novelraw Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Chapter 129: Hero, Save Me!
On the roads of Qingcheng City, a black car was slowly pulling over to the side.
The morning rush hour traffic was heavy, and Qingcheng City was notoriously congested. Xia Li had to step on the brakes every few meters, and the atmosphere in the car was inexplicably tense.
It was the first time for all three of them to ride in Xia Li’s car.
For these young people who had just entered society, the concept of a car had not yet integrated into their lives.
“…Reminds me of the last time Boss Xia took me out for a drive.”
Chen Tao, sitting in the back seat, said with feeling.
Fu Yuan, sitting next to him, asked curiously, “When was that? Didn’t Boss get his driver’s license just last year?”
“Last time, I was talking about bicycles, when we were kids.”
Chen Tao originally only wanted to hint at it, but when he decided not to continue, he found Lucia, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turning to look at him. Under the gaze of those inquisitive eyes, Chen Tao felt a sense of guilt, as if he would be committing a grave sin if he didn’t tell her the story.
Her eyes were too pure…
So pure that it was impossible to refuse.
“When we were in elementary school, Boss Xia took me out to play on his bike. Back then, there weren’t so many buildings around, and there were fields just a ten-minute bike ride away.”
Chen Tao recalled, “You’ll never guess what Boss Xia took me to the fields to do.”
“What?” Zhou Anqi also looked over curiously.
Chen Tao calmly said, “Blow up cow dung.”
“…”
The car was silent for a moment.
Chen Tao added, “He bought the firecrackers, and I blew up the cow dung. The thing exploded as soon as it was lit, and I ended up going back covered in shit and got beaten by my mom.”
“Hahahahaha!!”
This was the first time Zhou Anqi had heard of this incident, and she laughed so hard that she leaned back.
“Hey, don’t blame me for that. You were the one who said you wanted to play something exciting,” Xia Li interjected, gripping the steering wheel.
“…When I said exciting, I meant something like blowing up fish, not blowing up shit!!” Chen Tao roared.
Fu Yuan also laughed along, “Boss has always been bold since he was a kid. Sometimes you just can’t help but admire him, hahaha.”
Taking advantage of the red light, Xia Li was about to turn around and retort, but as he turned, he saw the little dragon sitting in the passenger seat, giggling to herself.
Her legs were pressed together, her small hands still resting on her knees in a standard sitting posture, her shoulders shrugging, and her lips curved into an arc from her silent laughter.
“When you laugh, you should open your mouth and laugh,” Xia Li leaned in and whispered to her.
Xia Li had seen Lucia smile many times, but he had never seen her laugh out loud.
“…Hehehe?”
Lucia didn’t know what she was doing wrong, so she tried to open her mouth and laughed again.
When she smiled, the flesh of her cheeks puffed up slightly, revealing a pair of cute little tiger teeth.
Coupled with those bright amber eyes, Lucia’s smile gave Xia Li a fatally sweet feeling.
“Not ‘hehehe’,” Xia Li corrected.
So Lucia tried another tone: “Heehee~?”
“It’s ‘hahaha…’ like this.”
The evil dragon had a big problem with her expression management. Even after Xia Li personally demonstrated, she still couldn’t get it right.
“Haha.” Lucia gave two dry laughs.
The traffic light had already turned green, and Xia Li didn’t dwell on this issue any longer.
Instead, Zhou Anqi, sitting behind Lucia, hooked her finger.
“Lu-mei, come closer, I’ll tell you the trick.”
“…Huh?”
Lucia grabbed the seatbelt and leaned her body over.
Zhou Anqi quickly reached out and tickled her sides.
Lucia was ticklish and twisted in her seat with laughter.
“Hehehe, hehehe… Xia Li, save me!”
◈◈◈
Outside the Amusement Park Gate.
It happened to be the weekend, and the amusement park was not yet open, but the entrance was already full of people.
Dozens of long lines stretched from the ticket gate downwards, a vast crowd that looked to be about a thousand people at a glance.
“Let’s go, let’s go, line up.”
Zhou Anqi pulled Fu Yuan’s arm to go and queue. Chen Tao, who was beside them, raised his eyebrows, thinking to himself, they’re all brothers and sisters, why was he left out?
“You guys go ahead, I’ll buy the tickets.”
Xia Li didn’t rush to join the queue. Instead, he pointed to the ticket office not far away and said.
“Who still buys paper tickets these days… Didn’t you buy e-tickets? You can just scan your ID card to enter.” Zhou Anqi asked in confusion.
“No, I forgot to buy them.”
Xia Li didn’t linger, holding Lucia’s small hand, he turned and left.
“…You can get the tickets instantly by ordering them on your phone, why bother buying paper tickets specifically?”
Zhou Anqi didn’t understand, but seeing Xia Li’s insistence, she didn’t say anything more.
The amusement park’s ticket office was empty.
