Chapter 40. Periphery

     After finishing the day’s operation on Xingzhou Island, Li Yaolin saw Zheng Xuan again.

     There were only two staff members of the wedding photography studio around Zheng Xuan. Li Yaolin asked: “Where is Brother Sun?”

     “He is not feeling well and is sleeping in the room.”

     “Not feeling well? The doctors are off duty. Is he okay? How about I arrange a passenger boat to take him to the other side and take him to the hospital?”

     “He is sick, don’t worry about him.”

     “It’s more important to pay attention to him when he is sick, right?” Li Yaolin didn’t want anyone to die on Xingzhou Island.

     But I haven’t heard of Sun Fen’s illness before?

     Zheng Xuan’s serious face suddenly couldn’t hold back, and she laughed out loud. She pointed to her head and said: “There is a hole in his brain, and he is seriously ill.”

     Li Yaolin: “…”

     She saw that the couple probably had a quarrel.

     Then she asked, “How will he solve the problem of dinner?”

     “Let him cook instant noodles!” Zheng Xuan changed the subject, “I’m so hungry, if you need any help, I’ll do it!”

     Li Yaolin ended the topic, took out the ingredients for the hot pot, asked them to wash them, and killed the fish and peeled the shrimps to make shrimp paste.

     After eating and drinking, everyone cleaned up the table and kitchen waste. The people in the wedding studio were not familiar with Li Yaolin, so they went back to rest first, and Zheng Xuan followed Li Yaolin to the island for a walk to digest the food.

     Looking at the bright lights on the other side, Zheng Xuan asked Li Yaolin: “At night, you are the only one on the island, aren’t you afraid?”

     “There is nothing to be afraid of, it is very safe here, and there are security guards on night duty, and there are also rangers in the reserve area.”

     “Oh~” Zheng Xuan suddenly asked,   

     “Sanniang, in fact, you are the owner of Xingzhou Island, the boss mentioned by the ticket seller, right?”

     The sea breeze at night was a bit strong, and Zheng Xuan’s hair was blown messy. She raised her hand to put her hair behind her ears, and then looked at Li Yaolin quietly.

     Li Yaolin didn’t expect her to ask so directly, so she smiled and gave a positive answer: “Yes.”

     Zheng Xuan pouted, digested the news for a while, and then said: “I was a little suspicious when I got the ticket, but I thought the answer was a bit outrageous, so I didn’t think much about it. Later, I checked it online, and searched for “Xingzhou Island Owner” but didn’t find any results, but searched for the Poseidon Holiday Company that runs Xingzhou Island, and found the name of the owner.”

     Li Yaolin smiled and said: “Brother Xuan is still smart, Qi Tong didn’t even dare to guess it was me!!”

     Zheng Xuan said helplessly: “Who would think of this if they know you!”

     “That’s right.” Li Yaolin nodded, “You have to keep it a secret for me!”

     “Then you have to tell me first, how did you become the island owner? You weren’t tricked into being the legal person. Or something like that? Or are you just a rich second-generation who has been hiding your background in college? “

     “I signed a confidentiality agreement. There are some things I can’t tell you. I can only say that I also work for someone else.”

     Zheng Xuan didn’t really want to get to the bottom of it. Knowing that she has difficulties, she stopped asking and took the initiative to change the subject: “It’s really beautiful here!”

     Li Yaolin asked: “How are the wedding photos going?”

     “I took a set in the afternoon.” Zheng Xuan sighed, “It’s nice to take wedding photos here, but…”

     Li Yaolin heard what she hadn’t said: “But you’re not happy?”

     “I’m having a lot of fun here, but recently I’m increasingly doubting whether my decision to marry him is the right one.”

     From the moment she knew she was pregnant to now, how much struggle has she made in her heart? Every struggle will be bound by an invisible shackle.

     ——”Sun Fen is 25 years old. You can’t put off getting married and having children any longer.”

     ——”After you give birth, you can go back to work and concentrate on your work. You won’t have to worry about having a child during your career.”

     ——”Your uterine wall is thin. If you abort it, it will be difficult to have children in the future.”

     ——”After so many years of relationship, are you willing to separate easily?”

     ——”Sun Fen is working to give you and your child better living conditions. What else are you dissatisfied with?”

     ——”When the time comes, your parents-in-law will take care of your child. What are you afraid of?”

 

---

 

     There are more and more shackles on her. Today, Sun Fen repeatedly jumped on her bottom line, making her tired and unable to breathe.

     “You are very anxious.” Li Yaolin said. Zheng Xuan came back to her senses and sighed: “I had passed the interview of a Fortune 500 foreign company, but as soon as the pre-employment physical examination report came out, the job was gone. I have been sending resumes recently, but which company would hire a pregnant woman?

