Santorino features a very famous tourist destination, Shell Beach. True to its name, it is a beach filled with countless seashells.
The seashells on Shell Beach come in a myriad of colorful hues, including red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. There are also pearlescent white shells that shimmer with a flowing luster, all of which are naturally formed.
There is a legend behind their origin.
According to folklore, a mermaid fairy fell in love with a wealthy and handsome shipping tycoon. For love, she came ashore. The tycoon fell deeply in love with the mermaid fairy and gave her half of his assets. From then on, having both love and wealth, the mermaid fairy lived a carefree life.
Having reached the pinnacle of life, the mermaid fairy felt too idle and looked for something to do. She noticed that various shellfish frequently crawled ashore onto the beach, and an idea struck her.
She often went to the shore to cast magic on the shellfish, making them colorful and attractive, rejuvenating them through beauty.
Ultimately, because their colors were too vibrant, these shellfish were easily spotted and hunted by predators, and their lives quickly came to an end.
After they died, their shell remains were washed ashore, forming Shell Beach.
This story sounds like a tragedy for the shellfish and is even a bit comical, but the perpetually optimistic local residents of Santorino have a unique perspective.
They believe that the seashells carry the magic of the mermaid fairy, and anyone who finds a shell can possess a love as wonderful as the mermaid fairy’s, along with easily acquired, legitimate wealth.
Their government also heavily promotes this interpretation.
Consequently, tourists visiting Santorino all head to Shell Beach to collect seashells and then take them to local handicraft workshops to DIY accessories to take home.
When it comes to metaphysics, it is always better to believe it exists than to doubt it.
Grab one first, just in case you happen to catch that luck.
Many people might not care much about romance, but almost everyone loves wealth. As a result, Shell Beach has become a must-visit hotspot in Santorino.
Moreover, the beach dotted with colorful seashells is truly breathtaking.
Shell Beach also became the first stop for Love You to Bits.
Every year, social media is flooded with check-in photos of Shell Beach, but after visiting in person, one discovers that photographs fail to capture even one-tenth of what the naked eye can see.
The endless blue ocean sparkles with fine, glittering light under the sunlight, looking like stars falling into the sea. The humid, salty sea breeze can penetrate deep within, washing away all physical fatigue, and even purifying the soul to a certain extent.
The beach is covered with colorful seashells. Occasionally, sand crabs crawl past, leaving shallow footprints. Small fish swim about in the puddles left by the receding tide, and if you squat down to inspect the sandy ground closely, you can see tiny holes bubbling water rhythmically, hiding unknown marine creatures underneath.
Some NPCs wearing mermaid tails strike poses on the reefs, acting with intense dedication, as if they truly were mermaids who had just stepped ashore from the seabed.
This is a living beach, a magical fairytale kingdom. The moment you step onto it, it feels as though you are embracing your childhood.
Immersed in this fairytale wonderland, Xia Yan felt as though his entire being had been cleansed. “It’s so pretty.”
Although Xia Yan was typically an indoor homebody, his parents were explorers who traveled the world year-round without taking a break. Xia Yan would go on one or two long trips with them every year.
He had seen plenty of places, and such a gorgeous beach could easily rank in the top ten of all the places he had ever visited.
It wasn’t just because of the beautiful scenery, but also due to the unique charm bred by the local culture.
“Ahahaha, look at the seashell I found! It’s super huge! I’d like to crown it the King of Shells!” Song Yutong galloped across the beach like a wild horse breaking loose.
As if scripted by fate, Jiang Yi held a large green seashell high above his head with both hands, hopping up and down on one leg. “With all due respect, yours is quite ordinary. This one of mine is the true King among shells.”
Song Yutong’s competitive spirit flared. She threw away the shell in her hand and began digging through the sand for an even bigger one, swearing to find a specimen larger than Jiang Yi’s.
Gu Xiaoran lazily lifted her eyelids to watch their antics and sighed, “Young people really do have boundless energy. I’m getting old; I should engage in some elderly-friendly activities.”
With that, she put on her sunglasses and lay down on a beach lounge chair.
Su Yi followed suit and lay flat on a lounge chair next to her.
Lu Chengyan watched the two of them for a second, as if contemplating something, before walking over to a lounge chair and lying down as well.
Santorino enjoys spring-like weather all year round, and the summer sea breezes are always refreshing. Sleeping under a parasol is exceptionally comfortable.
Zhao Weidong looked at this group of people with utter despair. This was supposed to be a romance travel reality show! The “travel” part was there, but where on earth had the “romance” gone?!
He had let the guests act freely on the first day precisely so they could get to know each other, not for them to take a pure vacation!
