Orange Storm chapter 21
Basketball Arcade…
As Fang Xing boarded the car, he kept wondering where Jiang Zhijin would take him.
It must be some kind of secret base or a place only he knew about. A place to be alone when feeling down, away from the world…
Fang Xing knew that Jiang Zhijin had noticed that he was not in a good mood. It was quite obvious.
So, when Jiang Zhijin drove the car to the shopping mall in the city center and took Fang Xing to the sixth floor, Fang Xing felt a significant psychological gap.
The sixth floor was a huge arcade, with colorful lights from various machines, constantly flickering. The music from the machines intertwined, creating a noisy atmosphere. It was Saturday, and the place was crowded, mostly with students and couples.
Fang Xing hesitated at the entrance. Jiang Zhijin, beside him, glanced at him and said, “Have you been to an arcade before?”
“…Yes,” Fang Xing replied. He watched as Jiang Zhijin scanned a code to pay for tokens, and after a few seconds, a pile of game tokens clattered into the coin slot.
“I thought top students don’t play video games,” Jiang Zhijin commented.
“…,” Fang Xing nodded, “Yes, top students usually don’t eat or sleep either. They spend twenty-five hours a day doing homework.”
Jiang Zhijin laughed for a while before saying, “So, what do you usually play?”
“Basketball arcade,” Fang Xing thought for a moment and replied.
Jiang Zhijin stared at him and suddenly burst into laughter. He laughed brightly, as if barely able to contain himself. After a while, he cleared his throat and said, “Be civilized, Fang Xing.”
Fang Xing immediately understood and felt extremely speechless. He thought the guy in front of him was really asking for a beating.
“Basketball… arcade,” Fang Xing repeated, emphasizing each word.
“Oh,” Jiang Zhijin nodded, still smiling, “Let’s start with that then.”
The basketball arcade machines were located in a corner of the arcade, five facing five. There were not many people around, with only three or four machines in use. Fang Xing tried a shot—it was light and not easy to get the feel, but it was just a game, and one couldn’t expect too much.
Jiang Zhijin handed a box of tokens to him, watched him play for a while, and then tried three shots on the machine next to him. The basketball arcade buzzed, and the lights flashed.
Fang Xing started first, and when the three minutes were up, the machine automatically stopped. The score displayed on the scoreboard was 272 points.
He glanced at the score and then turned to look at Jiang Zhijin.
Jiang Zhijin played after him, still some time left. Fang Xing checked the score, temporarily showing 170.
Clang. One shot went in, 172 points.
Another shot, 174 points.
176, 178, 180… Fang Xing stared at the scoreboard for a while, then shifted his gaze to Jiang Zhijin.
Jiang Zhijin’s shooting posture was casual, standing in place without bending his knees, probably to avoid dirtying his clothes. The sleeves of his gray hoodie were pulled up to his wrists, ready to catch the ball when it rolled down and casually throwing it into the basket.
Even so, his shooting accuracy remained high. At the end of three minutes, Jiang Zhijin scored 266 points.
Jiang Zhijin stretched his wrist and turned to meet Fang Xing’s eyes.
He raised an eyebrow slightly. “What, want to compete?”
Originally, Fang Xing didn’t have this idea, but Jiang Zhijin’s words suddenly sparked his interest.
“How do we compete?”
“Same time, see who can score the most baskets.”
“Sure,” Fang Xing agreed. “Is there any benefit to winning?”
“Let’s be fair. I bought the game tokens.”
“Are you afraid of losing?” Fang Xing asked.
“…Tsk,” Jiang Zhijin looked at him, couldn’t help but laugh, “Have you ever realized how annoying you can be sometimes?”
“I have,” Fang Xing picked up three game tokens and shook them at Jiang Zhijin.
“So, are you playing?”
Jiang Zhijin also picked up three tokens and threw them into the machine one by one. “Whoever loses will do the cleanup.”
Fang Xing didn’t say anything and picked up the ball.
The two adjacent basketball arcade machines started playing music almost simultaneously. Jiang Zhijin and Fang Xing both picked up a ball and began shooting.
The sound of basketballs hitting the basket mixed with the music, creating a lively atmosphere. Jiang Zhijin remained casual, multitasking, shooting while keeping an eye on Fang Xing.
Fang Xing’s expression remained unchanged, but his eyes were focused. His lips were slightly pursed, showing a serious attitude. His shooting speed was fast and accurate, with almost no misses. Because of the sideways view, his well-defined jawline and the obvious lines of his neck were exposed. His hair seemed a bit longer, giving him a somewhat sharp appearance.
