The atmosphere that had just spread out instantly vanished without a trace, leaving only Ye Qingchang’s hand gripping the bottle.
She adjusted her glasses.
She had even leaned out halfway beyond the railing just to get a clearer look at the guy below to see if he was her electronic pet, Xiao Yian.
After cautiously staring back and forth for quite some time, Ye Qingchang finally confirmed it.
That was indeed her electronic pet.
And it seemed like he was still searching for something.
Ye Qingchang, of course, knew exactly what he was looking for—his online lover, his white moonlight.
Which was none other than Ye Qingchang herself.
The moment she identified him as Xiao Yian, she recalled the earlier post she’d made on her main account—one she had shared on Moments by the sea. Naturally, Xiao Yian would have seen it.
And coincidentally, her electronic pet, who had been dragged along by his aunt on a trip, had just happened to arrive by the beach.
It was autumn. Who would come to the seaside in autumn? Wasn’t it cold? Even if they wanted to play in the water, wasn’t it risky to get sick?
Mostly, people who came to the beach in autumn must have some issues.
Ye Qingchang glanced back at her roommate and their family members, who were preparing to start eating barbecue next to the railing, then at Liu Xie, who was leaning on the railing just like her.
They exchanged a look for a moment before Liu Xie spoke first: “Honestly, what are you planning to do now? It looks like he’s coming for you. Want to go down and call him up to eat barbecue with us?”
“He’s not coming for me,” Ye Qingchang shook her head gently.
“Then what’s he looking for? Did he lose his phone?” Liu Xie glanced again.
Ye Qingchang spoke slowly, “I just posted some landscape photos on Moments, using my main account.”
Liu Xie froze for a moment, then gave her a thumbs-up: “Kid, you’re unbeatable.”
“What could I do? How was I supposed to know this guy would also be on a trip here?” Ye Qingchang rarely acted so carelessly.
There were so many places to travel in the world. If two people happened to be traveling in the same place at the same time, that would be such a huge coincidence.
But Ye Qingchang felt she was just unlucky.
Maybe it was the trainee goddess who had gotten her into this mess; otherwise, how could such a coincidence happen?
Yes, it had to be that.
“So what now? Should we move somewhere else to hide?” Liu Xie offered some advice.
“No need. We’ll eat like we planned. Don’t get flustered.” Ye Qingchang’s expression calmed down again.
Xiao Yian’s sudden appearance had indeed startled Ye Qingchang, but that was all it amounted to.
“I’m Ye Qingchang now, president of the Literature Club, not some cyber green tea girl raising an electronic pet.”
She waved her hand, no longer looking at Xiao Yian or the sea, and turned her head to walk toward the others eating barbecue.
Liu Xie paused, seemingly not expecting Ye Qingchang to be so decisive, but somehow this handling was perfectly in line with Ye Qingchang’s style.
It wasn’t particularly fair or considerate to Xiao Yian, though.
Leaning on the railing with her chin in her hand, she watched Xiao Yian still scanning the area.
She didn’t know how this poor electronic pet would find his white moonlight.
Even if he knew she was somewhere on this beach, he didn’t know the exact spot, nor did he know what she looked like.
It was like looking for a needle in a haystack or fishing the moon out of the water.
He was almost impossible to find Ye Qingchang, and she was impossible to let him find her.
Suddenly, she felt a bit sorry for Xiao Yian.
But she had no words to really blame Ye Qingchang.
Shrugging, she turned her head and joined Ye Qingchang at the railing-side seats.
Because there were quite a few people, six in total, Zhu Niao ordered Gou Yu to borrow a table next door and combine them into one big table.
They ordered plenty of barbecue, and aside from the drinks and some empty space in front of each person, nearly every spot was filled with skewers.
Compared to the street vendor-style barbecue Zhu Niao and Gou Yu usually ate, this place was surprisingly comfortable.
The oil smoke was blown away by the sea breeze facing them, and there was no smoking or cigarette butts littering the area.
Maybe it was because the tables, chairs, and the floor were all made of aged wood, which, weathered by the sea wind, looked a bit uneven and worn.
It gave a slightly unsafe feeling.
Liu Xie and Ye Qingchang each had a bottle of beer, which for them wasn’t much—maybe just a slight dizziness.
Considering they had to actually enjoy the beach during the day tomorrow, both kept their drinking in check.
But…
Ye Qingchang frowned at the beer bottle in her hand, carefully tasting the sharpness lingering in her mouth and the fiery burn trailing down her esophagus.
Something wasn’t right.
Not only did the chilled beer in her hand not taste as good as before, but the refreshing sensation had turned into a somewhat spicy bitterness.
Had the beer expired?
She examined the production date and shelf life on the bottle carefully.
It hadn’t expired, but it still tasted off.
At that moment, she saw Liu Xie, acting as if nothing was wrong, pick up the bottle and take another swig.
If Ye Qingchang said anything now, Liu Xie might think she couldn’t handle her drink and suddenly she’d be demoted from Brahmin to the caste of the little bird, the Shudra.
Thinking it over, she calmly took another sip.
Liu Xie set down her bottle and watched Ye Qingchang’s expression closely.
No sign of any abnormality.
But how could the beer taste so strange to her?
Why did it feel like the alcohol content was higher?
Why did the Snow Beer turn into Avalanche Beer?
No, if she said anything now, she might as well be sharing a table with the little bird, and she’d even be the one who started it.
So she kept silent, eating skewers and quietly drinking.
Zhu Niao had squid tentacles dangling from her mouth and poked Gou Yu’s rear with her skewer.
“Hey, don’t you think those two are acting weird? Why are their faces so red?” The little bird whispered, pointing at Liu Xie and Ye Qingchang, who were sitting across from her and Gou Yu.
Gou Yu, along with Xu Nian sitting beside him, glanced up and then lowered their heads again.
“Probably drunk,” Gou Yu said, very familiar with the signs of intoxication.
“Ah? That can’t be.” Zhu Niao covered her mouth, “Although we always say those two are weak, there’s no way two bottles of beer could knock them out.”
Gou Yu shrugged.
After a moment of thought, Xu Nian pushed the pineapple beer on the table closer to Yang Shuli sitting across from him, clearly worried the little one might suddenly get the idea to drink beer.
But Yang Shuli, like Ye Qingchang, had her own pace.
“Second kid, you can’t handle it, huh?” The dorm leader covered her mouth to laugh, looking mischievous.
“Are you questioning me?”
Liu Xie brushed her golden hair back and tilted her head back to chug.
Their alcohol tolerance got needed too? Rip
Smaller size means less alcohol tolerance, oh dear
Xiao Yi’an lock in bruh you looking kinda sorry rn bro