Chapter 44

Recently, Xie Yunfei felt spring breeze proud. He thought his charm was indeed invincible. Even if Xie Chengyu met him, he would have no chance at all. Wasn't it that Xie Chengyu's beautiful female employee Lan Xi took the initiative to apply for a transfer to his side as an assistant after being provoked by him? After he gets her and plays with her, wouldn't it be just around the corner?

Of course, this was not the most exhilarating thing for Xie Yunfei.

He had always been scolded by Xie Jing for not working hard and unable to make achievements. But this time, it was as if heaven wanted to help him. Xie Yunfei was given a big gift at a dinner party a few days ago—he met Wei Zhen, an important client of Xie Chengyu’s company.

Over drinks, Xie Yunfei quickly learned about the strength of Wei Zhen’s company. He also learned from other channels the reason why Xie Chengyu gave up the good cooperation.

He almost laughed out loud. What a 24k pure gold fool was Xie Chengyu?

For a big client like Wei Zhen who paid on time, he just wanted to have some fun with women. Why not just satisfy him?

Xie Chengyu didn't want the money, but he did!

It was just about arranging a female employee with decent looks to receive him. In the company, couldn't they find a female employee without money or power? As for what happened during the reception, Xie Yunfei felt that everything could be negotiated. After all, he had received Wei Zhen's order, which was tens of millions in profits. Taking out 10 or 20 million from it and giving it to the female employee, how could the deal not be reached?

It was just that the contract he had been waiting for did not take the initiative to find him at all. Wei Zhen even blacklisted his contact information.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Boss Xie, I contacted Mr. Wei, and he said to forget about the contract. He said he would pay the medical expenses himself and it was kind enough from him to swallow this dark loss. I don't know what exactly happened, but I heard that Mr. Wei was beaten up with fractures all over his body and is currently hospitalized. But what does this have to do with us?"

Xie Yunfei also didn't know what this had to do with them, but in order to get close to Wei Zhen, he had treated Wei Zhen to dinner and drinks before, and had spent a lot of money down the drain. But fortunately, every disappointment is a blessing. Although his career was frustrated, Xie Yunfei had never failed with women. After a while, he received a call from Lan Xi. The other party asked him to go to the beach together on the weekend.

What did it mean for two people to go to the beach on the weekend?

Wasn't it a further suggestion?

Wearing a bikini and applying sunscreen on the beach, blowing the sea breeze, having an ambiguous look in the eyes, how ambiguous could it be. Hugging the waist on the beach, drinking little cocktails, wouldn't the relationship continue to develop at night?

Xie Yunfei didn't hesitate for a second. He already had several plans to take Lan Xi down in one fell swoop, and readily agreed to her invitation.

**

That weekend, Xie Chengyu arrived at the beach early in the morning.

Cao An was very puzzled by this: "Wasn't there still an email to deal with in the morning? The preparation work has been done by the administrative department. We don't actually need to come so early."

Xie Chengyu neither affirmed nor denied: "Nothing, coming to the seaside to blow the sea breeze, I can also reply to emails here, get close to nature."

"But looking at the phone screen under such glaring sunlight is bad for your eyes!"

"No." Xie Chengyu was very sure. "The outdoor light is very good for the eyes, and the light supplements vitamin D3, which can supplement calcium and prevent osteoporosis when old."

"But your eyes look like they can't stand it anymore, I see they are red..."

"No way."

After Xie Chengyu finished speaking, under Cao An’s gaze, he forcibly maintained his composure and restrained himself from rubbing his already sore eyes with his hands.

Fortunately, the email was quickly replied, and some new employees of Xinchen had arrived on the beach.

But Lan Xi was not here.

Xie Chengyu didn't know what was going on with himself. Cao An was right. He didn't need to arrive at the beach so early, but on a rare morning when he could sleep in lazily, his heart was driven by a mysterious force, and he got up early. Then his hands and feet seemed to have a will of their own. When he reacted again, his feet were already standing on the beach in front of him.

It must be his usual discipline that made him get up early.

The few new Xinchen employees who arrived early brought their girlfriends or boyfriends. After laughing and greeting Xie Chengyu, they held hands in pairs and walked slowly along the long coastline.

It was originally stipulated by Xie Chengyu that family members or friends could be brought, but now he felt a little regretful.

Because when thinking of couples and love, Xie Chengyu inevitably thought of Lan Xi. In fact, it was only one day since he last saw her, but Xie Chengyu felt like years had passed.

Xinchen and Xin'an had independent office buildings, and now there was basically no business cooperation, so Xie Chengyu didn't get any news about Lan Xi during the day.

