Chapter 42: Fireworks Festival: Do you still have a chance to choose?
With only 2,000 fireworks, the small fireworks display at the seaside park is perfect for people like her who don't want to join the crowds at a large fireworks display.
It is also suitable for friends who have been heartbroken to take a quiet walk.
The agreed time was six o'clock, and as expected, Xiangcheng arrived a little earlier. Near the venue, small vendors were setting up their signs and carts, and some had already placed beautiful small colored lights.
Xiangcheng was attracted by this thriving scene for a while. After a while, he looked at his watch and then looked towards the place where Rika would appear.
A few minutes after six, Rika, wearing a turquoise yukata and with her hair tied up, came walking towards us in wooden clogs.
The moment she saw Xiangcheng, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Ah, I finally got the sisters to let me go."
Xiangcheng looked her up and down at her outfit and nodded repeatedly, "It really does look great!"
And Rika was also looking at Xiangcheng today - the ponytail that was always casually tied up in the past was hanging down softly, falling on the blue yukata that was exactly the same color as her eyes.
As she moved, the yukata revealed its more ingenious design. The flying birds and the ripples of the waves were sparkling with silver light, flowing vividly with her steps.
It complements the silver flying bird hairpin behind Xiangcheng's head.
"Xiangcheng looks so beautiful today!" Rika moved closer. Well, Xiangcheng's makeup looked very clear today.
Xiangcheng smiled wryly as she recalled the three hours she spent being dressed up like a doll by her mother: "My mother finally found the opportunity to dress me up."
Rika, who had also been severely abused by her sister at home, felt the same way. The two smiled knowingly and walked into the park arm in arm.
At this time, many people came out, spread mats on the grass, and gathered in groups of three or five with their own prepared lunch boxes or drinks.
After walking for a while, Xiangcheng and Lixiang sat down in the seats prepared by the organizers in the best viewing area indicated by the sign. They chatted while waiting for the fireworks to start in an hour.
Li Xiang took out her cell phone from her handbag and said, "Let's take some pictures first!"
Xiangcheng looked back. There weren't many people around, and basically no one would notice them.
"Then let me take a picture for you," she reached out to take Li Xiang's phone, but Li Xiang retreated: "Why, don't you want to take a picture with me?"
"Not really," Xiangcheng said dejectedly, "I'm really stiff when taking photos."
Li Xiang smiled and said, "It's okay, I'm good at taking pictures, let's join in!"
"Okay, okay."
Xiangcheng came closer, lowered her body slightly to be at the same height as Rika, smiled with her teeth showing, and made a scissors sign with her right hand.
Lixiang turned back speechlessly: "What are you doing?"
"I told you I don't know how to take pictures!" Xiangcheng moved away in frustration.
Rika put away her phone first, struck a cute pose, and asked Xiangcheng to follow suit. Xiangcheng obediently followed suit and did the same movements. Then Rika picked up her phone again, and finally got a photo that was not so stiff and had a human-machine feel.
After taking a dozen or so photos, Xiangcheng declared he couldn't continue: "My face is almost frozen from laughing..."
Rika rolled her eyes. "Can't you try a different expression besides the standard smile?"
"Oh." Xiangcheng put away his smile. In the following high-five photos, he looked as if he was forced to keep a cold face and pretend to be a cool guy.
"Kaoki," Rika complained as she flipped through the photos, "There's another reason why I think you're not suited to being a professional player."
"What?"
"Your face is so stinky that every time the camera pans over you, I feel like I owe you eight million."
"Ah... I told you I can't take pictures!"
"Okay." Rika finally picked out a few good ones, let go of Xiangcheng who was about to give up, and the two sat down again.
It was almost dark, but the heat was still there. Although they had both brought small fans with them, they still felt the heat when they took the photo.
After chatting for a while, Xiangcheng stood up first: "It's going to start in twenty minutes. Stay here and I'll go get a drink."
Li Xiang nodded: "Okay, I want grapefruit flavor."
"Okay~"
Xiangcheng stepped onto the stairs carefully, and was afraid of accidentally falling down because she was wearing clogs.
We walked slowly step by step back the way we came, occasionally using our cell phones to light the way. Xiangcheng walked at the side, going the opposite way to the other people who were rushing to the viewing area.
After finally finding a small shop selling drinks, Xiangcheng asked the owner to take a paper bag to put two bottles of drinks in, and then walked back in a hurry.
There are still seven or eight minutes left, and I don’t know if I can make it in time.
Xiangcheng sighed again, fortunately the conference was not large and the roads were not very crowded.
After seeing the sign for the viewing area, Xiangcheng slowed down. There were still two minutes, which was definitely enough to get back.
Taking advantage of her height, she searched for Rika in the crowd in front of her. Too embarrassed to shout out loud, she counted the rows of seats while carefully identifying them.
Ah, she found the guy taking a selfie with his phone!
Someone actually took her seat next to her! Didn’t Rika notice while she was busy taking selfies?
In that anxious moment, Xiangcheng forgot that he was standing on the edge of the stairs, and the clogs on his feet slid forward. Xiangcheng used his other foot to control his balance, but was tripped by a passerby behind him.
As she fell forward, Xiangcheng was still thinking about whether she might fall sideways. At least she wasn't that embarrassed.
A pair of hands steadily caught her falling body from the front, through her armpits, and the familiar scent of daisies wafted towards her face.
She breathed a sigh of relief and used the other party's strength to control her body.
"Thank you, Yukimura—" Just as she was about to stand up, Xiangcheng raised her head from the other's neck in surprise.
"Bang——" the first firework exploded before my eyes.
"Bang-bang-bang-" Gorgeous fireworks lit up the seaside sky one after another, and then quickly disappeared between the sky and the sea.
