Necessary Beach Drama Planning

After a moment of darkness, what Xia Yu saw was an art knife.

The knife was held in Wen Ziying's hand, the cold blade reflecting her face.

Xia Yu's heart was startled at first, but then he noticed that Wen Ziying's other hand was holding an unopened book, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He used the art knife to cut open the plastic wrap of the book and took it out.

This was Wen Ziying's new book, titled "Lost in the Bamboo Forest," which told the story she and Xia Yu had talked about earlier - a group of people taking a shortcut and ending up in a bamboo forest.

"This is a sample book, it hasn't been officially released yet," Wen Ziying told Xia Yu.

Xia Yu nodded, showing his understanding, then opened the book and began to read.

He had read Wen Ziying's first draft before, but not in its entirety.

Compared to the first draft, the published version had more thrilling scenes, and the monster in the bamboo forest had turned into demons representing the psychological trauma of the five protagonists, revealing the darkness of human hearts.

The ending remained unchanged, with both couples becoming lost, and only the single man escaping.

It took Xia Yu three hours to finish reading, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's not bad, but can this kind of book really sell well?" Xia Yu was a little worried, as thriller novels were entirely unpopular in the First District, let alone those with tragic endings.

Perhaps those single dogs would be happy to buy it?

"We'll find out soon enough," Wen Ziying's answer was relatively relaxed.

Since the author herself wasn't worried, Xia Yu had no reason to be either. But he had a premonition that this book might not do well.

This wasn't based on market insights but rather on his mission.

The mission was to observe and guide Wen Ziying's life according to his own ideas.

Under normal circumstances, Xia Yu didn't think he could guide the mature Wen Ziying.

Based on previous missions, there was no such thing as an impossible task, so something must be about to go wrong in Wen Ziying's life.

On Wen Ziying's part, the most likely issue was her job as an author.

Of course, it might just be Xia Yu overthinking things - perhaps the game wanted him to interfere forcibly, such as secretly tripping Wen Ziying up, acquiring her publishing company to suppress her, or using love to influence her.

"Would you like to try something new?" Xia Yu changed the subject, as Wen Ziying hadn't requested any new experiences in the past few months.

"No need, let's play a game," Wen Ziying replied.

Xia Yu opened the game and used his level 6 dexterity to show Wen Ziying what was meant by hand speed.

Eight hours passed, and he returned to his own body.

For the next three days, he took exams while killing time in other women's company.

Three days later, after finishing his last exam in just ten minutes, Xia Yu walked out of the exam room.

From now on, it was winter vacation.

On An Siyao's side, her exams ended even earlier than his, while Hu Lianglu had used the Yu family's connections to skip her exams altogether. Only Yuxue had one more day left to finish her exams.

According to their plan, they would take a flight to District 26 from A-Fang City next Monday.

It was said that the weather there was like summer all year round, with beaches. Speaking of beaches, there would definitely be swimsuits.

He wondered what An Siyao would look like in a swimsuit.

Xia Yu was already getting impatient, and he suddenly realized that Yuxue's travel suggestion was an assist for him.

What color would An Siyao wear? What color would suit her?

Xia Yu fell into deep thought.

At this moment, his phone rang. It was a call from Liu Manman.

"What's up?" Xia Yu asked.

"I'm going too for this trip!" Liu Manman said.

"Which one? What?" Xia Yu didn't understand for a moment.

"The trip, I'm going!" Liu Manman explained.

"Didn't you say you were going to practice the piano at home?" Xia Yu asked.

Although he had pointed out the way of playing wind instruments to Liu Manman before, she had not listened, and was still focused on the guzheng.

"No more practice, I want you."

Just as Xia Yu was thinking about how to refuse, Liu Manman said the second half of the sentence: "To write a song for me."

Put together, it means Xia Yu should write a song for her.

Relieved, Xia Yu recalled that he indeed owed Liu Manman a song, a tailor-made one named after her.

"Finish the song for me during the trip!" Liu Manman's words carried a hint of irritation.

"What's wrong? Who bullied you?" Xia Yu asked.

Although Liu Manman was a bit impetuous, she was still a self-disciplined person and generally would not make sudden changes to her plans.

"I was mocked by someone who's only slightly better than me." Liu Manman's voice softened.

This meant she was seeking comfort from Xia Yu which could be translated as: "I, who am so cute and soft, was bullied, come and help me scold the other side."

