The name of the small city was, quite literally, Small City.
The city center of Small City was naturally also small.
Turning a corner from the basketball court, it was only a few steps to the most bustling area.
The street ahead was a busy flow of traffic, while the street behind was empty, as if they were two different worlds.
Being small had its advantages; everything was concentrated here, so you could buy almost anything without having to travel far.
“How about we just go to the arcade?”
Fang Qiang put his arm around An Jing’s shoulder, his gaze falling on the department store with an electronic screen not far away.
Although walking a little closer would reveal the clear pixels on the large screen, in Small City, this was already quite trendy.
The screen was playing a promotional video for “Knowing,” but the popular song of the moment was coming from the mall’s speakers.
In this regard, even Small City wasn’t much behind the big cities.
“Left, left, left, use your left hand when you lean left, no need to overthink life…”
Fang Qiang hummed along, swaying his body from side to side.
“Stop swaying, okay?”
An Jing rolled his eyes.
“Going to the arcade is worse than watching a movie, and didn’t you say you wanted to buy discs?”
“Watching a movie is worse than buying a disc!”
Fang Qiang suddenly brought his face very close, chuckling, “I say, aren’t you too scared to go since you ran into those hooligans last time?”
“As if you weren’t scared.”
“That’s because there were a lot of them, and besides, there are many people on weekends, so those hooligans won’t be there. Even if they are, they won’t cause trouble.”
“But the arcade raised its prices recently.”
“No worries, I’m treating you this time!”
“Holy crap!”
“Is it that surprising? Damn, why do you make it sound like I’m usually a miser?”
“Idiot, look who that is!”
Fang Qiang looked in the direction An Jing was pointing and saw a girl wearing white slouch socks and a grey short skirt standing not far away, staring blankly at the movie poster in front of the department store.
The previous song finished, and another song started playing from the speakers, still sung by JJ Lin: “Small dimples, long eyelashes are your most beautiful marks…”
But at this moment, neither of them had any mind to listen.
That was their class beauty, and perhaps even the school beauty of Small City No. 2 Middle School.
At the same time, she was also Fang Qiang’s deskmate—Zhu Ying.
Her height was such that you could directly embrace her, her small body looked very delicate, her small face had some baby fat, and her double-lidded eyes were large and bright.
When the boys chatted, if anyone said they liked Zhu Ying, they would usually be assumed to be hiding who they truly liked.
After all, a girl like her was, naturally, the public’s sweetheart.
Who doesn’t like pretty girls…?
Fang Qiang instinctively gripped An Jing’s shoulder, making him wince in pain, but he still endured it without a sound.
Instead, he pulled Fang Qiang forward a few steps.
When he felt his best friend was rooted to the spot like a nail, he immediately waved his right hand forcefully—
“Zhu Ying!”
The girl, lost in thought, turned her head in a daze.
Her slightly hazy eyes made Fang Qiang instantly release his tight grip on An Jing’s shoulder.
Unlike others, Fang Qiang genuinely liked Zhu Ying.
Only An Jing knew this.
Although he didn’t say it, An Jing knew that he felt inferior and dared not approach her.
Because although he was tall, he wasn’t particularly good-looking, his face was covered in acne, he had no other special talents, and his studies weren’t good either…
If it were anyone else, An Jing would think his reasoning was sound, that there was no need to do something that was impossible to succeed at.
But the other person was his good brother, and no matter what, even if he failed, An Jing wanted him to try once.
Otherwise, he would probably regret it even more on his future life path.
Zhu Ying recognized their faces and broke into a light smile.
When she smiled, her face would puff up, looking especially adorable.
“Fang Qiang, An Jing?”
“Zhu Ying! I…”
An Jing pulled Fang Qiang forcefully, finding him rooted to the ground.
“What are you doing, Ah Qiang, move!”
“Ah, I… ahem, what a coincidence!”
“Small City is only so big; it’s normal to run into each other.”
“Who says? Small City is actually quite big if you count the counties and towns, and my hometown is quite far from here…”
“Nobody asked where your hometown is.”
“Even though my hometown is far, it’s still part of Small City. I just want to prove that Small City is big.”
An Jing was almost rolling his eyes to the heavens.
He severely gripped Fang Qiang’s neck, managing to drag the big oaf over.
The fierce expression on his face, which had been there from the exertion, immediately vanished, replaced by a smile as he looked at the girl in front of him: “Zhu Ying, are you by yourself?”
“Yes, Qi Qi stood me up, but since I’m already out, I thought I’d find a movie to watch.”
“We happen to want to watch a movie too!”
An Jing deliberately showed a hearty laugh.
“Haha, right, Ah Qiang?”
“Ah… Ah… Ahahahah…”
“What’s wrong? Don’t mind him, he got his brains scrambled by a ball today—Zhu Ying, have you decided what you want to watch?”
“Not yet.”
“Who did you say got his brains scrambled by a ball?!”
