This was something Chu Xia had discussed with adults after Cen Huai’an and Zhang Lu learned to swim, specifically to warn the kids.

They couldn’t swim in deep, dangerous reservoirs or in rivers where the depth was unknown; they also needed to know the correct methods for rescuing someone who was drowning.

If they recklessly thought they were skilled enough to swim in risky places, it might not be an issue the first couple of times, but what about the eighth or ninth time? You can’t gamble with those odds.

Fortunately, the kids were quite obedient and had firmly remembered the safety education that Chuxia and the other adults had provided.

Cao Gaochong, scared to the point of turning pale, had done many of the dangerous things mentioned in the case studies with his friends.

He clutched his chest, where his heart was racing, and said, “This… this is really scary.”

Cen Huai’an responded calmly, “These are real case studies.”

Cao Gaochong jumped up, his fear palpable. “I won’t go swimming in dangerous places again. But are you still going to the reservoir? It’s the perfect season for roasted corn.”

Zhang Lu was about to speak when Cao Gaochong quickly added, “We’ll just go there to play, not swim.”

“An’an, are you going?”

“Let’s wait until the National Day,” Cen Huai’an said.

After a week of school with only one day to go home, Cen Huai’an preferred to spend time with his family rather than going out for fun all day.

“Then it’s settled for National Day!” Cao Gaochong declared. “I’ll let you know which day we’ll go.”

After resolving the crisis at Yunmengze, Jiang Zhida received a large order for the factory and needed to visit Yangcheng again, so he took the order and went there.

Yangcheng was the most advanced place for electronic products.

Any emerging electronic products could be found here.

When Jiang Zhida arrived in Yangcheng, Qian Ran showed him the latest BB machine.

“Bro, is our factory making this?”

Jiang Zhida had seen BB machines before; they appeared in the Huaguo market a few years ago, but the market for BB machines hadn’t fully opened.

Only some bosses who needed constant contact used them.

Jiang Zhida had one himself and used it frequently when he was in Yangcheng.

“Why are you suddenly talking about this?”

Qian Ran explained the recent changes in Yangcheng: “I think the market for BB machines is coming. Many people in Yangcheng are using them now.”

Qian Ran was ambitious; their factory was already in the electronics business, so adding one more product shouldn’t be a problem.

But adding a new production line wasn’t easy.

After a few days of market research with Jiang Zhida, they decided to open this production line.

Making BB machines wasn’t too difficult, but they needed orders.

If they didn’t want to take orders from other brands, they had to develop their own.

“It’s not too hard to make these; we can handle it ourselves,” Jiang Zhida said. “Initially, it’s easier to start with orders and gradually work towards independence.”

They had followed a similar process for other electronic products, though those were more complex than BB machines.

Qian Ran had no objections.

BB machine orders were not available domestically, so they had to find foreign clients in Yangcheng.

Thus, Jiang Zhida stayed in Yangcheng, busy with work, instead of returning to Beijing.

Yunmengze was running smoothly with other shareholders overseeing it, so it wouldn’t face major issues.

On the first day of National Day, the weather wasn’t favorable.

The sky was overcast, and it looked like it would rain.

Chuxia looked at the sky and asked Cen Huai’an, “If it rains tomorrow, will you still go to the reservoir?”

Cen Huai’an and Cao Gaochong had planned to go on the second day of National Day, using the first day to rest and the third day to catch up on homework, which was perfect.

“We probably won’t go if it rains,” Cen Huai’an said.

They planned to bike there, and rain would make that impossible.

“Let’s hope the weather improves tomorrow,” Chuxia said.

Chuxia’s work schedule didn’t align with national holidays; the hospital couldn’t shut down during holidays or who would care for the patients?

Chuxia had the day off, so she looked at the sky and then at Cen Zhengnian, who was quietly reading inside. “Do you want to go for a walk? It doesn’t seem like it’s going to rain.”

Cen Zhengnian, taking a rare day off, put down his book, grabbed an umbrella, and said, “Let’s go.”