And what about Xia Yan? Wasn’t he supposed to be pursuing Lu Chengyan? Where on earth had he gone?!
Zhao Weidong searched for Xia Yan’s figure, only to spot Xia Yan squatting down with his rear end in the air, intently picking up seashells without even sparing Lu Chengyan a single glance.
Zhao Weidong: ? Xia Yan, where did that clingy energy you had when you first met Movie Emperor Lu go?!
He felt like pinching the space between his nose and upper lip to revive himself.
The only thing that brought him solace was that Jiang Yi and Yu Wan were strolling shoulder-to-shoulder along the beach. They were the final shred of dignity left for Love You to Bits Season 2.
At this moment, Xia Yan was not slacking off on the job; he was searching for purple cowrie shells.
Purple cowries carry multiple symbolic meanings: auspiciousness, wealth, safety, and peace. In his original world, he, along with his parents and sister, each wore a purple cowrie bracelet, and their family had always enjoyed smooth sailing.
Even though the purple shell hadn’t protected him from dying suddenly of overwork, the chance at rebirth he gained from that death could also be considered a kind of fortune, couldn’t it?
Shell Beach happened to have purple shells too. Figuring that since he was already here, he might as well pick a few for himself to make a bracelet—not necessarily praying for wealth, but simply hoping for smooth sailing in his mission worlds.
And by the way, he could make one for Lu Chengyan to rack up some favorability points.
In his original world, purple cowries were generally brown or light brown in color, with only the two lip teeth and the inner surface being light purple.
Here, whether due to the special nature of Shell Beach or the uniqueness of the novel world, the purple shells had a much deeper color.
As a whole, they were a dark brown approaching black, while the parts that should have been light purple exhibited a luminous, bright violet. The shell body featured white striped and star-shaped patterns, making them exceptionally pretty.
Purple cowries weren’t very common on the beach. Combined with the fact that Xia Yan was searching for smaller specimens, he frequently had to use his hands to sift through the sand and search.
After digging blindly for over ten minutes, Xia Yan’s back and waist began to ache slightly.
He stood up, twisted his waist, and glanced over at Lu Chengyan. Getting a visual charge from a handsome guy instantly filled his body with energy again.
Lu Chengyan acutely sensed the gaze and swept his eyes over, just as Xia Yan lowered his head again.
He stared at Xia Yan’s busy figure on the beach, the corners of his mouth curving upward unconsciously.
Xia Yan had peeked at him again, and the moment he looked over, Xia Yan had pretended to be busy picking up shells.
Driven by some unknown impulse, he began to stare at Xia Yan, wanting to catch him in the act of peeking, curious about what Xia Yan’s reaction would be when caught.
Yet Xia Yan didn’t look up again, while Lu Chengyan found his own earlobes turning red from watching.
Xia Yan’s top was made of an ice-silk cotton material. Under normal lighting, it looked completely opaque, but under harsh sunlight, his skin could be seen through it at certain angles.
Lu Chengyan’s angle happened to afford a view of that slender waist under the glaring sun, as well as the two tender, pink little peaks exposed at the collar line when the other bent over.
A wave of heat washed over Lu Chengyan as he looked. Feigning casualness, he stood up to catch some breeze, his feet moving uncontrollably toward Xia Yan’s direction.
The visit to Shell Beach was a last-minute decision by the guests, so the production team had no time to book the place out privately. What lay before them was the beach in its most everyday state.
Some people were playing the piano, some were sunbathing, some were rolling around in the sand, and someone was provoking a fur seal…
An older man wearing a bikini was being chased frantically by a fur seal. While fleeing for his life, he kept flipping the seal off and provoking it with his middle finger. Because he wasn’t watching where he was going, he collided directly into Xia Yan, who was bent over.
Xia Yan was knocked forward and stumbled, about to get a mouthful of sand when his waist was caught by a pair of strong, broad arms, pulling him into a warm, rock-hard chest.
[Ding! Target character’s favorability increased by 3 points. Current favorability: 39.]
The bikini-clad uncle tumbled and fell to the ground. He quickly got up to apologize to Xia Yan, and upon seeing Lu Chengyan holding Xia Yan in his arms, a knowing look appeared on his face. He made a heart shape with both hands and offered blessings for a long-lasting relationship in the local dialect.
The fur seal quickly caught up again, and the bikini uncle resumed running for his life at top speed.
As if reacting to a sudden stimulus, Lu Chengyan abruptly released his grip, said a cool “Be careful,” and without waiting for Xia Yan to thank him, turned and left with a tall, retreating stride.
