The two of them walked with light steps, keeping close within the moving crowd, stopping and starting along the way to linger at any stalls that caught their interest.
Even though there were many people all around them, it felt as if there were very few, as if the world contained only the two of them, close enough to hear each other's breathing.
"Class Monitor, is there anything you want?"
As Lin Li led Chen Yuying past a balloon shooting stall, he stopped, pointing at the prizes hanging on the pegboard, tilting his head with a smile as he asked.
"Is that an elephant? It looks pretty cute. If I had to choose a favorite, I guess it would be that one."
Chen Yuying looked over upon hearing his words. Recognizing the tone in Lin Li's voice that showed he wanted to show off a little, she picked a plush toy and spoke.
She could want anything, but she could also want nothing; as long as he wanted to give it, she was happy to want it.
"Boss, how do you play this?" Lin Li asked enthusiastically.
"Thirty yuan for twenty-five shots. Depending on the final number of balloons you pop, you choose your prize," the owner, who was nearby tidying up the pre-inflated balloons on the ground, stepped forward to explain.
"How do we get that plush toy?" Lin Li pointed at the elephant.
"That's one of the best ones, you have to pop twenty-two balloons to choose it." The owner took a glance before replying with a smile.
"Great, no problem, let's do one round. Thirty yuan, scanned and sent." Lin Li nodded.
Thirty yuan was a bit on the expensive side, but fortunately, Lin Li was a minor man of means.
"You can only miss three shots, huh... Maybe I should switch to something else I like," Chen Yuying leaned in close, speaking with a smile.
"Heh, Class Monitor, right now you can absolutely trust my marksmanship." Lin Li patted his chest.
"Let me put it to you this way: with my current level, even if Jesus is a hundred meters away using his hands to shield LeBron James who is leaning against John F. Kennedy's chest, I have the confidence that after firing a full magazine, the bullets would all cleanly exit their bodies without anyone sustaining a single new wound.
Even Lü Bu, who shot the halberd at the camp gate, would have to come and beg to be my apprentice."
Lin Li truly was quite confident.
His [Imitation] ability wasn't just for show, not to mention that to maintain this shooting proficiency, he had been 'learning' bit by bit whenever [Imitation] was active.
Chen Yuying: "..."
Not a single new wound appeared. Lin Li's details were impeccable.
Chen Yuying lowered her head, her lips pressed tightly together, but her shoulders still gradually began to tremble slightly.
She ended up laughing after all. Her merit points, her precious merit points, boohoo.
Chen Yuying reached out, patting her own head, hoping to make some amends.
Seeing this, Lin Li also stretched his clumsy hand over. However, Chen Yuying, who was looking down, noticed his shadow approaching on the ground and immediately took a step back to dodge it. She looked up, her gaze triumphant: "Not letting you pat it."
"Why?" Lin Li was puzzled.
Only letting yourself accumulate merit points, why so selfish!
"Hmph," Chen Yuying's nose twitched, "No why, my head, my choice."
You didn't pat it this morning when I said you could, and now you suddenly want to pat it?
Where was this energy earlier!
Lin Li didn't force the matter either, merely letting out a sigh of deep regret. As the traces of his performance faded, that gentle smile returned to his face.
In a little while, it might not be up to you to choose.
"Alright then," Lin Li handed the toy rifle resting on the tabletop over to Chen Yuying: "Class Monitor, you play first. Hand it over to me after you miss three shots, I'll secure the baseline!"
The strong must possess absolute confidence!
……
Lin Li: "……TAT"
I am an absolute fool, boohoo...
Wait, no!
Looking at the elephant plush toy in Chen Yuying's arms, Lin Li's heart was filled with a complex mixture of emotions.
"What's wrong?" Holding the plush toy, Chen Yuying saw Lin Li's complicated expression and swung the elephant's trunk toward him, knowingly asking with a smile.
"I spent the money, but I didn't get to fire a single shot... Class Monitor, if it really doesn't work out, why don't you compensate me a little... Just transfer twenty yuan to me, treat it as me treating you for ten yuan..."
Lin Li's eyes were sorrowful as he looked up at the night sky.
"Pfft—" Chen Yuying couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Just now, Chen Yuying had hit twenty-three out of twenty-five shots. This plush toy was won directly by her own hands, having absolutely nothing to do with Lin Li.
Oh, wait, that wasn't entirely correct, there was still a connection—Lin Li paid for it.
Lin Li looked toward the stall owner.
"Boss, why did you keep replacing the balloons? Normally, don't you wait until a person finishes their shots before replacing them? How do you make money this way? This plush toy didn't actually cost less than thirty yuan to make, did it?" Lin Li said weakly.
