Chapter 330 - 259: Shifting the Blame

"Sir," Lin Li said, approaching the attendant and pointing to the sun umbrella where Su Yue was sitting. "We’ll take the two lounge chairs under that umbrella. How much is it?"

"Fifteen yuan an hour," the attendant quoted.

"Alright, we’ll take it for an hour." Lin Li had nothing on him; his phone was in a locker in the changing room, so he obviously couldn’t make an online payment.

However, that wasn’t a problem for him. With a mere thought, he retrieved some spare cash that he had stored on the Mysterious Small Island beforehand.

Lin Li opened his right hand, where a ten-yuan bill and a five-yuan bill had appeared. He placed the fifteen yuan in cash on the small table in front of the attendant.

The attendant in charge of the lounge chairs was just an ordinary person. He simply assumed Lin Li had the fifteen yuan on him before he came over to pay.

After taking the money, he began to make a note in his logbook, recording the time for the spot Lin Li was using.

"I’ve got drinks here too. Want to get a bottle?" After logging Lin Li’s spot, the attendant asked, pointing to a small fridge beside him.

"We’ll take two bottles of mineral water."

"That’ll be five yuan total."

Lin Li opened his left hand, and a five-yuan bill appeared.

After paying, Lin Li walked back toward Su Yue, carrying the two bottles of mineral water.

...

Su Yue, who was rubbing her cramped thigh, heard someone sit down on the lounge chair beside her and immediately turned her head to look.

"You’ve been swimming for a while, you must be thirsty... Here, have some water." Lin Li opened a water bottle for Su Yue and handed it to her.

"GLUG, GLUG, GLUG..." Su Yue was indeed quite thirsty. After taking the water from Lin Li, she downed nearly half the bottle in one go.

Watching Su Yue chug her water, Lin Li opened his own bottle and started drinking as well.

"Haaaah..."

After finishing her drink, Su Yue let out a long sigh, leaned back onto the lounge chair, her face a picture of relaxation.

"If it weren’t for me, you would’ve sunk to the bottom of the ocean and been a goner," Lin Li said, putting down his water.

"Yeah! Thanks!"

"Mhm."

After the brief exchange, they both lay back on their lounge chairs under the umbrella, resting contentedly as they enjoyed the cool sea breeze.

After resting for ten-odd minutes, Su Yue’s cramped right leg still hadn’t fully recovered, but she could get up and walk around.

Just then, Lin Li sat up and spoke to Su Yue, who was still lying on her chair.

"That’s enough rest. Before the sun sets, let’s go buy some seafood at that wharf the driver mentioned on the way here!"

"Okay!" Su Yue nodded, got up, and the two of them headed toward the changing rooms.

In the changing rooms, they took showers to rinse off the salt from the ocean, changed back into their clothes, and came out carrying a black bag with their wet swimsuits.

"The wharf the driver mentioned is three or four kilometers from here. Let’s take a three-wheeler," Lin Li said, looking at the wharf’s location on his phone map.

"Should we drop our swimsuits off at the hotel first before going to the wharf, or just head straight there?" Su Yue asked.

"Let’s head back to the hotel first," Lin Li said, glancing at the plastic bag with the swimsuits he was carrying.

If it had just been him, he could have simply stored the plastic bag with the swimsuits on the Mysterious Small Island and avoided the trip back to the hotel.

"Then let’s hurry! Didn’t the driver say? Around this time, lots of people go to the wharf to buy seafood from the fishermen as they come back. If we’re late, we’ll be stuck with the leftovers everyone else has picked through..." Su Yue said with a smile, then started walking ahead in the direction of the hotel.

Although she talked about hurrying, her pace wasn’t fast. After all, her leg had just cramped up and was still a bit sore.

Lin Li let her get a head start, then with a small burst of speed, he overtook her in just a few steps.

"Lin Li, wait for me! Why are you walking so fast?" Seeing him get farther and farther away, Su Yue grew anxious. She wanted to catch up but couldn’t speed up, so she yelled after him.

"Weren’t you the one who said to hurry?" Lin Li turned his head and grinned when he heard Su Yue call out to him.

"We do need to hurry, but you’re walking too fast! My cramped leg still hasn’t fully recovered, so I can’t keep up! Can’t you just wait for me?" Su Yue said, sounding aggrieved.

"You’re so high-maintenance..." Lin Li grumbled, slowing his pace. When Su Yue caught up, he deliberately gave her a look of feigned disgust.

"You...! The only reason I’m like this is because you insisted on chasing me in the water, which made me overexert myself and caused my leg to cramp..." Su Yue retorted, fuming when she saw the look on his face.

"Huh?!!" Lin Li’s eyes widened in disbelief when he heard her words.

"Who taught you how to flip the blame like that? You were clearly the one in the wrong first, and now you’re blaming me?

"If you hadn’t been flaunting your superior swimming skills and arrogantly teasing me in the first place, would I have even chased you?"

"Is that what happened? I almost drowned a minute ago, so my memory’s a little fuzzy. I can’t quite remember how it all started..." A look of confusion appeared on Su Yue’s pretty face as she feigned seriousness.

"Hah, you’re a pretty good actress..." Lin Li pursed his lips. ’She almost drowned from that cramp,’ he thought. ’I’ll let it slide.’