Xia Yan didn’t know Santorino’s official language, but due to his past habits, he always learned a few common phrases before arriving at a new destination, words like “hello,” “thank you,” and “sorry.”
He didn’t catch the entire sentence spoken by the bikini uncle, but he recognized words like “sorry,” “love,” and “forever.” Putting two and two together, it wasn’t hard to guess what they meant.
Watching Lu Chengyan’s slightly flustered pace, Xia Yan’s eyes curved into crescent slits as he thought to himself: He’s embarrassed.
“Thank you, Brother Chengyan~” he called out to Lu Chengyan’s retreating back, then headed off to find a shop, clutching the purple cowries he had managed not to drop even when he was about to fall.
The shells he had just gathered were just enough to make two bracelets.
Making a bracelet is delicate work: you have to process the shells, design the layout, select the chain material, and finally string them together.
Xia Yan used a style he used to wear in the past, so he saved time on the design phase, but the schedule was still quite tight.
They were heading elsewhere in the afternoon, so Xia Yan didn’t even have time to eat lunch in order to finish the bracelets, making do with a matcha-flavored crepe bought right outside the shop door.
The locals here loved sweets, and the crepe was cloyingly sweet. Xia Yan had to drink ten sips of water for every bite, and in the end, he only managed two bites.
By the time the two bracelets were finished, Xia Yan’s stomach was rumbling with hunger. The kind-hearted, lovely female shop owner invited him to have a meal together.
The shop owner, who was 40 years old, ran this DIY boutique with her husband. She asked Xia Yan if he had made the bracelets for himself and his lover, while holding out her own wrist to show him her bracelet.
The shop owner’s bracelet was also made of purple cowries. She explained that she had crafted it herself when she was pursuing her husband. Her confession had succeeded on the very first try, and they had been living happily together for 20 years ever since.
Seeing that Xia Yan was also making a purple cowrie bracelet, she felt a strong sense of affinity with him, which was why she couldn’t help chatting with him.
Upon learning that Xia Yan’s bracelet was meant for the person he was pursuing, the shop owner covered her mouth in pleasant surprise, exclaiming that she and Xia Yan truly shared a destined connection.
She affirmed that Xia Yan would definitely succeed in his pursuit, that the magic of the shells would bless him, and added that Xia Yan was extremely pretty. From their conversation, anyone could tell he was a wonderful person—no one could possibly reject a fine boy like him.
She predicted that Xia Yan and the person he liked would be happy together forever, just like her and her husband.
Xia Yan happily accepted the shop owner’s blessing that he would win Lu Chengyan over, but as for “happiness forever,” that was something he probably couldn’t give Lu Chengyan.
He was a mission worker. Once his mission was complete, he would leave this world. He could stay temporarily, but when the original novel’s plot ended, he had to depart.
The ending of this novel world was Su Nuonuo winning the Movie Emperor title five years later, accepting proposals from Qin Yufeng and Lu Chengyan at the awards ceremony.
Therefore, he could stay in this world for a maximum of five years.
When the shop owner wished that he and Lu Chengyan would stay together and be happy forever, a pang of sharp pain shot through Xia Yan’s heart.
He had acted on impulse driven by physical attraction and liked Lu Chengyan, but it wasn’t deep enough to be called true love yet. After all, they had only known each other for a day, so his heart wasn’t aching for the other person right now.
The part of him that ached was his conscience.
To secure a chance at rebirth, he had to make Lu Chengyan fall in love with him, not an ordinary kind of love, but a bone-deep love reaching 100 favorability points.
The system had told him that 100 favorability points would be enough to make the other person willing to die for him.
Yet, after obtaining all of Lu Chengyan’s love, he would walk away. Calling him a scumbag for doing so wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.
Yet, to stay alive, he had no choice.
The system comforted him by saying that when the story concluded, time in this world would reach its endpoint, and the world would enter a state of dynamic suspension where every single moment inside would repeat the events that had already occurred.
If Xia Yan was willing to stay and accompany Lu Chengyan until the novel’s ending, Lu Chengyan wouldn’t have to experience the agony of separation; his memories would remain frozen at the end of the novel, lingering in the moment when they were most deeply in love.
He hadn’t even conquered Lu Chengyan yet, so talking about whether to stay or leave was still far too premature.
Even so, for Xia Yan, his motives for approaching Lu Chengyan were impure. Regardless of how the mission progressed, the moment he chose Lu Chengyan, he was already indebted to him.
He secretly resolved that he would make it up to Lu Chengyan, treat him better, and during the time he remained in this world, strive to pour out all of his most fervent, passionate love.