The seaside trip was over.
Altogether, it had been a full day. They arrived at the beach on the first evening,
and naturally boarded the train home the following evening.
On the subway, the evening return trip seemed unusually empty; at least at this time, everyone had a seat, and there was still plenty of space to move around.
“So few people, it’s so quiet,” Zhu Niao said, rubbing her slightly sore eyes and yawning.
The rain that had come earlier in the day had arrived suddenly—and naturally, it passed just as quickly.
After the two of them crouched under the eaves of an abandoned convenience store to wait out a couple rounds of the shower, the downpour turned into a light drizzle.
Then it dwindled to just a few drops, with barely any rain left.
Zhu Niao had joked that the rain was like Gou Yu’s premature ejaculation.
Gou Yu kept insisting he was strong and healthy, saying he could make Mount Everest the second tallest peak every morning when he woke up.
At that, Zhu Niao fell silent—she had never seen premature ejaculation herself, but the thing Gou Yu was boasting about, she really had seen.
In the end, Gou Yu draped his still fairly dry beach shirt over Zhu Niao.
He didn’t have any problem with her skirt—it was about the same length as a mini skirt—but he couldn’t accept the bare skin around her waist, not even her navel was covered.
That was something only he was allowed to see; no one else.
Even when they returned to the hotel, they acted all secretive. When Zhu Niao changed into normal clothes, her roommates thought the little bird had been trapped on the beach and they were about to rescue her.
“If there were really someone there, you wouldn’t be happy anyway,” Gou Yu said as he slipped an arm around Zhu Niao’s shoulders, pulling her close. He pointed at the kid not far off, playing a game on his phone. “If there were more people, that kid playing on his phone would have been caught for secretly filming by now.”
“You seem a little extreme,” Zhu Niao said, then glanced down at the time on her phone. “It’s six o’clock. Isn’t that supposed to be the exact time the wage workers get off? Why is the subway still so empty?”
Gou Yu raised an eyebrow at her words and, almost as if questioning, finished her sentence:
“You already said they’re wage workers. Do wage workers really get off exactly at six o’clock just because their shift ends then?”
Zhu Niao looked terrified and gloomy. “Okay, stop it. I just feel like my future life is going to be completely bleak.”
“It’s okay. I deliver takeout. I can get off whenever I want,” Gou Yu said to comfort her, but Zhu Niao felt no warmth at all.
Originally, they had planned to spend at least two or three days by the sea, then come back and rest for two days before returning to the grind of school.
But after that sudden shower, who knew when the nearly entire stretch of beach would dry out?
Before that happened, there was nowhere else to have fun near the beach—unless someone wanted to fight and wrestle in the water wearing a swimsuit.
But the only person who changed into a swimsuit, Zhu Niao, didn’t even intend to go into the water. She just wanted to show it to Gou Yu alone.
Zhu Niao closed her eyes, and the soreness in her eyeballs finally eased a little.
Just like she had said earlier at the barbecue joint, their plan seemed to have shifted from this trip to coming back next summer instead.
Next summer, huh?
By then, she would probably be done with her sophomore year, fully an old hand at school.
By then, it would still be the four of them, the four roommates.
Oh, and they’d have to bring Gou Yu along, too. She wasn’t comfortable leaving that guy alone at home—what if he took the chance to sleep in her bed while she was away?
She could sleep in Gou Yu’s bed instead, but his bed was messy and smelly, and even hid 837 yuan of secret savings.
But her bed smelled nice; she couldn’t let Gou Yu mess it up.
Gou Yu and Zhu Niao still kept the position they had when whispering to each other, even though they had finished their quiet talk.
Zhu Niao didn’t leave Gou Yu’s embrace, and Gou Yu didn’t pull his arm from around her shoulders.
The little bird who had closed her eyes pinched the edge of her skirt.
She had changed into the last outfit she had brought, and judging from the wear of her clothes, the seaside was truly not a place to stay an extra two days.
All the trouble was caused by that ill-timed shower.
It was a white long dress, with only the belt at the waist in black, tied into a huge black bow at the back.
Zhu Niao liked this dress very much—perhaps because it was the first beautiful gift Gou Yu had given her.
Although originally, that gift was supposed to be for Gou Yu’s good younger sister, his good manager.
She took a deep breath, leaning her head on Gou Yu’s shoulder, and looked at their other roommates on the subway.
Liu Xie’s hand was still pinching Ye Qingchang’s neck, shaking her back and forth, seemingly annoyed because Ye Qingchang had suddenly run off without calling her, leaving her to get soaked on the beach.
She had to admit, Zhu Niao really envied Liu Xie’s constitution. The day before, she was hungover, then got drenched in the pouring rain while rushing from the beach back to the hotel, but after a shower, she was fine.
Back then, Zhu Niao had only gotten wet, without even the precondition of a hangover, and was already lying half dead on her bed.
She glanced again at Yang Shuli and Xu Nian beside her.
Tiny little Yang Shuli was sitting on Xu Nian’s lap, leaning against his chest as she fell asleep.
It was like using Xu Nian as a human recliner—warm and soft compared to the cold subway seats.
And it looked like she had really fallen asleep on Xu Nian.
Xu Nian, however, was frowning now. He gently brushed away some hair from Yang Shuli’s face, which was almost in his mouth, and seemed lost in thought.
“When do you plan to go home?” Gou Yu rubbed the side of Zhu Niao’s head with his cheek.
Zhu Niao pressed hard with her head, bumping Gou Yu’s chin and making him bite his own tongue, crying out in pain.
“Aren’t we going home now?”
“No, I mean when are you going to come back to our home?”
Zhu Niao understood what Gou Yu meant—he wanted to know how many days she planned to stay in that big manor they were about to return to.
“Maybe two days. Your parents seem to miss you a lot. And I’ve stayed with you for so long, only seen you go home a few times. If you stay a couple more days, your parents will probably be happy.”
The girl still leaned on Gou Yu’s shoulder, delicate and dependent.
Gou Yu seemed about to argue, but the pain in his tongue only let him say a few brief words: “It’s not that they miss me.”
He knew the truth—that his parents, and even his good younger sister, really missed Zhu Niao.
The subway doors opened with a ding.
Zhu Niao’s roommates were heading back to school.
Zhu Niao was going home—to her second home.
Curse you Rainnnn.