Under the fierce sun, the covered shopping street was even more stuffy.
Several huge exhaust fans were working hard, and some shops had even turned on their air conditioning.
“Is it really the beginning of winter today?”
Fang Qiang vigorously scratched his head.
“Why is it so damn hot?”
“Ditto!”
Sun Wei expressed both agreement and complaint with a single, short word.
An Jing’s face was dark.
She wanted to distance herself from Fang Qiang, but this best friend of hers kept his arm slung over her shoulder, acting like they were brothers.
Although Fang Qiang was tall to begin with, the difference between 1.7 meters and 1.77 meters wasn’t particularly huge.
But now…
This guy was a full head taller than her. It might not sound like much, but the visual difference was quite obvious.
So she absolutely didn’t want to walk beside him, otherwise, she’d just be a foil.
However, even more sadly, she realized that she was now even shorter than Zhu Ying.
Even though An Jing tried hard to tell herself that at least she was about the same height as Zhu Ying, actions spoke louder than words…
Zhu Ying’s height was known to the whole class: only 1.55 meters!
That meant An Jing wasn’t even 1.55 meters tall.
How could a man be handsome if he was that short?
Even a pretty boy like Yang Lingfei was 1.63 meters tall!
“What’s wrong, An Jing? Are you in a bad mood today?”
Her good friend Zhou Chao timely noticed her low spirits.
He walked behind her and, like before, laughed heartily as he clapped her on the back.
“What’s up? It’s your birthday today, cheer up!”
An Jing stumbled a bit from the pat.
She rolled her eyes dramatically, “Damn it, trying to pat me to death?”
“Wait a minute, since earlier we’ve just been walking inside, we haven’t decided where to play yet, have we?”
Yang Lingfei suddenly stopped.
“Shopping? Isn’t that something only girls do?”
“Who said anything about shopping!”
Fang Qiang rubbed Yang Lingfei’s head.
“We’re going to the arcade.”
“If we’re going to the arcade, what about Zhu Ying?”
“Exactly.”
An Jing didn’t forget her goal of setting up Fang Qiang.
She lowered her head and mumbled, “Ah Qiang, as a big man, you should also consider girls, right?”
“It’s okay,” Zhu Ying heard her words, looking interested.
“I also want to experience what you boys usually do.”
“There’s not much to do.”
Zhou Chao patted the dandruff off Fang Qiang’s shoulder.
“It’s either the arcade, or an internet cafe, or playing cards in the park, things like that.”
“Oh~”
“What about girls?”
Yang Lingfei followed up.
“Where do they usually go to have fun?”
“Shopping, looking at clothes, small accessories, books, and sometimes going to the cinema together.”
“What’s the point of that? Might as well go play slot machines at the small shop near my house!”
Sun Wei twitched his lips and forcefully bumped Fang Qiang.
“Right, Ah Qiang!”
“Huh? Uh, yeah! That’s right, girls’ interests are just too un-…”
“Cough!”
An Jing coughed loudly, interrupting Fang Qiang, and quickly turned to Zhu Ying.
“If you don’t mind, why don’t you try playing with us today? Actually, there are other things to play in the arcade too.”
“You mean that claw machine?”
The skinny Sun Wei said teasingly.
“Yeah, I guess only girls would play that kind of thing.”
“Hey! Why say so much?”
Zhou Chao, this guy who often changed girlfriends, although a bit of a scumbag, at least had good emotional intelligence.
He quickly jumped in to mediate.
“Actually, girls might not dislike what boys like. Maybe Zhu Ying will find what we play fun too!”
“Exactly.”
The fair-faced Yang Lingfei, with red lips and white teeth, gently nodded.
When he noticed Zhu Ying looking at him, he lightly coughed.
An Jing knew a little about their story: in the first year of junior high, he confessed to Zhu Ying, and many classmates witnessed it.
She originally thought that a handsome boy and a beautiful girl, such a perfect match, would definitely get together.
But to her surprise, Zhu Ying rejected his confession on the spot, making Yang Lingfei feel a bit awkward, so much so that even when they saw each other later, it was still slightly uncomfortable.
She wasn’t the kind of girl who only liked handsome boys…
Because of this, An Jing actually felt that Fang Qiang might have a chance.
Who knows, maybe she just liked tall, strong guys?
And while An Jing was staring blankly at Yang Lingfei, Zhu Ying couldn’t help but curve her lips, secretly flipping open her phone and pointing it at An Jing’s delicate little face…
Passing through the bustling crowd, the six finally went up the stairs to the second floor.
On the second floor, it was relatively less crowded, and the green translucent canopy was close at hand, as if one could reach out and touch it.
The arcade was just ahead.
Although the game machines inside were tightly packed, there was a wide variety of them.
The most basic arcade games and King of Fighters machines were definitely there.
In addition, there were card machines and mahjong machines particularly favored by uncles, and naturally, slot machines for gambling were indispensable.
As for the claw machines, dancing games, and basketball shooting games, they were placed in slightly more open areas.
Upon entering, all sorts of noisy sounds intertwined, pouring into their ears all at once.
For a moment, it was even hard to tell which way was which.
On the dancing game, two girls dressed like mini-gangsters were competing for scores.
Although they were very thin, they lacked any aesthetic appeal, as their arms and thighs were almost entirely bone with no flesh.
