He walked through the bustling and lively streets, passed through quiet and deserted alleys, went by an abandoned factory, and then, there was a small square.
The atmosphere here became lively again, with many young people coming and going.
Several apartment buildings formed a semicircle around the square.
A minivan covered in advertisements sped past on the road, the wind carrying the song from its speakers into the distance.
“Ten years ago, I didn’t know you…”
An Jing hummed along quietly, his steps light as he entered the square and then into one of the five or six-story apartment buildings beside it.
This was a failed commercial street.
When An Jing was little, it was still a deserted place, but gradually, even a failed commercial street found its own residents.
Although it wasn’t bustling, there was a sense of calm and comforting warmth.
The apartment building’s design was similar to a teaching building, with staircases on both sides.
The corridor had no windows at all, and standing downstairs, one could see the identical yet slightly different apartment doors.
An Jing walked to the fourth floor and stopped in front of a door with a ‘Fu’ (good fortune) character pasted on it.
The ‘Fu’ character on the door wasn’t pasted last New Year; in fact, it had been there for five or six years.
The glue had lost its stickiness, and both sides were peeling up, with only a small bit in the middle barely still attached.
He took out a reddish-orange key from his pocket, gently turned it to the right, then gently turned it to the left, unlocking the door.
“Little guy’s back? Where did you go?”
Pushing open the door, a pink fabric sofa immediately came into view.
A beautiful woman with crossed legs sat on the sofa. If it were anyone else, their gaze would surely linger on her fair, white legs for a moment, but An Jing felt nothing at all about it.
Why, you ask?
That’s because this person was his cousin—Yu Mingfei.
The reason they didn’t share the same surname was that An Jing’s father was a live-in son-in-law, so An Jing took his mother’s surname.
“Went to play basketball,” An Jing quickly replied.
“Where’s Sister Huihui?”
“Restroom.”
Yu Mingfei jabbed her thumb at the air in that direction.
“Why did you only play for such a short time? It’s still early for lunch.”
“It was just two people, so it wasn’t fun,” An Jing pouted.
“Sister Fei, can’t you wear a bit more?”
“Why? I’m in my own home. I’ll wear what I want, or not wear what I want. Why do you care?”
“What if someone delivering something comes, opens the door and sees you like this? What would they think?”
“Don’t worry, no one delivers anything to our house,” Yu Mingfei glanced at him.
“Have you done your homework? You’re in your third year of junior high, study hard, or you’ll regret it later.”
“Yes, yes, yes…”
An Jing dragged out his words, glancing at the TV. “Huh, when did you rent the Chinese Paladin 3 disc?”
“I borrowed it yesterday evening after work.”
The slightly plump Yu Mingfei squinted at him.
“Want to watch it? Finish your homework first!”
“I want to watch it from the beginning.”
“Then wait until the winter break.”
Clang—
The broken wooden door of the restroom was gently pushed open.
Though the motion was light, the old door still let out a “creak, creak” sound.
“Xiao Jing’s back? Are you hungry?”
A tall, very beautiful young woman smiled at him.
This was An Jing’s other cousin, Yu Huihui.
She was the eldest daughter of his ninth uncle’s family, while Yu Mingfei was the second daughter of his seventh uncle’s family.
Although the latter’s father was slightly older, Yu Mingfei was actually a bit younger than Yu Huihui.
An Jing’s parents both worked in H City.
For some reason, they left him alone in his hometown to study.
Although he could have stayed at his grandparents’ house, many things would have been inconvenient, so he was arranged to live with his two cousins, who also rented a place.
Although Yu Huihui had an “iceberg” face, she was actually very easy to talk to.
And Yu Mingfei, who was almost a head shorter and had a chubby, friendly-looking face, was actually the strictest one with An Jing here.
If he ever got into trouble, among his two cousins, she was the only one who would take on the role of an elder and lecture him severely.
At her fiercest, she even pulled out a clothes hanger.
As a result, An Jing wasn’t afraid of his own mother, but was instead more afraid of her…
“Sister Huihui, can you stop calling me ‘Xiao Jing’? It sounds like a girl’s name. Although I’m thin, I don’t look like a girl anywhere, do I?”
An Jing’s face crumpled.
“But Xiao Jing sounds so affectionate?”
“No, no…”
“You little rascal, go do your homework!”
Yu Mingfei raised her voice.
“And also, whatever your Sister Huihui tells you, that’s what it is! No arguing!”
“Damn it, it’s a dictatorship!”
An Jing, who had been behaving well lately, spoke with more boldness.
“Otherwise, you won’t have any discs to watch during winter break.”
“Hmph!”
An Jing rolled his eyes dramatically, pushed open his bedroom door, and slid inside, leaving only a soft ‘thump’ echoing behind him.
“Little brat…”
Yu Mingfei twitched the corners of her mouth.
“Feifei, don’t you feel it? Xiao Jing has become much fairer recently.”
“It must be because he’s busy with his third year of junior high and doesn’t have time to run around outside. Without the wind and sun, his skin has improved, so naturally he looks fairer.”
