When Ming Qi pushed open the bathroom door again, the breakfast sent up by the hotel had already been neatly arranged on the table in the living room.
He walked over and sat opposite Yu Qinzhou, took a sip of milk, and caught sight—out of the corner of his eye—of the man resting his chin on one hand, gaze lowered as he stared intently at his phone.
Curiosity stirred inside him.
But he also felt it would be rude to crane his neck and peek.
So he pushed a plate of pan-fried buns toward him, successfully drawing Yu Qinzhou’s attention.
The moment the man looked up, Ming Qi’s smiling face entered his sight.
“What are you looking at?”
The corners of Yu Qinzhou’s lips lifted.
He gestured for Ming Qi to hold out his hand, then passed him the phone.
Ming Qi lowered his head.
What I ship is real: Did Zhouqi CP go public today? Not yet 【But what does it matter anyway? They’re real, hahaha!】
Zhouqi CP?
Ming Qi froze for a moment, then scrolled back to the top of the page to read the supertopic description again.
Two striking names entered his sight:
Yu Qinzhou × Ming Qi
Ming Qi: “!”
He lifted his head in shock.
“How are there actually people shipping our CP?”
Even though he and Yu Qinzhou were already legally married spouses, they basically had no connection in public. Even the news of Yu Qinzhou appearing at the film studio last time had eventually been suppressed.
Seeing Ming Qi’s surprised expression, Yu Qinzhou raised a brow and smiled.
“Maybe because they have really good taste.”
Ming Qi returned the phone to him, took out his own, decisively switched from his main Weibo account to the smaller account he usually used for lurking online, searched for the Zhouqi CP supertopic, and hit follow.
Ming Qi didn’t know whether other celebrities followed their own CP supertopics.
But he followed it.
And if he hadn’t seen wrong just now, Yu Qinzhou was part of the supertopic too.
…
After breakfast, Ming Qi and Yu Qinzhou went to the beach.
They passed the resort from yesterday’s shoot and arrived at a slightly remote shoreline.
Calling it remote was really just because no one was there.
He took off his shoes to step on the sand. The slightly cold seawater washed over the tops of his feet, making him a little unaccustomed to it.
“Want to go out to sea?”
Yu Qinzhou walked barefoot beside him too.
The man dressed casually today, holding his shoes in one hand while the other held Ming Qi’s right hand. His voice carried into Ming Qi’s ears on the sea breeze.
Ming Qi’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Can we go out to sea right now?”
“As long as you want to.”
“Then I want to.”
The private yacht Zhuri Hao (Chasing the Sun) rested quietly at the dock.
The massive white vessel reflected against the dark blue seawater, crashing into Ming Qi’s eyes.
At his ear, Yu Qinzhou’s voice slowly explained:
“I bought this yacht at an auction the year before last. Sometimes Ah Yue, Cheng Yuanshi, and I go out to sea for fun.”
Thinking about the timeline, Ming Qi felt puzzled.
“Was it in China too?”
The moment Yu Qinzhou heard the question, he understood what Ming Qi was actually confused about.
He didn’t mind telling him.
“Abroad. I rarely came back to China. Before my wings had fully grown, I generally wouldn’t expose myself to my father’s sight.”
“The few times I returned to China were mostly related to funerals.”
Holding Ming Qi’s hand as they walked toward the yacht, he continued:
“One time was for my grandfather. One time was for Cheng Yuanshi’s grandfather.”
Ming Qi felt the topic had become a little heavy and could only comfort him quietly:
“But now you won.”
“No. Still a little short.”
A dark glint flashed through Yu Qinzhou’s eyes.
But when Ming Qi looked over in confusion, it quickly returned to his usual warm smile.
“Let’s not talk about that. Come on, let’s have fun today.”
After boarding the yacht and entering deeper waters, Ming Qi leaned against the railing, freely enjoying the sea breeze.
The salty dampness and endless ocean made it easy for the heart to calm down.
He leaned there watching for a long time, only snapping back to himself when Yu Qinzhou wrapped his arms around him from behind.
“My dad and the others took me out to sea before too. That was a really long time ago.”
Resting his cheek against his arm, Ming Qi smiled.
“I thought that would be the only time I’d ever get to go out to sea.”
He never expected that after so many years, he would get a second chance.
“There’ll be a third time, a fourth time. As long as you want, anything you like doing can happen countless times.”
Yu Qinzhou rested his chin on Ming Qi’s shoulder.
Warm breath blended into the sea breeze and brushed against the young man’s neck, making it itch slightly.
But itchier than his neck was his heart.
Ming Qi didn’t know whether Yu Qinzhou had said that intentionally or not.
