Mom's Back. The Villain Triplets Are in Trouble.

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Athletic Talent

Huo Xinghai’s expression turned serious in a flash. He immediately thought of the earlier anomaly. "Was it in the sea?"

Gu Qingyin shook her head. "I thought it was in the sea too, but I couldn’t find it. It might have escaped." She paused, and then, to make sure he took her seriously, she added, "The place where the Lin Family Siblings are staying isn’t exactly clean, either. Just be careful."

Huo Xinghai gripped the Jade Pendant and nodded.

Gu Qingyin smiled. "There’s no need to be so tense. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you."

[Is there something that I, a paying VIP, am not allowed to hear? Why’d you turn off the mics?!]

[Haibao’er! You’re a bad influence on your mom!]

[Where’s the director? Can’t he control the guests! What’s with them turning off their mics at the drop of a hat!]

[Fine them! They must be fined! Unless you tell us what you were talking about!]

In the control room, the director scoffed. ’Hilarious. If I could control them, would I have just sat here and watched them turn off their mics over and over?’

The mother and son didn’t stay at the villa for long. They soon took a tourist cart back to the beach and headed straight for the wakesurfing boat. The boat was equipped with a tow rope, professional surfboards, and had one-on-one instructors for the entire session to ensure their safety.

Wakesurfing looks incredibly cool and seems to require a lot of skill, but it’s actually very easy to pick up. Even non-swimmers can master it quickly. Since the wakesurfing is done in a shallow area of the sea, there’s little danger of falling in as long as you’re wearing a life jacket.

Compared to jet skis, Huo Xinghai felt wakesurfing was safer.

The wakesurfing boat soon set off. The mother and son put on life jackets and listened attentively to the instructor’s explanation: how to get on the board, how to maintain balance, how to stand up, when to let go of the tow rope, what to do if you fall in the water, and so on.

The instructor was thorough, his instructions concise and easy to understand. The entire lesson took only a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the wakesurfing boat reached the designated area. Once they finished their warm-ups, they could get in the water.

"Have you done this before?" Gu Qingyin asked.

Huo Xinghai shook his head. "I only know how to do regular surfing."

Gu Qingyin was surprised. "That’s harder, isn’t it?"

"It’s not so bad. I’m a natural athlete; I pick things up quickly." A faint smile touched Huo Xinghai’s lips as he reminisced, "I was bursting with energy as a kid, I could never stay still. I learned all sorts of things and got really tan every summer—completely different from my two brothers."

’Even from a young age, my eldest brother had the air of a domineering CEO.’

’He hated the smell of sweat, so he only ever exercised at set times in the gym and would shower immediately afterward. The rest of the time, he was either reading a book or looking for one.’

’He looked down on kids his own age, thinking they were foolish and naive, and disdained the idea of making friends. It wasn’t until he took over the family business that he slowly became more tactful.’

’The third brother, on the other hand, was a loner from the start. Outside of school, he spent all his time locked in his room, researching who-knows-what. He was always muttering to himself, a bit neurotic.’

’Then, for some reason, he got into esports. My third brother went from a total shut-in to a gaming shut-in.’

’Huo Xinghai had always felt he was the most normal of the three brothers.’

Gu Qingyin loved listening to him talk about this. She continued her warm-ups while he spoke, and when the instructor told them it was time to get in the water, she patted her second son’s shoulder, still wanting to hear more. "We’ll continue this later."

Huo Xinghai nodded with a smile. "I’ll go down first. Make sure you watch how I do it."

Gu Qingyin agreed.

Huo Xinghai proved he was an old hand at this. He only fell once before quickly mastering the technique. He got to his feet, stabilized himself, and then decisively let go of the rope, riding the waves in the boat’s wake.

Gu Qingyin cheered with a smile, snapping one photo after another with her phone.

Huo Xinghai didn’t ride for long before it was Gu Qingyin’s turn. After all, they had a task to complete; they weren’t just here to have fun.

Gu Qingyin had a bit of an instinctual fear of the water, but the feeling of floating on the sea in a life jacket was surprisingly pleasant—almost like flying.

She quickly overcame her fear, grabbed the tow rope firmly, and signaled to the instructor that she was ready.

Gu Qingyin’s athletic talent was also absurdly good. She only fell a few times before figuring out the trick. It was mostly about using her core and leg strength: get a firm footing on the surfboard, slowly squat to find her center of gravity, then hold that position, stand up, and let go of the rope.

The follow-cam director started the stopwatch. As long as she successfully surfed for five seconds, the task would be complete.

Gu Qingyin looked wobbly, as if she might fall at any second, but she managed to regain her balance each time, just barely. A final large wave hit, knocking her off the board, but she resurfaced quickly.

Standing at the stern, Huo Xinghai shouted, "Are you okay? Did you swallow any water?"

Gu Qingyin kept getting dunked by the waves, so she couldn’t speak. Instead, she stuck her hand out of the water and gave a thumbs-up to show she was fine.

Huo Xinghai breathed a sigh of relief. He looked over at the director. "That completes the task, right?"

The follow-cam director showed him the stopwatch. "Six seconds. Congratulations on completing the task."

Huo Xinghai smiled, then turned back to Gu Qingyin. "The task is complete. Do you want to go again?"

Gu Qingyin held up one finger, indicating one last time.

She clearly had a much better handle on it this time and got to fully experience the joy of surfing. When she got back on the boat, she was still wearing a huge smile, her eyes crinkling radiantly.

[Crap! My heart just fluttered!]

[Is she really middle-aged? Her athleticism puts a young person like me to shame.]

[I’m starting to suspect Haibao’er inherited his athletic talent from his mom.]

[Don’t be so sure. Maybe he got it from his dad?]

[This year! I am definitely going to the beach to try wakesurfing!]

...

After getting off the boat, they tried parasailing nearby.

Gu Qingyin thought it was just okay—not as fun as surfing or as thrilling as the jet ski, but still enjoyable. The breeze was nice and cool up there.

After that, they went snorkeling. Floating on the surface of the sea and gazing at the colorful world on the seabed was a truly novel experience.

Gu Qingyin drifted a little too far without realizing it. She then sensed a faintly familiar Yin Qi drawing near. Turning her head, she saw that it was, as she’d expected, Lin Xian.

A good deal of the Yin Qi clinging to Lin Xian had dissipated after being out in the water for so long. If he didn’t have to go back to the villa tonight, this whole incident would have had almost no lasting effect on him. But, of course, he couldn’t just not go back.

The two of them greeted each other with hand signals and then swam to shore together.

As for Huo Xinghai, he hadn’t gone snorkeling. He’d opted for scuba diving instead, and the production team had approved.

The footage from scuba diving was on another level compared to snorkeling. The director wasn’t an idiot; of course he wasn’t going to say no.

Once they were back on shore, Gu Qingyin asked, "How many activities have you tried?"

Lin Xian had done each activity twice, and the physical toll was starting to show. He exhaled, his voice tinged with clear exhaustion. "Three so far."

Gu Qingyin smiled, a sly glint in her eyes. "That should be enough. You can’t eat all the food you earn by yourself anyway. If you want a wider variety of dishes, we could pool our rewards."

Lin Xian froze for a second, then his eyes lit up. He couldn’t help but break into a wide, toothy grin and said cheerfully, "Okay! I’ll team up with you!"

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