Sunday morning.
With Jiang Ning's presence, Xue Yuantong did not sleep in. Of course, what she meant by not sleeping in was that she still got up at nine o'clock, hurriedly put on her clothes.
She pushed open the door, wearing soft and warm cotton slippers.
The weather is sunny, the sky is blue and the clouds are white.
Xue Yuantong couldn't help but think of the marshmallows she ate when she was a child. The marshmallows were super big, bigger than her head, and also white.
Even if you hold it in your hand and don't eat it, you will feel very at ease, as if you own the whole world.
She was thinking about the marshmallows and actually felt a little hungry.
But Jiang Ning didn't make breakfast.
Xue Yuantong didn't make breakfast either. She and Jiang Ning had made an appointment to go to the city to play together.
Today, Sunday, is the official opening day of the second phase of Lanma Shopping Mall.
Xue Yuantong was halfway through washing up when Jiang Ning rushed in.
"You're quite conscientious." He had intended to wake up Xue Yuantong, but he didn't expect her to get up on time.
Xue Yuantong had foam in her mouth and couldn't speak. She was brushing her teeth and could only make "mmm" sounds.
She quickly brushed her teeth and spit out the foam:
"Jiang Ning, have you pumped up the tires in your car?"
When she came back on Friday, she found that the tire of her mountain bike was a little flat and she needed to pump up the tire to keep the bike in top condition.
"Not encouraging." Jiang Ning said.
Xue Yuantong put away the toothbrush and cup: "Come on, come on, I'll cheer you up."
"I'm super good at cheering."
Xue Yuantong usually rode Jiang Ning's bicycle. Although she compensated Jiang Ning in other ways, she never took Jiang Ning to school by bicycle.
And now, she didn't want to miss the opportunity to pump up her bike. She wanted to feel involved.
Xue Yuantong only brushed his teeth without washing his face and ran to Jiang Ning's rental house.
"Where's the air pump?" she asked.
Jiang Ning pulled out the air pump from the corner.
This is a manual air pump that relies entirely on manual inflation.
Xue Yuantong came to the mountain bike with an air pump.
She found the tire valve core, pulled off the cap, and then aimed the pump needle at the valve core.
She stood up the air pump, put one foot on the pedal of the pump, held the handle with her arm, and pushed down hard.
"Am I good enough?" Xue Yuantong encouraged himself.
Jiang Ning stood aside and watched her clumsy operation.
If it was Jiang Ning, he could use a spell to instantly inflate the tire, not like Xue Yuantong who was so stupid.
"Yeah, that's impressive." Jiang Ning said indifferently.
Xue Yuantong was very dissatisfied with Jiang Ning's reaction. She tried to cheer him up with good intentions but was treated coldly.
It’s better not to fight for this anger!
However, Xue Yuantong was very thorough in her work and she still inflated both the front and rear tires.
After that, she screwed on the valve core cap and pressed the tire. It was very resilient and perfect.
She clapped her hands, as if she had accomplished something great. This way she felt more at ease riding in the car, as she had made a contribution to the couple's trip.
…
The mountain bike was traveling on the city roads. Xue Yuantong sat sideways on the back seat. She was still wearing fingerless gloves and pulling at the hem of Jiang Ning's clothes.
Cars were driving by on the surrounding main roads and people were bustling in front of the shops on both sides.
As if to dispel a certain strangeness and fear, Xue Yuantong wrote on Jiang Ning's back with his fingers, trying to get his attention.
"We're almost there." Jiang Ning said.
"oh."
"There will be an opening event at the shopping mall later, so there will definitely be a lot of people there. Hold on to me and don't get lost," Jiang Ning reminded.
"I won't lose it." Xue Yuantong retorted.
Jiang Ning said happily: "Okay, then don't pull it later."
"What? I won't listen to you. I'm going to act tough."
Soon, the two arrived at the shopping mall.
I saw a red stage in front of the square, with a host in a suit standing on it. He was holding a microphone and shouting various promotions to a large group of people below.
