Chapter 563: I'll Make It Up to A You

Mu Youyu stood on the beach, stepping on the fine soft sand, her clothes lifted slightly by the wind.

She raised her hand to adjust the brim of her hat, squinting as she looked into the distance.

Jiang Liangjin caught up from behind, holding up a camera, lens aimed at her, and took several shots in succession.

She turned her head, struck different poses, her smile bright.

After the photos were taken, trusting her boyfriend's photography skills, Mu Youyu didn't even look, leaning against him and tilting her head up, "A Jin, do you think there might be mermaids in the sea?"

Jiang Liangjin handed the camera to the bodyguard, "Sure, you're practically one yourself."

Mu Youyu blinked, took his hand, and continued walking slowly forward.

After walking a distance, she bent down and picked up a white pebble smoothed by the sea.

She held it up to the sunlight, then turned back, "Look, doesn't it look like a heart?"

Jiang Liangjin took it, commenting, "It does, just missing a small piece."

Mu Youyu immediately leaned in, her head against his arm, examining it seriously; indeed she saw a shallow notch missing on the side, and instantly showed a hint of regret, "Just a little more and it would be a complete heart."

Jiang Liangjin set the pebble down, "The missing piece, I'll make it up to you, A You."

The two bodyguards maintaining a safe distance silently exchanged a glance:?

Mu Youyu tapped his arm, walked a bit faster, and changed the subject: "There are really few people here; plus us, that makes six."

There are also two people who are their bodyguards, meaning there are only two outsiders here.

"It's a weekday, so few people come." Jiang Liangjin kept pace with her, "Ling Ge said this sea area has been designated a protected zone by the royal family, so there aren't many casual visitors."

Mu Youyu blinked in surprise, "But just a few days ago we were scrolling through Y Country's social media, and lots of bloggers said this area was an open public sea, right?"

"It's true it's open to the outside, but they limit the flow of people and have assigned personnel to patrol and record the sea's ecological conditions."

Jiang Liangjin reached out and took her cool little hand, fingers tightly interlaced, warmth from his palm continuously flowing to her.

The two walked along the coast for about half an hour, and Mu Youyu found a shady spot to sit and rest.

Just as she settled, she noticed a tiny scallop slowly inching toward the water beside her foot, its soft appearance endearing.

She picked up the scallop, "Where is it going? I'll toss it over."

Jiang Liangjin lowered his gaze to her small hand holding the shell, chuckled softly, "Let it try on its own."

Mu Youyu blinked, then handed it to Jiang Liangjin, "Here, for you."

Jiang Liangjin took it, then shifted his tone: "Now it's my most precious shell."

The two bodyguards:??

Mu Youyu was amused by his earnest nonsense and laughed, "Save that line for telling it; see if it gets moved enough to flip over."

Jiang Liangjin lowered his head to look at the tiny scallop in his palm, then earnestly leaned in and said, "From now on you're a member of our family."

After saying that, he even helped it flip over.

"Oh, it's moved."

The two bodyguards:???

Mu Youyu laughed for a while, then reached out, took the scallop back, and tossed it into the sea.

After resting enough, they continued walking forward and arrived at a flat stretch of beach.

The surroundings were open and undisturbed; Mu Youyu's childlike spirit surged, she squatted down, cupped sand with her small hands, and gradually piled up a tiny sand mound.

She piled the sand into a small spire, then used her fingertip to poke a hole at the top.

Jiang Liangjin watched from the side and asked, "How come the castle only has one layer?"

"This is a tower; the castle is in the back, not built yet."

After saying that, she lowered her head again, focusing on piling sand, both hands busy nonstop.

Jiang Liangjin then knelt beside her, knees touching hers, reaching out to help her steady the edge of the sand pile that was about to collapse.

Seeing him earnestly helping, Mu Youyu grabbed a handful of fine sand and lightly sprinkled it on the back of his hand, teasingly chuckling.

Jiang Liangjin sighed helplessly, "It collapsed."

She lifted her chin, full of confidence, "No problem, wait for me to conjure a real one for you; tonight I'll bring you to live in it."

"……"

Near a stretch of reefs, two men in dark-colored standard work uniforms were holding monitoring devices, slowly patrolling and recording along the coastline.

"How long do we have to keep recording this data?" the man holding the instrument, Man 1, sighed, looking somewhat tired.

They are young masters from noble families assigned by the royal family to carry out ecological monitoring tasks in this public sea area.

"Don't complain; if the royal family's side is satisfied with Prince Xun Li, we'll be rotated out after this month." Man 2 also didn't look up, busy registering seawater sample data.

Having several young masters with inheritance rights come here to work, Prince Xun Li is really something.

"Your problem, and you still tell me not to complain?"

"Who made you follow me?"

The two muttered a few complaints, then Man 2's gaze suddenly locked onto the two figures leaning on each other by the reef, his pupils constricting, "Is that over there... Young Master Ai Luoxiu?"

They've been here for several days already; this is the first time they've seen the real person while on duty.

Ai Luoxiu?

Man 1 had been lowering his head to adjust a high-definition observation telescope; hearing this, he lifted his eyes, following Man 2's indicated direction, and slightly narrowed his eyes.

He is nearsighted and can't see clearly, "Are you seeing things? Young Master Ai Luoxiu is currently in Z Country; how could he appear here?"

He withdrew his gaze, patted Man 2's shoulder, "Don't slack off; hurry up and finish the work so you can go back. Honestly, I wish I hadn't gotten involved with you in those matters back then."

He started complaining again.

Man 2 muttered softly, "How would I know it would turn out like this?"

Man 1 lifted his head again and glanced in that direction, "Being exiled to this place by Prince Xun Li to suffer, I'm already miserable enough; if nothing unexpected happens, we'll have to stay another month!"

"The detestable Prince Xun Li·Si Er Wen, he's remembered it, good! From now on he... will never provoke him again!"

Man 2 didn't want to linger on the topic, reached out, took the binoculars from Man 1's hand, and raised them.

He scrutinized the girl still piling sand in the same spot, sighing, "She really looks alike—even her facial features and outline are similar."