“Look! It’s an airplane flying in the sky!” Ming cried out, although his voice wasn’t loud enough to cover all the noises.
Mei was not surprised, not genuinely surprised. Because she had seen many airplanes like that. Just the question was, When can I take a plane?
Disappointed, she started focusing on people’s random talk with a familiar dialect and their energetic laughter. Most of the people were talking about lotteries, especially the Mark Six lottery run by Hong Kong Jockey Club. It was the most popular yet illegal gambling game in Fujian and Guangdong; a game that had been hot during the golden era when the mushrooms had flourished in the village since the late 90s or the early 21st century. A game that almost everyone was still playing. A game that Bing often organized and Mei herself sometimes also participated. Players, more or less, would tirelessly study a fat book, watch the Teletubbies and dream of the impossible being possible.