Seventeen years old, unwilling to admit defeat and full of youthful spirit.
Jiang Zhijin smiled, took back his gaze.
Fang Xing did not perceive Jiang Zhijin’s actions. All his attention was focused on the basketball arcade machine in front of him. When the time was up, he stopped, and the scoreboard showed 280 points.
He immediately turned to look at Jiang Zhijin, whose machine had also stopped, displaying 270 points.
Jiang Zhijin also saw it and tossed the basketball into the machine, laughing, “Pretty impressive.”
Fang Xing took a deep breath and suddenly felt quite satisfied.
Although continuous three minutes of non-stop shooting, maintaining accuracy and speed, had made his hands a bit sore, the frustration and unease brought by Fang Chenglin’s sudden appearance had suddenly dissipated. More importantly, winning against Jiang Zhijin in this matter made him feel quite pleased.
Maybe it was because this guy always called him Xiao Xing, Fang Xing student, underage senior high school student… and now he suddenly surpassed him in something, giving him a sense of satisfaction—although it was just playing the basketball arcade.
Jiang Zhijin looked down; there were still plenty of game tokens.
“Let’s play something else,” Jiang Zhijin said. “How about something where I can crush you technically, dare you?”
“What?” Fang Xing asked.
Claw machines.
The game Jiang Zhijin referred to as “technically crushing Fang Xing” was the claw machine.
Probably to cater to the market, the largest area in this arcade was dedicated to claw machines. Fang Xing stood between a group of high school students, little girls, and numerous couples, looking at Jiang Zhijin with wide eyes, momentarily speechless.
In the brief eye contact, Jiang Zhijin spoke first, “What’s with that expression?”
“It’s just…,” there were quite a few people around, so Fang Xing lowered his voice and asked, “Do we have to play the claw machine?”
“What’s wrong with playing the claw machine? Do you know why I brought you here?”
He looked at Fang Xing, his mouth curved into a smile. “I’ve been to every arcade in Shaojiang. This one has the highest success rate for claw machines.”
“…So you’re quite adventurous.”
Jiang Zhijin didn’t say anything, randomly picked a claw machine, and inserted two tokens. The music played, and the claw machine started.
Fang Xing couldn’t see anything special about Jiang Zhijin’s actions. He moved the joystick a couple of times and finally pressed the button. The claw inside wobbled down, grabbed a plush dog, lifted it to the exit, and suddenly let go—
Damn, that’s impressive.
Fang Xing watched as Jiang Zhijin squatted down, took the plush dog from the guardrail, and handed it to him.
“Here, take it.”
Next, he watched as Jiang Zhijin endlessly cycled through the process of inserting coins, grabbing dolls, holding dolls, and then moving on to another machine to insert coins again. Almost every time, it was two coins for one grab, with a maximum of two grabs, using four coins at most. People around them gathered to watch their actions, mixed with exclamations and discussions. In the end, it had escalated to the point where, with each doll Jiang Zhijin successfully grabbed, some onlookers started applauding automatically.
From initially being speechless, Fang Xing progressed to being shocked to the point of speechlessness. In a daze, he felt a bit like he was following Jiang Zhijin in a conquest — albeit conquering the arcade claw machines.
When Jiang Zhijin finally grabbed a Mickey Mouse doll, he held it in his hand and shook it in front of the onlookers.
“Thanks, everyone. The last one, no more coins.”
The crowd laughed and dispersed. One guy even shouted, “Awesome.”
Jiang Zhijin looked at Fang Xing. “Is it awesome?”
“Awesome.” Fang Xing sincerely replied. “It’s impressive that the owner hasn’t banned you yet.”
“That’s why I don’t come here often. I’m afraid they’ll remember my face and put up my photo at the entrance.” Jiang Zhijin laughed and handed the Mickey Mouse doll to Fang Xing. “How many?”
33 dolls.
In total, Jiang Zhijin had grabbed 33 dolls. Fang Xing couldn’t carry any more, so they just hooked the strings of the dolls together. Even so, walking in the crowd looked quite spectacular. Jiang Zhijin signaled towards the service counter.
“Let’s exchange for a big one.”
Thirty small toys could be exchanged for one large toy. The two of them handed all 33 dolls to the staff. There were many large toys behind the counter, and Fang Xing looked at Jiang Zhijin. “Which one should we get?”
“Doesn’t matter, pick one you like.”
In the end, Fang Xing chose a round and chubby green dinosaur plush because it felt soft and comfortable.
By the time they left the arcade, it was already six o’clock. Jiang Zhijin asked Fang Xing, “What do you want to eat?”
