Xie Linchuan said, "You can find someone else to coax."
Shen Xingcan stepped forward and stood in front of Xie Linchuan. "No can do. However hard you are to coax, I still have to try. What can I do when the only person in my heart is the very ill-tempered Miss Xie?"
To meet Xie Linchuan's eyes, Shen Xingcan even quietly rose onto his tiptoes to make up for their difference in height.
Because of Shen Xingcan's movement, the two were now extremely close, their noses almost touching, close enough for Xie Linchuan to feel Shen Xingcan's warm breath and the cool, sweet scent unique to him.
The young man before him had beautiful, radiant features. It seemed that Xie Linchuan needed only to move a little to kiss those rosy lips.
After their eyes met for a moment, Xie Linchuan was the first to look away. He looked no different from before, even his expression remaining exactly the same.
But that was only how he looked. The faint pink tinge to his earlobes, though barely noticeable, plainly betrayed everything he was feeling.
Still as easily embarrassed as ever, Shen Xingcan thought cheerfully.
Shen Xingcan returned to his original spot and began searching for shells in earnest.
"This one's nice. This one's even better than the last one..."
Shen Xingcan picked up shells and discarded them as he went. Naturally, Xie Linchuan, who followed beside him, was the tool man responsible for holding the shells and carrying Shen Xingcan's shoes.
"...This one looks a lot like the shell we just found!"
Shen Xingcan compared the shell in his hand with the one in Xie Linchuan's.
"They really do look alike! It's like the sea specially arranged these tokens of affection for us! Look at these two shells. Don't they look just like the bond between us?"
Looking at the two similar shells, Shen Xingcan spoke to Xie Linchuan with an animated expression.
At the words "tokens of affection," Xie Linchuan's heart abruptly skipped a beat. "Don't talk nonsense."
Shen Xingcan thought nothing of it. "How is that nonsense? Nobody said tokens of affection have to represent romantic love. Friendship is affection too! I think our relationship can even rival Liu, Guan, and Zhang's!"
Xie Linchuan was expressionless. "...I don't think so."
Shen Xingcan immediately objected loudly, "That's just your misconception. We might actually be even closer than Liu, Guan, and Zhang. At least Liu Bei wouldn't carry Guan Yu's shoes."
He spoke with conviction, pointing at Xie Linchuan's right hand.
Then, a second later, Shen Xingcan's white sneakers were flung away like trash.
Shen Xingcan offered his assessment of Xie Linchuan's behavior. "Embarrassment turned to anger."
Xie Linchuan: "..."
There were plenty of shells on the beach, and Chongshan Island was no tourist island, so it took everyone only an hour to collect all the shells they wanted.
Among the seven of them, however, Shen Xingcan and Xie Linchuan's shells stood out particularly.
It was not because their shells were especially pretty, but because the two of them had spent an entire hour choosing just two shells.
Those two lonely shells stood out every which way beside everyone else's piles.
Holding his shell, Shen Xingcan declared confidently, "Rarity makes things valuable. Besides, I carefully selected these Liu, Guan, and Zhang matching shells."
Jiang Yifeng's eyes lit up. "There's one for me too?"
He knew the captain had a place for him in his heart. Sob, sob, sob.
Shen Xingcan was merciless. "Not for you."
Jiang Yifeng said, "You said they were Liu, Guan, and Zhang matching shells!"
Shen Xingcan said, "It was just a comparison. The world Xie Linchuan and I share is too crowded to fit a third person."
Jiang Yifeng was eager to try. "But we could act out The Breaking Ice!"
"Rejected."
With an agonized expression, Jiang Yifeng tipped his head back and shouted, "Shen Beichen, I'll never forgive you! You'll regret this!"
Shen Beichen had already begun considering what to do with the shell in his hand.
Since the production team's bonfire party would also take place by the sea, they discussed it and began preparing their gifts there. It would save them quite a bit of walking, after all.
Dusk settled, and the last ray of golden-red sunlight spilled across the sea, glittering flecks of gold rising and falling with the waves.
The bonfire lit up this patch of already dimming sky, and the livestream the viewers had long awaited began again.
[I can't wait to see what gifts everyone prepared, especially Shen Xingcan and Xie Linchuan.]
[Over the past few hours, I bought barbecue in the east market, milk tea in the west market, fried skewers in the south market, and sunflower seeds in the north market. I finally got all my food ready before the show started.]
[That's quite an appetite.]
Song Tiantian said, "Good evening, everyone. Welcome back to One Fruit. Over the past few hours, our guests have finished preparing their gifts for the exchange. Now, let's have each guest introduce the gift they prepared."
Lin Cen spoke first. "I made a decorative chain with conch shells and seashells. You can hang it on a bag as a decoration."
Ye Ran said, "I stuck seashells and conch shells together with clear glue. It would make a good ornament for a room."
Bai Lin said, "The shells I picked were all very small, so I made a phone charm with them."
Jiang Yifeng said, "I made a whip. A whip specifically for beating that heartless scumbag Shen Beichen."
Song Tiantian feigned surprise. "Has Shen Beichen let you down again?"
Jiang Yifeng looked dejected. "Yes. He let me down once again and warned me that if I disturbed his alone time with his white moonlight again, he'd throw me into the sea to feed the sharks."
Song Tiantian rolled up a sheet of paper and held it in front of Shen Beichen for an interview. "Does Mr. Shen Beichen have anything to say?"
Shen Beichen Xingcan's tone was cold. "Jiang Xiaobai only has himself to blame."
With that, Shen Beichen Xingcan picked up the large shell ring in front of him and offered it tenderly to Xie Linchuan beside him.
"These two one-of-a-kind 'Star of Love' rings were auctioned off to me at Sotheby's for fifty billion US dollars. Their brilliance is worthy of the only true love of my life. From this day forward, their radiance will crown our friendship, never fading from the first flutter of our hearts until our hair turns white!"
Xie Linchuan was expressionless.
But this clearly did nothing to sway an overbearing CEO's decision. Shen Xingcan forcibly slipped the large ring in his hand onto Xie Linchuan's finger, then put the other shell ring on his own finger.
Jiang Yifeng howled in anguish, "He doesn't even have an expression! He doesn't love you at all!"
Shen Xingcan declared with deep feeling, "But I just love him!"
Hearing this, Jiang Yifeng clutched his stomach with an agonized expression. "Baby, even though your daddy doesn't love you, you still have Mommy!"