Non-mainstream Snowman

Previously using his injured ankle as an excuse for inconvenience, Lin Yu had been holed up at Xia Muzhu's home.

But now that his foot was healed, facing the eager pleas of siblings Xia Yueshan and Xia Muzhu, Lin Yu couldn't bring himself to refuse again.

The key point was that Xia Muzhu also wanted to go out and have fun. If it were only Xia Yueshan asking, Lin Yu would have pulled a long face and scolded sternly:

"Play? Play what?"

"There are only about fifteen hundred days left until your college entrance exams. How can you not feel any sense of urgency?"

"All you think about is playing around."

"Sis Zhu, let me give you a number."

"Sign him up for seven cram schools!"

"Make him rise earlier than the rooster and sleep later than the dog!"

In front of H City's largest amusement park, the three of them, Lin Yu, bought tickets and entered one after another.

It was winter, and many rides in the park were already shut down, such as outdoor large-scale equipment like roller coasters. It made sense, of course. If you didn't shut those down, probably no one would ride them in the dead of winter anyway.

That would be pure torture, plain and simple.

However, this amusement park truly lived up to its reputation as H City's largest. Although some summer-specific attractions were closed, many winter-exclusive venues were already open.

For example, a super-sized ski slope that could accommodate over a thousand people, and an enormous ice slide a full three hundred meters long.

There was even a specially designated area of clean snow for visitors, with several snow machines inside. Countless soft snowflakes piled up on the ground, provided for guests to build snowmen and take photos as mementos.

As soon as Xia Yueshan arrived, he was like a monkey let loose in the Peach Garden of Immortality, running back and forth between indoor and outdoor areas, wanting to try everything.

Lin Yu and Xia Muzhu followed him, playing whatever he played.

In an arena filled with foam blocks, Xia Yueshan lay on a huge black ball, his legs stretched out straight, his hands crossed over his chest. The ball beneath him sank slightly as he wore an excited expression.

The next second, a staff member who had been given a heads-up jumped from a high platform, landing on the opposite side of the black ball.

Xia Yueshan was suddenly launched into the air. Amid his screams, his body traced a perfect arc through the sky before finally plunging into the sea of foam blocks.

A few seconds later, he jumped out from the foam ocean, clamoring to go again.

"Don't you like it here?"

Xia Muzhu inserted a straw into a cup of milk tea and held it to Lin Yu's lips, asking.

"Huh?"

"No, it's fine here. There are plenty of things to do."

Lin Yu took the warm milk tea and took a sip. Mango flavor—it was a taste he liked.

"That's good."

"I noticed your brow has been furrowed since we left home this morning. I thought you might not like this place."

Hearing Xia Muzhu say this, Lin Yu subconsciously raised his hand to touch his own brow, forcing a dry laugh as he explained:

"It's alright."

Actually, it wasn't that Lin Yu disliked being here. He rarely visited amusement parks, and if he didn't consider other factors, he felt he might play even more enthusiastically than Xia Yueshan.

But for some reason, Lin Yu just felt a bit uneasy, afraid he might run into people he shouldn't meet here, stirring up trouble he shouldn't provoke.

"Should we go home after Yueshan finishes this one?"

Seeing Lin Yu's expression still somewhat heavy, Xia Muzhu thoughtfully suggested.

"Um..."

"No need!"

"Let's play. It's fine."

Lin Yu grinned, but could only pray inwardly that nothing would happen.

After finishing this ride, Xia Yueshan happily ran outside again, pulling Lin Yu and Xia Muzhu onto the super-long ice slide, filling his own stomach with cold wind in the process.

Time passed imperceptibly. Not until the sun at the horizon began to emit an orange-golden glow did Lin Yu's heart finally settle completely.

At this hour, no more visitors would be entering the park.

They had practically toured the entire amusement park today. Since they hadn't encountered anyone, they probably wouldn't.

The trio's final activity for the day was to go to the snow-making area to build a snowman.

Having been tense all day, Lin Yu could finally relax a little.

Entering the snow field, they saw many, many snowmen already there, of all shapes and kinds. At the entrance, staff reminded visitors not to damage the snowmen other guests had built.

There was also a prominent notice nearby, marked with eye-catching red font as a warning.

Damage to any snowman within the area: Fine 500.

At the entrance to this snow field was a small shop selling all kinds of snowman decorations: various buttons, assorted sequins, and even hats and scarves, etc.

The Xia siblings picked out some decorations like buttons here, planning to attach them to their snowman's body later.

Lin Yu bought a carrot for the nose, thinking he'd stick it on the snowman's head later as its nose.

After paying and receiving the carrot nose, feeling its substantial weight in his hand, what surprised Lin Yu was that it was actually a real carrot.

Lin Yu thought for a moment, paid for another one. He was feeling a bit peckish; this one would be perfect for a snack!

Leaving the shop, the three found a relatively open spot, deciding to build their snowman there.

They split into two teams: the Xia siblings went to roll a snowman body, while Lin Yu went alone to roll a snowman head.

Originally, Lin Yu wanted to team up with Xia Muzhu, but Xia Yueshan insisted on rolling the body. The workload was huge, and Lin Yu was afraid he wouldn't finish before dark if left alone, so he reluctantly let Xia Muzhu go help him.

Lin Yu was quite experienced at rolling snowballs. First, mold a small snowball, then roll it on the ground, letting it gather more snow. Bit by bit, the shape of a large snowball emerged. Later, it would just need some patting firm and trimming to become a perfect snowman head.

Lin Yu worked quickly. In a short while, the snowball was already rolled.

After a simple patting to firm it up, Lin Yu picked up the snowball head, intending to reunite with the Xia siblings. They could borrow tools later to do some trimming.

Just as he turned around holding the snowball, Lin Yu's gaze fixed. Among the countless snowmen, he spotted a very peculiar one.

Curious, he walked over holding the snowman head, wanting to observe this strange snowman up close.

Approaching the snowman and getting a clear look at its odd and comical appearance, Lin Yu found it somewhat amusing, yet couldn't quite bring himself to laugh.

Unlike the other snowmen, this one looked adorably ugly, and it even had, damn it, a hairstyle!

The left half of the snowman's face was diagonally covered with a layer of golden sequins, looking strikingly similar to the non-mainstream hairstyle of Iori Yagami from The King of Fighters. Under the dusk sunset, the orange-golden light shone on the golden sequins, reflecting an extremely captivating gleam.

The snowman's right cheek bore half of a currently popular "Longtu" meme expression. The two together on the snowman's large round face made it look simultaneously cocky, cute, and hilarious, truly making people chuckle.

To the right of this Iori Yagami snowman, another snowman was pressed closely against it.

That snowman was very ordinary, entirely white, with only two simple black button eyes. However, on its face was an expression drawn with twigs.

That ordinary white snowman.

Looked very happy.