When he got downstairs, Su Chen was glad he’d made another right choice—letting Ling Shuyu co with him to the market.
The company car had been sold long ago, so now he conveniently had a free driver.
While Ling Shuyu went to get the car, Su Chen stood by the roadside, studying his system panel. The [Items] tab, which had been empty before, now quietly held a dal.
When Su Chen focused his thoughts on the dal, a new system prompt appeared.
[Equip Achievent Badge?]
’What’s the point of equipping it?’
The system offered no further explanation, so Su Chen chose to equip it.
"Huh?"
He glanced down. Where the pocket of his suit jacket on his left chest should have been, there was now a gleaming dal. The two words on it were clearly visible: Precise Strike.
’No one else can see this thing, so I have no idea what it’s for. What’s the point of putting on a show for myself?!’
Su Chen sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets to wait for Ling Shuyu. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a discarded soda can on the curb.
’Oh no, so unknown primal instinct is stirring!’
It was a man’s most primitive impulse. Su Chen glanced around and, seeing no one nearby, shuffled a few steps to his left.
He lifted his foot and kicked at the soda can.
After all, it would be pretty childish to be seen doing sothing like that.
Su Chen’s eyes followed the can as it soared into the air.
"CLANG!"
The sound of tal striking tal rang out. Even Su Chen himself was startled. He pumped his fist excitedly. "Hell yeah!"
The soda can had traced a perfect arc through the air, landing straight inside a trash can three ters away!
The sense of accomplishnt was several tis more satisfying than tossing a crumpled piece of paper into a wastebasket!
As luck would have it, Ling Shuyu, who was just driving out of the underground garage, saw the whole thing perfectly.
The mont the can dropped into the trash, the faintly mocking smile on Ling Shuyu’s lips froze on her face.
’The act itself was childish, but wasn’t his luck a little too good?’
’He could kick it in from that far away?’
Su Chen’s little stunt reminded her of high school, of the boys in her class who would sit at their desks all day, practicing their basketball shooting form as if they were the coolest people alive...
The car pulled up to the curb, and Su Chen slid nonchalantly into the passenger seat.
"You know how to get to the market, right?"
Ling Shuyu stared straight ahead. "I’ve lived in Jingzhou my whole life."
The Jingzhou Market was a relic from the 1980s that had sohow survived to this day without being demolished. In fact, it had grown and expanded significantly over the years.
It hosted not only a morning market, where you could buy freshly picked cucumbers for 50 cents a pound, but also a night market. There, you could find thermal underwear for nine yuan a set and get a serving of stinky tofu for five.
You could find all sorts of things: seafood, seasonings, beef, lamb, and pork.
On one side of the market, there were also kiddy rides, bumper cars, and cotton candy stands for the children.
While everything looked like a relic from a bygone era and couldn’t compare to the trendy, newly opened Wanda Plaza or outlet malls, any Jingzhou local with ti to kill would inevitably find themselves wanting to take a stroll through the market.
It was fun to wander around, even if you didn’t spend a di.
After parking the car, Ling Shuyu and Su Chen walked into the Jingzhou Market together.
"What should we buy first?"
Su Chen scanned their surroundings. The market was certainly well-stocked. He’d already called Aunt Fang, who told him she was buying seasonings, so Su Chen decided to just wait for her at the entrance.
They were near the at section, which was the main area where Su Chen’s expertise was needed.
Different dishes required different cuts of at. Stead pork with rice flour, for instance, needed pork belly. A dish like "braised three-in-one" required pork shoulder butt—a cut that was half-fat, half-lean, tough, sinewy, and exceptionally good at absorbing moisture.
Anyone who didn’t know what they were doing could easily buy the wrong cut.
While they were waiting, Su Chen saw a crowd gathering in front of a stall. "Co on," he said, "let’s go check out the excitent!"
’This is what real life is all about. I’ve been so bored cooped up in the office every day.’
"Whoa, whoa, one more and that’ll be eight hits!"
