"Let's go, let's go, let's go upstairs so I can get you a Dragon Cat." Noticing Xia Xiaoxiao was somewhat unhappy, Xu Qingfan habitually pinched the little girl's cheek before taking each of the two's hands and heading for the fourth floor.
"Just you? Forget about it!" Xia Xiaoxiao pouted, her face full of disbelief.
The truth was, a few days ago, after finishing some beer at home, Xu Qingfan had challenged Xia Xiaoxiao to a game of throwing chopsticks, and only after a long time did he manage a few lucky hits.
"Brother Qing Fan, what are you guys talking about?" Lin Wanning lifted the cane she had just won, swaying it slightly in mid-air.
"Catching dolls, have you ever played it?"
"Is it the one with the claw machine? Wanning has played it before!"
"You're talking about the doll machine at Sunshine Park, aren't you? That one requires a parent to accompany us, we can't go in."
"How do you know?" Xia Xiaoxiao looked over skeptically.
"Last week while strolling, I saw it written on a sign at the entrance: those under twelve years old must be accompanied by a parent." He hadn't lied to Xia Xiaoxiao; last week he had wanted to go in and play a few rounds of Metal Slug and Dinosaur Fighter, but there was a striking notice board at the entrance, with a staff member standing beside it.
A week had passed, and many of the stalls had swapped out for a batch of new stuffed dolls, which surprised him most of all, seeing as several stalls from last week had been completely revamped.
There were several new games too, including drawing red lines for random prizes and smashing golden eggs for gifts.
There were also games he had played in his previous life!
He remembered the stall owner had a nice figure; Xu Qingfan was in adolescence then, and he couldn't help sneaking peeks,
Looking back now, just one look, and he knew, it was definitely the same person!
Next to the stall owner, there was a little girl about their age sitting up straight on a stool, seemingly doing homework.
Xu Qingfan led the two youngsters to the front of the stall and looked at the rules written on the blackboard: two yuan per attempt, write flawlessly from 1 to 500, 1-100 wins a fifth-level prize, 1-200 wins a fourth-level prize...
The rules were still the same, just three yuan cheaper.
Xu Qingfan glanced at the prizes on the wall; the quality was mediocre. He asked the two, "Do you like any of these?"
Xia Xiaoxiao immediately noticed the extra-large Dragon Cat plush, "I want that one!"
"Brother Qing Fan, I want that one!" Lin Wanning also pointed to a medium-sized Miao Miao monster.
"Kids, where are your parents? You can't play without an adult." The stall owner put down the pen in her hand and leaned forward to look towards the trio of Xu Qingfan.
Both children were about the height of six-year-olds, around one meter and twenty centimeters tall; the woman leaned forward, her bright headlights beaming right into Xu Qingfan's face, stunning him for a moment.
Seeing a stranger striking up a conversation, both kids shrugged and clung closer to Xu Qingfan's arms, their little hands instinctively gripping tighter.
Xu Qingfan snapped back to reality, swallowing instinctively.
"My mom is downstairs getting her hair done; she told us to come up here and play." He said while taking six yuan out of Lin Wanning's purse.
The woman looked into Xu Qingfan's sincere eyes, not appearing to be lying, and cheerfully took the six yuan from his hand.
"It's okay if you lose; aunty will give each of you an extra doll," the woman added, worried that the parents might accuse her of enticing kids to spend money.
"Thank you, aunty."
Xu Qingfan confidently seated himself, with Xia Xiaoxiao and Lin Wanning standing by his side, one on the left and one on the right.
"Go, Brother Qing Fan!"
"Go," Xia Xiaoxiao also said in her mind.
There wasn't much to say about the game; as long as he was slow, he surely wouldn't make a mistake. Xu Qingfan was consistently steady, pausing for several seconds after writing each number.
The two girls stood there for over ten minutes, yet he had only written up to 328.
Another seven or eight minutes passed, and Xu Qingfan smoothly reached 500.
"I'm done, I'm done!!!"
"Brother Qing Fan is the best!!!"
The moment Xu Qingfan put down his pen, the two girls excitedly grabbed his hand and shook it.
Xu Qingfan turned his head to glance at the overjoyed Xia Xiaoxiao, thinking that she was still just a child after all. Why keep a stern face every day!
"Little friend, you did great! Your handwriting is beautiful too," the lady boss praised after checking the content on the paper.
"Mom, I can do it too!" The little girl who had been sitting by and doing her homework was unhappy upon seeing her mother praising another child.
"Our Wenwen is amazing too!" The woman turned and rubbed the little girl's head, her face full of tenderness.
"Auntie, we want that Dragon Cat," Xu Qingfan said, pointing at the toy in the special prize area.
"Alright, it's been a few days since I opened, and this is the first time someone has won the special prize," the woman said with a smile, seemingly not upset that her special prize was taken.
"Here's your Dragon Cat."
Xia Xiaoxiao opened her arms and embraced her newly acquired toy.
"Thank you," Xia Xiaoxiao said softly, speaking through the toy.
"Hmm." Xu Qingfan touched the Dragon Cat and then rubbed Xia Xiaoxiao's head.
Noticing Lin Wanning still standing beside him, he also plucked at her cowlick, "Your turn now."
He moved Lin Wanning to the seat he had just occupied, smiling as he spoke.
"I... I can't do it, Brother Qing Fan, you do it!" Lin Wanning shook her head like a tambourine.
"You do it?" He then looked at Xia Xiaoxiao.
Xia Xiaoxiao nodded her head, handing him the Dragon Cat.
The outcome was hardly any different from the previous life; Xia Xiaoxiao wrote up to 234 but accidentally omitted '2,' directly writing '3' on the draft paper.
"Ah!" She put the pen down, dejected, and looked up at Xu Qingfan.
"No worries, I actually wanted that Charizard charm," he said, pointing to the fourth prize area.
"Yes, Auntie, I want that one," the little girl said, her cloudy expression clearing up as she smiled and pointed to the Charizard Xu Qingfan had indicated.
The woman took down the charm. "What grade are you kids in, being able to write three-digit numbers at such a young age?"
"What's a grade?" Lin Wanning blinked her big eyes, curiously inquiring.
"Auntie, we're starting first grade in September," Xu Qingfan answered, accepting the Charizard.
The lady boss covered her mouth in surprise, "How coincidental, my daughter Wenwen is also starting primary school in first grade this year."
Xu Qingfan curiously examined the homework done by the woman's daughter, a thick stack of A4 paper.
Thinking of Xia Xiaoxiao's routine these past weeks, he unconsciously asked, "Are you also attempting to get into Experimental Primary School?"
"Eh? How did you know that, little friend?"
Hearing this, Xia Xiaoxiao and Lin Wanning also curiously looked at the little girl.
Xu Qingfan pointed at the homework on the table. "I guessed it because we are also applying to Experimental Primary School."
"What a coincidence, you're so smart, you'll surely get in, and then we'll all be classmates. My daughter's name is Xiao Ruawen, please get along well in school," the woman seemed not at all worried her daughter might fail to get into Experimental Primary School, or maybe it was because her family, like Lin Wanning's, was well-off and running a stand was just for the life experience.
"Okay."
In the end, Xu Qingfan took Lin Wanning's place and successfully wrote up to three hundred, forfeiting the game, and won the Mewtwo that Lin Wanning liked.