Blood Neon

Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Leisurely

“~The gentle whispers of the breeze blowing between the two of them~ Where did they come from, bringing her loneliness~…”

Swinging the shopping bag containing her newly purchased underwear back and forth, Lin Ying softly hummed a tune as she walked through the bustling streets crowded with people.

It was already close to six o'clock. Even the last lingering ray of sunlight that had worked a little overtime had finally clocked out and gone home to spend time with its wife and children.

And as that final trace of pale light at the horizon completely disappeared, the entire dome of sky overhead turned fully ink-black.

The streetlights lining the road tactfully lit up one after another, as always bathing the streets in brilliant golden light.

If lights had background music, they would probably have been singing a chorus of “Going Home.”

That was also the trend among the adults currently walking the streets.

Of course, besides the grown-ups who were out looking for food or heading home for dinner, groups of boys and girls in school uniforms could occasionally be seen by the roadside.

Some stopped to buy snacks, some chatted while walking, and some rode bicycles side by side while blocking the bike lane.

Although Pingyang No. 3 High School, where Zhang Qiming studied, had not yet dismissed classes at this hour, it seemed that for students from some other schools, it was already time to go home.

And amid the surging sea of people, there was a petite figure who did not stand out from a distance, looking just like an ordinary middle-school student who had just finished classes and was on her way home.

—Following the flow of pedestrians along one side of the street, the girl was once again wandering around by herself out of boredom.

.

The evening rush hour had not completely ended yet.

The congested roads were packed with vehicles, and the storefronts lining the streets were brightly illuminated.

A large tray of freshly baked bread was pushed into a display window, while students constantly entered and exited the stationery shop nearby.

…So what should she do next?

Lin Ying felt slightly lost.

It felt as though she had already done a lot of things today. Maybe it was time to rest.

It was only six o'clock, but it was probably time to slack off.

“Mmm~~~ Hah~~”

She stretched lazily and yawned.

She had walked a bit too much today.

Wasn't it supposed to be that girls were creatures who could shop all day without getting tired?

The girl sat down on a bench by the street, leaned back against it, and pouted in dissatisfaction.

After catching her breath, she bent down and pressed on her shoe, slipping her heel out of the white canvas sneaker before rubbing the spot that felt slightly uncomfortable.

Her small foot still felt extremely soft, looking as pristine as if it had just left the factory. There was not the slightest sign of becoming rougher despite all the distance she had walked.

It sounded like a good thing, but she would rather her heels become a little more battle-hardened.

Otherwise, like now, her foot proficiency stayed at zero no matter how much she walked. There was no way to level it up.

Walking was quite uncomfortable because of that.

After all, the shoes she was currently wearing were not exactly high-quality.

They were cheap goods she had bought from a roadside stall for fifteen yuan. Later, she had only managed to improve the wearing experience somewhat by adding a five-yuan insole.

Maybe she should buy a pair of shoes better suited for long walks?

Even some knockoff athletic shoes would probably feel better than what she was wearing now.

After spending some time massaging the other foot as well, Lin Ying put her shoes back on and unconsciously stretched her shoulders.

Since being too bored wasn't a solution, she had been trying to find some new forms of entertainment for herself these past few days.

For example, places like underground internet cafés seemed like a possible option.

Although she wasn't too eager to enter places that might have surveillance cameras, after thinking about it carefully, she had already been to bars before. Going to an underground internet café didn't seem like such a big deal anymore.

After all, while she was certainly talented at wandering the streets aimlessly, she couldn't spend every day doing nothing but roaming around.

Who knew? Maybe one day, after being captured by surveillance cameras too many times, a bunch of high-level men-in-black NPCs would suddenly spawn around her and drag her away.

Then she would wake up in some strange laboratory, discover that she had been tied down and was being dissected by bizarre researchers wearing white lab coats, masks, and glasses, while hearing someone say beside her ear:

“Hey, you, finally awake……”

And then the screen would display a red Bad End notification:

“After that day, no one ever saw her again…”

She closed her eyes and let her imagination run wild.

Meow~

Suddenly, she kind of wanted to pet a cat.

Meow~

She really wanted to become a cat.

If she could customize her character and reincarnate, she wanted to be a catgirl.

Then she would go work at a cat café, with meals, lodging, and catnip included, and live a happy, carefree daily life from then on...

...

Still, even aside from preventing herself from getting ambushed while wandering the streets, she really should find some new forms of entertainment.

After all, now that she finally had a bit of spare money on hand, it was only natural to improve her quality of life.

