The two continued walking, stopping frequently.
When it was time to draw prizes, Cheng Che squatted in front of a stall for almost twenty minutes.
The shopkeeper displayed a row of acrylic cards; Prize A was a limited Satoru Gojo figure, Prize B was Frieren, and Prize C was Anya.
Cheng Che drew three shots first, two of which were E-rank and one was an F-rank.
He stuffed the stickers and folder into his pocket, then took out some money.
Ning Qing stood beside him, initially helping him disassemble the items, but stopped after the fifth one and leaned against the stall, watching him helplessly.
" Cheng Che, that's enough."
"One more shot!!"
Sixth shot, E prize.
Seventh shot, F award.
Eighth shot, E prize.
The boss standing next to him was a little embarrassed.
"Young man, why don't you try another stall? I might not get an A prize this time."
Cheng Che stood up, his expression calm, but Ning Qing could tell he was struggling with the lottery box.
He gathered the small prize-winning (D, E, F) item into his bag, then turned to Ning Qing and said, "Let's go take a look over there."
Ning Qing followed behind him, took a couple of steps, and poked his lower back. "What's wrong, are you angry?"
Cheng Che glanced back at her, revealing Naruto expression of discouragement:
"No, I was lucky, I just ran into a swindler!"
Ning Qing chuckled and said nothing more.
Further along, at the end of the main passage, a small group of people had gathered.
A dance competition was being held on stage. After one dance was finished, the host, holding the microphone, smiled and asked if anyone else wanted to come up.
There was a moment of silence in the audience, then the Hinata had taken a photo with him earlier pointed in Cheng Che's direction and shouted, "Hey, Naruto- nii! Go up and jump!"
Several people around joined in the commotion.
Cheng Che glanced at Ning Qing Ning Qing, who took a half-step back in fright. "Don't look at me."
Cheng Che smiled, revealing a bright, Naruto- like smile, and pulled her hand, leading her towards the stage.
Ning Qing was pulled along for a couple of steps, and said in a low voice that she couldn't jump. Cheng Che didn't even turn his head. "Jump however you want, I can't jump either."
Once on stage, the music started, and Cheng Che swayed to the beat a couple of times before letting loose.
His movements weren't perfect, but his sense of rhythm was excellent. He would occasionally add an exaggerated Naruto- style gesture, which made the audience burst into laughter.
Ning Qing stood to the side, gradually relaxing from her initial stiffness, Hinata's long wig swaying on her shoulders with her movements.
The audience grew larger and larger.
"These two cosplayers are so beautiful."
"That Naruto profile looks kind of familiar."
"Don't overthink it. There are tons of cosplayers with that kind of looks at anime conventions."
"But I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."
Where have I seen you before? In a dream, perhaps?
"Honestly, these two look so good together, I'm totally shipping them."
The person in the audience shouted "I've done it!" very loudly, and several people around laughed along. Then someone started yelling, "One more!"
Cheng Che stood on the stage, glanced around at the audience, suddenly raised his hand, and shouted in a voice like Naruto's, "Come up here! Don't just stand there!"
There was a moment of silence in the audience, then it erupted.
"What? We can go too?"
"Really?"
"Come on, come on, let's go up on stage!"
The first to rush up were several young cosplayers: a boy wearing Satoru Gojo jacket, a girl with Frieren's makeup, and a girl holding Anya doll.
Seven or eight people followed, some in school uniforms, some wearing wigs, and some just there for the fun, quickly filling up most of the stage.
The host paused for a moment, then laughed and handed the microphone to Cheng Che: "So, you'll lead this round?"
Cheng Che took the microphone and shouted in Naruto's voice, "Music! Play whatever! Just dance!"
The sound engineer, always eager for drama, switched to a faster-paced track.
Cheng Che stood in the middle of the crowd, swaying his shoulders a couple of times before letting go. His hands and feet didn't follow any standard movements, but every action was in rhythm. Occasionally he would spin around, or make a face at the person next to him.
The cosplayer, Gojo Satoru, jumped a couple of steps after him, and the two even gave each other a high five.
Ning Qing stood by the stage, Hinata's long wig hanging down her shoulders.
As she watched Cheng Che bouncing around in the crowd, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.
The girl with the Fleur Frieren makeup jumped over and grabbed her hand, saying, " Hinata's here too!" Ning Qing was pulled a couple of steps, then let go and started swaying to the rhythm.
At first, she only swayed slightly, but then she jumped more and more freely, her long hair swinging back and forth, and all the expressions she usually kept to herself disappeared from her face; her eyes crinkled with laughter.
