“Where was that photo taken?”
Jiang Xiaoxiao remained silent, squinting her eyes at her.
Why does everyone like acting like an Elder Sister? Lin Yiren sighed.
“Sister Jiang?”
“Eh—” Jiang Xiaoxiao curved her eyes happily and patted Lin Yiren’s shoulder kindly.
“Now you can tell me, right?”
“Of course, but the icons are covering the picture. I’ll find the original for you.” Her smooth, clean fingers moved to “Jiang Xiaoxiao’s” head and opened the gallery.
Searching by time, she found it quickly; it was clearly a recently taken photo.
The background of the photo was sky blue. Su Hui and Jiang Xiaoxiao were both half-squatting, their printed long dresses resting on the soft, fine sand. As the sunlight spilled down, Su Hui gently curled her lips into a smile, while Jiang Xiaoxiao laughed wantonly, the soft light becoming dazzling on her face. Jiang Xue stood in the embrace of her two mothers, her eyes bright and sparkling, her small hands still stained with wet grains of sand.
The photographer had deliberately frozen the moment when the sea breeze was gentle, with hemlines and strands of hair fluttering in the wind.
“We went to Xicheng last week. The sea there is exceptionally clean. Look, it’s all this color.” Jiang Xiaoxiao zoomed in on where the water met the sky in the background. Feeling it wasn’t clear enough, she swiped to another photo to show Lin Yiren.
It was a photo of Jiang Xue’s feet submerged in the water. As the tide washed ashore, changing from blue to white, her rounded toes were clearly visible.
“Xicheng… I’ve always wanted to go there.” Lin Yiren’s gaze was glued to those pictures, imagining how she would feel if she were actually there.
She had only visited this seaside city when she was very young and had few memories of it. She only remembered walking to a secluded part of the beach at night and hearing the humming sound of the tide.
“You can go now. Once Vacation starts, there will be more and more people.” Jiang Xiaoxiao saw that Lin Yiren intended to go, and her desire to promote the place began to stir.
“They even built a cycling path around the sea a few years ago. The scenery is super beautiful if you ride a lap there.” Jiang Xiaoxiao found a photo—a shot of her back as she rode with one hand while making a peace sign. To her right was the deep blue ocean; the fresh sea breeze almost seemed to blow onto Lin Yiren’s face.
The young girl’s eyes lit up, revealing her yearning.
Jiang Xiaoxiao was encouraged by her look and promoted the place as if Xicheng were her second hometown. Her fingers swiped, displaying pictures filled with the scent of the ocean before Lin Yiren.
***
When a certain picture swiped in front of Lin Yiren, the girl’s eyes suddenly blinked in panic. She shifted her gaze elsewhere, a light pink flush rising on her face.
“Oh my, I almost forgot about this one. How is it? Doesn’t it look great?” Jiang Xiaoxiao’s voice rose a few notches, filled with surprise and pride.
The photo on the Smartphone also had the blue ocean and sky as a background, but the protagonist was Jiang Xiaoxiao alone. She wore a two-piece swimsuit, her loose long hair swaying livelily in the sea breeze, her slender legs dazzlingly white under the sun.
Jiang Xiaoxiao turned to look at Lin Yiren, but unexpectedly, she didn’t meet the girl’s gaze. Looking again, Lin Yiren’s eyes were focused intently on her own trouser leg.
It was like excitedly sharing beautiful photos with a best friend, only for the other person to yawn and say they were going to bed.
Her delicate eyebrows shot up, and she placed the Smartphone right on Lin Yiren’s trouser leg.
“When Sister Jiang tells you to look, you should look seriously.”
That bright flash appeared in her vision again. Lin Yiren’s eyes trembled before suddenly calming down, and the light pink on her face slowly faded—the swimsuit Jiang Xiaoxiao wore was perfectly normal; it was just that the fleeting glimpse earlier had caught her guard.
