The flow of time feels like a tram stop at rush hour, slow and frustrating.
Although there is air conditioning in the venue, it is basically non-existent. Tens of thousands of people are crowded together in one place, and the walking passages are very narrow. In addition, you are rubbing shoulders with sweating people, and it feels like you are in a sauna for a while.
.
"……So hot."
"If you keep shouting like this, it will only get hotter. Have you ever heard of the saying that a calm mind will naturally cool down?"
"It's so cliché, that kind of thinking is just self-comfort."
Carefully maintaining a distance between herself and the strange male in front of her, Eiri turned her head, then silently stretched out a hand and waved it up and down in front of Yusuke.
"Give me."
"?"
Although she was a little confused, Kato Yusuke still gave her one of the shopping bags in his hand.
"...Uh wow!?"
The slender arm suddenly sank, seemingly completely unprepared.
"Idiot, what are you doing!?"
"Didn't you tell me this yourself?"
"wrong--!"
The girl pushed the paper bag back to him with a bang and said angrily: "Lemon tea, black tea, or any other drink, hurry up and use your trick to make some cold drinks."
After hearing this, Yusuke Kato couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, and sent out a set of denials of "no", "impossible", and "give up".
Then the other party's expression immediately fell down, and he sighed "Haaah...": "It really doesn't work...it's rare that I have expectations for you."
"——No, your fantasy is not called expectation but unrealistic."
"Well…………"
Looking at the languid girl in front of him, Kato Yusuke sighed and said: "Anyway, it's not a magic trick, and I can't conjure up a cold drink, but if you want a drink, I can go to the vending machine and buy it for you.
"
Yinglili shook her head at this, "Forget it, the drinks in the vending machines are probably warm in this weather, I don't want to drink like that."
"How about giving up? After all, you have bought so many things."
"Don't say stupid things. Now that we are all here, how can we give up so easily?"
His tone was full of decisiveness.
"Speaking of which, I remember..."
The girl came over as if she had remembered something, and began to rummage through the shopping bag in his hand.
Despite being in this environment, a scent of lily that was different from the smell of sweat still floated over clearly, irritating the nasal cavity.
"Yeah~~ I found it. Fortunately, I brought it with me." Yinglili said, holding a mini fan in her hand, and then immediately put it to use.
Click, click, buzz, buzz.
"It's so cool...uh, not so cool...?"
Seeing the other party's process from excitement to disappointment, Kato Yusuke then said: "After all, it's so hot here, there's nothing we can do about it."
At this time——
A loud voice with a slightly higher pitch came from the front of the queue.
"Wait a minute, what's your relationship with him!?"
What followed was another slightly shrill voice.
"Haha!? This is what I should ask, right? Who do you belong to Fumio!"
The former also responded without hesitation: "Of course I am Wenxiong's girlfriend! As for you, woman, get away from him quickly!"
The latter's voice became high-pitched due to anger, "Stop joking! We have been dating for more than three months, and I have never heard of such a thing! Right, Fumio?"
"Well... Anyway, you two should calm down for a moment, okay?" A somewhat cynical young man's voice came from the front, but unfortunately it had no effect... or in other words, it had the opposite effect.
"How can you be calm!!?" The two women said in unison, obviously unable to accept the young man's attempt to fool around.
So they pressed further.
"What is the relationship between you and this woman? You must give me an explanation now!"
"Compared to her, I am your real girlfriend, right? Wenxiong!"
The sudden intensification of the rape scene caused some commotion in the crowd, and even those who were just passing by couldn't help but stop and gather their surprised eyes.
Kato Yusuke couldn't help but lower his head and look at the girl in front of him, who also looked back. There was a touch of pride on that exquisite face that couldn't hide its beauty, as if saying "Look, I said it right?"
'Although I'm right, won't this affect your buying a book?' He couldn't help but secretly thought in his heart.
The development of the situation did not surprise him...
"Sorry everyone, I have to leave for a while. Those who want to buy the book, please do it yourself! But remember to leave the money in the box on the table. I will come back to collect it then!"
The next second——
Patta patta.
A tall and thin young man dressed as a ruffian rushed out from the front of the queue, then quickly ran towards the outside of the venue and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
"Ah, he ran away!"
"Hurry up and catch up!!"
Thumb, cluck, cluck.
The two women who looked like college students were a little late, but still hurriedly chased the young man in the direction he left.
