In the anime store within the covered commercial street, even with customers spread among the rows of shelves, it still felt a bit crowded.
“Holy cow, this one’s good, those legs, tsk tsk…”
Fang Qiang’s gaze fell on a revealingly dressed girl figure, and he couldn’t help but lean in for a closer look.
“You don’t even know what anime that’s from…”
“That doesn’t stop me from thinking she’s good-looking!”
“Idiot.”
An Jing rolled his eyes dramatically.
“That’s Minami Chiaki, the third sister from Minami-ke. By setting, she’s only in fifth grade of elementary school!”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never liked elementary schoolers?”
“Don’t think I don’t know, back in elementary school, you and that person…”
“Damn it, when I was in elementary school, I definitely liked people my own age!”
“Actually, there’s always been a soft spot in my heart that hasn’t grown up…”
“Stop grossing me out. And don’t tell me that ‘ungrown’ part is there,” An Jing said, glaring at Fang Qiang.
“Damn it, brother’s there is ahead of its time, eighteen centimeters, got it?”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Come, come, come, let’s go to the restroom later, I’ll show you myself!”
“I’m not looking!”
“It’s okay, even if yours isn’t as big as mine, you don’t need to feel inferior.”
An Jing lowered his eyelids: “You can show that thing to your girlfriend. I’m afraid I won’t be able to eat if I see it.”
“Haha—holy cow, this is a Naruto Sexy Jutsu figure, it’s my first time seeing one!”
“Maybe it’s new…”
An Jing glanced down at the tag on the display case, then clicked his tongue.
“Eighteen hundred, so expensive.”
“Just look.”
Fang Qiang patted An Jing’s shoulder.
“There’s hardly anything here we can afford.”
In 2009, figures were a luxury item that only wealthy people “played” with.
Most people were lucky to afford some anime merchandise.
Especially junior high students with little money in hand, even if they saw a bag with anime elements, they would find a way to collect it.
Although it sounded a bit shabby, many people actually enjoyed it.
This anime store had a complete selection of items, even selling cosplay costumes.
Both male and female costumes were available, but there were generally more female costumes.
Although An Jing had seen many anime convention scenes in anime series, he had never actually attended one.
In this country where anime was seen as something only childish brats watched, it was already hard enough to openly declare one’s hobbies.
As for holding such “exhibitions”… he had never heard of them, at least.
Perhaps only first-tier cities like S-City would have them, and they would certainly be very discreet, not widely publicized in the public eye.
“Heh heh, is that a Hatsune Miku cosplay outfit?”
Fang Qiang playfully nudged An Jing’s arm.
“Maybe it would suit you quite well.”
“You’re insulting my character and my intelligence—”
An Jing fiercely pressed his elbow into his neck.
“Damn it, your laugh is so perverted.”
Seeing that his best friend was having trouble breathing, An Jing released his hand: “But I think Zhu Ying would look really good in it.”
“It actually would suit her quite well… just her face is a bit fat.”
“That’s not fat, that’s baby fat, idiot.”
An Jing sighed.
“What’s wrong with you today? Such a good opportunity, and you met Zhu Ying again…”
“Cough… I really can’t say those flattering words!”
“I’m not asking you to flatter her. At least communicate normally.”
“That’s the only way I can talk properly.”
“You’re really something else…”
***
The evening sunset cast its afterglow on the small city’s crowded and narrow streets.
Two construction workers were frantically repairing a broken fire hydrant, and tap water sprayed out, drenching them completely.
Passersby carefully scurried past, not wanting to get their clothes wet.
After Browse the anime store, An Jing and Fang Qiang spent the afternoon playing Dynasty Warriors in the arcade.
Both of them were veterans, and it only took three coins to beat the game, one of which was a revive coin Fang Qiang had to use after a mistake.
When they left, An Jing was still a bit worried about his body changes, but after a day of playing with his good friend, those worries significantly dissipated.
And even though he had been playing all day, he felt remarkably light and not tired at all.
“A-Qiang, I’m heading back now.”
“Alright. Oh right, did you do your homework?”
“Yeah, I finished it.”
“Then arrive early tomorrow, let me ‘C’ it.” ‘C’ meant ‘copy,’ a secret code students used to avoid teachers, and although it had become an open ‘secret,’ everyone still used it.
“You didn’t do it again?”
“Hahaha, well, I came out to play with you!”
“Damn it, don’t be too CNN about it…”
“Be early! Your house isn’t far!”
“Got it.”
Fang Qiang raised his long legs and straddled his generic brand mountain bike: “Oh, by the way, you really need to practice some restraint, kid! You seem really weak today.”
“Bullshit, I’m perfectly fine and strong right now!” An Jing flipped him off. “Go home!”
“Hahaha—then I’m off!”
“Bye-bye!”
***
An Jing walked home, stepping on his shadow along the street.
