Chapter 149: Beach Gathering

Chen Xin felt a slight sense of regret that she was not live-streaming at the moment. If she could broadcast this, she was certain that with just this pair of hands and her barbecue skills, they could earn enough tonight to cover free grand meals for the entire upcoming month.

Still, things were pretty good as they were. She could snap pictures of the vibrant, wriggling seafood, the handsome backs of the men, and the bustling seaside barbecue feast.

Zhou Yu had even gone to fetch an old-fashioned megaphone-style cassette player, digging out a nearly obsolete tape to play music that was completely incomprehensible.

There were a few households scattered around the neighborhood. Normally, young people were nowhere to be seen, but when summer vacation arrived, at least a few kids would return to visit their grandparents and spend the holiday.

Hearing the booming music echoing across the beach, some curious neighbors couldn't resist coming over to see what was happening.

"What are you guys up to, Xiao Yu?" Those people weren't very familiar with Zhou Hao, so they ran over to ask the Zhou brothers, Zhou Yu and Zhou Sheng.

"Sister Xin said we're having a barbecue party. Do you guys want to come? Just bring along a few vegetables if you want to join in."

Living by the sea, every household here had its own small vegetable plot. Neighbors would often just wave across the fence before plucking a vegetable or snapping off some scallions, so the cost of joining this spontaneous party was practically zero.

Being young folks, none of them disliked having fun. Entertainment facilities were scarce here to begin with, and since many residents had moved away, leaving only the elderly behind, there was really nothing to do except huddle inside houses. Having a lively gathering to play and be happy together felt like a sudden stroke of pure fortune.

Hearing Zhou Yu say this, several kids let out whoops of excitement and dashed back toward their homes.

A short while later, not only did those kids return, but they also brought their grandparents along with them. Before long, a neat row of chairs lined the beach, and the old folks sat together, chatting comfortably while swaying their hand fans.

"Can we manage all these people?" Not expecting such a sudden influx of guests, Chen Xin grew a little worried that the food they had prepared wouldn't be enough.

"No problem at all. Go take care of Zhang Zhang and get him to eat something first. Grandpa and the others already had their dinner before coming down; they're just here to soak up the lively atmosphere and won't eat much. I'll grill some oysters and vegetables for them in a moment."

"Bro! Sister Xin! I managed to scrounge up another grill!" After running wild outside for a while, Zhou Yu and the other young scamps returned, hauling a large food-stall-style barbecue pit between them.

"This is from Weiwei's family—they weren't using it, so we borrowed it. We got charcoal too, and Weiwei's dad even got some food ready for us. Someone's bringing it over soon."

Weiwei was one of the few local students attending school in the area. Her family ran a barbecue food stall near the pier, and business was quite decent. Anyone who came here for tourism would invariably head down to the pier for seafood.

They weren't very far from the pier to begin with—only about seven or eight hundred meters if you walked straight along the beach, though factoring in the climb around the slope to the dam on the west side of the pier added another five or six hundred meters. Fortunately, Weiwei's home was much closer to this stretch of beach, so lugging an idle grill over wasn't too strenuous.

Weiwei was a dark-skinned, slender local girl, naturally timid and shy, who blushed instantly whenever she saw the Zhou brothers. The students studying at the town's middle school consisted of the few local kids, supplemented by a much larger contingent from the surrounding fishing villages.

"The town school provides boarding. These kids study here and get a break every two weeks, lasting about three to four days."

"Why is that? Can't they take a break every week?"

"The circumstances are different. Many people in these fishing villages make their living from the sea. Sometimes the whole family goes out, leaving no one behind to look after the kids. Other children live quite far from the town, and the round trip alone takes an entire day. If they wanted to buy something to take back, they'd miss the last ferry and have to wait until the next day to return."

Chen Xin knew nothing about this. In her mind, nine-year compulsory education schools were basically deeply rooted in villages and towns. Even the remote islands far from the mainland had schools of their own, though upper-class students still had to return to mainland middle schools for their studies. She had heard they got breaks once a month or every two months, but she had never inquired about the specific arrangements.

Accompanying Weiwei were several of her classmates. Some had come along to help their families sell seafood, while others were at the school for summer remedial classes. Discipline was already loose on regular days, and during the summer makeup classes, it became even more relaxed. Many kids insisted on attending these classes simply to escape parental scoldings, though in reality, their enthusiasm for skipping class to play video games far outstripped any passion they had for studying.

Seeing that Weiwei and the other girls felt too shy to approach the boys' side, Chen Xin took the initiative to deliver plates of grilled fish and meat to them.

"Thank you, Sister." Weiwei shyly accepted the plate, her hands and feet seemingly with nowhere to rest.

"Don't be nervous. I don't bite," Chen Xin chuckled helplessly. "Did you girls even bring your homework with you?"

Noticing several workbooks resting on the small table, she was struck by a momentary sense of disbelief. Were these girls truly this devoted to studying?

"N-no, not really. We had class today, but there were two problems we couldn't figure out no matter what, so... so we wanted to discuss them together."

Chen Xin didn't press further. Just as Zhou Yu happened to walk past, she casually reached out and patted the back of his head: "Look at them, and then look at you guys. Aren't you ashamed? Shouldn't you be striving to improve?"

Knowing Chen Xin was only joking with him, Zhou Yu grinned broadly and jogged over to flip through Weiwei's textbooks. Weiwei was a grade below him, and the problem they were discussing happened to be right in Zhou Yu's strongest subject: mathematics. He glanced at the highlighted question, his eyes rolling thoughtfully.

"Weiwei, I'll explain this problem for you guys, and in return, you can grill a few skewers of squid for me, deal? My grandpa and the others like eating them, but they can't have spicy food."

Originally, this was a task Zhou Hao had assigned to Zhou Yu and Zhou Sheng, expecting them to handle the grilling and deliver the food to the elders. But boys were never that obediently dutiful, and so they had promptly shifted the idea onto Weiwei and the girls.

Barbecuing and cooking weren't difficult for these young girls—at least, they were far simpler than math problems. Zhou Yu held the book and explained the concepts to them, and within about half an hour, all the difficult problems were resolved. Delighted, the girls packed away their books and set about fulfilling their end of the bargain.

Compared to Chen Xin and Zhou Hao, they possessed much more experience in handling seafood, instantly knowing precisely how to prepare each variety without a moment's hesitation.

Unlike his older brother Zhou Yu, Zhou Sheng had no taste for wild revelry. Slinging his camera across his shoulder, he wandered about, snapping pictures of the sky, the earth, the old men, and the group of young girls radiating bright smiles.

"This shot is really nice. You should try submitting it for publication." Chen Xin glanced at the photo Zhou Sheng had taken. His framing captured the old, pitch-black barbecue pit, two girls laughing brightly, and another pair busy processing seafood. One girl's small knife was poised right at the shell's opening, while the ground beside them was littered with empty, discarded shells.

"What do you mean, submit it?" Photography was merely a hobby for Zhou Sheng; the thought of submitting work to magazine publishers had never crossed his mind.

"I remember *Southern Magazine* is holding a portrait photography competition. You ought to give it a try," Chen Xin suggested offhandedly, though she had no idea whether Zhou Sheng actually took her words to heart.