"You..."
"Hmph!"
Lin Xiaoyu finally understood. When it came down to it, this fellow Shen Lang was still after her pink bodice...
Was he seriously going to use it to tie up the female crabs?
Or was he simply trying to flirt with her?
"What is it?"
"Angry again?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, I must say, our top campus beauty Lin really looks quite pretty when she gets mad."
"You, you jerk!"
"Hahaha..."
Seeing Lin Xiaoyu's face turn red once more, Shen Lang hadn't the heart to tease her any further, so he pretended to check the sky.
"All right, all right, it's getting late. We need to hurry up and catch these crabs, or we'll be walking back in the dark."
With that, Shen Lang walked over to the cluster of female crabs.
The salty, fishy sea breeze whipped up broken waves against the mudflat.
Behind him, Lin Xiaoyu watched Shen Lang's back, glowing with a bronze sheen in the setting sun, and a sudden wave of warmth welled up in her heart.
So she set her feet in motion and trotted after him.
By now, Shen Lang had already gone to work on the female crabs.
His sturdy muscles rose and fell with every motion of catching a crab, and the grim burn scar across his lower back looked like a curled-up red centipede.
It frightened Lin Xiaoyu to look at it.
So she squatted down nearby, watching his fingertips precisely pinch the top shell of a female crab.
The grayish-blue claws thrashed about in the air, but they could not reach Shen Lang's palm at all.
"Watch closely, you have to pinch the female crabs right here."
After catching one, Shen Lang turned his face sideways and explained the method of catching crabs to Lin Xiaoyu beside him.
Lin Xiaoyu nodded while watching the knife scar on his brow bone get edged in gold by the setting sun.
"A male crab's shell is as hard as iron."
"A female crab's roe is overflowing."
"Understand?"
As he spoke, Shen Lang suddenly shoved a plump female crab into Lin Xiaoyu's hand, its cold shell brushing against the bloody cut on her palm.
Startled, Lin Xiaoyu couldn't help letting out a soft cry.
"Ah—"
"Does it hurt?"
Shen Lang raised an eyebrow.
He probably couldn't wrap his head around why, given they were both human beings, she could be so delicate.
Yet, seeing her furrowed brow, he leaned over and gently blew on her fingertips.
"If you can't even stand this bit of pain, how are you going to go beachcombing with me in the future?"
Shen Lang scolded as he blew, his breath carrying the scent of sea salt as it brushed across Lin Xiaoyu's reddened fingertips, making her heart flutter inexplicably.
Lin Xiaoyu hastily pulled back her hand.
Yet suddenly she felt a chill on her body, as if something was missing.
"Oh dear..."
Lowering her head to look, she discovered that the intimate little treasure on her body had vanished without a trace.
Raising her head again, she saw that Shen Lang had already used the straps of her pink little bodice to skillfully string up the crabs.
"You..."
Her pretty face flushed crimson.
Yet those pale pink straps were already flying up and down in Shen Lang's palm like a flexible snake, tying a neat knot around the crab shells.
She watched that splash of pink wrap around his mud-stained fingers and recalled the pale green fuzz on the back of his neck when he bent over just now, suddenly finding her throat tightening.
"How could you do this..."
"If I don't do this, where are we going to get rope to tie up the female crabs? Just take it." Shen Lang shoved the string of crabs into her hand, the butterfly knot of the shoulder strap brushing against her wrist.
"Don't lose it, I'll return it to you tomorrow. Let's head back..."
Shen Lang's gaze lingered on her flushed cheeks for a moment, and with a soft laugh, he turned and walked toward the small boat.
His ragged undershirt was lifted by the sea breeze,
revealing half of his waist and abdomen,
giving Lin Xiaoyu another glimpse of those legendary six-pack—no, eight-pack abs...
On the boat ride back, Lin Xiaoyu stared at Shen Lang's back as he rowed, her mind as tangled as a clump of seaweed.
This village tyrant whom everyone feared had just retrieved her fallen hair tie from between the rocks and stuffed the largest female crab into her bamboo basket.
Lin Xiaoyu's mind kept replaying the calluses on his fingertips and the burn scar on his lower back.
