I endured the humiliation and humiliation while being besieged by the ghost story elder sister.

Knowing they were going to the beach, they were all a little too excited. They got up early in the morning, brushed their teeth, washed up, and went downstairs to the living room.

Xi Ling was in the kitchen making breakfast, while Ya Yu, who was preparing to open the shop, was standing by and helping out.

With the help of Hachiko, Nozomi's workload was greatly reduced. In no time, she brought the prepared breakfasts to the table in the middle of the living room.

"Alright everyone, after breakfast, we'll get ready. Once Sister Ba finishes serving breakfast to our regular customers this morning, we'll meet at the shop entrance as soon as she gets the call. Any objections?"

Sitting on the cushion, Ximiao glanced at the group who were already preparing to eat breakfast and asked this question.

"No objections." ×3

Seeing that Fanxia and Arisa said there was no problem, Ximiao looked at Yashiro sitting next to her.

"I'm fine with that, I'll finish as soon as possible."

After receiving a reassuring pat from Yashiro, Nozomi felt a little relieved and focused her attention on her breakfast.

After a while, after finishing her breakfast, Yashi glanced at the time, then hurriedly got up, went to the entrance to put on her shoes, and went out.

"Speaking of which, she didn't seem to be carrying anything when she left, right? And where's her swimsuit?"

Arisa asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I don't know... maybe it was worn on his body..."

Upon hearing the girl's question, Nozomi shrugged, indicating that she wasn't quite sure either, but she couldn't deny that Hachiko-nee always surprised him.

After breakfast, the group left Nozomi alone in the living room to clean up the dirty dishes, while Honoka and Arisa went upstairs to change into their swimsuits.

But what Nozomi didn't know was...

As soon as they reached the second floor, Arisa nudged Honoka, who was walking next to her, with her elbow and said mysteriously.

"Have you brought anything?"

"Of course~"

Watching her daughter and Fanxia plotting something naughty, Ami curiously leaned closer to listen to what they were doing.

As a result, the two of them acted like thieves, quickly avoiding Ashi when they saw her coming and returning to their room.

Only Ami stood there, stunned, in the empty corridor, scratching her head in confusion and muttering to herself.

"That's weird... Could it be a rebellious phase? Speaking of which, Arisa has always seemed pretty rebellious."

However, Ami didn't take the matter too seriously. She went back to her room and changed into the swimsuit she had bought at the mall.

Downstairs, Ximiao was washing dishes in the kitchen when, for some reason, she felt a chill run down her spine. It was as if her sixth sense was telling her that someone wanted to harm her.

"Hiss... Could it be that I caught a cold? But no way? This is really strange."

After washing the last dirty plate and setting it aside to dry, Ximiao went to the refrigerator, opened the door, took out the nearly empty bottle of milk, and drank a few sips.

This finally calmed down my head, which had been racing with wild thoughts.

"Forget about all this nonsense. Let's go upstairs and change. I guess Sister Ba will be done soon."

Ximiao muttered to herself, then headed upstairs.

Then he heard a series of hurried footsteps echoing in the second-floor corridor, before silence returned.

"What... what's going on?"

Chapter Ten: Stripped Off

"Ugh! So busy! Honestly, Mio doesn't even come to the store to help me... I need to have a good talk with him when we get back!"

Although what she said was true, considering that Xi Ling also had to take care of three other people at home, she quickly gave up on her unrealistic idea.

"If we had a little more money, we could hire a shop assistant to work part-time. The peak tourist season is coming soon, and I'd be swamped if I had to do it all by myself..."

She couldn't help but mutter this to herself, but her hands showed no sign of stopping as she poured the noodles into the sauce bowl and stirred them.

a long time.

Finally, after preparing breakfast for the group of elderly people who had gone out for a walk or to do farm work, Ba Zi got the money, but she felt like her wrists were about to give out...

Having finally gotten a moment of free time to sit down and rest, Yashiro picked up her phone, intending to call Nozomi and the others who were still at home over.

She silently lowered her head and glanced at the sports jacket and shorts she was wearing. Only she knew what kind of swimsuit she was wearing underneath.

Meanwhile, at home, Xi Ling was preparing to change into her swimsuit, but she couldn't find the swim trunks she had bought earlier, even after searching through her room.

"That's strange... I clearly saw it yesterday, it was perfectly fine, inside the suitcase, how could it suddenly disappear?"

Before he could continue searching, to his dismay, Sister Ba called at that very moment.

No choice but to bite the bullet and pick up his phone to answer the call. As he pressed the answer button, he heard Hachiko's voice coming from the other end.