It wasn't that Chen Yuying's marksmanship was incredibly precise.
Rather, while Chen Yuying was shooting the balloons earlier, the boss was standing right beside her. The moment a balloon popped, he immediately placed a pre-inflated balloon from the ground into the empty spot.
It was essentially an infinite refill.
As a result, Chen Yuying pretty much only needed to aim at the densest areas of balloons to pop them—those two missed shots weren't because she didn't strike anything, but because she happened to shoot right between two balloons, the BB pellet grazing them without popping them.
Otherwise, hitting twenty-five out of twenty-five would have been no problem at all.
Just like that, the protagonist Chen Yuying easily took the prize.
Just like that, the supporting character Lin Li stood there like a bystander.
"You two are a handsome guy and a beautiful girl, looking at you is pleasing to the eyes. Uncle is in a good mood, this one is a gift to you." Hearing this, the stall owner laughed heartily.
"So does the cost add up to thirty?" Lin Li inquired.
"You two are a handsome guy and a beautiful girl, looking at you is pleasing to the eyes. Uncle is in a good mood, this one is a gift to you." Hearing this, the stall owner laughed heartily.
Lin Li: "(；☉_☉)?"
Damn it, is this an illusion?
Why did I hear it again.
Damn, it looks like this elephant plush toy really didn't cost thirty yuan, the owner made a profit no matter how it was played.
But thinking about it, that was normal.
Even for those Disney plush toys that cost hundreds or thousands of yuan, excluding the brand premium, the cost was only dozens of yuan. The plush toy itself didn't cost much to make.
"Boss, can this plush toy be left here with you temporarily? We'll come back to pick it up from you later." Lin Li tugged at the elephant's trunk in Chen Yuying's arms, speaking to the stall owner.
Since they intended to keep browsing, carrying this plush toy around was indeed inconvenient.
"Can you come pick it up within half an hour? I have some matters to attend to, so I'm actually going to pack up the stall in a bit." The stall owner scratched his head and replied after hearing clearly.
Case closed, this was the real truth behind the frantic balloon replacing.
"Then that probably won't work, thank you, boss." Lin Li nodded. Since he still planned to browse for quite a while, half an hour definitely wouldn't be enough.
Subsequently, Lin Li reached out, grasping the trunk of the elephant in Chen Yuying's arms, giving it a tug as he tilted his head to move forward: "Let's go, Class Monitor."
"Mm."
Chen Yuying's gaze traveled up the folds of the elephant's trunk. Lin Li's hands had long fingers with distinct knuckles, looking fair as they were bathed in the warm golden light.
Chen Yuying bit her lip, lowering her head to look at her hands gripping the elephant's flaring ears, shaking them slightly.
What his hand grasped might not have been just the plush toy, but also a wisp of drifting wind beneath the hem of her skirt.
When the force pulling the trunk grew a bit stronger, Chen Yuying returned to her senses, catching up to walk side-by-side with Lin Li, inquiring:
"Should we buy something from another stall and leave it with them? Or we could just carry it like this, I won't feel tired."
"That works too..." Lin Li was about to nod when his eyes suddenly lit up. He turned back to look at Chen Yuying: "Class Monitor, I might have a better way."
……
"Class Monitor, just stay right here and don't wander off, I'll go help you check in a few 'oranges'." Lin Li brought Chen Yuying to the side of a wall, subsequently bending down to instruct her.
Chen Yuying: "..."
Pinglu Street had not progressed with the times to the point where there were luggage lockers by the roadside.
However, Chen Yuying glanced at the "Lost and Found Office" not far away, falling into silence.
She seemed to have guessed Lin Li's approach.
No wonder he didn't let her follow him over.
After all, if the person handing in the lost item and the person retrieving the lost item were from the same group, the staff would immediately realize something was amiss.
"Won't this cause trouble for others?" Chen Yuying wasn't a rascal like Lin Li; she had always been very considerate of others, so at this moment, she immediately considered things from the staff member's perspective.
"It's fine, at worst, when we come to pick it up later, we'll bring Uncle some food and drink to apologize." Lin Li scratched his head upon hearing this.
In truth, one of Lin Li's alternative purposes was to test the evaluation criteria for [Gold].
Since the teppanyaki squid stall owner's 'lost item' was clearly not a lost item, yet still provided progress when he handed it in, what about this plush toy?
Was what mattered the subjective intent, or the objective action?
"Alright." Chen Yuying listened to Lin Li, nodding her head.
Taking the plush toy, Lin Li walked forward.
Upon seeing this face, the staff member: "……How old are you?"
