ᴊɪᴀʏᴀɴɢ 🀄

You've got the time? What mad sorcery is this, Ren-ge?

Kid's probably in the wood workshop. I'm tellin' you, he's obsessed.

"Yeah?" Jiayang took a deep drag from his cigarette. "That's kind of you. Wanna just stand here or do you wanna walk around?"

"I've got time to kill," he answered casually with a shrug.

Jiayang wouldn't call it genuine. He was bored, it was for his own gain, mostly. But as they said; two birds, one stone.

Motherf—OH. You aren't supposed to be here! What are you doing?

Where did that kid run off to 💢

"Look, I can leave you alone. Just say the word and I will."

That earned a hearty laugh from Jiayang, he nearly dropped his half burned cigarette.

"'m sorry, I—" he held a hand up, sucking in a deep breath, "not my intention! Honest! Just tryin' ta help if you need something, I can point which direction to go. I don't need your money." —

"Ha!" he chuckled, flicking the ash from the cigarette to the ground. "It's not as popular here, I get it."

"You're not looking for anything in particular? Just sightseeing?"

"Easy enough to find around here," he shrugged. Then, at the mention of his establishment, he beamed.

"My pride and joy, mahjong parlor. I rent out tables and rooms to play. Got some booze too—to keep my patrons interested."

A muffled chuckle somehow managed to escape after he lit up his cigarette.

"I may as well," he nodded, exhaling the smoke from his mouth, "not from my establishment though. It won't be open until later. If you want snacks, I know good places."

Jiayang laughed, loud and unrestrained.

"Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, Miss! My place needs hope to pay the bills too."

bsky.app/profile/drag...

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　𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢... 𝙾𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜?
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"You call it luck. I'll call it... destiny," he grinned even wider, eyes sparkling with mirth. "How is that for a tagline, huh?"

He patted down his pocket and sighed.

"Aiya, forgot my lighter..." he glanced at the stranger, "can I borrow yours?"

After taking a closer look, Jiayang nodded to himself. "A new face. Welcome, we have lots of things to try here."

Seeing that man, he suddenly had the urge to smoke too. He took his cigarette from the box and held the stick between his pursed lips. —

"Got that place by sheer luck, it was the only vacant building left in the street," he grins, wide and proud.

"Guess that makes us kinda similar, ah? Tabletop game."

Until he didn't.

That man was new. He was sure of it, he didn't just forget faces.

"Hey there!" he greeted, approaching the stranger, "don't think I've seen ya 'round here?"

Jiayang's day started a little late. Not that it mattered, there was still a lot of time before he had to open the shop.

As usual, he went out to take a stroll, smiling and greeting the familiar faces he passed by. He might not always get their names right, but he knew who they were. —

What the...

Probably my hallucination.

? Am I dreaming or did I just saw him?

"Ha! That's true. The one near the electronic shop? My parlor is between those shops. I have it often. Chen's a real killer, I'll have to agree."

"I haven't been here long either," he shrugs. "Have you tried this one dumpling shop in Chinatown? It's so good."

"Call it intuition!" he says, grinning wider. "You don't have that gloomy, spooky born Gothamite look. And, hoo boy, that is quite the distance, eh?"