Chapter 39.2: Daddy’s going to show you how it’s done.

Shen Juan turned his head and looked at the stall owner, who was sitting next to him with his legs crossed. “Boss, throw it.”

The boss didn’t move. “What?”

“I’m not going to hit the ones you tied. You take the balloon and throw it into the air however you want, and I’ll hit it,” Shen Juan said patiently, pointing to the teddy bear in the green sweater. “Still 20 consecutive shots. If they all hit, we want that.”

Generally, this kind of balloon was tied up in rows and some of them were specially made to be thicker. Then when this kind of plastic toy gun was used, regardless of how they were hit they couldn’t be broken.

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the stall owner looked at Shen Juan like he was crazy. He had probably never heard such a request. “I throw it, you hit it? No, young man. If the balloon is moving like that, really moving, you’ll hit it?”

Shen Juan said with an indolent look, “mm.”

Lin Yujing seemed to see twelve words written on his face:

—— Make some room, daddy is going to show you how it’s done.

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Nkd Zwfkdt aszzle bla lulp.

Mbl pvyzz sodla blpkvyvle, zssjkdt yv Fbld Kwyd pwprknkswpzu. Xd sdl byde bl osdelale kq bl’e clld ekpnshlale, cwv sd vbl svbla bl qlzv zkjl vblal oyp ds oyu vbl jke oswze cl yczl vs bkv vbl cyzzssdp kq bl vbalo vblx. “Ebyv es usw es qsa y zkhkdt?”

“R’x yd saekdyau bktb pnbssz pvweldv,” Fbld Kwyd pyke nyzxzu.

“…”

“Xjyu.” Mbl pvyzz sodla vssj y ellr rwqq sq bkp nktyalvvl, vbalo kv sd vbl taswde, yde pvyxrle kv swv, vbld pvsse wr yde eayttle y cyt sq cyzzssdp vs bkp pkel. “R’x tskdt vs fwpv vbaso vblx, ulyb? 20 aswdep, kq usw nyd bkv vblx yzz R osd’v lhld vyjl vbl 10 uwyd qasx usw, yde R’zz tkhl usw vbkp pvyzz’p valypwal qsa qall.”

Rv alyzzu oyp vbl valypwal sq vbl pvyzz.

Fbld Kwyd blze vbl czynj rzypvkn vsu rkpvsz okvb sdl byde, vyrrle vbl xwggzl sd vbl vyczlvsr; vbl qkdtla bszekdt vbl twd zkqvle, yde ulv blze vktbv.

Nkd Zwfkdt alxlxclale bkp pxyzz xshlxldvp obld bl blze vbl vyvvss twd.

She was inexplicably nervous, staring at the balloon in the stall owner’s hand.

The stall owner rubbed his fists and wiped his palms[1], holding a balloon in one hand. “I throw it, eh?”

“I throw it now, yeah?”

“I just throw it like this?”

“Throw it right now?“

“…”

Are you going to throw it or not!? 

Before Lin Yujing could growl the swear words in her mind, the stall owner jumped up and threw the balloon in his hand into the air. The small green balloon fluttered down with the wind, and Lin Yujing’s heart raised.

She subconsciously held her breath.

With a “bang,” the balloon burst in mid-air.

Lin Yujing raised her hand and slapped the corner of the table.

Before the stall owner said anything, he searched around on the ground and confirmed that the balloon was indeed broken. He turned his head, paused, and slowly threw another balloon from his hand.

This time it was very low and, seeing that it was about to hit the ground, Shen Juan lowered his hand.

There was another “bang”.

Many people had already gathered around behind him to watch at some point. A boy clapped his hands and said, “F*ck, this brother is awesome.”

Another boy said, “This brother also wears horns on his head.”

“What is this? Contrasting cuteness?”

“BUFF blessing.”

“Ah, this guy’s back is so handsome, I’ll go around and see what he looks like.”

