Regarding the proposal to crash into the chubby kid’s toy car, Mi Cai seemed somewhat hesitant. After a while, she said to me, “Isn’t that a bit mean? His car is so small, if it gets damaged, the little guy will be upset!”

I immediately tried to boost Mi Cai’s confidence, “What’s there to be afraid of? Who hasn’t been crashed into while playing with toy cars in this square?”

Mi Cai was still very hesitant.

I started to give her a bad idea, “Just pretend to accidentally crash into him. We have real car accidents, right?”

“Alright then.”

After Mi Cai finished speaking, she moved the joystick and drove straight into the chubby kid’s car, flipping it over several times.

The chubby kid immediately got angry, picked up his overturned car from the ground and ran towards Mi Cai. I quickly got up and fled the scene of the incident, then stood a dozen meters away, watching with schadenfreude.

The chubby kid, after all, was still a child. He didn’t understand the concept of chivalry, and started to randomly slap Mi Cai while cursing. Mi Cai kept apologizing in embarrassment, but the chubby kid was relentless.

I was getting a bit annoyed, so I threw away the cigarette in my hand, walked over to the chubby kid, picked him up, and put him aside. With a stern face, I said, “The lady has already apologized to you, aren’t you done yet?”

The chubby kid was indeed scared by me. With tears in his eyes, he said to me, “You guys are bullies…”

“We’re all just playing around here, what’s the big deal if we crashed into your car? Haven’t you crashed into other people’s cars?” I continued to say with a stern face.

But Mi Cai couldn’t stand it anymore, she slapped me and said, “Don’t be so fierce, he’s just a child.”

Seeing Mi Cai defending him, the chubby kid plucked up his courage and yelled at me, “Hmph… your car is just bigger, that’s why you bully people and crash into their cars. If you dare, race with my car, my car is the fastest!”

“Little guy, I’m not afraid to race with you!” I looked at the chubby kid’s car, it was just a typical toy car that children play with, the motor speed definitely did not exceed 20,000 RPM. My car, although bigger, had a motor speed of 30,000 RPM, so I was confident I could beat him.

The chubby kid yelled at me again, “What if you lose?”

“You tell me what to do if I lose!” I confidently threw out the challenge.

Mi Cai, who was next to me, pulled at me and whispered, “Zhao Yang, don’t compete with a child. If you lose, it will be embarrassing!”

I gave Mi Cai a reassuring look, not caring at all.

The chubby kid thought for a while, then looked at the McDonald’s across the square and said to me, “If you lose, you have to treat me to chicken wings at McDonald’s, deal?”

“No problem, let’s have a good race, kid.”

The chubby kid and I agreed that whoever’s car reached the fountain railing first would be the winner. After setting up the cars, Mi Cai acted as the referee. After counting down 3, 2, 1, the two cars raced off. To my surprise, the chubby kid’s car took a big lead right from the start.

I exclaimed, “Damn… did you put some kind of booster in your car? It’s so fast!”

The chubby kid looked at me triumphantly. In the blink of an eye, his car had already reached the fountain railing. I had lost.

The chubby kid happily picked up his car. I snatched it from his hand, took it apart, and found that it was a Tamiya commemorative edition four-wheel drive car, with a motor speed of 50,000 RPM.

I was utterly embarrassed. In silence, I returned the four-wheel drive car to the chubby kid.

Mi Cai looked at me with a smirk, saying, “I told you not to compete, now you’ve embarrassed yourself!”

The chubby kid immediately sided with Mi Cai, hands on his hips, and said to me with a smug look, “Does what you said earlier still count?”

Mi Cai also chimed in, “Zhao Yang, you’re not going to go back on your word with a child, are you?”

“Winners are kings, losers are losers. I admit it. It’s just a meal at McDonald’s, I’ll treat you guys.”

…

The three of us arrived at McDonald’s. Mi Cai and the chubby kid sat back and enjoyed, while I squeezed through the crowd to order for them. It took a long time to get the food.

I brought the food to the table and sat down next to Mi Cai. The chubby kid was starving and reached out to grab the food, but Mi Cai stopped him. She used a napkin to hold the base of the chicken leg and handed it to him, saying, “Little friend, you need to be hygienic when eating!”

The chubby kid nodded and took the chicken leg from Mi Cai’s hand. Mi Cai and I exchanged glances, then looked at the chubby kid again. We noticed that his clothes were very old, and he was wearing a children’s digital watch that had faded. It seemed that his family was not well-off, and perhaps he didn’t often eat at McDonald’s, a fast-food restaurant for wage earners.

Mi Cai and I just sipped our juice, without any desire to eat. But the chubby kid was very focused on eating.

Finally, I asked him, “Little chubby, what’s your name?”

“Wei Xiao.” The chubby kid replied and continued eating.

I nodded and said, “Wei Xiao, sounds like ‘smile’, nice name!”

Mi Cai sighed, “Your name is Zhao Yang, which sounds like ‘morning sun’, and his name is Wei Xiao, which means ‘smile’. One is the morning sun, the other is a smile, it’s a very sunny combination!”

With Mi Cai’s comment, I realized that it was indeed the case. I couldn’t help but look at Wei Xiao again. He didn’t care at all and continued to eat with focus. Halfway through his meal, he suddenly stopped, called the waiter over, and packed all the unfinished food into a takeout bag. This action surprised Mi Cai and me.

Before we could ask him, he had already picked up the takeout bag and left his seat, saying to us, “I have to go home now, my grandpa is waiting for me.”

Mi Cai and I, of course, didn’t force him to stay. We reminded him not to play too much on his way home.

Wei Xiao nodded, thought for a moment, and then said to me, “Your name is Zhao Yang, right?”

“What’s up? Want to remember my name so you can pick on me in future car races, right?” I looked at Wei Xiao unhappily and said.Wei Xiao chuckled, “Are you still daring enough to compete with me tomorrow? If you lose, you’ll have to treat me to McDonald’s. No, let’s go to KFC tomorrow.”

I sighed dramatically to Mi Cai, “Look at the kids these days, they’re so audacious, daring to mooch off others for a meal over the smallest things.”

Mi Cai smiled, and I turned to Wei Xiao, “Little guy, do you think it’s that easy to mooch off my meals? What will you do if you lose tomorrow?”

Wei Xiao confidently replied, “I won’t lose. The car my dad bought me is the best.”

“Good, that’s the spirit! Tomorrow, I’ll show you that there’s always someone better out there!… Listen carefully, we’ll meet at the same time tomorrow at the square. If you lose, you’ll have to treat me and this lady to KFC, deal?”

Wei Xiao thought for a moment and said, “Alright… but I won’t lose!”

“I hope you won’t… Good luck!” I replied with a scornful smile.

Wei Xiao huffed and didn’t say anything else. He picked up his takeout from McDonald’s and his remote control car, and walked away.

Watching his retreating figure, Mi Cai and I shared a smile. Thanks to this unexpected encounter, our afternoon was far from boring.

After sitting for a while longer, I stood up and said to Mi Cai, “Shall we go too?”

“Where to?”

I smiled and said, “Accompany me to the toy store. I need to buy a 100,000 RPM motor. I’m going to modify my car!”