More and more people gathered in the audience. Some were recording videos with their phones, some were clapping along, and some were shouting, " Naruto danced so well!" and " Hinata is so cute!"
When the music stopped, everyone on and off stage applauded.
Cheng Che cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the surroundings, said "Thank you everyone" in Naruto's voice, and then pulled Ning Qing down from the side of the stage.
Ning Qing lost her footing when she landed, so she steadied herself on his arm.
Cheng Che glanced down at her; she still had the smile she'd just shown on her face, a little sweat on her forehead, and Hinata's long hair was a bit messy, but no one seemed to care.
"Did you jump freely?" he asked with a smile.
"It's alright." Ning Qing took a couple of breaths, then said defiantly, "Just wandering around a bit."
Cheng Che chuckled but didn't expose her.
After the dance, the two strolled around the photography area and took a series of photos in front of the Hidden Leaf Village backdrop.
After finishing the shoot, the photographer flipped through the photos and remarked, "They're all ready to print without any retouching."
Ning Qing leaned over to take a look. In the photo, she and Cheng Che were sitting on a bench. She was looking at him sideways, and he was looking at her with his head tilted to the side. Neither of them was deliberately making any expressions, but the picture was just very pleasing to the eye.
Later, passing by a doujinshi stall, Cheng Che flipped to a Naruto and Hinata, picked it up, glanced at it, and handed it to Ning Qing.
Ning Qing turned to the first page, her face instantly turning red. She shoved the notebook back into his hand and turned to leave.
Cheng Che followed behind with a smile and said, "It's drawn quite well," only to be glared at by Ning Qing as she turned around.
As the comic convention was nearing its end, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that the event was about to conclude and that all attendees should leave in an orderly manner.
Ning Qing stood by the main passageway, glanced at the time on her phone, and said it was time to go.
Cheng Che nodded and took her hand, leading her towards the side door.
After walking a few steps, Ning Qing suddenly stopped, looked back at the crowd that was still slowly dispersing behind her, and looked a little reluctant.
"What's wrong?" Cheng Che asked.
"It's nothing," Ning Qing said, looking away. "I just felt really happy today."
Cheng Che glanced at her, smiled, and said, "Come again next time."
Ning Qing paused for a moment, then said gently, "Can you come and keep me company?"
Cheng Che smiled broadly and gave a thumbs-up, "Of course, this is Naruto's promise to Hinata."
Although she didn't hear the answer she wanted, Ning Qing still smiled beautifully and happily.
At the exit of the comic convention, a girl with a ponytail was standing by the roadside, looking down at her phone's photo album.
She was the first Hinata cosplayer to take a photo with Cheng Che and Ning Qing today.
When she came across that photo, she paused for two seconds, then opened Douyin), selected a few photos taken that day, and added a casual caption:
"Amazing cosplayers I met at the anime convention: Naruto and Hinata. They're even more beautiful in person than in photos."
I clicked "Publish".
After sending the message, she put her phone in her pocket and prepared to walk to the subway station.
I hadn't walked two steps when my phone vibrated in my pocket.
She took it out and glanced at it; the number of likes had jumped to over two hundred.
She paused for a moment, then took two more steps, and her phone began to vibrate continuously.
The number of likes jumped from over two hundred to five hundred, then to one thousand, and then to five thousand.
She stopped.
Comments popped up one after another.
[Wait, this Naruto looks way too much like Cheng Che???]
[Holy crap, it's not just similar, it's Cheng Che!!!]
[Is that Hinata next to Ning Qing??? What are they doing at a comic convention???]
[ Cheng Che and Ning Qing cosplaying Naruto Hinata??? Is this some kind of official announcement???]
[Holy crap, they're holding hands! Look at that photo of them holding hands, their fingers are intertwined!!!]
[Don't talk nonsense, they might just be filming a show together, and the anime convention was the filming location.]
[Is it okay to hold hands while recording a TV show? Look how naturally their hands are clasped together.]
[I don't care, this is the official announcement. Naruto and Hinata are cosplayed, how can you say it isn't?]
If they really get together, I wish them well; they're such a good-looking couple.
[Calm down in the comments section. Cheng Che and Ning Qing have been rumored to be dating before, but there's never been any concrete evidence. This might just be work-related.]
Can you really laugh that much while working?
The girl stood by the roadside, the number of comments on her phone screen already exceeding 100,000. She stared at the top-rated comment for several seconds, her mouth slightly agape.
"Holy crap," she muttered to herself, "What did I just capture on camera?"