"Single three."
"Rocket!"
"No! Bai Bufan! Wanqiu played a single three! It was a! Single! Three!"
"Yeah, I know. I played a Rocket; it's bigger than a three." Spearig a chunk of radish with a skewer, Bai Bufan touched it to his lips, hissed at the heat, and put it back. He nodded, responding calmly.
"…Fine, you have a Rocket, you're the boss. Keep going." Ding Sihan was completely exasperated.
Bai Bufan put down his oden, picked up his hand, and tossed out a card: "Single four."
Ding Sihan: "(；☉_☉)?"
"…Hey, no! Bai Bufan, do you even know how to play cards?!"
Inside the divination shop.
Ding Sihan, currently a peasant, was furiously questioning her fellow peasant, Bai Bufan, who was standing to the side.
"As far as the final outcome is concerned, it's all the same anyway," Bai Bufan said, completely unhurried as he leisurely blew on the steaming heat rising from the oden in his hand. "After all, the one I'm fighting isn't just the landlord, but the landlord and the peasant colluding with her. Since seventeen cards won't let me one-shot you guys anyway, I might as well have some fun at the start to dampen your spirits."
Damn it, so he realized we were teaming up against him.
Seeing that their plot had been exposed, Ding Sihan laughed and tossed her cards into the deck. She stretched, took out her phone to check it with concern, and shook her head. "It's been almost an hour and a half. Why hasn't there been any movement on Lin Li's end? Why hasn't he confessed yet? His replies are so perfunctory when I ask him. Did some accident happen? Did he fail, and now he's hiding at the bottom of the river secretly crying?"
"That would pollute the environment way too much." Bai Bufan clicked his tongue, but then shrugged. "But I'd rather believe he's so happy that he's hiding at the bottom of the river secretly laughing. Failing? Not realistic."
"True, I can't think of any possibility of failure either. Ying-bao's feelings are practically written all over her face, and she even hugged him right in front of you. How could he fail?" Qu Wanqiu nodded in agreement.
There is a way, bro, there's a way. It's totally possible— Bai Bufan felt that if Lin Li were willing to ask him to be his military strategist, failing would actually be very achievable.
After all, he was the king of god-awful ideas.
Of course, Bai Bufan kept that to himself.
As for why Bai Bufan was here too...
After he separated from Lin Li and Chen Yuying, he had simply walked back and browsed around for a bit. Later, worried that he might run into them again and ruin Lin Li's mood, he decided to just come to the divination shop to find Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu.
And the moment he walked in, he saw Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu playing Fight the Landlord with the shop owner. They had actually gotten quite well-acquainted.
They were even using Tarot cards.
Tarot cards were originally the ancestors of playing cards, and the Minor Arcana within them was the predecessor to modern playing cards. Therefore, some decks marked with numbers and letters could naturally be used to play card games.
After asking around, he found out that Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu hadn't gotten a divination at all. After explaining the whole situation to the owner—who was a recent college graduate—her gossiping soul immediately ignited into a roaring flame, and she readily agreed to let them come inside.
They were eating up the drama while playing cards, and feeling incredibly envious of Lin Li and Chen Yuying on the side.
However, Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu still paid the divination fee, treating it as a cover charge for tea and snacks.
Anyway, Lin Li was reimbursing them.
Lin Li honestly didn't mind spending this money. After all, in his eyes, once Ding Sihan grew old, he could definitely make it back by selling her health supplements. He could just treat Ding Sihan like a bank—consider it an investment.
It had to be mentioned that opening a divination shop in a market town like Xiling, which wasn't particularly developed or modern, was truly a stroke of genius. In the span of an hour and a half, not a single new customer had shown up. Ding and Qu didn't even need to stand up to make room for anyone.
"Sis, what were you thinking, opening a divination shop in a market?"
Seeing figures passing by outside, with only the occasional person pausing but nobody actually coming in, Ding Sihan asked the owner while shuffling the cards.
