Chapter 154 How to Learn Swimming

"Indeed. Eating this much seafood might give you a stomachache on the way back. I'll go check it out in a moment," Teacher Liu finally understood Hong Tao's intention.

"Han Yan! Stop eating! Is your stomach a garbage can? Let's go, let's go back and get our swimsuits, time to swim!" Hong Tao snatched the large prawn right out of Han Yan's hand, tossed it onto the table, and then pulled and dragged the miserly girl up from her chair.

The well-fed and watered group found themselves on the beach in the blink of an eye. When Han Xue and the others emerged from the crude changing rooms, they instantly drew the gazes of most people on the beach. It was not mainly because of how stunning they looked—though youth is its own kind of charm, their features could only be considered average. What added substantial points were their swimsuits, especially Han Xue's two-piece, which was already avant-garde to the extreme for this era.

Teacher Liu was a man too, and naturally wouldn't ignore beauties, so he threw himself into the task of teaching the girls how to swim with immense enthusiasm. He even fished a whistle out of his pocket—truly a qualified PE teacher who carried his professional tools with him everywhere.

"Hey! Since our module hasn't been activated yet, we won't go suffer through that! I won't let you carry me in vain in my past life, consider this some compensation. Dajiang, stop shivering, come with me. With your physical condition, it won't be easy for you to drown. Look, Jin-yue can already swim on her own! Remember, breathe through your mouth, no using your nose!" Hong Tao looked at the crowd of fair arms and legs gathered around Coach Liu, swallowed hard, and began channeling his helplessness into motivation, desperately tormenting Dajiang. He didn't even allow Dajiang to wear a life ring, practically forcing the guy into the sea to swim.

Living up to expectations, Dajiang was the first to float in the seawater. He managed to thrash his limbs around a bit, which greatly boosted his confidence. Following behind Jin-yue like a giant beluga whale, he chased after her furiously. Any waters he passed through immediately emptied out as people fled in panic. Those who ran too slowly got splashed with a headful of water.

People plunging into the embrace of the sea for the first time always possess boundless energy. Hong Tao swam all the way out to the shark net and back, then retreated to the beach to rest. Back then, sunscreens were unavailable, and there were no beach umbrellas to rent. However, Hong Tao had an idea. He ran back to the fisherman's family where they had eaten lunch, and for ten yuan, hired the family's two sons. Using a large tarpon tarp from the fishing boat and a few broken pieces of wood, they built a lean-to on the beach. Then he placed a table and a few chairs inside. It made for a quite perfect beach tent.

The girls splashing in the sea would run back up to rest whenever they got tired, gulp down some soda, and then charge back in without a shred of hesitation. Teacher Liu had it miserable, tending to four girls all by himself. He had to teach them how to swim while making sure none of them were knocked down or choked by the waves. Being a protector of beauties was an exhausting and perilous job. It looked glamorous on the surface, but only the one suffering knew the true agony!

"Han Xue, I want to talk to you about something serious. Do you like this kind of life?" When Han Xue ran back to the tent to rest yet again, Hong Tao suddenly asked her a very serious question.

"What are you up to now! Your aunt isn't here right now, if you dare talk nonsense again, I'll twist your ears off!" Han Xue had been traumatized by Hong Tao; hearing him speak in such a straight-laced manner meant nothing good was coming.

"This time it's for real, I'm not messing around. I swear to the heavens, if I'm talking nonsense, may I die a horrible death!" Hong Tao made his vow with utmost solemnity.

"I'll trust you one last time. Who wouldn't like life right now? Both my sister and I thank you, as long as you don't keep spouting nonsense..." Han Xue actually believed Hong Tao's oath just like that. Who knew if she was just as easily trusting when she hung around those little hoodlum gangs?

"That was just for fun, a little banter makes things lively. Let me ask you this: do you still have contact with those people from before?" Hong Tao was also pondering whether Han Xue would genuinely throw a tantrum if he pranked her again right now. Still, he restrained himself and decided against testing it.

"Hardly... why do you ask?" Han Xue was very sensitive to inquiries about her private life.

"It's important. I can't tell you the specifics just yet, but ever since we met, I've never lied to you about anything serious, have I? If you're willing to trust me, I'll keep talking; if you can't trust me, I won't go on. You decide." Hong Tao lowered his voice in an uncharacteristic manner.

"Go ahead..." Han Xue was made slightly nervous by Hong Tao, her hands beginning to rub the bath towel again—a habitual gesture of hers.

