Chapter 106: Lies

The floating money bags on the sea surface, after fierce battles between the teams of Xu Junze and Chu Yao, and Wen Yiming and Li Jiayan, were finally all cleared out.

Li Jiayan sat breathlessly on her float board, sighing, “We really can’t compete with them; their fighting power is overwhelming.”

Wen Yiming shook his head from side to side to rid his ears of water, then smiled, “Yao Yao and Junze really outdid themselves this time. Mainly, their swimming rhythm was perfectly synchronized, as if they shared a secret understanding.”

“They’re exes, after all—familiar with each other inside and out.”

Li Jiayan smoothed the water droplets from her hair and swept her hair behind her back. After frequent plunges in the water, her swimsuit strap had shifted a bit; she hooked it with her finger and pulled it straight. Her chest rose and fell unevenly from the exertion, creating a striking visual impact.

Wen Yiming’s gaze couldn’t help but drift toward her, unable to suppress it.

Damn, she looked so good he wanted to break the rules.

“I’m exhausted.” Li Jiayan adjusted her swimsuit and complained listlessly.

Wen Yiming snapped back to himself, hurriedly looked away, and replied absentmindedly, “Same here.”

“You were always the one paddling; you must be even more tired. Thanks for your hard work!” Li Jiayan smiled at him.

Her smile, paired with her attire, seemed like a blooming flower waiting to be plucked. Wen Yiming felt himself falling for her.

“Hey, we’re partners—don’t be so formal with me. I’m a guy; it’s my duty to look after you,” Wen Yiming grinned brightly.

Live chat comments:

[So protective! Is Wen Yiming falling for Li Jiayan?]
[Not sure about his feelings, but I think he wants to devour her.]
[Honestly, isn’t his comment a bit slick?]
…

Li Jiayan chuckled, “Thank you.”

She picked up the money bag placed on the float board, counted it, and said, “We did pretty well this round. We’ve got nine money bags.”

Wen Yiming turned to look at Xu Junze and Chu Yao not far away, who were also counting their bags.

“Junze, with such a stellar performance, how many did you collect?” he called out.

Xu Junze smiled, “Guess!”

He wasn’t about to give a straight answer.

Wen Yiming didn’t bother guessing.

“We have nine, so I bet they have a dozen or more,” Li Jiayan remarked.

“I think so too.”

Wen Yiming glanced toward another part of the sea where wooden stakes had been driven into the seabed.

He saw Lu Zhou and Qi Jiajia, as well as Zhang Chen and Ye Fangfei, already diving over there to collect money bags.

“Let’s head there too!” Wen Yiming pointed in that direction.

Li Jiayan agreed, “Alright.”

…

Meanwhile, Xu Junze and Chu Yao were counting their bags and found they had collected fifteen in total, undoubtedly the most out of all the teams.

Live chat comments:

[So many…]
[Their fighting power is fierce.]
[No wonder they’re considered the best-matched exes.]
[They know each other too well; their error rate is much lower than the other teams.]
…

Xu Junze observed, “Seems like all the bags the other teams just collected here, even combined, probably don’t outnumber ours.”

He and Chu Yao had been the first to reach this area. Upon arrival, Xu Junze had roughly counted the bags floating on the surface and had a good sense of the numbers.

“Do we need to go over and open more money bags?” Chu Yao asked.

Their teamwork was smooth, and their harvest plentiful, but Chu Yao had spent too much energy earlier and now felt exhaustion sweeping over her.

Xu Junze wiped his face, looked towards the wooden stake area, and hesitated briefly.

He was tired too, and over there, the bags were tied to stakes underwater, requiring breath-holding and diving to untie them—a different kind of challenge, much tougher than competing for the floating bags.

He’d considered this earlier and had agreed with Chu Yao to snatch as many floating bags as possible, leaving the stake area as a lower priority.

“We can go check it out first. If it’s too troublesome, we can use the coins we already have for exchange; maybe it’s enough,” Xu Junze decided after some thought.

Chu Yao nodded in agreement.