"…I'm interested in this stuff. I asked around the market and found out no one else was doing it, so I thought it could work and be profitable…" The owner shrugged with a bit of embarrassment. "But it doesn't matter anyway, because as long as you're not setting up a stall on Pinglu Street, they don't charge a stall fee. So even though I'm not making money, I'm not losing any either."
Hoho, recent college graduates are just so pure! Pure indeed!
Bai Bufan gave a thumbs-up.
"Sis, based on your line of thinking, have you considered going back to the countryside to open a coffee shop? I heard the older generation is especially good at enduring hardships. Once you make some money, you can open a gym too, so the villagers who just finished working the fields can come do some bodybuilding when they have nothing to do."
Having hung out for an hour and a half, they were already quite familiar, so Ding Sihan couldn't help but tease.
The owner: "……"
Little sister, your words are quite hurtful.
"Ding Sihan, your ideas are way too unreliable. There's a problem with your target demographic screening. Old people aren't interested in coffee and gyms at all." Hearing this, Bai Bufan shook his head with a frown, unable to resist criticizing her.
Ding Sihan's brow furrowed tightly upon hearing this, and she stared at Bai Bufan with deep suspicion.
As everyone knew, Lin Li never spoke like a human, and Bai Bufan wasn't even human to begin with.
Why was he being so serious right now?
"Then do you have an idea?" Ding Sihan asked testingly.
"Ha! Now you're asking the right person!" If Lin Li were here, he would have hijacked the conversation long ago, but Bai Bufan had been waiting ages for this exact prompt.
Putting down his oden, Bai Bufan the Dalmatian pointed a finger toward the sky and looked at the owner. "Sis, I have a business opportunity that I've already conducted market research on, and it absolutely has potential. I'll share it with you free of charge right now, as a return for your kindness!"
"Sis, have you ever considered opening a bar in a highway service area?"
Ding Sihan, Qu Wanqiu, the owner: "(；☉_☉)?"
Bai Bufan's idea struck like a thunderbolt through the air, instantly plunging the room into silence, leaving only the clicking sound of the clockwork ornaments turning.
"This is a true blue ocean market. According to my nearly sixteen years of life experience, I've found that nobody has ever thought of opening a bar in a service area! There are absolutely zero competitors!"
"However, think about it. Among the drivers who regularly run long distances on the highway on ordinary days, how many of them don't love to drink? This isn't like a countryside gym or coffee shop; the target customer profile is extremely clear and precise, instantly aligning all metrics."
"Furthermore, when they pull into a service area, isn't that exactly when these people are at their most tired and sleepy? A hearty session of clubbing and drinking is precisely the relaxation method they need most. The underlying logic is instantly unlocked."
"This is practically a dimensionality-reducing strike in a vertical field. Sis, imagine the future. After being the first one to take the plunge, there will be one of your bars in every single service area across the country in the future. What a magnificent sight that will be—"
Interspersing a few random bits of internet tech buzzwords, Bai Bufan had thoroughly enjoyed his rant anyway. The survival of his audience wasn't important, after all.
"……"
"……"
"Bai Bufan, then I really have to ask you, what happens to the drivers' licenses?…" Ding Sihan asked in a chilly tone.
"What's wrong with their licenses?" Bai Bufan indicated that he had already thought of this, waving his hand confidently. "Nothing will happen. I've researched it. There are no sobriety checkpoints on the highway. Don't worry."
Ding Sihan: "?"
"Then it sounds like it could actually work…" Ding Sihan nodded, turning to look at the owner. "Sis, want to try it? I can invest ten yuan."
The owner: "……"
To be honest, if Ding Sihan's suggestion to open a coffee shop and a gym was merely trying to make her lose money, then Bai Bufan's suggestion was trying to make her lose her life.
She might as well just have the courthouse open right at her front door. That way, they could just throw subpoenas over as paper airplanes in the future. How convenient.
"Thanks, your starting point is good, but how about you guys don't start just yet," the owner evaluated with a helpless laugh. "Let's not talk about why I opened this divination shop anymore. I'll grab another deck; let's play Double Deck Bridge."