Lin Li: "Eighteen years old, and you?"
"Sigh." The other party let out a sigh.
"Uncle, to tell the truth about yesterday, there was a bit of a misunderstanding. I didn't know the owner had just gone to the restroom, I truly thought it was a lost item." After the mechanical dialogue, Lin Li explained to the staff member before handing over the plush toy.
"Uncle is willing to believe you."
The staff member nodded.
Mainly because the wallet Lin Li turned in for the first time yesterday had truly been claimed by its owner today. Unlike the stall owner, that person had genuinely lost it on the road, and the owner had even expressed gratitude toward him.
Therefore, the viewpoint he had directed at the squid stall owner last night was indeed somewhat biased.
Of course, although he had slightly misunderstood the kid in front of him, he still felt Lin Li was very difficult to evaluate.
"What did you find this time?" the staff member inquired.
"Ta-da! A plush toy!" Lin Li displayed the elephant.
The staff member narrowed his eyes: "You kid, you aren't pretending a prize you just won is a lost item to leave it with me, planning to come pick it up yourself later, are you?"
Lin Li: "?"
How did you see through it all at once?
Seemingly noticing the change in Lin Li's expression, the staff member pointed to the ground behind him.
There was a pile of plush toys, and there were even ornamental boxes containing goldfish and turtles.
Lin Li: "..."
So it wasn't just him doing this?
The people of Xiling were truly a bit too eccentric one by one.
"You can just leave it here with me. I have a surveillance camera overhead, so generally, no one will intentionally take it away. Just treat it as checking it in, but if anything really happens, we aren't responsible, alright?"
The staff member explained. It wasn't eccentricity; this was considered part of his job description.
A convenient gesture.
"No, mine is a lost item." For the sake of the test, Lin Li thought about it and still insisted, "Uncle, can you log it down? Please."
"……Fine." Although somewhat puzzled, the staff member complied.
Perhaps this kid felt that after logging it down, he would have an obligation to keep a proper eye on it.
Acceptable. At least today, this kid could be considered much more normal, not giving other—
"And this coin, also picked it up, Number 120." Lin Li pulled out that single-yuan coin he had picked up when he first arrived at Pinglu.
The staff member: "..."
Damn it! I hadn't even finished my inner thoughts! Here it comes again!
"Fine!" The staff member gritted his teeth.
"Thanks, Uncle. Later on, I'll have the owner bring you a cup of milk tea." Fortunately, Lin Li didn't have any further follow-ups, subsequently waving his hand as he departed.
The test was complete.
When handing over the plush toy, there was no change. When handing over the one-yuan coin, [Gold] showed its normal, faint progress.
No matter how cheap the cost was, it was impossible for the elephant's value to cause absolutely no reaction.
It appeared that it truly relied on the subjective intent originating from the bottom of one's heart as a basis.
If he truly believed from the bottom of his heart that someone else had lost it, it counted as returning lost property; if he knew in his heart it wasn't lost, it didn't count.
"Class Monitor, it's checked in." Lin Li squeezed through the crowd, returning to Chen Yuying's side.
"Then let's keep browsing, we wasted a lot of time coming back here." Chen Yuying nodded. Without the elephant acting as a medium between the two of them, she grabbed Lin Li's clothes hem as she walked forward.
They were still cutting it quite close with time.
Sihan and Wanqiu would be finishing their divination and returning before long, leaving not much time for her and Lin Li to be alone together.
She wanted it to last a bit longer, just a bit longer.
……
"Is someone singing?"
The stalls along the street had already been browsed during the day, so Chen Yuying led Lin Li to directly skip past them.
However, when she noticed a group of people gathered together with an accompaniment track drifting out from within, Chen Yuying stopped her steps, asking curiously.
During the daytime, this area should not have had this yet.
"Why don't we go take a look." Lin Li raised his chin.
"Alright."
With Lin Li's height, he could see even standing on the outside, but while Chen Yuying's height was considered tall among girls, it was somewhat insufficient at a time like this.
"Follow me." Lin Li reached out, grasping Chen Yuying's wrist as he cleared a path in front.
"Excuse me, let us through, excuse me~"
"Why the hell are you squeezing?" someone grumbled unhappily.
Lin Li: "Just one."
The passerby: "..."
The passerby went silent.
A good man does not fight with a psycho.
Chen Yuying squeezed closer, resting her forehead against Lin Li's back, lowering her head to prevent the surrounding people from seeing her face, her ears turning slightly red.
Lin Li remained as abnormal as always.
Inside, there was indeed someone singing, equipped with a speaker and a microphone, with a phone set up in front, likely live-streaming.
