After lunch, Jiang Dao changed into a swimsuit and came to the swimming pool for a trial dive.
The main purpose of starting in a pool is to learn how to use and wear the equipment, and then familiarize oneself with basic diving movements, communication gestures, and rules when scuba diving.
There wasn’t that much to learn, nor was it difficult. In addition, Jiang Dao learned very quickly, and there was no need to repeat lessons. His control over his body also made him flexible in the water, so he quickly mastered everything in half the time.
After surfacing in the water, Paul opened his goggles and praised without hesitation: “Xiao Dao, you are the smartest student I’ve ever taught! I can’t wait to take you out to sea tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll do great!”
Jiang Dao scratched his head with a smile. “I’m looking forward to it too.”
After going ashore, and unloading and taking off the wetsuit, Jiang Dao picked up the towel and wiped his hair.
Seeing Jiang Dao’s handsome lines, Paul was a little unwilling to give up. “It’s not good for your boyfriend to watch so closely. You should be free, why can’t he accept fair competition?”
Jiang Dao is no stranger to this theory. It was like this everywhere in the last days, and he couldn’t help chuckling when he heard this.
However, in order to avoid trouble, he did not refute Paul’s words, and said, “He knows martial arts, you won’t be able to beat him.”
Hearing this, Paul couldn’t hide his loss and sighed. “Okay, I give up. Today’s class is over. Tomorrow morning at eight o’clock, after picking things up from the counter, we’ll go diving.”
Because Paul was too straightforward, Jiang Dao decided not to change at the pool. After showering in the bathroom, he pulled his t-shirt and shorts directly over the swimming trunks, and slipped out with his shoes.
As soon as he looked up, he saw Chu Yinlong waiting outside the door.
“Huh? You came so early?” Jiang Dao hurried forward. “I learned fast, and left class early. I thought you’d be resting in the room…”
Chu Yinlong glanced at Jiang Dao, a little nervous: “He didn’t do anything to you?”
“Do what?” Jiang Dao laughed. “If he really dared do something, his hands and feet would probably be broken. Don’t worry, I’m not that easy to bully.”
Chu Yinlong was still annoyed. His frown deepened. “How can he be the only coach who speaks Chinese in such a big club…”
The next day, Jiang Dao received the equipment and was about to follow Paul on the boat when he saw the head of the club running over and behind him. He was followed by Chu Yinlong, who had another set of diving equipment.
The person in charge of the club hurriedly spoke a lot to Paul, who looked helpless, and nodded to Chu Yinlong: “Then, get on the boat.”
Jiang Dao happily sat next to Chu Yinlong with a smile. “Hey, why are you here? Don’t you already have your diving certificate?”
Chu Yinlong said calmly, “I’m free diving.”
With a light laugh, Jiang Dao leaned close to Chu Yinlong’s ear, and whispered: “Father Long, were you afraid I’d be bullied, and came to protect me?”
For some reason, Chu Yinlong remembered Jiang Dao deliberately calling him “Dad” the previous morning, and frowned. “Don’t call me that.”
“Oh, Okay, Teacher Chu.” Jiang Dao nodded obediently.
Teacher… It doesn’t seem right.
But it’s much better than Father Long or Dad, so he let it be… for now.
The boat soon arrived at the waters to do their dive training.
Jiang Dao put on the equipment according to the steps he learned yesterday. After checking that it was correct, he put the oxygen tube in his mouth and dove into the water.
Dense bubbles rushed past Jiang Dao’s eyes, as if pulling up a curtain.
When the bubbles cleared, he was stunned by the scene that suddenly unfolded in front of him.
The sun shone down from the surface, illuminating the underwater reefs, corals, and schools of fish in the blue world. The water was crystal clear, endless, gently wrapping around him. The water plants swayed in the current as fish shuttled through, full of life.
At this moment, Jiang Dao felt someone pat his arm.
Looking back, he found that Paul was following him, making a dive gesture command to him.
Jiang Dao nodded, and was about to control the equipment to dive further when another person suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
Chu Yinlong was not far away, head pointed towards him as he slowly sank. Seeing Jiang Dao looking over, he opened his hands to signal Jiang Dao not to be afraid.
Of course Jiang Dao was not afraid. He slowly sank according to the procedure he just learned, did some pressure relief movements, and slowly sank to eight meters.
At this time, a group of small fish swam ahead.
Jiang Dao reached out his hand subconsciously, wanting to try the feeling of fish passing through his fingers.
As a result, the group of fish suddenly swamped in a group as if they had suddenly encountered a natural enemy, changed direction, and fled.
Jiang Dao: …
How come his physique of being rejected by small animals hasn’t changed, even in the sea?!
Jiang Dao continued to dive without giving up until he completely reached the seabed.
He chased the fish around the reefs and corals, and finally had to admit that even the fish, in their home waters, still had some inexplicable fear of him.
Even when he saw a conch lying on the beach and approached to take a closer look, the conch shrank suddenly and buried itself in the sand.
Behind the eyepiece, Jiang Dao rolled his eyes at the sea.
