Spock loved stirring up trouble and showing off. He had already imagined exactly how he would act when this Asian kid ran off crying.
But reality seemed to differ somewhat from his expectations.
Spock’s face immediately fell.
This wasn’t about the one dollar—it was about losing face in front of all these people!
Now he had to win that ten dollars back to save his pride.
“How could I possibly have two ages?” Spock laughed exaggeratedly. “You lost!”
“I’m only asking which age I should say.” Zhao Zhenzhen was baffled. “It can’t be that you don’t understand what I’m saying, can it? Spock?”
“What did you say?!” Spock bulged his eyes and glared at Zhao Zhenzhen.
Zhao Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, dug in her ear, and sighed. “Talking to you is so tiring.”
She glanced at the one-dollar bill crumpled into a ball in Spock’s hand. “Talking to you is too tiring… forget it.” Zhao Zhenzhen looked left and right. “Anyone willing to play a round with me? First one’s free.”
“Hey!” Spock hated that Zhao Zhenzhen was ignoring him. He pulled out another dollar and shoved it directly into her hand.
He flashed her a nasty grin and pointed at his own nose. “Tell me my age right now, or I won’t be nice to you. The extra dollar is my tip for you!”
Zhao Zhenzhen looked down and smoothed the bill out, deliberately flicking it and examining it. After confirming it was real money, she nodded, folded it neatly, and put it in her backpack. “The age on your driver’s license?”
“Yeah! Hurry up and say it!” Spock growled.
“January 2nd, 19XX. Twenty-nine years old.” Zhao Zhenzhen answered without hesitation.
The nail-polish girl let out a “whoa” and turned to look at Spock. “Spock! Is what she said true?!”
The others were also egging him on, telling Spock to take out his driver’s license to prove it.
Spock glared at Zhao Zhenzhen. Blustering loudly with a shaky voice, he shouted, “She’s wrong! She’s wrong!”
He viciously reached out his hand. “Pay up! You got it wrong!”
“Oh…” Zhao Zhenzhen looked at Spock with a pitying expression. “Little Band-Aid, you still can’t handle losing, just like when you were a kid.”
The crowd around them burst into laughter, clapping and jeering. “Get him, Little Band-Aid! You can’t take a loss!”
“Hahaha! Spock, why does she call you Li Little Band-Aid? Don’t tell me that’s your nickname, hahaha!… Spock?”
Everyone had been frantically mocking Spock, but then they noticed he was staring at Zhao Zhenzhen in terror.
The laughter gradually died down as everyone exchanged bewildered looks.
“Spock!” Someone called out. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
Spock turned and walked away without a word, returning to his own stall. He lowered his head and busied himself tidying his goods, not saying a thing.
Everyone was completely confused.
“Did she… get it right?”
“She must have gotten it right. Otherwise why would Spock have that expression… Whoa, think I should spend a dollar to try?”
“Go for it. I’m pretty curious too.”
As the crowd chattered, they kept stealing glances at Zhao Zhenzhen.
The reckless, malicious jeering from before immediately reined itself in.
Some people even pretended to organize their goods or chat with others to avoid her gaze whenever she looked up and swept her eyes around the area.
…How strange.
Quite a few people muttered to themselves, unable to figure out why they suddenly felt a bit intimidated by this Asian teenage girl.
That feeling… was almost like awe?
The yellow names were rapidly disappearing, transforming back into white names. The two red names that had appeared earlier also turned yellow.
Zhao Zhenzhen suddenly felt that this Virtual Lightbulb was actually quite useful—it let her instantly know how others perceived her.
She glanced at Spock, whose name had turned green.
Actually, Zhao Zhenzhen was puzzled by the change in Spock’s attitude toward her. Because the way he treated her was definitely not friendly.
Or had her understanding been too narrow before?
Besides indicating friendliness, a green name could also mean the other person was afraid, too intimidated to provoke her?
…That was possible.
Spock kept his head down the whole time, pretending to be busy. But he could feel Zhao Zhenzhen’s gaze landing on him.
It made Spock nervous. Even though he tried his best to relax, constantly telling himself in his mind, “It’s fine, it’s fine,” every muscle in his body remained taut.
“Hey, Spock,” the stall owner beside him leaned over. “She guessed right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Whoa!” The stall owner lowered his voice, turned his head, and made a gesture to the others. They also mouthed an exaggerated, silent “Whoa!”
