You Call This Lively Nighttime Cultural Exchange?
When the music in the small square reached its climax, it suddenly emitted static, and the two large speakers stopped working.
The elderly folks, who were engrossed in their conversation, stopped in their tracks. Auntie Wang ran behind the speaker, patted the plastic casing, and sighed anxiously.
"Oh dear, it must be that the old battery's connector is old and making poor contact again..."
Tasha, standing in the crowd, blinked and stepped forward.
"Auntie Wang, I've learned a little appliance repair, let me give it a try!"
Seeing that the old lady agreed, the Black girl squatted down and pointed her index finger at the damaged joint of the rubber insulation.
A fleeting blue-white glint flashed at my fingertips.
She controlled a bio-current of twelve volts and five amps to be injected into the energy storage capacitor inside the speaker, smoothing out the disordered circuit impedance.
The cheerful and melodious singing once again resounded throughout the small square, its sound quality even clearer and fuller than before.
"Wow! This girl's cooking is really good! You're Awakened, aren't you?"
"Our country owes a lot to your help in its development. I even caught a glimpse of that Storm before!"
"That girl is amazing! I heard that many drought-stricken and water-scarce areas across the country are lining up to have her do artificial rainmaking!"
Auntie Wang was overjoyed. She grabbed two large handfuls of roasted peanuts, melon seeds, and tangerines from her cloth bag and stuffed them into Tasha and Sofia's pockets without saying a word.
"Come on, listen to me, use these to shut your mouth! These tangerines are pure sweet with no residue, don't be shy, eat as much as you want!"
The seven or eight elderly women next to them, afraid of falling behind, all took out their own supplies.
There were White Rabbit milk candy, Ruoqiang red dates, hand-shredded beef jerky, and one old lady even stuffed two hot tea eggs into her mouth.
In no time at all, they had filled the pockets of the three young men to the brim.
Tasha, holding a large handful of oranges and peanuts, looked at the kind smiles on the faces of the elderly women around her, and her eyes inexplicably welled up with tears.
This kind of kindness was something she wouldn't even dare to dream of in Detroit.
Sing Sing stood under the streetlight, watching the joyful scene in the square, and happily lit a cigarette.
The plan is a success!
Excellent, excellent, Ling Lingwu's plan was executed perfectly.
The actors' performances were so convincing, they delivered a powerful, heartwarming dose of Chinese street life to these young people returning from their overseas wanderings. Their integration was incredibly fast.
Beside her, Illyana completely abandoned the aloofness of the Lord of Hell, tightly hugging the large white goose plush toy, her chin sinking deeply into the soft fur, her eyes glazed over.
"Stephen, this long-necked prey has very evenly packed feathers; holding it can effectively relieve spinal fatigue."
"I've decided to officially designate it as the guardian beast of our Sunshine Dormitory No. 2."
"Okay, if you say it's a mythical beast, then it's a mythical beast."
Looking at the girl who had half her face buried in the white goose down, Sing Sing casually helped her pull up her hood.
"Let's gather everyone together, it's time to go home!"
Li Qianhuan nodded and set off on her skateboard to find her compatriots.
Before long, Chan Ka-kui and Li Hongqi also dragged Deadpool over. Deadpool's face was covered in bumps; he had taken quite a few Iron Fist Justice in the car earlier.
Just as the group of about twenty people walked in a grand procession to a sycamore tree, a ripple suddenly appeared beside them.
Wandering Girl, sporting dark circles under her eyes, appeared after finishing overtime work and buying a late-night snack. This key member of the Space Department had a straw in her mouth and a DSLR camera issued by the Publicity Department of the Bureau hanging around her neck.
Upon seeing this strange group in front of her, Edith's previously sleepy eyes lit up.
Walking at the front, Sing Sing carried a brightly colored plastic bag, looking exactly like a middleman returning from a wholesale market.
The Hell Lord, Magik, is wearing a plush hoodie and has a large white goose doll choked in his throat, Li Qianhuan is blowing pink bubblegum and riding a skateboard.
Cornerstone Marcus was beaming with joy, clutching ten pounds of tangerines, while the aloof assassin Lin Xiaoyu sported a pair of glowing rabbit ears on her head...
The weariness and wariness on everyone's faces had long since vanished, replaced by silly grins thoroughly marinated in carbohydrates and human warmth.
Without saying a word, the Wandering Girl raised the camera on her chest, aimed it at the crowd, and pressed the shutter, the flash illuminating the night with a white light.
"Hey Blue Elf, what are you doing? Taking pictures of my portrait without my permission costs five dollars in copyright fees!"
Sing Sing covered his eyes with his hand, then walked forward, laughing and scolding.
"The publicity department asked me to collect materials about our daily spirit and outlook; they need to be posted on the bulletin board next week!"
Edith chuckled, glanced at the family portrait brimming with the warmth of everyday life, and patted the camera lens with satisfaction.
"This composition is fantastic! How about we title it 'Director of the Overseas Talent Recruitment Office and His Kindergarten Class'? I'm sure I'll win the bureau's Best Photography Award this year!"
The group joked and played around all the way back to the dormitory area.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Jacqueline standing barefoot under the pomegranate tree.
She was wearing only a sports vest on her upper body and was holding a jacket with a zipper that had burst open.
At this moment, the man, who had switched to a female account, was completely blushing.
"Fuck! Fuck! I just did two sets of chest expansion stretches out of habit!"
"That damn zipper just popped open!"
"How can someone engage in close combat with two four-pound lumps of meat hanging in front of them?!"
The Gambit sitting next to me, drinking beer and smoking, was laughing so hard he was almost crying.
"My good bro, I'll make you change into normal women's clothes this afternoon!"
"I even offered to sponsor you to buy a plus-size sports bra, but you wouldn't listen!"
"If you insist on getting your clothes from logistics in the old men's size, the zipper won't just burst open and blind me—that's a testament to its quality!"
"Shut up, Remy! If you laugh again, I'll shove a deck of cards up your nose right now!"
Deadpool had just been released by Li Hongqi, saw this scene as soon as he entered the courtyard.
This guy's thought process has always been teetering on the edge of self-destruction, completely forgetting the painful lesson he learned from being kicked away before.
He tiptoed closer and blew a lewd whistle.
"Wow, look at those tanned back muscles, and look at that cleavage that could trap a mosquito!"
"Jacqueline, my darling, you actually look even more wildly beautiful without your coat!"
"Remember what I said last time? Your Wade offer his warm embrace to help you carry your burdens for free!"
Jacqueline didn't say a word. She went to a corner, grabbed the 120-pound granite lock with one hand, and hurled it at Deadpool.
"Die!"
"Oh my god, she's murdering her husband! Christopher, quickly get a sewing kit ready so I can piece together her head!"
Deadpool tumbled backward, the stone lock whistling past his scalp and smashing a large hole in the courtyard wall.
Sing Sing calmly dodged the flying brick fragments, turned to the side, and patted the dumbfounded Christopher on the shoulder.
"This is what we call strong collective cohesion and vibrant nighttime cultural exchange."
"Go ahead and practice. Ideally, you should be able to sew his mouth shut."