Chapter 14: Drowning and Being Saved
At that moment, the bus came to a halt.
Shen Zhouyue glanced out the window and realized they had arrived at their destination.
“We’re here. Time to get off.”
Yu Tingzhou stopped chatting with his friends and walked over to Shen Zhouyue’s side.
“En.”
Shen Zhouyue, his mood rather low, picked up his bag and followed behind Yu Tingzhou.
“What’s wrong? Did you have a conflict with Xuanting?”
“If he said something, just pretend you didn’t hear it. That’s just his personality; he doesn’t have any bad intentions.”
He doesn’t know anything, yet he speaks up for Liu Xuanting.
Sure enough, they are the real friends, and I am just an outsider…
Shen Zhouyue felt even more depressed.
He lowered his head to hide the expression on his face. “En, I understand.”
“Come on, you guys! It’s rare to have such good weather today,” Xu You’s loud voice rang out.
Shen Zhouyue followed the sound.
A vast expanse of blue ocean appeared in his line of sight.
Although they had arrived quite early, there were already many people by the sea. Some were surfing, while others were strolling along the beach; it looked very lively.
The sea breeze was gentle and incredibly comfortable.
Shen Zhouyue immediately took out his phone, opened the chat interface with An’an, and took a picture of the scene before him.
“Let’s go change.”
Shen Zhouyue was completely confused. “Change?”
“Change into what clothes?”
Does he mean changing into the kind of clothes they are wearing?
“Don’t you want to see the underwater world?”
Underwater!
Shen Zhouyue’s eyes went round. “You know how to dive?”
“Are you taking me diving?”
“But… but I can’t even swim…”
Yu Tingzhou didn’t want to waste time on such small matters. He dragged Shen Zhouyue toward a nearby shop that rented snorkeling equipment.
Soon, they had changed their clothes.
Yu Tingzhou’s other friends chose their own activities, leaving only Liu Xuanting following Yu Tingzhou.
Noticing this, Fang Mo reminded him, “The little couple is spending time together; it’s not very appropriate for you to go along, is it?”
Liu Xuanting said indifferently, “It’s fine, I won’t disturb them.”
“It’s not the first time Tingzhou and I have gone snorkeling together. We have a tacit understanding. I can even help him look after Zhouyue!”
Seeing Liu Xuanting acting this way, Fang Mo thought for a moment, then asked the shop owner for another set of snorkeling gear. He clearly intended to join them.
Liu Xuanting glared at Fang Mo unhappily, but Fang Mo looked calm, pretending not to see it.
Seeing that he was about to be pulled into the water, Shen Zhouyue retreated hurriedly. “Do we really have to go down?”
“I won’t take you to dangerous places, just swimming around in the shallow water.”
“It’s very beautiful underwater. Don’t you want to see it?”
Shen Zhouyue did want to, but he was afraid.
He looked at Yu Tingzhou and tentatively dipped a foot into the seawater.
His pale foot was encased in a flipper; walking felt strange, but it would be convenient in the water.
“I saw you taking photos earlier. This is underwater photography equipment; you can wear it on your head.”
Shen Zhouyue had almost forgotten about taking photos.
He smiled gratefully at Yu Tingzhou, put on the gear, and, guided by Yu Tingzhou, walked step by step into the water.
Of course, Yu Tingzhou wasn’t rash enough to take Shen Zhouyue underwater immediately. Instead, he let Shen Zhouyue slowly adapt to the water temperature, did some simple warm-up movements, and swam with Shen Zhouyue for a while.
Shen Zhouyue mimicked Yu Tingzhou’s movements, swaying his body. Yu Tingzhou’s large hand supported his abdomen to prevent him from sinking and choking on water.
At some point, the hand on his abdomen disappeared, yet Shen Zhouyue was still swimming in the water.
His movements were a bit rusty, but he clearly knew how to swim now.
“How was it?”
“So learning to swim is this simple!” Shen Zhouyue couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
“Isn’t it because I taught you well?”
This remark smacked of narcissism. Shen Zhouyue paused for a moment, not reacting immediately.
“You really did teach well!”
Yu Tingzhou had only been joking, but Shen Zhouyue’s earnest answer made him feel a bit unnatural instead.
He immediately changed the subject. “Do you want to go see the seabed?”
Since they had bought the equipment, it would be a regret not to experience the underwater scenery.
Shen Zhouyue nodded immediately, his face full of anticipation.
Yu Tingzhou held Shen Zhouyue’s waist and led him swimming beneath the surface.
The scenery underwater was completely different from the surface.
Schools of fish swam by from time to time, and Shen Zhouyue could even feel them brushing against the back of his hand.
The colorful fish formed a dreamlike painting.
These fish were bold; as Shen Zhouyue and the others approached, instead of swimming away, they swam closer, as if observing them.
Everything before Shen Zhouyue’s eyes was captured by the camera on his head. He planned to export the footage later so An’an could also see the magnificent underwater scenery.
