Notes of Fleeting Light (6)

"Oh! Is that puppy minding the shop?" Ye Shunguang exclaimed.

"Mm-hmm, his name's Howl," Xu An said.

"What a cute puppy. Are you minding the shop?" Ye Shunguang asked with a smile.

Howl: "Woof, woof!"

"Howl~ What a fitting name. I remember there's a fortune-telling puppy at Yunkui Summit too...

"But he's a little thinner than you and wears glasses. He's very elegant, and a very strong puppy!"

Howl: "Awooo... woo..." This time, he seemed a little choked up.

Xu An: ?O_o What were this girl and dog talking about?

"No, no, I wasn't calling you fat! You're both especially cute and capable!" Ye Shunguang seemed to understand what he was saying.

"Woof, woof!" Howl barked somewhat happily again.

"Looks like Howl really likes you, Senior Sister," Xu An said, raising an eyebrow.

"Really? Hehe, thank you for liking me, adorable Howl..." Ye Shunguang chuckled too, looking very happy.

"By the way, Senior Sister, let me show you something fun," Xu An said.

Then he stood up straight and asked Howl, "Howl~ Am I going to prosper this year?"

Howl: "Woof, woof! Woof, woof, woof!"

O_o My fellow dogs, who gets it? I've heard of weasels asking humans to grant them a title, but this is my first time seeing a human asking for one!

"Hahahaha! Junior Brother, you-hahahaha!" Ye Shunguang couldn't help bursting into laughter.

Belle seemed to have finished her business by then and came out of the shop. Seeing Ye Shunguang laughing, she hurried over to ask what had happened.

After hearing the story, Belle felt playful too and teased Howl for a while.

Howl: .

Belle even went to try it on a kitten, asking, "Inky, oh, Inky, would you say my idea's meow-velous? Meow-velous~?"

Inky: →_→ Was this person out of her feline mind?

Inky ignored her. Belle had to take out a can of cat food before Inky finally got down to business: ╭(╯ε╰)╮ "Meow~"

"Heheh (.-`ω´-), little kitty, conquered!" Belle looked smug too.

Xu An watched Belle from the side as though she were an idiot, while Ye Shunguang snickered beside him.

Suddenly, Ye Shunguang seemed to remember something. "Oh, Junior Sister, if this is a newsstand, does it have those things called... scratch cards?"

"That's right, Senior Sister. I scratch them all the time, and I haven't done today's yet. Want to give it a try together?"

"Let's go, let's go!" Slightly excited, Ye Shunguang pulled Xu An back to the newsstand.

"Howl, three scratch cards," Xu An said.

"Woof, woof." Howl pushed three scratch cards over with his nose... one for each of them.

His senior sister gently scratched the coating off her card with a coin. The picture underneath showed three bare bones.

"Look at mine! Well? Well? Did I win an amazing prize?"

"It's fifth prize, Senior Sister," Xu An said, looking at the scratch card Ye Shunguang held out.

"Fifth prize? Hmm, so it's the fifth-ranked prize. That should be pretty good, right?" Ye Shunguang asked somewhat innocently.

"Well, there are five prizes in total."

"So I got the lowest prize? That's okay! Hurry and scratch yours too, Junior Brother. Going by experience, it should be a good result!"

Hearing that, Xu An scratched his own card: three bones. O_o?

"Huh? So that's how it turned out?... Usually, everyone around me has good luck." Ye Shunguang looked puzzled. "I thought, going by past experience, you'd scratch off something pretty good. It looks like you really are a little different from everyone else, Junior Brother."

Belle laughed at the sight. "Heheh, leave it to me!" Only after noticing Xu An staring at her did she stifle her laughter and scratch her own card.

Then Belle: ⊙(・◇・)?

"Yours... ahem. Looks like the three of us really do have good luck, getting three identical results in a row."

"Hahahahaha, none of us are children of destiny..."

"Senior Sister, you should read fewer storybooks," Xu An couldn't help saying.

"But how would I pass the time without storybooks?" Ye Shunguang looked at Xu An with wide eyes.

"I can chat with you, Senior Sister. Just message me. Of course, I'll also visit you on the mountain often."

"I want to go too! Senior Sister, we haven't added each other on Knock Knock yet, have we? I want to hang out with you too," Belle quickly called out.

