"...Like a light cloud just emerging from a mountain gorge." "I thought he was a crude and frivolous man, but he turns out to be refined and extraordinary." "Gentle and quiet, like a flower reflected in water; graceful in movement, like a willow swaying in the breeze." "Her brows and eyes hide a delicate charm; her voice and smile reveal tenderness." "Before me stands a stranger, yet in my heart, she feels like an old friend..."
Though temple fairs are all about eating, there’s plenty to see and do as well. Along the way, Yang Yi took his daughter to enjoy performances by many street artists—acrobatics and monkey tricks were just the minor acts. A traveling troupe performing Yue Opera in the open air drew a crowd of elderly onlookers.
(PS: Mentioning Yue Opera might not ring a bell for everyone. The excerpt at the start is from the famous segment "A Sister Lin Descends from Heaven" in the Yue Opera *Dream of the Red Chamber*, which many people have likely heard. Of course, in this world, *Dream of the Red Chamber* doesn’t exist either, so Xiaohan cut out the opening line "A sister Lin descends from heaven"...)
Yang Yi, hearing Yue Opera for the first time, watched with great interest for a while, only moving on when Xixi grew a bit impatient. After all, for a child without special talent or the influence of grandparents, getting into traditional opera is quite a challenge.
But there was still plenty to do at the temple fair. Rather than lingering too long in one spot, it was better to wander around and take in more new experiences.
They ate a lot along the way—beef offal, fried dough twists,钵仔糕 (rice pudding cakes), and what seemed like delicacies from all over the country. Xixi’s little belly was already stuffed full, but she still wanted more.
"Daddy, I want this!" Xixi seemed to spot something. She wiggled her little bottom excitedly, raising her hand and calling out.
Afraid Xixi might fall, Yang Yi quickly reached out to support her little bottom from behind, then chuckled, "You’re still eating? Think about how much you’ve had tonight! You’ll end up with a stomachache from being too full!"
Xixi stomped her little feet in protest and said, "It’s not food, Daddy! Look, that big bear baby is so cute—I want the big bear baby!"
Only then did Yang Yi follow her pointing finger. It wasn’t a food stall, but a balloon stand run by a few young villagers. Customers could exchange money for small darts—ten yuan for five, twenty yuan for twelve.
The plush toys displayed to attract attention were their prizes!
But Xixi was wrong. The "big bear baby" she liked so much wasn’t a bear at all... With its black-and-white color scheme and dark circles that looked like smudged eyeshadow, how could Yang Yi not recognize it? It was a panda plush!
Seeing Yang Yi approach, especially with Xixi’s eyes sparkling, one of the young men knew there was a chance. He hurried over and said, "...If you pop three balloons with five darts, you get a third-prize small gift. If you pop four, you get a second-prize prize..."
"What kind of score do I need for that panda? All five darts hitting the mark?" Yang Yi asked with a smile.
The small prizes didn’t interest Yang Yi, and Xixi had her heart set on that panda plush.
The little girl, seeing her dad talking to someone, didn’t dare to shout. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Yeah, I want that big bear baby."
"This is our grand prize this time!" the young man said, puffing out his chest proudly. "You just need to spend twenty yuan to take on the ultimate challenge! One challenge with twelve darts—pop ten balloons, and you win our panda plush!"
Clearly, that was a pretty high bar!
The steady stream of passersby kept bringing in customers, and plenty of small prizes had been given out, but this obviously expensive panda plush had yet to be won.
"Give me twenty yuan’s worth!" Yang Yi set Xixi down, smiling as he pulled out his money.
"Coming right up!" The young man took the cash and bustled off to prepare the darts for Yang Yi.
Seeing someone take on the ultimate challenge, a few customers who were already throwing darts stopped, and many onlookers gathered around with keen interest.
Xixi felt a bit nervous with so many people around, so she grabbed onto her dad’s pants, but still puffed out her chest proudly, clenching her little fists and whispering, "Daddy, go for it!"
The onlookers were amused by Xixi’s adorable demeanor.
"What a beautiful child!"
"So cute!"
"She’s going to be a real stunner when she grows up!"
"Go for it, big guy!"
"Good luck!"
Everyone chattered away. Though it didn’t faze Yang Yi, he nodded amiably to the crowd and patted Xixi’s little head with a smile.
In the past, Yang Yi would have ignored the noise. But now, influenced by his surroundings—perhaps because he was a father—his personality had gradually become more easygoing.
In his past life, Yang Yi was a master of cold weapons. He could handle a gun, but his favorites were knives and various small throwing weapons. These few little darts were no challenge for him.
Yang Yi pinched a dart, raised his hand, and threw it with effortless grace...
"Thud..."
That wasn’t the sound of a balloon popping! The dart stuck into the foam board next to the balloon.
Yang Yi’s expression immediately fell flat. That effortless grace now seemed like a joke.
"No way? How could I miss?" Yang Yi frowned. He felt his technique and force were spot on, no different from his past life where he never missed.
Not one to give up, he tried again.
"Thud..."
The crowd let out a disappointed sigh: "Ah..."
"That’s not how you throw a dart, is it?" someone couldn’t help commenting. In their eyes, throwing a dart meant aiming for ages before letting it fly, not like Yang Yi, who seemed to barely aim, flinging it from his waist. How could that possibly hit?
But this time, Yang Yi ignored them. He frowned, studying the remaining ten darts in his hand.
So that’s it!
Yang Yi had felt the issue the moment he threw the second dart. The vendor had tampered with the tail fins. When the darts flew, air resistance made it hard for those fins to keep a straight line (though it was a parabolic arc, it could be nearly straight if fast enough). So the more precisely you aimed, the more likely you were to miss!
Having identified the problem, Yang Yi continued throwing. Of the remaining ten darts, he hit eight and missed two. Even though he’d figured out the flight path of these rigged darts, a few had different deflection angles.
"Congratulations, sir, you’ve won first prize!" The young man, seeing the crowd, raised his voice, ready to hand over the first-prize reward and use the moment to urge others to take the challenge.
"No need. I’ll go again. Please gather the darts I just used—I want to use them for this challenge!" Yang Yi refused the first prize and handed over another twenty yuan.