The rest of the crowd looked at me and me at a loss for a moment.
There was silence for tens of seconds.
Taking advantage of this period of time, Kato Yusuke suddenly called the girl's name softly.
"Hey, Yinglili."
"What's wrong?"
Facing the other party's gaze, he said thoughtfully: "Just in case, let me ask first, do you have to get this book?"
Eiriri responded without hesitation: "Of course. You must know that Sagano Fumio's notebooks are always printed in small quantities and are not entrusted to stores for consignment. They are often displayed in glass cabinets in second-hand stores. If you miss it now
If it does, it will be difficult to buy it later.”
"——Is this so..."
Kato Yusuke nodded slightly as if understanding, and then said in a warning tone: "Then I will try my best to help you later. If anything happens, remember to follow me."
"Huh...? What does that mean?"
"Anyway, let's wait in line and watch before we talk."
It just so happened that people recovered at this time.
Even though there were no community representatives at the booth, everyone continued the process of paying and buying books in silence.
As the team gradually moved forward, the scene at the stall also came into their eyes.
"Well... I should be able to buy it!" Yinglili said after counting the remaining number of notebooks on the table, clenching her fists slightly and feeling relaxed.
At this moment, another argument suddenly broke out in front.
"Hey, you took too much! Didn't it say there is a limit of two copies per person??"
"That's a long way to go. Anyway, the stall owner is not here right now. I just need to pay the money properly. Besides, they didn't entrust the bookstore to sell them on consignment. Once these things are resold, they will cost a lot of money!"
After speaking, a man walked away with more than ten notebooks in his arms, but the damage he caused did not end there.
Human beings have always been a kind of creature that is not worried about scarcity but inequality. If everyone can abide by the order, then in the end even if someone can't buy the book, they won't say much.
But when order is broken and their own interests are harmed, few people can remain indifferent.
After a brief silence.
"Damn it, I want to do this too...!" Even the young man who originally tried to stop the man before bought 4 copies.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
6 books, 8 books, 10 books... As the number of books on the desktop decreases rapidly.
Immediately afterwards——
"How could I be snatched away by you all!?"
A figure suddenly jumped out from behind and rushed to the front of the team.
It was as if some kind of switch had been pressed.
The crowd was stunned at first, and then "coaxed" for a moment...
"Give me a copy!"
"I also want!"
"You greedy bastards, enough is enough!"
"Hey! Don't squeeze-!!"
Regardless of whether there was a team or not, people shouted and joined in the snatching, and passed the two people in an instant.
The situation was officially declared out of control.
Pushing, crowding, fighting...a lot of physical collisions began to take place.
"Yu, Yusuke...!"
The girl in front of me turned around, "What, what should I do...?"
One hand unconsciously pinched the corner of his clothes, and his soft voice trembled slightly.
"That's probably a look that contains fear, uneasiness, disgust and faint hope at the same time." - Kato Yusuke thought as he looked into the other person's eyes.
"It doesn't matter, I will help you." He said this, his voice was gentle and firm, with a strange power to calm people's hearts.
"But, but what to do...!" Yinglili said anxiously, looking at the crowded stall.
"Just stand back and wait for me. Get your things first."
The young man who put down his shopping bag stepped forward. He seemed to think of something and turned around and asked, "How many copies of Fumio Sagano's notebook do you want?"
Her tone was as normal as if she could buy any number of books, which made Yinglili want to say something scolding, but finally she took a deep breath and said.
"Just one copy... would be great!"
"——Understood." The young man smiled and nodded, giving an "OK" gesture.
The uneasy mood was blown away by the gentle strong wind and flew to the distant sea.
As she watched, it seemed as if no one could stop that figure. The solid barrier composed of the crowd seemed to turn into a light curtain of water in the hands of the young man. With just a slight push, a path led to
The central road appears at your feet.
It wasn't until he passed that it returned to its original state.
There was a commotion of "Ouch", "Wait a minute", "Stop pushing" from the crowd, and it expanded outward like a balloon, and then quickly died down.
after awhile.
When Kato Yusuke, who had been standing aside from the crowd, appeared in his eyes again, he already had a book in his hand with a cover of a cute girl in a floral dress.
The tall figure shuttled through the crowded crowd against the light, and gradually overlapped with the sun, illuminating the girl's delicate face with a smile.