“Ugh… cough cough cough… Bleh!”
After violently expelling a mouthful of water, Zhang Liu collapsed onto the sand, coughing uncontrollably. It took him a while to regain his composure.
He panted heavily for several moments before mustering enough strength to prop himself up with his elbows and slowly rise from the ground.
Where is this?
He struggled to piece together his chaotic memories.
Yesterday afternoon, he had boarded a plane with his classmates to go on an overseas trip.
As someone who had never flown before, Zhang Liu was hit hard by motion sickness and eventually passed out after being coaxed into taking medicine by a gentle flight attendant in black stockings and their homeroom teacher.
When he opened his eyes again, he was submerged in water, surrounded by flames and deafening explosions. He floated helplessly in the sea, swallowing several mouthfuls of cold, salty water before blacking out again.
His thoughts gradually settled, leaving Zhang Liu bewildered.
Shouldn’t I have died in that crash?
How did I end up on this beach?
He turned around, scanning his surroundings with a dazed expression.
Before him was a golden beach, a dense forest stretching endlessly beyond. Behind him lay the vast, unbroken expanse of a blue ocean. High above, white streaks danced across the sky—seagulls, he realized upon closer inspection.
The waves lapped gently against the rocky shore not far away, filling the air with a soothing rhythm.
The entire beach was deserted. Only the slightly warm breeze greeted him as it blew against his drenched body, sending a chill down his spine.
This was when reality dawned on him.
He must have narrowly survived the crash and been swept ashore by the sea.
Could this place be… a deserted island?
His mind raced with thoughts.
In cases of air crashes, wouldn’t there typically be a large-scale search effort?
Once found, I’ll be able to go home!
Clinging to this optimistic belief, Zhang Liu began to console himself. As he did so, he peeled off his soaking clothes, leaving only his wrinkled underwear.
People tend to cling to hope in the face of insurmountable challenges.
For now, Zhang Liu convinced himself that a rescue team was on its way. He sat by the shoreline, staring blankly at the rising and falling waves, his mind wandering.
What should I say in an interview after being rescued?
Maybe I’ll claim that my time at an all-girls school trained me to stay calm under pressure?
What happened to the girls and teachers on the plane…?
Would my family be worried after seeing the news?
What if no one comes to rescue us?
Would people even know the plane crashed?
Should I build a fire, like in those survival videos?
Should I explore that jungle behind me?
As thoughts of survival buzzed in his head, Zhang Liu began to feel less optimistic.
The burning sensation on his back and face, from prolonged sun exposure, forced him to pull his half-dry clothes back on.
Wearing wet clothes felt uncomfortable, but the scorching sun was even worse.
Damn UV rays!
After silently cursing the sun, he moved toward a patch of dense trees near a small seaside hill. He found the shadiest spot he could and sat down.
His underwear was coated with sand from the beach earlier, and now, trapped between the wet fabric and his skin, the abrasive texture was irritating.
But Zhang Liu paid no mind to the discomfort. Anxiety over the future loomed larger in his mind.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself.
A few seconds later, he stood up, brushed the sand off his pants, and walked back toward the shoreline.
His first rational decision after calming down was to create an SOS signal on the beach, just as the survival experts did in those videos.
Though the sun blazed hotly overhead, his luck wasn’t entirely bad. After only a few steps, he spotted a half-buried bamboo pole on the sand. Its exposed end, weathered and whitened, stuck out conspicuously.
Without hesitation, Zhang Liu pulled out the arm-thick bamboo pole and ran back to the spot where he had woken up.
After confirming that the waves wouldn’t reach this spot, he began to work diligently.
Unlike the carefree feeling when he used to play with yellow sand at construction sites, every move now required all his strength.
To make sure the marks wouldn’t disappear, he tried to make them as deep and bold as possible.
Just as Zhang Liu finished drawing the SOS and was about to turn back and rest in the shade, he noticed a small black shape appear on the sea and slowly approach him.
What was that?
He paused for a moment, then instinctively walked forward, squinting at the figure. From the general outline, it seemed to be a person floating on the sea.
Another survivor!
His heart lifted at the thought, and he quickly ran into the water.
Once half of his body was submerged, Zhang Liu felt the obvious buoyancy. With a light push of his feet, he began to swim toward the figure in a dog paddle.
His body, which had been unbearably hot, was now soothed by the coolness of the seawater.
While effortlessly moving forward with the waves from the shore aiding him, he thought that he should have swum in the sea earlier.
When he got closer, he finally saw who it was.
It was one of his female classmates who had taken a leave of absence from school to travel.
He couldn’t remember her name. He only knew she was one of the twin beauties from another class.
And her family was very wealthy.
The villa they live in is the kind that only those born with talent can have.
At that moment, the rich girl was lying on her back in the sea, her large 36D chest perfectly serving as a lifebuoy.
Her eyes were closed, her lips were pale, and her face was flushed, likely from sunburn.
Hopefully she wasn’t dead.
Zhang Liu grabbed her by the collar and, without much thought, started paddling with one arm, pushing his body toward the shore.
The returning waves from the shore seemed calm from the beach. But they easily stirred up undercurrents beneath the surface, and a few times, Zhang Liu was pushed back before reaching the shore.
Only now did he realize how foolish it had been to rush into the sea earlier.
And why it had been so easy to swim up to this girl.
Instinctively, he turned to look at the unfamiliar girl whose collar he was still holding.
Zhang Liu wasn’t sure if he could reach the shore by swimming with both hands if he let go of her.
But he knew that if he continued like this, there was a high chance that, with his weak swimming skills, he wouldn’t be able to make it to the shore.
If his strength ran out, it would be over!
Maybe he should let her go?
After all, he didn’t know her, and he wasn’t sure whether she was dead or alive…
A thought of hesitation came to mind, and Zhang Liu’s fingers began to loosen.
But just as he was thinking this, the girl whose collar he was holding coughed softly.
She’s still alive?
His hand, almost ready to release her, instinctively tightened again.
He turned to look, and to his surprise, she had opened her eyes and was staring at him. Her pale lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something but quickly closed again, as though she didn’t have the strength to speak.
However, there was a glimmer of joy in her eyes, as if she had seen a lifeline.
How could he abandon someone’s life in this situation?
He pushed away his fear, gritted his teeth, and with all his strength, started swimming toward the shore, kicking his legs desperately under the water.
Finally, Zhang Liu overcame the waves returning from the shore, and his feet touched the sand.
With the ground beneath him, he quickly dragged the girl to the shore.
Breathing heavily on the beach to recover, Zhang Liu felt a wave of fear. His calf muscles were twitching, and guilt filled his heart.
It had been so close!
If she hadn’t opened her eyes, he might have abandoned her in the sea, effectively committing “murder.”
But at this moment, the girl had passed out again.
Zhang Liu gently slapped her face and called out a few times, but she didn’t respond.
The school uniform they were given was of the JK type, with a white top and either brown or another color skirt, paired with knee-high socks.
While the white uniform didn’t become completely transparent in the water, it did become slightly see-through. At least now, Zhang Liu could faintly see the purple tinge underneath.
After a brief hesitation, he reached out and touched her lips, forcing his fingers into her mouth to open it wide.
Her white teeth and pink tongue were clearly visible.
This is not a boy taking advantage of the situation; he was using the first aid knowledge he had learned to check for any obstructions in her mouth.
After confirming there was nothing, Zhang Liu tilted her head to one side. He crossed his fingers, took a deep breath, and gathered his strength.
He bent down, and with both hands, pressed down heavily on her “lifebuoy” chest.