Chapter 174 – Balloons and Cotton Candy

“What are you doing!” I yelled at Xiao Qin who was lying on my desk, “Class is almost starting! Move!”

Xiao Qin turned her heart-broken face towards me. Her cheeks that were pressed against her elbow had turned crimson red.

“I’m committing suicide! Ye Lin classmate’s cruel and heartless aura still remains on this desk. Don’t mind me, I’ll be dead in a bit.”

She pouted and buried her face back into her arms.

“Cruel and heartless? How am I cruel and heartless?”

“Am I wrong?” Xiao Qin’s muffled voice was transmitted from under her arms, “Who takes movie tickets gifted by their girlfriend and goes to invite other girls?!”

“Didn’t I tell you before to not mention that you’re my girlfriend at school?” I ruthlessly kicked the leg of the chair that Xiao Qin was sitting on, “Stop crying! If you keep making a scene, I won’t keep you as a secret girlfriend either!”

Xiao Qin had no choice but to return to her seat crestfallen.

She was slightly relieved after she heard that I invited a lot of people, and that it was not a date with the class leader.

“Why, why did you have to invite others?” Xiao Qin asked, “Can we not go together by ourselves?”

Going to see a movie alone with you? Stop dreaming! Once the lights in the theater shut off, you might try to do something to me! It would be too easy for you to grope me!

Although that is what I thought, I did not say it out loud. I should give a dignified reason.

“Hmph, it’s your own fault that you lost the chance to go to the movies alone with me!”

“Eh? Why is it me…. What did I do wrong!”

Xiao Qin’s expression showed that she felt wronged.

I said resolutely: “Looks like you don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘secret’ in ‘secret girlfriend’!”

Xiao Qin looked at me attentively and made an expression like she was waiting for an explanation to clear her confusion.

I shook my head like a professor giving a lecture, “Since you’ve decided to be my secret girlfriend, then you must not let another person know about our secret!”

“But, but Ai Mi already knows!”

Xiao Qin also directly calls Ai Mi’s name now. Well, she never showed any respect towards her celebrity status in the first place.

“Um… That was an accident!” I argued, “And I don’t think Ai Mi will publicize it! Just keep it a secret! If you tell anyone, I’ll end it with you!”

“Okay…” Xiao Qin wiped her tears and agreed unwillingly.

So, I arrived at the entrance of downtown’s Imperial theater at around 1:30 on Saturday afternoon. I saw Xiao Qin under a ginkgo tree looking left and right, and I was not sure how long she had waited.

She had a festive outfit, she was wearing a white skirt with a patterned design on the hem, and she also wore a pretty charming sunhat.

After she saw me, she had an expression like a dog welcoming their owner who they have not seen in a long time.

She jumped over and caught me off guard. She hugged onto my waist, stood on tiptoes, and kissed me on my neck.

“Hehehehe, a date with Ye Lin classmate~?”

“What are you doing?” I pushed her away in a hurry, “There are so many people watching!”

“Who cares! It’s not like we know them!” Xiao Qin retorted, “In my eyes, they are no different than, chickens, ducks, fish, or scallops! Are you saying we should keep the secret girlfriend a secret from chickens, ducks, fish, or scallops?”

“Uhhh….” I could not think of any rejections at the time. Xiao Qin saw many men and women holding arms as they entered and exited the theater, so she grabbed onto my arm tightly as if she was a child who was afraid of getting lost.

“Let go! Our classmates will be here soon!”

“No, I’m not letting go!! I’ve been waiting under the sun for 2 hours to only get 5 minutes of time with Ye Lin classmate. At least let me enjoy the 5 minutes in bliss!”

2 hours? We agreed to meet at 1:40, does this mean you came at 11 in the morning? What’s the point of coming that early! What if I wasn’t even the first person to arrive? If someone else came first, would you even have 5 extra minutes with me?

Xiao Qin held onto my arm with excitement and greed. She had intoxicated eyes under her sunhat, and I felt she was a bit pitiful.

She saw an uncle selling a bunch of Happy Goat and Wolfy balloons in front of the entrance of the theater. It was like a weightless tree growing towards the sky. (TN: Characters from this cartoon)

“I want a balloon, I want a balloon!” Xiao Qin acted like a spoiled child, “Buy me a balloon!”

Usually, I would not buy her a balloon. But since she was providing everyone with tickets and she waited for a long time, I reluctantly went to ask for the price of the balloons.

My pace became slower after Xiao Qin grabbed onto one of my arms.

“Happy Goat is ¥15, Wolfy is ¥20!”

The uncle who was selling balloons answered impatiently.

Why is the antagonist more expensive than the protagonist? Why does this scar-faced gray wolf cost the same as a meal!

