The movie marathon lasted until four in the morning. Zhou Wu tried to call it off several times, but Qin Yun and Dou Yiqing were so engrossed that they insisted on watching the entire series.

Wen Ci, who had never stayed up this late even when working on reports, felt like she was floating on her way back. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

The next time she opened her eyes, it was 7 AM—just three hours later.

Seeing the time, Wen Ci sighed, closed her heavy eyelids, and was about to go back to sleep when her phone suddenly buzzed—

[Mom: Do you have training this morning?]

[Mom: How’s the training environment? Take some pictures for me to see.]

Wen Ci woke up instantly.

She sat up, opened the chat with the teacher attending the training, and nervously asked if they could send her a few photos out of curiosity.

After receiving the photos, she carefully cropped out the teacher’s name and sent them to her mother.

[Mom: Okay, stay safe and remember to have breakfast.]

[Wen Ci: You and Dad too.]

Wen Ci breathed a sigh of relief and, feeling guilty for lying, lay back down.

Her eyelids were still heavy, her head throbbed slightly, and though her phone remained silent, she couldn’t fall back asleep for some reason.

She closed her eyes, trying to force herself to sleep, when she heard faint footsteps outside the door.

Her phone lit up with a message from Dou Yiqing: [Awake?]

Wen Ci replied: [Yes.]

—-

The next second, the room door opened, and Dou Yiqing’s head poked in. The two women, both with a teacher’s biological clock, stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

Dou Yiqing said expressionlessly, “I always knew teaching was an inhumane profession.”

Despite her exhaustion, Wen Ci couldn’t help but laugh and softly agreed, “Exactly.”

“Still sleepy?”

“Trying to sleep.”

“If you can’t sleep, don’t force it. Want to get breakfast?” Dou Yiqing nodded towards the door. “This hotel’s buffet breakfast costs 1288 per person. I asked yesterday; our room cards get us in for free. What do you say?”

Wen Ci threw off the covers. “Let’s go.”

The hotel villas were situated among trees, with some distance to the main facilities. Dou Yiqing called the front desk, and soon a shuttle came to take them to the restaurant.

They chose outdoor seats with a view of the nearby beach.

The morning sea was calm and peaceful, even the sea breeze was gentle. Wen Ci propped her head on her hand and stared at the beach for a long time until Dou Yiqing returned with a plate of delicate pastries.

Seeing the half-eaten bowl of porridge in front of Wen Ci, Dou Yiqing asked, “Is that all you’re eating??”

Wen Ci wasn’t very hungry but had joined because she couldn’t sleep and knew Dou Yiqing needed company.

She snapped out of her daze. “No, I also had a glass of milk.”

“That’s not enough, Wen Ci. You’re too skinny. Eat more.” Dou Yiqing pointed at the several large plates in front of her. “Grab whatever you want. If you finish, I’ll get more.”

Wen Ci was thin because she ate little, whereas Dou Yiqing had a naturally high metabolism. She loved meat, fried foods, and late-night snacks but never gained excess weight, always maintaining a balanced and healthy figure.

Dou Yiqing felt she deserved this. Life was already hard enough; she needed a little advantage somewhere.

While eating and taking pictures, Dou Yiqing also tried to feed Wen Ci, who couldn’t refuse and obediently opened her mouth.

“This place is too picturesque,” Dou Yiqing said, handing her phone to Wen Ci. “Wen Ci, can you take a few pictures of me?”

“Sure.”

Dou Yiqing posed with the sea in the background, holding all the beautiful food next to her face for a picture. When she got her phone back, she flipped through the photos and was pleased. “Darling, how did you make me look so good in these?!”

Wen Ci smiled. “You look good naturally.”

Dou Yiqing shook her head. “Ah, I really envy my friends on social media. They get to see a beauty like me as soon as they wake up.”

Dou Yiqing raised her phone. “Come on, Wen Ci, let me take a few pictures of you. You can finally update your social media. It’s been ages since you last posted anything there—”

Halfway through her sentence, Dou Yiqing remembered that Wen Ci was on a secret trip and couldn’t post on social media. She quickly changed her tone, “Forget it, it doesn’t really matter if you post or not. The important thing is to have a keepsake.”

“No photos,” Wen Ci covered her face with her hand and laughed. “I must look terrible right now.”

“You don’t look terrible.” Dou Yiqing didn’t push it. “Well, let’s wait until you put on some makeup one day, and then I’ll take pictures of you… By the way, don’t worry, I’ve blocked everyone on my social media who might relay information to my mom, so there’s no risk of you being exposed.”

“Dou Yiqing, seriously? Seven social media posts just for breakfast? And all of them are photo collages.”

Qin Yun was sitting in the living room of their villa, eating the lunch that the hotel had just delivered. He shouted upstairs, “I was planning to play on my phone for a bit and then go back to sleep. But I woke up completely when I saw your posts. You should compensate me.”

Dou Yiqing’s cold voice floated down from upstairs, “Rest assured, you’ll never see them again.”

Sensing something, Qin Yun picked up his phone and, sure enough, said, “You blocked me again?!”

“The biggest mistake I ever made was taking you off the blacklist,” Dou Yiqing said, exasperated. “Why do you have to have lunch in our villa? Can’t you go back to your own room to eat? We’re still changing into our swimsuits upstairs! Do you believe I’ll call the police?”

“Besides calling the police, what else can you do? Go ahead and change, it’s not like I have x-ray vision,” Qin Yun said, putting a piece of beef into his mouth. “I came over for lunch and to wait for you all to go swimming and surfing. Also, I came to get Wen Ci’s autograph on the school uniform, which has nothing to do with you.”