     “Without a job, no income, clothes and cosmetics have to give way to future milk powder and diapers. Sun Fen’s parents said nice things, let me go to work after the confinement, and they will help me take care of the child, but they talk about giving birth to a boy every day. I can imagine that if a boy is not born, they will definitely leave the child to me to take care of myself.

     “Also, his parents said that the betrothal gift is 38,000 yuan. When we go back to the village to hold a banquet, we can just take the 38,000 yuan back…”

     Li Yaolin knew that Sun Fen was from Conghua District, Yangshi, and his family had a lychee orchard. He was the only son in the family, so his family inevitably favored boys over girls.

     Zheng Xuan had never told anyone in the dormitory about these things before. First, like Li Yaolin, she was not the type to easily tell others about her secrets. Second, these things were not glorious. It was embarrassing to tell others about them, and it was easy for others to point fingers at her.

     But now she just needed a chance to talk and vent. She knew Li Yaolin’s secret (the identity of the island owner), so she could tell Li Yaolin the secret and her worries without any psychological burden.

     Suddenly, Li Yaolin asked her: “Are you still doing handicrafts now?”

     The topic changed so quickly that Zheng Xuan almost couldn’t react: “Ah? No, I have no time recently, and his parents won’t give me any.”

     Zheng Xuan has a hobby, which is to make some handmade artworks in her spare time. She played origami in high school and mixed in the “doll circle” in college. If she didn’t have money to buy clothes for dolls, she would make them herself.

     Later, the clothes and accessories she made for dolls were unexpectedly popular, so she changed to making handmade accessories, and she even earned back all the money she spent on dolls.

     Later, she started making figurines… until she graduated from college.

     Her ability in this area is better than her major, and she is also a model of “not doing her job properly”.

     Li Yaolin said: “Do you plan to continue doing this? Otherwise, you can come to work here directly and be responsible for the design and production of cultural and creative products.”

     Zheng Xuan: “…”

     Should I say it or not, is she really a hard worker? She can talk about work at this critical moment.

     She was just sentimental about her gloomy and confused life, but Li Yaolin’s words made her corrupted by money, and her mind was full of beautiful pictures of peripherals selling well!

     Although Li Yaolin seemed indifferent to her emotional life and situation, they had lived together for four years after all. She knew Li Yaolin’s character. She didn’t say it, but actually wanted to express her concern and support for her in her own way.

     As Zheng Xuan thought, Li Yaolin did want to divert her attention appropriately, so that she wouldn’t think more and more, become more anxious, and eventually fall into a depressed and anxious situation.

     However, Li Yaolin was also seriously considering the matter of making cultural and creative products.

     Turtles have been very popular recently, and many tourists come here for them, but they are always a little disappointed that they cannot get close to them. So some tourists left messages saying that they want turtle models and asked when Xingzhou Island will be able to release them.

     Just as the name collection activity was coming to an end, Li Yaolin was thinking that after the name of the turtle was decided, she would start to design and produce cultural and creative products.

     Cultural and creative products can not only make money, but also deepen the connection between tourists and Xingzhou Island, and improve the reputation of Xingzhou Island and the impression of tourists.

     It is also a symbol of a brand. Since Xingzhou Island wants to create a unique tourism brand, models, souvenirs, etc. must also keep up!

     Unfortunately, she didn’t know much about this industry, and the only person she could think of was Zheng Xuan.

     “Sanniang, you really…” Zheng Xuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After a while, tears welled up in her eyes. “I want to sleep with you tonight!”

     Li Yaolin pretended to be shy: “Ah, it’s not good. I heard that it’s not suitable for the first three months of pregnancy…”

     Before she finished her words, Zheng Xuan rushed over and hit her: “Get lost, I want to sleep with you, not to be slept with by you.”

     After such a fight, Zheng Xuan felt much more comfortable and was not as depressed as before.

     “Are you feeling better?” Li Yaolin asked her, “If not, I’ll show you something else.”

     Zheng Xuan swallowed the “I’m better” that was on the tip of her tongue.

     Li Yaolin took her to the fishing platform. At this time, the tide was high, and many reefs were submerged under the tide. If the fishing platform was lower, it would probably be submerged by the tide.

     “What are you doing here?” Zheng Xuan walked very carefully, fearing that the wood under her feet would suddenly break and she would fall into the dark and deep sea.

     “Wait.” Li Yaolin said. After five minutes, Zheng Xuan was bored and a little sleepy. She was going to call Li Yaolin back, but just as she looked away, a burst of colorful starlight suddenly appeared on the sea surface below the fishing platform. It rose and fell with the waves, like a flowing galaxy.

     She thought she was sleepy and rubbed her eyes uncertainly.

     The light did not dissipate, but became brighter.

     Slowly, the whole sea surface lit up. Zheng Xuan seemed to be in the starlight, and instantly forgot all the troubles in the world. All she could see were the brilliant stars and the charming sea.

