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

Seeing this, Nozomi couldn't help but sigh and resigned herself to continuing to help inflate the swimming ring.

I don’t know how long it took.

Nozomi instinctively leaned back, and as if anticipating her movements, Arisa, who had appeared behind him at some point, let the boy lie on her soft lap.

Although the two enormous, malevolent figures prevented Hiyo from seeing Arisa's expression, she sensed that Arisa seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

With that thought in mind, Ximiao was able to close her eyes with peace of mind, intending to rest well and wait until her head was no longer dizzy from lack of oxygen before going to play in the water.

However, Fanxia next to her was inflating her swimming ring. After she finished, she couldn't wait to run into the sea with the swimming ring.

Then, as she was constantly being pushed and pulled by the waves, even though she didn't know how to surf, she still experienced the joy of the waves and had a great time.

"Speaking of which... what about Honoka-nee? Did she freeze the seawater?"

Suddenly remembering that Honoka was a Yuki-onna, Nozomi opened her eyes and asked with some concern, "If something really goes wrong, then things will get really messy."

Before he could continue, Arisa was amused by his unrealistic imagination.

"Pfft~ If she really had that ability, she wouldn't have been unable to beat me."

"Eh?"

He seemed to have heard something extraordinary.

So you two really did have a fight!

Chapter Thirty-Five: An Unexpected Encounter

After resting briefly on Arisa's soft, enchanting lap pillow, Nozomi, having regained her energy, walked towards the beach with the girl, each dragging their inflatable swimming rings.

The moment the icy seawater reached his ankles, the boy, wearing swim trunks that clung tightly to his skin, instinctively shivered.

But soon, Nozomi got used to the cold feeling of the seawater and skillfully placed her little yellow duck swimming ring on the surface of the water.

Then he plopped down on it and, using both hands and feet, moved somewhat laboriously into the distance, which amused Arisa, who was watching from the side.

"Do you need my help, Mio?"

Seeing the boy look at her, she quickly wiped the smile off her face and looked at Xi Ling seriously, as if nothing had happened.

Hiyo carefully observed Arisa's expression, but found nothing, nothing that gave him any room to find fault.

then.

Realizing that she probably wouldn't be able to properly surf in the sea with her little yellow duck swimming ring before noon, Xi Ling silently nodded.

This was considered an agreement to what Arisa had just asked for, and that she would help him out.

Then, the girl waved her hand helplessly, walked forward, and pushed the little yellow duck swimming ring, taking Ximiao to the sea some distance from the beach.

Judging by the size of the place, it should be enough for Ximiao to play for quite a while. Then, she imitated Ximiao and pushed hard with both hands, sitting on her swimming ring.

"Alright~ Now, we just need to wait for the waves to come over here."

As she spoke, her fair little hand quietly grasped Xi Ling's little hand beside her. Xi Ling, feeling the touch on her hand, didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Sister Ba and Aunt Ashi, who had disappeared somewhere, were resting behind a rock.

"So, what's your decision regarding that general store? I think Ximiao has already explained it to you, right?"

Ami looked at Ms. Hachiko, who was a head taller than her, with a hint of curiosity, seemingly anticipating her answer.

"Shouldn't this be something that Mio can decide?"

"That's how it should be, but it seems he wants to give you the choice."

"..."

When Hachiko heard this answer, although she had expected it, the corner of her mouth still twitched involuntarily.

In her heart, she was complaining that Nozomi, who always found things troublesome, had left her with this kind of choice, even though she already had the answer in her heart...

Yashi nodded slightly, indicating that she approved of the plan proposed by Asumi, but she still couldn't help asking with some concern.

"After joining the brand, can I still work there?"

"Of course you can~ It just means that the store will go from having only one person working there to having three shifts, which should make things easier~"

Seeing that Yashiro was worried about something, Ami quickly patted her chest, which was tightly wrapped in her swimsuit, and assured her.

After receiving the answer, Yashiro withdrew her gaze and looked behind the reef, where Nozomi was surfing on an inflatable swimming ring with Arisa in the distance.

If doing this would allow her to spend more time with him, even if her conscience was a little uneasy, even if she continued to live under someone else's roof, she wouldn't have the slightest objection.

After a long time.

Having probably gotten tired of playing, Nozomi sat on the little yellow duck swimming ring and floated on the sea with the waves.

The sun in the sky was covered by thick clouds, giving the people on the beach a brief respite from the relentless, scorching sunlight.

Just as Ximiao was pondering what to eat for lunch, a somewhat familiar voice rang out behind him.

"Ah, isn't this Nozomi-kun? What a coincidence~ You're here on the beach too? Where's the others?"

Originally, I was just strolling along the beach hoping to find Nozomi's Kyoko Nishiyama, hoping to get lucky.

By sheer coincidence, she actually saw Himiko sitting on a swimming ring, staring blankly at the distant horizon.

