Chapter 29 — Son of the Sea (No)

Putting aside the awkwardness brought by the adjective “honeymoon,” this vacation was still very enjoyable.

Zhou Ziyi played at the seaside in the morning, soaked in the infinity pool of the villa in the afternoon, and had fish for dinner. Yan Xiuzhi felt like he was about turn into a fish.

As for President Yan himself, he went to the seaside for a swim on the first day, but on the second day, he was too lazy to leave the villa. Zhou Ziyi tried to persuade him several times, but he couldn’t be moved, so he had to go out and play by himself. When he came back in the afternoon because the sun was too strong, he saw Yan Xiuzhi sitting in the gazebo next to the pool with his laptop open.

“Wow, really, President Yan,” Zhou Ziyi leaned out from the living room, “you came all this way to work?”

Yan Xiuzhi glanced back at him, “I’m reading the news.”

“Oh, okay, that’s good. I thought you were working,” Zhou Ziyi sighed, “If you have a video conference here, won’t this background make others envy you to death, hahaha!”

Yan Xiuzhi: “…”

Actually, two hours ago, he did indeed process a batch of electronic approvals for the company… but now he’s not working, so that means he’s not working! President Yan was very justified.

Zhou Ziyi asked again, “By the way, Ge, have you had lunch?”

“I had a sandwich,” Yan Xiuzhi checked the time, “It’s almost two o’clock, you haven’t eaten yet?”

“Hey, I was jet skiing on the sea and lost track of time,” Zhou Ziyi said, “Why just eat a sandwich, that’s too simple. Let me order a meal, and you can accompany me for a bit, okay?”

“Okay,” Yan Xiuzhi paused and reminded, “No fish!”

“I know, I know,” Zhou Ziyi smiled, “I’ll order some cold dishes, I’m dying from the sun.”

As soon as he mentioned “sun,” Yan Xiuzhi suddenly reacted, “Did you forget to apply sunscreen when you went out this morning?”

The big boss remembered that yesterday, Zhou Ziyi was the one who insisted on applying sunscreen for him. At that time, Zhou Ziyi lay on the sunbed and directed him with his mouth, which annoyed Yan Xiuzhi a lot, leaving a very deep impression. But today, Zhou Ziyi didn’t drag him out, nor did he ask anyone to apply sunscreen. Yan Xiuzhi only just remembered it now.

Zhou Ziyi casually replied, “I did apply!”

Yan Xiuzhi confirmed, “You applied it yourself?”

“Mostly, and I also asked a tourist to help,” Zhou Ziyi looked at Yan Xiuzhi’s disapproving face and said helplessly, “Ge, I didn’t ask a single girl or handsome guy, I asked a family from the public beach area. And I asked the father from that family to help me, is this answer acceptable?”

Yan Xiuzhi thought to himself, no wonder he didn’t see anyone on the hotel beach in the morning, turns out he went so far away: “What were you doing at the public beach?”

“Go play with the jet skis, didn’t I just mention it?” Zhou Ziyi said, “I have an appointment for underwater walking at four in the afternoon, and I also want to try that thing that can be driven both on the surface and underwater… um, what’s it called?”

“A propeller?”

“Something like that, it seems some people also call it underwater scooter or something.”

“Why didn’t you make an appointment for deep diving?”

“I don’t have a license. I planned to learn before, but then it got delayed,” Zhou Ziyi smiled, “I’ve booked two spots, will President Yan join us?”

Yan Xiuzhi looked at him, “You’re always in the water, aren’t you tired?”

“It’s okay, isn’t playing in the water what coming to the seaside is for?” Zhou Ziyi blinked, then walked up to him and opened his arms, “What, have I soaked my hair?”

“The salinity of the seawater is so high, you should have shrunk if anything,” Yan Xiuzhi waved him away, “Go take a shower and get some food. We have the underwater walk at four, and if you’re going on a yacht, you might be late if you keep dawdling.”

