Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Adventure and Marshmallows

Mei Fang led Xia Yuan out of the residential area secretly and went to a lottery shop at the entrance of the community. The owner of the shop scolded them as soon as he saw the children.

“Get out, kids! What are you doing here? Get lost!”

Seeing the owner’s fierce demeanor, Xia Yuan instinctively hid behind Mei Fang, tightly grabbing his back. Mei Fang, however, remained calm and collected.

“Uncle, I’m here to buy lottery tickets for my dad.”

“Running errands… Alright, what do you want to buy?”

“My dad wants to buy quarter-final lottery tickets. Are they still available?”

“Lucky for you, today is the last day for quarter-final tickets. Did your dad tell you which teams to pick?”

“He did! I remember.”

In 2002, there were many ways to play the lottery. The simplest was guessing the outcomes of the top 16 teams, the top 8 teams, and the top 4 teams.

Guessing the top 16 teams was essentially a combination of win-draw-loss bets for all matches in the knockout stage within 90 minutes. Guessing all correctly would win the first prize of 2 million yuan.

However, the probability of winning was 1 in 3 to the power of 16, an almost zero chance.

The top 8 team guess required only predicting the晋级 teams. That year, the award had only one first prize with a betting amount of 125 million yuan, but no one won because of frequent upsets and low support rates for some teams.

Note that the top 8 guess was from 32 teams rather than 16, so missing even one prediction meant no prize.

For Mei Fang, the only thing he could guess and remembered was the four teams in 2002:

“Champion Brazil… Runner-up Germany, Third place Turkey… Fourth place South Korea? Are you sure your dad picked these four teams? Don’t get it wrong, once you print the ticket, you can’t change it.”

Mei Fang nodded at the shop owner, “My dad said exactly these four. I remember clearly!”

“Don’t go back on your word. How many lines do you want to bet? Each line costs 2 yuan.”

“Five lines, all the same.”

“Here you go.”

Mei Fang took the lottery tickets from the owner. Xia Yuan kept tugging at his sleeve, “Are we done? Can we leave now?”

“We’re done. Let’s go.”

Mei Fang felt content with his newfound wealth, but Xia Yuan looked unhappy.

“Mei Fang, you’re so mean. You borrowed money from me just to buy this. And you lied to that uncle, saying you were running errands for your dad…”

“I didn’t lie. I really was running errands for my dad.”

“Then why didn’t your dad give you money?”

“My dad doesn’t have any. All the money is with my mom. We’ll pay you back later.”

“How can adults not have money? I don’t believe it.”

Xia Yuan pouted unhappily. Mei Fang felt a bit guilty.

“Alright, we’ve finished our task. Now we can go on an adventure!”

“You mean like that one just now?” Xia Yuan tilted her head, puzzled.

“That was just a side trip. From now on, we’ll start our real adventure.”

Hearing this, Xia Yuan’s frown relaxed, and her lips curved slightly upward, “Where are we going?”

“Follow me.”

Mei Fang led Xia Yuan around the streets, thinking she probably hadn’t been out alone before. A casual walk back to the neighborhood would be enough.

Despite walking these streets often with her parents, Xia Yuan was filled with curiosity about everything around her.

At this age, there were many things she wanted to try, but her parents always stopped her citing safety concerns.

The cats in pet store windows, the ancient stone bridge over the river, the bustling street markets.

The more crowded the place, the tighter Xia Yuan held onto Mei Fang’s clothes. When she slowed down, she almost tore his shirt.

“Why are you pulling so hard?”

Xia Yuan explained hesitantly, “If you suddenly disappear, I might get lost…”

Mei Fang thought for a moment, “Then hold my hand. Don’t pull my clothes.”

“Okay!”

Xia Yuan grabbed Mei Fang’s hand tightly, feeling much more secure from the warmth.

At the end of the busy street, there was a vendor selling cotton candy. Xia Yuan stopped and watched the vendor make the cotton candy, surrounded by other children. It cost 1 yuan per stick.

“Do you want to eat this?”

Xia Yuan nodded, “But my mom never buys it for me.”

“Nothing to buy, nothing to buy. How exhausting. With all the money in your wallet, what can you buy?”

“Pens, stickers…”

Mei Fang sighed, “Too bad I don’t have money. If I did, I’d treat you to cotton candy.”

“Alright. I have money. I can lend it to you, and you can buy it for me.”

Mei Fang looked at the girl, who pulled out two coins from her bag and handed them to him expectantly.

“Uncle, one cotton candy please.”

Mei Fang gave the cotton candy to Xia Yuan, “Here, I’m treating you.”

“Thank you… But this is so big, I can’t finish it alone. Let’s share?”

“No, you eat it.”

Xia Yuan tasted the cotton candy and was immediately amazed by its melt-in-your-mouth texture.

“It melts instantly. So delicious!”

“Glad you like it…”

Though she came from a wealthy family, Xia Yuan was still a naive little girl.

She focused on eating the cotton candy while being pulled by Mei Fang. Sure enough, she ended up with a face covered in cotton candy, looking like a flower-faced kitten.

Xia Yuan worried her mother would notice, and only calmed down after Mei Fang washed her face at the community faucet.

As the sun set and smoke rose from the chimneys, the aroma of home-cooked meals filled the neighborhood.

Xia Yuan and Mei Fang sat on a bench in the community, Xia Yuan wiping her face while Mei Fang basked in the sunset.

The temperature in June was just right. The distant dialect of vendors calling out their dishes brought a sense of nostalgia. Mei Fang closed his eyes, savoring the tranquility.

How long had it been since he experienced such peaceful times…

When Mei Fang opened his eyes, Xia Yuan was holding her cheek with one hand, curiously staring at him.

“Mei Fang, what are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about how to make a lot of money.”

Xia Yuan puffed up her cheeks, “That’s such a boring dream!”

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I want to be a primary school teacher, like my mom.”

“Your mom is a teacher? Why do you want to be one?”

Mei Fang thought Xia Yuan would say something about selfless dedication, but her answer surprised him.

“Because teachers have many holidays—Saturdays, Sundays, summer vacation, winter break, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year’s Day—and they finish work early. My mom does, it’s so easy!”

“Hmm… Kids’ thoughts are so pure.”

Mei Fang gently tapped Xia Yuan’s head.

“Why are you hitting me?”

Though she looked aggrieved, Xia Yuan didn’t actually cry.

“You say you want to be a teacher, but you still want to play around.”

“Just wait, I haven’t finished yet…” Xia Yuan enthusiastically shared her future plans, “And being a teacher means spending your whole life with kids. We can go on field trips together, and I’ll only assign a little homework…”

Mei Fang never imagined he would listen to a child talk about her dreams like this.

Oddly enough, he felt no impatience.

The two chatted, mostly Xia Yuan talking while Mei Fang occasionally chimed in. Xia Yuan gradually grew tired, speaking unclearly.

Before Mei Fang could ask if she should go home, Xia Yuan fell asleep on his shoulder.

…

Mei Fang didn’t rush to wake her. He maintained this posture for a while.

Blowing the pleasant evening breeze of early summer, Mei Fang pondered.

Perhaps in a distant past life, Xia Yuan had shared such innocent times with him, but those memories had been erased by time.

Regardless of whether it was real or not, it was happening now.

And now, he would cherish it.

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