a night until nearly nine.

"It didn't feel like much when we arrived this afternoon, but the sea breeze is really cold at night." Liang Meichen hugged her arms. She was wearing a dress, which inevitably seemed a little too thin in the nighttime chill.

Xie Jingming took off his overshirt and handed it to Liang Meichen. "Ms. Liang, put this on."

"Thank you." Liang Meichen draped the shirt over herself and asked, "Won't you be cold?"

"I'm fine," Xie Jingming said.

Yu Lin instinctively looked at Li Yu beside him. Li Yu was wearing the least out of all of them, with both his arms and legs exposed.

Following Xie Jingming's example, he handed his jacket to Li Yu. "Little Yu, don't let yourself get cold either."

Li Yu froze. He was not actually that cold, but he did not want to embarrass Yu Lin. Taking the jacket, he smiled at him. "Thank you."

Chi Yan watched from the side, feeling somewhat sour inside.

"If we want to watch the sunrise tomorrow, what time do we need to get up?" Shu Menglan asked.

"A little after five should be fine. Our ocean-view rooms are quite close to the beach, so we don't have to get up as early as Chi Yan and the others did last time," Zhou Yanqing said.

"Sounds good. The director doesn't have any objections, right?" Xiang Zhinan glanced at the production crew.

How could Zhong Su dare object when Chi Yan was among the guests? He hurriedly said, "No problem."

"Then let's all head back and get some rest. We have to get up early tomorrow," Liang Meichen said.

After the staff cleaned up the mess, the guests headed back to the ocean-view room area together.

Chi Yan was unusually quiet the whole way, though his gaze never once left Li Yu and Yu Lin.

Watching from the side, Zhou Yanqing even felt that Chi Yan was about to stare holes into the backs of the two people ahead.

Zhou Yanqing had a headache too. It was true that he had some feelings for Li Yu, but when he thought of such a formidable rival as Chi Yan, his confidence immediately plummeted.

But on second thought, he had his own advantages too. Chi Yan was not good at expressing himself, whereas Zhou Yanqing said whatever was on his mind.

Later, he could find an opportunity to test how favorable Li Yu felt toward him, then decide whether to launch the next stage of his pursuit.

After Li Yu showered, he still could not fall asleep, so he went out onto the balcony to look at the sea.

The distant lighthouse shone brightly, its beam flickering over the surface of the water. Li Yu could vaguely hear the waves rolling, mixed with the cries of seagulls.

After Yu Lin showered, he did not see anyone in the room. He only found Li Yu on the balcony.

He leaned against the other side of the balcony railing, standing beside Li Yu and staring at his profile without saying a word.

It was as though the moonlight favored the person before him as well, pouring over Li Yu's fair face and making his lips look even more alluring.

"Why did you come out too?"

Sensing someone standing beside him, Li Yu asked.

Li Yu's gaze fell on Yu Lin. With just that casual glance, Yu Lin felt his heart lose control.

He felt like he might be sick. His heart was beating far too fast, and the culprit behind it all was the person standing before him.

"I... I came out to keep you company."

Yu Lin rested a hand on the back of his neck, trying hard to look normal, but his gaze kept drifting. It seemed that whenever people got nervous, they pretended to be busy.

"Rippling Isle is very different at night than it is during the day. It has a kind of tranquil beauty," Li Yu said, paying no attention to Yu Lin's odd behavior.

"Mm... I think so too."

Yu Lin instinctively felt that he should find something to talk about, or such a good opportunity would go to waste.

He cleared his throat and asked with unusual seriousness, "Little Yu, is there anything you especially like to eat?"

Li Yu thought for a moment before saying, "There are a lot of things I like. I'm not a picky eater."

But the best food he had ever eaten was still what Chi Yan had cooked.

At that thought, Li Yu himself froze. He realized that he always unconsciously thought of Chi Yan, for no reason at all.

"Then... Little Yu, do you like boys or girls?"

Yu Lin changed the subject rather abruptly, but Li Yu did not think much of it, assuming Yu Lin was simply curious.

"Actually, as long as it's the person you like, it doesn't matter whether they're a boy or a girl," Li Yu said.

"So, Little Yu... do you have someone you like?" Yu Lin continued. Only then did he realize that he had been too blunt, and hurriedly added, "I just... I just think you're so wonderful, Little Yu. I'm curious what kind of person you'd like."

"How can you tell that I'm wonderful?" Li Yu smiled, turning to look at Yu Lin with amused composure.

Yu Lin was usually carefree and bold, but when it came to this topic, he became timid instead.

"How can't I? You're good-looking, and you're so outstanding..." By the end, Yu Lin could not find any more words to describe him. He could only look at Li Yu anxiously.

"Does this count as outstanding? Among all the people I know, the most outstanding would have to be..."

Li Yu realized what he was about to say and silently swallowed the words "Brother Chi" back down.

The smile on his face faded slightly. Then he suddenly said, "It's getting late. We need to get up early tomorrow, so let's go to sleep."

Seeing that Li Yu did not want to continue, Yu Lin assumed he had said something wrong.

He pursed his lips in frustration and said, "It is pretty late. Then we should sleep."

"Mm."

Li Yu returned to the room and silently lay down on his bed.

Perhaps Yu Lin's words had carried a deeper meaning, but Li Yu no longer wanted to examine it so closely. He only felt uneasy, unable to understand what exactly he was thinking.

Why did he keep thinking of Chi Yan? Was that normal?

He was not sure whether he had other feelings for Chi Yan.

Chi Yan was indeed the most outstanding person he knew, and he had always taken such good care of him. It seemed only natural that he might fall for Chi Yan.

As for why Li Yu had always resisted confirming those feelings, perhaps it was because he was afraid.

He was afraid that once Chi Yan learned of his feelings, he would distance himself from him.

Li Yu stared at the ocean projection on the ceiling and sighed.

It was late at night, and even the staff had gone to rest, but Chi Yan could not sleep. He put on his jacket and headed for the beach.

The moment he learned that Li Yu would not be staying with him, he had begun to feel depressed.

That sour, astringent feeling clogged his heart and would not go away.

He was also a little angry with himself. He was angry that Little Fish could not belong to him alone.

Knowing that two other people on this show were eyeing Little Fish covetously made it even harder for him to rest easy.

After standing in the sea breeze for a while, Chi Yan's mind cleared.

He could not worry about so much anymore. He was going to pursue Little Fish.

He was going to tell Little Fish directly about the love filling his heart.