The next day, Feng Yongrui got up early in the morning and woke up his older brother. They had to wake up early so that they could make the most of their trip!
Yin Longshen woke up groggily and opened his sleepy eyes.
"What's wrong, younger brother?" he asked as he yawned.
"Ge, you have to wake up quickly! We have to enjoy the beach!" Feng Yongrui cried energetically.
Yin Longshen's eyes flew open and he grinned.
"Alright, alright... Let's go get ready," he said.
The two boys quickly bathed and changed their clothes. Then, they went over to Zhao Baozhai's room and knocked on her door.
"Mom," Feng Yongrui said as he knocked the wooden door.
The door was opened and he saw Zhao Baozhai peek her head out. She was already well-dressed, but Feng Yongrui noticed that her nails were slightly wet.
"Yongrui, I'm in the middle of painting my nails. Why don't you boys go downstairs and start eating first?" she offered.
Yin Longshen and Feng Yongrui agreed and headed downstairs. Breakfast would not be an "all you can eat" buffet. Instead, they would choose what they wanted to eat from the available menu.
Feng Yongrui ordered some pancakes, a sandwich, and fried rice. He waited for a few minutes before his order was delivered to their table.
The pancake was smooth and fluffy, and when he bit into it, Feng Yongrui couldn't help but savor the taste. On top of the pancake, there was a sliced strawberry that looked fresh and juicy.
"Have it with some maple syrup," Yin Longshen said as he smiled at his younger brother.
Yin Longshen's plate was also filled with food. He didn't like sweet things, so Yin Longshen had ordered pan-seared salmon and mushroom soup.
Feng Yongrui ate happily savored the flavor of each and every dish. He gave a small burp and glanced, embarrassed, at Yin Longshen.
He was surprised to see Yin Longshen staring at him.
"Ge, why are you looking at me? You should hurry and eat," Feng Yongrui urged him.
"Mh-hm," Yin Longshen gave a mysterious smile and ate some soup.
A few minutes later, Zhao Baozhai headed downstairs and greeted the two boys. She ordered fettuccine as well as a chocolate lava cake for desert.
When the three of them were almost finished eating, a waiter arrived and brought some fresh fruits on a platter. There were slices of papayas, pineapples, melons, and apples.
Feng Yongrui did not like papayas, so he chose to eat the melons and apples instead. Yin Longshen had no preferences, so he simply ate any of the fruits randomly.
When breakfast was done, Feng Yongrui and Yin Longshen wanted to head to the beach. Zhao Baozhai said she wanted to meet with a friend of hers, so the two of them could go the beach themselves.
Zhao Baozhai called her assistant, a middle aged lady named Wang Cai, and told her to take care of the boys.
Wang Cai was like Zhao Baozhai's shadow. Ever since he arrived in this world, Feng Yongrui had seen Wang Cai following Zhao Baozhai wherever she went.
Wang Cai was like Zhao Baozhai's assistant, but she was also Zhao Baozhai's loyal subordinate, her support, and her most trusted person. If Yin Qiushan had his own subordinates, then Zhao Baozhai had Wang Cai.
Feng Yongrui and Yin Longshen each wore a wide brimmed hat and walked to the beach. The two of them found a spot to put their things and took off their sandals.
When Feng Yongrui felt his feet come in contact with the soft white sand, he took a deep breath. Whenever he moved, his feet would sink into the sand and bits of sand would stick to his feet.
Back when he was in the cultivation world, he couldn't experience something like this...
"Didi, do you want to build a sand castle?" Yin Longshen suggested.
"Ge, I'm not..." Feng Yongrui wanted to say that he wasn't a child, but he knew that it would be weird if he said that.
"How about like this, we'll both build a sand castle within a certain time limit. The person with the best sand castle will win. What do you think?" Yin Longshen asked.
"...Alright," Feng Yongrui agreed.
Fine, anyway, Yin Longshen's words had triggered the fighting spirit inside him! The protagonist could be better than him at coding, at building a business, and so on.
But! He had to be better than the protagonist when it comes to building sand castles!
Let's go! Feng Yongrui's heart burned with enthusiasm. Wang Cai, who was sitting on the side, helped them set a timer for 5 minutes.