But one thing was certain—
He seemed very good at getting a handle on him.
Ming Qi blinked and couldn’t help burying his whole face in his arms as he quietly laughed.
…
Halfway through, the yacht detoured to a nearby private island.
The island was property under Yu Qinzhou’s name.
“To be precise, it’s one of the inheritances my mother left me. But before this, I’d never been here.”
Might as well take a look today.
Even though the owner never showed up all year round, everything on the island was regularly maintained.
Towering coconut trees filled the view.
Past the beach stretched a stone path winding through flower fields and greenery.
Then, a pure white building appeared before them.
Clean. Beautiful.
Like a poster straight out of a movie.
The little villa’s doors stood open. All the windows were open too.
The sea breeze lifted the thin curtains, carrying with it the fragrance of fresh flowers in a vase.
“The second floor has bedrooms. The third floor has entertainment rooms.”
“You can go look around first. I’ll cook.”
Ming Qi stopped mid-step and turned curiously toward him.
“You cook? What are we eating for lunch?”
“Seafood rice. OK?”
“Of course.”
Seeing his sparkling eyes, a smile touched Yu Qinzhou’s lips.
“Then go explore first.”
Ming Qi obediently nodded.
After coming down from the third floor, his attention was drawn to the lush green lawn behind the villa and the beautiful outdoor swimming pool.
He hurried over, took out his phone, snapped a few pictures, then sent them—along with the earlier yacht photos—to Meng She all at once.
Meng She was currently eating the loving lunch Cen Jing had specially delivered.
Today’s lunch had been prepared by the villa chef according to Meng She’s preferences at Cen Jing’s instructions.
Meng She ate until his eyes turned watery, deeply moved.
He pulled out a tissue and pretended to wipe away tears.
“Butler Cen, having you in my life is my blessing.”
Cen Jing pushed up his glasses, utterly calm in the face of Meng She’s antics.
“You flatter me. This is all part of my job.”
Ding-dong.
Meng She lowered his head and saw more than ten message notifications suddenly pop up.
One breathtakingly scenic photo after another entered his sight.
But Meng She immediately spotted one back-view picture.
Just as he was about to enlarge it for a closer look, the moment he tapped it—
[The other party has recalled the message]
77.: Not this one. This one’s for me to look at /cute
Meng She: “……”
Okay.
Now he could completely confirm that the back-view photo had been Yu Qinzhou.
Meng She pouted and swept over all the photos Ming Qi had sent. Then he lowered his head to look at his rice bowl, and suddenly felt that the meal that had just tasted so delicious had now become completely bland.
He turned his head and sighed at Cen Jing:
“Butler Cen, I also want to go out and play.”
Cen Jing smiled:
“You can go play with those few big white geese.”
Meng She: “……”
Fortunately, Meng She soon received Ming Qi’s next message:
Meng-ge, don’t worry. I already asked Yu Qinzhou. Next time I’ll bring you here to play.
Meng She: “!”
As expected, their own cub was still reliable.
Mom Meng: Help me send Mr. Yu a heart / heart eyes
After chatting with Meng She for a while, Yu Qinzhou’s seafood risotto was almost done.
Ming Qi didn’t stay in place any longer. He stood up and walked toward the small villa.
As soon as he entered the living room, he was greeted by a strong, fresh aroma.
His stomach, which originally had no reaction, suddenly seemed stimulated and began to rumble.
He quickly jogged into the kitchen and saw Yu Qinzhou sprinkling cilantro on top of the seafood risotto as decoration.
“It’s ready? I’ll carry it.”
“Be careful. I’ll go serve the soup.”
In addition to the seafood risotto, Yu Qinzhou also prepared a thick soup.
As soon as Ming Qi sat down, he took out his phone and took a photo. Then, without being able to wait, he scooped a spoonful of risotto.
The fragrant rice blended with the rich sauce, carrying the sweetness of seafood—it tasted so good it was practically chef-level.
“Good?”
Hearing Yu Qinzhou ask, Ming Qi nodded without hesitation.
“Super good.”
Yu Qinzhou pushed the soup toward him.
“Eat slowly. Don’t choke.”
The meal left Ming Qi completely satisfied.
After eating, he even took the initiative to take on dishwashing duty, but Yu Qinzhou chased him off to rest.
Ming Qi could only sit cross-legged on the sofa, fiddling with his phone.
He picked a few landscape photos, but thinking about how many outsiders were in his Moments feed, he ultimately didn’t post the carefully taken back-view photo together with them.
However, he set Yu Qinzhou’s back-view photo as his phone wallpaper.
