Everyone's been reborn, so who would bother finding a wife on their own?

Chapter 159 What is Happiness?

When Xiao Yunqing pushed open the dormitory door, half of the corridor lights were already off.

She squeezed in sideways, and the door closed gently behind her.

The lights were still on in the dormitory.

Someone leaned down from the upper bunk, their hair hanging down, and was talking to the person opposite them.

Zhou Shan was sitting cross-legged on her bed, holding a bag of potato chips she hadn't finished eating, when she stopped with a snap.

All eyes turned to them.

Xiao Yunqing didn't look at them. She lowered her head, walked to her bedside, sat down, folded her coat, and placed it next to her pillow.

Then I lay down and stared at the wooden plank of the upper bunk.

Zhou Shan put the bag of potato chips on the bed, got out of bed, walked over, and stood beside her bed.

"Where did you go?"

Xiao Yunqing didn't answer, but smiled slightly, as if she couldn't help it.

Zhou Shan looked at her.

Xiao Yunqing turned over, facing the wall, and pulled the blanket up to cover her chin.

A few seconds later, he flipped back over and stared at the wooden plank of the upper bunk.

He was still smiling.

Zhou Shan shook her head.

"A woman who has fallen in love."

She said it in a low voice.

……

Zhao Qihang kicked open the door to the boys' dormitory.

He had just returned from the washroom, carrying a basin in his hand, a towel draped over his shoulder, and his hair was still wet.

Seeing Song Huan sitting on the bed, he put the washbasin on the table, tossed the towel onto the bed frame, took three steps over, and plopped down next to Song Huan, making the bed creak.

"Where did you go?" He squinted, raising his eyebrows high.

Song Huan took off her coat and draped it at the foot of the bed. Without looking at him, she said, "I went out for a walk."

Zhao Qihang squeezed closer to him, bumping his shoulder against his.

"Who did you go with?"

Song Huan glanced at him, and Zhao Qihang's smile was almost overflowing, his lips twitching all the way to his ears.

Song Huan didn't say anything, but patted the pillow twice and prepared to lie down.

Zhao Qihang grabbed his arm.

"No, please tell me."

He lowered his voice and glanced in Chen Xu's direction.

Chen Xu lay on the upper bunk, facing the wall, breathing heavily; it was unclear whether he was asleep.

"Did you go out with Xiao Yunqing?"

Song Huan pulled her arm out, leaned against the headboard, and put her hand behind her head. "Why do you care so much?"

Zhao Qihang chuckled twice, stepped back, and sat cross-legged.

"I knew it! You were nowhere to be seen last night. Did you go to the beach? How romantic!" He slapped his thigh. "Did you bring any food? What did you guys eat?"

Song Huan closed her eyes. "Sausage, marshmallow."

Zhao Qihang's eyes widened. "Marshmallows? Roasted marshmallows?"

He raised his voice by half an octave, then lowered it again, glancing at Chen Xu.

"I should have gone too. The food in the cafeteria would have been digested long ago." He rubbed his stomach. "What else did you guys do?"

Song Huan didn't open her eyes. "Look at the sea."

"Just looking at the sea?" Zhao Qihang didn't believe it.

"The moon is quite bright," Song Huan said.

Zhao Qihang waited, but nothing came of it. He opened his mouth briefly, then closed it again.

He stared at Song Huan for two seconds, sighed, and walked towards his own bed.

He took two steps and then turned back, his face filled with heartache.

"Such a great opportunity, and you take her to see the sea and roast marshmallows? Do you even know what girls like? Flowers, you know? Chocolate, you know? You could at least draw a heart on the beach."

Song Huan rolled over, facing the wall, and said, "If you know so much, how come you're still single?"

Zhao Qihang was speechless. A muffled laugh came from the upper bunk, very short, as if he couldn't hold it in.

Zhao Qihang looked up, and Chen Xu, still facing the wall, moved his shoulder slightly.

Zhao Qihang pulled the towel off the bed frame and threw it onto Chen Xu's bed. "What are you laughing at? You're not even as good as being single. You're a blockhead."

Chen Xu ignored him. Zhao Qihang climbed onto his bed, the metal frame wobbling several times. As he lay down, he muttered, "Cotton candy, what's so good about cotton candy..."

……

At 5:30 in the morning, a whistle blew out from the corridor, sharp and long, and bounced several times in the empty stairwell.

Xiao Yunqing sat up in bed, her hair disheveled, her eyes squinting.

The person in the opposite bed was also rubbing their eyes, and someone in the upper bunk leaned down and cursed.

The tour guide's voice blared from the loudspeaker, crackling with static, "Wake up! Wake up! Time to go beachcombing! The tide's out!"

People started running down the corridor, their footsteps thumping, the sound of water taps, and shouts all mixed together.

Xiao Yunqing put on her shoes, walked to the door, and glanced towards the boys' dormitory.

Song Huan was standing on the steps, tying her shoelaces. She squatted down, tied a knot in her fingers, tugged at it, and stood up.

He was wearing a white long-sleeved school uniform with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

My complexion is much better than yesterday; it's not pale anymore, and my lips have regained some color.

The tour guide stood on the beach with several large plastic boxes containing tools in front of him.

Bucket, shovel, pliers, gloves.

She took them out one by one and piled them on the sand.

Each class lined up to receive one set.

