A long dining table was covered with all kinds of rare delicacies, mostly featuring premium seafood.
Servants came forward to help them to their seats.
The director asked, “Where’s Mr.HO?”
The butler smiled and said, “Mr.HO is occupied with business and has already left. The other villa rooms have all been prepared. After dinner, everyone can rest here.”
“Wish you all a pleasant meal. If you need anything, just ring the bell.”
The butler nodded and left.
As soon as they heard He Yuzhou had left, everyone’s faces showed obvious disappointment.
Including… Cen Yingshuang.
She was surprised by her own reaction, but at the same time felt it was only natural.
In psychology, there’s something called the Mere Exposure Effect.
When an individual is repeatedly exposed to a certain stimulus (like a name, image, or sound), their preference and interest in it increases, even if they didn’t feel anything special at first.
These past two days, she’d heard He Yuzhou’s name and stories about him so often, including that “chance encounter” under the sea just now, that it was only natural she’d be curious about him.
She had to admit, she wanted to meet him in person, to see what kind of man he really was.
After all, he was He Yuzhou.
***
But her disappointment was quickly replaced by the pleasure of delicious food, and Cen Yingshuang soon forgot all about He Yuzhou.
Each dish was creative and new to her—she’d never seen seafood prepared in so many ways.
Unfortunately, she didn’t eat most kinds of seafood and fish, so she missed out on a lot of dishes.
Just as she was enjoying her hazelnut oil ice cream, Màn Jie mercilessly took it away and scolded, “That’s enough, you’re about to go over your calorie limit for today. Show some restraint.”
She’d just barely tasted it!
She leaned on Màn Jie’s shoulder, her hand limp like a kitten’s paw, blinking her Cardan Big Eyes pitifully, begging for just a little more.
Màn Jie didn’t fall for it at all. When it came to body management, Màn Jie was strict to the extreme—today was already an exception.
Cen Yingshuang’s attempt to act cute failed. She slumped back in her chair, finished her juice, and filled up on water instead.
Afraid she’d give in to temptation if she stayed, she simply left her seat.
Remembering the shells, she strolled slowly toward the beach.
Tonight, the waves seemed even more turbulent than last night.
She was still wearing thin high heels, which made it hard to walk on the soft sand, so she simply took them off and set them aside.
There were far more shells on this part of the beach than on the one from last night.
She even found a large shellhorn, which she held to her ear to listen to its sound.
There really was the sound of the sea, but she couldn’t tell if it was the real ocean right now or coming from the shellhorn.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz….”
But even more striking than the sound of the waves was a sudden roar.
It came from overhead.
She looked up.
It was the sound of rotors.
Three helicopters flew overhead.
They weren’t flying very high, so the rotor noise was loud, and the wind was strong.
At the same time, the waves grew even noisier, and a glint of silver reflected in her peripheral vision was swept away by the sea.
She realized what was happening, tore her gaze from the helicopters, and looked at her high heels being carried away by the waves.
Instinctively, Cen Yingshuang dashed forward to retrieve them.
Her green dress was far too eye-catching in the darkness.
So much so that, sitting in the helicopter cabin, He Yuzhou couldn’t help but notice her.
He turned his head to the window, lowering his gaze.
The sea had soaked her thin dress, clinging tightly to her body. Even at a distance, her curves were visible.
The waves surged, and she held up her skirt as she walked forward, as fragile as a little boat rocking on the sea.
Zhang Rong followed He Yuzhou’s gaze downward, then looked at He Yuzhou again.
He Yuzhou’s gaze didn’t linger long—he withdrew it after just a second, closed his eyes, and pressed his hand to his forehead, his brow faintly furrowed.
”Get someone to take her back, don’t let anything happen to her on my watch.”
His tone sounded no different than usual, but Zhang Rong understood the true meaning behind his expression.
This was his typical, “I don’t want trouble” attitude.
He really didn’t want trouble. Tonight’s dinner was only out of courtesy because his mother had ties with the brand.
But He Yuzhou never expected that on this very night, something unexpected would happen.
He was on his private jet, en route to New York.
After finishing his work, he returned to his room and set his alarm for 5 a.m.
Ever since he could remember, his father had always gotten up at five sharp, rain or shine.
He’d grown up with that example and naturally developed the same habit, always waking at five regardless of the time zone.
After showering, he lay down on the bed.
He didn’t know how much time passed, or if he’d actually fallen asleep.
He Yuzhou felt his body grow lighter, the air thinning, his chest tight as if being compressed.
The familiar sensation made him realize what was happening.
When he opened his eyes, sure enough, he was underwater.
It was a familiar scene.
He was back to that afternoon.
Without any oxygen equipment, he challenged his previous record, free diving to a depth of eighty meters.
Normally, you could still feel faint sunlight at this depth, but since he was in a cliff, all light was blocked—only darkness remained.
After forty meters, it became a free fall.
The deeper he went, the greater the water pressure, and his lungs shrank smaller and smaller.
All around was endless, absolute darkness.
All the unknowns in this world were dangerous and alluring, fascinating and terrifying.
He didn’t know if there were other creatures nearby.
All he knew was that he had to swim upward with all his strength.
Under the pressure, the burning suffocation in his lungs gradually turned into spasms of his diaphragm.
But the most dangerous stage was actually the last stretch near the surface, when oxygen ran low, his lungs expanded back to their original size, and buoyancy slowly pushed him upward.
After getting used to the cliff’s endless darkness, the sight of light made his longing for air even stronger.
Propelled by buoyancy, he struggled toward the surface.
Just as the sperm whale swam away and his view opened up, he suddenly saw a flash of white.
She was in that Jesus Light.
In the deep blue sea, even more striking than her white dress was her skin, like ice and jade.
The oxygen in his chest was nearly gone. In a low-oxygen state, his brain was short of blood, and his vision blurred, dizziness setting in.
Yet in that moment, he couldn’t help but resist the buoyancy and force himself to stay, staring at that white figure, unsure if it was real or a hallucination.
But in the next second, that light, floating white figure swam toward him and appeared before him.
His vision was still hazy—he could only vaguely make out her outline, her skin, and her long, dark hair like seaweed.
Her face drew closer, but he couldn’t make out her features at all.
The only difference was her white dress had become green, and for a moment he was dazed, until their lips met.
The sea was icy cold, but it couldn’t cool the warmth of her lips.
Oxygen passed from her mouth into his, and the pain in his chest finally eased. He felt reborn, his heartbeat pounding out of control.
Almost involuntarily, he reached out to grab her arm..
“Beep beep beep….”
The alarm blared abruptly.
He Yuzhou reflexively snapped his eyes open.
All he saw was darkness.
He wasn’t underwater now.
There was plenty of oxygen, and beneath him was a soft bed.
But just like in the depths of the sea, his heart was pounding wildly.
Every day, when his alarm rang at five, he would get up decisively, without exception.
Today, though, he lay in bed, unmoving.
The alarm kept beeping.
He closed his eyes again, pressed his hand to his throbbing temple, his frown deepening.
Because He Yuzhou knew that, aside from his out-of-control heartbeat, there was another, even stronger reaction in his body.
He knew very well he was a normal man, and a certain physiological phenomenon caused by hormonal changes in the morning was unavoidable.
But today was the first time.
Because of a dream. Because of a woman.
He was hard as a rock.