440. Accidental Reunion at the Comic Convention 【5/60】
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At the comic convention, aside from the wildly varying quality of cosplay, there were plenty of stalls selling all sorts of merchandise.
For instance, there was a stall from “One Person Below,” selling comics, CDs, and some cosplay outfits—among other things. A pretty young lady, speaking in an adorable Chongqing accent, was busy attending to customers.
Lin Nan had a nagging feeling that this young lady was cosplaying as some character, but since she had never seen “One Person Below,” she squinted at her for a while without figuring anything out.
In addition to the official stalls, there were also various fan-made merchandise stalls.
She casually picked a small stall, choosing a thin comic book to flip through, only to find it was a fan comic of Dragon Ball.
When she looked up again, she noticed this little stall also sold Goku’s martial arts outfit, various posters, and badges. She didn’t know about the quality, but the prices were quite steep.
Following Chen Yao, she wandered around, suddenly remembering that she had heard online that these conventions might sell books.
Now her gaze lingered on the various comic purchase stalls, occasionally approaching to flip through a few pages, but she still couldn’t find the study materials she had hoped for, which left her feeling a tad disappointed.
There might be a reward for reporting vendors of silver-gray items.
What a pity.
Was it because comic conventions had become more regulated in recent years? Or had this business been targeted long ago?
Chen Yao trailed behind her, watching his girlfriend run around with great enthusiasm, a sunny smile glued to his face. It felt oddly blissful to just watch her enjoy herself.
Lin Nan, on a normal day, wasn’t this lively at all.
His hands had already filled with bags of impulsively bought anime posters and low-quality figurines. He figured that once Lin Nan got back, she’d look at those bags with tears in her eyes.
A glance around showed that nearly everyone visiting the convention was carrying at least one tote bag, each having bought something or other. The atmosphere was just too hard to resist, especially when they spotted their favorite anime.
After wandering a bit, Lin Nan suddenly bumped into Li Na and Lilith.
“Yo!” Li Na, decked out in cosplay, bounced over to Lin Nan. “What brings you here? You could’ve at least worn something cuter!”
Lin Nan looked at Li Na with a “knew it” expression. Chen Yao wasn’t wrong; this girl would definitely try to stuff her into some embarrassing getup if she saw her.
She scanned Li Na and Lilith’s hands, relieved to see they weren’t carrying any bags. A smile crept onto her face: “I’m not really interested in cosplay; just here to look around.”
“If I had known you were coming, I would’ve prepared an extra costume for you,” Li Na said, her face full of regret, while Lilith nodded in agreement rapidly.
“Right? How great would it be to dress you up like a bunny girl?”
Standing behind Lin Nan, Chen Yao nodded along, making Lin Nan’s face stiffen in annoyance. She shot back, “What about your Wang Rui? Why isn’t he here?”
Li Na shot a glance at Lilith, who instantly bristled, “What do you mean by ‘my Wang Rui’? Never heard of him!”
“Wang Rui, isn’t he the one Lin Nan mentioned living next door to her rental place?” Li Na folded her arms, scrutinizing Lilith with a dark look.
Without hesitation, Lilith shook her head: “No way! I just go over to his place for free food and drinks!”
Tsk, tsk. With that kind of reaction, could it be that she really does have a thing with Wang Rui?
Lin Nan thought she was just joking and slandering Lilith, but Lilith’s guilty expression might’ve just hit the nail on the head.
She glanced at Li Na’s expression and then back at Lilith’s nervous demeanor, suddenly realizing that the once-naughty witch might have genuinely been reformed into a good citizen.
After parting ways with Li Na and Lilith, Lin Nan headed to the stall where her junior was stationed.
This junior was the one wearing cosplay to attract customers. Besides him, there were a few other anime club members, combining to make up six people. A quick scan revealed that the prettiest one was actually the male junior in drag.
This gig was basically the same as the flyer distributing job Lin Nan used to do.
Seeing Lin Nan and Chen Yao arrive, the junior eagerly dragged her to the stall: “Mobile game—interested? We have a demo here; it hasn’t even released in the country yet!”
Lin Nan sized up the game, shaking her head with little interest.
Just another gacha game, and as a part of the non-gambling demographic, she had no interest and no cash.
“This game would be perfect for one of my roommates, but too bad he’s not here,” Lin Nan shrugged, redirecting her gaze toward the Madoka Magica merchandise.
She had only watched half of that anime, and once the plot hit “senpai is gone,” she couldn’t continue.
Chen Yao leaned against the stall wall, his eyes fixated on the junior’s hands. Despite looking the part now, if he didn’t speak, no one would notice he was a guy. But at the end of the day—he was still a dude! How dare he grab my girl’s wrist?
But Lin Nan was quiet, so he couldn’t say much.
After browsing the stall, Lin Nan shook her head helplessly: “Nothing I want to buy; I haven’t seen much of this anime anyway.”
Seeing Lin Nan’s lack of interest, and with few customers, the junior started chatting casually.
“It’s too bad you didn’t come; you’d look great cosplaying as the senpai character, and we’d get a cut of the sales—if lucky, we could easily make three to five hundred bucks!” The junior sighed. “You’re so pretty; if we danced at the stall, we’d definitely attract a crowd.”
“If we then told those otaku we’re both guys, they’d be even more pumped to buy, buy, buy!”
Lin Nan froze, unsure how to respond, and after long contemplation, she repeated, “I’m a girl.”
“Yeah, I know.”
You “know”? Please stop looking at me with those pitying eyes!
She felt as if her conversation with the junior was off the rails—not once did they even clarify her gender.
“I haven’t taken any medication…” Lin Nan lamented, trying to clarify.
The junior suddenly gasped: “You’ve defused a bomb?!”
“???”
Why can’t I understand what you’re saying?!
Suddenly brought up in conversation were terms Lin Nan had never heard of, leaving her wide-eyed and perplexed.
“Senior…” The junior patted Lin Nan’s shoulder with an expression of sympathy. “You’re really pretty; you’d do just fine as a guy too. What’s with the negative mindset?”
If only I could be a guy…
Could you please stop assuming bizarre things?
Lin Nan wasn’t exasperated yet, but Chen Yao could no longer hold back. He yanked Lin Nan to him, glaring at the junior: “Don’t touch her!”
“Eh?” The junior finally realized. “Wait, you two are… a couple?!”
“You just figured that out?” Chen Yao’s face was as dark as a thunderstorm.
The junior awkwardly scratched his head, realizing his wig was almost falling off, and hurriedly fixed it.
But when he looked up again, he found Lin Nan was already being dragged away.
