Chapter 378: 【It

On the other side.

The white SUV carrying Liu Zhimin, now driven by Lin Xiuyuan, had been traveling on the flat, wide roads of Dubai for about twenty minutes.

During this time, Liu Zhimin did not ask where the destination was; she simply adjusted her seat slightly backward and leaned back in a relaxed manner.

Then, she rolled the car window down a narrow slit, and the warm wind, carrying the unique scent of this City Pop, poured in, brushing the stray hairs on her forehead.

Looking at the scenery flashing by outside the window, she occasionally turned her head to take a glance at Lin Xiuyuan, who was driving.

Watching his profile, he appeared very focused yet relaxed in the shifting light and shadow.

In this second, she suddenly felt that this feeling was truly wonderful.

There was no need to know where the next stop was, no need to worry about whether someone was secretly taking photos, and even less need to care if her facial expressions were perfectly managed.

Just sitting comfortably in a car, heading toward some unknown place.

In this mood, the car finally came to a stop in a spacious parking lot.

Pushing open the car door and stepping out, Liu Zhimin looked up and had her breath snatched away by the scene before her.

That boundless, overwhelming sea of flowers, so gorgeous it was almost unreal, was blooming wantonly under the desert sun.

Various petunias, geraniums, and begonias were meticulously cultivated and designed to form a giant heart-shaped archway.

Looking further inside, there were fairy-tale castles, and even a scale model of an Emirates A380 passenger jet, all paved with fresh flowers.

Even the air was permeated with a mixed floral fragrance, and the colors within her field of vision were like an overturned palette, spreading from beneath her feet all the way to the skyline.

"This is—" Liu Zhimin stood at the entrance, her mouth slightly agape, and it took a while before she found her voice.

"Dubai Miracle Garden."

After answering her, Lin Xiuyuan took a camera out from the back seat after opening the door.

It wasn't one of those bulky professional DSLRs, but a mirrorless camera with a retro design, its leather strap wrapped casually around his wrist.

He then walked to Liu Zhimin's side, shook the camera in his hand, and said to her with a smile, "Let's go. Today, I am your exclusive photographer. I guarantee I'll take beautiful photos of you; there won't be a single wasted shot."

At that moment, Liu Zhimin looked at that backlit profile, looked at the fine lines at the corners of Lin Xiuyuan's eyes when he smiled, and looked at his gaze, which was made exceptionally gentle by the sea of flowers.

She suddenly felt something in her heart quietly and steadily land.

And so, for the next two hours or so, they truly walked through the entirety of this massive 72,000-square-meter garden.

From walking through the flower castle to the heart-shaped tunnel, from the floral airplane model to the exotic Arabian-style garden, Lin Xiuyuan was truly like a competent photographer, helping Liu Zhimin take countless photos along the way.

There was the shutter pressed when she looked back in front of a giant pink flower wall.

There was also the beautiful profile he captured when she squatted down to smell a double-petaled petunia.

And there was a shot of Liu Zhimin reaching out to catch the water droplets splashing from a fountain, with Lin Xiuyuan capturing the moment the sunlight pierced through the droplets.

However, none of these compared to that exceptionally cherished group photo.

That was when Liu Zhimin pulled Lin Xiuyuan over, handed her phone to a passerby, and asked them to take a photo of the two of them together.

In front of the lens, the two stood side by side in front of the sea of flowers; the sunlight was just right, the girl smiled so her eyes curved into crescents, the boy also smiled quite brightly, their shoulders lightly touching.

This one was her favorite photo.

Moreover, besides Lin Xiuyuan taking photos for Liu Zhimin, he actually took many of him as well.

His back, his profile, and his slightly furrowed brows when he lowered his head to adjust the camera settings.

It was just that these photos were taken with her phone, so she quietly saved them on her phone; she didn't send them to Lin Xiuyuan, nor did she want to post them on any social media platform, just simply keeping them.

When she had time in the future, she would look back and appreciate them slowly.

The afternoon sun gradually slanted westward, plating the entire garden in a layer of warm, molten gold.

Having finally finished touring the last exhibition area, the two sat side by side on a bench in the garden's rest area, drinking the cold coconut water they had just bought.

In this rare moment of leisure, Liu Zhimin flipped through the photos in the camera, the smile on her lips never fading.

"You've taken so many, the memory is almost full, right?"

"You underestimate yourself; I've already changed two memory cards." Lin Xiuyuan took a big gulp of coconut water, his tone casual. Hearing this, Liu Zhimin smiled and didn't respond.