The stall owner turned back and pressed Spock further. “So… what did she mean by calling you Little Bondy just now? Is that really your nickname? How did she know?”
Spock froze mid-motion, his hands suddenly trembling slightly. “That’s exactly the problem.”
“Huh?” The stall owner couldn’t hear clearly. Spock was bent over, not moving at all, so he had to lean in closer. “Speak up, I can’t hear you.”
“I said, that’s exactly the problem!” Spock raised his voice a little, angry and slightly trembling. After saying it, he seemed to feel he’d been too loud, afraid someone might hear, so he lowered his voice again.
Still trembling, he said, “Only my grandmother ever called me that. No one else knows.”
The stall owner suddenly understood. “She knows your grandmother! But you don’t know her!” That must be it.
Spock clenched his jaw, the muscle in his cheek bulging and twitching. “But my grandmother died a long time ago.”
“When I was five years old.”
The stall owner’s mouth fell open.
“Tell me,” Spock slowly turned his head, bloodshot eyes glaring at the other man, his voice trembling and low, carrying an eerie undertone. “Where did she hear it from?”
The stall owner and Spock stared blankly at each other for a good while. When he snapped out of it, he wanted to turn his head away but suddenly stopped.
Seeing his reaction, Spock understood. He let out a cold chuckle and lowered his voice. “Now you know why I don’t dare look at her.”
The stall owner swallowed hard, patted Spock’s shoulder sympathetically, and quickly returned to his own stall, busying himself.
Ahh, so busy, so busy—busy enough that he couldn’t lift his head.
Someone who was curious about why he’d spoken with Spock and ended up in the same state came over to ask. The man just shook his head and gave vague answers.
The nosy one couldn’t get a reason out of him and had no choice but to leave awkwardly.
But as he walked away, he kept looking back, curiously glancing at Spock, then at Zhao Zhenzhen.
Though he hadn’t gotten anything out of it, after this little episode, everyone understood that this Asian girl was not to be trifled with.
—Even if they didn’t know exactly what made her so formidable.
Some people kept their distance, but others came right up.
“Hey, I’m Ava. What’s your name?” The girl selling nail polish took the initiative to come over and greet her.
“Zhao Zhenzhen. You can just call me Zhao.”
“Okay, Zhao.” Ava looked at Zhao Zhenzhen’s crude cardboard sign, then at her standing there hugging her backpack. She curled her lip, hopped up, pulled out one of the plastic stools stacked beneath her, and pushed it toward her.
“Sit down, since I don’t have any customers right now,” Ava said. “If someone comes in for a manicure, you’ll have to get up and let them sit.”
“Okay, thanks, that’s only fair.” Zhao Zhenzhen was a bit surprised—so manicures existed as early as the year 2000? She’d thought that was something from the 2010s.
“How much does a manicure cost?” Zhao Zhenzhen asked curiously.
“Interested?” Ava immediately dragged her stool closer and enthusiastically introduced her options.
Zhao Zhenzhen listened with great interest, nodding along.
“So do you want one?” Ava asked. “I’ll give you a discount.”
Zhao Zhenzhen shook her head. “I still have school.”
“Oh, a bookworm.” Ava wrinkled her nose in disdain, unable to resist giving her advice. “You’ll get bullied at school looking like that.”
“Because I don’t paint my nails, wear makeup, or curl my hair?”
Ava looked at Zhao Zhenzhen with surprise, reassessing her. “You know exactly how to be popular, don’t you?”
Zhao Zhenzhen shrugged. “I’m not really interested in that kind of popularity, and I don’t care either way.”
Ava blinked, studying Zhao Zhenzhen. “Then you’re kind of cool.”
“Thanks.” Zhao Zhenzhen smiled.
“Tell me the truth.” Ava leaned in closer, whispering to Zhao Zhenzhen. “Did you know Spock from before?”
Zhao Zhenzhen shook her head.
“Then how do you know all this?” Ava didn’t believe her. “It can’t be that you divined it, right?”
Zhao Zhenzhen was somewhat taken aback. She flipped the cardboard over. “You guessed pretty accurately?”
“O! M! G!” Ava gasped loudly, her voice carrying down the entire street. “You’re a fortune teller?!”
Spock’s head snapped up, glaring at Zhao Zhenzhen.
Seeing this, Zhao Zhenzhen turned the cardboard around to show him, smiling at the pale-faced Spock. “I told you, that answer costs extra.”
Fortune telling. $10.