Jiang Ning found a place to park his bicycle and locked it. There were several mountain bikes parked there, including some more high-end bicycles.
There is bound to be a large number of people gathering for today's event, and it will be a mixed crowd. For safety reasons, Jiang Ning cast a small magic circle towards the mountain bike.
This formation contains the power of thunder and lightning. If someone touches his mountain bike, they will be electrocuted and jump up.
"Let's go."
Jiang Ning led Xue Yuantong into the shopping mall.
Yuzhou City is not very big. The Lanma Shopping Center covers an area of more than 300,000 square meters, with four floors of commercial area.
In recent years, it is one of the most prominent central buildings integrating food, drink, entertainment, and shopping malls in Yuzhou City.
The opening of the second phase of a shopping mall of this level has attracted the attention of a large number of Yuzhou people.
There was a large crowd gathered outside the Phase II shopping center, and the crowd was moving slowly forward, it was really crowded.
Xue Yuantong stood by the wall, looking at the scene with a pouty mouth. The crowd was surging and she couldn't squeeze in at all.
I could only watch as others went in.
Xue Yuantong was hungry and wanted to have breakfast, but he couldn't get in.
If she wasn't so timid and had a weak voice, she would definitely shout to the crowd:
"How dare you, a bunch of rats, block my way!"
Jiang Ning said, "Let's go to Phase 1 first, play around there first, and then go to Phase 2 from the overpass."
"Ah? Is this okay?" Xue Yuantong was surprised.
"Listen to me." Jiang Ning said firmly.
Xue Yuantong was puzzled: "How do you know? Did you secretly go out to play without telling me?"
Jiang Ning: "Stop talking nonsense, are you coming?"
Jiang Ning used to go to high school and often came to the Blue Horse Shopping Center, so he was very familiar with it.
Of course, when he came here to play in the past, it was often because he was poor. Since he had no money, he could not afford to buy the things inside, so he could only wander around. After wandering around a lot, he became more familiar with the various passages.
Phase I and Phase II are connected by an aerial glass road.
Xue Yuantong gave Jiang Ning an ugly look and was mean to her. How despicable! Was she easy to bully
Xue Yuantong held him silently, as if she were holding an ox or a horse. Thinking of this, she felt excited and happy again.
…
Jiang Ning took Xue Yuantong to Phase I. Compared to the bustling Phase II, Phase I had much fewer people.
Lanma Shopping Center has a wide internal view. It is in an elliptical ring shape. Standing on the lobby on the first floor, you can look up and see the exquisite ceiling on the fourth floor.
The two of them strolled along the circular road, and Xue Yuantong became more talkative:
"Yesterday I asked Chuchu if she wanted to come and play, and she said she had made an appointment with her classmates."
"Yeah." Chen Siyu had asked Jiang Ning before. Originally, the two of them could come and play, but something urgent happened, so they changed their mind.
So, today Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong went shopping together in the mall.
"Would you like to eat something first?" Jiang Ning pointed to the restaurant next to him. It was a shop specializing in porridge and served it 24 hours a day.
"No, no, I'll just buy a small piece of bread. When we get tired of shopping, we can go to the fourth floor for a buffet." Xue Yuantong had obviously made plans in advance.
There are many kinds of shops in the mall. Jiang Ning went to the mobile phone store first. For him, this was one of the few things he enjoyed while shopping in the mall, as he could try out the latest models of mobile phones.
In fact, Jiang Ning prefers shops that sell game consoles, but unfortunately there are none in a small place like Yuzhou.
Jiang Ning went into OPPO and VIVO stores, and also visited a Meizu mobile phone store.
At that time, the mobile phone brand Meizu was still quite popular and could compete with Xiaomi. No one expected that they would fade away so quickly.
After visiting the mobile phone store, he accompanied Xue Yuantong to the jewelry store.
The decoration of this jewelry store is simple and elegant. Most of the customers in the store are young women. Xue Yuantong lingered among the various jewelry and finally chose two candy-colored triangular hairpins.
Jiang Ning paid the bill, two hairpins cost fifteen yuan.