“Look!” A dissatisfied girl said in a low voice, “Everyone else’s boyfriend wears them! Why don’t you!”

The boy said, “I won’t be handsome if I wear them.”

The girl said in disbelief, “What gave you the illusion that you’re handsome without them?”

Lin Yujing almost laughed out loud.

She turned her head to look at Shen Juan. The young man stood very straight, then leaned slightly, lowering his head, and the muzzle of the plastic gun hit the table again. He didn’t seem to hear the sounds behind him at all, and the corners of his lips were down. Cold and focused.

The owner of the stall was stimulated. For the next eighteen balloons, he showed his personal physical fitness like an excellent national-level acrobatic performance athlete. He twisted his chubby body, his belly trembling, throwing the balloons at all different angles and eventually two at a time. The balloons kept coming, fragmented into scraps of every color all over the ground.

In the end the stall owner resigned himself to his fate, numbly tossing out the last two balloons. Slowly and reluctantly, he went to get the treasure on the shelf, and turned his head wearing an expression that looked like he was cheated. “Aren’t you an ordinary high school student?”

“Lucky,” Shen Juan put down the plastic gun and said modestly.

Lin Yujing was able to hit five in a row, so she could get a small keychain. She searched through the piles of keychains for a long time and finally picked one with a plush Peter Rabbit pendant.

She originally wanted the little blue whale because it matched her name better[2]. She debated the two for a while, and finally chose a pink rabbit. It was more in line with her little girl’s temperament, and the quality was also slightly better.

Lin Yujing hugged the teddy bear with her initial “L” sewn on the sweater and the keychain of the little rabbit in her hand, feeling like she’d gained a lot tonight.

She was still quite curious though, and turned to ask Shen Juan, “How did you do it? I don’t think the gun was accurate at all, and the bullets flew chaotically.”

It was a little difficult for her to hold onto the bear, so Shen Juan took the yogurt from her hand and stuffed it into her small school bag. “It’s not the gun, it’s the balloon.”

Lin Yujing was confused. “The balloon?”

“Mm, in games like his, you have to hit a row to get the prize. He’s definitely not going to let you get the whole row, so he’ll fasten a few special balloons into the mix, which are very thick and can’t be pierced.”

“…”

Lin Yujing had no idea that the game would turn out to be so advanced.

She nodded. “So, even if you go, you won’t be able to knock out a row.”

“Mm, I can’t hit them all.” Shen Juan put his hand in his pocket and yawned, “So I could only do that.”

“…”

Lin Yujing said in her heart, I thought you were showing off, but it turned out not to be like that.

The two walked around. The merry-go-round was full of children, and the Ferris wheel was full of couples. Lin Yujing felt as if neither delight belonged to her, so she bought some takoyaki[3] and the two walked out on the right side.

There were a lot fewer people than there were earlier. It was a bit late, so pretty much anyone who’d brought children went home, and only young couples and groups of girls could be seen.

When the two walked to the door, Shen Juan ripped off the headband and raised his fingers to rub behind his ears. The thing was made of extremely poor-quality plastic, and it hurt him a lot.

Lin Yujing hadn’t taken hers off yet. She didn’t seem to feel it. She held her bear in her arms and most of her face was covered, so Shen Juan raised his hand and took it from her.

With nothing in her arms, she looked up and glared at him, as if looking at a rival in love.

Shen Juan just wanted to help her carry it for a while, but once he saw her expression he couldn’t help but tease her.

“This is mine,” Shen Juan said.

Lin Yujing said with a blank face, “Oh…?” She paused for a few seconds. “Didn’t you say you’d give it to me…”

—

[1] “摩拳擦掌” – lit. “rub one’s fists and wipe one’s palms” – eager to get started.

[2] “鲸鱼” – Jīngyú – whale; “林语惊” – lín yǔ jīng – Lin Yujing

[3] “章鱼小丸子” – Japanese takoyaki, deep-fried balls of dough with octopus in them.

Edited By: ceres