“Anything.” Fang Xing glanced at the GG Hotpot near the stairs. “Hotpot.”
Upstairs from the arcade was Haidilao Hot Pot. Since they didn’t feel like going elsewhere, they went straight upstairs, took a number, and coincidentally got a vacant two-person table.
They were led to their seats, and the two of them ordered two pots with a variety of ingredients, mostly meat. The waiter bent down, listened attentively, and then brought lemon water for them.
When the waiter finally left for a while, Fang Xing let out a sigh of relief.
“Is it necessary?” Jiang Zhijin couldn’t help but laugh.
“Too enthusiastic.” Fang Xing took a sip of water. The dinosaur he brought in earlier had attracted some attention, and the waiter even genuinely complimented, “So cute.”
Jiang Zhijin said, “I’ll tell the waiter later that you ranked first in the grade, so I brought you here to celebrate. Maybe they’ll sing beside you, hand in hand.”
“Then I’ll definitely beat you up.” Fang Xing replied.
Jiang Zhijin laughed delightedly and said after a while, “You’ve grown up, talking to elders like this.”
Fang Xing also smiled. “Are you an elder?”
“Then what am I?” Jiang Zhijin asked.
Temporary guardian, uncle, brother… Fang Xing thought for a while. By the time the waiters started serving the dishes, he looked at Jiang Zhijin through the rising steam of the hotpot and answered, “A friend.”
This term wasn’t quite accurate, Fang Xing thought. Because Jiang Zhijin seemed different from childhood friends like Qi Xiang and classmates like Xu Hang. It was a friend who spent every day together, shared the same apartment, had some distance, and yet was a bit intimate.
After hearing this, Jiang Zhijin smiled across from him.
“Alright, let’s eat.”
The days were getting darker in late autumn, and after finishing the meal, they went to the supermarket to buy some things. By the time they drove back home, the sky was completely dark. Jiang Zhijin went to take a shower first, and Fang Xing took the initiative to put away the snacks and the next day’s vegetables in the kitchen.
When he also finished showering and came out, Jiang Zhijin was leaning on the living room sofa watching a movie, with a can of beer in front of him. Fang Xing asked, “Aren’t you going to Cloud Seven tonight?”
“Not tonight. Tired, too lazy.”
Fang Xing nodded and added, “Thanks for helping me with the parent-teacher meeting.”
“No problem.” Jiang Zhijin glanced at him and finally said, “Actually, your dad really wanted to attend the parent-teacher meeting for you.”
Fang Xing stopped drying his hair. Jiang Zhijin picked up the beer can, took a sip, and continued speaking.
“He mentioned that he hasn’t seen you for a long time and seemed… quite sincere. But I didn’t know if you were willing to let him come, so I didn’t agree. If it’s not suitable—”
“No.” Fang Xing interrupted him. “It’s fine. Thank you.”
Jiang Zhijin nodded without continuing. He just patted the sofa. “Wanna sit?”
Fang Xing had actually planned to finish showering and then work on two sets of exercises, English and chemistry, as he felt he hadn’t met his own expectations in these two subjects. However, he hesitated for a moment and walked over to sit next to Jiang Zhijin.
The living room only had the wall lamp on. A foreign film was playing on the TV, seemingly in Russian. Jiang Zhijin took a sip of beer and cleared his throat.
“Where is your doll?”
“… In the bedroom.” Fang Xing didn’t expect Jiang Zhijin to suddenly ask about this. “I just put it in there.”
“Oh.” Jiang Zhijin nodded. The beer in his hand had just been taken out of the refrigerator, and it felt a bit cold when held.
“I don’t know what to talk about with your parents. In my opinion, as long as it’s not something extremely serious or dangerous, like fighting, skipping classes, or falling in love—”
Fang Xing couldn’t help but interrupt him. “Is falling in love considered something extremely serious?”
“…I just casually used it as an example.” Jiang Zhijin sighed. “Don’t interrupt me.”
Fang Xing smiled and stopped talking. Jiang Zhijin continued, “Anyway, handle your own affairs. I think many things are your private matters, and you don’t need me to consider whether to tell someone. After all, you will turn eighteen soon, and you don’t need others to make decisions for you.”
Fang Xing listened quite seriously, tilted his head to look at Jiang Zhijin for a long time, and finally looked away, chuckling.
Perhaps it was because for the first time, someone discussed respect face-to-face with him, or maybe it was because of the sudden arrival of Fang Chenglin today that made him suddenly have a bit of a desire to confide.
In the background noise of the movie, Fang Xing slowly spoke up.
“I transferred schools because of my dad.”