Their skin was dark, and their hair was dry and yellow, either from malnutrition or dye.
They looked like two monkeys jumping around wildly.
They couldn’t compare at all to the jade-like Zhu Ying beside An Jing.
“Yo, there are pretty girls on the dancing game today.”
“Those kinds of girls…”
Zhou Chao shook his head and said, feigning melancholy, “Sigh, Ah Wei, your taste really needs improvement…”
“Exactly, what kind of taste do you have? Those are ‘pretty girls’? Then An Jing must be a celestial beauty!”
“Damn it, say what you want, but why drag me into it!”
An Jing yelled indignantly.
“Even Yang Lingfei looks better than them.”
“Exactly!”
An Jing wholeheartedly agreed with this statement, mainly because it could shift the topic away from herself.
“They’re practically Sun Wei in girl’s clothes!”
“You little brat!”
Sun Wei spat.
Teenage boys love to criticize others, and whether it’s appropriate or not isn’t something they consider.
Zhu Ying looked curiously at the empty dancing game, smiling as she asked the boys, “How do you play that?”
“That, you just step on whichever square lights up, that’s pretty much it.”
Fang Qiang quickly replied, not forgetting to add, “Anyway, I’ve never played it.”
“I’ve played it.”
Zhou Chao looked at Zhu Ying.
“Do you want me to teach you?”
“Cough!”
An Jing coughed heavily.
“Ah Qiang, since you haven’t played it anyway, why don’t you play it with Zhu Ying?”
***
“Yes, I can guide both of you from the side.”
Zhou Chao immediately caught on.
“Then An Jing and I will play King of Fighters, An Jing, wanna play?”
Yang Lingfei was the one least interested in joining Zhu Ying’s fun.
“Damn it, leaving me alone?”
“Then let’s play Dynasty Warriors, three-player co-op.”
“Sounds good, let’s go, let’s go!”
Sun Wei pushed their backs, eager to go to the counter, buy tokens, and start a game.
“No need, I’ll join you guys. I want to see what you play.”
“Well, we usually play co-op games or King of Fighters.”
The boys all looked at Zhu Ying.
Seeing her nod and insist on watching them play, they readily went to exchange for game tokens.
Everyone brought different amounts of money, so naturally, the number of tokens they exchanged varied.
Here, each game token cost fifty cents, which was a bit more expensive than other small arcades, but it boasted a wide variety of games and was lively enough.
“Boss, I’d like five yuan worth of tokens.”
An Jing usually only exchanged one yuan at most, but since it was her birthday, she indulged a little.
“Alright, here are twenty tokens for you.”
“What the hell, Boss, you gave us the wrong amount, didn’t you?”
Sun Wei immediately yelled.
“Aren’t they fifty cents a token?”
“Of course, for a pretty girl exchanging tokens, you get more.”
The boss replied as a matter of course, then looked at Zhu Ying, who was standing beside An Jing.
“Oh, there’s another pretty girl today. She gets double too.”
“Holy crap, then let’s all have them exchange for us!”
“Haha, no way! I’m watching. These tokens are only for them to play with!”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!”
An Jing shouted, pointing at her nose.
“Boss, I’m a boy!”
“Huh?”
The boss froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“You say you’re a boy? I’d say I’m a woman! Hahahaha…”
“Cough…”
Fang Qiang looked particularly familiar with this kind of scene.
“Boss, he really is a boy… Don’t you remember? We’ve been here several times.”
“Oh, oh! It’s you! No wonder you looked so familiar, and you’ve gotten prettier. Tsk tsk, you’re looking more and more feminine.”
The boss rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue.
“It’s fine. If you’re pretty, you can be used as a girl to attract some popularity for me.”
“Then can the boss use him as a girl?”
Sun Wei immediately pointed at Yang Lingfei.
“You jerk! Get out of here!”
“Him? No, he doesn’t look enough like a girl.”
“Sigh, what a shame.”
Sun Wei looked regretful.
“What’s there to be regretful about?”
An Jing rolled her eyes, putting the extra ten tokens into the token basket.
“I don’t want your special treatment! I’m a boy!”
The boss seemed to never have believed that statement, but he still chuckled happily, “Alright, alright, you’ve got guts! Then—that little beauty, do you want to exchange tokens? I’m in a good mood today, so you get double!”
“Hmm… I’ll exchange five yuan worth.”
“Alright! Twenty tokens!”
The middle-aged boss, who was still playful, handed over the box of game tokens.
“Here are exactly twenty. Have fun, and enjoy yourselves!”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
Zhu Ying smiled sweetly.
“Actually, I’m a boy too, you know?”
“Huh?!”
The boss didn’t react much, but the boys simultaneously showed shocked expressions, as if their brains had crashed for a moment.
Zhu Ying mischievously stuck out her tongue, “Pfft, just kidding.”
“Damn it, for a second there, I actually believed it!”
“After all, with An Jing’s precedent…”
“Could it be—”
“Stop with the ‘could it be’s’! Let’s go play games!”
Fang Qiang interrupted Sun Wei.
As for An Jing, she was the only one not surprised.
This had to be a joke.
How could someone so beautiful be a boy?
In fact, even she herself wasn’t, at least not right now…