Chapter 441: Stretching Out the Tongue Is for Getting Into Character

"Mm, then I'll go wash up." Yan Zhusheng clearly didn't want to leave, walking straight into one of the shower stalls.

Seeing this, Li Luo quickly warned: "Pull the shower curtain shut!"

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng didn't really mind whether to pull it or not, but since Li Luo said so, she reached out and pulled the curtain.

But the curtain itself wasn't long; even after pulling it, Yan Zhusheng's forehead was still faintly visible.

And the bottom of the curtain was also very short; from his position in the hot spring pool, Li Luo could faintly see Yan Zhusheng's knees.

Most crucially!

The curtain was made of that white, slightly transparent material!

Under the lighting, Yan Zhusheng's silhouette was clearly displayed on it.

So when Yan Zhusheng simply took off her swimsuit, Li Luo could clearly see the entire scene of it falling to the floor.

Only the upper part was black-and-white silhouette; below the knees, it was in color.

But sometimes, half-concealed is far more tempting than fully exposed.

When Li Luo saw this, his mind had already begun playing a complete scene.

But just then, Yan Zhusheng pulled the curtain back slightly, holding the removed robe and asking: "There's nowhere to put this inside."

"Hang it outside," Xu Youyu pointed to a hook beside the shower stall door and reminded, "There's a hook over there, Zhusheng, right by your hand—hang it outside so it won't get wet."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng turned her head, spotted the hook, and hung up the robe.

But this movement, though most of her body was still covered, revealed to Li Luo a large portion of her rounded shoulder and one straight, long, snow-white leg.

It made one want to look again and again.

At this moment, Xu Youyu also walked toward the shower stalls.

Ying Chanxi, seeing this, no longer cared whether the curtain revealed silhouettes—after all, both her good friends had chosen to stay and bathe here; how could she leave Li Luo alone and return to her room by herself?

So Ying Chanxi quickly picked another shower stall and pulled the curtain shut.

But thinking of Li Luo just outside, she felt shy, hesitated for a long while, finally took off her robe and hung it aside, then unfastened her swimsuit—just as she did, she heard the sound of running water and footsteps outside.

"Li Luo," Ying Chanxi couldn't help asking, "Have you come over?"

"Mm…" Li Luo, covering himself with his swimsuit, hurriedly ran out of the hot spring pool and rushed toward the last shower stall.

Hearing Ying Chanxi's voice, he slowed his pace slightly and replied, "Go ahead and wash—I'm in the stall next to you."

The four shower stalls were arranged in a row, facing the hot spring pool.

Yan Zhusheng was on the far left, Xu Youyu beside her, and Ying Chanxi in the far right position.

When Li Luo finished responding to Ying Chanxi and was about to reach the last shower stall,

the curtain of the opposite stall suddenly lifted slightly; Xu Youyu's head peeked out, saw Li Luo covering himself with his swimsuit, and couldn't help sneaking a laugh.

Li Luo was startled by Xu Youyu, but dared not speak, only glared at her several times, signaling her to stop looking.

But Xu Youyu gave him a sultry wink, as if saying, "So what if I look? You've touched me already—just a glance won't make you lose a piece of flesh. Or should I let you look back?"

Although Xu Youyu said nothing, Li Luo felt her words clearly just from that glance.

So he could only surrender, sprinting into the shower stall at top speed and pulling the curtain shut.

Once inside, Li Luo finally exhaled in relief.

But soon he realized something.

Right now, on his left and right, three young, beautiful girls were washing their slender, fair bodies in the neighboring stalls.

Li Luo quickly turned on the showerhead, letting warm water soak his head and drown out the other sounds.

But the moment he closed his eyes, images of the three girls taking off their swimsuits flashed into his mind.

Though most of the view was blocked by the curtain, the scene was simply too tempting—he couldn't calm down.

He had just been forced to release in the hot spring, yet now he could already feel a faint stirring again.

One could only say—youthful bodies truly were impressive… recovery speed was incredible.

Li Luo quickly washed himself, thoroughly scrubbing his swimsuit again and again.

Yan Zhusheng finished bathing first on the far left, didn't put on her swimsuit, dried her body, then simply wrapped herself in the robe, holding her swimsuit as she stepped out of the stall.

Not long after, Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi also wrapped themselves in robes, waiting for Li Luo to emerge.

"Li Luo, you done yet?" Xu Youyu, grinning mischievously, leaned against the door of Li Luo's shower stall and called in.

"Not yet." Li Luo had already washed his body, but was still scrubbing his swimsuit; hearing Xu Youyu's voice right outside, he quickly turned and said, "Don't pull my curtain—I'm almost done, just go back and change clothes."

"What do you mean don't pull your curtain? Do you really think I'm that kind of person?" Xu Youyu feigned annoyance, her hand already reaching for the curtain, "You say that, so I'm definitely going to pull it now."

"Hey hey hey!" Li Luo saw Xu Youyu's hand on the curtain's edge and rushed to press it down, "Fine, I'm sorry! You've finished washing, just go back quickly—I'll be done in a second."

Xu Youyu had only been teasing him; hearing this, she chuckled twice, let go, and said, "Hurry up then—we're leaving first."

Xu Youyu turned and walked away; Yan Zhusheng followed, exiting the indoor hot spring entrance.

