That Night – Blue Fern Apartments – 10:46 PM
Eli and Jin entered the apartment, shoulders slightly slouched from exhaustion, the scent of grilled skewers and lantern smoke still clinging to their clothes. Jin kicked off his shoes, jumped onto the couch, and rummaged through his backpack. He pulled out a crumpled leaflet and waved it lazily in Eli's direction.
"You need to sign this," he mumbled, stretching his legs out.
Eli caught it midair. "What's this?"
Jin yawned. "Placement form. For high school. It helps determine which department I go into."
Eli scanned the sheet, official seal, list of departments, a rough deadline.
"So…" he looked up, "you've already chosen?"
Jin nodded. "Yeah. Art department."
Eli raised a brow, surprised but not entirely. "Oh. That's nice. Hopefully your talents can be improved." He said it casually, but there was something warm in his voice, relieved, even proud.
Jin shrugged. "It's either that or accounting. I'd rather fail with ink than with numbers."
Eli chuckled under his breath and signed the leaflet with a click of the pen. He handed it back, but paused before letting go.
"You're sure, right?"
Jin gave a quiet nod. "Yeah. I think I am."
Eli let go of the paper.
"Good," he said. "Then let's make sure you don't regret it."
Jin stuffed the form back into his bag and disappeared toward his room. "Night."
"Night," Eli replied, standing there for a beat longer, the day's memories stacking behind his eyes, the crowd, the music, the scout.
Then he locked the door, turned off the lights, and let the silence settle in. Tomorrow would bring new problems. But tonight, there was art, choice, and a boy who had finally started to believe he had a future.
And that was enough.
Saturday Morning – Briggon District – 9:12 AM
Eli woke up feeling like he'd danced with bricks tied to his ankles. His limbs were sore, throat dry, and eyes reluctant to open. Last night's festivities had gone later than planned and deeper than expected. But still, no regrets.
He dragged himself through the familiar rhythm: shower, kettle, two bites of toast, splash of cold water to the face. Then he grabbed his phone and opened the System.
Daily Sign-In Complete. +10,000 yuan received.
Current Balance: 125,000 yuan.
"Still not enough," he muttered, rubbing his face.
From the other room, the shuffle of bare feet and the soft thud of a backpack being zipped signaled that Jin was awake.
"You ready?" Eli called out.
"Yeah," Jin replied, emerging with helmet in hand and sleep still in his eyes. "Let's roll."
9:40 AM – The Corner Pocket, Briggon
The storefront still smelled faintly of sesame oil, fireworks, and charcoal. Paper lanterns hung deflated along the roof, and a few empty stalls littered the sidewalk like abandoned memories.
Mr. Duan stood near the curb with a broom in one hand and a garbage bag in the other. Two neighbor, old Mr. Tak from the tailor shop and Leena, the single mom who lived above the clinic were helping gather trash and fold tables. Everyone moved slowly but smiled through it.
Eli and Jin pulled up on their scooters, parked them beside the lamppost, and hopped off.
"You boys look like you wrestled the moon last night," Mr. Duan said, tossing a paper plate into the bin.
"We almost did," Eli replied with a grin. "Need hands?"
"Always."
They joined the cleanup effort, Jin grabbing a rake while Eli started stacking chairs.
"Not bad for a first-time festival," Mr. Duan said, straightening his back with a groan.
"More than not bad," Eli said. "I checked Nestwork before coming over. People are still talking about it."
Mr. Duan's eyebrows lifted. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. The video Kevin from Dragon City Times posted last night, clip of the lanterns, the raffle, the girl singing, got reposted by a lifestyle page. 'Grassroots Gold,' they called it. One of those Nester influencers picked it up. Comments are blowing up."
"Let me guess," Mr. Duan chuckled. "Half of them nostalgic and the other half asking where to buy dumplings."
"Pretty much."
Nestwork – Top Comments on 'Briggon Block Day' ClipPosted by: @CitySoul | Shared by: @NinaNest
@NinaNest : "THIS is what city living should look like. Heart, food, community. Briggon just jumped on my must-visit list 🎉🎇🎈. #BlockDay #RealDragonCity"
@sojamama98: "The jazz band for free? The dumpling lady? The hand-painted badges?? My inner child is sobbing."