After leaving the store, Xue Yuantong clipped a strawberry-colored hairpin in her hair, adding a touch of bright color.
She showed it to Jiang Ning with a smile: "Does it look good?"
"I think it's okay." Jiang Ning said. With the hairpin, she looked more lively.
They continued forward and passed by a spacious place, where they saw several guests lying on massage sofas. They did not pay to use the sofas, but just lay on them and played with their mobile phones with their shoes on.
This kind of thing is still commonplace even in later generations.
Jiang Ning took Xue Yuantong to the mall without any concern. During the visit, there was a watch store. Xue Yuantong ran to the men's watch counter and she took a fancy to a watch with a light gold frame and a white dial.
"It would definitely look good on Jiang Ning's wrist, right?" Xue Yuantong thought about the scene.
But the price of the watch was daunting for her, so she secretly wrote down the model of the watch.
She planned that when she had saved enough, she would buy it as a gift for him to express her generosity.
Time gradually came to half past ten, and Xue Yuantong was a little tired from running.
However, Jiang Ning felt nothing. Walking like this, even if there were a hundred more girls, he would not feel tired at all. He could walk for ten days and ten nights without any problem.
The two came to a small open-air restaurant, and Xue Yuantong decided to eat something to fill his stomach first.
Jiang Ning went to the other side to buy drinks.
The second phase of the Lanma Shopping Center held a merchant event, and the first phase seemed unwilling to lag behind. The milk tea shop in front of me held a banner that read "Second cup half price".
Jiang Ning ordered two cups. At this time, a boy next to him looked over. The boy was 1.72 meters tall, about 16 years old, weak, wearing old-fashioned black-framed glasses, and had the demeanor of a top student.
The boy is Tao Zhi. He is a student in the experimental class of the first year of high school at Yuzhou No. 2 Middle School.
Tao Zhi made an appointment with several classmates today to go to the mall to have some fun during the opening of the second phase.
They agreed to meet at the mall at 9:30, and he, who was always punctual, arrived on time.
It turned out that he arrived too early and several classmates had not arrived yet. He could only wait here for an hour.
Recently, Tao Zhi has read many economic books and feels that he has a better understanding of business.
The marketing of this milk tea shop takes advantage of human weaknesses and offers a half-price discount on the second cup, thereby getting customers to spend more money.
Tao Zhi firmly opposed this behavior.
He has been determined to become a person who can contribute to the country since he was young. So far, he has overcome many difficulties and was admitted to the best middle school in Yuzhou, No. 2 Middle School, which is in the experimental class. In addition, he likes to read all kinds of books, but he does not have the corresponding experience to support it.
People like him are often dissatisfied with many things in society. They are passionate and dare to fight back against injustice in their own unique way.
At this moment, Tao Zhi pushed his glasses and decided to persuade this lonely middle school student.
He did not give direct advice, but gave an example:
"Hello classmate, excuse me."
"Let me ask you a question. If you are walking in a vast desert and you can't reach the end, and you are tired and thirsty, if I give you a bottle of water, will you drink it all?"
Jiang Ning was in a good mood. Besides, the boy was very polite and non-aggressive. He didn't mind answering:
"I will finish it."
When Tao Zhi saw that the other party had joined the game, he asked again: "After you finish the first bottle, I will give you the second bottle?"
"I'll finish it." Jiang Ning said.
"What about the third bottle?"
"Drink it."
"What about the fourth bottle?"
"Drink it up." Jiang Ning said. This little bit of water was not a burden to him.
Tao Zhi was speechless: "Why don't you play by the rules?"
He was a student in the experimental class of No. 2 Middle School, and his mind worked quickly: "Even if you can drink a lot, you definitely won't be able to finish the next ten or twenty bottles."
"What I want to tell you is very simple. In fact, all you really need is a little water in the front. The water behind is of little value to you."
Tao Zhi had a clear idea and spoke more fluently: "Just like the current event, the second cup at half price seems to be a discount, but in fact it is just to trick you into paying and increase their profits. This marketing method is not suitable for you."