She just looked up at the sun, which was now clearly slanting westward, and asked, "Where to next? Are we going back to the Jiudian?"

"No rush." Lin Xiuyuan set the empty coconut shell aside, stood up, and brushed the grass clippings off his pants. "Since we're already here, how can we say we've been to Dubai without going dune bashing? Right?"

The figure who said this with a smile extended his right hand toward Liu Zhimin. "Let's go."

In the sunset, his silhouette was plated with a layer of gentle gold trim.

Liu Zhimin placed her hand into his palm, used the leverage to stand up, and at the same time, gripped his hand tightly.

After leaving the Miracle Garden, Lin Xiuyuan took Liu Zhimin under the gradually slanting sun and drove toward the desert hinterland outside the city of Dubai.

The scenery outside the car window gradually transitioned from a bustling modern metropolis to a barren, open area; the high-rises receded, replaced by sparse shrubbery and an endlessly extending gray asphalt road.

After a good while, the car finally drove into a neatly planned dune bashing camp.

Parked here were over a dozen modified Toyota Land Cruisers, all with white bodies, their tire pressure clearly lowered, making them look wide, flat, and steady.

The dark-skinned professional drivers were leaning against their cars chatting, and seeing guests arrive, they stepped forward to greet them.

Lin Xiuyuan, who had stepped out of the car, communicated briefly with the coordinating driver, confirmed the route and duration, and then said to Liu Zhimin, "Come on, the real desert roller coaster is about to begin."

Looking at the boy before her, Liu Zhimin smiled and took the initiative to reach her hand into Lin Xiuyuan's palm, then followed him into the back seat of a car and closed the door.

The car's air conditioning was on full blast, yet the scent of sand could still be faintly smelled in the air.

The driver was a local middle-aged man with a short beard; he turned his head from the front seat to give them a friendly smile and said in accented English, "Are you two ready? It's going to be a bit thrilling in a moment."

Hearing this, Liu Zhimin nodded, her body subconsciously leaning a bit closer to Lin Xiuyuan.

A few seconds later, with the roar of the engine, the vehicle started, slowly driving away from the camp toward that boundless sea of golden sand.

At first, the tires rolled over relatively flat sand, causing only slight bumps.

Liu Zhimin, looking through the car window, watched the rolling, soft-lined sand dunes in the distance, which looked exactly like still, golden ocean waves.

Then, the car's speed accelerated abruptly.

The first sand dune appeared before their eyes; the slope wasn't very steep, about twenty or thirty degrees.

As the driver lightly pressed the accelerator, the car body suddenly reared its head and charged straight up.

This made Liu Zhimin feel as if her whole body was being pressed into the seat back by an invisible hand, and a sense of weightless floating came from her stomach.

Subconsciously, she held her breath and gripped the edge of the seat tightly.

Moreover, the moment the front of the car crossed the crest of the hill, nothing but the sky remained in the front window, followed immediately by a sudden drop.

In this situation, before Liu Zhimin could even manage to let out her stifled exclamation, the car had already landed steadily on the gentle slope on the other side of the sand dune, splashing up a patch of golden sand.

"Are you okay?"

Lin Xiuyuan, who had been keeping an eye on Liu Zhimin, looked at her with a smile in his eyes.

"I, I'm okay."

When asked, Liu Zhimin loosened her white-knuckled fingers, only to discover that what she had been gripping just now was actually Lin Xiuyuan's right hand.

Perhaps to let the two of them adapt, the driver chose relatively gentle routes for the next few sand dunes.

During this period, Liu Zhimin gradually relaxed from her tension, and was even able to squeeze out a laugh during those brief moments of weightlessness.

However, the hand that was tightly holding Lin Xiuyuan's did not let go; it merely changed from the initial panic into a kind of habitual reliance.

After confirming that the two guests in the back row had fully adapted, the driver in front first glanced at them through the rearview mirror, a smug smile of an experienced driver appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Then he whispered something in Arabic, and immediately slammed the steering wheel and floored the accelerator; the car charged toward a massive sand dune that looked to be sixty or seventy degrees steep, almost in a vertical posture.

Liu Zhimin only had time to gasp in shock at this sight before her entire body became completely weightless.

Before her eyes, there was nothing left but the deep blue sky and the sand wall that was almost pressed against the windshield; her body felt as if it were about to be thrown from the seat.

This time, she could no longer care about any reserve.

As that exclamation escaped, a pair of hands also clung tightly to Lin Xiuyuan's arm, and her whole body was almost hanging sideways off him.