     Zheng Xuan grabbed Li Yaolin’s arm and asked incoherently: “What kind of light is this? Sanniang, what is the effect?”

     Li Yaolin explained seriously: “This is called sea fire, a phenomenon of seawater luminescence, emitted by luminous plankton.”

     She was not lying, but the general “sea fire” did not have this effect.

     Zheng Xuan screamed with excitement: “Ah, it’s so beautiful!”

     She hurriedly took out her mobile phone to take pictures. Just then, Sun Fen called her. She hung up without thinking, fearing that Sun Fen’s call would delay her taking pictures.

     After a while, the light faded, and slowly, the sea returned to the depths.

     Zheng Xuan said to Li Yaolin with great regret: “It’s gone? I wanted you to take a few photos for me!”

     Li Yaolin smiled slightly: “You can still see it again if you have a chance. Okay, it’s a bit windy here. Don’t catch a cold. Go back!”

     Zheng Xuan took her arm and said sadly: “You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You deliberately tempted me to stay and help you with the peripherals.”

     Li Yaolin turned her face away, lowered her head slightly to look at her, with a smile on her lips: “Well, I did it on purpose. Are you tempted by my proposal?”

     The pressure was returned to Zheng Xuan.

     Zheng Xuan touched her belly, which was not very obvious, but dhe didn’t know how to answer.

     If she hadn’t been pregnant and hadn’t married Sun Fen, Li Yaolin’s proposal would have been very tempting.

     However, without this premise, she would have already worked in that Fortune 500 foreign company, and Li Yaolin might not have looked for her, right?

     After walking back, the two of them didn’t discuss topics about their emotional lives. Zheng Xuan was like a curious baby, asking about the “unsolved mystery” of Xingzhou Island. She also said: “It’s all because of that magazine. It wrote the first part but not the second part, which made me feel anxious. Fortunately, you are here. You can tell me anything I want to know.”

     “What magazine?”

     “It seems to be called “Departure·Our journey”, a travel magazine. This issue’s cover is Xingzhou Island, don’t you know?”

     “Oh, I know, but I didn’t expect you to see that magazine.” Li Yaolin smiled slyly, “If that’s the case, for the sake of next month’s magazine sales, I won’t tell you the answer.”

     Zheng Xuan complained: “How can you do this? It’s too much.”

…

     That night, Zheng Xuan slept well and had a beautiful dream.

     The next morning, when Li Yaolin got up, Zheng Xuan also got up. Because she got up early, she was lucky enough to see the green turtles that had climbed onto the beach to rest last night and had not had time to return to the sea.

     Seeing a group of seabirds going out to sea to find food with the rising sun, Zheng Xuan couldn’t help but recall last night’s dream. The dream was long and beautiful, but Sun Fen was not in that beautiful dream.

     “Do you want to go in and see the turtle eggs?” Li Yaolin asked Zheng Xuan.

     Zheng Xuan instantly became energetic: “Can I?”

     Li Yaolin took her outside the hatching room. She looked left and right, but didn’t see any turtle eggs: “Where are they?”

     “Buried in the sand waiting to hatch!”

     Zheng Xuan: “…”

     Then why did you ask me to come and see? What are you looking for?

     Li Yaolin laughed and pointed to the photos on the blackboard and said, “Look here!”

     These photos were taken when Long Feng and others took out the turtle eggs and moved them.

     Zheng Xuan looked at the photo, but her mind had already sketched out a picture of her modeling a turtle laying eggs. Suddenly, her heart was surging, and she asked: “Sanniang, are you serious about cultural and creative things?”

     Li Yaolin knew that she had an idea in her mind, so she said: “I never joke about work.”

     “Then I want to try it.” Zheng Xuan’s eyes were firm.

     She never thought that a hobby could become a profession. After all, she used to do handicrafts just for fun in her spare time. Even Sun Fen, who knew that she had always had this hobby, did not think that this could become a serious job. 

     But when she faced the things she loved, she could not deceive herself by consciously having the reaction of making a model of it in her mind.

     It just so happened that she also understood the production process of cultural and creative products. Although it was not very professional, it was also a brand new attempt!

     Suddenly, she said with some embarrassment: “But Sanniang, I don’t know much about Youshi, and I don’t know if there are any factories that can process here. Most of the people I know are in Yangshi.”

     Li Yaolin understood what she meant and said: “Then choose to cooperate with the manufacturer you think is reliable, it doesn’t matter where it is. As for your workplace… This is not a position that stays in the office every day. It is more convenient for you to communicate and accept with the manufacturer in Yangshi. However, to deepen the communication in development and design, you have to come back here often, which will be very hard.”

     “I…”

     “It doesn’t matter, think about it slowly. If it doesn’t work, you can pull a development team in Yangshi, register as a studio, be your own boss, I will give you authorization, and then divide it according to the proportion.”

     Zheng Xuan nodded: “I will give you a reply as soon as possible”