Chapter 340: Sun Protection

(1)

An Jing clicked the mouse idly, flipping through her folders, hesitating over whether to replay some of the GALGAME titles she had already finished.

But she opened and closed them several times, and in the end just left Yosuga no Sora running, listening to the instrumental music on the title screen for a good while.

“I should have downloaded some other games before leaving.” An Jing rubbed her forehead with some frustration, “Maybe I’ll just go see if there’s a place nearby selling game discs? But this area doesn’t

seem to have anything like Dapeng Shopping Street……”

An Jing turned off the fan and pulled her wallet out of her suitcase.

She didn’t actually bring this thing out with her, because it usually held a whole bunch of Lucky Money, and taking it out meant it could easily get lost.

But half the year was already gone, and the Lucky Money she had received at New Year’s was just about spent.

She looked at the lonely one-hundred-yuan bill, then at the other loose change, and couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“I still need to be careful with my spending, yeah… I’ll just take twenty yuan, and see if there’s anything for sale……”

The blazing sun hung high in the afternoon sky, as if trying to heat every inch of this land.

Even the Stray Cat that loved basking in the sun had hidden itself under the wall, and the dappled Shade of the trees swayed gently amid the Cicada Sound, bringing a breeze that was still fairly cool.

She had just made it halfway down the Cement Stairs when she saw her Grandfather cooling off under the tree by the entrance with that big dog-like parrot.

Cai Qi was hopping around playfully, pecking at the ground every now and then, probably looking for bugs to eat—but the movement was so much like a Hen that it was hard not to

find it amusing.

“Grandfather!”

“Hungry? Or do you want something to drink? There’s Red Bean Soup in the fridge.” The Grandfather, who had been tending to the potted plants under the tree, looked up and said with a hearty smile.

“No, I’m heading out for a bit.” “What are you going to buy?”

“Just looking around. Uh…” An Jing scratched her cheek a little sheepishly, “There’s no internet upstairs, so I wanted to buy some discs to play games or watch movies.” “We have movie and TV show discs at home, though I don’t know if your computer can use them.”

“Then I’ll try them later~” An Jing sneakily patted Cai Qi’s head, and before the bird could react, took a few steps outside, “Grandfather, do you know where the nearest computer shop is around here?” “Computer shop nearby? Try walking over toward the Urban Village area, there are lots of shops there, and there should be a computer shop too.” “Okay, then I’ll head out through the Small Gate.” “Wait a moment.” The Grandfather straightened up and looked at An Jing, whose skin was so pale it seemed to reflect the sunlight, “Take an umbrella with you.”

“Why would I bring an umbrella on a Sunny Day?” An Jing looked confused, “It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain today either.”

“That’s exactly why you need an umbrella with such strong sun, otherwise won’t you get Tanning?”

“Huh?” An Jing was taken aback. She had never considered this before when going out, and even Zhu Ying didn’t seem to have the habit of using an umbrella on Sunny Days, “That’s not necessary, right? Physical Education Class

is always held on sunny days……”

“That’s different. You don’t have Physical Education Class during Summer Vacation. Look at this summer sun, it’s so harsh. Your fair skin is so nice to look at—it’d be such a shame to get Tanning, and getting it back is no easy task.” The Grandfather pointed at his own brown skin, “Your grandfather was fair-skinned when he was young too, but I got Tanning later. Your mother also got Tanning when she was little. When I told her about it, she wouldn’t listen, and then she came crying to me after she got Tanning.”

“Cough… I’m different from my Mother… I’m…” An Jing suddenly paused, swallowed the rest of her sentence, and looked at her Grandfather nervously, “Is it really going to get Tanning?” “If you don’t believe me, ask your mother then. That summer, she only spent one afternoon under the blazing sun, and her skin turned red, even peeling. It took two months before she turned white again.”

“Cough…”

“Hello, hello, hello.” The big parrot, moving like a Hen, hopped over to An Jing’s side and pecked at her thigh with its broad beak, as if getting revenge for

her earlier sneak attack, “Hello, hello—”

“Silly bird, go play somewhere else.”

“An Jing! You Are My Bird! You Are My Bird!”

Although the line came out of nowhere, it was probably being used as a way of scolding her.

An Jing gave it a sideways glance and patted its head again.

The latter flapped its wings indignantly and bumped into her twice, squawking in a voice that sounded very much like the Grandfather’s: “Little Sprout! Little Sprout! You Have a Problem!”

Clearly, the Grandfather who lived on the First Floor had been bothered plenty by the Little Kids around here, otherwise this creature wouldn’t have remembered that phrase used to scold children so well.

“Cai Qi, stop bullying An Jing.” The Grandfather called out to it, “Come here, I’ll feed you some Pine Nut.”

“Pine Nut, Delicious Pine Nut, Reward Reward, Pine Nut Pine Nut—” And so the big bird hopped right back over.

An Jing seriously suspected that this creature was smarter than every breed of Dog……

“An Jing, there’s a long-handled umbrella behind the door. That one blocks the sun and protects against Ultraviolet Rays.” The Grandfather fed a Pine Nut into Cai Qi’s mouth and said to her with a smile, “I’ll ask someone to

buy you a bottle of Sunscreen in the next couple of days. A friend of mine has a daughter who uses that kind, and it works very well.”

