Chapter 87: Let’s Have a Pokémon Battle! (3/8)

The street was completely swallowed by darkness, with patches of light cast by the street lamps along the roadside.

On this road, there were a few walking corpses.

“Hey, Lao San, what were you doing sneaking out with your bag just now? I asked you, but you wouldn’t say a word,” Liu Xie nudged Ye Qingchang’s shoulder.

“Uh…” Ye Qingchang adjusted her glasses. She couldn’t exactly say that Liu Anran had just appeared inside the hotel and was about to appear in Liu Xie’s room next.

After a brief pause, she spoke up: “I was trying to see if I could take some disposable items out of the hotel.”

“And?”

“Failed.”

Liu Xie gave Ye Qingchang the middle finger.

Then, she turned to glance at Gou Yu and Zhu Niao standing nearby.

The two were holding a shimmering card up to the streetlamp for a closer look.

That was her Gold Card.

“Hey, Old Dog, do you think this is real gold?” Zhu Niao held Liu Xie’s Gold Card, her eyes filled with endless curiosity.

“Maybe.”

It seemed Gou Yu was also seeing it for the first time.

He bent over, resting his head near Zhu Niao’s, watching the golden glow of the card under the streetlamp.

“It’s definitely gold.” Liu Xie reached out and snatched the Gold Card from Zhu Niao’s hand.

But Zhu Niao stopped in her tracks and slowly pulled out a Black Card that her parents had given her, pondering.

“If Gold Card is made of gold, does that mean the Black Card is made of black people?”

Gou Yu was stunned for a moment, then gave two thumbs up: “You’re an absolute genius!”

“No thanks, genius is just an insult to me,” Zhu Niao bowed slightly.

Liu Xie, walking in front, rolled her eyes; she was honestly a little worn out now.

Never mind the Yang Shuli tied to Xu Nian, these two’s thought processes didn’t seem human, yet somehow they managed to sync with each other.

Even the most normal Ye Qingchang had changed expression—she covered her mouth and laughed upon seeing her.

It looked like schadenfreude.

The last time Liu Xie faced such a look, someone had drawn a turtle on her face while she was asleep.

But this time, there was no mark on her face, nor any sticky notes stuck behind her.

When she asked Ye Qingchang what she was laughing at, that girl would just say she was reminded of something happy.

Liu Xie’s exhaustion grew inexplicably.

“Hey, I think I see the coast.”

At Zhu Niao’s words, Ye Qingchang suddenly turned her head and looked toward the shoreline.

It seemed she could already hear the faint sound of the waves.

Her anticipation lifted, and although her legs were tired from walking some distance, they suddenly felt energized again.

“Let’s head this way. The barbecue place is by the sea.”

Holding her phone and following the navigation, Liu Xie pointed in a direction.

Ye Qingchang was the first to move; the seemingly silent ocean reflecting the moonlight was clearly alluring to her.

Liu Xie glanced at the remaining two couples and called out as she hurried to catch up with Ye Qingchang.

“It’s a bit cold. Let’s walk slower,” said Yang Shuli, who was only wearing a short-sleeve shirt. “I think it might be because we haven’t eaten anything.”

“Then let’s get some food.” Xu Nian took off his own coat and naturally put it on Yang Shuli. The coat looked like a trench coat on her small frame.

That left only Zhu Niao and Gou Yu.

Zhu Niao was still pinching her chin, deep in thought. After a long moment, she spoke: “Isn’t the coast darker at night than in the daytime?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Gou Yu gave her a surprised look.

“Then can we call it the Black Coast?”

Gou Yu pressed his hands together: “Please, cut back on your anime mobile games.”

The group, sparse and scattered, walked toward the seaside.

The moment their feet touched the sand, Zhu Niao saw Gou Yu bend down.

“If you’re thinking of throwing sand at me right now, I’ll lock you outside tonight,” Zhu Niao said seriously, pouting.

Gou Yu didn’t doubt that Zhu Niao was capable of such a thing.

“Do you think I’m stupid? If I’m going to throw sand, it’ll be tomorrow.”

He let the sand in his hand fall and raised it in front of Zhu Niao.

It was a small shell, white and purified by the constant wash of the sand and gravel, flawless and pure—like something out of a dreamy fairy tale book.

It seemed like the only treasure here.

Zhu Niao had never been to the beach before, nor had she ever pulled something so pure and fairy-tale-like from the ground beneath her feet.

The last time she had seen such a delicate, pristine shell was back in elementary school when she idly picked one out from the classroom wall.

That was also the first time she went to the principal’s office, where the principal gave her fifty yuan to keep quiet about it.

The young girl’s eyes widened slightly.

She studied the shell for a while, then stuffed it back into Gou Yu’s hand.

Then she saw the inexplicable look on his face, and he offered the shell toward Zhu Niao with a slight bow.

The little bird froze for a moment and pointed at herself: “Is this for me?”

She had almost no keepsakes; the stuffed dog Bruce in her room counted as one, a souvenir from her time with Gou Yu at the amusement park.

Now, the shell in front of her could also be one—a piece of the beach they shared.

Such a small, pure little thing…

Perhaps her good brother was actually very good at winning a girl’s favor—he just didn’t realize it himself.

A lovely curve tugged at her lips, and unknowingly, the little bird’s mood brightened.

As her hand reached out, Gou Yu, as if he had been waiting, directly placed the little shell into Zhu Niao’s palm.

“What are you hesitating for? There are plenty more shells here. This is your Shell Pokémon. Wait a moment, I’ll find a bigger shell, and then we can start our Pokémon battle.”

With that, Gou Yu squatted down again, digging through the sand to find a shell larger than Zhu Niao’s.

Zhu Niao looked at Gou Yu, bent over with his back to her, then down at the small shell in her hand.

It was so delicate and exquisite, so adorably perfect.

The girl took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling.

She couldn’t resist and lifted her foot, aiming right at Gou Yu’s backside.

She gave a solid kick.

Gou Yu immediately fell face-first onto the sand, turning back with a dazed expression: “Little Bird, what are you doing?”

“Isn’t a Pokémon battle about locking eyes? I’m just helping you adjust your eyesight in the back first.”

With that, she kicked his backside again.

Not far away, Liu Xie glanced at the two playing in the sand and deliberately looked away as if she hadn’t seen it.

She turned and caught Ye Qingchang taking photos of the sea.

The sea, bathed in moonlight, had faint human figures slowly walking along the shore…

There were few things that could get a guy to take pictures, so perhaps this place was truly captivating enough for Ye Qingchang.

After finishing her photos, Ye Qingchang thought for a moment, tapped around, and sent out a post on her social feed.

Only after posting did she realize she forgot to switch accounts.

But it didn’t matter.

After all, the only difference between her two accounts was one Xiao Yi’an, and this photo wouldn’t expose any slip-ups.

Definitely wouldn’t.