The three of them had no objections.
The owner shuffled and cut the cards, then began dealing.
Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu chatted away, while Bai Bufan waited for his oden to reach the perfect temperature.
Right at that moment.
Swoosh—BANG!!!
Outside the already bustling street, the roaring boom of fireworks suddenly erupted from not far away, echoing through the sky.
Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu's eyes lit up instantly.
It's here!
Bai Bufan was stunned at first, looking at the oden in his hand that was almost no longer scalding hot, his expression complex.
That son of a gun Lin Li, he didn't confess earlier or later, but chose right now!
But after hesitating for a moment, Bai Bufan still put down the oden. Damn it, bros come first!
Leaping up abruptly, he followed Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu as they ran out of the shop. Bai Bufan didn't forget to turn back and say goodbye to the owner:
"Sis, we gotta go first! Bye!"
"Eh—"
Inside the originally vibrant divination shop, as the lifted curtain fell back down naturally, silence reigned once more.
It was completely out of tune with the noise outside.
"Busy, everyone's busy. It's good to be busy." The left-behind female college student owner, who still had one hand extended forward, sighed and began clearing the cards from the table.
Swoosh—
The door curtain was pulled open again. The owner looked up; it was Bai Bufan.
"What's wrong?" There was light in the owner's eyes.
Bai Bufan rushed over to the oden, stuffing it into his mouth indiscriminately. Because it was hot, after jamming it in, he had to hiss and roll it around in his mouth a few times before finally gulping down a mouthful of the scalding soup—
Damn it, oden is important too!
The oden that I specifically waited ten minutes for to let it cool down is even more important!
"Ah, ah… so hot… Sis, haaa—bye…"
—He left again.
The owner: "……"
……
Wang Ze held Qian Ying's hand, looking up at the brilliant fireworks that had suddenly bloomed in the distant night sky, just like most of the people around them.
They actually have such an exciting program?
Why wasn't there an announcement in advance?
Because this wasn't the common type of fireworks one could buy on the street; these fireworks were exceptionally magnificent.
They were clearly custom-made products that took a lot of effort, and the price probably wasn't cheap either.
"Looks like Xiling places a lot of importance on the Pinglu Market," Wang Ze remarked with emotion.
"Yeah, it's been a long time since I've seen fireworks like this." Qian Ying nodded beside him.
Setting off fireworks and firecrackers was strictly banned in the urban area of Xiling. If you lived in the city center, you really wouldn't see them unless you made a special trip.
Sometimes one couldn't help but wonder if someone was currently plotting to revive the Nian beast; otherwise, why wouldn't they give people time off during the New Year and ban firecrackers at the same time?
When working stiffs were going through the New Year, they could practically post a status on their social feed: "What day is it today? It's as lively outside as if it's the New Year."
"Hey, it looks like there's a drone show too." Qian Ying reached out her hand and squinted her eyes, trying to see more clearly, speaking with pleasant surprise.
"There really is…"
"Make way, sorry, make way, sorry."
Hearing this familiar voice, Wang Ze, who was still watching the show, whipped his head around.
At a time when everyone else was stopping to watch the fireworks, a presence moving at full speed stood out starkly.
His ears really hadn't deceived him. The one rapidly approaching him right now was Bai Bufan.
Running toward me?
Wang Ze tilted his head with a bit of bashfulness, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. He let go of Qian Ying's hand, scratched the back of his head, and nodded with a slightly flushed face, not daring to look at Bai Bufan:
"Yes, Bufan, I succe—"
"Make way, sorry, make way—"
Bai Bufan zipped right through the middle of Wang Ze and Qian Ying, without stopping for a single second.
Wang Ze: "?"
He wasn't looking for me?
Oh, holy crap, Bai Bufan, you have no heart!
See you on the dorm bed tonight, be there or be square!
Wang Ze gritted his teeth.