"Sure, let's add each other now, Belle." Ye Shunguang took out her phone and exchanged contact details with Belle.

Xu An: Weren't these two not getting along that well before?

"Woof, woof, woof, woof!" Howl suddenly ran out of the shop, barking.

"Hmm? Is there something you want to say, puppy?" Ye Shunguang crouched down and patted Howl's head.

"Woof, woof, woof! Woof, woof, woof, woof! Woof, woof, woof!" Howl continued barking.

"Huh? You want to comfort me... ah, you mean..."

"Junior Brother, Junior Sister, this puppy seems to be asking us for help," Ye Shunguang said, turning to Belle and Xu An, who were staring blankly at her.

"Huh?" Xu An: O_o? What was his senior sister talking about?

"How can you understand Howl, Senior Sister?" Belle looked astonished too.

"Hehe, it's just intuition. I often play with the puppies on the mountain, so I can more or less understand them... He seems to be saying that if we do him a favor, we can get a really good prize.

"To think that even though we didn't get a very good prize in the draw, two negatives made a positive here, Junior Brother."

"Mm-hmm, looks like it really is true that there's good luck around you, Senior Sister," Xu An said.

"Did this puppy see our bad luck with the scratch cards and decide to comfort us?" Ye Shunguang thought that was possible too. "Thinking of it that way, something that looks unlucky is actually just the start of another stroke of good luck~"

Howl barked twice more, picked up a little stool with a smiley face on it in his mouth, and set it on the ground in front of the newsstand. Two photographs were stuck to the stool. When they gently removed them, a little note fell out: Go help Howl find his treasure, stranger who scratched off fifth prize several times in a row!

╭(╯ε╰)╮ It keeps taunting me. Xu An saw the words about getting fifth prize several times.

"Looks like this is a randomly triggered little game set up by Howl's owner. Maybe the trigger is... scratching off the bone pattern multiple times?" Ye Shunguang said after reading the note. Then she looked at the two photographs.

"Since we've got the clues, let's look for them." Ye Shunguang showed the photographs to the other two. After all, she had never been here before and needed Belle and Xu An's help.

"I've seen a stool in that style before, Junior Brother."

"You have, Senior Sister?" Xu An asked in confusion.

"Mm-hmm. My brother said those little stools with smiley faces seemed to be very popular at Chenghui Terrace." Ye Shunguang recalled some things from the past. "My brother thought training on the mountain was dull for me, so he'd occasionally bring me interesting little things from down below to relieve my boredom. That smiley face on the stool just now really left an impression on me..."

"Mm-hmm, it looks so goofy. For some reason, seeing it makes you want to click a button and grin along," Xu An quipped.

"Hahahaha, it's fun, isn't it~? I never thought I'd see it here. Looks like we're connected by fate..." Ye Shunguang laughed and continued. Then she seemed to realize something. "Ahem, I seem to have gotten a little off topic... Let's hurry and look at the first photograph~ Junior Brother, Junior Sister, any ideas?"

"No problem. Leave it to us!" Xu An and Belle looked at the two photographs.

"Hmm~ What do you think, Senior Sister?" Xu An asked her. Although she really wasn't familiar with the area, she still had to be included, or she would find it boring.

"Oh~ If you ask me, the landmarks in this photograph are important. There seems to be a ladder, some plants, and a railing... with two traffic cones out front..."

"You're amazing, Senior Sister. I know where this is. It should be on the repair shop owner's second floor." Xu An pointed at the green sheet-metal building next to the video store.

"You're amazing, Junior Brother! You figured it out right away!" Ye Shunguang stared at Xu An with eyes that seemed to shine, making him a little embarrassed.

"Oh, well, my shop used to be nearby. I often sunbathed on the second floor and saw a few things, so I remember it pretty clearly," Xu An explained. Of course, he didn't mention the woman in a yellow-and-black bodysuit and an eye mask who always had a sniper rifle trained on the video store.

"Then let's split up. I think I know where the other one is!" Belle said.

The three split up, and Xu An and Ye Shunguang went to the modification shop's second floor.

They looked at the conspicuous orange stool in sight, its seat printed with a toothy, goofy grin.

Xu An reached out and took it down. Looking at its candy-like appearance, he spaced out a little. He felt as though he had seen it somewhere before, but wasn't sure. It seemed to be from a cartoon he had watched as a child in his previous life.