"Hey~ Mio, can you hear me? I'm almost done here. You guys can come over to the shop and meet me now."

"Okay...okay, Sister Baqi, we're coming right now."

After saying that, he hung up the phone, looked at his unusually messy room, sighed silently, and didn't know what to do.

Just then, someone knocked on his door, which startled him.

After regaining her senses, Nozomi called out towards the door.

"Who?"

Then he heard Honoka's voice asking him, "Mio, are you ready yet? It should be almost time to meet up with Ms. Yagami, right?"

For some reason, he could sense a hint of schadenfreude in Fanxia's voice, though it might just be his imagination.

Nozomi couldn't help but think this.

However, he still got out of bed, went to the door, opened it, and honestly told Sister Fan that he couldn't find his swimming trunks.

Then I heard her say, somewhat shocked, "Huh? I don't have swim trunks, what should I do?"

"...I don't know, let's see if there's anywhere I can buy it."

This is how Nozomi answered her question.

However, the moment he finished speaking, Fanxia, ​​who had been standing with her hands behind her back, suddenly stretched out her hand in front of him.

In her hand, she held a very revealing, pure white swimsuit—the last thing Xi Ling wanted to see—and she looked at her with a smile.

"Thankfully, I anticipated this might happen and prepared a backup plan. What do you think, Mio?"

"Not much."

Ximiao's face immediately darkened. Without even thinking, he knew who had sneaked into his room and stolen his swimming trunks.

I'm afraid it's all to make him forget about wearing that mortifying swimsuit again!

Just as Nozomi was about to firmly reject Honoka's suggestion, Arisa suddenly appeared out of nowhere and joined the group trying to persuade him to wear the swimsuit.

"Mio, are you really not going to reconsider? It would look so cute on you~ Don't you want Yasuie to see it too?"

"……In no mood."

No one knows how long he argued with the two at the door of the room, but even Aunt Ashi, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up.

"If we don't leave soon, Yachi will call again to urge us. Let's hurry!"

"..."

a long time.

On the path leading to Ximiao's shop, a group of people, facing the sea breeze, each had a complex mix of emotions, some joyful and some sorrowful.

Xi Ling was wearing a white coat, which looked very thin and only served to cover her body.

His handsome face was marred by a furrowed brow, a clear indication of his distress. A faint blush lingered on his fair skin.

"This place is really nice. Although the sun is quite strong, it's still relatively cool."

Looking at the boundless sea in the distance, Ashi, who was following behind the group, couldn't help but reach out and press her sun hat down, sighing with emotion.

"Mom, you should have brought sunscreen, right? In this kind of weather, if we're only in the sun for a morning, we'll probably get a shade darker, and we might even get sunburned."

Arisa kindly reminded him, but she deliberately spoke so loudly that she was actually speaking to Himo, who was walking ahead without turning her head and seemed to be sulking.

However, it's hard to say what the effect will be; in any case, she didn't see any reaction from Himo.

After walking for a while, they finally saw the shop. The group, whose fair foreheads were already covered in a fine sheen of sweat, quickened their pace.

As the automatic glass door at the store entrance opened, a blast of cold air rushed in, instantly making them feel light and comfortable.

Upon hearing the commotion at the door, Hachiko, who had been sitting behind the counter staring at her phone, looked up.

Upon recognizing Nozomi and the others, she said softly, "You're here~ Why are you so slow? I remember it's not too far to walk here from home."

She looked at the group with some confusion, especially at Xi Ling, whose expression seemed a bit strange, wondering what was wrong with him.

"Well, some things happened, so it took a little longer."

"That's it..."

Seeing that Nozomi didn't seem to want to continue, Hachiko wisely refrained from pressing her for more details.

She slowly got up, stretched, and walked out from behind the counter, speaking to the group of people who had deliberately moved to the air conditioner vent to cool off.

"Take a look at the drinks in the shop and see what you like to drink. Take some and go to the beach. Then I'll lock the shop door and go out with you."

"Good~"

then.

They each took a drink from the refrigerator, went outside the store, and waited for Baqi to finish her work.

After a while, the tall figure came out from inside, locked the door, took the juice from Ximiao, and said softly.

"Alright, let's go."

"By the way, where's your swimsuit, Hachiko-nee?"

"I asked with some curiosity," Hio asked.

"She's wearing it inside."

After this brief interlude, the group walked together toward the beach.

Because it's not peak tourist season yet, there aren't many people on the beach right now. Apart from a few children building sandcastles in the distance, you can't see anyone else.