Chuxia thought it wouldn’t rain, but Cen Zhengnian preferred to be prepared.

Cen Huai’an saw his parents leaving and turned to his homework.

With more homework in the second year of high school, including extra math problems, he found it increasingly demanding.

He didn’t do all the homework.

For instance, he didn’t rewrite classical Chinese texts he already knew well.

For math problems that were too easy, he often just wrote the answers without detailed steps.

Only the most challenging Olympiad problems received his full attention.

While others needed three days to finish their homework, Cen Huai’an had already completed part of it at school, and the rest would take less than a day.

Chuxia and Cen Zhengnian strolled through the fields outside the research institute.

At this time of year, the corn in the fields was ripe and ready for harvest.

Due to the bad weather, everyone feared that the soil would become muddy after the rain, making it difficult to harvest the corn.

All the villagers were quickly picking the corn.

Chuxia and Cen Zhengnian didn’t head towards the fields but walked along the main road towards the city.

Though it was a suburb, the road to the city was well-built. Tall trees lined both sides of the road, growing freely and beautifully with a wild charm.

Cen Zhengnian held Chuxia’s hand, savoring the rare leisure time.

“Look, I remember there was a ginkgo tree over there!”

Chuxia pointed to a large ginkgo tree by the roadside.

She always passed this spot on her way to the city and remembered the large ginkgo tree vividly, even though she didn’t remember all the scenery.

Cen Zhengnian’s expression softened as he looked at the ginkgo tree.

He recalled the ginkgo bookmarks that Chuxia and An’an made for him years ago in the northwest.

He still kept them, though the bookmarks had lost their color and become fragile.

Cen Zhengnian stored them in a box to prevent them from being lost, even if they were damaged.

Chuxia had already released Cen Zhengnian to pick ginkgo leaves.

She remembered holding a ginkgo leaf and happily saying to Cen Zhengnian, “This time, you can make bookmarks with An’an and me!”

Cen Zhengnian replied with a warm “mm” and walked over to Chuxia, joining her in picking the leaves.

They had decided to go out on a whim and hadn’t brought anything with them, so Chuxia put all the leaves into Cen Zhengnian’s coat pocket.

After finishing, she said, “Be careful not to crush the ginkgo leaves.”

“Okay,” Cen Zhengnian replied with a smile.

As the two were picking up items, Chuxia suddenly felt a drop of water fall on her face, cool and refreshing.

She touched her face and looked up at the sky, noticing a few more drops fall.

She grabbed Cen Zhengnian’s arm. “Stop picking up things; it’s starting to rain. Let’s hurry home.”

Since the rain wasn’t heavy yet, Chuxia and Cen Zhengnian just opened their umbrella and walked home without rushing.

However, halfway there, the rain suddenly intensified.

Cen Zhengnian shielded Chuxia as they hurried home, and by the time they reached the door, it was pouring.

“How can it go from light rain to heavy downpour so quickly?” Chuxia looked at her wet clothes and hair, realizing she’d need to take a shower now.

Cen Zhengnian was even wetter because he had given her the umbrella; half of his body was soaked.

He closed the umbrella and walked over to her, wiping the water droplets from her face. “You go shower first.”

“And you?” Chuxia looked at his clothes, which were almost entirely soaked.

“I’m fine. You wash up first; I’ll go after.”

Chuxia didn’t say anything.

She went inside to grab some dry clothes and saw Cen Zhengnian standing at the entrance, twisting the water out of his sleeves.

She grabbed his arm and, before he could react, pulled him into the bathroom with her.

Once inside, she turned on the water, and the steam filled the bathroom, rising like the warmth in Cen Zhengnian’s heart, which also suddenly boiled over.

If Cen Huai’an had been doing homework in the living room, Chuxia wouldn’t have been so bold.

But with only Cen Zhengnian there, seeing him pitifully standing at the door wringing his clothes made her act instinctively.

However, once inside, she regretted it; the blush on her face wouldn’t fade away.

“You… turn around. I’ll wash first,” Chuxia pushed against Cen Zhengnian’s body.

