After settling the matters on the message board, the three of them left the logistics port together.
On the roadside, Yang Xia told Qianling and Yang Mo that they just needed to wait here, and that she would call a ride for their return trip.
Qianling found this a bit unbelievable and asked her, “Since taking a taxi is so expensive, why not use public transportation? It’s not like there’s any urgent matter right now.”
Yang Xia pointed to Qianling’s chest and replied, “I can’t just let you keep wearing those dirty clothes, can I? We’d better take care of it quickly.”
“Big sister, you can be surprisingly gentle sometimes.”
Yang Mo interjected from the side.
As soon as those words came out, a faint blush crept across Yang Xia’s cheeks. She hurriedly retorted, “I’m not doing this for her! Walking around with someone covered in dust would embarrass me, too!”
“Oh~?”
Qianling deliberately dragged out the sound as she leaned closer to her. Yang Xia instantly turned her head away, glancing at Qianling out of the corner of her eye and saying,
“What are you trying to do by suddenly getting so close? If you keep fooling around, I’ll make you pay for the ride.”
“Alright, alright.”
Qianling clasped her hands behind her back and replied in a seemingly well-behaved manner.
After a while, a white sedan with a green label approached from the other end of the road.
Maybe because there were no other pedestrians around, the driver recognized the three of them as his passengers even from a distance after stopping, and waved to them.
Qianling suddenly spoke up, “If we used stealth magic here reasonably, couldn’t we get away with only paying for one person’s fare?”
As she spoke, she stroked her chin and stared at the sedan not far away. It was unclear whether she was consulting her sisters or just talking to herself.
But regardless, Yang Xia’s response wouldn’t change.
“‘Reasonably’, my foot. Get in the car and behave yourself.”
She lightly chopped Qianling on the head with a hand knife and then strode toward the car ahead.
Yang Mo stood by Qianling’s side, covering her mouth and giggling for a while before following Yang Xia together with Qianling.
The journey from here to Yang Mo’s house spanned the whole of Xinghu Town. Qianling had already noticed this on the way here.
However, the scenery she saw from above the town earlier was quite different from what she saw in the car.
As evening approached, the streetlights gradually lit up along the dusk-filled streets.
Qianling sat in the right rear seat, gazing out the window at the passing pedestrians and the dazzling variety of shops, all bustling with the warmth of everyday life.
The scenes felt so much closer than when she had seen them from above, as if she could touch them by simply reaching out her hand.
Is it because now, my distance from “ordinary life” is closer than before?
Besides the street scene reflected in the window, there was also Yang Mo’s reflection. She was also looking in the same direction as Qianling.
Noticing this, Qianling turned her head.
Yang Mo was startled at first, but then just smiled at her without saying a word.
Qianling had originally intended to ask her about it, but seeing her reaction, she decided to drop the matter.
Ah… Whatever, let her look as much as she likes.
Thinking that, Qianling rested her arm on the armrest to prop up her chin and continued to stare at the street scene outside, bored and absent-minded.
After they got home, Qianling immediately took off her maid outfit and changed into the “tomboy” style outfit she had bought earlier.
Baseball cap, baseball jacket, T-shirt, safety shorts, and a skirt.
She had only tried it on briefly before, but now, walking around Yang Mo’s room in it, Qianling realized how much more convenient it was for moving around.
Still, the maid outfit wasn’t so bad in this regard, either—after all, it was modeled after a Soviet school uniform and was much more practical than an ordinary skirt.
And maybe Yang Mo had been right all along.
That maid outfit really did fit Qianling perfectly.
Sitting in front of the vanity, Qianling felt that the reflection in the mirror now seemed to be missing something compared to before.
Sure enough… from now on, I should wear that outfit as much as possible.
She made up her mind.
After changing, she went downstairs and found Yang Xia and Yang Mo waiting for her at the door.
“Are you two going out for dinner?”
Yang Xia opened one hand and said, “Yeah. We’ll eat out and then see a movie. How about it, satisfied?”
“I’m satisfied, sure.”
But Qianling still had a question.
“If you want to see a movie after dinner, will you make it in time for the bus?”
Her question made Yang Xia sigh and clutch her forehead.
“Usually I’d want to save money, but since we’ve already spent so much on rides today, I might as well just give up… Forget the bus, it’s not worth it.”
Yang Xia’s tone was laced with resignation and a bit of gritted teeth—it was clearly a bitter decision for her.
“So that’s how it is…”
Qianling covered her chest and silently mourned for Yang Xia’s wallet.
But Yang Mo showed no sign of sympathy for Yang Xia. She pinched her chin, put on a thoughtful expression, and tilted her head as she asked,
“Huh? If this keeps up, will you still have enough saved up to buy your new phone?”
“Let’s go! It’s time to head out!”
Raising her voice to drown out Yang Mo, Yang Xia hurried the two out the door.
And so, the three of them arrived at a commercial plaza in the old part of town.
The walls of the shops surrounding the plaza were painted a layer of pinkish yellow, but over the years, some of the paint had peeled off, leaving black cracks.
The plaza’s floor was covered in grayish-white square tiles, but years of use had left them with black stains that wouldn’t scrub away.
At the far end of the plaza’s entrance, there was a roofed commercial street with only a handful of pedestrians.
According to Yang Mo, it used to be very lively here when she was little. Now, it was quiet partly because most of the foot traffic had moved to the new district, and partly because the night crowd hadn’t yet arrived.
Yang Xia, who was brought into the family from her mother’s remarriage, didn’t have these memories. She could only sigh together with Qianling, “So that’s how it used to be.”
They were going to one of the Chinese restaurants in the plaza, and the cinema was conveniently located on the second floor.
Yang Mo seemed a bit displeased about this.
“We’re eating Chinese food before a movie?”
“Well, what do you want? Do you remember you already had hot pot noodles for lunch?”
With that, Yang Xia ended the debate.
After a short wait, the dishes arrived.
They had crab roe tofu pudding, sizzling tofu, and chilled beef slices.
As usual, Qianling ignored the temperature and sent a piece of tofu straight into her mouth, only to be stopped by Yang Xia midway.
“I told you… can’t you ever learn?”
She spoke with a hint of exhaustion.
After the meal, it was finally time for the movie Qianling had been looking forward to.
Standing in the dimly lit cinema lobby, she couldn’t help but look around curiously.
Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve gone to a cinema since coming here.
As Qianling pondered, Yang Mo recalled the same and said to her, “Qianling, did you know? This is where the ‘movie’ was always meant to be shown.”
“Yeah, I know.” Qianling nodded and then added, “But it’s my first time coming in person.”
“I really hope we don’t end up picking a bad movie at a time like this…”
Hearing Yang Mo’s comment while collecting the tickets, Yang Xia immediately turned around and said, “Don’t jinx it! This movie has great ratings and word of mouth—there’s absolutely no problem.”
Really…?
Yang Xia’s certainty only made Qianling worry even more.
After all, in her previous life, there were plenty of movies with high ratings that ended up being utterly boring to watch.
With this nervous anticipation, Qianling followed the other two into the screening room.