Clearly not expecting to run into Kyoko Nishiyama here, Nozomi was stunned for a moment before turning her head to look at the dark-skinned girl whose gaze was somewhat evasive and who dared not look her in the eye.

"What a coincidence, Nishiyama-kun. If you're looking for Arisa and the others, you'll probably have to wait a while..."

Before Ximiao could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Nishiyama Kyoko. The dark-skinned girl changed from her previous shy demeanor to that of a hunter, staring intently at Ximiao, who was only wearing a pair of tight-fitting swim trunks.

"No, no, no~ I didn't come here to see them, Mio-kun. I have something I want to ask you."

"Eh?"

Upon hearing her words, Nozomi was stunned. In his memory, he was completely unfamiliar with this girl named Kyoko Nishiyama...

Seemingly noticing Nozomi's confusion, Kyoko Nishiyama sighed silently and then sat down on the beach next to Nozomi.

"I want to know, why did you go to Xijing High School all by yourself without saying a word?"

"Well... I don't really know either. I think it was Sister Ba who sent me over?"

Ximiao felt a sudden sharp pain in her head, as if it were preventing her from recalling the past.

very strange……

He couldn't help but think this, but the stinging pain in his head kept preventing him from exploring further back in his memories.

But when faced with one question after another from Kyoko Nishiyama about the past, he had no choice but to answer.

The two chatted idly here, and Nozomi had never been so looking forward to Arisa coming to the rescue.

After an unknown amount of time, at Xishan's invitation, Ximiao put her little yellow duck swimming ring back under her parasol.

Then, at her enthusiastic invitation, I had no choice but to go with Xishan to the food stalls on the shore to have something to eat.

Ximiao kept looking around, trying to find Arisa, or perhaps Hachi and Honoka, so that they could come to the rescue.

Unfortunately, he didn't see a single familiar figure, so Ximiao's little scheme was probably useless.

Meanwhile, after finishing her conversation with Ami, Hachiko swam in the sea with the beautiful woman two or three times. When she finally got to the beach and returned to the parasol, she only saw Nozomi's little yellow duck swimming ring sitting there all alone.

"Strange... Where is Mio? Since the swimming ring is here, she can't still be playing in the sea, right?"

Just like Xi Miao had just done, she looked around but couldn't see Xi Miao anywhere, which made her a little worried.

"They should be fine. They probably went shopping somewhere and will be back in a while."

Asumi, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but speak up to comfort her. Although she was also a little worried about Nozomi's whereabouts, she believed that there was probably no bad problem here.

So she chose to stay here, just in case Nozomi came back and there was no one waiting for him.

As for Yashiro, she put on a coat and went to see if she could find Himiko nearby.

Soon, she saw Ximiao and another girl strolling around in front of the stall, which aroused her curiosity, and she wanted to see what the two of them were doing.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Questions

"Huh? Mom? Why are you all alone under the parasol? Where did Hiyo and Hachiko go?"

Arisa, having had her fill of fun, walked with Honoka back to the campsite they had chosen earlier. She rubbed her flat stomach, seemingly a little hungry.

But when she discovered that only Ximiao's little yellow duck swimming ring was lying there quietly, she couldn't help but ask with concern.

"I don't know. When we came back, Nozomi was nowhere to be found. As for Hachiko, she went to the stall to see if she could find Nozomi."

After getting an answer from her mother, Arisa and Honoka grabbed their coats and headed towards the stalls of the small vendors on the shore.

Meanwhile, Nozomi, unaware that Arisa and the others were approaching, was still awkwardly forcing a smile, unsure how to respond to what Kyoko Nishiyama had said to her.

"Mio-kun, would you like some grilled sausage to satisfy your craving? There's still some time before lunchtime, isn't there..."

"what?"

Following the direction she was pointing, Xi Ling saw a hot dog stand with all kinds of hot dogs and sausages emitting an enticing aroma.

then.

His flat little belly, quite uncooperatively, protested and made a sound, causing a blush to suddenly appear on Ximiao's fair face, as if she felt a little embarrassed.

"Pfft~"

Kyoko Nishiyama couldn't help but laugh out loud, which earned her a fierce glare from Mio, who was standing next to her, as if questioning her about what was so funny.

Not far behind the two, Sister Ba, who had been following them all along, was holding a bright red apple candy about the size of her head and munching on it in small bites.

It's clear that she has no intention of disturbing them. As things stand, it seems that Mio and Kyoko are simply chatting about the past.

Under her supervision, even though the dark-skinned girl kept using past events to provoke Ximiao to recall the past, there wouldn't be the slightest problem.

That's why she can sit here eating candied apples and watching the show with such ease; nothing bad will happen anyway, so it shouldn't matter if she enjoys the entertainment for a while.

"Mio-kun? Why do you seem so distracted? Don't you enjoy browsing these stalls with me?"

Seeing that Xi Ling hadn't shown any interest, even though she was initially excited, she calmed down and noticed that something was wrong with the boy.