"Oh," Xia Yu understood but didn't want to meddle. Since Liu Manman could still seek comfort, it wasn't a serious matter.

"Oh, that's it?" Liu Manman's voice became higher, her dissatisfaction very obvious.

Xia Yu pondered for a moment, admitting that answering with just one word indeed wasn't a great response. He added, "Drink more hot water."

"…You're done for. I'm going to buy swimsuits with Yaoyao soon, and I'll pick the most conservative and hardest-to-take-off one for her!" Having said that, Liu Manman hung up the phone.

Xia Yu's expression remained unchanged, knowing that Liu Manman was only being tough with her words and wouldn't take any action.

By the way, he didn't know if Yuxue had bought her swimsuit yet.

They would need several sets for the trip, which would last at least a week.

He would ask her after she finished the exam.

As soon as Xia Yu put his phone back in his pocket, it rang again. This time it was from Shen Shengsheng.

With a helpless sigh, Xia Yu pressed the answer button.

"Xia Yu, there's a performance in the third district during the winter break, are you coming?" Shen Shengsheng sounded delighted.

Xia Yu originally planned to push Liu Manman to study the sheng, but didn't expect her to hold onto the guzheng and refuse to leave. So he had to deal with Shen Shengsheng by himself.

He had plenty of ways to deal with the foolish troublemakers, but when it came to Shen Shengsheng, who was upright in both attitude and action, his methods were limited.

Previously, he casually wrote a sheng piece and told Shen Shengsheng that he was focusing on his creation. To his surprise, Shen Shengsheng became quieter afterward.

Now, Xia Yu used the same tactic: "I'm writing a new piece and don't have time."

"Would you like to visit me during the winter break? I'll introduce you to a few old folks, one of them has a granddaughter who is extremely beautiful. In your youthful language, what's it called... a mature lady?" Shen Shengsheng quickly said.

"..." Xia Yu touched his chin, he understood the first half of the sentence, which meant introducing him to some seniors, but he didn't understand the second half. What did it matter to him if those senior's granddaughters were beautiful? Was Xia Yu that kind of person? Besides, wouldn't you be afraid of being beaten by that senior?

Xia Yu, who had made up his mind not to flirt around anymore, declined Shen Shengsheng's invitation: "I'm going to area 26 for an interview during the winter break. The flights and hotels are already booked."

"Well, that can't be helped then." Shen Shengsheng started talking about Xia Yu's last song, and after more than ten minutes, he hung up the phone.

At this point, Qin Youliang also came out of the exam room. Today's exam was political science, which was quite simple, it all depended on who could write faster.

Qin Youliang quickly walked to Xia Yu's side, and asked, "The scores of the first exam are already out, have you checked?"

"Let me see." Taking out his phone, Xia Yu opened the class group chat, checked the website, and entered his student number.

A dazzling 100 appeared in Qin Youliang's sight.

He opened his mouth wide, not expecting Xia Yu to actually get a perfect score.

The first exam was a major subject!

He attended classes diligently, reviewed seriously, and only played games in his spare time. He didn't do anything else and only scored an 81.

Originally, he was doubtful about Xia Yu's ability to buy off the teachers, but now he completely believed it.

Otherwise, how could Xia Yu, who only spent half a morning reviewing and handed in his paper within 5 minutes, get a full score?

Countless words converged in Qin Youliang's mouth, finally condensed into two words: "Awesome!"

A perfect test score is not impressive, but directly buying off the teacher's full score is truly awesome!

Then, he became a little worried: "During the first exam, those monitoring teachers all looked at your test paper. Especially one of them, who teaches us; won't they report you?"

"It's fine, I've also bought them off," Xia Yu said.

"666." Qin Youliang exclaimed in admiration.

Xia Yu thought for a moment, then turned his head and asked Qin Youliang, "If I said I didn't bribe them, and actually took the exam myself, would you believe me?"

"Hahaha, Brother Yu, you're so funny. Think about your less-than-10-minutes answering speed in each exam, do you think I would believe you? Don't worry, my lips are sealed, and I won't say a word about it." Patting his chest, Qin Youliang assured him.

Xia Yu sighed, the truth was always hard for people to believe.

"I have to go now. I need to catch the noon train home." Qin Youliang said goodbye to Xia Yu.

Waving his hand, Xia Yu walked towards the school exit.

After driving home, Xia Yu received a call from Kong Hanyue again.