Otherwise, what was the point of saving money?

To save money?

And fundamentally speaking, if someone wasn't good at enjoying themselves, could they even be called human?

Lin Ying closed her eyes, absentmindedly making nonsense babbling mouth shapes as she zoned out.

Now that she had both spare food and spare breathing room, her mindset while eating, drinking, playing, and slacking off had become much healthier.

She was no longer like she had been at the beginning, when every expense felt like her heart was bleeding and she always had to come up with an excuse to justify spending money.

Then—

Maybe when she had time, she could find an underground internet café and take a look around?

Even playing offline games would be better than nothing.

When she was a child, there had still been plenty of underground internet cafés hidden throughout the streets and alleys where nobody checked IDs. She just didn't know how many still existed in this world and era.

When she had time, she'd go check...

She opened her eyes and glanced at the shopping bag beside her.

How to deal with those two pieces of intimate clothing seemed to be another problem.

Theoretically speaking, even if newly purchased underwear didn't necessarily need to be washed immediately, it should at least be soaked for a period before being worn.

And if she had to handle that process herself, it seemed a little troublesome.

Simply soaking them in water might be manageable, but anything beyond that would be rather inconvenient.

After all, they were clothes worn directly against the skin. If they weren't soaked with things like fabric softener or detergent, they might irritate the skin.

Not to mention the hygiene issue that someone else might have tried on the bra before.

Wait, with that size, there probably weren't many customers who would have tried it on, right?

Unless they were junior high school girls.

Then, thinking about it that way, maybe it wasn't... completely unacceptable?

...

。

...

“Your original-flavor fried yogurt is ready.”

“Mhm, thank you.”

Lin Ying accepted a small paper cup from the food vendor by the roadside and lowered her head to look at the round fried yogurt balls inside.

Five yuan for four pieces. They were coated with a small amount of milky-white sauce, and the one at the front even had a long bamboo skewer stuck into its head as it quietly gazed out from the cup.

Alright, since it was showing off so much, it would be the first one.

Holding the paper cup, she stepped aside to make room for other customers before eagerly lifting the first yogurt ball with the skewer.

She blew on it near her lips, tested the temperature with them, and once it felt about right, popped it into her mouth in a single bite.

As a freshly fried yogurt ball, the exterior still retained the residual warmth of the hot oil.

And after biting into it, the inside was, as expected, still very hot.

Although Lin Ying could technically force herself to eat it even if it burned her and suffer no consequences, doing that somehow felt like it would defeat the purpose of enjoying good food.

Not getting what one wanted immediately, being impatient yet unable to eat hot tofu in a hurry—this was also part of the unique charm of buying street food.

So she merely acted like an ordinary person. After taking a bite, she covered her mouth with one hand and began puffing out small breaths of hot air while continuing to chew.

The layer of sauce on the outside, made from some unknown recipe, was sweet and tangy and quite delicious, making this cup of original-flavor fried yogurt...

...Mhm, taste very much like yogurt.

After swallowing the first fried yogurt ball, the girl came to that conclusion.

She stuck out her tongue and licked the corner of her mouth, cleaning off the sauce before happily skewering the second victim.

Right now, she was enjoying delicious food... no, actually, she was waiting for someone.

Well, same difference. She was simply eating while passing the time.

As for the location, it was beside a fried yogurt stall not far from the gates of No. 3 High School.

Pingyang No. 3 High School covered quite a large area and had three gates in total. The one here was its south-facing main gate and also its largest entrance, located within No. 3 High School Alley.

The so-called No. 3 High School Alley was actually just a straight alley roughly two hundred meters long that connected the main road directly to the school entrance.

There wasn't a single tree along the route, making visibility extremely open. Only a few street vendors and stationery shops were scattered along the roadside.

She hadn't come here deliberately. She had simply wandered around while taking a walk and eventually ended up near the area.

After all, the small commercial alley where she had just bought her clothes wasn't very far from here. A short stroll had brought her over.

While aimlessly wandering around, she had glanced at the time displayed on an electronic clock by the roadside and suddenly remembered that it seemed to be close to someone's dismissal time from school.

That realization gave her an idea.

Since she had nothing else to do anyway, why not sit here, eat something, and wait a while?

Maybe she'd just happen to run into him.

Lin Ying swallowed the second fried yogurt ball in one bite, and scorching filling immediately spread through her mouth.

Delicious.

The girl narrowed her eyes and patted her puffed-up cheek.