There was no response from upstairs, indicating that Dou Yiqing couldn’t be bothered to reply.

Qin Yun didn’t care. He opened his photo album and looked through the pictures he had saved from Dou Yiqing’s social media posts. One picture of her pouting while eating made him laugh again.

He asked the person across from him, “Did you add Dou Yiqing on WeChat?”

Zhou Wu put down his coffee, his voice still a bit hoarse from just waking up, “No.”

“Oh, then congratulations, you dodged a bullet.”

Zhou Wu lazily scrolled through his phone without responding.

His phone screen showed Wen Ci’s social media. Her page was as clean as always. Dou Yiqing had posted over sixty photos that morning, but Wen Ci hadn’t posted a single one. The latest update on her page was a repost from two months ago about the school’s anniversary.

Just as he was about to put down his phone, Wen Ci’s profile picture suddenly popped up with a notification.

Zhou Wu raised an eyebrow and clicked in again—

[Wen Ci: (Repost: “Jiangcheng Elementary School” article: Summer Water Safety Tips)]

Upstairs, Wen Ci pulled out the school uniform with signatures from her suitcase.

Before the vacation, Qin Yun had messaged her to remind her to bring the uniform for signatures. Wen Ci had almost forgotten, but it seemed Qin Yun had not.

Dou Yiqing walked in, holding her swimsuit to her chest with the straps hanging from her arms. “Wen Ci, have you finished changing? Can you help me tie the straps?”

“I’m done,” Wen Ci stood up. “Come here.”

Dou Yiqing stood in front of her but didn’t turn around. Her eyes slowly traveled down Wen Ci’s body and then stopped.

Wen Ci’s hand, which was about to help tie the straps, paused in mid-air. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Dou Yiqing sighed. “I got mesmerized by your chest again.”

Wen Ci: “…”

Dou Yiqing wasn’t joking. Although both of them were skinny, with Wen Ci being ten pounds lighter, Wen Ci’s figure was perfectly proportioned.

Today, Wen Ci was wearing a relatively conservative one-piece swimsuit with a frilly skirt that covered half her thighs. But the tight top still highlighted her beautiful figure and slim waist, making Dou Yiqing envious.

In comparison, Dou Yiqing’s swimsuit was much bolder. Thin straps tied around her neck, but it didn’t look overly revealing. The black swimsuit paired with her tan skin gave off a vibrant, sunny vibe.

Dou Yiqing checked herself in the mirror, feeling confident she could take thousands of photos that afternoon. “Alright! Let’s go!”

Their villa had a view of the sea, but it was still a walk to the beach. Wen Ci wasn’t used to wandering around in a swimsuit, so she threw on a jacket from her suitcase, quickly buttoned a couple of buttons, grabbed the school uniform, and followed Dou Yiqing.

Qin Yun held up the school uniform, carefully examining the names densely written on it. “These names are so unfamiliar. Who are they?

“They were the class representatives,” Wen Ci replied.

Feeling Zhou Wu’s gaze on the school uniform, Wen Ci’s heart started pounding. She pointed to a spot on the uniform, her voice a bit anxious, “Sign here.”

Qin Yun said, “Don’t rush. Let me take a look. Ah, Zhou Wu, your name is here.”

Qin Yun showed Zhou Wu where his name was written. Zhou Wu glanced at it, raised an eyebrow slightly, and reached out to take the uniform, but Wen Ci grabbed it first.

She moved quickly despite her small strength. Zhou Wu only felt a gust of wind as the uniform was swiftly placed back on the table, several steps away from him.

Wen Ci shoved the pen into Qin Yun’s bewildered hands, urging frantically, “You… hurry up and sign it. Yiqing wants to take advantage of the good sunlight to take photos on the beach.”

Distracted by the comment, Qin Yun looked down and signed, “No need. Dou Yi Qing’s own conditions are like that; no lighting can save her.”

Dou Yi Qing stormed out of the kitchen and splashed the remaining half bottle of water onto his back.

After Qin Yun finished signing, Wen Ci quickly grabbed the school uniform and rushed upstairs, stuffing it back at the very bottom of her suitcase.

When she came back downstairs, only Zhou Wu was still waiting at the gate of the courtyard.

Having just woken up not long ago, and having stayed up late the previous night, Zhou Wu stood somewhat slackly, with his shoulders and back slightly hunched, but still looking quite tall. Holding a parasol, he lazily lifted his chin when he saw her, “Let’s go, they went ahead.”

Wen Ci agreed and quickly ran under his umbrella.

The villa was very close to the beach, just a short walk down a pebble path.

Finally relieved about the school uniform incident, Wen Ci felt light-hearted. She looked up and smiled, “Are you going surfing later too?”

Zhou Wu responded with a “hm” and turned his face, their eyes meeting.

He said calmly, “Teacher Wen, the name on that school uniform wasn’t written by me, was it?”

“……”

Wen Ci’s smile froze on her face, her steps stopping in place.

Alarms went off in her head, but her mouth moved faster than her thoughts, “How could it be? Of course, you wrote it. Maybe… maybe it’s been too long, and you forgot. Besides, people’s handwriting can change over time…”

Her voice gradually faded.

Zhou Wu said nothing, looking at her with a half-smile, the same expression he had when he caught her lying at the school gate.

“……” Wen Ci muttered, “Sorry, I… it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Zhou Wu chuckled lightly. He lifted his hand, pulled out her hair that was stuck in her coat collar, and tucked it behind her ear, regretfully telling her, “Yes, it is.”