"Is that so? Then let me see!" The middle-aged woman frowned and snatched the small slip of paper from Jimmy's hand. After glancing at it, she crumpled it up and threw it away!
"You!!" Jimmy immediately got angry. "You better go pick up your crumpled paper!" the woman sneered.
Jimmy unhappily picked up the small paper ball. After straightening it out, he suddenly realized the number was wrong! It had changed to A2028, but his number was supposed to be A2021!
Jimmy turned his head and saw the smug look on the woman's face. He twitched the corner of his mouth—if this weren't a public place... he really wanted to slap her.
Full of resentment, Jimmy waited for a few more people. It wasn't until almost eleven o'clock that he finally withdrew three thousand yuan.
After leaving the rural credit union, Jimmy went to a sporting goods store intending to buy some weights for training. He first tested how much weight his body could currently handle. It wasn't until about a hundred jin (approximately 50 kg) that he felt pressure. Reluctantly, Jimmy chose to buy 300 jin (about 150 kg) of iron plates to try training at home.
"Hehe, customer, do you need me to deliver it for you?" The shop owner, a burly man in his thirties, asked.
"No thanks!" Jimmy said gloomily after paying over a thousand yuan. He lifted the 300 jin of iron plates himself, earning an admiring look from the owner as Jimmy carried the load out of the shop.
Jimmy found a place with no people around and stored the iron plates into his ring. Then, still feeling depressed, he went home.
"Hey!" Just as Jimmy opened the door, he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. Knowing exactly who it was, Jimmy turned and pretended to be surprised. "Oh, it's you! Just got back?"
"Hehe!" A lively girl with long black hair smiled and nodded. "Your eyes are better!?"
"Yeah!" Jimmy nodded.
"Hehe, are you free tomorrow night?" the girl asked.
"Uh, yes!" Jimmy nodded again.
"That's great! I'll come find you at eight tomorrow night!" The girl smiled happily at Jimmy.
"Mm!" Jimmy also nodded happily. It was the first time a girl had asked him out! Back home, Jimmy was still excited when his Nokia phone vibrated.
He pulled out his phone and saw a message from an unknown number. Quickly checking, Jimmy exclaimed wide-eyed, "The Amazing Spider-Man!!!!" He had always been a Spider-Man fan and knew the storyline well—he'd heard the sequel was coming soon!
Jimmy rushed into his room and logged onto a low-tier website to review the plot.
Frowning as he finished, Jimmy felt melancholic—he realized his strength might not be enough to beat Peter Parker who was bitten by a spider, let alone Dr. Curt Connors, the Lizard!
Squinting, Jimmy watched The Amazing Spider-Man again and began plotting.
Time passed unknowingly until Fatty called Jimmy, waking him up. "Hey!"
"Hey," Jimmy answered.
"Jimmy, are you coming?"
"Coming!" Jimmy said quickly.
He put away his notebook and hurried to Fatty's late-night snack stall. When he arrived, he saw Lingling helping Fatty.
"I'm here!" Jimmy said, putting on an apron printed with Hello Kitty and pitching in.
At three in the morning, after the last customers left, Jimmy finally relaxed. Lingling had gone home at midnight to sleep. Only Jimmy and Fatty remained, sharing dishes made from the leftover ingredients and drinking together.
"Hey! You don't know how often Lingling's been asking me where you went while you were away!" Fatty teased Jimmy with a sly grin.
"Don't mention that!" Jimmy said helplessly. He knew Lingling had feelings for him, but he liked someone else…
"Hehe, why don't you consider Lingling?" Fatty pressed.
Jimmy lowered his head and quietly ate his food. Feeling the mood grow heavy, Fatty pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"Fatty, what plans do you have for the future?" Jimmy asked quietly, chewing.
"Do you want to keep doing this? Running a late-night stall to support your future family?" Jimmy asked softly.
"Sigh, I wish I could go to college! Just bad luck with my life," Fatty smiled bitterly.
"Sigh," Jimmy sighed too. Fatty's grades were even better than his, but Fatty wasn't planning to continue school because he had no money for tuition. The money he earned went to support his grandparents and two younger siblings still in middle school.
"As the eldest son, it's all about enduring hardship for a man!" Fatty said, lifting his beer and taking a big gulp.
Jimmy silently shook his head, then said goodbye in the quiet atmosphere.
Early the next morning, Jimmy began intense physical training, wearing a hundred-jin weight as he ran, sprinted, jumped rope, and practiced side kicks to improve his fitness.
For lunch and dinner, Jimmy ate food brought back from the movie world. After some thought, he packed some into a bag to bring to Fatty and Lingling that night.
Jimmy noticed his recovery rate had improved greatly; after just ten minutes of rest, wounds and redness on his body would fade away.
That evening, Jimmy was still training when someone knocked on his door. Without a peephole, Jimmy frowned and opened it, seeing Su Xiaoqin standing there with a frown. The girl wore her hair tied in a ponytail and looked energetic.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Su Xiaoqin wrinkled her nose at Jimmy's sweaty smell.
"Training! I'm going to get ready now, soon!" Jimmy said quickly, rushing to the bathroom. In less than five minutes, he came out.
"Wow! You washed up so fast!" Su Xiaoqin exclaimed.
"What did you expect?" Jimmy said helplessly. He had forgotten to buy clothes today, so he wore the pink shirt with the Jurassic Park logo on the back and gray casual pants, with a purple headscarf tied on his forehead.
"Let's go!" The girl said, leading the way downstairs.
"Where to?" Jimmy hurried to ask.
"To a bar!" The girl said with a smile.
"What!" Jimmy was stunned—he had never been to a bar before!