Bringing Chen Yuying inside, the accompaniment track happened to finish playing. The streamer took a deep breath and began to sing passionately.
"If one day I fall in love with your wife~ If your wife also loves me~ Brother, please don't weep aloud~ I definitely won't let her suffer any grievances~"
"Can you attend our wedding~ Only with your blessing does it have meaning~ I know I shouldn't treat you this way~ At the height of passion, I can't help myself~"
"This five hundred yuan is a token of my regard~ In the future, we'll still be brothers~"
Lin Li: "..."
Damn it, we squeezed in for nothing.
My ears have been violated.
It was one thing for the lyrics to be like this, but the singing voice was also a lost cause.
It completely lacked any vocal technique, seemingly relying entirely on instinct to bellow.
"What on earth is he singing." Chen Yuying also knit her brows, poking Lin Li's arm as she muttered softly.
"Actually, he's quite impressive," Lin Li still offered an objective evaluation, "No in-ear monitors, no lip-syncing, no dodging high notes, completely unpleasant to listen to."
However, it was possible someone like this could genuinely launch an account. Lin Li suspected he was likely playing the fool on purpose. Quite a few onlookers decided to leave after hearing this kind of singing voice, but there were also many who pulled out their phones to record with a smile.
"Still listening?" Lin Li inquired.
Chen Yuying shook her head.
"Then let's go?"
"Alright."
"Give me your hand." Having to squeeze back out again, Lin Li turned around while reaching his hand backward.
At first, there was nothing. Before Lin Li could turn his head, the girl's hand met his.
A momentary chill, followed by warmth. After a half-second pause, Chen Yuying pressed her entire palm against it.
Although what was extended was her palm rather than her wrist, Lin Li acted very naturally, without any startled turning of his head or anything of the sort. His hand merely closed up instantly, gripping it firmly as he pulled her out through the crowd.
Leaving the crowd, the moment he released his hand, the night wind poured backward through the gaps between their fingers.
Only then did Lin Li turn back to look at Chen Yuying, tilting his chin toward the direction of the riverbank as he asked with a smile: "Shall we keep walking?"
"Alright." Grasping the remaining warmth in the palm of her hand, Chen Yuying nodded heavily.
……
Eating and playing all along the way.
Upon Chen Yuying's waist bag, several plush toys were already hanging, and quite a few hair accessories had been added to her head, flashing with cheap but pretty neon lights.
These were all the spoils of war Lin Li had won in the night market games.
Unknowingly, the two of them had already played for a very long time.
It had long exceeded the scope of an hour.
But within the "Three People and One Dog" group, all was silent, with no one sending messages to each other.
What a thoroughly absorbing divination and a thoroughly absorbing ordeal, to leave the "Two People and a Dog" so completely enthralled.
"Here." Once again, Chen Yuying handed the cotton candy, of which she had only eaten about one-fifth, over to Lin Li.
"Not eating it again?"
"Mm, leaving some stomach room to eat other things." Chen Yuying nodded, her gaze wandering across the stalls on both sides, searching for a new target.
"Your stomach is comfortable, but what about my stomach?" Lin Li inquired with mock seriousness.
The fried fish in his left hand had barely been finished when another item arrived. The Class Monitor truly treated him like a trash bin.
"Last night I ate three bowls of rice, if I keep eating like this tonight, what if my flat belly turns into a big belly? You don't have one, you eat, eat more."
As for being a hands-off manager, Chen Yuying played the role without any psychological burden. Pressing her palm against her abdomen, her sweater clung closer as a result, revealing a flat and smooth curve. She turned her head, speaking with a subtle look in her eyes.
Telling barefaced lies again.
Girls truly were vengeful creatures; it was just a little teasing this morning, after all.
"I'll eat, I'll eat, alright." Lin Li admitted defeat.
Her mood growing even better, Chen Yuying, who was walking in front, suddenly halted her steps, tilting her head to slightly raise her face.
"Hey, Lin Li~"
Her voice was also a bit higher.
"The general is present. Do you want to eat or play something again? Is there a need for this minister to take action?"
Failing to stop his stride, his chest slightly collided with Chen Yuying's back. Lin Li took a large mouthful of cotton candy, feeling the sweetness in his mouth as he bent down to inquire.
"No, it's just that I seem to have seen Wang Ze."
Chen Yuying turned around, adjusting her position to hide behind Lin Li's side-front. Clutching Lin Li's clothes, using Lin Li like a pillar, she poked her head out to look ahead.
Seeing this, Lin Li looked back.
Wang Ze's clothing had all been coordinated by him, allowing him to lock onto him at a single glance.