@DiscountWarrior: "Meanwhile SuperMartX is over here giving away stale coupons and calling it culture. Its good to see the community and small stores come together to go against a coporate giant."
@DataNest: "Quick spike in foot traffic to The Corner Pocket already showing on our local heatmaps. Amazing what community trust can do."
@RealestYvonne: "This wasn't just cute. This was resistance with glitter and soy sauce. #SupportLocal #NoToSuperMartX"
Back on the sidewalk, Eli tossed a wad of old flyers into a bin and turned to Mr. Duan, lowering his voice.
"That scout last night… you think he reported back already?"
Mr. Duan nodded, slow and thoughtful. "Of course he did. They don't send people like that unless they're serious. He saw something they didn't plan for."
"Community?"
"Exactly. Loyalty. Messy, stubborn, inconvenient loyalty."
Eli looked out at the street. A few kids from the block were chalking new doodles over yesterday's rain-faded ones. A paper badge floated past like a forgotten crown.
"They'll try harder now," Eli said quietly.
Mr. Duan didn't argue. "Then we keep going. Eyes open. No panic. Just pressure."
Eli let the words sit.
The fight hadn't ended with Block Day.
It had just started looking like something SuperMartX didn't know how to control.
Community.
And community doesn't sell out quietly, But with unfortunately for them community can still be bought.
Just after 10:15 AM, Mian arrived at The Corner Pocket for her weekend shift. Her apron was half-tied and her earbuds still dangling from her neck. She was just about to slip behind the counter when she noticed Jin outside, sweeping near the curb with a slight slump in his posture.
Instead of clocking in immediately, she grabbed another broom from behind the store and walked over.
"You're not on duty," she said casually.
Jin looked up, surprised, then shrugged. "Festival aftermath. Felt weird to leave it all to the grownups."
Mian smirked and started sweeping beside him. "Nice. I came to work, but this feels more important."
They worked side-by-side for a few quiet minutes, trading brief comments about how wild the night before had been.
Then Mian nudged him lightly with her elbow.
"Hey… So what department did you pick?"
"Art," Jin said, glancing over. "Figured I'd get to draw, paint, design stuff. Didn't want to be stuck doing equations all day."
Mian gave a dramatic gasp. "Equations are the best part. Guess we won't be seeing much of each other in school then. I'm in the maths department."
Jin blinked. "Really? But you're… like, not uptight."
"I contain multitudes," she replied with a smirk.
They laughed together. The moment was simple, but it felt like something shifted, like the start of a school-year friendship being tested against time slots, timetables, and teenage nerves.
"So maybe just breaks and school trips," Jin said.
"Hey, better than nothing," Mian replied. "Besides, if you ever need help with formulas or you want to swap sketchbooks, I'm around."
Jin didn't respond right away. He just looked at her, smiled faintly, then nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that."
Briggon – Outside The Corner Pocket, 11:08 AM
Most of the festival debris had been cleared. Streamers were rolled up. Crushed paper cups bagged. Eli and Mr. Duan were inside discussing stock rotation, leaving the front of the store mostly quiet.
Jin sat on the step with his sleeves rolled up, wiping sweat from his neck with the edge of his shirt. Mian sat beside him, sipping a cold soy milk she'd taken from the back fridge.
She nudged his shoulder. "You seemed lighter yesterday. At the badge table."
He glanced sideways. "Yeah?"
"You were laughing with that little kid. Didn't think you laughed much."
Jin lowered his head slightly. "Guess I forgot how to. For a while."
Mian didn't push. Just took another sip. "The art department's lucky, then."
He gave her a look. "Why?"
"Because you remember the real stuff," she said. "You draw like someone who feels things."
Jin looked down at his hands, calloused from weeks of moving crates and unloading shipments. "Most people say I draw like someone who's sad."
Mian shrugged. "That's still real."
There was a quiet pause, not awkward, just full of things neither of them quite had words for yet.
Then Mian leaned forward and traced a finger along the dusty pavement.
"I want to paint something on the back alley wall," she said. "The one near the dumpsters."
Jin blinked. "Why there?"
"No one looks at it. It'd be just for us. Just for the Corner pocket store."
Jin smiled slowly. "Okay. But I get to design the background."
"Deal."
They sat there, side by side in the fading quiet, two kids on different paths who had found something solid between the gaps of subjects and schedules.