"Suppose your former associates get rounded up—I'm just saying suppose—might they rat you out for some things? Like stealing together, fighting together, or getting mixed up in other stuff? Think about it carefully. Any illegal activity counts. This is very important; it concerns your entire life. You'd better tell me the truth. I promise you, once I hear it, I will never tell a soul, nor will I look at you differently. Do you understand what I'm saying? Only if you tell me the truth can I help you figure out a way to escape a massive catastrophe!" In truth, Hong Tao had thought about Han Xue's situation long ago. A girl who had spent a long time knocking about in society like Han Xue couldn't possibly be completely spotless. Hong Tao himself could choose to ignore her past, but others wouldn't—especially come next year. Once someone reported her, a devastating calamity awaited her.

Originally, Hong Tao had only intended to use her briefly and then part ways amicably, with neither clinging to the other. Whatever fate ultimately awaited Han Xue wasn't something Hong Tao had the spare energy to care about. Yet after spending roughly two years getting along with her, Hong Tao found that Han Xue's core nature wasn't all that bad, and she hadn't picked up too many of those petty hoodlum habits. Aside from dressing a bit openly, she usually looked no different from a normal person.

Furthermore, Han Yan was now a top stylist at the hair salon. Aside from lacking his creative flair in hairstyle design, her cutting, perming, and blow-drying techniques were definitely no worse than his, and perhaps even much more meticulous. If something went wrong for Han Xue now, Hong Tao felt he wouldn't be doing right by Han Yan if he didn't give her a hand beforehand. Besides, he figured turning even Han Xue into a normal person wasn't all that difficult.

"Why are you supposing all this? Did you hear something? Can you tell me?" Han Xue caught the underlying meaning in Hong Tao's words, but she didn't answer his question.

"I can't tell you anything right now. Once next year passes, you'll understand everything. But there's a problem: if you don't lay out the facts for me now, by the time you figure it out, it will likely be too late, and even I won't be able to save you. Han Yan is coming—let's go, let's talk in the water." Hong Tao had said everything he possibly could. As for whether Han Xue believed it or not, that was beyond his control. As someone who didn't belong to this era, Hong Tao's primary rule was that helping anyone must never jeopardize his own safety; otherwise, the conversation was over.

"Sis... did you learn yet? I can float now!... What's wrong again?" Han Yan greeted her sister cheerfully, but her sister didn't even glance at her before letting Hong Tao pull her toward the shoreline by the hand. Han Yan found it a bit strange. Given her sister's usual temper, if Hong Tao tried to hold her hand normally, she'd definitely chase after her and beat him up, right?

"Don't go any further, I still don't know how to swim..." Walking all the way into waist-deep water, Han Xue finally couldn't help speaking up.

"It's fine, with me here, you won't drown. Look, if you want to learn to swim, you have to take risks. If you wear a life ring like the others, you'll never learn in your entire life. Therefore, you have to let go of certain things in order to gain others. You can't want to grasp everything at once—that's impossible, and in the end, you'll end up with nothing. Can you understand what I'm saying?" Using swimming as a metaphor, Hong Tao delivered a philosophical lesson on life to Han Xue.

"But if I don't use a life ring and end up drowning by accident, wouldn't that mean I still get nothing?" Han Xue fell silent for a few seconds, following along with Hong Tao's line of thought. Clearly, she understood.

"Hehehe, your worry is quite normal, but being a fence-sitter is no way to live! As the saying goes, all talk and no action is a sham. I can't guarantee you anything, but I can wake you up with a little experiment! Off you go!" Hong Tao also grasped Han Xue's meaning. For some reason—whether due to past trauma or provocation—her trust in people was extremely low, always full of suspicion. Now, Hong Tao intended to force her to experience his theory firsthand, so he suddenly gave Han Xue a firm push with both hands while secretly tripping her up with his foot.

"Hey... woo... ah..." For someone who couldn't swim, once the water rose above the waist, maintaining balance became extremely difficult due to unfamiliarity with buoyancy.

Han Xue had been relying entirely on holding onto Hong Tao's shoulders to steady her center of gravity. Pushed and tripped like that by Hong Tao, she tumbled straight into the sea and immediately began struggling for her life, unable even to shout out.

In truth, all she needed to do was hold her breath and calm down, and her feet could touch the bottom. Even if she couldn't stand steadily, there was still time to catch her breath. Unfortunately, human instinct made her choose to thrash about. In some respects, instinctive human reactions and conscious panic do not protect the body; sometimes, they only make things worse.

"Alright, alright, stop thrashing! If you keep thrashing, I'm going to let go!" Hong Tao didn't rush to rescue her immediately. Right then, a person floundering in the water was too frantic; if she happened to kick or grab him, he'd be injured in no time. Once she choked on a couple of mouthfuls of water and the franticness of her struggling subsided, Hong Tao seized the right moment, stepped close, and propped up Han Xue's belly from underwater, allowing her body to float to the surface. (To be continued...)