The uncle had a face of despise: “How many kids come and watch movies at this time! They’re pretty much all couples! Only little kids like Happy Goat! Wolfy is the perfect model for men of the 21st century! Have you not heard that song? ‘Everyone should marry Wolfy’!”

It seems he was right. Out of the few girls who were holding balloons, most of it were Wolfy balloons.

“I, I want a Wolfy balloon too!” Xiao Qin said with courage. At the same time, she looked at me timidly. Seeing I did not get angry, she changed to a coquettish tone: “I want it, I want it~!!”

Although I brought my wallet, I usually have a habit of keeping change in my pockets. After feeling around, I realized I only had ¥15 in crumpled bills.

I thought it was a bother to take out my wallet, so I asked the uncle if he was willing to lower the price a bit for Wolfy.

The uncle snorted: “No haggling! There are a ton of people in front of the theater! Even if you don’t buy it, someone else will! Let me give you a piece of advice, you should be willing to spend money on your girlfriend! You might get dumped if you’re this cheap!”

Dumped? She should be lucky I’m not dumping her! You called me cheap, then let me show you cheap.

I pointed to a blue balloon without any designs and asked: “How much is this?”

The uncle rolled his eyes: “¥5, no haggling.”

I handed the uncle ¥5 and gave the small and monotonous balloon to Xiao Qin.

Xiao Qin grabbed the balloon and pouted with an unhappy expression.

But after walking a few steps with the balloon, she recovered her beaming smile.

“In any case, this is the first present you bought for me after I became your secret girlfriend! I’m going to bring it home and keep it as a family heirloom!”

Hey, hey, hey. Don’t you already have too many family heirlooms? Also, wouldn’t a balloon break regardless of how you keep it?! Are you satisfied even though I was a miser and bought you that cheap balloon? If that’s the case, how would I successfully execute my ‘womanizer’ plan? Looks like I have to be ruthless! I have decided! I will definitely pop the balloon today and make you cry!

I looked at my watch and it was already 1:40. The class leader and others were not here yet, did something happen?

Xiao Qin also realized the 5 minutes was longer than expected. She became more conceited after she realized the heavens were on her side.

She saw a bespectacled fat kid holding his father’s hand while happily licking a large roll of cotton candy.

“I want cotton candy, I want cotton candy!!” Xiao Qin yelled and pointed at the cotton candy in the fat kid’s hands. She didn’t take any consideration of her own status as a beauty.

The fat kid saw a well-dressed and beautiful older sister, and unexpectedly she had her sights set on his snack. Furthermore, there was a bad guy with a ferocious appearance next to her. It immediately scared him and caused him to hide the cotton candy behind his back, then he pointed at a nearby alley and said: “You… you can buy it over there…”

Once we walked to the alley, the fat kid breathed a sigh of relief as if he was relieved from a heavy burden.

It was also an uncle selling cotton candy, but this uncle was more friendly.

“Young man, want to buy some cotton candy? It’s only ¥5 for the white one.”

“I want pink, I want pink!” Xiao Qin stamped her feet and said, “It’s almost time! I want pink cotton candy!”

The uncle thought Xiao Qin was referring to the start of the movie, so to console her, he said: “Don’t worry, there’s still time, you want pink, right?”

Since you can eat cotton candy, it has more value to me than a useless balloon. In addition, you can’t keep cotton candy as a family heirloom, right?

That’s why I nodded my head and let the uncle give pink cotton candy to Xiao Qin.

It wasn’t long before Xiao Qin received a large bouquet of pink cotton candy with delight, and she began to eat deliciously.

I took out ¥5 and handed it to the uncle, but he said amicably: “Sorry young man, it’s ¥10 for pink cotton candy.”

“Huh? Is there a difference compared to the white one? Is the coloring that expensive?”

The uncle was not hurried: “There’s not much of a difference, it’s just that girls generally like pink. The coloring doesn’t cost much, but feelings are invaluable!”

Sure enough, there are no businesses that is not crafty or sly! But, it’s hard to get mad at the uncle who initially welcomed us with a smile. Also, it seemed Xiao Qin was in a good mood after I saw her licking at the cotton candy.

I can’t help it, so I took out the remaining ¥10 and handed it over. The uncle said “Thanks for your patronage.”, and the corners of his eyes were filled with cunning wrinkles.

Xiao Qin held a balloon in her left hand and cotton candy in her right. After she realized she did not have a third hand to hold me, she reclined against me as if I was a wall. I looked around impatiently and grumbled about why they were still not here.

The class leader arrived slowly with Shu Zhe after Xiao Qin had finished three-quarters of her cotton candy and she had strands of sugar all over her mouth.

The class leader told me with regret that something came up for Loud Mouth and Little Smart, so they would not be able to make it today.

As I was speaking to the class leader, Eunuch Cao arrived after frantically pushing his way through the crowd. The big black bag he was carrying on his shoulder was very suspicious, and I’m not sure what was inside.