“Let’s pour all the coins from the bags into one. There are too many bags, and if things get chaotic later, we might lose some—then all our earlier effort would be wasted,” Xu Junze said as he began opening the bags.

Live chat:

[Smart! Planning ahead.]
[Qi Jiajia: Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? I’ve already lost some.]
[Boss Xu gets points!]
…

If you asked Chu Yao what had attracted her to Xu Junze in the first place, it was his thoughtfulness in handling things.

Even now, she still admired that about him.

Chu Yao had always liked clever men.

They poured all their coins into one bag and headed toward the wooden stake zone.

Lu Zhou and Qi Jiajia were the first team to turn toward the stake zone.

When they arrived, no one competed with them, and the area was full of stakes for them to choose from.

“I’ll go scout ahead. You keep an eye on the money bags,” Lu Zhou said.

Qi Jiajia blushed, still annoyed at herself for losing a bag earlier, and quickly grabbed all the bags, nodding, “Don’t worry, I won’t lose any more.”

Lu Zhou smiled helplessly. He meant nothing more than asking her to watch the bags, but she seemed to take it to heart, still bothered by her earlier mistake.

Without another word, Lu Zhou donned his diving goggles, took a deep breath, and plunged into the sea, diving toward the nearest stake.

At the base of the stake, a money bag was tied with a rope. He needed to untie the knot to retrieve it.

He tried to untie it as fast as possible, but at the final step, his oxygen ran low, so he abandoned the attempt and kicked back to the surface.

“How’s it going? Did you succeed?” Qi Jiajia asked expectantly when he surfaced.

Lu Zhou caught his breath and shook his head, “No, just missed it.”

He took another breath and dove back down, finally untying the knot and bringing the bag to the surface.

“Got one.”

He handed the bag to Qi Jiajia.

“Awesome!” Qi Jiajia cheered.

“Count how many coins are inside,” Lu Zhou said.

Qi Jiajia did so, “Ten.”

Lu Zhou wiped the water from his eyes, “Looks like these bags are heavier than the ones from before.”

Qi Jiajia agreed, “Yeah, we should have come here first.”

Lu Zhou chuckled and continued diving for more bags. Qi Jiajia followed on her float board.

The stakes were spaced far apart, and not all had bags—they had to search, find, and then untie them, which was tiring.

After successfully retrieving four bags, Lu Zhou felt his stamina waning.

He decided not to push himself.

Diving while overly fatigued is dangerous. Even though the rescue team was always nearby and ready, having survived a life-threatening experience once, he wasn’t about to tempt fate.

“No, I’m too tired.”

Lu Zhou took off his goggles and climbed back onto the float board to rest.

After so many dives, Qi Jiajia felt sorry for him and handed him the bags to watch, “Let me go down instead.”

“Can you dive? If not, don’t force it. The ropes are tough to untie, and if you can’t hold your breath long enough, you’ll need to go up and down repeatedly, which is very exhausting.”

Lu Zhou looked at her seriously.

“There’s no need to tire yourself out. If it’s really too hard, we can just take the small boat. I noticed you don’t get seasick, so that should be fine, right?”

Qi Jiajia felt unexpectedly warmed and touched by his concern.

He was worried she’d exhaust herself and didn’t want to burden her with too much.

But deep down, she wanted to ride the luxury cruise with Lu Zhou—it would be more romantic. Besides, she couldn’t let him do all the work while she contributed nothing.

They were partners, after all—partners help each other.

“You underestimate me,” Qi Jiajia flashed a bright smile, “I swim pretty well. I want to give it a try.”

Lu Zhou saw her determination and said, “If you want to, go ahead—but remember, don’t overdo it.”

“Okay.” Qi Jiajia put on her goggles and dove skillfully.

Just then, Ye Fangfei and Zhang Chen arrived in the same area.

“Rivals again, fancy meeting you here,” Zhang Chen remarked to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou had been watching Qi Jiajia in the water, but looked over and raised an eyebrow, “Since when are we rivals?”