Xiangcheng stood up in a panic, said thank you casually and wanted to go find Lixiang.
When they passed each other, she saw from the corner of her eye that Yukimura was wearing a yukata of the same color as hers.
She couldn't quite make out the emotion, but just wanted Xiangcheng to walk faster - but everyone had already stopped, and she opened her mouth again and again but couldn't utter "please move aside".
She felt that the fireworks tonight were even more chaotic than her mood, bang bang bang, with no rhythm at all.
Yukimura turned around and grabbed her wrist again: "Stop running around!"
"look up."
She bit her lip as if bewitched, then looked up to admire it.
But fireworks have no smell, she can only smell the scent of daisies from the people around her.
She was used to it. As long as she smelled the scent, she could tell it was Yukimura Seiichi.
She didn't know why he showed up.
But that hug just now - what she really heard was Yukimura's panicked and anxious heartbeat.
He looked different than any other time I've seen him.
The wrist he held also felt a fine, dense, indescribable tingling and electric shock-like sensation.
Inappropriately, Xiangcheng recalled the final hug between the hero and heroine in her favorite movie, "Firefly Forest".
Except that the male protagonist did not turn into a firefly and fly away, causing her to cry all night, the other scenes were so familiar.
"Orange——"
"Ah, I'm going to find Rika!" Xiangcheng said, and tried to go against the crowd, but was stopped by Yukimura again.
"It's too dangerous. Let's go to a place with fewer people."
"oh......"
He also took away the paper bag in my hand, and I was pulled out of the crowd.
Yukimura let go of her hand only when they reached a fork in the road where almost no one was coming.
Xiangcheng looked left and right, then turned around and headed towards the main road.
Yukimura's lit cell phone screen flashed in front of her from behind. It was a message from Yagyu: With Rika, do not disturb.
Xiangcheng glared at the screen angrily.
"Then I'll go home!" Xiangcheng said and started to run again.
Yukimura tilted his head: "Are you really not going to eat something?"
"No—" The smell of freshly grilled corn sausages wafted over at the right moment, and Xiangcheng said with a gloomy face, "Let's eat it."
Yes, that's right, just go back to normal mode! It's definitely not because she's greedy!
Yukimura curled his hands to his mouth and coughed, his voice unable to hide the smile: "Then let's go."
The little silver bird on Yui Cheng's head sparkled in the light, as if it would spread its wings and take off at any time. Yukimura couldn't help but touch it lightly with his hand, then slid his hand down and firmly held Yui Cheng's wrist again.
Xiangcheng remembered the steam pot her grandmother used to cook seafood.
Exactly the same as her current hot-headed state.
But she didn't want to see Yukimura's expression now, so it was difficult for her to say no.
Fortunately, today's food was indeed rich, and when choosing food, Xiangcheng was finally able to get rid of Yukimura's hand.
She secretly made the scissors hand gesture in her heart, but her mouth was still eating seriously.
If it were in the past, she would definitely ask Yukimura if he wanted a portion, but today was so strange, she chose to eat it all herself!
There were two octopus balls left in her hand. Xiangcheng accurately stabbed one of them with a bamboo stick, but even faster than her was Yukimura's face that came closer.
"You won't give me any of them?" Yukimura said, and in the moment when Xiangcheng was stunned, he swallowed the small meatball in one gulp with the hand that Xiangcheng was holding the bamboo stick.
He looked up into Xiangcheng's eyes, his gaze filled with pride.
After just one glance, Xiang Cheng looked back at the only remaining small ball: "Do you still want this one?"
"Yes~" Yukimura grabbed her hand, caught the last one, moved closer and swallowed it.
Then he took the box and the stick, quickly threw them at the garbage collection point and brought them back.
"Anything else to eat?"
Xiangcheng shook her head.
"Ah, I want to eat all over the street..." Yukimura said regretfully.
Xiangcheng: "Okay! Then you eat first and I'll leave first--"
Before Yukimura could react, Xiangcheng turned around and walked quickly towards the source.
Everything that happened today was too much for her to handle. Hearing footsteps not far away from her, Xiangcheng simply walked a little faster.
Not wanting to think about anything else, Xiangcheng focused her attention on the clogs under her feet.
My feet hurt when I walk fast and they are stiff. Who invented this thing?
If she had been wearing sneakers, she would have run away long ago.
"Ah!" Xiangcheng, who was thinking this, suddenly lost her balance and, as she expected, she eventually fell to the side.
"Are you okay?" Yukimura came over to help her up anxiously, annoyed and asking, "Are you sprained?"
Xiangcheng shook her head and her eyes fell on the clogs on her left foot. The straps had been stretched and she probably couldn't wear them anymore.
Yukimura followed her gaze to the shoes.
"I'll ask my family to pick me up—"
"I'll carry you back—"
Almost at the same time, both of them gave their own methods.
"No, no, that would be too much of a trouble for you." Xiangcheng's arm was still on Yukimura's arm, and she just kept waving her hands when she heard that.
Yukimura didn't give her a chance to refuse. He supported her with his right arm, with most of his left body facing away from her, and then half-crouched down.
Knowing that Yukimura was not someone who would be refused, Xiangcheng hesitated for a moment before finally lying on his back.
"Where are your shoes?" Yukimura asked.
Xiangcheng looked at the disappointing shoes and said, "Throw them away."
"Okay," Yukimura suddenly leaned over, and Xiangcheng was so scared that she immediately hugged his neck tightly. He just picked up the broken shoe and walked away with Xiangcheng on his back.
After throwing it away, Xiangcheng said, "Just go to the intersection ahead and take a taxi back."
The boy's muffled laughter could be heard clearly from behind: "Xiangcheng, you're already on my back. Do you still have a chance to choose?"
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Author's Note: Yay! Another super sweet chapter!
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