Looking closely now, she noticed that Jiang Xiaoxiao was wearing makeup at the time, making her already beautiful face even more exquisite.
“Sister Jiang is too beautiful. I was dazed just looking at you.” Lin Yiren spoke in a soft voice to soothe the bristling Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Jiang Xiaoxiao puffed out her cheeks and didn’t speak.
Lin Yiren racked her brains but found that she really didn’t have any skill in coaxing people.
A light suddenly flashed in her eyes, and she said, “At that time, Sister Su must have been completely captivated by you, right?” If she guessed correctly, Su Hui was the Special Attack Noble Phantasm for Jiang Xiaoxiao!
Sure enough, Jiang Xiaoxiao’s eyes seemed to instantly fill with stars. She stroked her face and said in high spirits, “Of course! She was practically drooling.”
Pfft. Lin Yiren quickly covered her mouth, suppressing the laughter that was about to overflow—though that was the sentiment, was it really appropriate to describe the gentle and dignified Su Hui that way?
“Sister Jiang, you… you were even wearing makeup then.” Lin Yiren spoke with an unsteady breath, her small face turning rosy this time from holding back laughter.
Jiang Xiaoxiao didn’t notice anything unusual and rubbed her nose. “Yeah, I spent so long coordinating everything. Isn’t it cute?”
Lin Yiren nodded like a woodpecker.
“Actually, I have photos of Huihui too, but I’m not showing them to you.”
“I understand, I understand.”
Jiang Xiaoxiao had finished flipping through most of the photos and then sent the travel guide on her Smartphone to Lin Yiren.
Lin Yiren saved the guide, rubbed her chin in thought, and forwarded it to Chen Zhaoyue.
***
Jiang Xiaoxiao noticed her action, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes. She said, “You’re going with Chen Zhaoyue, right?”
“Yeah, taking Xing Yao out to have some fun.” Lin Yiren had a serious look on her face.
“Oh—then aren’t you looking forward to seeing what Chen Zhaoyue looks like in a swimsuit?”
“Cough, cough.” Jiang Xiaoxiao’s single sentence broke Lin Yiren’s composure, causing her gaze to flicker away.
“Stop pretending. Even though Huihui and I have been together for so long, I still look forward to her swimsuits!” Jiang Xiaoxiao spoke with righteous conviction, as if she were stating some profound truth.
Lin Yiren saw her finish speaking and then put her hand to her chin, looking thoughtful.
“Have you two never been to the beach since you’ve been together?”
“Uh, I guess so.” Lin Yiren lowered her voice guiltily, not mentioning that they weren’t actually together.
“Eh?! Then how long have you been together?” Jiang Xiaoxiao had a look of disbelief.
The words “you’ve been together” made Lin Yiren’s face heat up, her neck flushing a peach-blossom red.
“Just… recently?”
“What?!”
“No, no, about a year ago.” Lin Yiren felt like she was a persistent pursuer of Chen Zhaoyue who, having failed, was now fabricating a lie about them already being together.
Her face became even more enchanting.
“A year ago?” Jiang Xiaoxiao gave her a suspicious look. “And then you had Xing Yao?”
“Um, yes,” Lin Yiren swallowed. “It was an accident.”
She no longer knew what she was saying.
Fortunately, Jiang Xiaoxiao didn’t continue questioning her.
“Well, since that’s the case, let me recommend a few swimsuits to you.” Jiang Xiaoxiao changed the subject.
Lin Yiren was still immersed in her own emotions and didn’t react immediately to her words.
Jiang Xiaoxiao had already shared a few links.
“I handpicked these. If you wear them,” Jiang Xiaoxiao’s gaze swept over the girl’s chest, “you’ll definitely captivate her.”
“I wasn’t thinking about captivating her.” Lin Yiren smiled bitterly.
“Then you can secretly prepare one for her.”
Jiang Xiaoxiao spoke like a senior. She leaned in and whispered:
“A few of them are really stunning.”