Zhang Chen shook his two money bags with a hint of provocation, “What do you think?”

He meant: We took two of your bags—aren’t we rivals?

Lu Zhou smiled and ignored him, quietly pouring all his coins into a single bag.

Zhang Chen saw how many coins they’d accumulated and was instantly annoyed.

He and Ye Fangfei were far behind…

Live chat:

[Haha, what are you boasting about with just two bags?]
[Zhang Chen: Turns out I’m the fool.]
[These two teams together are fun.]
…

Ye Fangfei noticed Qi Jiajia wasn’t visible and glanced at the sea, asking Lu Zhou, “Is Jiajia diving for bags?”

“Yes,” Lu Zhou replied.

“Is it easy?” Ye Fangfei glanced at him and could see the exhaustion on his face—they must have just spent a lot of energy, otherwise how did they get so many bags?

“Not really. Not every stake has a bag, and the ropes are tough to untie,” Lu Zhou answered honestly, then pointed to the area in front of them, “We’ve already searched this patch. Better try somewhere else.”

He wasn’t playing dirty.

Someone with a more conniving mind would keep quiet, let them waste energy searching here, and then, when they finally found a bag, they’d be too tired to collect it, putting them at a disadvantage.

But Lu Zhou believed the show wouldn’t limit ticket numbers to force elimination between teams, since it wasn’t a survival reality show. As long as each team persisted in collecting enough bags, they’d get their tickets.

So he saw no reason not to share.

“Thanks!” Ye Fangfei said gratefully.

She and Zhang Chen turned to search other stakes.

“Do you think he’s tricking us? Maybe the spot they’re staying at has the most bags?” Zhang Chen doubted Lu Zhou’s motives.

Ye Fangfei gave him a speechless look, “Don’t be so cynical.”

“I’m not trying to be, but since we pulled a fast one on them before, it’s normal for him to get back at us,” Zhang Chen explained.

“Lu Zhou doesn’t seem that petty.”

Ye Fangfei paddled up to a stake and stopped.

“And anyway, we didn’t trick them! I got those two bags on my own. If I hadn’t reminded them, they wouldn’t have realized they dropped a bag. Maybe you just don’t understand the rules?”

Zhang Chen was stumped, feeling uncomfortable by Ye Fangfei’s assertion that “Lu Zhou isn’t petty.”

He couldn’t help but think: You’ve only teamed up with him for a day, how do you know him so well?

“Do you like Lu Zhou?” Zhang Chen suddenly asked.

“…"

Ye Fangfei had been adjusting her goggles to dive, but upon hearing his question, she took them off and tossed them to him, “Are you too idle? Then you dive for the bags.”

Zhang Chen: “…”

He was even more annoyed at her evasiveness, but they had tasks to complete; without more bags, they couldn’t exchange for tickets.

Zhang Chen grudgingly put on the goggles and dove in.

Live chat:

[Jealous Zhang Chen]
[He picks the worst times to get jealous.]
[He hasn’t contributed a single bag, just runs his mouth. The worst kind of lovesick guy—does nothing but get jealous, not even as good as Wen Yiming.]
…

Zhang Chen dove for a stake, reached the bottom, but found no bag, and surfaced to shout to Ye Fangfei, “Nothing!”

“Keep searching,” Ye Fangfei said.

He dove again, checked another stake—still nothing. Tried a third—nothing again.

“I told you, Lu Zhou must be tricking us. This area must be the one they’ve already cleared,” Zhang Chen complained, floating on the surface.

“Can you keep diving?” Ye Fangfei asked, seeing his frustration.

“I can.”

“Try one more time. If there’s still nothing, we’ll move to another spot.”

Zhang Chen nodded and dove again. This time, he finally found a stake with a bag. He managed to untie it a little, ran out of breath, surfaced for air, then dove again. After repeating this three times, he finally got a bag.

He showed it off to Ye Fangfei, “Fangfei, look! I got one!”

Ye Fangfei gave him a thumbs-up, “Give it to me.”