Apart from a few elderly people inquiring about something, there wasn’t a single young person in sight.
E-tickets have been widely used for several years now, so it’s naturally more convenient for ordinary citizens to buy tickets online.
Seeing such a young man approaching, the staff in the ticket office even made a gesture, signaling him to look at the notice board, which had a QR code for ticket purchase.
“Two tickets.”
Xia Li completely ignored the QR code and took out his phone to pay.
The ticket seller had no choice but to operate the computer to prepare the tickets.
“ID card.” The cold voice came from the loudspeaker.
Xia Li was stunned.
“Paper tickets also require ID cards?”
“Yes, two tickets require two ID cards, facial recognition is required for entry.”
“…Facial recognition for entry? Then what’s the point of paper tickets?”
“It’s the regulation from above, it’s been like this ever since the mask period two years ago,” the ticket seller said, then glanced at Lucia behind Xia Li and added.
“For couple tickets, it’s still recommended to buy online, the price will be more favorable.”
“Okay, I’ll consider it.”
Xia Li put his phone away and returned to Lucia’s side.
Lucia tilted her head. Xia Li went over perfectly fine, how did he become so dejected in just a minute?
“We didn’t get the tickets.” Xia Li sighed.
“Huh?” Lucia asked puzzled, “Are today’s tickets sold out?”
“That’s not the reason…”
Looking up at Lucia’s innocent eyes, Xia Li felt even more depressed.
“I’ll think of something else.”
In order not to waste Chen Tao and the others’ time, Xia Li sent a message in the group chat, saying that they didn’t need to wait for him.
Qi: What’s wrong? Didn’t Lu-mei really want to go in and have a look?
Peach: We’re already here, why suddenly not going in?!
Peach: Damn, I know, you guys aren’t going to go on a date somewhere else, are you?!
Summer Dawn: It’s okay, you guys go ahead and have fun, I have something to take care of here.
After giving a brief explanation, Xia Li put his phone back in his pocket.
Lucia still didn’t understand what was happening, she just quietly followed behind Xia Li, wherever Xia Li went, she followed.
The two bypassed the queue and came to the outside of the ticket gate.
Xia Li discovered that the entry method here was indeed facial recognition.
Whether it was a paper ticket or an e-ticket, identity verification was required.
After that special period ended, these major scenic spots all adopted a real-name system.
Not only scenic spots, but also long-distance buses and other places are implementing one person, one ticket. Because of the real-name system, the previous practice of scalpers buying tickets on behalf of others has become a thing of the past.
Doing so is indeed convenient for the general public…
But for Lucia, it undoubtedly narrowed her living environment even further.
“We might not be able to go in today.”
Xia Li felt somewhat down after learning this.
He walked around the outermost perimeter of the amusement park, the tall iron fences and the cameras hanging in the corners constantly reminding him of the danger here.
Xia Li subconsciously reached his hand behind his back, then remembered that he had left the Demon Repelling Sword in the box on the balcony. He was no longer the sword-wielding hero.
If only there was a little magic here…
“Can’t we go in?”
◈◈◈
Lucia stood in front of the black iron fence, gazing at the colorful world inside.
She looked up at Xia Li, who had expected to see a look of dejection or sadness on her face.
But the evil dragon’s expression was calm, as if she wasn’t disappointed at all.
This guy had been excited all night, and this morning she had even gotten dressed early, eagerly waiting to set off with Xia Li.
“Yeah…” Xia Li nodded.
Afraid of making the evil dragon feel worse, he softened his voice considerably.
Lucia blinked, a sweet smile appearing on her face.
“Then let’s play outside!”
“…What’s fun outside?”
“When you were parking just now, I saw a lot of fun things!”
Lucia was still in high spirits, not showing any sign of dejection at not being able to enter the amusement park.
The first roller coaster of the day had already started.
Accompanied by the countdown bell, the screams of humans, both high and low, filled the entire amusement park.
Lucia glanced back, her eyes peering through the iron fence at the red and yellow metal tracks.
The fear and excitement on the human faces made her feel a little involved, and her beautiful amber eyes gradually widened.
“That’s a roller coaster,” Xia Li said.
“Roller coaster? Is it a car with wheels too?”
“It’s not a car, it’s just a form of entertainment… It allows humans to experience the thrill of high-speed drops and sharp turns, finding joy in fear.”
“Oh…” Lucia could imagine what Xia Li was describing.
Wasn’t this… just like when dragons swooped down to the earth!
“Is it as fast as a dragon?” Lucia asked excitedly.
Xia Li glanced at the roller coaster in the distance and shook his head.
“A dragon can fall from ten thousand meters high. After retracting its wings, its falling speed is comparable to a meteorite. Roller coasters are still far behind you.”
“Oh! That means I’m more powerful!” Lucia smiled sweetly.