When the timer started, the two boys began to gather white sand and shape them into a castle.
Feng Yongrui thought that this task would be easy, but he didn't expect the texture of the sand to be so fragile.
Every time he shaped the sand, some part of it would crumble away. It was really hard, because Feng Yongrui wanted to make two towers for his castle, but his towers kept failing.
"Host, do you want a free course on 'Building Sand Castles'?" the System asked.
"...You even have useless courses like that?" Feng Yongrui was dumbfounded.
"Host, did you think that sand castle making is easy? I'm telling you, building a sand castle is part of art. It requires knowledge, dexterity, and finesse~"
Feng Yongrui: "..."
"Host, I'm not joking~ The texture of the sand matters. The mass matters. The amount of water inside the sand also matters. It depends on what material the sand is mostly made out of..."
"Alright, alright. I get it," Feng Yongrui grumbled. "Why don't you became a salesperson instead, hm?"
"Host~ Don't be like this~"
"No matter what, this type of sand is really hard to mold," Feng Yongrui grumbled. "I'm sure my older brother is having a hard time as well..."
Feng Yongrui turned his head and almost jumped out of fright. On his right side, there was a large sandcastle, about half a meter, standing in all its glory.
It was like a real European castle, with four towers, a large gate, and even a small flag. Where did the protagonist even get his flag from?
Feng Yongrui looked at the grand sandcastle on his right and turned to look at his own sandcastle.
Oh wait, his creation wasn't even a proper sandcastle. It was more of a... blob of sand...? QAQ...
"Ring~" the timer gave a shrill cry, telling the two boys that five minutes were over.
Feng Yongrui gave a smile that was uglier than crying and congratulated his older brother with a heavy heart.
"G-ge, congratulations... You won," Feng Yongrui said bitterly.
Oh, when you have expectations, failure becomes even more painful.
Seeing his younger brother's sulking face, Yin Longshen bit his lips and suppressed his laughter. His younger brother was really cute when he was annoyed like this!
Yin Longshen had an urge to tease his younger brother some more.
"Didi, don't worry. Actually, your sandcastle is pretty good," Yin Longshen said smilingly.
Feng Yongrui looked at his own sandcastle and gritted his teeth. If his brother didn't mention it, then his heart wouldn't bleed this much!
"I'm done playing with the sand," Feng Yongrui grumbled. "I'm going to soak my feet in the sea first."
After saying that, Feng Yongrui jumped up and ran towards the sea in embarrassment.
"Yongrui, be careful! Don't go too far away!" Yin Longshen yelled.
"I know!" came the reply.
Yin Longshen gave a small laugh and took out his phone. He took pictures of the two sandcastles and stood up. He was going to follow his little brother.
However, after Yin Longshen stood up, he spotted two men walking along the beach. These two men really stood out among everyone else.
The other tourists were wearing shorts, casual shirts, and sandals, but these two men were wearing a suit and black, shiny loafers.
One man was obviously the leader, and the other one looked like his assistant. The assistant was holding a black umbrella for the other man.
"Who are they...?" Yin Longshen muttered subconsciously.
"Young master," Wang Cai called Yin Longshen from behind.
Yin Longshen turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
"Those people are from the Peng family. That man must be Peng Hui, the heir of the Peng family," Wang Cai explained.
"As you may know, the Peng and Yin families don't see eye to eye. It would be better if you don't interact with them too much," Wang Cai added.
Yin Longshen nodded his head. He didn't want to make trouble either. It was better if both parties didn't interact at all.
Peng Hui and his assistant, Li Jiayi, continued walking along the beach.
Li Jiayi was complaining as he said, "Boss, you really like to make things difficult for me, right? You still have important business here! You can't be walking around enjoying the beach at this time of day!"
Peng Hui raised an eyebrow and placed his hands in his pockets in a leisurely manner. "Come on, it's not that important. Just let me enjoy myself for a while..."
Peng Hui suddenly spotted something and paused his steps. He was standing in front of Yin Longshen's sandcastle, and Yin Longshen tensed up.
***
Q: What is the number one requirement to become a qualified protagonist?
Yin Longshen: You should be able to build sandcastles~~
***
Are you more of a beach person or a mountain (hiking, climbing) kind of person?
Comment below~