Floating Island

Walking along the street, I could hear the constant noise coming from behind me. It was them who suggested going out for a walk after dinner, and now they were the ones who were quarreling all the way.

Jiang Li and Chen An were chatting casually in the front.

"The results will be out in a few days, right?"

Jiang Li nodded, "Yes, the admission results will be announced in three days."

"Really going to the public university?"

Jiang Li raised his eyebrows, his tone somewhat playful, "Why, you don't believe me?"

"No, Gongda is pretty good."

At night, there are many and varied things for sale here. After walking a few steps, Jiang Li saw a ring-tossing activity in front of him. It seemed that the things being caught were living things. When he got closer, he saw that they were all rabbits, hamsters, puppies and kittens locked in cages.

The boss handed the ring to him with a smile and said, "Try one. Twenty yuan for ten tries. If you hit it, you can take it away."

Jiang Li glanced at him and didn't answer.

Xun Muke rushed over from behind and squatted down to look at the imprisoned animals. If he looked closely, he could see large blood scabs on the little golden retriever's legs. "Boss, it must be sick."

The boss took the puppy to the back, laughed, and took out a new puppy from behind that looked healthy. "It's okay, it's normal for puppies to get hurt when they fight. Look at this one, there's nothing wrong with it, it's in good condition."

Xun Muke picked up the cage, and inside was a Samoyed that was less than half a month old. Its fur was pure white, and its eyes were misty blue. It was really pretty, but a little wilted.

She felt that the puppy was not feeling well and frowned. "It's completely wilted."

The boss lost his complaisant expression and didn't answer her question. He stood up and shouted, "Ring toss, twenty yuan, ten times, if you hit it, it's yours!"

There were some hamsters in front that attracted a lot of young girls. The boss walked over to greet them, but Chen An found that Jiang Li seemed to be a little abnormal. He seemed to be in a trance since he saw the dog.

"Jiang Li?"

No response.

He touched the back of his hand, and Jiang Li suddenly came back to his senses. There was fear in his eyes when he looked at him, but he quickly recovered.

"What's wrong with you?" Chen An asked him, "Do you want it?"

Jiang Li shook his head, "I don't want it."

Just as he said he didn't want it, a chinchilla bear came out from nowhere and passed by his feet quickly, scaring Jiang Li so much that he stepped back repeatedly.

Chen An held his arm and led him to his side, but the chinchilla seemed to have set its sights on people and walked around Jiang Li. He was afraid of stepping on it and kept giving it way. Soon, he was being chased around by a hamster on the street.

"Hey! My hamster!" The boss came out in one step to catch the hamster.

This little thing is clever and fast-running, and it likes to hide in corners and crevices, so it's hard to catch it.

"Hurry up and block it!"

Jiang Li retorted, "Why should I help you?" Instead of blocking it, he told it to "Run."

But it seemed a little ignorant and kept circling around Jiang Li. The boss pounced at his feet and finally caught the escaped chinchilla.

Jiang Li watched his boss catch it in his hands. The chinchilla bear squeaked miserably, but even so it didn't open its mouth to bite him.

"Hmph, you want to fight me?" The boss was tired and spat on the ground. Jiang Li's contemptuous expression was beyond words.

He put the chinchilla back into the cage. Jiang Li saw it running around anxiously inside. It stood up and kept looking around. Oh, it was still long.

Jiang Li stared at it for a long time, the desire in his eyes almost overflowing.

"One?" Chen An said beside him.

"No." The other party answered bluntly and left the stall in a huff.

There was a gun shooting event across the street, and Jiang Li picked up the gun without hesitation, "Boss, give me ten rounds."

The boss said, "Okay."

Chen An saw him put the gun on his shoulder and fired ten shots, but all of them... missed.

Han Ming laughed and patted his shoulder, "Oh, your shooting skills are terrible."

"If you can do it, come on." Jiang Li slapped the gun on him.

Han Ming happily took it and said, "Watch this, I'll show you my skills." He raised his hand and gestured, "Ten shots."

He held the gun, aimed the scope at the balloon in the center, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

After ten shots, he destroyed all the balloons in the center and the surrounding areas. After finishing, he raised an eyebrow at Jiang Li and said, "Impressive, right?"

Xun Muke leaned aside and laughed at him, "No matter your status, it would be a disgrace to your profession if you fail."

Han Ming turned around and confronted her, "I heard that Miss Xun's shooting skills are not very good."

"You!" Xun Muke grabbed the gun, "You underestimate me!"

She fiddled with it for a few seconds and asked, "Does the boss have a pistol?"

"Yes." The boss took a pistol out of the box. She weighed it in her hand. Han Ming said to her, "What are you weighing? It's definitely not as heavy as a real gun."

Xun Mukoliso loaded the gun, raised his hands, aimed at the center balloon, and shot in one breath, hitting eight.

The facts were there, and she had no way to refute them. She felt a little embarrassed and said sourly, "You're pretty good." After admitting defeat, she looked at Chen An, who was teaching Jiang Li how to shoot. He stood behind Jiang Li, held his arm, and taught him step by step how to aim and shoot.

"Raise your hand a little higher." Jiang Li didn't exercise, so his arms didn't have much muscle. He didn't know anything about guns, so he just let Chen An do whatever he wanted. "Raise your left hand naturally and straighten it out, keeping your elbow bent..."

He was so close that the heat from his words sprayed on Jiang Li's neck, and soon his ears turned red. Fortunately, it was dark and no one could see it.

"Do you understand?"

"Huh? Oh."

