“Next—come in!”

The voice of the female doctor came from the operating room.

Hearing her name, Shen Qinghan quickly went in.

* * *

About ten minutes later, she came out of the operating room.

Her body looked perfectly normal—nothing like someone who’d been stuck with a needle.

In this world, biotechnology and medical techniques were comparatively advanced; many minimally invasive surgeries were essentially non‑injurious afterward and the post‑op anesthesia was very light.

“By the way, we’ve been on summer break for so long and the four of us haven’t gone out together yet. Want to pick a day and go somewhere?”

Li Chuxin looked at the two and proposed.

Shen Qinghan agreed immediately, “Sure, let’s go somewhere, the four of us.”

Lin Zichen didn’t say anything.

Because if Shen Qinghan went, that meant he would go. The two were a package deal.

Li Chuxin smiled, “Then it’s set for now. When we’re back, let’s discuss in the group where would be fun.”

The three chatted in the hospital for a bit.

Soon, they each hailed their own ride back home.

* * *

Back at home, Lin Zichen spent the whole day tempering muscles.

He worked on both legs.

The muscles in the legs were far more than in the arms. After nearly a full day, he had only finished a whole right leg.

The remaining left leg would take another full day tomorrow.

At 11 p.m. Shen Qinghan arrived on schedule in pajamas to sleep at Lin Zichen’s.

Ever since they settled on “get married after graduation,” the two basically slept together often.

Mainly because Shen Qinghan was clingy and liked sleeping with Lin Zichen—at least three out of ten days she needed to share a bed with him, or she felt restless all over.

“Xiao Chen, check the small group chat. Chuxin and He Yu are already discussing where to go.”

Sitting on the bed, Shen Qinghan raised the topic as soon as she arrived.

Lin Zichen opened the group chat. It already had 99+ messages.

Looking through the history, there were suggestions about hiking to watch the sunset, horseback riding, going to a water park and heading to the seashore.

They proposed many places, but because Li Chuxin and He Yu couldn’t agree, nothing had been decided yet.

The two @‑mentioned Shen Qinghan and asked where she wanted to go.

Shen Qinghan had no particular preference—anywhere would be fine—so she replied that they could decide.

As for Lin Zichen, neither of them bothered to ask him.

After three years as classmates, both of them knew it would be pointless—if asked, his answer would surely be “I’ll go where Hanhan goes.”

After arguing for nearly half an hour, Li Chuxin and He Yu finally compromised on a result: the seaside.

The moment she saw “seaside,” Shen Qinghan felt troubled.

She couldn’t go into the sea—whenever she stepped into it, she would hear eerie voices coming from the ocean, which made her feel panicky.

“Xiao Chen, what should I do?”

At a loss, Shen Qinghan could only turn to Lin Zichen for help.

They had asked for her opinion and she had said anything was fine, letting the other two decide.

Now that they had struggled for half an hour and finally agreed on the seaside, if she suddenly vetoed it, it would be awkward.

“Just say you’ve got an injury and can’t be in seawater, so you can’t go to the seaside.”

Lin Zichen thought for a moment and offered.

Shen Qinghan hesitated, then shook her head, “Forget it. They finally reached a compromise—if I say no, that’s not fair. Seaside it is. Worst case, I won’t go into the water—I’ll sunbathe on the beach and have a barbecue.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

After saying so, Shen Qinghan replied in the group chat that she agreed to going to the seaside.

Lin Zichen left it to her—he also felt that as long as she didn’t go in the water, there shouldn’t be an issue.

Once they settled on the seaside, the four discussed and decided to set out at 7 a.m. in ten days’ time, heading to a seaside spot in the city called Shuangri Bay.

* * *

In the days before the seaside trip,

Lin Zichen hardly left the house.

Aside from going out daily with Shen Qinghan to train, he holed up in his room tempering muscles the rest of the time.

After nine days of grueling training. He finally finished tempering all his muscles.

* * *

The next day, 7 a.m.

The four members of the Dawn Group met at the gate of Shanhai High School and set off for the seaside.

They went by car, with He Yu driving.

“He Yu, when did you get your license?”

In the car, Li Chuxin, sitting in the front passenger seat, asked with curiosity.

Summer vacation had only been going for about a month—having a license already seemed a bit unbelievable.

He Yu turned the steering wheel with one hand in a flourish, “I’ve had it for almost three weeks. I got it ten days after the break started.”

“Did you practice driving over winter break?”

As soon as she said it, Li Chuxin contradicted herself, “No, wait—your eighteenth birthday wasn’t until the next semester. You were underage during winter break. How did this work?”

“I signed up for a crash course—license in ten days.”

“There’s a crash course like that?”

Li Chuxin was puzzled, “I’ve lived in Shanhai City for years—how have I never heard of it?”

He Yu was smug, “My dad pulled strings for me. Of course you haven’t heard.”

Then he added, “If you three want to enroll in the crash course, I’ll tell my dad when we get back. Want in?”

