Chapter 162: Borrowing

As Shen Jin's voice trailed off, a group of people approached from ahead, carrying various items in their hands. From a distance, it was clear they were beach toys.

Director Chen froze for a moment before reacting belatedly, "Can we even do this?"

"Director, it's up to you," the staff member asked replied, licking their lips.

Director Chen fell silent for a moment. The people called by Lu Wenchuan had all arrived.

"Lu—" The word hadn't even fully formed.

Lu Wenchuan interrupted them, "The tools are here, but you still cannot leave."

"Just consider it a half-day off to play by the seaside."

The hotel manager was silent for a fraction of a second before immediately agreeing, "Very well."

Watching such a dramatic turn of events, Sang Yijia was left between laughter and tears as she asked Lu Wenchuan, "Now we have three groups."

"What about them?" Sang Yijia could clearly see that what Lu Wenchuan had people bring was only a single set of beach tools, and the others had none.

Hearing this, Lu Wenchuan turned his gaze over. No matter who they were, he had no obligation to help.

"They will figure something out on their own."

Shen Jing: "..."

"What should we do then?" Xu Wei looked at the tools in Sang Yijia's hands, "Should we wait until they finish using them and borrow them?"

"..." Shen Jing paused for a moment, then shook his head in refusal, "No need, I'll just have someone send some over."

To avoid having to help in the kitchen, Shen Jing had high standards and directly had a complete set of castle molds delivered.

Such speed, such quality—Xu Wei was tempted.

Blue Qing watched Shen Jin from the side, the corners of her lips curving up slightly, "The other male guests are about to finish their tasks, what about us?"

"I don't mind preparing dinner together with you," Shen Jin chuckled, "Such a rare time to spend together, right?"

Blue Qing's expression instantly soured, but she had no intention of letting Shen Jin off easily, "Indeed, a very good excuse."

"Who knows, once this is broadcast, the audience might even rejoice at your incompetence, and not only that, they'll find you a perfectly logical excuse."

"For instance, that you went through all this trouble just to spend some time alone with me."

"If news like that comes out, I'd be more than happy to watch," Shen Jin replied with a forced, joyless smile.

Blue Qing ignored him. Since Shen Jin had never intended to win, why should she play the fool here?

Blue Qing did not quit the competition. Instead, she stayed on the side, trying her best to maintain her composure, using her bare hands to build a castle belonging to the two of them, even with nothing at hand.

Whatever happened between Blue Qing and Shen Jin, Sang Yijia paid no attention to it; all her focus was on Lu Wenchuan.

The man didn't go shirtless like the other male guests; instead, he wore a plain white T-shirt.

The more he dressed like this, the more curious Sang Yijia became about what Lu Wenchuan would look like without a shirt.

"Why did you wear an extra layer of clothes?" Sang Yijia asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

Lu Wenchuan raised an eyebrow, not pausing his work of piling up sand, "Only my wife is allowed to see."

"Others shouldn't even think about it."

Sang Yijia coughed. She truly hadn't expected Lu Wenchuan to guard his husbandly virtues so strictly, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

"Want to see?" Lu Wenchuan leaned in and asked in a low voice, "If it's you, I can let you take a look."

"You can even touch."

"But I'm not your wife yet." Sang Yijia's earlobes turned completely red, but her long hair blocked them from view, and she replied with a very composed expression.

"Let's wait until after we get married for that," Sang Yijia averted her gaze, "Who knows, the person you end up marrying might not be—"

Before Sang Yijia could finish her sentence, her wrist was grabbed, with a bit of force that caused her to feel a sharp pain.

"Lu Wenchuan," Sang Yijia raised her eyes to look straight at him, "Let go."

"There won't be anyone else," Lu Wenchuan answered very earnestly, "If it's not you..."

"I'd rather stay unmarried for the rest of my life."

Sang Yijia frowned, "I know."

"Can you let go of my hand now?" Sang Yijia gasped softly, "My wrist hurts."

Lu Wenchuan snapped back to reality, abruptly releasing her hand, a flash of remorse crossing his dark eyes, "I'm sorry."

"I was just a bit emotional."

Sang Yijia fell silent. According to the original plot, the person who married Lu Wenchuan could not possibly be her.

Therefore...

There was nothing to apologize for.

Sang Yijia took a deep breath, "It's fine, you didn't mean to."

"But what I said is true," Lu Wenchuan resumed building the sand castle, "I'm not lying to you."

Sang Yijia moved her lips, but in the end, said nothing. She knew very well that if she kept fussing over it, she would just be acting hypocritically.

And Sang Yijia would never allow herself to do that.

Yan Ningxi finished an entire cup of beverage, then proceeded to eat ice cubes, crunching away without paying any attention to her image.

Seeing this, Bian He paused for a moment and pointed at the camera not far away.

"I know," Yan Ningxi naturally understood, "So what?"

"I'm human too, you know." Upon returning, Yan Ningxi had seen the trending searches on Weibo. Although her company's team had issued corresponding responses, there were still quite a few people hounding her and hurling abuse over this point.

She could endure that much, but...

Thinking of the fact that Bian He had been injured because of her, Yan Ningxi lowered her gaze and pouted, "Am I really that heavy?"

"No," Bian He immediately denied, "Not heavy at all."

"I got hurt purely because I didn't stand properly," Bian He explained, "I just wasn't used to the beach."

"Really?" Yan Ningxi shot him a sideways glance.

Bian He was practically ready to raise his hand and swear to the heavens, "Really."

"Fine then, I'll reluctantly believe you." Yan Ningxi's mood instantly cleared up, a bright smile blooming on her face as she turned to check on the progress of Sang Yijia and Lu Wenchuan.

"Looks like Blue Qing and Shen Jin are destined to lose this match."

Seeing her change the subject so quickly, Bian He didn't mind and simply went along with it, "They seem a bit different this time compared to before."

If Bian He remembered correctly, the program's original arrangement was meant to separate the two of them, but Shen Jin seemed to want to separate Sang Yijia and Lu Wenchuan instead, only for this unexpected twist to land him bound to Blue Qing once again.

"Of course," Yan Ningxi had heard quite a lot of gossip, but since they were currently filming, she couldn't say much out loud.

The competition ended quickly.

Unsurprisingly, the first place went to the team of Sang Yijia and Lu Wenchuan.

Looking at their creation, Lu Wenchuan was extremely satisfied, "Do you like it?"

"I like it." Having made the artwork herself, Sang Yijia had no reason not to like it.

"Next time, I'll give you a real one." Lu Wenchuan took Sang Yijia's hand.

This scene was captured by the cameraman—pure, simple, and exceptionally beautiful.