"Wang Ze." The senior's voice came over.
"I'm here, what's wrong, babe?" Wang Ze looked at Qian Ying.
"Why did you let go of my hand? Do you not love me anymore?" Qian Ying looked like she was about to burst into tears.
Wang Ze: "(；☉_☉)?"
"Huh? No! No!"
"Bai Bufan, screw you!"
The running Bai Bufan turned his head. Did someone just call my name?
Whatever, forget it.
……
Ten minutes ago.
When their foreheads pressed together, their temples touching, Lin Li could smell the faint fragrance among Chen Yuying's hair. His pupils reflected her figure, and the fragmented light of the starlight held within her eyes brightened and dimmed in sync with the rhythm of his Adam's apple moving.
In the distance, the clinking of the iron spoon at the sugar painting stall, the laughter and chatter of tourists, and the rustling sound of the lantern tassels being shredded by the wind abruptly collapsed into a blurred background noise.
There were many people around them, yet it also felt like there were very few.
The hearts of the boy and girl were currently sharp at the tips, sharply piercing their soft interiors, reminding them of each other's presence so clearly and uniquely.
Lin Li could clearly hear the soft sound of the girl swallowing her saliva, her warm breath passing over his knuckles, slightly tickling.
Chen Yuying's face was burning hot, feeling like the tips of her ears were hot enough to scorch through the night wind. The curve of Lin Li's protruding wrist bone pressed against the tip of her nose, yet it only made her heartbeat roar even louder like a pounding drum.
A person's field of vision was only about two hundred degrees, which really wasn't large.
Right now, Chen Yuying's view was completely occupied by Lin Li's brilliant smiling face, leaving no room for anything else.
"Don't say it just yet. You can't like me right now, okay?"
"Really, right now is really not the time."
His voice came along with his breath.
Chen Yuying still didn't answer immediately.
She stared blankly at Lin Li.
She didn't underst—
After a brief moment, when she deciphered the meaning behind Lin Li's smile, her eyes gradually curved into crescents. She nodded, her lips brushing past his palm, feeling incredibly soft.
"Okay."
At the end of her words, there was a sweet cadence that Chen Yuying found hard to believe had come from her own body.
"Then I'm letting go of my hand."
As Chen Yuying nodded, Lin Li released his grip, moved his hands to hold both of her shoulders, and turned her around: "Let's keep browsing. We'll finish walking the market, alright?"
"Alright."
"Good girl, pat on the head."
This time, it had absolutely nothing to do with the "ice-cold character" meme. As Lin Li's words fell, his hand also landed on top of the girl's head, gently ruffling her dark hair and shifting her hair accessory out of place.
This headpat, which had arrived late and made Chen Yuying feel a little bit miffed all day, finally materialized.
Yet Chen Yuying didn't develop any negative emotions because of it.
Because her mind was completely elsewhere right now; she hadn't even realized that Lin Li was currently patting her head.
As her body propelled itself forward, Chen Yuying only felt that her footsteps were even softer than the cotton candy from earlier—or rather, every footprint felt like stepping on clouds.
Her fingertips quietly climbed to the stray hairs behind her ear, rubbing against the edge of her hair accessory to check if it was crooked.
Chen Yuying suddenly felt a wave of regret. She should have spent a little more time dressing up this morning, or changed into another outfit. Would it have been more suitable?
Was she pretty enough right now? Were her clothes messy at all? Did the makeup on her face get a bit ruined by now?
Countless worries welled up from the bottom of her heart, swirling in her mind, yet the corners of her mouth just couldn't stop tilting upward.
Before, Chen Yuying had hoped this riverbank adorned with lanterns would have no end so they could keep walking forever. But now, she only felt that it was far too long—why hadn't they reached the end yet?
Bashfulness and anticipation were condensed into amber during this stretch of time.
Rather than saying the two of them were continuing to browse the market, it was more accurate to say they were moving forward with the same purpose. In reality, neither of them had any attention left to spare on the stalls lining both sides.
