Death Stranding: I Return from the Beach

"Sister Xu Rui! What are you doing here!" Li Mengyao stood up and clung to Xu Rui like a puppy.

"Haha, I actually just finished a blind date," Xu Rui said cheerfully. "And this is?"

Coconut stood up and gave Xu Rui a thumbs-up.

Li Mengyao quickly pulled Xu Rui to sit down and asked without stopping, "Sister, you're so beautiful, why do you still need to go on blind dates? Isn't that just letting those men get away with it?"

After saying that, she realized that her thoughtless words were inappropriate, and her face turned even redder.

Xu Rui didn't seem to mind, explaining, "There are excellent people everywhere, and plenty of people better than me. Besides, finding a partner isn't about who's stronger or richer, right?"

Chen Wang and Coconut both nodded in agreement.

Li Mengyao blushed deeply, feeling utterly ashamed, and could only try to argue, "That's not what I meant... So, how did your blind date go, sister?"

"Hey, it's a blind date, you know, it's not like finding a partner," Xu Rui continued, seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces. "It's just about finding a teammate to make the boring days of the future more interesting."

"That's brilliant!" Chen Wang sat up straight, as if listening to a lecture by a true master.

"I'm just doing this to appease my parents. The people I'm meeting through blind dates know that it's all just a formality."

Xu Rui looked relaxed, which didn't seem strange at all, since she was already used to this kind of lifestyle.

My job isn't particularly busy, but I have many personal hobbies, so my time is quite full.

In addition, as a diamond-level deliveryman of Bida Logistics, she has already reached a level that everyone in Hongcheng envies. Many people can't achieve what she has in their entire lives.

Naturally, her journey to find a partner became even more difficult. Her parents, seeing this, forced her to go on numerous blind dates, but none of them came to fruition.

She believes in quality over quantity, it's that simple.

At the blind date table just now, the man opposite Xu Rui, although already aware of her feelings, still curiously asked what kind of man she liked.

Xu Rui's answer was, to give an example, that she met a promising young man a few days ago. He was clean-cut and handsome, and also very capable. He was able to save her from the dangerous Mil people on the surface of the earth, without even asking for anything in return.

She told her blind date that only a man like him was worthy of her.

Looking back now, weren't those two sentences that slipped out at the time exactly what Chen Wangyao was talking about?

But how could I possibly like a man so much younger than me? That doesn't make sense.

She looked at Chen Wang, as if searching for some answer.

When Chen Wang also looked at her, for some reason, Xu Rui quickly looked away as if she had done something wrong.

"Ahem." Chen Wang cleared his throat and said seriously, "I've ordered. Has everyone ordered?"

Yes, in a chaotic situation, splitting the bill (going Dutch) is always the safest way to protect yourself.

Everyone nodded.

"I heard from Li Mengyao that Coconut Girl is your neighbor?" Xu Rui suddenly asked.

Chen Wang had a bad feeling. Could it be that even Xu Rui had been bewitched by Li Mengyao?

"Yes, I just found out too. Last time, we had an order for coconuts," he explained.

Coconut sat down next to Chen Wang, listening to Xu Rui's words. She propped her upper body up on the table and leaned forward, saying, "Coconut Girl? That's an old-fashioned way of addressing me. I'm only 38 years old."

What?! Hearing Coconut's light reply, everyone was quite shocked. You mean that Coconut, who looks like she has fair skin, delicate features, and a curvy figure, is almost 40 years old?

Xu Rui was also surprised, thinking to himself that he wasn't the oldest at this table?

Chen Wang shook his head to himself, saying he would never believe it.

He's only 23, and Coconut looks only a year or two older than him.

But the voice inside him seemed hard to ignore, as if excitedly saying: This feels even better!

After that, the group started chatting idly.

As the saying goes, three women make a drama. At first, Chen Wang could participate in it, cracking jokes amidst their seemingly bizarre but actually probing and strategic conversations. Later, he simply started drinking coffee by himself, using the voices of the three different women in front of him as background music.

In just a few words, customers came and went at different tables, but Chen Wang's side remained bustling with activity.

Xu Rui even got excited and insisted on having a few drinks.

"I know this is a coffee shop, but do you have any alcohol?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mengyao's eyes lit up immediately. "You know what, there really is one here!"

She jogged to the front desk, whispered a few words to the waiter, and the waiter brought out a box of glass bottles of various colors from an inconspicuous corner under the table.

Li Mengyao simply moved the box and placed it under the corner of the table.

Chen Wang was completely dumbfounded. Was this a coffee shop or a bar?

"Come on! Let's drink until we drop!" Li Mengyao seemed to have stepped into her own territory, skillfully opening the bottle caps and distributing a bottle of water of different colors and flavors to each of them.

"Drink up, there's plenty!" she exclaimed excitedly, her face flushed. "Lafite is just grape juice, drink it straight from the bottle!"

Chen Wang wanted to offer some advice, but seeing the three women with different styles behaving in perfect harmony at this moment, he had no choice but to gulp down a large mouthful himself.

It tastes pretty good, like a cocktail.

Afterwards, the group took out dice and started playing a game. Chen Wang naturally joined in, and soon he regained his vitality.

"You lost, drink!" The crowd cheered, and Chen Wang, true to his word, accepted his defeat.

"You lost again, Chen Wang!"

"You're so bad!"

Before long, Chen Wang had downed several bottles, his eyes becoming somewhat glazed. With his shattered rationality, he couldn't help but marvel at the power of women.

On the other side, Li Mengyao also drank quite a bit. After losing a game, she said she absolutely couldn't drink anymore.

"If I drink any more... I'm going to bleed!"

To quell her two older sisters' anger, she volunteered, "I choose Truth or Dare! I'll kiss any member of the opposite sex present!"

Chen Wang looked at Li Mengyao, who was swaying as she stood up, and suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Was she going to come at him?

Clearly, this was Li Mengyao's original plan as well.

But when she took two steps and saw Chen Wang's eyes, which were blurred by alcohol, she suddenly became angry.

After meeting Chen Wang, apart from the first meeting where I had the upper hand, I always felt like I was the one actively pursuing him.

Don't I have any pride?

I don't want to kiss him! Why should he get all the good things? Not only will I not give it to him, but I'll give it to someone he would never expect, someone who will make him angry just by looking at them!

So, she took a comical step, looked around, and suddenly stopped in front of a middle-aged man in a suit. Under his puzzled look, she quickly gave him a kiss!

The audience cheered and praised Li Mengyao's uninhibited manner.

The man politely waved his hand, telling her that it was enough, that he had to go home...