“There’s no need for Sunscreen……” An Jing stuck out her tongue, feeling a faint instinctive resistance in her heart, then quickly dashed to the front door of the First Floor, opened it, and took out the umbrella hanging by the entrance. This was an automatic umbrella. An Jing pressed a button, and it snapped open with a “whoosh.” But probably because the umbrella was too large, it actually dragged her forward a few stumbling steps, scaring her

so badly that she quickly grabbed it with her other hand to keep it from flying out of her grip.

“What a big umbrella.” An Jing looked up at the canopy and couldn’t help but remark. Moreover, the material was a bit too solid—it was so heavy she had to rest it on her shoulder, otherwise

she would get tired in no time.

“There’s also a smaller one, a foldable one. It should be upstairs. Why don’t you go up and look for it?”

“Forget it, too much trouble.” An Jing shook her head and hoisted the Sun Umbrella a bit higher, “Alright Grandfather, I’m heading out now!” “Don’t go too far, come back early.” “Just buying a disc, I’ll be quick!”

“Safe, travels!” Cai Qi also stretched its neck and squawked out in an almost proper manner.

Making it seem like An Jing was going on a long trip……

(=)

At the Three-Way Intersection of the Residential Area, a three-wheeled cart stall was set up.

An Jing remembered that this Grandmother was already here when she came during elementary school. She didn’t expect her to still be setting up her stall here, and she looked about the same as she did a few years ago, as if nothing had changed at all.

The stall sold toys that children liked, along with some school supplies needed for School.

From Red Scarf to pens, to Bamboo Dragonfly, Magnet, and Bubble Machine, they even had game cartridges for the GB Game Console.

And the most expensive thing she had on display appeared to be that Metal Toy Gun.

An Jing had asked about it once during elementary school, and the answer was fifty yuan.

For her back then, that was an astronomical number……

Back in the day, she came here mostly to buy those knockoff LEGO toys.

Each box was cheap, and there were many ways to play with them. If you bought enough, you could even combine them together.

Life moved forward, but many things in this Residential Area hadn’t changed at all—when time arrived here, it seemed to slow down all at once.

An Jing couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the three-wheeled cart stall. The variety seemed to have increased a bit, but they were just different styles—the categories remained the same.

The Grandmother tending the stall seemed to recognize her, lifting her head and smiling at her, which caught An Jing off guard and left her feeling a bit awkward, so she could only smile back.

Next to the three-wheeled cart stall was a shoe repair stand, but at this moment he wasn’t repairing shoes—he was fixing an umbrella. This was the first time An Jing learned that this Grandfather could actually repair umbrellas here.

The Stray Cats in the bushes had long since changed who knows how many generations, but their colors seemed to be the same as always. When she walked past, she heard a few soft meows, just like before.

Further ahead was the Elderly Activity Center, or you could basically call it a Mahjong Room.

Retired elderly people basically spent all day in there, from morning to night, and you could hear the sound of their Mahjong playing.

“Clatter clatter,” occasionally mixed with a few curses.

When An Jing couldn’t find her Grandfather at home, she would come here. The Grandmother who managed the activity room would even brew her tea and offer her Peanut Candy—although the tea was bitter, astringent, and

scalding hot, and the Peanut Candy was so hard she could barely bite into it, it still left a deep impression on her.

Thinking about it now, she actually felt a bit nostalgic.

Next to the activity room was a Small Grocery Store that also sold alcoholic beverages. Jars of liquor filled the shop, while the shelves held a sparse selection of common drinks, snacks, and instant noodles.

Not much stock, but this shop closed very late, so if you craved a late-night snack but didn’t want to leave the Residential Area, you could come here and buy something to take back.

Next to this shop was another Mahjong Room. The difference from the Elderly Activity Center was that this Mahjong Room had automatic Mahjong tables, and of course, that also meant… playing Mahjong here cost

money.

An Jing didn’t know the exact price, she had only heard about it from her Grandfather.

Along the roadside here, an entire row of tall Fir Trees was planted, each one as tall as a four or five-story building, but their leaves weren’t dense at all, and they couldn’t block the scorching summer sunlight at all. But

walking out from here, there was a large Open Space.

The ground was no longer cement, but paved with floor tiles.

But on rainy days, walking on these was a complete minefield—at least half of every ten tiles would squirt water up when stepped on.

On both sides of the Open Space were Basketball Hoops, but they had long been abandoned, the nets and rims both long gone—actually, An Jing had always doubted whether you could even play basketball on a place paved with

floor tiles like this?

Besides the Basketball Hoops, there was also a White Wall in the Open Space, already covered in cracks. Her Grandfather said that back in the day, when they had Film Screening, they would project it onto this wall, but clearly, after entering the new

era, it had been a very, very long time since anyone had used it.

As for what’s further ahead… that would be the Small Gate that you could only pass through on foot or by bike.

The Tailor Shop by the gate was still there, except now it had an extra cash register, and also sold Lottery tickets on the side—just then, someone walked in and asked for ten tickets at once.

An Jing tilted her head and watched for a moment, then continued walking to the right—that was the Urban Village area, which was where her Grandfather said there might be a computer shop.