However, the less so, the more uneasy he became.

Xie Chengyu knew very well what kind of person Xie Yunfei was. Lan Xi looked so beautiful, and she was even willing to cooperate in the car, plus her naive perception of social interaction and interpersonal relationships. Who knew how Xie Yunfei had taken advantage of her in just one day.

Of course, Lan Xi was an adult and an independent individual. Even if she indulged herself after the breakup, it was her freedom. But Xie Chengyu's mood was inexplicably complicated.

From his point of view, after being rejected by him, Lan Xi did not pester him again, which was a good thing, but—

Xie Chengyu felt that he didn't seem to want to see Lan Xi like this at all.

He was very unhappy.

Because Lan Xi was not a bad girl. Her bumpy life in the first half of her life was gloomy enough, and she deserved a brighter future.

Xie Chengyu hoped to see Lan Xi and hoped that Lan Xi could be within his sight to ensure that she was safe.

But at least he didn’t have to worry about it today, because she would come to participate in the company team building event.

But why was she so slow?

Wasn't she quite fast before?

Other employees of Xinchen had almost arrived, so why hadn't she arrived yet?

"Lan Xi!"

Xie Chengyu was wandering in his thoughts. With Liang Di's voice, he looked towards the not too far place and finally saw Lan Xi's figure—

She wore a comfortable pink sportswear, with a pair of sneakers on her feet, her hair tied in a ponytail, full of grace and vigor, beautiful and a little different from usual, fresh and cute.

Very beautiful.

But apparently, Xie Chengyu was not the only one who thought so. Around him, several single male employees also looked at Lan Xi with the same appreciative eyes.

"Cao An, I see Meng Xin and the others have nothing to do now. Let them be responsible for taking inventory of drinks, confirming the preparation list of ingredients, and make some extra purchases of sunscreen."

Cao An agreed, and soon walked towards those few idle male employees. Soon, these male employees who were idle scattered to work.

There were so many people on the beach, so many men standing together, it was naturally hotter. No wonder the air was so thin just now.

Now that people were gone, Xie Chengyu indeed felt refreshed.

He looked at Lan Xi again, but before he could feel refreshed for a few more seconds, Xie Chengyu's attention was attracted by a figure behind Lan Xi— The man wore comfortable couple sportswear as well, and the exact same couple sneakers as Lan Xi’s, even the sun hats were couple ones.

Xie Chengyu looked at the coming person and could not believe his eyes.

"Xie Chengyu!" Not only was the perpetrator not ashamed at all, but he even waved his hand enthusiastically when he saw Xie Chengyu and greeted him, "It's a coincidence that I have a date but don't know where to go. Your beach team building event happened to enthusiastically invite me, so I'm here!"

When she said this, she pointed to the man next to her: "You said you wanted a livelier atmosphere, so I thought about it and called Boss Xie to liven things up for you too."

Lan Xi said with a smile again, "Don't be so surprised to see me. I have always been so thoughtful." After speaking, she patted Xie Chengyu on the shoulder, "Don't thank me."

"......"

Before Xie Chengyu could react, he saw Lan Xi look around the beach environment, revealing a leader’s satisfied look after inspection: "It's not bad here." She smiled at Xie Chengyu again, "You organized it quite well."

Yes, very good.

Not only finding someone to come, but finding Xie Yunfei.

"Ah! There's ice cream over there! I'm going to get one!"

Lan Xi was quickly distracted by the ice cream, leaving only Xie Cheng and Xie Yunfei looking at each other.

"Cheng'an is going bankrupt? Reduced to needing to take advantage of Chengxin's employee benefits to go on dates?"

Xie Cheng threw out these words and walked away.

Xie Yunfei was also completely unprepared for everything happening in front of him. This was clearly not the romantic beach date he had imagined. What was Lan Xi thinking bringing him to a team building event!

Not only did he have to endure Xie Cheng's disdain and mockery, but many Chengxin employees were also casting suspicious glances at him, wondering why he was there.

But Xie Yunfei's troubles were clearly just beginning, as he soon realized that his retribution was only just starting —

"I now declare the Chengxin Technology 'Seas the Day · Walking the Good Road' team building event officially begun! Before we start the barbecue and free activities, we will first have everyone participate in beach cleanup on this golden beach, to better promote environmental awareness and showcase Chengxin Technology's consistent sense of social responsibility and employees' positive image of giving back!"

The event host kept rambling enthusiastically: "Oh, Chairman Xie just added a bonus: for this beach cleanup activity, gifts will be awarded at the end based on number of pieces of trash collected! The top performer can get a one-year all-you-can-eat dinner voucher for the Ritz Hotel!"