At that moment, a smile reappeared on Cen Zhengnian’s face.

He rubbed his hand across his face and pushed his wet hair back, a few rebellious strands falling over his forehead, losing some gentleness but gaining a touch of wildness.

Chuxia stared at his face, suddenly speechless, and unconsciously swallowed hard.

Cen Zhengnian looked down into Chuxia’s eyes and said in a deep, husky voice, “I didn’t hear what you said earlier.”

“You first…”

Before Chuxia could finish, Cen Zhengnian suddenly lowered his head, silencing her words with a kiss.

The bathroom became even warmer, and the chill from the rain on Chuxia’s skin vanished entirely.

When they emerged from the bathroom, Chuxia’s face was as red as peach blossoms in February, even her ears were flushed pink.

Before stepping out, she made sure to look outside and confirm that the living room was empty, then knocked on the bathroom door, urging Cen Zhengnian to hurry up and clean up.

At dinner that night, Chuxia still couldn’t meet Cen Zhengnian’s gaze.

The moment she saw his smiling eyes, memories of their playful moments in the bathroom flooded back, and her face instantly turned crimson.

Cen Huai’an noticed something strange in the atmosphere between his parents, as if pink bubbles were forming around them, so he quickly went to his room after dinner.

As for making ginkgo leaf bookmarks, Chuxia had completely forgotten.

The next morning, she finally remembered the ginkgo leaves when she realized her clothes were wet from the rain.

She thought those leaves were ruined, only to find that Cen Zhengnian had taken them out, dried them, and pressed them between the pages of a book.

“Since when did you do this?” Chuxia asked in surprise.

Cen Zhengnian smiled slightly. “While you were watching TV after your shower.”

Chuxia met his gaze and felt her face flush again, quickly averting her eyes. “Mm, you did a great job. Just press them for a couple of days, and we can make bookmarks.”

After saying that, she grabbed her bag and hurried off to work.

The weather was nice that day, and Cen Huai’an’s plan to go to the reservoir with his friends was back on track.

He took the bus to Yunmengze, where he and Zhang Lu had left their bicycles for the holiday.

By the time Cen Huai’an arrived, Zhang Lu and Cao Gao Cong were already there, and as soon as he showed up, they hopped on their bikes and set off.

Xidan was quite a distance from the reservoir, and it took them a full two hours of riding without breaks to arrive.

Fortunately, the kids were in their prime, and riding for two hours didn’t tire them out.

They were still full of energy and excited to fish when they got there.

The weather was indeed great, completely unlike the previous day’s downpour; it was even a bit warm.

After two hours of riding, they were even warmer, so they took off their jackets and went to the water’s edge to splash their faces.

Cen Huai’an settled down on a flat bank with his fishing gear, and they even made a bet: whoever caught the least fish would handle all the cooking duties for their picnic.

Zhang Lu saw that Cen Huai’an had already started and quickly found a nearby spot to sit.

Cao Gao Cong and the others also rushed to find good fishing spots.

Cen Huai’an focused on fishing, keeping his eyes glued to the bobber on the surface of the water, waiting for it to move so he could hook a fish.

He didn’t notice that some classmates who had been fishing with him had taken off their short sleeves and jumped into the water.

They were used to swimming at the reservoir, and after sweating, the urge to dive in was hard to resist.

The boys kept their distance from the girls, choosing a spot further away, but they could still be seen standing in the water.

Cen Huai’an’s bobber began to move, and after a few seconds, he suddenly pulled up hard, catching a fish about twenty centimeters long.

He hurriedly used the net to scoop it up.

Just as the fish entered the net, he heard a terrified cry for help.

“Help! Glub, glub! Help!”

Cen Huai’an tossed the net to the shore, stood up, and ran toward the voice calling for help.

In the distance, he saw one of his classmates desperately shouting for help while another struggled in the water, pulling his rescuer down repeatedly.

“Splash!”

“Splash!”

Several splashes were heard as Cen Huai’an, Zhang Lu, and Cao Gao Cong jumped into the water and swam vigorously toward the two.