Pressing the answer button, Xia Yu wondered what Kong Hanyue wanted this time.

"You heartless bastard!" Kong Hanyue's voice came through the phone.

"Speak politely!" Xia Yu replied.

"Don't you want Xinxin anymore?" Kong Hanyue continued.

"What's wrong with Xinxin?" Xia Yu thought something had happened to Zhong Yunxin and was planning to ask Hu Lianglu about it.

"Who is that woman named Hu Lianglu?" Kong Hanyue's voice was sharp.

Mind reading? Xia Yu was shocked, as he hadn't told Kong Hanyue about Hu Lianglu.

"How do you know Hu Lianglu?" he asked.

"Other parents have come to me asking about her," replied Kong Hanyue, returning to her usual lazy tone.

So, it turned out it was Hu Lianglu's parents who were inquiring about something, and Xia Yu relaxed.

"What did you say?" Xia Yu asked.

"I didn't say anything. My friend was the one they were asking about, she hasn't even seen you," answered Kong Hanyue. "Did you get another girl named Hu Lianglu? I heard she's quite fierce."

"She's with An Siyao, and I met her parents by accident when I was out with Liu Manman," Xia Yu replied.

"I see," said Kong Hanyue after a pause, and then asked, "When are you planning to marry Zhong Yunxin?"

"In my next life," Xia Yu went to the kitchen and took out a bottle of cola to drink.

"Zhong Yunxin owns thirty percent of Zhong family's company shares, you know," said Kong Hanyue. "As long as you marry her, our lives will be carefree."

"Haven't I told you already? I'm with An Siyao," Xia Yu put down the cola, rubbed his forehead, and didn't understand what Kong Hanyue was up to.

"Do you think I believe that?" Kong Hanyue replied with a laugh.

Xia Yu opened his photo album, intending to send a photo of himself and An Siyao together but couldn't find one. He only had various private photos of An Siyao, but no pictures of them together.

"Don't try to fool me with photos!" Kong Hanyue said again, "I've watched nearly a hundred romance movies and know that you guys will pretend to be a couple!"

Hearing this, Xia Yu frowned, feeling that Kong Hanyue had ulterior motives.

He tentatively asked, "So what do you want to do?"

"I heard you guys are going on a trip, take me with you, I want to investigate in person!" Kong Hanyue emphasized, but Xia Yu still heard the hint of excitement in her words.

So, this girl can use indirect tactics too!

"You don't have to come, we're just pretending, I admit it," said Xia Yu.

"Ah?" Kong Hanyue was astonished, the plot development was completely different from what she had imagined.

Shouldn't the script be, "You don't believe me? I'll take you to see," and then she happily joins the trip?

"That's it; I'm hanging up now," Xia Yu pretended to hang up the phone.

As expected, the next second, Kong Hanyue called out, "Don't!"

"Don't you know the situation now?" Xia Yu teased.

Stammering for a while, Kong Hanyue eventually gave up the indirect route and said directly, "Take me with you, I want to go on a trip too!"

"What about your passport and visa?" Xia Yu asked.

Kong Hanyue replied immediately, "They're all taken care of. Take me with you, I don't want to be alone forever!"

"We're only going for a week…" Sighing, Xia Yu said, "Alright, we're leaving on Monday in three days."

"Really?" Kong Hanyue was somewhat incredulous. She originally thought that Xia Yu and An Siyao would not allow her to tag along, so she had employed a circuitous strategy. She hadn't expected Xia Yu to agree so readily.

"Get ready quickly, I'm hanging up." Xia Yu put the phone back in his pocket, pondering whether Kong Hanyue's arrival would create any adverse changes.

The answer was no. If it had been a private trip with An Siyao, adding one more person would be quite troublesome, but since it was a group trip, there was no problem with having a few more people.

At that time, it would be perfect for the three of them to play together.

Moreover, Kong Hanyue was a good collaborator. The two of them had often teamed up to swindle living expenses from Xia Dong Yang in the past. Bringing her along might be useful in tricking An Siyao.

After considering these points and confirming that there were no flaws in the plan, Xia Yu laid on the sofa, sipping cola and looking at his phone.

At eleven o'clock, he drove to pick up Yuxue. While waiting for her to finish class, Kong Hanyue called again.

"I'm about to board the plane. Remember to pick me up later," Kong Hanyue said.

"???"