Making the most of our lives is more important than anything else.

The heat in the room gradually subsided.

The air still held a lingering, enchanting scent, mixed with a faint, sweet fragrance that belonged to Xia.

Xiaoxia nestled in Jiang Chuan's arms, her cheek pressed against his strong chest, listening to his steady and powerful heartbeat.

Fine beads of sweat glistened on her forehead, and a few strands of orange-red hair clung to the side of her face.

But those moist eyes were filled with an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and sweetness.

I felt so happy, like I was soaking in warm honey.

at last……

Finally, she and Jiang Chuan broke through their relationship barrier!

They went from travel companions to true lovers.

So... doing this really can make a relationship so close and intimate all at once.

She likes Jiang Chuan more now, and she likes him more in a very real way.

I really like him...

As Xiaoxia thought about it, the blush that had just faded from her face returned.

Like a lazy and clingy kitten, she snuggled against Jiang Chuan, adjusted to a more comfortable position, and then simply climbed onto Jiang Chuan on all fours, lying on his chest and looking down at him.

"Jiang Chuan..." Her voice was still slightly hoarse and soft afterward.

"Hmm?" Jiang Chuan put one arm around her smooth back and gently stroked her loose hair with the other.

"We...we're officially together now, right?" Xiaoxia asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Of course." Jiang Chuan smiled, reaching out to pinch her rosy cheeks. "Even in this state, you still want to run away?"

"We're not running away!" Xiaoxia wrinkled her nose, then remembered something and her tone became serious. "But... in front of Hanako-nee afterwards, we might... we might have to hold back a little."

"Hanako-nee might feel awkward or uncomfortable seeing the two of us being so affectionate all by herself."

"We need to be more considerate of Hanako-nee's feelings, and not let her feel neglected, or... or sad."

She lay on Jiang Chuan's chest, counting on her fingers, and babbling on and on.

When eating, you should put more food on Hanako's plate; when discussing travel plans, you should proactively ask for Hanako's opinion; and when you see a cute Pokémon, you should ask Hanako to watch it with you first...

She completely embodies the image of a considerate young wife who believes, "We, the young couple, should take good care of our single seniors."

As Jiang Chuan listened, the smile on his lips deepened, and his eyes became somewhat strange.

After Xiaoxia had finished speaking, he slowly began to speak:

"Um...Xiaoxia."

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Xiaoxia blinked.

"There's something I think I should tell you," Jiang Chuan said calmly, looking at her. "Sister Hua Zi has actually been family with us for a long time."

"Huh?" Xia didn't react for a moment. "Family? What do you mean? Sister Hanako is like our older sister, of course we're family..."

She suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Looking at Jiang Chuan's meaningful gaze, and considering the possible implications of "family" in that specific context...

Xiaoxia's eyes widened little by little.

An absurd yet seemingly... logical guess suddenly popped into my mind.

"You...you mean..." Her voice trembled, her fingers unconsciously gripping Jiang Chuan's chest. "Hanako-neechan...she was also...by you..."

"Yes." Jiang Chuan nodded frankly, "A little earlier than you."

Xiaoxia felt as if something had exploded in her head.

Her cheeks flushed instantly, then puffed up with anger. She propped herself up, glaring down at Jiang Chuan, and pointed a trembling finger at him:

"You big bad guy! Jiang Chuan, you big bad guy! You actually... you actually bullied Hanako-nee a long time ago!"

"Hanako-nee is such a gentle and kind person! You... you're so fierce... how can she stand it!"

"You must have...you must have bullied her terribly! Hanako-nee must have had a really tough time!"

Jiang Chuan looked at her adorable, pouty yet worried expression and couldn't help but laugh out loud. He reached out and pulled her back into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"Don't worry, Hanako-nee is fine." He whispered in her ear, "She's amazing, more amazing than you think...

"You...you still dare to talk! Don't say it!" Xiaoxia was so embarrassed that she covered his mouth with her hand, but somehow, her anger dissipated after he hugged and coaxed her like that.

The halo of a harmonious family is starting to take effect!

It seems... it's not entirely unacceptable?

After all, Hanako is so gentle and beautiful, and she and Jiangchuan look very well-matched.

and……

Xiaoxia had originally planned to "help" Jiang Chuan and Hua Zi in the future.

She knew that a trainer as outstanding and powerful as Jiang Chuan would definitely have more than one woman by his side in the future.

This is one of the unspoken rules of this world.

Rather than letting women whose backgrounds are unknown approach us, it would be better to bring in Hanako-nee, who is well-known, gentle, and kind, so that everyone can get along harmoniously.

result……

But this big bad guy was even faster than her!

Without making a sound, he won over both her and Hanako-nee!

She and Hanako-san were completely unaware of each other's identities...

Thinking of this, Xiaoxia felt both embarrassed and annoyed, and bit Jiang Chuan's shoulder lightly.

"Hmph! You big bad guy! You big pervert!"

She mumbled something, but her tone had softened.

"Okay, actually... I'm not really angry." Xiaoxia buried her face in Jiang Chuan's neck, her voice muffled. "I like Hanako-nee too."

"But... what should we do if we meet tomorrow morning?"

She looked up, her face a mixture of anticipation and embarrassment.

"How embarrassing! Hanako-nee must know about us...we just now...ah!"

She was so embarrassed that she buried her face in the blanket again, leaving only her big, watery eyes looking at Jiang Chuan.

"It's all your fault! How am I supposed to face Hanako-nee tomorrow?!"

Jiang Chuan looked at her shy and adorable appearance and chuckled softly:

"Leave it to me. Just watch your step tomorrow."

"I promise I won't embarrass you."

"Really?" Xiaoxia asked, still somewhat skeptical.

"Really." Jiang Chuan kissed her forehead. "Sleep well, my dear lady. We have a long journey ahead tomorrow."