“That’s true. What do you want for lunch?”
“It’s a bit hot today… how about some Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes?”
“Sounds good.”
***
This wasn’t a spacious room.
A small bed already took up half the space, so much so that there wasn’t even room for a chair.
To write at the desk, he had to sit on the bed.
The room was cleaned very thoroughly, with a faint, pleasant fragrance.
He tilted his head and saw a glass vase on the corner of the desk, holding a bouquet of pure white lilies.
These must have been bought by Yu Huihui, because only she would have such refined taste.
She also did most of the housework.
Unlike Yu Mingfei, Yu Huihui didn’t go out to work; or rather, she usually made money in front of a computer.
An Jing plopped down on the bed, kicking his slippers under the table.
As for the awkwardness of finding his slippers later, that wasn’t something he needed to worry about now.
He was just about to start his homework when he suddenly felt something uncomfortable digging into his backside.
After rummaging in his pocket for a while, he pulled out the glowing blue stone.
This was a fragment of a meteorite.
He was so certain because An Jing had personally witnessed the meteorite fall not far away.
Then he sprinted out of the woods and, on the deserted beach, saw the sand indented where it had struck.
This was the first time An Jing had ever seen a meteor, not only a daytime meteor but one that had fallen right before his eyes.
He didn’t hesitate to take something back as a souvenir.
But even though the meteorite had mostly burned away, a large chunk still remained, clearly not something he could carry home.
Even smaller fragments wouldn’t work; it was a long way from home, too far to carry anything back.
Then, among the charred fragments, he saw a meteorite fragment whose color had not dimmed at all.
“I almost forgot about you… Oh, I might as well polish it. I could even turn it into a pendant… Yes, yes!”
An Jing nodded continuously, raising the blue stone high.
“It looks a bit like the Blue Sapphire Cone from Gaia, that color seems just like this, only this one’s a bit smaller…”
A teenager’s imagination is never limited by a lack of materials.
An Jing clutched the stone and swung it hard.
“Gaia!”
As if in the next second, he could transform into that incredibly strong giant of light.
Of course, that was impossible.
He chuckled, took out a sharpening stone he had previously used for small knives from the drawer, pushed all his homework books to the sides of the table, and began to grind the stone with full concentration.
As for his homework… he had probably completely forgotten about it.
***
Relying solely on a sharpening stone, it was impossible to make the stone perfectly round, but at least he could smooth out the edges so it wouldn’t feel so sharp in his hand.
The original fluorescent blue now looked as if it were covered in frosted glass, with a slightly matte texture.
“Hmph… finally done.”
An Jing looked up and found the sun high in the sky. It was bright noon, the hottest part of the day, making him want to bring the stored electric fan back out.
“You little brat!”
Yu Mingfei’s loud shout came from outside the door.
“Come out and eat!”
“Coming, coming!”
An Jing placed the stone on the table, hurriedly swept a large pile of debris into the trash can, grabbed a napkin to quickly wipe the table, and then, like a spring, jumped up, pulled open the door, and darted into the living room.
On the small dining table in the living room were three home-cooked dishes and a soup.
Yu Mingfei was already seated, while Yu Huihui was still serving rice for everyone.
“What are we eating today?”
“Don’t bother looking, it’s all your favorites,” Yu Mingfei rested her slightly plump face in her hand.
“Come sit down and eat—wait, have you washed your hands?”
“Huh?”
An Jing looked at his dirty hands and immediately scratched his head awkwardly, then rushed into the restroom to wash his hands.
Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes, Minced Meat with Eggplant, Fish-flavored Shredded Pork, plus a large bowl of Tomato Egg Drop Soup, made up the entire lunch today.
“These are all very appetizing dishes…”
An Jing sat down after washing his hands.
“Perfect in color, aroma, and taste, Sister Huihui’s cooking has improved again!”
“You little flatterer!”
Yu Mingfei picked up a piece of eggplant and put it in her mouth, a look of enjoyment on her face.
“Mmm… it’s really better than last time… How much homework have you done?”
“Uh…?”
“You didn’t do any, did you?”
Yu Mingfei’s eyes widened.
“If this continues, I’m going to dismantle your computer.”
“I didn’t play on the computer today!”
“Then what did you do?”
“Is doing anything better than doing homework, huh?”
Yu Mingfei glared at him crossly.
“Finish eating and then write it immediately!”
“Definitely, definitely…”
“Show me when you’re done. If you don’t finish, no playing. Don’t let me catch you.”
“Didn’t we say last time you couldn’t get caught again?”
Yu Huihui sat down with her rice bowl, smiling gently.
“If you make the same mistake again, there will be a punishment.”
“Oh right, hey, if I catch you today, you’ll wear a skirt for a whole day tomorrow, understand?”
“Ah—?!”
“Still daring to talk back? If you don’t do your homework properly, I’ll make you wear a skirt and embarrass yourself outside!”
An Jing completely believed his cousin was capable of doing such a thing…