...

Xie Yunfei just wanted to roll his eyes. Who could tell him why this crappy team building activity even involved picking up trash?!

He looked at the cleanup supplies and tools they were given and was at a complete loss for words.

He had styled his hair, sprayed on cologne, picked out his swimsuit, and even applied a face mask this morning, only for this?

But it was fine, he didn't have to participate in this team building activity. He could just take Lan Xi away. His charm certainly couldn't lose to picking up trash, right?

Yet reality seemed intent on slapping him in the face. Xie Yunfei tried every trick up his sleeve to get Lan Xi to ditch the trash pickup and go off with just him, but Lan Xi directly refused —

"Then go play by yourself! I want to pick up trash!"

...

**

Seeing Xie Yunfei's embarrassed expression in the distance, Xie Cheng felt his mood improve a little. Indeed, as soon as he announced rewards for the person who collected the most trash, Lan Xi immediately rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

Nothing was more attractive to Lan Xi than a year's all-you-can-eat dining voucher.

From the moment he had the host make that announcement, Xie Cheng clearly saw Lan Xi's eyes light up eagerly — she couldn't see anything else now.

Her enthusiasm for food really was...

Xie Cheng couldn't help but recall his shock the first time he took Lan Xi to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Although she had a slender figure, her appetite rivaled that of competitive eaters in eating broadcasts. He smiled involuntarily.

At this moment, she was seriously combing the beach under the sun, diligently searching for trash.

In fact, the beach cleanup environmental theme this time was just something the administrative staff had tacked on for publicity when planning the team building activities of eating, drinking and having fun to let employees relax. At the same time, it allowed them to generate some positive corporate image news. Xie Cheng had also separately donated charity funds under the company's name to related environmental protection organizations. As for the current trash pickup, employees could participate if interested, but it wasn't mandatory.

These were almost unspoken rules in the workplace that most employees followed. After picking up a few bottles and cans to throw away, most people had washed their hands clean and were now blowing in the sea breeze.

The only one still seriously and wholeheartedly picking up trash was Lan Xi.

Yes, Lan Xi had always been unaware of many of the unspoken rules in the workplace and life. She had a kind of naive silliness, not understanding implied meanings, only the most straightforward language. Her heart didn't have the many twists and turns, so when told to pick up trash to protect the environment with rewards, she truly devoted herself wholeheartedly to picking up trash.

It was a hot sunny day today, and as time passed, the sunlight grew more scorching. Lan Xi’s fair face had turned red from the heat, and Xie Cheng could see beads of sweat continuously forming and trickling down her jawline. Yet she only pursed her lips tightly, quietly persisting in picking up the carelessly discarded aluminum cans on the beach one by one.

Xie Yunfei had initially pretended to participate half-heartedly, but his unexercised body soon couldn’t take it anymore. Xie Cheng saw impatience appear on his face. Sure enough, he soon made up an excuse to slip away to a nearby sunshade to take shelter from the heat. And perhaps it was Xie Yunfei’s innate feeling of romantic abandon, but before long after standing under the sunshade he was already chatting up a woman wearing a sexy bikini with an incredible figure.

What kind of man with such poor health and personality could Lan Xi have decided to use as her stand-in?

If you like me, why eat such a cheap, inferior substitute meal?

Xie Yunfei was now engrossed in conversation with the hot girl, completely forgetting about his surroundings, while Lan Xi walked further down the beach persistently and seriously picking up bottles.

Xie Cheng felt mixed emotions churning inside him, and his feet seemed to move toward Lan Xi on their own accord.

But what would he do when he got over there?

Xie Cheng didn’t know either.

Lan Xi liked him, liked him so much that after being rejected she had hurt herself to escape reality, ruining her body to find a substitute to digest the bitterness in her heart. So what could Xie Cheng change by going over?

It would be better to rip off the bandage quickly, to let her accept it faster, get over it faster, and stay away from trash like Xie Yunfei faster.

She was picking up trash now anyway, which was still better than being with trash.

So Xie Cheng slowly followed behind Lan Xi, matching her pace as they walked along the beach. He also held the beach cleanup tools and, just like Lan Xi, picked up the trash others had discarded on the beach.

With the pressure from multiple fronts in the days leading up to the meteorological system going online, Xie Cheng's emotions had remained very tense. Even coming to the beach today for team building, he still felt rather irritable. However, right now, drenched in sweat in the scorching sun, picking up trash and blowing in the sea breeze while listening to the sound of the waves and tides lapping at the beach, Xie Cheng suddenly and unexpectedly felt a sense of calm.

