Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Let’s Give Mei Fang a Scare!

This weekend was the day Mei Fang had arranged to watch Xia Yuan’s performance, but before that, he went with Lin You Xi to the arcade to play games.

In 2005, an arcade token cost 1 yuan for six tokens, and all games required only one token each. Of course, there were no racing, motorcycle, or shooting games; they were all joystick-operated games.

Lin You Xi rarely had the chance to invite Mei Fang to play games, so she wanted to make the most of it. Before playing each game, she would pull Mei Fang to watch others play first to understand the controls before getting on the machine herself.

Since the arcade games like “Three Kingdoms Warriors,” “The Journey to the West,” “Dinosaurs Strike Back,” and “Devouring Heaven and Earth” were well-known to Mei Fang, every time Lin You Xi died in the early stages, Mei Fang’s health bar remained intact.

However, after Lin You Xi died, she wouldn’t get more tokens; instead, she would sit beside Mei Fang and watch him play until he also died, then switch to another game.

“I didn’t expect you to be this good at this too! You’re amazing.”

“I have a simulator on my computer, remember? Next time, we can practice at my place.”

“Okay, okay!”

After playing for a while, Lin You Xi couldn’t stand the smoky smell inside the arcade and ran out.

“Phew… Cough, cough, it really smells bad in there.”

“I warned you earlier, so isn’t my place better?”

“No way! I think the arcade is pretty good too.”

Lin You Xi stretched out her arms, “It’s mainly because we can sit together and play. Using a joystick is much more comfortable than using a keyboard.”

But she sighed afterward, “But these types of arcades won’t make money and will eventually be replaced by computer games.”

“That’s true…”

“By the way, Mei Fang, the computer tools you used to escort missions were very convenient. Were those made with that ‘Zafa’ thing you learned?”

“They’re just programming languages. You can think of it that way… You can learn them too if you want.”

“Really? I’m interested in the coding books you read. I want to try learning them too.”

“Of course, but only as a hobby. Remember, your grades shouldn’t drop,” Mei Fang reminded Lin You Xi.

Lin You Xi ran forward and then pulled down her eyelid, making a face at Mei Fang.

“You’re nagging too much. You’re stricter than my dad.”

“Hey! You little brat, just now I treated you well, and now you’re being ungrateful and flipping me off?”

“Let’s race, whoever gets to Xia Yuan’s house last has to buy everyone potato chips!”

Lin You Xi dashed toward Mei Fang and Xia Yuan’s neighborhood, but Mei Fang showed no intention of chasing after her. Instead, he walked slowly and bought three small portions of fried potato chips from a nearby stall along the way.

Fried potato chips were a specialty snack in Baimei County. They cut potatoes into slices, fried them until they were just cooked but not too crispy, and then drizzled them with a special sauce and sprinkled with green onions and cilantro. Other fried snacks often served alongside them included stinky tofu, radish balls, lotus root slices, and ham skewers. A full bowl of these was a simple yet happy meal for a small town.

If it were the old Xia Yuan, even if her parents weren’t home, she wouldn’t dare try these “junk foods.”

Now, when Xia Yuan saw Mei Fang carrying the potato chips to her doorstep, she happily ran out to greet him.

“As expected of Mei Fang, I knew you wouldn’t forget!”

Xia Yuan took the bag from Mei Fang, “I can’t go out recently, so I’ve been craving these.”

“Hey, don’t grab them all. I bought plenty, be careful.”

The two of them entered the house, and Lin You Xi had already poured drinks in the living room. The three of them happily ate the potato chips, and Lin You Xi told Xia Yuan about their adventure at the arcade.

Xia Yuan was very interested in the four-player arcade games Lin You Xi described.

“When I can move freely, I want to join you guys too! We haven’t played games together as a group yet!”

“That place smelled awful, so Lin You Xi and I couldn’t stand it and left.”

Mei Fang pulled his collar towards Xia Yuan, “Smell, do I still have any—”

Sniff, sniff.

Xia Yuan leaned in to smell closely, making Mei Fang feel a bit embarrassed. After stepping back, Xia Yuan leaned in again to smell.

“It’s just a little bit, nothing to worry about, ha ha.”

Xia Yuan wiped her mouth and offered the leftover potato chips to Lin You Xi, “Lin You Xi, I can’t finish this, take it.”

“Well, I can’t eat much either…” Lin You Xi had just drunk a large glass of juice and felt bloated.

“Mmm, give it to Mei Fang then. He bought them, so he should finish them!”

“I can’t eat that much either?”

Mei Fang thought these two girls usually had bigger appetites.

“Then at least finish mine!” Xia Yuan handed the bowl to Mei Fang, “Please eat some, Mei Fang, leaving too much would be wasteful!”

“You’re really asking for it…”

Next time, remember to buy only two bowls.

Mei Fang ate some of Xia Yuan’s potato chips. Lin You Xi watched him with eager eyes. While Xia Yuan was squatting down to put a DVD in the player, Lin You Xi sneaked up and put all the potato chips into Mei Fang’s bowl, just like she did when eating at Mei Fang’s house.

Mei Fang was about to complain, but Lin You Xi made a shushing gesture and pointed at Xia Yuan, as if she didn’t want Xia Yuan to be unhappy.

Your attitude of trying to please…

Mei Fang sighed and tearfully ate the three small bowls.

The dance Xia Yuan was learning, “Curving Eyelashes,” had a simple and lively rhythm, with straightforward movements. After watching once, Mei Fang could remember some of the steps.

“Cough, cough, next I’ll follow along.”

Xia Yuan stood between the TV and coffee table, standing straight and tall, “I haven’t practiced long, so don’t laugh if I don’t do well.”

“Don’t worry, we might just laugh a little inside.”

This was a tease only Mei Fang dared to make. Xia Yuan gave Mei Fang a stern look and then asked Lin You Xi to replay the music.

As a pampered little princess who had attended calligraphy, dance, art, and piano classes since childhood, Xia Yuan had stopped attending these classes now, but the foundation she had built was still strong. Plus, Xia Yuan always strived to meet others’ expectations, so when she started dancing in front of Lin You Xi and Mei Fang, she immediately gave them a fresh and impressive feeling.

[I—heart skips]

[My soul feels like it’s leaving my body]

[This feeling is so good]

She lifted her leg lightly, jumped, squatted sideways, bent over to hold her thigh, and twirled her arm.

The sweet and cute song paired perfectly with the equally sweet and cute Xia Yuan. She changed into a pleated skirt and high ponytail for a better performance, giving her a child star idol vibe.

After finishing the dance, Xia Yuan kept her final pose with her hands on her hips and smiled, asking Mei Fang and Lin You Xi, “How was it?”

Just as Mei Fang was about to speak, Lin You Xi clapped her hands unconsciously.

“Xia Yuan, you danced beautifully! Just like a little star on TV.”

“Hmm… Lin You Xi, stop teasing me! Oh, this dance is easy, you can learn it right away!”

“I can’t… I can’t… My limbs aren’t coordinated, I’m not as flexible as you…”

“Lin You Xi, with your long legs, you’d definitely look better than me dancing! If we weren’t in different classes, I’d definitely ask you to dance with me.”

“I… I don’t have clothes as nice as yours.”

“That’s fine… Come to my room, you can pick any dress you like!”

Xia Yuan whispered to Lin You Xi, “Lin You Xi, let’s give Mei Fang a scare!”

I’ll post the Bilibili link for this dance later for you to check out!

(End of Chapter 39)