A scream broke through her throat, echoing in the narrow carriage, carrying a tremor and a vibrato that was stimulated to the extreme.

Lin Xiuyuan, who was experiencing the same, was more amused by Liu Zhimin's reaction, so he did not dodge the other party's lunge, but simply raised his other hand to gently cover the back of her hand that was tightly locked onto his arm, patting it in a soothing manner.

This time, he could clearly feel the softness coming from beneath Liu Zhimin's clothes.

Especially that most prominent part, which was currently sandwiching his entire arm snugly; with every bump of the car body, it gave very clear feedback.

However, Lin Xiuyuan did not deliberately think about it, nor did he deliberately avoid it.

He just let that hand gently cover the back of hers, looking out through the car window at the sand flowing down almost vertically outside.

In this situation, after charging up three or four steep slopes, the driver finally stopped on an open sand dune with higher terrain.

He then turned his head, a satisfied smile of a mission successfully completed on his face, "Two bosses, this is the best spot to watch the sunset; take your time taking photos, no need to rush."

Two minutes later, Liu Zhimin, having recovered, opened the car door.

The dry and slightly cool desert air rushed in, instantly dispelling the warmth that had accumulated inside the car.

Jumping out of the car, she stepped onto the soft, fine sand and took a deep breath before turning back to look at Lin Xiuyuan, who had followed her out; his face still bore an unfaded flush of excitement, as well as a trace of shyness remaining from the intimate contact just now.

But she said nothing, merely shifting her gaze from Lin Xiuyuan's face to the scene before her.

And then she forgot how to speak.

Because it was the time of sunset.

The sun had already hung at the edge of the horizon, large and round like a burning red bronze mirror, dyeing the entire desert in varying shades of amber and golden orange.

As far as the eye could see were boundless, layered sand dunes, their curves gentle and long, like the rising and falling breath of the earth in deep sleep.

After standing for a few seconds looking at this scene, Liu Zhimin suddenly bent down to take off her white sneakers and stepped barefoot into the sand, which was as soft and fine as cotton.

The sand beneath her feet still retained the residual warmth from the day's sun, wrapping warmly around her ankles.

Then she walked slowly forward along the ridge of the sand dune, each step sinking into the soft sand and leaving clear footprints.

Lin Xiuyuan followed a few steps behind her, not coming forward to disturb her.

Carrying her discarded shoes in his hand, he watched her back quietly, watching her crouch down to scoop up a handful of sand with her hands, watching the sand leak out in wisps through her fingers and scatter into pale golden mist in the wind.

A moment later, Liu Zhimin stood up and turned her head.

With a smile on her face, "Xiuyuan."

Her voice was a little soft, as if afraid to disturb this tranquility, "I really love this sunset; you really know how to be romantic."

Lin Xiuyuan, who had walked a few steps closer, stood by her side and also looked toward the sunset that was slowly sinking into the horizon, saying softly, "As long as you like it; I was afraid you wouldn't be satisfied with this side and would keep talking about the previous one."

Hearing this, Liu Zhimin looked at him, then gave a very bright, wide smile, "Actually, do you know, Xiuyuan? What's important has never been where the scenery is, but whether the person accompanying me to see the scenery is you."

After saying this, she did not look at him again, but stepped forward and stretched out her arms to hug him.

There were no more words, no further actions, and she did not even tighten the embrace.

She just held him like this, resting her face gently on his shoulder, like a ship that had drifted for a long time and finally found a harbor where it could briefly dock.

Lin Xiuyuan, being held, was slightly stunned.

He then chuckled, raised his hand, and gently wrapped it around her waist exposed outside that cropped sweatshirt, his palm pressed against that warm and delicate skin.

Likewise, there was no further movement; he just held her quietly.

The sunset continued to sink, and the color of the desert transitioned from golden yellow to rose gold, then slowly transitioned to a gentle purple-gray.

They stood like this, hugging quietly, watching the sunset sink into the horizon bit by bit.

Perhaps it was ten minutes.

Perhaps longer.

Until only the last sliver of orange-red light remained on the horizon, as if someone had lightly brushed it with a paintbrush at the junction of heaven and earth, Lin Xiuyuan then felt the slight weight on his shoulder move.

It turned out to be Liu Zhimin lifting her head, "Let's go, the sun has set, it seems a bit chilly."

Lin Xiuyuan nodded and loosened his hand from around her waist.

Liu Zhimin lowered her head to put on the shoes he handed over, but as she tied her shoelaces, a faint smile still lingered at the corners of her mouth.

Then, at the two's signal, the driver drove the car over and carried them back to the camp.

>