Chapter 279 - A Lifetime

Chapter 279: Chapter 286: A LifetimeLi Yifei had not expected such an accident to occur, but his reaction was quick enough, as he stretched out both arms and directly caught Su Mengxin. Under the force of gravity, they both sank beneath the surface of the sea until he kicked his legs repeatedly and brought them both back up to the surface again.

"Hey, are you okay?" Li Yifei emerged above the water and immediately asked Su Mengxin with urgency.

At this moment, Su Mengxin was clinging tightly to Li Yifei’s neck, her entire body cradled in his arms, still shaken. After catching her breath, she complained reproachfully, "It’s all your fault, making me fall down like this."

Her tone and expression were clearly flirtatious, causing Li Yifei’s heart to flutter even more. Feeling even more vulnerable, he avoided eye contact with Su Mengxin and said, "Be more careful this time."

"What do you mean ’careful’? It was because you didn’t support me from behind. This time you’re not allowed to let go."

"Alright, alright, I won’t let go this time."

The smartest thing about Su Mengxin was that she knew how to give someone an out, and now she had not only provided Li Yifei with a way to save face but also gave him a very good reason to touch her.

However, when Li Yifei helped her climb over the reef and still seemed reluctant to touch her unnecessarily, Su Mengxin rolled her eyes at him and said, "Stop being so cautious. You already held me, what part of me haven’t you touched already?"

Li Yifei gave an awkward smile and decisively let go of his inhibitions, first wrapping his arms around Su Mengxin’s waist, lifting her so she could grab onto the reef, then embracing her lower legs, and finally letting her step onto his shoulders, smoothly helping her onto the top.

Once Su Mengxin was steady on top, she said to Li Yifei, "You should rinse off too. Let’s head back early; I’ve been soaked all day, and I feel like my body is swollen."

After soaking in the seawater all day, Li Yifei’s robust body felt uncomfortable, let alone Su Mengxin’s delicate skin. So he didn’t dawdle any longer, quickly washed up, wearing only his pants, and made himself presentable with whatever means available.

By the time he climbed onto the reef, Su Mengxin was already dressed. The two walked along the sharp rocks toward the shore, both barefoot and finding it quite difficult to move.

Li Yifei hesitated for a moment, then offered, "I might as well carry you across."

Su Mengxin nodded and leaned onto Li Yifei’s back, asking, "Can your feet handle it?"

"Don’t worry, I’ve got calluses on the soles of my feet. This kind of path isn’t a problem."

"Then I won’t be polite."

Carrying Su Mengxin on his back, Li Yifei’s hands supported her thighs, and by now, such physical contact didn’t faze him at all.

Despite Li Yifei’s calluses, walking over the spiky reef still hurt. Once on the road, when he intended to put Su Mengxin down, he discovered she had fallen asleep on his back.

Li Yifei found this situation both amusing and frustrating. That time he went to protect Su Mengxin, she had fallen asleep in such a dangerous situation on him, and now she had fallen asleep again. He wondered if his back was particularly similar to her bed at home, or if this woman was naturally a heavy sleeper. However, considering the physical strain she faced throughout the day, it made sense that she was tired enough to sleep.

Li Yifei didn’t call out to Su Mengxin. Instead, he walked along the coastal road. This place was quite isolated; although there was a road, no cars passed by at this time, and he had to carry her for over half an hour before he found a coin-operated public phone booth, which was the dwelling he had seen from the sea.

The presence of a phone booth made things easier, sparing him from having to explain the situation to anyone. Li Yifei still had his wallet, thankfully along with a few coins, which often proved useful, despite how unnecessary it might seem to carry money around.

At this time, there were a few people who could come to pick him up, but not many knew about Su Mengxin. Hence, Li Yifei decided to call Xu Yingying.

"Hello!" It took a while for Xu Yingying to answer the call.

"It’s Li Yifei. I’m in a bit of a situation and need your help."

"What’s wrong?" Xu Yingying’s voice instantly rose, clearly filled with concern.

Li Yifei truly felt a warmth inside; no matter how much he resisted accepting Xu Yingying’s feelings, her concern managed to bridge the gap between them. He smiled and replied, "Nothing serious, just that where I am there’s no transportation. I need to trouble you to come pick me up."

"Tell me where you are, and I’ll come to get you immediately."

"Okay!" Li Yifei looked at the phone booth, which conveniently had an address, and he gave her the location.

"It’ll take about half an hour for me to get there. Don’t wander off, or I might not find you."

"I got it. I’ll wait right here at the phone booth for you."

After hanging up, Li Yifei turned to look at Su Mengxin, who was peacefully sleeping on his shoulder, showing no signs of waking up.

Li Yifei just couldn’t bring himself to wake her and decided to stand there, carrying her for a full half-hour until Xu Yingying’s car arrived.

As soon as the car stopped, the passenger door was pushed open first, and Xu Shanshan rushed out like the wind, urgently asking, "Brother-in-law, what’s wrong with you?"