Picking up bottles at this slow pace didn’t actually seem to be something unbearable.

But Xie Cheng’s tranquility didn’t last very long before he was interrupted by the sound of screaming —

"Help! Save my boyfriend! He got swept away by the waves!"

Following the shouts, Xie Cheng looked up to find that the previously peaceful beach was now clearly chaotic and frenzied. A girl who looked like she had narrowly escaped drowning was deathly pale as she desperately sought help —

"Please, my boyfriend and I were floating in the water surfing just now. The sea surface seemed very calm, but suddenly a rush of water came over which immediately separated us. I barely managed to grab the surfboard and get pushed back to shore by the waves, but my boyfriend hasn't come back. I watched as he got swept out to sea. Can any of you go save him?!"

There were also a few guys holding surfboards around the girl with helpless looks on their faces. "I just saw your boyfriend," one of them said. "But the waves were too big. I wanted to save him but nearly got swept away myself."

"You really can't save him. You two ran into a rip current just now. Your boyfriend has likely already been swept out to the open ocean. You need to contact professional rescue services! Let me call the police first!"

The girl was nearly crying now: "But it'll be too late waiting for professional rescue services!"

The girl ran towards Lan Xi again. Xie Cheng followed her gaze to see that not far behind Lan Xi was a muscular man walking. The girl was evidently trying to seek his help, but after a few exchanges, he showed a look of difficulty and clearly turned her down.

Perhaps desperate for any help, or thinking Lan Xi was that man's companion, the panicking girl suddenly grabbed Lan Xi's arm pleading for help.

Although she was still asking for help, despair was evident on the girl's face. She likely no longer expected to get any positive response from Lan Xi. Xie Cheng felt regretful, as his own swimming skills were poor. He also deeply understood the danger of rip currents, so he couldn't recklessly attempt a rescue himself. He had just been about to go over to comfort the girl and help extricate Lan Xi when he saw Lan Xi chat with the girl briefly before suddenly neatly putting down the large bag of trash she had picked up.

She looked around and quickly spotted Xie Cheng. "Xie Cheng!"

Lan Xi revealed a "That's great!" kind of relieved smile, beaming to reveal eight teeth: "You help me keep an eye on the trash I picked up!"

At this moment, not only was her face flushed red, even her petite nose was also sunburned red, because she was focused on picking up trash under the raging sun, with sweat beads clinging to her eyelashes as well, looking somewhat disheveled. In order to avoid the glaring sunlight, her eyes curved into a long crescent shape, with what seemed like a reflection of the entire sun in her pupils.

Xie Cheng's heart seemed to be pierced by some invisible arrow.

However, before he could discern this emotion, Lan Xi suddenly turned and walked towards the ocean waves. Looking back, she smiled at the crying and panic-stricken girl—

"Wait for me, I'll go save him."

After dropping these words, Lan Xi dove straight into the sea. After a few waves, Xie Cheng saw her tiny figure being completely obscured by the huge wave.

It felt almost instantaneous that Xie Cheng lost all sound around him. His mind went blank, as if becoming a vacuum. After standing stunned for a moment, he finally reacted with numb hands and feet to what Lan Xi had just done.

But it was too late for everything.

As if just waking from a dream, Xie Cheng frantically ran to the shoreline, but Lan Xi had already been pushed far out to the open ocean by the waves.

Even very good swimmers would find it extremely difficult to survive in a rip current, let alone attempt to rescue someone from it.

This fool!

Xie Cheng completely lost his earlier composure. He borrowed a surfboard from a passing surf instructor and intended to rush into the sea as well.

Lan Xi had just left, so there might still be hope if he hurried to catch up!

"I'll give you guys money, as much as you want. Please help me rescue the girl who just left."

Xie Cheng had never been more grateful in this moment for the wealth he possessed. He desperately tried to stay calm and successfully called two more surf instructors to prepare to enter the sea together and rescue Lan Xi.

...

"She's back! Saved her! They're fine!"

But just as Xie Cheng was about to rush into the waters without regard for anything, someone suddenly shouted in pleasant surprise.

Xie Cheng reflexively looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tremendously thrilling scene—in the churning waves, Lan Xi was struggling to swim against the current, and grasped firmly in one of her hands was an unconscious man she had found.

She really managed to locate and retrieve the person!

By now, Lan Xi had already carried the person out of the rip current area and was strenuously swimming forward. Xie Cheng no longer hesitated and immediately entered the water himself. The surf instructors were also encouraged and took action, eventually catching up to Lan Xi as she neared the shore.