Tao Zhi broke down the logic and explained it in detail to his peers. He was very satisfied with his performance and felt that he had saved an ignorant boy who had gone astray.
He asked: "So now think carefully, why did you buy the second cup of milk tea?"
Jiang Ning said calmly: "Give it to my sister."
"ha?"
Tao Zhi was embarrassed.
…
Jiang Ning returned to the table, and Xue Yuantong asked, "Who was that person just now? He spoke to you."
He said: "An interesting boy."
Jiang Ning did find the other person interesting. Many adults, whose edges have been smoothed over by life, would mock the hot-bloodedness of middle school students when they see this situation. In fact, these innocent and immature teenagers are the hope of the country.
The two of them had a simple meal. Xue Yuantong held her milk tea and continued to play. She stopped in front of a machine.
This is a coin-operated machine for measuring height and weight.
For each test, you need to insert a one-yuan coin. After the test, a small piece of paper with your weight and height will be printed out.
"Jiang Ning, let's measure your height!" Xue Yuantong said.
"Okay."
In order to make the test more accurate, Xue Yuantong took out the tissues she carried with her, unfolded two pieces, and placed them under the machine. She took off her shoes, stepped on them with her socks, and stood at attention.
At the end of the test, a small note was printed out.
Height 152cm, weight 71kg.
"You've grown taller." After Xue Yuantong finished the test, he asked Jiang Ning to take another test.
Jiang Ning took off his shoes and tested it.
Height 183cm, weight 139kg.
Compared to his height, he is a little thin.
Xue Yuantong was shocked when she saw it. She stared:
"You're almost twice as heavy as me?"
Jiang Ning said: "Yes, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I will grow taller in the future." Xue Yuantong held the note. She would definitely grow taller in the future.
Jiang Ning put on his shoes and planned to take Xue Yuantong for a walk when two familiar figures suddenly appeared within his spiritual awareness range.
The direction the two figures came from just happened to be the same as the direction Jiang Ning was going.
Not long after walking, a cold but warm voice came from the other side:
"Tongtong, Jiang Ning, you are here!"
Xue Yuantong looked at the girl in front of him, with a look of surprise on his face: "Chu Chu!"
She pulled Jiang Ning over.
Jiang Ning greeted her and sent his spiritual sense to the beautiful girl next to Xue Chuchu.
Jiang Ning was somewhat familiar with this girl. Last year, Aunt Gu was hospitalized with a broken arm. He went to look for the murderer and arrived at a residential area. He found that the murderer was a young woman in her twenties.
At that time, the young woman had an argument with the girl in front of her about driving.
This information quickly passed through his mind, and then he no longer cared about it.
To him, it was just a trivial matter.
"Tongtong, I didn't agree before because my classmates called me on Wednesday. I'm sorry." Chuchu said awkwardly. Now that she met Jiang Ning and Tongtong, she felt like she was caught.
"It doesn't matter, there's plenty of time in the future!" Xue Yuantong said he didn't care.
"Yes, she is Mu Ying, my deskmate." Xue Chuchu introduced.
After the voice fell, the boy's voice sounded behind Jiang Ning:
"Chu Chu, Mu Ying, you two are here. It took me a while to find you!"
Jiang Ning was too lazy to use his spiritual sense. He turned sideways and looked over. Several boys were walking towards him. He recognized one of them, the one who had just advised him not to buy the second cup at half price.
Among the other people, the most eye-catching one was a handsome boy wearing branded clothes and a watch on his wrist.
The boy is Jin Yuanhang. He is in the same class as Xue Chuchu. He finally took the opportunity to bring everyone together. It is a good opportunity to get along with Xue Chuchu.
Jin Yuanhang shifted his gaze from Chuchu to the strange man and woman.
The girl is delicate and cute, but she is an elementary school student, not worth mentioning, so she is excluded.
However, this boy made Jin Yuanhang feel like he was facing a formidable enemy.
It's not about whether he's handsome or not, he's a very special...
Jin Yuanhang was not sure what to say, so he asked:
"Chu Chu, who are they?"