Forward, forward, neither slow nor fast, moving forward steadily.
After browsing for a whole day, they were already close to the end of the market anyway. Before long, the flow of people along the route gradually thinned out, and the stalls on both sides began to grow sparse as well.
The very last stall belonged to a frog-masked person selling balloons. Right now, this vendor seemed to realize that a vendor up ahead had left, leaving a better spot vacant. Thus, he got onto his tricycle draped in balloons and began moving forward.
Further ahead, nothing remained but barren darkness.
They had finished walking it.
Chen Yuying stopped her steps and turned around, pursing her lips as she looked at Lin Li, just watching him like that.
"We've walked through it once," Lin Li, who was holding his phone, spoke up upon seeing this.
"Yes."
"Alright, then we should go ba—" Lin Li's words paused. Catching something out of the corner of his eye, he pointed 'in surprise' toward a spot not far away. "Monitor, look, what's that?"
Chen Yuying looked over in the direction of his hand, only to see that amid the barren darkness, a red light was currently blinking faintly.
It didn't seem to be there just a moment ago.
"How about we go take a look?" Lin Li asked with a serious, solemn expression.
Chen Yuying turned back, looked at Lin Li for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing.
But after she finished laughing, she covered her mouth and forced herself to be serious too, nodding heavily: "Mm-mm, okay~ Let's go take a look~"
But when Chen Yuying spoke like that, a chuckle began to escape from Lin Li's nose, growing more and more intense until he pressed one hand against his forehead. He still couldn't stop it; his entire body was trembling as he completely laughed out loud.
"Oh, man…"
"What are you laughing at?" Chen Yuying stood in place, her hands crossed behind her back, tilting her face slightly as she looked up at Lin Li.
"Then Monitor, let me ask you, what are you laughing at?" Lin Li stopped his laughter a bit, looking directly into Chen Yuying's eyes as he asked.
"Sigh, it's all Wang Ze's fault for ruining my entire surprise. I was a bit too melodramatic just now, wasn't I?"
Lin Li sighed with a smile, then turned Chen Yuying straight and pushed her forward.
"Go, go, go!"
The red light blinked on and off, guiding their direction.
When the two of them finally reached the location of the red light beneath the river railing, Chen Yuying bent down to part the weeds, only to find that it was just an electronic ball that emitted a red light. There was nothing else.
"Look up."
As the voice rang out from behind her, Chen Yuying, clutching the small ball, lifted her head.
The very first blossom of gold-red fireworks abruptly exploded over the river surface, lighting up the night sky. The booming blast startled the night birds roosting in the willow branches.
The moment Chen Yuying tilted her head up, thousands of streams of fire wove a net of light across the dome of the sky. A swarm of drones ascended into the air from the opposite bank, the light points churned by their rotors turning into glowing blue trajectories, sketching out a massive "C" and "L" amid the sparks of the fireworks.
Before the tail of the "C" could dissipate, the "L" had already transformed into an ouroboros ring, wrapping around the letters and shifting in the sky to piece together two Chinese characters—"Turn Around."
"Turn around."
Lin Li's voice rang out from behind her once more.
The fireworks in the sky remained magnificent, but Chen Yuying turned around without the slightest hesitation. She used her hand to press down the hair whipped up by the night wind, looking toward the boy who was waiting in anticipation, and the anticipation of the boy.
Lin Li was holding a bouquet of fresh, dripping flowers in his hands that had appeared from out of nowhere. That brilliant, ecstatic, beautiful, completely unhideable, unbridled smile appeared on his face once again.
The fireworks were playing out behind her, and they were also playing out within the boy's pupils.
"Monitor," Lin Li spoke up.
"I'm here." The girl held her hands behind her back, tilting her head slightly, waiting for the confession to arrive.
"I think we need to talk."
"Talk about what?"
Infected by his smile, Chen Yuying's voice was so sweet that it felt unfamiliar even to herself.
"Naturally,"
"About dating."
(End of Chapter)