With everyone working together, the unconscious man was soon rescued and his girlfriend almost cried tears of joy. A few people surrounded the man and started CPR first aid procedures, some were dialing 120, and some were taking videos or contacting the police. The scene was chaotic.

In contrast, the area around Lan Xi seemed deserted.

Because she was in good condition while the other rescued man clearly needed emergency care, naturally the focus of the crowd in such an urgent situation would be on the weaker patient who needed more assistance.

However, watching Lan Xi alone wiping the water from her forehead looking nonchalant, Xie Cheng felt his emotions surging wildly like a thousand horses crossing his heart.

She acted so casually as if she didn't just risk her life to save a stranger, appearing utterly composed as if she had simply gone for a dip in the sea.

She seemed confused about why Xie Cheng was also drenched. Glancing up at the sky she asked, "It didn't even rain earlier right?"

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was just now!" Xie Cheng tried his best to restrain his emotions. "That was a rip current!"

"But I'm very strong you know. Didn't I safely bring the person back?"

"Even if you're strong, your first priority should always be protecting yourself!"

However, Xie Cheng felt frustrated and angry inside while the culprit Lan Xi didn't seem concerned at all. "I'm not that weak. I'm very powerful so I don't need protection."

At the same time, under the CPR procedures, the man who nearly drowned briefly had regained consciousness, and cheers erupted from the beach. One of the surf instructors who performed CPR was already starting to take credit—

"Actually I also knew the rip current was dangerous, but seeing the situation just now, if I didn't jump in, that man would definitely have died. Luckily our water skills are great from learning to surf and our rescue skills are very proficient too. Every instructor at our club gets trained for these kinds of things..."

In this day and age, there would always be people more interested in showing off and taking opportunities to "put on an impromptu performance", when it was clearly Lan Xi who risked her life to haul the man back from the open ocean. Yet now, the one enjoying the fruits of victory and praise was someone else.

Even when selflessly risking one's life to save others, gratitude may not (necessarily) be received.

Lan Xi gazed towards the noisy beach. Her previously calm expression sank.

Indeed, even though she probably hadn't considered much when plunging into danger to rescue the man, it would still be very difficult for anyone to accept this kind of outcome. Perhaps today's events could teach Lan Xi a lesson.

Xie Cheng felt this was a good opportunity for some on-site education. If she wanted to demand some justice, he would be willing to accompany her. But just as Xie Cheng assumed Lan Xi was about to approach the rescued man, she instead stomped over to Xie Cheng in anger―

"Xie Cheng! My trash is gone!"

She fumed, "What happened to the trash you promised to keep an eye on for me before I went to rescue that person just now? Now it's all gone!"

Lan Xi truly seemed furious. Disregarding her drenched state, she bristled like an angry wet cat, "You owe me!"

"A whole bag that big! All gone!"

Clearly her first concern after risking her life to save someone was not herself, but rather the trash.

This was a trivial detail Xie Cheng hadn't paid attention to at all. Now looking towards where the trash had been placed, the previously bulging bag full of discarded bottles was indeed nowhere to be seen.

It had likely been taken away by beach cleaners or scavenging elders... Lan Xi was hopping mad, like a cat getting its tail stomped on. She could dive into a rip current to save a stranger without batting an eye, yet losing a bag of trash now made her reveal an indignant and unwilling expression demanding justice―

"Xie Cheng, you owe me!"

"Such a huge bag! All lost!"

Dripping wet all over after the rescue but prioritizing not her own sorry state first, but rather the trash and prize coupons she could have gotten was unexpected.

Xie Cheng suddenly felt like laughing a little.

He fetched towels from company admin and draped one over Lan Xi's head.

Lan Xi kept scolding and griping, but Xie Cheng suddenly felt his mood lifting.

Lan Xi had never been an ordinary person. Sometimes she was inconvenient and clumsy, unaware of the hidden rules in society or any subtleties, always focusing on the wrong things, prone to making trouble everywhere and causing all kinds of unexpected situations. She was very troublesome, yet also unexpectedly pure and simple.

But perhaps that was fine too.

Who said you must care about being thanked after rescuing someone?

Who said you can't care more about a bag of trash and prize coupons?

This world already has more than enough rules and constraints. Perhaps the "smart" people forced to abide by them were the truly unintelligent ones.

Lan Xi possessed a sort of selfish disregard for other people's life and death that made one feel she was exceptionally obstinate and troublesome, yet also unable to resist wanting to get closer to her at the same time.

On the surface she seemed no different from those around her, but was actually completely unlike them.

Sticking out awkwardly as if an alien on this planet, yet still making Xie Cheng oddly want to approach her.