Chapter Forty-Six: A Chance Encounter

Thanks to 69 for the generosity, and to all the brothers for their rewards and recommendations. Half-Immortal will do his best to write a good story!

April's appetite remained as formidable as ever; by the end of dinner, she had practically licked her plate clean. Still, she was tactful enough to realize that acting cute or trying to charm Qiu Fengyu would get her nowhere, so after the meal, she headed straight to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Qiu Fengyu, meanwhile, stretched out on the sofa in the living room, watching television. The programs were dull, and before long, he drifted off to sleep. When he woke the next morning, he found someone had thoughtfully draped a blanket over him.

Glancing toward April’s room, he realized that this girl was far from heartless; on the contrary, she might well possess a very sensitive heart. This realization brought Qiu Fengyu a quiet sense of comfort.

When April got up, she discovered a bowl of noodles waiting on the table. Delighted, she quickly sat down to eat, flashing a playful smile at Qiu Fengyu as she did—a hint of her adorable side resurfacing, which made Qiu Fengyu chuckle in spite of himself.

After breakfast, April went to wash the dishes, while Qiu Fengyu set off for a run along the beach. This place was indeed sparsely populated, though occasionally he would come across campers pitching tents on the embankment by the shore.

One such group was a family of five—a middle-aged couple and their three children. The eldest was a girl of about sixteen or seventeen, accompanied by a boy around twelve or thirteen, and a little girl of perhaps eight or nine. They had three tents, with a large SUV parked nearby.

“Hi!” The couple greeted Qiu Fengyu as he jogged past.

“Good morning, ma’am, sir!” Qiu Fengyu waved back politely.

“Hey, hello!” The teenage girl waved too, even winking at him. Qiu Fengyu’s athletic shorts and form-fitting tank top accentuated his toned muscles—not the stiff, bulky kind, but more like the flowing lines of a Porsche sports car, inviting admiration.

He smiled at her as he ran by.

“You’re such a hopeless flirt,” the boy couldn’t resist teasing his sister.

“Shut up, you jealous brat! You’ll never have a body like that!” the little girl retorted, undaunted. “He really is attractive—those perfect muscle lines.”

The middle-aged man just shook his head with a laugh.

Qiu Fengyu also passed a young couple on the beach, oblivious to the world as they kissed, paying no mind as he ran by.

On his way back, passing the family again, the couple was spreading out a blanket while the little girl stood by the path. When she saw him, she waved energetically.

“Hey, hello!”

“Hello there, young lady. Nice physique!” Qiu Fengyu praised her, waving as he ran past.

“Hey, I don’t even know your name!” she called after him.

“That’s not important—” Qiu Fengyu replied over his shoulder without slowing down.

“So cool!” The boy appeared suddenly, calling after Qiu Fengyu’s receding figure, “I like him; he’s a really cool guy.”

“Just because he ignored me?” the girl said, annoyed.

“Yes, so what?” The boy grinned and scampered off to the woman’s side, only to be tackled and dragged into the sand by his sister.

“I’m going to pummel you, you little brat!” the girl threatened, showing a hint of violent streak.

“Oh my God, you two need to change clothes. After breakfast, we’re going swimming,” the mother called out, unable to hide her exasperation at their roughhousing.

Returning home, Qiu Fengyu climbed the stairs. On the balcony, April was doing aerobics; she saw him and couldn’t help but tease, “Looking sexy—nice butt!”

“Yours isn’t bad either. I’m talking about up top…” Qiu Fengyu replied, but didn’t bother to banter further, heading straight to the bathroom for a shower.

In the midst of his shower, the bathroom door suddenly opened. The curtain was whisked aside with a “whoosh,” and April peeked in with a mischievous grin, nodding as if she were appraising something.

“Are you crazy?” Qiu Fengyu said calmly, turning slightly and nonchalantly pulling the curtain closed again.

“How was I supposed to know you were in here?” April giggled. “You really do have a great body. How about… we shower together?”

Qiu Fengyu had already wrapped himself in a towel and stepped out. Seeing April in a cropped tank top that exposed her midriff and tight shorts, he couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t test me. You’re not that kind of person, and I wouldn’t take advantage of a woman that easily.”

“Then… what would you do to a woman?” April asked, turning her back to him and starting to undress, joking as she did. “Am I not attractive enough?”

“Strangers, no names, no addresses, no phone numbers, no contact afterward. Just one night is enough,” Qiu Fengyu replied to her bare back. “Nice butt… but you still don’t meet my standards.”

April quickly hopped into the bathtub and drew the curtain. Her silhouette was still visible through the fabric.

“So you’re just a bastard,” April scoffed.

“I admit it… At least I have one redeeming quality—honesty.”

Ignoring her shapely figure, Qiu Fengyu dried off and left the bathroom. He prepared his fishing rod; living here without something to occupy him would be unbearably dull.

Starting tomorrow, he planned to set up cameras and alarm systems around the place.

Without a boat, he could only fish from the coastal rocks. It wasn’t exactly professional, but it was better than nothing. The spot wasn’t far from where the family was camping.

“It’s perfect for halibut fishing here. This is a natural little bay, and the waters are relatively calm,” said a voice not far from him as he fished.

“I’m not particularly skilled, but it’s a good way to pass the time,” Qiu Fengyu replied, turning to see the middle-aged man. He nodded and came over.

“The fish here really are great. If you took a boat out a bit farther, you could catch halibut up to thirty-four inches long.”

“I’d prefer a fifteen-hundred-pound marlin,” Qiu Fengyu replied.

“Aha—Santiago,” the man laughed. “Everyone who comes here dreams of landing a fish like that. But alas… they’re not Santiago, and they always leave disappointed.”

“I don’t see it that way. I think that even just going out to sea with the same goal as Santiago is an experience in itself,” Qiu Fengyu replied, smiling. “The experience matters more than the result, even if you catch nothing.”

“Haha, I like that. ‘No philosophy, no pizza’—that was a popular saying when I was in college,” the man replied with a grin. “Mind if I sit and watch you fish?”

“Of course not. Being forced to accompany your kids out here, especially if you can’t swim, must be a real trial.” Qiu Fengyu smiled and motioned to a nearby rock for him to sit.

They chatted about fishing and about the old man Santiago from “The Old Man and the Sea.”

“Eric Javil,” the man introduced himself, extending a hand.

“Brooke Zhou,” Qiu Fengyu replied, shaking his hand without the slightest qualm at giving a fake name.

“Got one!”

Qiu Fengyu reeled in his first catch—a twenty-one-inch halibut, more than enough for dinner. Cooked in a dry pot, halibut could be quite delicious.

After chatting a while longer, Eric Javil stood, smiling. “I’d better go prepare lunch. Talking to you is far better than swimming.”

“The pleasure’s mine,” Qiu Fengyu nodded.

Eric Javil didn’t return later, likely kept busy by the children. The seventeen-year-old girl did come by, but Qiu Fengyu ignored her entirely. Finding no one to talk to, she huffed and left in a rather tsundere fashion.

That afternoon, Qiu Fengyu returned with three halibut. In addition to the first, he’d caught two more—one about seventeen or eighteen inches, the other close to twenty-six.

But as he neared the cabin, he suddenly heard April’s startled scream from her room.

Qiu Fengyu dashed forward like an arrow, not taking the front door but darting through the trees at the side, using the foliage for cover. Swiftly vaulting the railing, he landed beneath April’s window, drew his pistol, and, keeping to the shadows, peered inside from a corner.