Jiang Li heard a chuckle behind him and wanted to quickly escape from the strange atmosphere. He pulled the trigger and started firing from the middle. He hit six out of ten shots, and the teaching results were remarkable.

"Smart!" Chen An gave him a thumbs up. Jiang Li raised his chin slightly and smiled with satisfaction.

Xun Muke touched his chin and asked, "Do you think they are a little different?"

Han Ming was addicted to the game. As he loaded his own gun, he said nonchalantly, "What's the difference?"

"Well..." Xun Muke suddenly grinned, his tone rising, "They're a good match!"

Han Ming looked at her like she was crazy, "You've gone crazy over this CP thing, right? You can even ship your own brothers?"

"What do you know! It's all about the feeling!" Xun Muke rolled his eyes at him.

Han Ming shook his head helplessly. He didn't understand the feeling the woman was talking about. It was so profound.

"Want a match with Chen An?" Han Ming said.

Chen An raised his eyebrows, as if asking, "Are you sure?"

The battlefield changed, and Xun Muke stood beside Jiang Li and explained attentively, "Chen An's shooting skills are really good. During the training camp that year, his shooting skills defeated the elite Falcons team and took first place!"

Han Ming stretched his muscles and tapped his fingers on the table. "Pistol?"

Chen An took a quick look and said, "Just a pistol."

Han Ming took a fancy to the moving turntable and said, "Just hit it."

Chen An weighed the pistol and said, "Okay."

This turntable has been there for a long time, but no one has played it so far. After all, people come to shoot to win a gift, and no one will spend money to buy a zero chance of hitting the target.

The boss blew the whistle, "Ready! Three, two, one!"

As soon as he finished speaking, gunshots rang out. The two men stood tall, all their attention focused on the target. Chen An's eyes behind the goggles were unblinking, his gaze as sharp as a torch. He put down his gun before Han Ming. A high-speed turntable was much more difficult to deal with than a stationary balloon.

All ten shots hit the target!

Han Ming shook his head helplessly, admitting defeat. As he took off his goggles, he heard the boss count, "Target No. 1, eight, No. 2, ten!"

"You still need to practice." Chen An casually put his elbow on his shoulder and patted his chest, smiling a little ostentatiously.

Xun Muke was not surprised at all and shrugged, "Look."

"These dolls are rewards for your winnings, take them." The boss was very conscientious. He didn't deliberately adjust the gun and gave the gifts to the winners without hesitation.

However, Han Ming knew that their victory was unfair, as they were not ordinary people. He refused and said, "No, no, no, we can just take the biggest one." Then he grabbed the big rabbit doll and stuffed it into Xun Muke's arms.

Chen An quietly withdrew from between them and asked Jiang Li, "Is there anyone you like?"

Jiang Li answered the question irrelevantly, "He likes her."

"Ah." Chen An said, "You just noticed it?"

Jiang Li regained some spirit and opened his eyes wide, "I just met her, how could I know her?"

Chen An laughed, "So which one do you like?"

Jiang Li glanced at the pile of dolls and saw a hamster doll that looked very similar to the chinchilla bear. Chen An followed his gaze and finally picked it out accurately.

He stuffed the doll into Jiang Li's arms and said, "Let's go."

I thought the story about hamsters ended here, but the next day...

Jiang Libanyue had a day off, so he rested today and slept until around nine o'clock. Just as he was about to go out to eat something, the door opened.

He saw Chen An put breakfast on the table and tilted his head. "What's behind you?"

But the man covered the thing more tightly and said, "Eat first, I'll tell you after you finish eating."

Jiang Li took a bite of the egg roll in confusion. Chen An carried the food into the room. Jiang Li was really curious. He quickly finished his breakfast in ten minutes and knocked on his door. "Brother?"

Chen An said, "Come in."

Pushing open the door, he saw the same minimalist black and white style as his room. Looking down, he saw Chen An sitting on the bed with a small cage on the white tiles. He held up the cage so Jiang Li could see it more clearly.

"Is it the one from last night?" He took the cage and took a closer look, his words tinged with joy that he himself hadn't even noticed.

"Yeah." Chen An smiled, "Do you like it?"

Half a minute later, Jiang Li said awkwardly, "It's okay."

This question seemed to hit Jiang Li's sore spot, and he couldn't say it no matter how hard he tried.

Chen An suppressed his smile and snatched the cage from his hand. "Then I'll return it."

"Huh? Why?"

"Didn't you say you didn't like it?"

"I, I didn't say I didn't like it." Jiang Li wanted to take it back from him, but Chen An raised the cage higher and higher, "Give it to me!"

Chen An lowered his eyes to look at him, his calm eyes seemed to see through him. Jiang Li did not dare to meet his gaze. Suddenly, he heard him say, "Jiang Li, you clearly want it, why are you saying no?"

"I didn't say no."

"I'm talking about last night."

Jiang Li fell silent and stopped trying to grab the cage from his hand.

Chen An thought he was angry, so he lowered the cage and shook it in front of him. "Are you angry?"

Jiang Li crossed his arms and curled his lips.

There was silence all around. He seemed to hear the other person sigh. He said, "Jiang Li, if you want something, you have to tell me. Otherwise, no one will know what you are thinking."

The hamster in the cage was sniffing at the edge of the cage. Suddenly, it froze, as if staring at Jiang Li. He suddenly said, "But, will I get it if I ask for it?"

Chen An shook the cage and watched Jiang Li's gaze slowly shift from the cage to himself. He bent down, looked into his eyes, and said, "If you ask me for it, I'll give it to you as long as I have it."