They surrounded me right after the breakup.

Xiao Xiao brought the second grape to Jiang Han's mouth.

With his fingertips pinching the stem, he gently twisted his wrist, and the grape brushed against Jiang Han's lips.

Lin Yaoyao waded across from the other side of the pool.

Water splashed half a foot high as she grabbed Xiao Xiao's wrist and bent down to bite the grape into her own mouth.

Then she turned around, cupped Jiang Han's face in her hands, and fed him the grapes mouth-to-mouth.

The entire sequence of movements takes no more than three seconds.

Xiao Xiao's hand was still raised in mid-air.

Lin Yaoyao wiped her mouth, leaned back against the pool wall, picked up her sparkling water, and took a sip.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Xiao looked down at her bare fingers, then looked up at Lin Yaoyao's matter-of-fact expression.

His lips moved twice, but no sound came out.

Jiang Han swallowed the grape.

"Honey, which one tastes better?" Lin Yaoyao asked sweetly.

"She feeds you grapes, and you feed her grapes too."

Lin Yaoyao kicked him, this time with a bit of force.

Liu Meng leaned against the opposite bank, the water reaching up to her collarbone.

She watched as Lin Yaoyao bit off the grape from Xiao Xiao's fingertips.

Watching Lin Yaoyao cup Jiang Han's face in her hands, and watching Jiang Han swallow the grapes as his Adam's apple bobbed.

It only took a few seconds.

The pool water temperature seemed to have suddenly risen several degrees, and Liu Meng felt a tightness in her chest.

She stood up, supporting herself on the edge of the pool, water cascading down her shoulders.

The thin straps of the dark green swimsuit clung to the shoulder blades, forming two dark lines when wet.

"I'm going to soak in the pool next door for a while."

Liu Meng turned around and stepped onto the steps, holding onto the stone edge to steady herself.

Then, without looking back, he walked around the artificial hill and disappeared around the corner of the bamboo forest.

Qiu Siyao looked at Liu Meng's back, then at the three people remaining in the pool.

Xiao Xiao was still standing in front of Jiang Han, Lin Yaoyao was leaning against him on the left, and Shen Qingning was sitting directly opposite him.

She put down her sparkling water and walked around the pool to the right side of Jianghan.

I placed my fingers on his shoulder, pressed my fingertips into his trapezius muscle, found the acupoint, and gradually increased the pressure.

"Honey, it's so hard down there! How long has it been since you stretched?"

"I forgot." Jiang Han closed his eyes.

Shen Qingning moved over from the opposite side.

She pulled Jiang Han's left leg out of the water and placed it on her knee, then pushed it up her calf with both hands.

Her technique was lighter than Qiu Siyao's, but the pressure on the outside of the Achilles tendon was very precise.

That's what she learned from the rehabilitation therapist after she got injured while filming an action scene.

Lin Yaoyao blinked.

She had just single-handedly intercepted Xiao Xiao's grapes, and Qiu Siyao and Shen Qingning simultaneously filled in, blocking all the gaps.

The three men surrounded Jiang Han, covering his shoulders, back, and calves—every possible spot was occupied.

Xiao Xiao was squeezed two steps away.

The water was up to her waist, and the steam dampened the stray hairs on her forehead, which stuck to her temples.

"This is my family's pond."

"Hmm?" Lin Yaoyao didn't even look up.

"I organized this whole thing."

"SO?"

"The resort belongs to my family, the hot spring belongs to my family, and I even sourced the grapes myself."

Xiao Xiao clenched her back teeth, squeezing out the sound through her teeth.

"Don't you three have any sense of being guests?!"

Qiu Siyao pressed her thumb into the inside of Jiang Han's shoulder blade without turning her head.

"You didn't even ask for our opinions when you assigned the rooms!"

Jiang Han remained silent, watching the whole thing unfold.

His two large hands were naturally busy, taking things out and making the girls around him giggle.

Xiao Xiao stood in the middle of the pool, her mouth puffed out in anger.

She took a deep breath, swept her wet bangs behind her head, and plopped down into the water.

Water splashed all over Lin Yaoyao's face.

Oops, my hand slipped.

Xiao Xiao looked up and put on that standard innocent smile again.

Playing on home turf, she refused to believe it.

……

7 p.m., private room at the resort's Chinese restaurant.

Xiao Xiao had made arrangements in advance.

The round table in the private room was replaced with a rectangular Japanese-style low table.

The cypress wood tabletop has a grain that gleams with a pale golden sheen under warm light.

Each person has a set of handmade underglaze tableware in front of them, with chopstick rests made of half a bamboo section, and dipping dishes and small bowls arranged in a crescent shape around the main plate.

The first dish served was sea urchin chawanmushi, with a pinch of freshly grated wasabi on the shell.

The sashimi platter features five types of tuna belly with neatly cut fat marbling.

Peony shrimp are shelled but the tails are left on, and the shrimp meat appears translucent under light.

The grilled dish was seared Wagyu beef tongue, thickly sliced ​​into bite-sized pieces, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and served with half a roasted lemon.

The main dish was sea urchin rice cooked in a clay pot. When the lid was lifted, the steam filled the entire private room with a delicious aroma.

Xiao Xiao sat in the main seat, with Jiang Han on her left and Lin Yaoyao on her right.

Qiu Siyao and Shen Qingning sat next to Lin Yaoyao, while Liu Meng sat second to the left of Jiang Han.

As the host, Xiao Xiao clapped her hands toward the door after seeing that the dishes had been served almost completely.

The waiter pushed in a small cart with two bottles of red wine on it.

The bottleneck was wrapped with a white label that read 2000.

Xiao Xiao stood up, walked to the cart, took out a bottle, and held up the bottom of the bottle to show everyone the label.

"I stole it from my dad's wine cellar, Château Margaux. He'd kept it for over ten years, but he couldn't bear to open it. You're lucky to get it today!"

"Minimum three drinks per person, not a single drop less!"

Xiao Xiao handed the wine bottle to the waiter to open it.

The red wine was poured into the decanter, and the deep ruby ​​red liquid clung to the glass.

Xiao Xiao picked up the decanter and personally poured glasses for everyone, in order from left to right.

When it was Liu Meng's turn, she poured very slowly, the wine sliding gently down the side of the glass without spilling a single drop.

Xiao Xiao held the wine glass out to Liu Meng with both hands. "Try it, it's not bitter."

Liu Meng took the cup and took a sip.

The tannins are indeed soft, and the fruit aroma is very strong.

But she couldn't taste any fruitiness in it; her mind was filled with images of grapes from the hot spring.

Xiao Xiao poured herself the last glass, then stood up, holding the glass.

"First drink, thank you sisters for joining me! Cheers!"

She tilted her head back and finished drinking.

Lin Yaoyao hesitated upon smelling the aroma of the wine, but seeing Qiu Siyao and Shen Qingning sipping their drinks, she simply followed suit.

If my sisters aren't going to back down, neither can I!

As Xiao Xiao sat down, she glanced at her wine glass out of the corner of her eye; there was no color clinging to the glass.

Hehe, want to have a drinking contest with me?

My mother drinks grape juice mixed with soda water.