Ying Chanxi, last in line, saw both her good friends leave, then quietly approached the shower stall door and whispered inside: "Li Luo."

"What is it?" Li Luo looked puzzled. "Why haven't you left yet?"

"I want to talk to you about something."

"What?"

"It's not too late yet—when we go back, we won't sleep immediately, right?" Ying Chanxi asked.

"It's not even nine yet—why sleep? Then…" Ying Chanxi's face flushed slightly as she whispered, "Afterward, can we go to the beach? I still have some MV footage I want to shoot."

Hearing this, Li Luo laughed, nodding inside the stall: "Sure, definitely—I'll follow Director Ying's plan."

"It's settled then!" Ying Chanxi beamed with delight upon hearing his agreement, turned, and hurried off, "I'll go change clothes now—see you later!"

"Mm, go ahead."

Finally, after seeing off Ying Chanxi, Li Luo thoroughly washed away the suspicious stains on his swimsuit.

Confirming no one was outside, Li Luo pulled back the curtain, rushed bare-assed to the door, threw on his robe, and finally left the indoor hot spring.

Seeing the maid at the door, Li Luo was about to head upstairs, but before leaving, he couldn't help asking: "The water in this hot spring..."

"Every time we soak in the hot spring, the pool is thoroughly cleaned and the water is fully replaced—please rest assured," the maid said, thinking Li Luo was worried about the water quality.

Although Li Luo didn't mean that, after confirming the water would be replaced, he relaxed and nodded, heading upstairs.

Back in his room, he changed into clean clothes, and Ying Chanxi and the others came to his room to gather.

The four of them returned to the second floor.

At this point, Xu Rongsheng and Li Guohong were already losing interest in mahjong; seeing Li Luo and the others approach, they invited them to join the two mothers in playing mahjong, then hurried off to the pool table.

Seeing this, Li Luo simply told Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng to keep the women company at mahjong, while he took Ying Chanxi to the beach to film the MV.

Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng didn't object; they exchanged a glance—perhaps out of a sense of compensation toward Ying Chanxi—and nodded, sitting down to let Li Luo and Ying Chanxi go.

"Let's go."

Taking Ying Chanxi's camera and tripod, Li Luo told Butler Liu, then had the maid open the beach entrance.

The two stepped out the back door of the villa and walked toward the beach; as the maid left, they unconsciously linked hands.

Ying Chanxi casually picked a spot, set up the tripod and camera, then continued pulling Li Luo along the beach for a stroll.

"Didn't you say we were here to film footage?" Li Luo squeezed Ying Chanxi's small hand—her hand, softened by the hot spring, felt wonderfully pliant.

"Mmm... I'm brainstorming," Ying Chanxi offered a flimsy excuse, still tugging Li Luo along the sand.

They walked all the way to the shore, stepping through the waves, when Ying Chanxi involuntarily recalled the scene from the hot spring; her cheeks flushed slightly, and she glanced sideways at Li Luo.

Just then, Li Luo was looking at her; their eyes met, and he smiled: "Why are you staring at me?"

"You're the one staring at me."

"If you weren't looking at me, how would you know I was looking at you?"

"But when I looked at you, you were already looking at me."

"I just happened to be looking at you at the same time—how do you know I've been staring the whole time?"

"Hmph."

They exchanged trivial banter, yet both found it strangely delightful, unable to suppress their smiles.

After a moment of silence, they stepped back from the waves and sat side by side on the sand, gazing up at the stars.

Whether because they were simply by the sea or because they were far from the mainland, the night sky here was brilliantly starry; Ying Chanxi rested her head on Li Luo's shoulder and raised a finger toward the heavens: "Do you remember what you told me when we were kids?"

"What?" Even with his Memory Palace, Li Luo was at a loss when faced with such an imprecise question from Ying Chanxi.

"You said," Ying Chanxi blinked, "that when people die, they rise into the sky and become stars—so Mom has always been watching me from above."

"Yeah, that's right," Li Luo lifted his arm and pulled her into his embrace. "Why bring this up now?"

"Then tell me," Ying Chanxi asked curiously, "what do you think Mom is thinking right now, watching us two?"

"She's thinking: My daughter has excellent taste—she found such a handsome leading man."

"Arrogant," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes, grumbled into Li Luo's arms, but her lips curled upward.

Then she said: "I just figured out the shot I want to film."

"What?"

"Like this." Ying Chanxi suddenly broke free of Li Luo's embrace, leaned back, and lay flat on the sand.

She reached out to him, gesturing: "Lie on top of me."

"Like this?" Li Luo rolled over, pinning her beneath him, bracing his hands on the sand, fingers slightly sinking into the grains, and leaned down to ask, "What are we filming like this?"

"I want to capture several angles," Ying Chanxi formed a camera gesture with her thumb and index finger, aiming it at Li Luo and the starry sky behind him. "So we need to practice first."

"Alright, whatever the director says."

"Then..." Ying Chanxi wrapped her arms around Li Luo's neck, pulled him down slightly, and closed her eyes.

The next instant, their lips met.

After a long while, they parted briefly; Ying Chanxi's cheeks were flushed, her gaze hazy, whispering: "Li Luo, you're kissing me right in front of my mom."

"It's just for the film—Mom will understand."

"Then why did you sneak your tongue in?"

"... That's for immersion. Want to try it too?"

"I... mmm! Hmm..."