"Haha, your Donghua State riddles are too hard to understand; we from Dongying State can't make heads or tails of them." This was Asou Haruka's defense for her lousy performance.
When it came to the final prize draw segment, Lin Xiaolu went first, followed by several younger participants, with the seniors drawing after, and Emerald Sparrow being the last to reveal her prize.
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Pulling a piece of paper from the draw tube, Emerald Sparrow slowly unfolded it, only to find the words "Coupon for 50% off all Tangyuan" written in black ink.
It wasn't exactly thrilling, but she had indeed won something; yet, it also wasn't something particularly exciting.
Amidst her subtly mixed feelings, and while listening to the staff shout "Congratulations, third prize," Emerald Sparrow accepted the so-called discount coupon with a subtly complex expression. On the other hand, Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, probably because they had a liking for sweets, immediately cheered and jumped for joy.
As a result, their dinner was thus decided upon: Tangyuan it would be.
Leaving the lantern riddle event, the Magical Girls mingled into the crowd and entered the snack plaza, where numerous snack booths were up for business, along with some vendors luring children with ring toss and spinning wheel games. That so-called "Tangyuan discount coupon" could only be used in this place; any booth selling Tangyuan offered a 50% discount, regardless of the flavor or the amount purchased.
Paying at the Tangyuan booth with somewhat complex feelings, Emerald Sparrow, adhering to very traditional views, chose a bowl of black sesame-filled Tangyuan, which made her seem overly plain compared to the other Magical Girls. If Xia Liang's choice of purple potato filling and Hong Siyu's pick of peanut filling were deemed normal, then Lin Xiaolu's choice of strawberry filling and Asou Haruka's selection of coffee filling were somewhat puzzling.
Had Tangyuan morphed into such a fancily diversified food?
Nibling at her spoon filled with black sesame Tangyuan, Emerald Sparrow pondered as if questioning her worldview. If she remembered correctly, back in her youthful days, when she, An Ya, Su Shengzi, and others used to visit the temple fair, Tangyuan was still a very traditional snack, right?
Just as her thoughts began to wander, and when she was about to sigh upon realizing she couldn't keep up with the times, Bai Jingxuan had already sat down beside her, holding her own bowl.
"Mom, try the Tangyuan I chose."
She naturally pushed her bowl towards Emerald Sparrow, crisply speaking.
Emerald Sparrow looked at Bai Jingxuan, gave it some thought, and without much protest, used her spoon to gently scoop a Tangyuan from Bai Jingxuan's bowl.
After tasting the Tangyuan, she immediately recognized the filling—custard.
Although custard-filled Tangyuan could be considered somewhat innovative compared to the traditional black sesame filling, in comparison to something as unorthodox as coffee filling, it seemed almost too normal.
Thinking thus, Emerald Sparrow swallowed the Tangyuan in her mouth.
"It's delicious." She then gave her verdict.
"Really? Thank you!" Bai Jingxuan, without quite knowing why she was so pleased by the compliment, happily took her bowl back and then leaned towards Emerald Sparrow, "Then Mom, I want to taste yours too."
"Hmm... sure, but it's just a very ordinary black sesame flavor, not much different from what you can buy at the supermarket."
Emerald Sparrow blinked, somewhat puzzled, "Are you sure you want to try it?"
"Yes!" Bai Jingxuan nodded.
"Alright then." With that thought, Emerald Sparrow pushed her bowl forward as well.
As soon as she had done this, Bai Jingxuan pushed the bowl back.
"What's the matter? Changed your mind?"
Emerald Sparrow was slightly confused.
Bai Jingxuan shook her head, negating with a hum.
Emerald Sparrow's questioning was cut off as she saw Bai Jingxuan adjust her eyepatch, then lean forward slightly, opening her mouth.
"Ah." The girl said softly.
Emerald Sparrow felt her wrist tremble.
She glanced around, then back at Bai Jingxuan, and after a moment's hesitation and a touch of helplessness, she lowered her spoon, and with Bai Jingxuan's spoon scooped a white and black Tangyuan from her own bowl.
Saying so, she first blew on the Tangyuan in the spoon to cool it, then, with a hint of embarrassment, fed the Tangyuan into Bai Jingxuan's mouth.
Bai Jingxuan chewed furiously a few times, then swallowed it down as if she were a cow savoring a peony: "Delicious!"
"...Glad you like it." Emerald Sparrow could only awkwardly respond, while scanning the surroundings to ensure not too many people witnessed this slightly embarrassing scene.
Unfortunately, just as her gaze shifted less than ninety degrees, she saw someone else had joined them at the side.
Lin Xiaolu slammed her bowl down on the table, glared at Bai Jingxuan, then, with a change in expression, met Emerald Sparrow's gaze with an incredibly docile and sweet look:
"Emerald Sparrow, I want some too!"
Bai Jingxuan immediately voiced her objection, "I was here first!"
"You've already had your turn; now it's mine!" Lin Xiaolu quickly retorted.
The two went back and forth like squabbling elementary school children, repeating the same sentence over and over and gradually raising their voices.
Seeing things go south, Emerald Sparrow quickly interposed to stop the squabble, then with a numb expression, fished out another Tangyuan from her own bowl and held it to Lin Xiaolu's mouth.