Xiaoxia was indeed exhausted. She had experienced both a tremendous shock and pleasure, and now that she was relaxing, a deep sense of weariness washed over her.

She found the most comfortable spot in Jiang Chuan's arms, inhaling his reassuring scent, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Jiang Chuan held Xiaoxia, who was as soft and fragrant as a flower, in his arms and closed his eyes contentedly.

…………

The next morning.

Sunlight streamed into the corridor through the lighthouse's round windows.

As Jiang Chuan and Xiao Xia walked out of the room, they ran into Hua Zi, who was also coming out of the room.

Xiaoxia's face flushed red instantly, her eyes darted around, and she didn't know where to put her hands and feet, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Hanako, however, remained calm, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

Her gaze swept over Xiaoxia's face, which was clearly more radiant after being thoroughly moisturized, and the faint red marks on her neck. She understood, but showed no sign of anything amiss.

Jiangchuan gave Hanako a wink.

Hanako understood immediately, smiled slightly, and took the initiative to step forward, naturally extending her hand to gently put her arm around Xia's shoulder.

"Xia, good morning." Her voice was as gentle as ever, as if nothing had happened last night. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Hana, Hanako-nee... Good morning..." Xia stammered, her face turning even redder and her body stiffening slightly.

Hanako, seemingly oblivious to her embarrassment, continued gently:

"From now on, the three of us will take care of each other on our travels, making our days happy and lively. That's more important than anything else, don't you think?"

There was no embarrassment or jealousy in her words, only tolerance and acceptance, and a warm anticipation for their future life together.

Xia was stunned. She looked up into Hua Zi's gentle and sincere eyes, and her anxiety and shyness were instantly washed away by a warm current.

Her nose tingled, her eyes welled up, and she nodded vigorously, her voice becoming steadyer:

"Okay! Hanako-neechan, I'll listen to you."

Hanako smiled and ruffled her hair in a friendly and natural way.

At this moment, Zhenghui poked his head out from the stairwell and waved from afar, his face showing excitement and eagerness after staying up all night:

"Jiang Chuan! You're up? Um... is it convenient for you to come over now?"

He barely slept last night, his mind was filled with thoughts of Jiang Chuan.

Jiang Chuan instructed Hua Zi and Xiao Xia, "You two pack your luggage and get ready to leave. I'm going to have a few words with Researcher Zheng Hui."

Hanako nodded considerately: "Go ahead, we'll take care of things here."

Xiaoxia blushed and nodded, then obediently stood with Huazi.

Jiang Chuan arrived at the research room on the top floor of the lighthouse.

Zhenghui pounced on him like a cat that had spotted fish, his eyes behind his glasses bloodshot but gleaming.

"Jiang Chuan! Tell me quickly! What exactly happened last night? How did you communicate with it? What did it say to you? Did it have any aggressive intentions? What did its skin texture look like up close? What was the intensity of its energy radiation...?"

He asked a whole bunch of questions in one go.

Jiang Chuan waved his hand, interrupting his rapid-fire speech, and directly pulled out his own encyclopedia.

"The specifics of the communication involved some... personal abilities, which are not convenient to discuss in detail. However, there is some video footage."

As he spoke, he pulled up the video he had recorded the night before.

Although the thick fog made the image somewhat blurry, the giant Dragonite's mountain-like silhouette, its slow movements, and the final scene of its calm "confrontation" with Egawa were all clearly recorded!

The scene where Jiang Chuan hovers in front of the giant beast while riding a Pidgeotto, and the gentle gaze of the giant Dragonite, are particularly stunning and have great research value!

"This...this is..." Zheng Hui's hands trembled with excitement, his eyes fixed on the screen, his breathing heavy. "First-hand footage! Direct evidence of ancient life activity! My God! The clarity! The angle! It's perfect!"

He suddenly grabbed Jiang Chuan's shoulder, stammering incoherently:

"Sell it to me! Jiang Chuan! This video, exclusive rights sold to me! 500,000! 500,000 Alliance Coins! Buy out the research and limited distribution rights to this video! You can keep a copy, but you can't sell it to other researchers or institutions! How about it?"

Five hundred thousand Alliance Coins?

Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow.

That's quite a lavish meal.

But then I realized it.

To be able to build and maintain such a well-equipped lighthouse on this remote coast all by himself, Zheng Hui's family background must be quite extraordinary.

Doing research, especially in niche areas, requires a substantial financial foundation.

This amount of money is a huge sum for Jiang Chuan right now. It's enough to cover his travel expenses, Pokémon food, item purchases, and even some extra training resources for a long time.

"Okay." Jiang Chuan nodded readily. "It'll be a pleasure working with you, Researcher Zheng Hui."

The two quickly completed a simple electronic agreement signing and transfer using the encyclopedia.

Jiang Chuan's account balance instantly surged by 500,000!

Now, we're really financially secure.

After saying goodbye to Zheng Hui, who was extremely grateful and almost cried tears of joy while repeatedly watching the video with the encyclopedia, Jiang Chuan returned downstairs.

Hanako and Kasumi have already packed their bags.

Although Xiaoxia had already talked things out with Huazi, she hadn't completely gotten over her initial shyness. Especially when she saw Jiang Chuan, she couldn't help but think of him, and her face would immediately turn red.

On the way to Vermilion City, she always subconsciously kept a small "safe distance" from Egawa, either talking to Hanako or pretending to be very interested in the wild Pokémon by the roadside.

As soon as she got close to Jiang Chuan and smelled his scent, she felt her legs go weak, her face flush, and she turned into a steam girl.

Jiang Chuan wasn't in a hurry and was happy to have some free time. He could use this time on the road to take stock of what he had gained from the Zheng Hui Lighthouse trip.