Now that he finally had a win, his fighting spirit was ignited. Without being told, he went off to look for more bags.

But his stamina didn’t match his enthusiasm.

After getting a second bag, he collapsed on the float board, unwilling to move.

“I’m done. I quit. That’s enough,” Zhang Chen waved, panting.

Ye Fangfei counted the coins, put them in a bag, and handed it to Zhang Chen for safekeeping.

“Only thirty-three dollars—definitely not enough. I’ll go untie some; you watch the money,” she said.

“It’s tiring—are you sure you can?” Zhang Chen asked as he took the bag.

Ye Fangfei didn’t answer; she’d already jumped into the sea, diving like a fish.

Zhang Chen sat on the float board, glancing toward Lu Zhou’s group, and saw Qi Jiajia surface with a money bag, smiling brightly as she handed it to Lu Zhou.

Her smile was radiant, like a peacock spreading its tail.

Zhang Chen looked away, noticing other teams had arrived. They each took different areas, searching for money bags tied to the stakes—the two teams that had performed best in the floating bag area had now come here to compete for more.

Like they’d never seen money before, Zhang Chen grumbled inwardly, shifting his gaze.

…

When Wen Yiming arrived at this area and saw Lu Zhou resting on his float board while Qi Jiajia dove for bags, he couldn’t help but comment.

“Lu Zhou, you’re wiped out already? Letting a girl do the hard work?”

Lu Zhou smiled, “She insisted on trying.”

Wen Yiming: “…”

He was stumped. It was Qi Jiajia’s choice, after all.

Wen Yiming had been confident in his stamina, but after a few dives, he realized it was harder than expected.

He and Li Jiayan had always worked with him providing the power for paddling, which never felt strenuous. Now, diving to untie bags was clearly exhausting.

Not every stake had a bag underneath, and the search itself was taxing.

After wandering underwater for a while without finding a single bag, Wen Yiming gave up and returned to the float board to rest.

“Nothing underneath?” Li Jiayan asked.

“Not a single bag—strange,” Wen Yiming replied.

“Could someone else have already taken them?” Li Jiayan suggested.

…

“Very likely. I’m too tired; I’ll rest before diving again.”

“Let’s follow Lu Zhou’s group—they were the first here and must know which stakes haven’t been searched. I’ll dive next; you rest,” Li Jiayan proposed.

“That works,” Wen Yiming agreed.

Li Jiayan smiled and paddled over to Lu Zhou’s area.

Lu Zhou saw Wen Yiming and Li Jiayan approaching and Wen Yiming lying exhausted on his float board, and joked, “You’re done already?”

Wen Yiming’s mouth twitched: “…”

Live chat:

[Haha, Lu Zhou is savage.]
[Revenge is swift.]
[Fate spares no one.]
…

Li Jiayan dove to search for money bags and, with some luck, found two fairly quickly.

But she soon felt tired and returned to the float board.

Wen Yiming, having rested, decided to take over.

“How many have you collected?” Li Jiayan sat on the float board, chatting with Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou glanced at his bags and then at hers, smiling, “We haven’t counted precisely, but probably not as many as you.”

Li Jiayan checked her pile, but as a wave rocked her, she accidentally dropped a bag into the sea.

“Oh?” She reached for it. Fortunately, it was a floating bag and didn’t sink.

Unable to grab it, she swam after it.

The bag drifted to Lu Zhou’s float board. After retrieving it, Li Jiayan lingered in the water, looking up at him.

Lu Zhou sat on the float board. Lowering his gaze, he could see her underwater, even certain prominent spots. He quietly looked away.

Li Jiayan noticed his avoidance.

Was he shy?

She smiled, and a mischievous idea popped into her mind.

“Ouch, my leg’s cramped. Lu Zhou, give me a hand,” she called.

At the mention of a cramp, Lu Zhou instantly forgot everything else and pulled her onto his float board.

“Thank you.”

Li Jiayan sat, straightening her right leg and frowning as if in pain.

“Need help stretching it?” Lu Zhou asked with concern.