"This kid’s amazing. I’ve never seen anyone hit eight in a row before."
"Co on! One more and you get a doll! Two more and you get a super-sized one!"
He squeezed through the noisy crowd and saw it was a dart-and-balloon stall, the kind you often see at small fairs.
A sign was propped up on the counter.
[15 Yuan for 10 Darts]
[Prizes for Hits!]
[1 Balloon: Pick any small trinket]
[2 Balloons: ...]
[10 Balloons: Pick anything from the entire selection!]
Though the ga was common, it was rare for anyone to hit all ten balloons. At least, Su Chen had never seen it happen. For this young man to have hit eight was already quite an achievent.
According to the rules, he could already claim a stuffed doll—the common type you’d see in a departnt store, worth five or six yuan at most.
Beside the young man, his girlfriend, who wore her hair in pigtails and was dressed in a Lolita outfit, cheered happily. "You can do it, honey! You’ll definitely get it! Co on, I want a big doll!"
"Don’t worry," he said. "I’ve got this."
The young man turned sideways, closed one eye, and took aim.
There were only about two dozen balloons on the wooden board to begin with. With eight of them popped, it was starting to look sparse.
SWOOSH—
As the young man’s arm shot out, the dart landed on the wooden board with a THUD. A wave of sighs went through the crowd.
"What a sha. Now he can only get a dium-sized doll. Still, he ca out ahead."
"Yeah, yeah, you made out like a bandit. The owner’s gonna go broke."
"Nah, he buys them wholesale. A dium doll doesn’t cost him more than a few yuan."
Su Chen chuckled along with the crowd. ’Sotis you couldn’t asure these things in money. At least they’d gained...’
THWACK! Another sound. Su Chen clearly saw the last dart hit a balloon, only to bounce off without popping it and clatter to the ground.
Su Chen joined the crowd in a collective, "A.."
’Well... at least they had fun, right?’
The girl in the Lolita dress took the doll from the owner. "I really wanted that Lina one..."
The young man put his arm around her. "Hey, this one’s pretty good. The more you pop, the harder the rest are to hit. If everyone could get a perfect score, how would the owner make any money?"
That was true, but the Lina Bei stuffed doll really was beautiful.
It was about a ter and a half tall and even wore a pink cape. What girl could see that and not be smitten?
The stall owner brought out a basin filled with bundled darts. "Step right up, 15 yuan for 10 darts! Pop just one and win a prize! Who’s next?~~"
Plenty of people were watching, but they were mostly there for the spectacle; no one was reaching for their wallet.
Sotis, a ga like this was more fun to watch than to play.
Ling Shuyu, for instance, felt exactly that way.
When she was little, she had loved watching other people play gas like this but refused to try them herself. She always felt it would be mortifying to have a crowd watch her fail to hit even a single target.
"You want to play?"
A voice suddenly sounded by Su Chen’s ear. He turned to find that Ling Shuyu had, at so point, squeezed her way into the crowd as well.
"Nah, it’s just a rigged carnival ga. What’s so fun about that?" Su Chen said with a dismissive wave.
He rembered it clearly. He’d played a similar ga during a class party in high school. The setup was almost identical, only it was cheaper back then—10 yuan for 10 darts.
When Su Chen hit his ninth target, his classmates had erupted in cheers.
As the tenth dart left his hand, Su Chen was already bracing for the applause. But the dart flew like it had a mind of its own, completely missing the mark. Right then and there, Su Chen had sworn he’d never play this stupid ga again. What a total rip-off!
’And the girl I had a crush on was in the crowd!’
’A teenage boy’s pride is a fragile, mysterious thing.’
"I think you really want to play," Ling Shuyu said, ignoring him completely. "Owner, give him ten darts."
"You got it!"
Su Chen was still lost in his mories when he looked down to see ten darts being thrust into his hand. He turned his head to stare at Ling Shuyu.
’Woman, are you crazy?!’
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