Zhou Ziyi squatted beside him, smiling mischievously, “So, are you agreeing to go together?”

Yan Xiuzhi said, “You’ve already made the reservations, why ask me?”

Zhou Ziyi added, “Then, Ge, can you help me apply sunscreen in the afternoon?”

Yan Xiuzhi replied, “Stop talking nonsense, go do what you need to do.”

Zhou Ziyi chuckled and got up and left.

In reality, it was proven that underwater walking and diving propulsion devices are quite fun.

The yacht sailed to the clear coast with good underwater visibility and many small fish. President Yan didn’t mind the simplicity of underwater walking and went into the water with Zhou Ziyi. In the middle of it, Zhou Ziyi waved at Yan Xiuzhi, and Yan Xiuzhi thought he was signaling something, but Zhou Ziyi extended his hand to make a heart shape, leaving President Yan speechless.

Later, Yan Xiuzhi also played with the diving propulsion device for quite a while. He hadn’t taken a vacation for several years, and this thing only became popular in the last two years, so it was also a fresh experience for him.

After enjoying themselves, in the evening, Zhou Ziyi took the President to another restaurant on the island. There were no fish, but they had an ample amount of ice cream made from local fruits. President Yan complained about the large portion size, yet he still ate it.

Zhou Ziyi asked him, “Is it too sour? These fruits are naturally sweet and sour, do you like the taste of it as ice cream?”
President Yan reservedly indicated it was acceptable.

Zhou Ziyi confirmed that he didn’t need any additional sweet fruit sauce, smiled, and finished his ice cream.

*
The next day, at around half past nine in the morning, it seemed that Zhou Ziyi had spent too much energy the day before, as he slowly emerged from his room.

Yan Xiuzhi was in the living room, with the same laptop in front of him. He had the TV on, playing an English movie, but Zhou Ziyi suspected he wasn’t really watching.
“Morning, Ge,” Zhou Ziyi yawned, “Have you had breakfast?”

Yan Xiuzhi replied, “Just had some fruit.”
“So, that means you haven’t eaten,” Zhou Ziyi lazily got up to call for breakfast using the hotel phone. When he came back, he plopped down next to Yan Xiuzhi and said, “The hotel just called and said they have prepared a honeymoon cake for us and asked when we would like to have it. Also, if we want, they can arrange a candlelit dinner for us in the villa…”

“I don’t want that,” Yan Xiuzhi’s gaze didn’t leave the laptop, “And we don’t need the cake.”

Zhou Ziyi glanced at him and said, “Let me go find out what kind of cake it is. If it’s delicious, we can have them send it over, right?”
“I don’t want to eat it,” Yan Xiuzhi said.

“I want to eat it,” Zhou Ziyi said.

Yan Xiuzhi remained silent.

Zhou Ziyi smiled at him, then went to call on the hotel phone. After a while, he came back and said that they could choose, so he picked a mousse cake, and without waiting for Yan Xiuzhi’s response, he said it would be delivered tonight.

President Yan has decided not to bother with him anymore.

That carefree guy, he can do whatever he wants.

After breakfast, Zhou Ziyi finally felt a bit refreshed. He looked at the sky, checked the time, and enthusiastically invited Yan Xiuzhi to go to the beach.

Yan Xiuzhi was somewhat impressed by his enthusiasm, “You’ve been in the sea for two days in a row, aren’t you tired of it?”
“Ah, the sea is so close, it feels like a loss if I don’t go there every day,” Zhou Ziyi chuckled, “But President Yan, you’ve been holding onto a laptop every day since we got here, aren’t you tired?”

Yan Xiuzhi hinted, “I wake up earlier than you.”

Zhou Ziyi said seriously, “This shows that even your jet lag is part of your work routine.”

“…” Yan Xiuzhi couldn’t understand where he got all these arguments from.