“Master He, absolutely!”

Having accepted favors, Li Chuxin adapted instantly—now calling him “Master He,” flexible and quick on the uptake.

Sitting in the back, Lin Zichen added, “Master He, please sign Hanhan and me up too.”

Hearing the title “Master He,” He Yu felt a little thrill.

* * *

An hour later, the car arrived at Shuangri Bay.

It was midsummer and the beach was packed with people.

The moment he got out of the car, He Yu’s eyes kept darting to the bikini beauties in the crowd.

He didn’t even try to hide it—he leered openly.

By contrast, Lin Zichen seemed much more proper.

Unless a swimsuit beauty on Shen Qinghan’s level showed up, he couldn’t even be bothered to look—he simply wasn’t interested.

“He Yu, can you not be so sleazy? Look how gentlemanly Zichen is—there’s not a trace of a lecherous stare in his eyes.”

Li Chuxin complained at He Yu.

He Yu was unconcerned, “You kidding? It’s just that Zichen’s taste was spoiled by Hanhan. How could he not be lecherous? If you’re a man, you’re lecherous, okay?”

He Yu continued, “And seriously, what’s the point of coming to the beach if a man isn’t going to look at bikini babes?”

Li Chuxin was at a loss for words.

She chose to grab Shen Qinghan’s hand and head off, “Come on, Hanhan, let’s go change into swimsuits. Ignore him.”

Lin Zichen turned to He Yu, “Let’s change, too.”

“Let’s go, let’s go. I can’t wait to go diving!”

With that, He Yu headed with Lin Zichen toward the changing rooms, face full of excitement.

On the way there, quite a few people recognized Lin Zichen as the provincial top‑scorer of Southern River Province.

They pointed at him and whispered about how he had joined the Celestial Pavilion—that something was wrong with his head, that he’d been brainwashed.

Lin Zichen’s senses were razor‑sharp; he heard every one of those negative remarks, word for word.

He felt no ripple inside at the negativity aimed at him.

But as for the hidden hands behind the current situation, he made a note.

When he became strong in the future, he would settle the score—hard.

As for compensation for emotional distress—at least tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions.

“You’ve really got a good temper. If they were talking about me, I’d have socked someone already!”

He Yu fumed.

Lin Zichen smiled, “A good temper is relative. I just happen not to care about this. If it’s something I do care about, I’d throw a punch, too.”

He Yu was curious, “Then what do you care about?”

Before he finished, Li Chuxin—now in her swimsuit—walked over with a smile and answered for him, “Do you even have to ask? What Zichen cares about most is definitely Hanhan!”

“Oh, right. That was a dumb question.”

He Yu grinned sheepishly.

As he grinned, his gaze fell on Li Chuxin.

Li Chuxin wore a waist‑baring swimsuit—her waist was slim and white, quite alluring.

Next to her, Shen Qinghan was much more covered up.

She wore a fitted beach dress, revealing only a pair of slender, fair calves and two petite, delicate feet.

Beyond that, nothing could be seen.

Soon, Lin Zichen and He Yu changed into swim trunks in the changing room.

By the time they came out, Li Chuxin and Shen Qinghan had already found a good spot on the beach and set up mats and a sunshade.

Seeing that the sun was fierce, Lin Zichen went over to Shen Qinghan, took a bottle of sunscreen from the bag and volunteered to apply it for her.

Shen Qinghan had no reason to refuse; her face flushed as she agreed.

“Chuxin, I’ll put sunscreen on you!”

He Yu also wanted to touch the dewy skin of an eighteen‑year‑old girl; he eagerly offered to Li Chuxin.

Li Chuxin shot him a look, “Ha! Trying to cop a feel? Dream on. I’ll have Hanhan do it later—don’t even think about it, you lech.”

He Yu felt a pang of regret.

On the other side, Lin Zichen had Shen Qinghan lie face‑down on the mat while he applied sunscreen for her.

Shen Qinghan was dressed very conservatively—only her face, neck, arms, calves and feet were exposed.

By rights, only those areas needed sunscreen.

Honestly, her feet didn’t need it at all.

However, while applying sunscreen for her, Lin Zichen bestowed his favor everywhere.

Even for areas covered by the dress, he slipped his hands under to apply—and the further he went, the further up he went.

Was he really applying sunscreen?

Or was he taking advantage!

Shen Qinghan knew full well what he was doing, but let him.

Because she was also savoring the intimate touch, enjoying the flirtation with Lin Zichen—and a bit addicted to it.

Just as she silently enjoyed the caress of Lin Zichen’s hands, her long legs pressed together in comfort and her face flushed bright red, a voice suddenly sounded in her ear—ancient and hoarse.

“Great… god…

Revival…

Sea’s… Source Site…”

Hearing that eerie whisper, Shen Qinghan’s eyes snapped open, panic filling them.

That whisper was coming from the sea!