Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Don’t You Sleep Before Ten at Night?

Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi followed Mei Fang to the store he mentioned, located in a dilapidated alley. The shops here looked quite old, with some even having wooden frames instead of metal roller shutters.

“This is my first time coming around here… It feels like an adventure! How interesting!”

Xia Yuan was very interested in the street scenery and started reminiscing about the past.

“Do you remember when we were little, looking for the pond by Xihé Bridge, but ended up getting lost?”

“I remember, we walked so far that day, passing only desolate lands with no one around. In the end, we found out the pond had already dried up.”

Lin You Xi was also lost in memories. “And if not for Ah Fang, we wouldn’t have found our way back home. Yuan Yuan, you almost cried from fear back then.”

“That’s because you were there, we dared to go so far! And I didn’t cry from fear, I cried because I fell and hurt myself.”

Mei Fang shook his head. “That day, aside from walking ten thousand steps, we didn’t really accomplish much.”

“But the memories of adventure are beautiful!”

Xia Yuan quickly walked ahead of Mei Fang and Lin You Xi, turning back to clap her hands. “But when we grow up, we can go on real adventures, traveling to faraway places together!”

“You really have a strange obsession with going out.”

“That’s right.”

Xia Yuan grinned. “The world is so big, it would be such a waste not to explore it!”

As they chatted along the way, Mei Fang stopped them once they arrived.

“This is the shop.”

This video rental store hidden deep in the alley had movie covers displayed at its entrance. Its rustic interior decor and old, rusty yellow ceiling fans all indicated it had been operating for over ten years.

The owner was an elderly man wearing reading glasses and a white vest, lounging in a recliner with a fan swaying over him, his eyes half-closed as if drowsy.

Although the alley was cool and somewhat eerie, the children did not feel afraid.

Xia Yuan suggested, “Let’s each pick a disc!”

“How many should we watch?” Lin You Xi asked.

“First, let’s see if there’s anything we really want to watch. Each person picks one!”

Xia Yuan dragged Lin You Xi to one side to select DVDs, while Mei Fang went to another area to browse.

Fortunately, despite being an old store, the latest 2008 film “Kung Fu” was also displayed prominently. There were blockbusters from all over the world, and a large section was dedicated to Japanese anime series.

Since they were watching movies together, family-friendly films would be boring.

Yuan Yuan always mocks me for being scared, so I’ll pick a super scary film she’s never seen before to show her what true terror is.

Mei Fang chose “Silent Hill,” a 2006 film that had received few positive reviews, but whether it was suitable for You Xi and Xia Yuan… Mei Fang himself watched it when he was around their age.

After selecting his movie, Mei Fang went to check on what Lin You Xi and Xia Yuan had picked.

Before he could get close, Lin You Xi and Xia Yuan pushed him away, both blushing slightly.

“Don’t look there, let’s find something else!”

Mei Fang glanced at the DVD section and saw that it was all local films, including some with rather provocative covers featuring famous actresses.

Oh!

Mei Fang smiled without saying anything.

Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi picked “Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse” and “Cobra Disaster 2.”

Mei Fang sighed, “None of the three discs have non-violent content.”

“These discs are usually not allowed to be rented at home, but now we have this chance, we should definitely watch them! Besides, this looks like just a regular ghost story, not too scary…”

Mei Fang gave a knowing smile. “Do you want to bet? What if you get scared and cry?”

“I’m not a crybaby anymore. I won’t cry from a horror film. Haha.”

Xia Yuan thought for a moment. “If I get scared and cry watching your film, I’ll cook lunch for you every day!”

“What if I don’t cry?” Mei Fang reminded her. “Isn’t that more important?”

“Well…” Xia Yuan thought again. “Then you have to fulfill any wish I ask for!”

“As long as I can do it.”

“Alright, you can do it.”

Lin You Xi chimed in, “Can I join the bet too?”

“The same terms as Yuan Yuan?”

“Mm-hm, the same.”

Lin You Xi nodded.

“Fine with me, what does Yuan Yuan say?” Mei Fang looked at Xia Yuan.

“We… If we both get scared and cry, doesn’t that mean we both have to cook for Ah Fang?”

Xia Yuan seemed a bit reluctant. She asked Lin You Xi, “Do you want to change the penalty?”

Lin You Xi didn’t think it was a problem. “It’s fine, then we both cook for Ah Fang, right?”

“Uh-huh…”

Xia Yuan scratched her head. “That’s right, haha! But I won’t get scared and cry!”

“I probably won’t either,” Lin You Xi echoed.

Xia Yuan gathered the discs and approached the owner.

“Boss, we’d like to rent these discs. How much?”

“Thirty yuan deposit, three yuan per day.”

The boss glanced at Mei Fang and the others after checking the discs. Worried the boss might refuse to rent to children, Xia Yuan turned her head away nervously.

“Here’s the money, boss.” This time, Mei Fang paid.

“Alright.”

After renting the discs, Xia Yuan eagerly pulled Mei Fang and Lin You Xi towards home, skipping and jumping. The setting sun stretched their shadows long.

“Three discs, which one should we watch first?”

“Let’s start from the least scary to the most. First, ‘Cobra Disaster,’ then we can eat dinner and watch ‘Apocalypse,’ and finally, I’ll show you mine.”

Mei Fang had a sneaky plan. Watching “Silent Hill” last would surely scare them awake.

“If we finish two movies after dinner, it’ll be after ten o’clock.”

Xia Yuan immediately looked excited at Mei Fang. “Ah Fang, you’re so brave, do you not need to sleep before ten?”

“What?”

Mei Fang was incredulous.

“I have to sleep by 8:30 at the latest or my mom will scold me.” Xia Yuan looked at Lin You Xi.

“My dad doesn’t set a rule,” Lin You Xi thought for a moment, “but I usually stay up until around nine when I have nothing else to do.”

Xia Yuan became even more excited. “Then tonight we must stay up! This is a rare opportunity.”

Mei Fang had experienced sudden death in his previous life and thus placed great importance on sleep quality. His father once got a stern reminder for trying to stop him from having good dreams, and Mei Ya often got hit for teasing her brother in the morning.

So, regarding Xia Yuan’s suggestion, Mei Fang added:

“No matter how late we stay up, we should still go to bed before twelve to grow properly.”

I apologize! I was playing AI drawing with my group friends and didn’t notice the time.

(End of Chapter)