“Come on, Ge, even if you don’t go into the water, sunbathing is good,” Zhou Ziyi came over to pull him, “Sunbathing is healthier, it can promote the synthesis of vitamin D!”

Yan Xiuzhi said, “Strictly speaking, vitamin D comes from the sun…”

“Stop! Ge, don’t get into the theory,” Zhou Ziyi said, “How about you help me apply some sunscreen, and then you can do whatever you want, okay? I’m not going to the public beach today, I can’t find anyone to help me apply it.”

Yan Xiuzhi: “Can’t we finish up at the villa before going out?”

“No, it doesn’t have that feel!” Zhou Ziyi was being particularly unreasonable, “Sunshine, beach, waves, sunscreen!”

“What on earth are you singing…” Yan Xiuzhi was truly amazed by his “combination,” and could only stand up, “Alright, shut up. I’ll go with you.”

“Hehe.” Zhou Ziyi’s eyes curved as he turned and ran, “Wait, I’ll go change into my swim trunks and get some stuff!”

Yan Xiuzhi stood in place watching him run off, feeling like he had a lot of quirks, but also finding it a bit funny.

— Forget it, after all, it’s a vacation.

*
Finally, Yan Xiuzhi and Zhou Ziyi arrived at the beach together.

Yan Xiuzhi applied sunscreen for Zhou Ziyi again, and this time, Zhou Ziyi didn’t comment while lying on the lounge chair. Instead, he changed his tone and said, “Boss Yan, you’re really skilled,” which made Yan Xiuzhi want to kick him off. After finally finishing up, Zhou Ziyi swiftly got up, grabbed his goggles, and ran into the sea.

President Yan didn’t move, sitting under the umbrella playing with his phone.

There weren’t many people on the beach now, just a few here and there, and they were quite far apart. However, there were still some attractive ladies in swimsuits deliberately glancing at Yan Xiuzhi. Seeing that Yan Xiuzhi remained indifferent, they left somewhat disappointed.

Even a girl ran over and asked if he could help apply sunscreen. Yan Xiuzhi pointed to the one who was returning from the sea and showed his wedding ring, which made the girl walk away.

Zhou Ziyi saw this from a distance and came back to mock Yan Xiuzhi, “Boss Yan, why are you so unromantic? I’ve seen several groups of girls in bikinis walking past you. Aren’t they all good-looking?”

The CEO Yan Xiuzhi was cold, “No.”

Zhou Ziyi laughed heartily.

He came back and sat for a few minutes, took a few sips of juice, and then ran back into the sea.

Yan Xiuzhi watched him running around, “Aren’t you tired?”

“I’ll just swim another lap and then go back!” Zhou Ziyi waved his hand and quickly returned to the sea.

The villa was just a few hundred meters away, but Yan Xiuzhi didn’t get up to go back; he remained seated in place. The umbrella had been adjusted a bit due to the sunlight.

Yan Xiuzhi sat on the lounge chair, glanced at his phone, then looked towards the sea. It was unclear whether he was watching the roaring sea or the figure splashing around in it.

Suddenly, when Yan Xiuzhi looked up again, he couldn’t find Zhou Ziyi.

He was stunned for a moment, then scanned around, but couldn’t see Zhou Ziyi within his line of sight.

—Dive down?

Yan Xiuzhi stood up unconsciously, looked at his watch. He wasn’t sure how long Zhou Ziyi had been submerged, but if he didn’t see anyone for a long time…

He had originally intended to wait for about half a minute, but just after ten seconds, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter, and he couldn’t stand it any longer.

—No!

—What if…!

Yan Xiuzhi rushed in the direction where he had last seen Zhou Ziyi, shouting loudly towards the lifeguard, pointing towards the direction in the sea where help was needed.

“Help—”

With just one glance, the lifeguard immediately jumped down from the observation chair and ran towards the direction indicated by Yan Xiuzhi!

Yan Xiuzhi also plunged into the sea!