Warm Water Tide

Beach lifeguard × five-star hotel executive manager

Aloof melancholic × soft-on-the-outside, wild-within uniform bombshell

1.

Hotel C, the veteran five-star resort on the island, boasted a private beach that everyone envied.

Meng Ning worked there as a lifeguard. She wore a sleek black athletic swimsuit, her long straight hair tied back, an ink mandala tattoo gracing the nape of her neck. When she stood gazing out at the sea, she looked like a dolphin—far too beautiful for her own good.

Unlike the other lifeguards, she always kept a string of Buddha beads wrapped around her wrist and never took them off.

Someone once asked her, “Do you believe in Buddha?”

She smiled faintly. “Yeah, I do.”

2.

Everyone said Meng Ning wasn’t cold—she was just distant.

On her first day as executive manager, Wen Zenian had been dropped into the role out of nowhere. At the annual party, she drew Meng Ning as her partner for a game: hug a balloon and shuffle to the finish line to win.

Meng Ning forfeited right away and downed three shots of absinthe to settle it.

The next day, while patrolling the coast, Wen Zenian picked Meng Ning to walk with her.

Standing on the edge of a rocky cliff, she flashed a smile. “I’ll count to three, then jump. You believe me, right? One… two…”

“Hey!”

Meng Ning barely had time to snag the chain belt at Wen Zenian’s waist before she yanked them both backward, tumbling into the sea.

When Meng Ning lifted her to the surface, Wen Zenian’s uniform white blouse was soaked through, clinging to every curve of her figure. She draped herself over Meng Ning’s shoulder. “See? I still got my hug.”

“Wen Zenian, are you insane?”

“Who knows that better than you?” Wen Zenian laughed, her smile elegant yet alluringly soft. “Life won’t give you time to count to three.”

Then she leaned in close to Meng Ning’s ear. “And if we’re pretending not to know each other… shouldn’t you act like you’ve forgotten I’m terrified of water?”

3.

That night, when they finally hooked up, Wen Zenian slipped off Meng Ning’s Buddha beads for the first time and gently stroked her wrist.

“Besides the faithful, who else wears these all the time?”

“Liars who can’t stop spinning tales… and lost souls with no hope left.”

One-on-one, mutual spice.

Content tags: Modern urban, devoted love, second chances, childhood sweethearts, serious drama