He walked with his hands behind his back, looking down at his shadow: “I still haven’t figured out why I got shorter… Could it be… that doing those things really makes you shorter? I should look it up…”
He sighed, muttering softly: “But I haven’t seen anyone else undergo such a big change. Could it be because I have the potential to awaken a special ability, that my body changes so much? If a normal person did that, they’d just be weak for a few days, but I would… Ah! Could that be it? But… no matter what, it seems I definitely need to practice restraint…”
Junior high boys always held many unrealistic fantasies.
The reality in their eyes wasn’t so solid and stable, or rather, those surreal fantasies, for them, wouldn’t be unacceptable even if they appeared in reality.
Perhaps it was precisely because their understanding of this world was limited that they felt anything was possible.
And throughout history, it seemed to be teenagers who were most willing to believe in miracles.
An Jing’s mood lifted.
A motorcycle sped past him, its blaring music clearly audible even from a distance.
He hummed along: “Chrysanthemums withered, scattered on the ground, your smile has turned yellow…”
“Flowers fallen, hearts broken, my worries quietly flow.”
An Jing turned his head in a daze and saw his second sister, Yu Mingfei, smiling at him.
“Ah! Sister Fei, why are you suddenly here? You scared me!”
Yu Mingfei fiercely wrapped an arm around his neck, her smile undiminished: “You little brat, do you know what the situation is right now?”
“You didn’t come back for lunch and didn’t even text! Huh?!”
Yu Mingfei slapped his head hard.
“Your Sister Huihui made a table full of delicious food for you. We waited until the food got cold, and you still didn’t come back. We called and you didn’t answer, what were you doing?!”
“Ah… ah?”
An Jing nervously dodged Yu Mingfei’s subsequent “attacks,” picked up his phone, and only then realized he had forgotten to charge it this weekend, and it had now completely shut down.
He had been so engrossed in playing all day that he hadn’t even taken out his phone to check the time.
“It’s not that you can’t go out to play, but you should at least say something! Your Sister Huihui thought you disliked her cooking!”
“I didn’t…”
“She even cried!”
“Really?”
Yu Mingfei stared into his eyes, then suddenly burst into laughter with a “pffft”: “Really!”
“You’re fooling ghosts!”
An Jing dodged her swinging hand again, explaining rapidly, “I thought I’d be back for lunch today, so I didn’t tell you in advance, and then I just got carried away playing—Ah! My butt!”
“Take your hand away, watch me beat your butt raw today!”
“Mercy!”
“Hmph… Forget it, hurry back for dinner! There’s a big table of dishes: old duck pot, braised chicken legs, steamed abalone…”
“What’s going on today?”
An Jing relaxed a bit when he saw his second sister was no longer angry.
“What’s the special occasion? So many dishes?”
“Your Sister Huihui saw that you’re looking a bit weak. Look at you, no meat on your arms, and your eyes are almost devoid of yang energy, so she specially went to the market and bought a lot of ingredients to nourish your body!”
“Cough…”
An Jing felt a warmth in his heart.
He scratched his head hard.
“Uh… then is it still in time for me to go back and eat?”
“We can warm it up and eat it. Otherwise, why would I come out looking for you?”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“Nonsense, besides here, where else is lively around here? Quick, what were you doing today?”
“Shopping…”
“By yourself?”
“Cough, and my best friend.”
“Oh, just you two?”
“And a girl, the prettiest one in our class…”
Yu Mingfei, who had just been fuming, immediately curved her lips upwards, a hint of a smile in her eyes: “Oh~”
“Oh what… it’s just a normal classmate relationship.”
“That’s for the best. You’re in junior high now, focus on your studies. Dating is useless. If you date and then go to different high schools, you’ll just break up, understand?”
“De…”
“But if you really like someone, I won’t stop you.”
Yu Mingfei placed her hand on An Jing’s back.
“But you have to distinguish what’s important. If you do date, don’t let it affect your studies, got it?”
“It’s not even close to happening yet…”
“How pretty is that girl?”
Yu Mingfei’s eyes rolled playfully as she asked teasingly.
“School-beauty level, what do you think?”
“Oh~ And compared to Huihui?”
“Uh… hard to compare. There’s a height difference… and they’re not the same style.”
“How tall?”
“About one meter fifty-five?”
“Sure enough, he’s still a little kid… still likes little girls.”
“What are you even talking about? I haven’t even said I like her yet.”
“Then why did you go out with her?”
“It was a coincidence, a coincidence, okay?!”
“Mhm, okay, okay, a coincidence, a coincidence.”
Yu Mingfei looked completely unconvinced.
“If you really do get together, remember to tell your sister, okay?”
An Jing twitched the corner of his mouth, speechless.
But to say he had never fantasized about it would definitely be a lie, after all, Zhu Ying was so beautiful…