161: We met again

He knew the anime convention would be popular, but he didn't expect it to be this crowded.

Despite the freezing weather, a crowd of people dressed in clothes that offered no warmth moved forward bit by bit with the throng.

"People with such passion are truly admirable."

Shen Qian checked his phone. Because there were too many people, there was no signal, and he had no idea where Tan Xinxin and the others were currently located.

After a long while, Shen Qian finally entered the venue. At a glance, it was a sea of colorful people.

"I lost them; there are just too many people."

The moment he received Tan Xinxin's message, Shen Qian felt a bit of a headache. But since it had already happened, blaming her wouldn't help matters.

He would do his best and leave the rest to fate. He had done what he could; if it didn't work out today, he'd just treat it as a fun outing. After all, this place was quite interesting.

"It's fine. Since you can't find them, just come over to my side."

Shen Qian had some exposure to ACG culture before. At this convention, he saw many familiar characters, such as Armor Hero, Kamen Rider, and so on.

"Hello, Sensei, are you cosplaying as Tomoe?"

Shen Qian nodded.

"Then, can I get a photo with you?"

"A photo?"

Shen Qian remembered the person who sold him the clothes mentioning that 'stamping' meant taking a photo, so he nodded.

The girl happily held up her Instax camera, and the two of them took a photo together.

"Sensei, your cosplay is amazing! What's your CN? Can we expand our contact list?"

"CN, expand the list..." Shen Qian fell into thought. He really didn't know what 'CN' meant.

"Is it... inconvenient?"

"This is my first time cosplaying, so I'm not very familiar with some things, like taking photos and such."

"Oh, oh! Sensei, is this your first time cosplaying?"

"I'm not a 'Sensei,' I'm a newbie. A total newbie."

The girl was quite excited. During the time Tan Xinxin hadn't arrived, she explained some slang to Shen Qian. For example, 'CN' was essentially a pen name within the community, provided one had an account.

'Expanding the list' actually meant adding friends.

'Slug' was shorthand for 'happy to expand the list.'

'OOC' referred to doing things that were 'Out Of Character' for the role being played.

There was a lot of corresponding slang, and Shen Qian memorized it slowly.

The character he was cosplaying was named Tomoe, who was very popular with girls. As he walked along, many girls came up to take photos with him.

Along the way, girls who were a 6 out of 10 were not rare, and some even reached a 7.

Shanghai was Shanghai after all; there were truly so many beauties.

When Tan Xinxin appeared and saw Shen Qian, she was also a bit skeptical. Because Shen Qian was wearing a wig and clothes different from his usual style, combined with that wicked smile, he looked completely different from the usual Shen Qian.

It was another kind of contrast.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Tan Xinxin standing there dazed, Shen Qian used the fan in his hand to gently lift her chin.

Admittedly, the gesture was a bit too seductive, and Tan Xinxin's face flushed instantly.

"No, it's nothing."

Before she could say anything more, a girl immediately hurried over.

"Sensei, Sensei, can I get a photo with you? Using that same move just now.

Can you help us take the picture?"

The girl held her Instax, looking at Shen Qian with an excited face, then handed the camera to Tan Xinxin.

"Sure."

Shen Qian agreed, so Tan Xinxin naturally couldn't refuse. Thus, her career as a photographer began.

"Sensei, Sensei, I want one too!"

"Sensei, Sensei, do you speak Japanese?"

"Sensei, Sensei..."

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Qian rubbed his face while Tan Xinxin shook her hands. There were too many people, simply too many people.

Even so, among the many people asking for photos, Shen Qian hadn't managed to see Xu Ling.

He had added dozens of contact details and earned over a million; the trip wasn't a total loss.

"Shen Qian?"

A girl looked at Shen Qian and shouted excitedly. Although her voice wasn't quiet, it didn't stand out much given the size of the crowd.

The girl was dressed in a Magical Girl outfit and held a wand in her hand.

"Tsk."

Shen Qian clicked his tongue impatiently.

He was here to find Xu Ling, so why was this girl here as well? Could she be stalking him?

That was unlikely, because even the three in his dorm didn't know where he was going, though his costume wouldn't be hard to guess once he was seen.

"What a coincidence! We're so destined to meet."

The girl was none other than Song Mengyuan. She carefully examined Shen Qian's outfit and squealed with excitement.

"This suits you so well!"

"I never thought that someone who looks so cold and aloof like you would have a side like this!"

"Want to take a photo? Add me? What's your CN? Are you going to that Private Exhibition later?"

The girl's questions came like rapid fire, but her excitement didn't seem faked. As for Tan Xinxin on the side, she was simply ignored.

"Since you have this hobby, why don't you join the Anime Club? If someone like you joined, you'd definitely be very popular!"

"Anime Club? You're here with the people from the Anime Club?"

"Yeah! Every club needs to hold a group activity when new members join. This convention is our Anime Club's activity."

Shen Qian nodded, thinking that made sense. With Xu Ling's socially anxious personality, she probably wouldn't participate in such a crowded event if she didn't have familiar people around her.

"The Anime Club? Is Xu Ling in your club too? I'm her Roommate."

Facing Tan Xinxin, Song Mengyuan was clearly much colder.

"Xu Ling? She's here, but she's not in this area right now. If you want to find her, just go to her area."

If Song Mengyuan hadn't appeared, Tan Xinxin would have naturally gone alone to help Shen Qian find her. But now that Song Mengyuan was here, she couldn't just walk away alone.

This girl's intentions were written all over her face. Currently, Xu Ling hadn't formed a united front with her yet, and now another beautiful girl had popped up. Shen Qian's efficiency was even higher than she had imagined.

So, she naturally took Shen Qian's arm.

"Honey, let's go find Xu Ling. Neither of us is familiar with this place, so why not let her show us where everything is?"

"I see you're quite interested in those armors and things; let's call Xu Ling and go see them together."

"Senior, so you're Shen Qian's Girlfriend! You're so pretty!"

The word 'Senior' made Shen Qian daze for a moment. He looked at Song Mengyuan, then at Tan Xinxin. Just as he was about to speak, Tan Xinxin beat him to it.

"Thanks for the compliment. You're very pretty too, but you're just not our A-Qian's type. After all, you look a bit too juvenile."

As Tan Xinxin spoke, she subtly glanced at the other's chest, and then the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.