Lu Chuanbai's reason made Lu Fenglin roll his eyes. "You guys can take care of the two kids. I'm going to spend some quality time with Xu Qingqing."
Hearing this, Xu Qingqing playfully punched Lu Chuanbai.
Lu Chuanbai tightened his grip on Xu Qingqing's hand and whispered in her ear with a smile, "There are so many people. Stick close to me or you'll get lost in the crowd."
As soon as they entered the market, Xu An'an, sitting on Lu Fenglin's shoulders, spotted the goldfish-catching game using paper spoons and started to fuss, asking Lu Fenglin to put her down.
"Uncle, put me down quickly! I want to play the goldfish-catching game!"
Lu Fenglin obediently lifted Xu An'an off his shoulders and held her in his arms as they walked over to the goldfish-catching stall.
The rules of the game were that the stall owner would give a small spoon lined with thin paper. As long as you used this spoon to scoop up a goldfish swimming in the fish tank, you could take the goldfish home.
Seeing a customer, the stall owner said with a smile, "It's five yuan per try. It's cheaper than buying a goldfish."
"Uncle, I want to play!"
Xu An'an tugged at Lu Fenglin's thumb, her big watery eyes shining with curiosity.
"Okay."
Lu Fenglin turned around and scanned the crowd for his father, who was buying candied haws for Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an. He shouted at the top of his voice, "Dad, there's a goldfish-catching game here. Do you guys want to play?"
Standing at 1.8 meters tall, Lu Fenglin towered above the crowd. His loud shout drew the attention of many.
His handsome features and outstanding appearance made many single young women at the market blush and whisper to each other.
"Wow, that handsome guy is so good-looking! His eyes are so deep and beautiful!"
"I wonder if he has a girlfriend. If he's single, I'd like to get his WeChat!"
Lu Fenglin was used to the admiration of women. He waved at his father to bring Xu Yiyi over.
Xu Yiyi's eyes lit up when he saw the goldfish swimming in the tank. He wriggled out of his grandfather's arms and jumped to the ground.
"Grandpa, I want to catch the goldfish!"
"Okay."
Lu's father smiled and took out a twenty-yuan bill from his pocket. He handed it to the stall owner and said, "Give me four spoons."
Xu An'an couldn't wait to grab a spoon from the stall owner and tried to catch a goldfish. Her eyes fixed on a lively-looking goldfish.
"I'm going to catch that biggest goldfish!"
With that, Xu An'an quickly dipped the spoon into the water to block the goldfish.
But to her surprise, the goldfish was much stronger. It broke through the thin paper on the spoon and swam away.
"Oops!"
Xu An'an looked at the broken spoon dejectedly and pouted.
"It broke through the paper!"
"It's okay, sister. I'll catch one for you."
Xu Yiyi waved the spoon in his hand confidently.
Learning from Xu An'an's experience, he aimed at the skinniest goldfish and quickly tried to scoop it up.
But unexpectedly, although the goldfish looked thin, it was very agile. It swam away as soon as it saw the spoon coming.
Xu Yiyi waved the spoon in his hand to chase the goldfish.
But the thin paper on the spoon was too thin. The water punched a big hole in it, and it was no longer usable for catching goldfish.
"Oops, that's too bad. But you still have two more chances."
The stall owner saw that neither Xu Yiyi nor Xu An'an had caught a goldfish and said with a smile.
Seeing that both Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an had failed, Lu Fenglin looked a bit skeptical. He took a spoon from the stall owner and decided to try it himself.
"Is it really that difficult?"
Lu Fenglin questioned and aimed to catch the goldfish with precision. He did manage to scoop up a goldfish.
But the thin paper on the spoon got wet. Before Lu Fenglin could transfer the goldfish to the box, the goldfish thrashed around and broke the paper.
The goldfish fell back into the tank through the hole.
Lu Fenglin looked up at the stall owner. The stall owner shook his head at Lu Fenglin with a glint of shrewdness in his eyes.
"You have to get the goldfish into the box to count. And your paper is broken. You can keep trying as long as the paper doesn't break."
Lu Fenglin, who had been proven wrong, expressionlessly threw the broken spoon into the trash can. Lu's father, who had been watching, was eager to try. He rolled up his sleeves and wanted to give it a go.
"Is it really that difficult?"
Lu's father said the same thing as Lu Fenglin. He squatted down and carefully observed the goldfish.
After retiring, Lu's father's hobby was growing flowers and raising fish. He thought he knew the habits of goldfish quite well.
He set his eyes on a lazy goldfish that was lying still and decided to go for it.
But unexpectedly, when he scooped it up, another goldfish swam into the spoon and broke the thin paper. Both goldfish fell back into the tank.
"Oops, it's all that naughty goldfish's fault. Otherwise, I would have caught it successfully."
Lu's father sighed and took out another twenty-yuan bill. He handed it to the stall owner.
"Boss, give us four more spoons."
He didn't believe that the four of them couldn't catch a single goldfish.
Xu Qingqing saw that there were transparent floating balls for sale on the roadside. Inside the balls were beautiful eternal flowers, emitting a strong fragrance.
Lu Chuanbai chose a transparent floating ball with a rose inside for Xu Qingqing and tied the string around her wrist.
"I'm not a kid anymore. I don't want to wear this."
Although Xu Qingqing's words were reluctant, there was a smile in her eyes. Her heart was as sweet as honey, and her smile was both playful and gentle.
"You'll always be a kid in my heart." Lu Chuanbai said with a smile as he ruffled Xu Qingqing's hair.
Some girls who came to buy the transparent balls saw how doting Lu Chuanbai was on Xu Qingqing.
The man was handsome, and the woman was beautiful.
They couldn't help but exclaim that it was another day of crying for someone else's fairy-tale love.
When Lu Chuanbai was with Xu Qingqing, all his edges and corners were smoothed out. There was always a gentle smile on his lips.
People who saw his face couldn't help but sigh at how handsome this man was.
"Hey, did you see that handsome guy with a smile on his face just now? His smile is so doting!"
A girl was transfixed when she met Lu Chuanbai's gaze. She covered her cheeks with both hands, her eyes filled with stars.
Although her friend also thought Lu Chuanbai was very handsome, she noticed Xu Qingqing holding hands with Lu Chuanbai. She sighed and advised the girl.
"Come on, don't even think about it. The girl holding hands with him is obviously his girlfriend."
"You're right. His girlfriend is so beautiful. I don't stand a chance."
Both Lu Chuanbai and Xu Qingqing were blessed with good looks. They were used to people's comments.
The two of them calmly continued to look for Lu's father and the others.