She suddenly felt as though those rumors of a "world-wrecking demon king" were merely a hard shell, hiding an unknown softness underneath.
As they rowed back, the waves were smaller than when they had come.
When the boat docked, Shen Lang's henchmen were already waiting at the pier.
Li Xiangqian, the leader, was brandishing a rusted piece of reinforcing steel with quite a bit of flair.
When he caught sight of the bodice strap in Shen Lang's hand, his eyes lit up and he let out an upfront whistle: "Damn? Brother Lang, you're really something, you conquered the top campus beauty just like that?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, that strap color is quite wild!"
Afterwards, this fellow actually cast a lecherous, sidelong glance at Lin Xiaoyu, his crafty eyes spinning around her chest.
"Campus beauty, would you like me to buy you a few lace ones to try tomorrow..."
"You'd definitely look wild and gorgeous wearing them."
"What the hell are you babbling about!" Shen Lang suddenly swung the string of crabs, and the claws at the end of the strap lashed fiercely across Li Xiangqian's face.
"Slap!"
"Ah, it hurts, hurts, hurts—"
"If I hear you spouting filth again, I'll cut out your tongue and feed it to the crabs!"
"Okay, okay, okay..." Li Xiangqian backed away, holding his face as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. "Lang, Brother Lang, it won't happen again."
The other henchmen had originally wanted to step forward and tease the graceful Lin Xiaoyu as well.
Seeing Li Xiangqian get beaten, they instantly fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to speak another word.
Looking at Shen Lang's clenched fist, Lin Xiaoyu noticed a fresh injury on his knuckle and guessed he might have been pinched by a crab earlier.
Just as she was wondering whether she should treat it for him,
Shen Lang kicked the bamboo basket full of seafood.
Turning around and seeing Lin Xiaoyu in a daze, he suddenly reached out and brushed a piece of seaweed from her hair.
"What are you daydreaming about?"
"Let's go."
Lin Xiaoyu's mother was sick and needed money.
The seafood they had caught could be taken straight to town to sell before dark.
"Oh, Xiaolang, you brought a fairy with you today."
"You're really something."
"Come, come, I've saved a tender piece for you, take it back for your mother to try!"
The flagstone path to town was potholed and uneven. Following behind Shen Lang, Lin Xiaoyu heard the greetings along the way rising and falling in succession.
Lin Xiaoyu glanced sideways and saw Wang Bo, the tofu vendor, actually handing a piece of hot tofu to Shen Lang right through his bamboo basket.
"Haha, no need, no need."
Shen Lang waved his hand, wanting to refuse the kind gesture. "While it's still early, we're going to sell some things, otherwise the tofu will all get smashed up along the way."
Though he said that, thinking of his "tyrannical" mother and his crafty little sister back home, Shen Lang couldn't help quickening his pace.
Ah, in his past life, he had owed too many people.
Hearing the commotion, Aunt Zhang, who ran the sundry shop, also stuck her head out: "Oh, Xiaoshen, Auntie left you two pieces of candy, take them to give the little girl a treat!"
Lin Xiaoyu looked sideways and saw her shaking a bag of brown sugar in her hand.
"No need, no need, I'm in a hurry to sell some seafood."
"Oh, Xiaolang, come sit for a bit, have a cup of tea with your uncle!"
"Your new girlfriend is so fresh and pretty, you've got a good eye, kid."
"Next time, next time."
...
Lin Xiaoyu was surprised to find that everyone who greeted Shen Lang had a genuine warmth in their eyes.
This completely contradicted the Shen Lang who was always rumored to have "broken three ribs of a hoodlum from the neighboring village."
All along the way, people called Lin Xiaoyu Shen Lang's girlfriend.
This made the tips of her ears turn redder than the evening glow.
The two hurried to the fresh produce alley in town.
Although this wasn't an official seafood market, it was a place where private vendors set up stalls, filled with the liveliest atmosphere of everyday life.
Shen Lang tipped the bamboo basket over onto the ground, and the lively blue crabs and razor clams instantly attracted a crowd.
"Oh."
A man wearing a Zhongshan suit squatted down, picked up a small wooden stick, and poked the most ferocious-looking crab: "Young man, how much for your seafood?"