When they left the seabed, Shen Zhouyue was still unsatisfied and even wanted to pester Yu Tingzhou to take him again.
But noticing Yu Tingzhou’s fatigue, he gave up.
After all, he was a novice and didn’t understand many things. He needed Yu Tingzhou to watch over him constantly, or accidents could easily happen.
“If you like it, we can rent a submarine and go deeper. That way…”
Before Yu Tingzhou could finish speaking, the sound of Liu Xuanting calling for help came from not far away.
Frowning, he swam toward that direction.
Shen Zhouyue was still expecting Yu Tingzhou to continue his introduction when he saw him swim away like a vigorous merman.
Shen Zhouyue looked at his own location; it was quite far from the shore.
Floating in the water, his feet unable to touch the bottom, he felt very insecure and inexplicably nervous.
He began to swim toward the shore.
But whether due to insufficient preparation or the water temperature, Shen Zhouyue felt waves of cramps in his legs.
He panicked instantly.
He had never experienced such a thing before, and encountering this situation now, he didn’t know how to handle it.
He called for help in a small voice, but there was no one around.
Just then, Yu Tingzhou swam past him, holding Liu Xuanting by the waist.
Shen Zhouyue’s face was pale, and he wanted to speak up for help.
But Yu Tingzhou didn’t notice anything wrong with him and swam straight past.
Just as Shen Zhouyue opened his mouth, his snorkel fell out, and he was submerged in the water.
He accidentally swallowed several mouthfuls of seawater.
Just as he thought he would lose his life there, someone grabbed his hand and pulled him up from the depths.
“Cough cough… cough cough…”
As soon as he surfaced, he coughed incessantly.
The feeling of choking on water was unbearable.
“Are you okay?”
The voice was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
Shen Zhouyue looked over sluggishly.
It was him!
“Thank you, Mr. Fang. If you hadn’t helped me, I would have been in trouble.”
Shen Zhouyue’s voice was hoarse, a lingering effect of choking.
His face still carried a trace of lingering fear.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’ll take you to the shore.”
Fang Mo wasn’t a talkative person. After seeing Shen Zhouyue nod, he wrapped his arm around Shen Zhouyue’s waist and swam toward the beach.
His movements were very skilled; clearly, he swam often.
Shen Zhouyue felt very uncomfortable with the warmth on his waist. He wanted to break away from Fang Mo’s arm, but fearing his movements would affect the other man, he didn’t dare act rashly. He could only bite his lip tightly and endure it.
Fortunately, he wasn’t far from the shore. In less than a minute, they arrived at the beach.
Yu Tingzhou remembered Shen Zhouyue at this moment. Just as he was about to go back and look for him, he saw Fang Mo swimming toward the shore with his arm around Shen Zhouyue.
His face instantly turned cold. He walked over quickly and pulled the person out from under Fang Mo’s arm.
“What are you two doing?”
His tone carried a hint of interrogation.
Shen Zhouyue had just recovered from a life-or-death moment, so his mood wasn’t great.
Hearing this tone, he exploded immediately.
“Mr. Yu, you manage too much, don’t you!”
He switched from the intimate “Tingzhou” to the distant “Mr. Yu.” Anyone with ears could tell he was angry.
Fang Mo didn’t want to stay and watch his buddy argue with his partner, so he quickly walked away.
“You were fine just now, why are you angry?”
Yu Tingzhou looked bewildered, obviously not understanding why Shen Zhouyue’s attitude had suddenly changed.
“It’s nothing. Whether I live or die has nothing to do with Mr. Yu anyway, so there’s nothing to say.”
Shen Zhouyue didn’t even look at Yu Tingzhou. He walked straight toward the changing room.
The salt content in the seawater was high, and combined with the cold sweat from his near-death experience, Shen Zhouyue felt uncomfortable all over. He just wanted to change out of his clothes and take a good shower as soon as possible.
Yu Tingzhou grabbed Shen Zhouyue’s wrist.
Shen Zhouyue’s gaze fell on the teeth marks on Yu Tingzhou’s arm.
A few days had passed, and the bite mark seemed to have recovered a lot, but the indentations were still very obvious.
The scab forming on the wound had turned whitish from soaking in the seawater, looking like it might fall off at any moment.
“You haven’t answered my question. Why are you angry?”
“And why was Fang Mo holding you just now? What happened?”
Shen Zhouyue was in no mood to explain. He looked at Yu Tingzhou coldly. “Do I have to report to Mr. Yu even when I’m angry?”
Yu Tingzhou also felt a flare of anger. “Can’t you speak properly? Do you have to be so sarcastic?”
“I was separated from you for less than ten minutes, and you get angry for no reason. Can’t I even care about you?”
Shen Zhouyue pulled his hand away from Yu Tingzhou, took a few steps back, and said softly, “I remember we are in a marriage agreement. It doesn’t require me to report everything to Mr. Yu, does it?”
A figure not far away heard the conversation between Shen Zhouyue and Yu Tingzhou.
He covered his mouth tightly, his expression full of astonishment.
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