"Heheh, that's my junior brother! We've already found one stool. I'm so happy~" Ye Shunguang's face brimmed with smiles. "No time to lose. Let's hurry to the next spot, Junior Brother." As she spoke to Xu An, she noticed that he was looking at her without saying anything.

"Ah, I'm getting so excited, just like a child. I've made a fool of myself."

Xu An couldn't help chuckling at her words. "No, seeing you happy makes me happy too, Senior Sister. Being like a child is nice. It's very cute." I like it so much, he silently added.

"That's good. I'm not just enjoying myself on my own; you're here enjoying it with me. Thank you..."

Suddenly, Ye Shunguang felt a hand on top of her head, and her words stopped short.

Unable to help himself, Xu An had reached out and stroked his senior sister's head. Feeling her ears tremble gently and seeing her cheeks already turning a little red, he hurriedly withdrew his hand.

"S-sorry, Senior Sister. I couldn't help myself, so..." Xu An lowered his head and apologized.

"It's okay~ If it's you, Junior Brother, it's okay. But tell me beforehand next time, or I'll get really embarrassed!" Ye Shunguang thought for a moment before speaking, then planted her hands on her hips and told Xu An to give her advance warning.

Hearing that, Xu An couldn't keep the corners of his mouth down. Damn mouth, stop smiling.

"Then... Senior Sister, I want to pet you some more," Xu An ventured.

Ye Shunguang obediently leaned her head over, letting Xu An pet her.

Although she was still a little embarrassed, her reaction was no longer as strong as before.

Belle came up to them carrying a stool.

"Well, great. I worked so hard finding a stool, and then I had to find you two as well." At Belle's voice, Xu An froze briefly and lowered his hand from Ye Shunguang's head. "Found it? Nice work, Belle."

Feeling the warmth on her head disappear, Ye Shunguang seemed to feel a little disappointed.

"You found yours too, Junior Sister? Wow, does that mean we can collect our prize now?"

At that, Belle could only give a little huff with a trace of resentment in her heart, then walk over and hand the stool to Xu An.

"Let's go, then," she said afterward.

Xu An lowered his head a little, trying to see Belle's expression, but Belle turned her head aside, not wanting him to see it.

Xu An raised an eyebrow at that, handed the stool to his little senior sister, and stacked the two stools together.

Then he reached out and took Belle's hand.

Belle froze, momentarily forgetting that she was a little angry. Xu An took Ye Shunguang's hand with his other hand, then walked up to Howl holding both of theirs.

"Little Howl, we've found everything you asked us for."

"Woof, woof! Woof, woof! Woof, woof!" Looking at the man before him holding hands with two girls, Howl felt an inexplicable urge to bite him.

Who was the real dog here, anyway?

Howl looked around. Not another dog in sight. Truly, some died of drought while others drowned in floods. Suddenly, he didn't really want to give this guy a reward. ｡°(°¯᷄◠¯᷅°)°｡

Of course, Howl wouldn't actually think that much. All of that was just imagined, haha.

Howl was excited to see the three return with the stools. He danced an incomprehensible dance around the two stools they had found, then wiggled his bottom and carried one back into the newsstand in his mouth.

Then he nudged the remaining stool with his nose, seemingly indicating something.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Little Howl, are you saying this stool is our prize?"

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Wow! Thank you! My room could use a few little things~" Ye Shunguang said with a smile. Looking at the stool in her hands, she continued, "The style seems a little different from the one my brother brought me before. Such a warm color. It feels perfect for somewhere you relax~"

"Mm-hmm~ Like the sun. As long as you like it, Senior Sister," Xu An said.

"This is a prize we earned together. I'll find a nice place for it in my room! Thank you, Junior Brother. Thank you, Belle," Ye Shunguang said.

"Oh, right, when you have time, you can come to my room to see it now and then... If I'm there, you can sit on it and chat with me too!"

Xu An nodded at that, and Belle agreed as well.

"Look at you... Little Howl, not only do you work hard minding the shop, you even give us cute prizes... Thank you for today~"

As Ye Shunguang spoke, she went over and petted Howl's head again.

Only then did the three leave.

"Xiao An? Is this the shop you used to have here?" Ye Shunguang asked, looking at the two large characters spelling "Peace" on the sign.