There were still quite a few students at the school gate after classes ended.
The day students had already gone home, and while boarding students weren’t allowed to leave campus, many were still hanging around instead of heading back to the dorms.
An Ling’s ears pressed back, and she kept her head down as she followed behind Li Yang.
“Don’t keep your head down all the time,” Li Yang said, glancing back at her.
“The more you lower your head, the more they stare.”
Once they left the school gates, the street outside became lively.
Various street vendors had set up carts selling grilled sausages, pancakes, snacks, and all kinds of food.
The mixed aromas wafted through the air as An Ling’s gaze swept over the stalls.
“Hungry?”
Li Yang asked.
“Want to grab something to eat first before heading to the supermarket?”
An Ling shook her head.
“Not hungry. Let’s go to the supermarket first. We can eat after buying what we need.”
“Alright.”
Li Yang nodded and led the way toward the commercial street.
The streets of M City still looked like they did in her memories, yet they also seemed to have changed a lot.
Shops along the road had come and gone in waves.
Some old stores remained, while others had disappeared.
As An Ling looked at the unfamiliar signs, she felt a slight daze, like reuniting with an old friend you haven’t seen in years—they still remembered her, but she could barely recognize them.
“The city has developed quite well these past few years.”
“Yeah, it has. M City has actually become a second-tier city now. Though the development here isn’t as good as the central district.”
An Ling already knew that.
This area was relatively close to the central district and had developed reasonably well.
It took about an hour and a half to walk to the central area, but the bus was much faster—only ten minutes or so.
That was where the main development was focused.
“Look over there,” Li Yang pointed ahead.
“The stationery store we used to go to all the time is now a phone accessory shop.”
An Ling followed his finger.
She remembered that stationery store clearly.
Every time school started, they would go there to buy notebooks and pens.
Occasionally they would buy stationery with small toys and secretly play with them at school.
Now it had become a phone accessory store, its glass cabinets filled with phone cases and charging cables.
“That breakfast shop is still there, but business isn’t as good as before,” Li Yang continued.
“I heard it’s because the owner’s parents came to help and caused some trouble. The old folks couldn’t bear to throw away overnight ingredients and secretly used them, which cost them some regular customers.”
An Ling remembered that shop.
The owner was a man in his thirties.
She hadn’t expected it to lose business for that reason.
“The bookstore is still open too,” Li Yang continued.
“When we were little we didn’t play that many video games. We mostly just ran around outside and read comics.”
An Ling’s ears twitched.
She remembered the shop was run by an old man.
She used to think it was strange for a grandfather to sell comics—it didn’t quite match her image of elderly people.
She wondered if that old man was doing well now.
He never chased them away when they read books in his store, though they could only read the ones that had already been opened.
Sealed ones in plastic wrapping were off-limits.
“The old man retired. I don’t know how he’s doing now,” Li Yang’s tone shifted slightly.
“The store was going to close, but then his daughter came back and took over.
She doesn’t allow free reading anymore though, and you won’t find any unpacked books these days.”
“It changed owners the year after you left.”
An Ling didn’t say anything more.
The two continued walking.
After crossing one street, the view suddenly opened up.
This was a wider commercial street lined with shops on both sides and filled with people coming and going.
“Wow! It’s so much better than before,” An Ling couldn’t help exclaiming.
“It’s decent. The supermarket is just up ahead, not far. Let’s go.”
They kept walking.
“We’re here.”
Li Yang pointed at a large sign ahead.
“This is the supermarket. It opened last year and basically has everything.”
An Ling looked at the sign.
It really was big—much larger than the small supermarket she remembered.
The two walked into the supermarket and grabbed a shopping cart.
“Let’s go. Daily necessities section first.”
“I need shampoo, body wash, and I haven’t bought any specialized hair care essential oil yet.”
The supermarket was large, with neatly arranged shelves and a wide variety of products.
An Ling pushed the cart in front while Li Yang walked beside her, occasionally pointing out directions.
“Shampoo and toothpaste over here… we should get new ones.”
An Ling browsed the brands as she placed items into the cart.
“Want to buy towels?”
Li Yang picked one up and asked.
An Ling glanced at it.
“We have some at home. I brought a few yesterday.”
“What about clothes hangers? You probably don’t have many at home right now, do you?”
“Hangers…”
An Ling thought for a moment. “Yeah, we’re short on those. Let’s get a pack.”
“Sigh! Looking at you now… I bet some of the bigger clothes you wore as a kid would still fit you, right?”
“Huh?”
An Ling froze for a second, then realized Li Yang was teasing her.
Her face instantly flushed red and her fur puffed up.
“No way!”
Oh ho ho! Li Yang loved this kind of reaction.
Beastkin really are great, he thought.
When they got embarrassed or angry their fur would puff out, and you could even see their cute little fangs when they yelled.
It would be nice if An Ling had a beastkin little sister or older sister with a similar personality and looks. What a shame.
Li Yang looked An Ling up and down.
The clothes he wore when he had just started sixth grade might actually fit her now.
Back then he was only around one meter fifty-three.
An Ling’s current height was probably about the same, right?
Was she a small breed?
But wasn’t she a wolf?
Then again, smaller wolves weren’t that big either.
After all, An Ling’s mom was about the same size.
An Ling noticed Li Yang had spaced out and decided to just keep picking out items herself.
The two of them made a full round in the daily necessities section.
The shopping cart gradually filled up with a growing pile of things.
An Ling carefully checked everything.
She seemed to have gotten what she needed.
“Anything else missing?”
Li Yang asked.
“Should be about it. Let’s go to the food section and grab some snacks.”
The food section was on the other side of the supermarket.
They pushed the cart over and soon reached the snack aisle.
Li Yang stopped.
“What snacks do you want?”
Li Yang pointed at the shelves.
“Didn’t you used to love cucumber-flavored chips? Still buying them?”
An Ling couldn’t help glancing over.
She did still like that flavor.
“There are only these few flavors now. What about you?”
An Ling quickly grabbed a few bags of cucumber and lime flavors, secretly worried that Li Yang would tease her for liking “kids’ flavors.”
Li Yang pointed at another spot.
“They don’t sell those one-yuan spicy strips anymore. Remember how we used to buy a pack after school and eat them on the way home? We’d always wipe our hands clean before getting home so Grandma wouldn’t scold us.”
An Ling’s tail swished unconsciously.
“That was when we were kids. I don’t really eat those anymore.”
“Really?”
Li Yang glanced at her.
“Alright then. I’ll buy some for myself.”
He grabbed two packs and put them in the cart.
An Ling wanted to say something but swallowed it back.
Shouldn’t have tried to act cool, An Ling cried inwardly.
After that, they picked up a few more snacks.
An Ling also grabbed several packs of extra-tough beef jerky.
It was delicious and good for grinding her teeth.