Chapter 274 — The Feeling of Happiness

The very thought set his blood racing... And that was precisely why Wei Zhao would not take advantage of another's peril—just as it was one and the same with his earlier urge to slip into Shen Yushu's and Gu Mengyao's boudoirs to have a look. Wanting was one thing; doing was another.

Wei Zhao laid Shen Yushu face down across his thighs, then began applying pressure to several acupoints along her back. Even so, her soft body was more than enough to set Wei Zhao's imagination wandering...

"Bleargh—" Under Wei Zhao's ministrations, Shen Yushu threw up all the seawater that had filled her stomach, then began to cough. Wei Zhao patted her back gently and carefully until her breathing returned to normal.

"Arrow Brand Bro? I'm not dead?" Shen Yushu lifted her head, weary yet plainly astonished as she looked at Wei Zhao. "Or are we already dead, and this is heaven?"

"You're not dead, and this isn't heaven." Wei Zhao found it rather amusing. Comfortable as it was to have Shen Yushu sprawled against him, he could hardly keep taking liberties with her forever—she was not his girlfriend, after all. Had it been Tang Zhi, Wei Zhao might not have been so polite.

"Oh? I'm not dead? Which means you saved me?" At Wei Zhao's words Shen Yushu grew thoroughly excited. She scrambled up from his body, ready to caper about—but her strength had been sapped by the ordeal, and before she could so much as wave an arm, she stumbled and nearly fell flat on the ground.

"Eek—" Shen Yushu cried out and hastily caught hold of Wei Zhao to steady herself. "Arrow Brand Bro, are we really not dead?"

"No, we're not. With me around, do you think dying is that easy?" Wei Zhao rolled his eyes. The way she put it, a person might drop dead at any moment! If falling into the sea could kill someone, Wei Zhao would have no business being in this line of work—he might as well kill himself outright.

"Hehe, I knew Arrow Brand Bro was the best!" Shen Yushu thought that being alive felt wonderful. "Arrow Brand Bro, earlier... did you kiss me?"

"That wasn't a kiss. I was just plugging your mouth shut! Otherwise you'd have choked to death." Wei Zhao offered this in defense of his conduct—though in truth it was merely a difference in naming; the nature of the act was the same as a kiss.

"Oh. Then when you were saving me just now, did you give me artificial respiration?" At this Shen Yushu's face flushed slightly. "I've heard that artificial respiration isn't just mouth-to-mouth—you also have to press on the person's chest... So did you take liberties with me?"

"When you woke up, didn't you see what you looked like?" Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. "I don't need artificial respiration to save someone."

"Oh..." Shen Yushu took his words at face value—she did not think Wei Zhao would lie to her—but she felt a faint, tiny pang of disappointment. Arrow Brand Bro clearly could have taken liberties with her, so why hadn't he? Did Arrow Brand Bro not like her?

"My phone's dead. Check whether yours still works, then give Uncle Qing a call and let him know we're safe." Wei Zhao fiddled with his phone a few times, then put it away with regret. It would not power on anymore.

After soaking in seawater that long, any ordinary electronic device would be finished.

"Mine? I didn't bring my phone. I gave it to Sister Yaoyao before the bungee jump..." Shen Yushu said. "Who cares, it's fine. As long as we're not dead, that's what matters. Arrow Brand Bro, I'm a little hungry—is there anything to eat here?"

Wei Zhao truly did not know what to say. He was beginning to understand Gu Mengyao's suffering—because this best friend of hers was simply too much, and not merely "too much" in the ordinary sense...

But Wei Zhao said nothing. Neither Shen Yushu nor Gu Mengyao had eaten anything before, and after all this thrashing about, even the last dregs of stomach acid had been vomited out. How could she not be hungry?

Shen Yushu peered this way and that along the shore, only to discover to her dismay that there was no one here at all—nothing but barren desolation.

This stretch belonged to a danger zone where sharks often prowled, so it had never been developed into a tourist spot. Its desolation was only natural. But Shen Yushu's gaze came to rest on the shark carcass on the beach. "Huh? Arrow Brand Bro, what's that thing? A dead fish?"

"A shark," Wei Zhao said flatly.

"A shark?!" Shen Yushu gave a start and instinctively shrank back, no longer daring to go over and examine it. "Arrow Brand Bro, there are sharks here?"

"Yes. It nearly ate you just now." Wei Zhao smiled. "But I killed it."

"You killed the shark? Oh, really? You're so cool!" Shen Yushu had never imagined that Wei Zhao, dragging her along, had not only swum to shore but also slain a shark. So badass!

"There's nothing to eat here except shark. If you want some, I'll roast it." Wei Zhao had spotted a patch of woods not far from the beach earlier; there ought to be plenty of dry branches to gather, just right for building a fire and roasting fish.

"Shark? Oh, yes, Arrowhead, I've never eaten shark before!" Shen Yushu seemed thrilled at the prospect of eating shark. "What does shark meat taste like? Is it good?"

"Honestly, not very good," said Wei Zhao, who had eaten shark before and had not found it especially tasty. Otherwise, many people would not, after catching a shark, cut off only its fins and toss the meat straight back into the sea.

"Is that so? It's all right, I'm not picky. I can eat anything." Shen Yushu would have been satisfied with any food at that moment. Her stomach was completely empty, and it was complaining loudly.

Wei Zhao nodded and made to go gather dry branches. After two steps he turned back and instructed her, "Don't wander off, and don't go into the sea."

If one shark could appear here, a whole school of them was not out of the question. Wei Zhao did not want to come back and find nothing left of Shen Yushu but a pile of bones.

"I know. I'll wait for you here!" Shen Yushu sat on the beach hugging her knees and waved at Wei Zhao with a grin. "Don't worry, Arrowhead. I'll be good!"

Shen Yushu was suddenly seized by an illusion, as though she were a child playing house again. She felt like a wife seeing her husband off, listening to his reminders, then waiting at home without a care for his return that evening.

A happiness she had never known welled up from the bottom of Shen Yushu's heart, sweet and a little bashful. Watching Wei Zhao's receding figure, she found that although he was not especially imposing and even a little slight, he looked extraordinarily reassuring in her eyes. It was a sense of security.

If I could stay here forever with Arrowhead, it would probably be fun too, Shen Yushu thought. But that was obviously unrealistic.

Sister Yaoyao seems to like Arrowhead too. Ah... Shen Yushu sighed softly.

She was still lost in these idle thoughts when Wei Zhao returned, a bundle of branches in his arms.