Chapter 8 Part 1

Zhu Ran ran up to the deck, where the sun and wind immediately blinded him. It took several seconds for his vision to recover before he heard someone nearby ask where the dolphins were.

Lin Zilang and his fiancée were outside sunbathing. Upon hearing the question, he told everyone, “There was a little dorsal fin just now, but it’s gone now.”

Zhu Ran followed his gesture and looked out. The sea was vast and endless, with waves whipped by the wind into small peaks. There was no sign of any dolphins.

Huo Junlin came out too and asked, “Did you see the dolphins?”

Zhu Ran shook his head.

They waited outside for more than ten minutes, but there was still no good news. Zhu Ran’s skin was getting scorched by the sun, and he prepared to go inside to grab his hat. Just then, the crew on the third deck shouted again: “Dolphin! Dolphin!”

Zhu Ran looked in the direction the crew member pointed. A dolphin leaped out of the sea!

The captain immediately accelerated toward it. Zhu Ran gripped the railing with both hands as the distance closed. Finally, a huge pod of dolphins appeared in Zhu Ran’s line of sight.

There were so many—Zhu Ran had never seen this many dolphins before. The sea seemed to be boiling, with countless dolphins leaping inside. Occasionally, a few spun in circles as they burst out of the water, as if putting on a deliberate show.

Zhu Ran watched without blinking and pulled out his phone to record a video.

Beside him, Lin Ziqing was video calling her mom and said happily, “Mom, I saw dolphins! They’re right ahead—can you see them?”

The dolphins swam to the other side of the boat. Zhu Ran lowered his eyes and casually walked over to that side.

He recalled how a few days earlier, his cousin had complained to him about her parents’ behaviors—her dad’s condescending attitude and her mom nagging her to find a boyfriend. Hearing those familiar complaints, Zhu Ran had once thought his cousin had gone through the same experiences as him. But now he realized their situations were actually completely different.

They chased the dolphins for a long time before finally watching them disappear into the distant sea.

The sun grew even stronger, so Zhu Ran put away his phone and returned to the cabin. He had recorded quite a few videos, but for the moment, he couldn’t find anyone to share them with. After much deliberation, he ended up sending them all to Song Xingchen in one go.

He sent the videos but didn’t seem particularly expectant of a reply. He pressed the power button to lock the screen and placed the phone face down on the table.

[Ding—]

[Ding—]

[Ding—]

Zhu Ran opened WeChat, and Song Xingchen had replied with a string of messages.

[Song Xingchen]: Wow!! Dolphins!!!

[Song Xingchen]: So many! We’re so lucky!!

[Song Xingchen]: Awesome, looks like so much fun. I want to go too!!

Zhu Ran finally smiled. He curled his legs up on the sofa and typed, recounting the entire trip in detail.

Lunch was richer than Zhu Ran had imagined. The chef had brought fresh ingredients on board, along with plenty of the group’s sea-fishing catches. After lunch, Zhu Ran suddenly felt an itch on the top of his foot. At first, he didn’t pay it any mind and kept going back and forth to the deck to see if there were any big fish. But when he rinsed off with water to rest, his foot suddenly burned like fire.

“Why is your foot so red?” Huo Junlin noticed something off and asked puzzledly, “Did a jellyfish sting you?”

Zhu Ran was baffled too and shook his head. “But I haven’t gone in the water today.”

“It’s probably sunburn,” Huo Jiahui said casually as she passed by. “Did you skip sunscreen on your feet?”

Zhu Ran: “Seems like it…”

He was wearing long pants and long sleeves, thinking that would be foolproof, but he hadn’t expected to get sunburned on the tops of his hands and feet.

Seeing the obvious color difference, Huo Jiahui laughed uncontrollably and handed him a tube of sunscreen. “Hurry up and apply this.”

Before Zhu Ran could reach for it, Huo Junlin took it proactively, squatted in front of him, and twisted off the cap. Just as he was about to squeeze out some lotion, a fair and slender hand reached over, and Zhu Ran’s slightly cold voice rang out: “Thanks, I can do it myself.”

Huo Junlin paused and handed the sunscreen to Zhu Ran.

He hadn’t actually intended to apply it for him anyway—he had just instinctively squatted down in his haste. Besides, they weren’t together, and suddenly touching his foot would be too intimate. He was serious about pursuing Zhu Ran, after all.

Huo Junlin thought himself very upright, but when he saw Zhu Ran squeeze out the white lotion and apply it to his bare foot, when he saw the pink sunburn appear on Zhu Ran’s fair skin—like some kind of lingering mark from abuse—Huo Junlin’s throat tightened in an instant, and he had some not-so-upright reactions.

The afternoon’s activity was chasing whale sharks, but unfortunately, their luck wasn’t as good this time. After rushing around for several hours, they had no sightings. Zhu Ran was exhausted and dozed off on the sofa, waking and falling asleep again.

In his groggy state, the dive guide suddenly shouted, “Go go go! Whale shark!”

Upon spotting the whale shark, everyone sprang into action, quickly donning masks and fins before jumping into the sea one after another. Zhu Ran had slept too deeply and realized when he got up that most people had already gone. Only Huo Junlin remained, geared up with mask and fins, waiting for him at the boat’s edge.

Zhu Ran was still dazed but forced himself to get excited at the thought of seeing a whale shark. Not wanting to hold others up, he said to Huo Junlin, “You go ahead. I’ll be right there.”

Huo Junlin hesitated and couldn’t help glancing toward the whale shark.

“Go on,” Zhu Ran said. “I’ll be down soon.”

Huo Junlin wavered for two seconds, then gripped his action camera and dove into the sea.

By the time Zhu Ran finished preparing, everyone had swum far away. He bit down on his breathing tube and entered the water, suddenly noticing how murky it had become, filled with all sorts of plankton. Visibility was much lower than before, so he could only look up at the others’ positions to orient himself.