“…”
Xia Li couldn’t bring himself to smile.
“Let’s go~ Since we can’t go in, let’s just play around outside~”
Lucia didn’t feel disappointed at all. She took Xia Li’s hand and walked back.
Looking at the back of the evil dragon’s head, her hair tied up in a bun, the red bow on it made her look playful and cute.
Xia Li gently squeezed the hand held by the dragon’s claw, taking control of it in his own.
Perhaps sensing Xia Li’s low spirits, Lucia didn’t resist this time, and the ‘dragon claw on top’ principle didn’t come into play.
“Sigh.” Xia Li sighed.
He was supposed to be comforting Lucia, but he ended up being the one being taken care of.
The evil dragon was always so optimistic.
On the other hand, Xia Li himself…
Human sentimentality had actually caused him to lose a lot of happiness.
“What do you want to play?”
Xia Li was no longer dejected. Since Lucia always had a positive attitude towards life, he should respond to her positively too.
“There’s a fish catching game over there!”
Lucia’s eyes lit up, and she pulled Xia Li along at a brisk pace.
Outside the amusement park, many small-scale amusement projects had sprung up.
After all, there was a large flow of customers here, and the tourists who came here were all aiming to ‘have fun’ and were willing to spend money. Therefore, the business here was not as bleak as at the entrance of the zoo. All kinds of small projects were flourishing.
“This is bottle-feeding fish.”
The two came to a shaded area under a canopy.
In a pool of about twenty square meters, colorful koi carp were tumbling in the water, seemingly always waiting for humans to feed them.
Each fish here was as long as Lucia’s arm.
The two small fish that Lucia kept at home wouldn’t even qualify as a snack for the big fish here.
“Feed the fish? Can we take them home after feeding them?”
Lucia asked Xia Li, looking at the fish swimming in the pool.
“No, we pay to feed their fish. We can’t take them home after feeding them.”
Xia Li patiently explained the rules to her. As Lucia listened, her face fell silent.
“Why should we pay to feed someone else’s fish?”
“…That’s the rule.”
“That’s so stupid!”
“But you’ll find happiness in the process. Happiness is the most expensive thing in this society,” Xia Li said.
Lucia thought about it carefully, but she still felt something was wrong: “But I can’t eat the fish, why would I be happy?”
“You’ll know if you try it.”
Xia Li felt that he couldn’t explain this feeling. Lucia had to experience it herself.
He didn’t explain further, scanned the code to pay twenty yuan, and grabbed a two-kilogram baby bottle from the owner.
This shop was quite honest, giving a lot of fish food. No wonder the koi in the pool were all fat as balls.
“Come here.”
Holding the evil dragon’s soft little hand, he came to the edge of the pool. Xia Li squatted down, and Lucia followed suit.
As Xia Li put the end of the bottle into the water, the koi swarmed over as if they had gone mad.
Their enthusiasm for snatching the nipple was so intense that a large group of fish were entangled together, splashing water in front of Xia Li, and the cold water from the pool even splashed onto his face.
Lucia found it quite interesting to watch the fish scrambling for food.
Doubt ━ Understanding ━ Acceptance!
She reached out her small hand for the bottle, and Xia Li handed it to her without hesitation.
“Here you go.”
“…Which one should I feed?” Lucia’s face was filled with joy, her lips curving into a smile.
“It’s up to you. Feed whichever color you like.”
“Then I want to feed that silver-white one!”
“Go ahead.”
Lucia walked around the pool with the bottle, and the group of big fish followed her.
The white fish she had chosen was always blocked and couldn’t swim out. Lucia was so anxious that she almost took off her little leather shoes and stepped into the water.
“Don’t go into the water.”
Xia Li squatted not far away, resting his chin on his hand, watching this scene.
The day hadn’t started well. The amusement park, which he had been looking forward to all night, was inaccessible. This was bad.
But Xia Li was surprised to find that he wasn’t feeling bad at all.
On the contrary, he felt very grounded right now.
Was this the sense of happiness that Lucia brought him?
It was truly priceless.
“Why are you eating so much? I won’t let you eat.”
Lucia stretched her little arm out but still couldn’t feed the silver-white koi.
After a golden fish took several bites, she became unhappy and raised her small fist, punching the fish’s head twice.
Xia Li: “…”
Don’t knock out all the fish in the pool, or he’d have to pay for it with his pants!
He was about to get up and stop the evil dragon’s evil deeds.
Lucia had almost finished feeding the fish and walked towards Xia Li, swinging the almost empty bottle in her hand.
There was still a tenth of the fish food left in the bottle. Having fed enough fish, Lucia wanted to feed something else.
“Xia Li, here, eat.”
The evil dragon brought the bottle over, wanting to feed Xia Li.
Xia Li leaned back in disgust.
“This is for fish. I’m not eating it.”
“Hehehe…”
“…You’re so dumb.”