Fang Qiang whispered.
An Jing ignored him completely and continued to talk to himself: “How about a blockbuster? American sci-fi, ‘Knowing.’ I saw the trailer before, it looks pretty good.”
“Sci-fi?”
Zhu Ying tilted her head, looking at the huge poster.
“Seems pretty good…”
“Let’s watch it, let’s watch it! Ah Qiang is treating, he’s loaded anyway!”
“Huh? Ah! Right, right, I’m treating!”
“Then let’s watch this one!”
Zhu Ying didn’t refuse.
“I’ll buy some snacks to take in. Do you guys want popcorn?”
“Sure.”
“Then you guys buy the tickets, I’ll go buy popcorn~”
Although the cinema also sold popcorn, it wasn’t as cheap as the old man selling popcorn across the street from the cinema, and his was even tastier than what the cinema offered.
Fang Qiang completely forgot the original purpose of their trip.
He strode towards the cashier and immediately asked for tickets for the next showing of “Knowing.”
“Ahem… Do you like Zhu Ying, kid, you’re so enthusiastic?”
Only after buying the tickets did Fang Qiang clear his throat and squint at An Jing.
This guy’s preemptive strike made An Jing roll his eyes.
“Who are you doing this for, anyway?”
“Ahem!”
“If you don’t try, how will you know if it’ll work out? Besides, her hometown seems quite close to yours, even after junior high graduation…”
“No way, a girl like her must have had many guys confess to her. If others didn’t succeed, why would I?”
“What if you’re just different?”
“Damn it, what special charm do I have?”
“You do.”
“What?”
“You look pretty silly.”
“Get lost!” |
Fang Qiang laughed and cursed.
A few minutes later, Zhu Ying arrived, carrying a large bag of popcorn.
They could smell a sweet aroma from afar.
“Ah… she smells so good.”
“Idiot, that’s the smell of popcorn.”
“The popcorn is so pretty.”
“Can you stop staring at her?”
An Jing pouted, lowering his voice, then returned to his normal volume, smiling at Zhu Ying.
“You’re here? Our showing has started scanning tickets, let’s go in quickly!”
“Mm-hmm.”
Zhu Ying didn’t seem to mind watching a movie with two boys.
She nodded with a smile and handed them the popcorn.
“Do you want to grab some?”
“Sure.”
“Ah, I don’t eat…”
Fang Qiang was about to shake his head to refuse when he saw Zhu Ying painstakingly grab a handful with her small, delicate hand and offer it to him.
He immediately swallowed, extending both hands as if receiving a royal decree.
An Jing clearly noticed that when Zhu Ying’s small hand lightly brushed against his large one, the guy had a look of pure enjoyment.
“Ahem! Let’s go in.”
To prevent the guy from zoning out for too long and making it awkward, An Jing quickly said, and then walked ahead.
The cinema in Small City wasn’t big; it only had a few screening rooms.
It was just a few steps to the one they were watching in.
There were only about a hundred seats in total, and with the lights on, it felt a bit crowded.
However, once the lights went off, the cramped feeling would be greatly alleviated.
Most of the seats were already taken, many by couples, and some by friends.
As for girls watching alone, there didn’t seem to be any.
Perhaps sci-fi movies weren’t very appealing to them.
“We’re in the third row, uh, these three.”
Fang Qiang looked at the movie tickets and slowly stopped.
“Then I’ll sit here…”
“Ah, An Jing, you sit in the middle?”
“Huh?”
“You sit in the middle, I’ll sit here, and Zhu Ying will sit there.”
An Jing stared at Fang Qiang with a “are you sick?” look.
The latter coughed twice loudly, then stubbornly sat down.
The atmosphere was subtly awkward for a moment.
Fortunately, a few minutes later, all the lights went out, and the movie began playing on the big screen.
Although An Jing also really wanted to watch this movie, he was determined to create an opportunity for the two of them today.
So, before the movie officially began, he stood up again.
“Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom,” An Jing whispered.
An Jing walked out of the screening room.
Of course, he didn’t go to the restroom inside—he walked straight to the cinema exit, back out into the brilliant sunshine.
The blinding light made him squint slightly, as if he hadn’t quite adjusted.
“Ah Qiang, I’ve created an opportunity for you now,” he muttered to himself, taking a strikingly vibrant blue stone from his pants pocket and rolling it in his palm.
“This meteorite fragment really brings good luck… though not my good luck.”
About ten minutes later, Fang Qiang secretly took out his phone in the cinema and texted An Jing—even though there was an empty seat between him and Zhu Ying, he still felt like he was on pins and needles.
“Where did you go, kid?”
“You guys watch. I’m not watching today.”
“My mom called me home for dinner!”
“Bullshit, aren’t your parents both in H City?!”
However, this last text message vanished without a trace.
An Jing didn’t reply until the movie ended…
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What a real bro lmao