August 25th.
A little over a week had passed in the blink of an eye.
Liu Changqing hadn’t expected Pokémon Red to take off the way it did. While its gaplay had so fresh ideas, it was nowhere near groundbreaking enough to warrant such a surge in popularity.
Later, he found out that the son of a well-known director had showcased the ga on a variety show.
During the show, the director’s son had featured Pokémon as one of his top recomndations, saying that he was tired of mainstream gas and had stumbled upon this hidden gem from a small ga studio while looking for sothing different.
With the boost from television exposure, the previously unnoticed Pokémon saw a sudden spike in sales, prompting an additional order of 200,000 copies.
By then, both versions of the ga had nearly sold out, with each selling close to 200,000 units. The only remaining stock was due to the hype gradually fading, leading to a decline in purchases.
Still, Pokémon had definitely made a na for itself.
When Feng Qian first told him about this, Liu Changqing was shocked.
At first, he thought this was the work of Chen Dafu, the rich boy with too much ti on his hands, pulling so strings to get a spot on the show for promotional purposes.
But after calling to confirm, he found out that wasn’t the case at all.
Everything had happened so suddenly that Liu Changqing felt as if fate itself had smiled upon him.
As he stared at the numbers in his bank account, he could barely hold back a laugh. He pointed at the screen and counted the digits over and over again, unable to believe his eyes.
Sitting in the sa room, An Yuanyao kept glancing at him, puzzled by how unusually happy he seed.
After a mont, she seed to think of sothing. She looked out the window, then back at Liu Changqing, setting down what she was holding before hesitantly asking,
"Zhiyue… has school started?"
"Yeah, classes started yesterday. The Rocket Class starts earlier than the regular ones."
Liu Changqing answered without even looking up.
After double-checking that the number on his account hadn’t suddenly decreased, he finally put his phone away. The uncontrollable joy on his face faded as he composed himself, then turned to An Yuanyao.
"Why do you ask?"
"Nothing, really. Just feeling a little bored…"
"Bored? Yeah, I guess things have slowed down a bit lately."
Liu Changqing paused for a mont before sighing, but then he fell silent again.
Seeing that he wasn’t continuing the conversation, An Yuanyao started getting anxious.
She decided to drop another hint.
"The weather’s really nice today."
"True, the sun is shining, the sky is clear, and the only downside is the heat. Other than that, it’s a beautiful day."
"…"
She clenched her hands slightly before slowly loosening them again.
Recalling Liu Changqing’s usual obliviousness, she realized he genuinely hadn’t picked up on what she was implying.
Even though she felt embarrassed…
After hesitating for a long ti, An Yuanyao finally took a deep breath, steeled herself, and looked him straight in the eye as she spoke.
"Since the weather is nice… how about we go shopping?"
"You trying to kill ?"
Liu Changqing’s expression darkened as his brain quickly processed the request.
Shopping was the thing he hated most in the world.
Especially shopping with won.
The trauma from his past experiences shopping with his mother still haunted him. The endless cycle of store after store, trying on outfit after outfit, standing in front of the mirror like a living mannequin…
And the worst part?
After all that, she wouldn’t even buy anything! She’d just go to another store and start the whole process over again.
An Yuanyao was montarily stunned by his response. She didn’t understand what he ant at first.
But after spending so much ti around him, she had sowhat adapted to his way of speaking. Still, she wasn’t entirely sure.
So she asked tentatively, "You… hate shopping?"
"I hate shopping more than anything."
"But… I noticed you only have about two or three outfits to rotate through lately. I was thinking of picking out a few new ones for you…"
"You want to pick clothes for ?"
Liu Changqing was briefly taken aback before the realization hit him.
"Wait, you’re not shopping for yourself? You want to pick out clothes for ?"
"I already bought my clothes. I don’t need any more for now."
"…"
Hearing that, Liu Changqing fell into deep thought.
He never placed much importance on clothing. As long as sothing covered his body, it was fine. Plus, with the hot weather, his clothes dried quickly after washing, so he never felt like he needed more.
But now that An Yuanyao ntioned it… he did feel like his wardrobe was lacking.
Because of his weight loss, his old clothes were starting to look baggy on him, making him appear sowhat sloppy.
After thinking it over, Liu Changqing nodded.
"Alright, let’s go now."
"Huh?"
"We should hurry. The key to shopping is speed and efficiency!"
He stood up, tilted his head toward the door, and motioned for her to follow.
"Co on, let’s go."
An Yuanyao stared at him, dumbfounded.
She still couldn’t quite figure out how his brain worked…
As the two of them left, the room fell silent again.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Liu Xiazhi ran inside, grinning as she held up a drawing.
"Dad, I just drew a picture of you—huh? Where’s Dad?"
She froze in the doorway, looking around the empty room. Slowly, her expression turned to disappointnt.
She stomped her little foot in frustration.
"Dad’s so an! He went out to have fun without again!"
"That’ll be sixteen yuan!"
Lan Yixian smiled as she handed a plastic bag to the custor in front of her.
The custor placed the money on the glass counter, took the bag, and left.
Business had been getting worse lately.
That was sothing Lan Yixian had noticed.
It was probably because of the new bakery that had opened nearby. More and more people were opting for Western-style cakes instead of traditional Chinese pastries.
Over the past two weeks, she had been taking ho more unsold pastries than ever before.
As evening approached, she was about to head to the back kitchen to prepare for the next day when she spotted the shop’s owner.
The owner, a woman in her fifties, usually greeted custors with a warm smile. But today, her expression was noticeably grim.
Noticing Lan Yixian, she waved her over.
Confused, Lan Yixian approached.
Before she could ask anything, the owner spoke first.
Her voice carried a trace of disappointnt.
"By the end of the month… I’ll be closing the shop. It’s already been sold off."
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