Li Yifei knew Xu Shanshan would definitely follow, so he didn’t bother telling Xu Yingying to leave her behind, because Xu Shanshan wouldn’t miss it for the world. He chuckled lightly and said, "I and she fell into the sea accidentally."

"Fell into the sea... Who is she?" Xu Shanshan, seeing that Li Yifei was alright, just a bit disheveled, immediately shifted her attention to Su Mengxin.

Before Li Yifei could answer, Xu Yingying hurried over and asked, "How is Chairman Su?"

Li Yifei smiled and said, "She’s fine, just exhausted and asleep."

Xu Yingying breathed a sigh of relief and urged, "Then let’s get in the car quickly."

Carrying Su Mengxin, Li Yifei got into the back of the car, settled her in, and even though Su Mengxin didn’t wake up, her body slipped and she ended up lying on Li Yifei’s legs, letting out a soft hum. Then she wrapped her arms around Li Yifei’s waist and continued to sleep soundly.

Both Xu Yingying and Xu Shanshan also got into the car, turning their heads to look at them with equally strange expressions on their faces.

Li Yifei hurriedly explained, "Don’t get the wrong idea, she’s just too tired, we’re totally innocent."

Xu Shanshan laughed out loud and said, "Brother-in-law, the fact that you’re explaining it to us means you really care about our opinions."

Xu Yingying gave her sister a glare and said, "He doesn’t care about us, he cares about me, please be clear about that."

Xu Shanshan giggled and said, "Whether he cares about you, or me, or both of us, huh?"

Seeing that the sisters were about to bicker again, Li Yifei quickly interjected, "Let’s just hurry and get back, I’m also dead tired."

Xu Yingying immediately turned her head to start the car, while Xu Shanshan curiously asked about their experience. Li Yifei roughly narrated to Xu Shanshan the day’s events, which made her emotions ebb and flow with the story. When he got to the part where Song Ziqiao hit them with the speedboat, Xu Shanshan was so angry she stared wide-eyed, cursing Ziqiao nonstop. But when Li Yifei mentioned that he had punctured their boat’s fuel tank, stranding them at sea, Xu Shanshan said Li Yifei was too kind and should have punctured their boat even more, leaving them adrift on the sea.

Upon hearing that Li Yifei and Su Mengxin swam back from such a distance, Xu Shanshan’s face was full of envy, and she pouted, "That’s really romantic, brother-in-law, when will you take me for a swim too?"

Li Yifei gave Xu Shanshan a look and said, "I almost died from exhaustion this time, and you want another go? I’d rather live a couple more years."

"Then let’s swim less, maybe just a hundred or eighty miles."

Li Yifei nearly choked on his own spit, and Xu Shanshan immediately burst into joyful laughter.

The car was filled with laughter and chatter, and Su Mengxin didn’t wake up, sleeping deeply the entire time.

"Yifei, where shall we go now?" Xu Yingying asked.

"Let’s go to my place," Li Yifei replied without hesitation.

"To your home? You’re bringing her home?" Xu Shanshan immediately exclaimed in shock.

"She’s my neighbor."

"Ah, she’s actually your neighbor?" Xu Shanshan glanced at the lying Su Mengxin and couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some sort of plot afoot.

Under Li Yifei’s direction, Xu Yingying drove to the entrance of Li Yifei’s residential area. Carrying Su Mengxin, with Xu Yingying and Xu Shanshan, the twin sisters, following close behind, they reached the door of Li Yifei’s house. Li Yifei had expected Su Mengxin’s bodyguards to show up, but not one appeared, so he had no choice but to carry Su Mengxin into his home. They would wait for her to wake up before sending her back.

Xu Yingying helped Li Yifei place Su Mengxin onto the bed in his bedroom, then the two of them stepped out.

Meanwhile, Xu Shanshan curiously inspected Li Yifei’s home as it was her first time there, eager to see where her admired brother-in-law lived.

"You guys sit down, I’m going to change," Li Yifei said, grabbing some clothes on his way out from the bedroom. After greeting the two, he entered the bathroom.

Wearing a pair of boxers and a tank top, Li Yifei came out to find Xu Yingying and Xu Shanshan seated on the sofa. He handed them drinks and gulped down a bottle of ice-cold mineral water himself.

"Brother-in-law, your place is quite nice, not big, but very tidy. Do you clean up yourself usually?"

Li Yifei took a seat on the sofa, smiled, and said, "At your house, I have to clean up too, so of course, I can’t just leave my own house a mess."

"Hehe, I thought you were just pretending in front of me, turns out you really have such a habit. Brother-in-law, you’re truly great, not many men clean their rooms these days."

Li Yifei broke into a sweat. It seemed in Xu Shanshan’s eyes, his small virtues were magnified infinitely, turning a simple task like cleaning a room into a grand feat.