As a result, as soon as he turned around, Jiang Dao saw that not far away, Chu Yinlong tilted his head slightly, and a beautiful fish the size of a palm was hovering above his head, occasionally pecking at his floating strands of hair curiously.
Jiang Dao: …
After his first dive, he returned to the boat. Jiang Dao took off his goggles, turned his head to lie on Chu Yinlong’s shoulder, and pretended to cry. “Even the fish dislikes me! The conch dislikes me too! I can’t stand it!”
Chu Yinlong laughed, raised his hand and patted Jiang Dao’s head in comfort. “Let’s have a seafood buffet at noon?”
“Okay!” Jiang Dao raised his head in seconds in anticipation.
Chu Yinlong smiled, and reached out to lightly pinch Jiang Dao’s face.
Then he looked at Paul, who was sitting on the other side of the boat, with a warning in his eyes.
Paul was speechless, raised his hands, and made a silent gesture of surrender.
…
There were two more dives on the second and third day. After four dives, the final assessment was conducted. The assessment wasn’t difficult, and Jiang Dao easily completed the series of actions in accordance with the examiner’s instructions at a depth of 16 meters.
As for the diving certification that Chu Yinlong has, two more days of study time were needed. But if he stayed for two more days, he won’t be able to return to China to attend the banquet, so Jiang Dao could only give up on obtaining it for now.
When leaving the teaching area, Paul suddenly chased after him.
“Hey, Dao, I have a present for you.” He still had the iconic sunny smile on his face, and spread his palm in front of Jiang Dao. “I made it myself, it feels very suitable for you. Please accept it!
Jiang Dao looked over and saw a small earring lying in Paul’s palm .
The main body of the earring is a small conch with purple luster, which was smaller than his pinky nail.
Intrigued, Jiang Dao leaned forward to take a closer look.
“This is a real conch!” He looked at Paul in surprise.
“Yes, it’s made from a real conch shell.” Paul laughed even more happily. “Do you like it?”
“It’s cute.” Jiang Dao smiled, but didn’t extend his hand. “But I can’t take it.”
Paul’s sea blue eyes suddenly filled with loss. “I don’t mean anything else. I just felt it suits you very well.”
Jiang Dao still shook his head and took a half step back to distance himself. “Thank you, but sorry.”
Chu Yinlong suddenly raised his hand, and wrapped Jiang Dao into his arms. “Let’s go.”
Jiang Dao turned around in a kindly manner and did not look back.
He leaned halfway on Chu Yinlong, raised his hand and touched his earlobe – he didn’t like wearing jewelry and completely forgot the original owner had pierced ears.
Jiang Dao suddenly reacted after being hugged by Chu Yinlong, and gave a slight struggle.
Chu Yinlong let go of his hand with some reluctance, pretending that nothing happened.
Jiang Dao and Chu Yinlong booked their return tickets in the afternoon of the next day because they could not take the plane for 24 hours after diving. After some morning exercise, Chu Yinlong suggested they go shopping, and buy some small gifts for friends and family.
There are many island-specific shops in the mall, selling shell ornaments, pearl jewelry, coconut products, as well as the unique printed clothing and fish skin products of country M.
Jiang Dao looked at the specimens outside a fish skin product store in amazement. Unable to help it, he reached out to feel the fish skin tanned leather.
Opposite of the fish skin store was a jewelry store. Chu Yinlong looked at it for a moment, then turned around and entered the store.
The shop owner immediately greeted him, and he spoke a series of heavily accented, but fluent Chinese words: “Do you need anything?”
After a thought, Chu Yinlong replied: “Yes, I want to buy a gift for the elders.”
The shop owner smiled and led Chu Yinlong to a counter. “If you want to buy jewelry for the elders, you can consider the pearls in our store… Can I take the liberty to ask how old they are?”
The store owner diligently recommended several options after hearing his answer. After looking over several items, Chu Yinlong finally chose a brooch.
The boss was about to settle the bill when he was suddenly stopped by Chu Yinlong.
“Wait, add these earrings too.” Chu Yinlong pushed a small box beside him.
“No problem!” The owner of the store smiled and returned to the back of the counter to pack up the two pieces of jewelry.
Purchases in hand, Chu Yinlong turned around to see that Jiang Dao had entered the fish skin shop opposite at some point.
He walked over quickly and saw Jiang Dao taking a paper bag from the shopkeeper’s hand.
When he came out of the store and saw the people waiting outside, Jiang Dao took out a box from the paper bag with a smile and handed it to Chu Yinlong.
“Here,” he urged with a smile. “Open it and take a look.”
Chu Yinlong was surprised: “For me?”
“Yes.” Jiang Dao nodded.
Chu Yinlong took the box, opened it, and found a black strip inside.
Jiang Dao shook the paper bag in his hand and said with a smile, “It’s made of fish skin, isn’t it amazing? We have one each.”
Closing the lid, Chu Yinlong looked into Jiang Dao’s eyes with gentle eyes.
“Thank you…” He smiled, his voice hoarse. “…I like it very much.”
CYL’s falling deeper~
Don’t forget to rate and leave a review on novelupdates. Want to support ABV? Buy me a ko-fi for faster releases (add’l release status is tracked on my ko-fi page).