Xiao Yunqing received a small pink bucket and a yellow shovel.

She stood on the beach, carrying a bucket, looking into the distance.

The waves had just receded, and the beach was wet and golden, reflecting the morning light.

Several people had already walked away and were squatting on the mudflats, rummaging through something.

Song Huan walked over, carrying a blue bucket and a gray shovel.

He stood beside her and glanced at the beach.

"Let's go."

Xiao Yunqing followed behind him, stepping on the sand he had stepped on.

The beach was wide, and after the tide receded, a thin layer of water remained, which felt cool to the touch, making my toes twitch.

After walking for a while, Song Huan stopped and squatted down.

He dug in the sand with a shovel and pulled out a small crab, about the size of a fingernail. It took a couple of steps sideways and then burrowed into the sand.

Xiao Yunqing squatted down to look, and the crab was gone, leaving only a small hole in the sand.

She dug with a shovel, but found nothing. She dug again, and the sand turned up, revealing an empty space.

Song Huan took two steps forward, squatted down, and ran her fingers across the sand.

I picked up a seashell; it was white, very small, round, and had a few fine lines on it.

He looked at it and put it in his bucket.

Xiao Yunqing followed, "Why did you pick that up?"

"nice."

She glanced into his bucket; there was only one, lying alone at the bottom.

She also squatted down and flipped over at her feet.

I found a broken seashell, chipped at one corner, and threw it away.

I found another piece, gray, not very nice, so I threw it away too.

After searching for a while, I found nothing.

With its lips pouting and the shovel stuck in the sand, it didn't want to move.

Song Huan walked over from the side and extended her hand in front of her.

A pink, thin seashell lay in my palm, with fine lines on its surface, glistening in the morning light.

Xiao Yunqing took it, looked at it in her palm, and then looked up at him.

Song Huan had already turned and left, squatting a few meters away and turning over the sand.

She put the seashells into her bucket and followed.

The sun rose halfway above the sea, a reddish color that wasn't dazzling.

The light spread across the sea, shimmering like scattered gold.

The shadows on the beach grew shorter and shorter, shrinking into a ball underfoot.

Several girls were squatting on the mudflats, their buckets already half full.

Some people are turning over stones, some are digging for sandworms, and some are taking pictures.

Zhou Shan squatted down beside a large rock, holding a crab in her hand, and shouted.

However, no one paid any attention to her; the girls next to her were discussing the plot of the novel she read last night.

The domineering male lead spoils the female lead in every way, buying her cars, houses, and airplanes, and even going against the whole world for her.

The girls listened intently, exclaiming, "Ah, the female lead is so lucky!"

Zhou Shan eavesdropped quietly, then stood up, shook the sand off her hands, and walked towards Xiao Yunqing.

Xiao Yunqing was squatting on the beach, holding a seashell in her hand, and washing the sand off with water.

It's pink, washed clean, and the pattern is very clear, with fine, concentric circles.

Zhou Shan squatted down and watched her put the seashells into the bucket.

There are already several in the bucket. They are not big, but they are all nice, clean, and intact.

She glanced at Xiao Yunqing's face, then at the seashells in the bucket.

"Yunqing, what do you think is the secret to happiness?"

Xiao Yunqing didn't look up. She poked at the bottom of the bucket with her finger and moved the pink seashell to the top.

The morning light shone on it, making it look pink and moist.

Xiao Yunqing thought for a moment and said, "I found a really pretty seashell on the beach."

Zhou Shan tilted her head and looked at her. "And then?"

"And then, I never went to the beach to collect seashells again."

Zhou Shan was stunned for a moment.

The sea breeze blew, blowing Xiao Yunqing's hair onto her face. She didn't brush it away, staring at the seashell in the bucket.

Zhou Shan thought for a moment, then spoke up again, "Maybe there are even prettier seashells."

Xiao Yunqing shook her head, took the pink seashell out of the bucket, and placed it in her palm.

The sunlight shone on it, casting a pinkish glow on her fingers.

"My seashell is the most beautiful."

Zhou Shan looked at her; her expression was serious, not like she was talking about seashells.

"Why?" Zhou Shan asked.

Xiao Yunqing clenched the seashell in her hand, squeezed it briefly, then released it and put it back in the bucket. "Because it's mine."

Zhou Shan didn't say anything.

He stood up, patted the sand off his knees, took two steps back, and then looked back once more.

Xiao Yunqing was still squatting there, looking at the seashells in the bucket.

Song Huan walked over from a distance, her bucket was half full, her shovel stuck in the sand, and her hands, which were holding the bucket, were covered in sand.

He walked over to her, squatted down, and glanced into her bucket.

Several clean seashells were stacked at the bottom of the bucket.

"You picked up so many."

Xiao Yunqing moved the bucket closer to herself. "They're all pretty."

The sun had fully risen, hanging above the sea, round, bright, and not dazzling.

The shadows on the beach grew shorter and shorter, shrinking into tiny clumps, following behind everyone's feet.

Someone shouted in the distance, "We've found a big crab!" The voice drifted over from the mudflats, only to be torn apart by the wind.

Some people ran over to look, some squatted down and didn't move, and some carried their buckets back, the seashells in the buckets clinking against the sides.

Xiao Yunqing walked beside Song Huan carrying a bucket; their shadows overlapped, making it impossible to tell whose was whose.