Building Sandcastles

The warm breeze felt soothing, and the sea was a brilliant shade of blue. Waves crashed against the shore, casting shimmering light across the surface of the ocean, while seagulls soared above.

At that moment, Jada and Ren, along with their daughter Yueyue and baby son, had arrived at the beach.

Walking barefoot on the soft sand brought a comforting feeling that instantly relaxed them.

Speaking of the beach, swimsuits were obviously a must. Ren was eyeing Jada up and down with an appreciative gaze.

Under his persuasion, Jada was wearing a rather modest swimsuit. Even though it was conservative, it did nothing to hide her beauty.

Her long legs, her shapely waist, and her sleek, glossy black hair all made her stand out.

"Had enough staring?" Jada asked with a playful smile.

"I'll never get enough," Ren replied with a straight face.

This made Jada shake her head lightly, as if saying, "I give up on you."

"Wanna go for a swim?" Ren asked eagerly, holding up some sunscreen. "I can help you apply this!"

Jada chuckled softly and crossed her arms. "I already applied it when I changed into my swimsuit."

Ren's face fell in mock disappointment as he sighed. He'd been hoping to sneak in some affection!

Seeing Ren's dejected look, Jada smiled. "Besides, I have to look after Ruirui," she said, glancing at their baby lying on a mat nearby.

"How about you go play for a bit?" Ren suggested after glancing at their son. "I'll stay here for now."

Since they were at the beach, it didn't seem right to make his wife sunbathe all day without getting to enjoy the ocean. That would be boring! Beaches were meant for fun.

It was just too bad they couldn't swim together since their son was still a bit too young. Maybe in a few years, they could return for some family fun in the water.

"No need, you go ahead and have fun," Jada replied, touched by Ren's consideration. "I actually wanted to relax and lie down for a while. I spend all year sitting in the office. Now that I'm finally at the beach, I don't feel like running around or wasting energy swimming."

"Oh, alright then," Ren said, a bit disappointed. Suddenly, he felt his hand being tugged. He looked down to see Yueyue, dressed in a cute children's swimsuit, tightly holding a bucket and brimming with excitement. "Daddy, let's build sandcastles!"

She'd been looking forward to this for a long time.

In fact, this beach trip had been her idea. After all, she'd seen so many comic scenes with people building sandcastles at the beach, but she had only ever played in the sandbox at the park!

"Hmm?" Ren made a face of mock disdain.

He had been looking forward to swimming and maybe trying some surfing, and now his daughter wanted him to build sandcastles?

"You could just do it yourself—"

Ren's words trailed off. Despite his little troublemaker's antics, Yueyue's eager expression was just too adorable to resist.

"Fine! Let's do it!" Ren sighed and took Yueyue's hand, leading her away from Jada.

The ocean was blue, the sky even bluer, and with the gentle breeze blowing in from the sea, Ren felt himself relaxing. Best of all, there were plenty of beautiful women in swimsuits around too.

Aside from that, the beach was lively, with both kids and adults everywhere. Some kids were digging for stones with little buckets, others were splashing each other, playing water games, or getting ready to swim with their floaties. And of course, many were busy building sandcastles!

"Here, Daddy! This spot's perfect!" Yueyue pointed to an empty area and declared, "We'll have a contest! Let's see who can make the best castle. If mine looks better, you're not allowed to sneak any of my snacks for a whole month!"

"Oh?" Ren raised an eyebrow with interest. "And what if I win?"

"Then…" Yueyue paused, thinking. "Then I won't sneak your snacks for a whole month!"

"Deal."

In truth, it was a pretty unfair bet. Yueyue rarely succeeded in stealing any of Ren's snacks anyway, but she had been doing well in school, and Ren didn't want to crush her enthusiasm.

Besides, who said you couldn't openly eat snacks?

With that thought, Ren settled down behind Yueyue and began helping her with her sandcastle.

For such a simple game, it brought a serious expression to Yueyue's face, so Ren decided to just enjoy the moment and quietly stay by her side, building along with her.

"Humming~" Yueyue was singing happily, feeling rather pleased with herself.

Even though she had never been to the beach to build sandcastles before, she was known as the "Sand Sculptor" at school!

As she built, she glanced at her dad's sandcastle to compare, thinking she might have a chance to poke fun at him.

But when she saw Ren's creation, her eyes widened, and she quickly looked back at her own castle.

Σ(°△°|||)︴ She felt defeated.

Her lips began to quiver as she compared her little creation to her dad's. His sandcastle looked like something out of a fantasy anime!

If hers was a small countryside house, then her dad's was a grand castle!

No way!

Yueyue began to panic at the thought of losing the bet. She quickly knocked down her current attempt and started over.

Meanwhile, Ren, who had already finished his sandcastle, glanced at Yueyue. Seeing her still hard at work, he sighed.

Life felt so empty sometimes.

Ren shook his head and decided to sit beside Yueyue, casually glancing around at the beachgoers, especially the women in bikinis.

'Oh, that tan looks great!'

'Wow, that's a pretty daring bikini… is that a three-piece set?'

'Whoa! That's a pretty generous top, huh?'

Ren prided himself on being purely appreciative of the view, but just then, his eyes locked with Jada's across the beach.

She gave him a knowing, amused look, as if to say, "What are you looking at?"

Feeling guilty, Ren quickly lowered his head.

Looking back at Yueyue, who was still working on her sandcastle, he suddenly felt a little tired.

This was getting boring... Hmm?

Ren's eyes brightened as he remembered something he'd seen in a short video. He picked up a small shovel and carefully began digging under Yueyue's bottom, trying to create a small pit.

Time passed.

"Ahhh!"

Yueyue's sudden scream rang out, followed by Ren's laughter as he quickly ran off.

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