His Moments post quickly received comments.
Ming Qi opened it and saw it was Wen Yulan:
Went out to play?
Ming Qi replied: Mm.
Wen Yulan then DM’d him:
Where is this? The scenery looks pretty good. I’ll bring my mom next time too.
Ming Qi went silent.
In the end, he could only answer truthfully:
A private island.
After sending it, there was no immediate reply from Wen Yulan.
Ming Qi didn’t pay attention.
At that moment, Yu Qinzhou came over wiping his hands and asked:
“Want to go swimming?”
Ming Qi blinked:
“In the sea?”
“Up to you. The pool water over there was also freshly replaced with flowing water today.”
Ming Qi hesitated for a moment.
Yu Qinzhou made the decision for him:
“Then we’ll go to the seaside this afternoon.”
Ming Qi immediately nodded.
When they arrived at the beach, Yu Qinzhou handed him a swim ring.
Although Ming Qi could swim, he didn’t refuse. He was not like children who grew up by the sea—this was his first time swimming in the ocean, so it was safer to use one.
He took off his short-sleeved shirt, revealing a clean, fair back.
He did a few warm-up stretches; when he bent down, his spine tightened and slightly protruded.
His long legs were straight, only partly covered by pale green-white shorts.
He turned back and smiled at Yu Qinzhou.
“Then I’m going in?”
“Mm. I’ll be right beside you. Tell me anytime if there’s any problem.”
With permission and reassurance, Ming Qi slipped into the water like a fish.
But this fish was clearly a lazy fish.
He lay inside the swim ring, not moving at all, letting the seawater rock him back and forth.
If the current accidentally pushed him away, Yu Qinzhou would pull him back into place.
If not for his skin beginning to wrinkle from soaking too long, he could have stayed in the sea all afternoon.
He stepped onto the sand, wet and dripping, and sat down on a lounge chair.
“Mmm… why am I a little tired?”
He even felt embarrassed saying it.
“If you’re tired, you can rest early tonight.”
Yu Qinzhou handed him a coconut, looking at the sun slowly descending.
“But right now it’s different.”
Their eyes met.
“I want to watch the sunset with you.”
Just a simple sentence, yet Ming Qi’s ears inexplicably turned red.
He rubbed his face, muttered a vague response, and quietly sat with Yu Qinzhou waiting for the sunset.
Finally, the sun gradually sank below the sea surface.
The huge red sun dyed the entire deep-blue ocean orange-red, countless rays of light scattering outward.
Ming Qi held his face and watched, then couldn’t help taking out his phone again.
Click.
He took a photo and posted it to Weibo.
Ming Qi: Look, sunset /cute [photo]
Ming Qi didn’t usually manage his Weibo. The last time he posted something unrelated to work was months ago.
So fans were shocked when they suddenly saw his new update.
[Wow! So pretty!]
[Is my cub at the beach?]
[I’m at the beach today too! Where are you, I can try to meet you!]
[The above sister is so cute, China’s coastline is so long, how would you even meet haha]
[First we can rule out Qingyuan coast, the seawater there is full of algae these days.]
[Tong City resident here, doesn’t look like Tong City’s coastline either.]
Ming Qi didn’t expect them to seriously discuss which sea area it was.
But his photo didn’t reveal much information, so he didn’t pay it any mind.
After watching the sunset, Ming Qi was already sleepy.
He yawned lazily and was sent by Yu Qinzhou to take a bath.
However, when Yu Qinzhou finished preparing dinner and Ming Qi still hadn’t appeared in the living room, he realized something was wrong.
Frowning slightly, he quickly went upstairs and pushed open the bedroom door.
The bed was untouched—no signs anyone had slept there.
Only the bathroom door was closed.
Yu Qinzhou knocked.
“Qiqi.”
No response.
He pushed the door open.
Inside was a large bath pool. The edge of the bathroom was fitted with one-way glass, allowing a partial view of the outside scenery of the villa.
And Ming Qi was currently lying on the platform, the flowing water in the pool gently moving across his exposed shoulders.
Yu Qinzhou walked over, brushed his fingertips across Ming Qi’s face, and pinched his nose.
Ming Qi was dreaming.
In his dream, he was sleeping in a hammock. Whenever the wind blew, it swayed him back and forth.
But at some point, an annoying little bug fell from a tree and landed on his face, doing whatever it wanted.
He opened his eyes in anger—
Only to see Yu Qinzhou’s enlarged face right in front of him.
The man raised a brow at him.
“You’re awake?”
Only then did Ming Qi slowly come back to his senses.
Oh.
So that bug’s name was Yu Qinzhou.