“Help me,” Li Jiayan agreed without hesitation.

Lu Zhou didn’t hesitate; he grabbed her ankle and pulled firmly.

“Ah!” Li Jiayan cried out. It hadn’t hurt before, but now it did thanks to his pull…

The rescue team quickly arrived, a professional asking about her condition. Li Jiayan blushed, embarrassed, and insisted she was fine.

Qi Jiajia had just surfaced with a new bag, ready to share her success, but was surprised to see Li Jiayan and Lu Zhou sharing a float board with the rescue boat beside them.

She paused, swimming over, “What happened?”

Lu Zhou explained, “Jiayan’s leg cramped. I pulled her up.”

Qi Jiajia looked shocked and worried, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, sorry for the trouble,” Li Jiayan forced a smile and quickly returned to her own board.

Alright, next time she wouldn’t pull such a stunt. She’d only wanted an excuse to get close to Lu Zhou, not expecting such a commotion.

Wen Yiming came back, having found only one bag before collapsing again.

After hearing about Li Jiayan’s cramp, the two decided to stop searching for bags. With twelve already, they didn’t need more and went ashore to exchange them.

Chu Yao and Xu Junze did the same, leaving the wooden stake zone to redeem their tickets. Both had spent much of their energy earlier, and after a short time here, Xu Junze managed to untie one bag, while Chu Yao had none. With sixteen bags—the most among all teams—they felt confident and went ashore.

Soon, only Lu Zhou and Qi Jiajia, Zhang Chen and Ye Fangfei remained in the sea zone.

Qi Jiajia, after collecting her third bag, was completely exhausted.

“I did my best,” she said, unable even to climb onto the float board.

Lu Zhou pulled her up, smiling, “I told you not to push so hard, but you’re stubborn.”

Qi Jiajia managed a weak smile, “But I got three bags! Aren’t you going to praise me?”

“You’re amazing,” Lu Zhou replied.

Qi Jiajia laughed, “So perfunctory.”

Once she recovered, she asked, “How much do we have?”

Lu Zhou had already counted, “One hundred and two dollars.”

“Do you think it’s enough?”

“Whether it is or not, that’s all we have,” Lu Zhou said, smiling. “Unless you have the energy for more dives?”

Qi Jiajia hurriedly shook her head, “I’m done for. It’s up to you.”

Lu Zhou grinned, “Truth is, I’m not up for it either.”

Qi Jiajia teased, “A man shouldn’t admit he’s not up for it.”

Live chat:

[I suspect you’re making a dirty joke—and I have proof!]
[Tsk tsk, they’re joking like this! There’s definitely something here!]
[I keep switching couples to ship every day—is it my problem?]
[Lu Zhou, how do you have chemistry with everyone? It’s hard not to suspect you’re a player.]
…

Lu Zhou smiled but didn’t respond.

Qi Jiajia laughed, “Let’s go redeem our tickets!”

“Alright.”

Lu Zhou glanced at Ye Fangfei, who was still diving nearby. From his observation, she had already retrieved more than five bags. Her diving speed and fighting spirit were impressive.

But it was a very exhausting activity.

She kept at it, seemingly driven by some obsession.

“That’s enough, we have plenty of bags already,” Zhang Chen called to Ye Fangfei in the water.

“Tell me how much we have,” Ye Fangfei said, floating.

“Ninety-three dollars!” Zhang Chen replied.

“I’ll get one more,” Ye Fangfei said, diving again.

Zhang Chen: “…” Her stamina amazed him; at that moment, he was ashamed of himself.

Lu Zhou watched, and before leaving, reminded, “Zhang Chen, keep an eye on her—don’t overdo it, safety first.”

Zhang Chen frowned, “I don’t need you to tell me!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Qi Jiajia couldn’t help but laugh, asking Lu Zhou quietly, “Why does he seem hostile toward you?”

Lu Zhou shrugged and headed for shore to exchange tickets.

Thanks to reader 20210307093254853 for the reward of 1,000 Qidian coins.