It was indeed him, not far away, likely having just emerged from a stall, otherwise, if they had been walking toward each other on the path, both sides would have spotted each other long ago.
At this moment, Wang Ze walked toward the direction Lin Li and Chen Yuying had come from, leaving behind only a view of his back.
If it were only him, Chen Yuying wouldn't be this curious.
"Who is that beside him?"
What truly made Chen Yuying curious was a girl beside Wang Ze whom she completely did not recognize. She seemed to be holding a bouquet of fresh flowers in her hands, holding hands with Wang Ze as they walked forward.
"A girlfriend, probably." Lin Li said with a smile.
Evidently, Wang Ze had already succeeded.
It was quite normal; after all, they had originally been moving toward each other anyway.
"Ah! Wang Ze already has a girlfriend? I didn't notice at all!" Chen Yuying covered her slightly open mouth with her hand, her eyes sparkling with surprise.
"Just got one today."
There was nothing that couldn't be said. In fact, if he said it now, perhaps it would make Chen Yuying feel a tiny bit left behind?
Wouldn't that be even better?
Carrying this little calculation in his heart, Lin Li explained the situation in detail.
Chen Yuying was very focused when listening to gossip. Even though no one was eavesdropping nearby, she remained very vigilant and careful, deliberately lowering her voice when responding, appearing extremely cute.
"……And that's how it went." Lin Li finished speaking, looking at Chen Yuying.
"Oh." Chen Yuying nodded slowly.
"In a relationship now……"
"Yeah." Lin Li's tone was extremely casual.
Subsequently, Chen Yuying poked her head out once more. Wang Ze's height was sufficient to allow her to still barely see him now.
The girl's gaze gradually shifted downward.
Even if she could only see the figures of other passersby.
Yet Chen Yuying constantly felt that within the gaps of the crowd, she could faintly visualize the hands of Wang Ze and Qian Ying held together.
"..."
"Let's go, let's keep browsing forward, we're almost at the end of the stalls."
Lin Li patted Chen Yuying's head, quietly and gently giving it a small rub, his tone remaining calm and casual, as if Wang Ze's successful confession was merely an inconsequential interlude.
Unimportant, no need to care.
Lin Li watched Chen Yuying's current reaction with great interest. He had already thought it through: even if Chen Yuying gave some hint later, he would absolutely pretend not to understand.
He would even intentionally play dumb, letting Ying-bao get anxious.
Heheh, he was so wicked.
But Chen Yuying did not respond, appearing to be daydreaming.
"Class Monitor, Class Monitor? Oi!" Lin Li grew even more amused, speaking with 'impatience'.
Chen Yuying's body gave a slight shudder, and then she raised her head, their eyes meeting.
The girl's eyelashes suddenly fluttered rapidly, her breath catching in her throat. The night market lights rippled within her pupils, her hair lifted by the night wind before falling back down.
She recalled the hand-holding just now, recalled the embrace last week, recalled the feelings that had been stirred over these past two months.
It was already a natural progression; perhaps ambiguity was no longer a game to be anticipated.
Because ambiguity did not allow for holding hands openly and righteously.
Then, it was time.
The fingers of Chen Yuying's hand clutching Lin Li's clothes hem turned white at the knuckles, her entire being trembling slightly like a willow branch soaked in moonlight, her breath warm.
Her face was also burning.
But her eyes were entirely filled with mirth.
At this instant, Lin Li understood Chen Yuying's meaning with absolute ease, it was as simple as an open-book exam.
His Adam's apple gave a heavy roll. Lin Li's lips couldn't help but want to curve upward, and his eyes at this moment grew incomparably bright, flowing and sparkling like the galaxy.
He couldn't stop wanting to be happy, couldn't stop wanting to run, to jump, to perform a beautiful bicycle kick.
But this wasn't right, he had already prepared himself.
This, this wasn't very good, hahahe—
His inner thoughts also carried mirth.
Therefore.
"Lin Li, I—"
The girl's lips parted slightly, but her words were cut short. It had nothing to do with her own volition; it was merely that Lin Li's palm abruptly covered her slightly open lips, concealing everything.
Perhaps it was the remaining cotton candy sugar on his hand, but she only felt a hint of sweetness.
Beneath the night market lights, Lin Li bent down slightly, his forehead resting against the girl's forehead. His free hand was held vertically against his own lips, his face bearing a brilliant, leaping, beautiful, completely un-concealable and uninhibited smile.
Four eyes met, their pupils clearly reflecting each other.
He shook his head, his mirth pouring out along with his voice:
"Shh… don't say it, Class Monitor, I'm begging you, don't say it yet…"
(End of Chapter)