A Young Woman's Heart

As urban construction accelerates, former suburbs have been incorporated into towns.

For example, the area where Mo Xueyao's family lived was all farmland when she was a child, but now it has been turned into roads and shops.

The factory that was originally located nearby also needs to be moved to a more distant place.

This factory is a garment factory, which is considered to have relatively low pollution levels, but it still generates a lot of noise every day. It is the last factory to be relocated, and it is said to be moving to a place like Linping.

In any case, most of the equipment in the factory has been moved to the new factory, and most of the workers have also left.

The land will be officially sold to the government in one or two months. The factory site is empty, forming a stark contrast with the Peace Square not far away.

It is surrounded by high walls, like another space independent of the city.

Standing outside, you wouldn't feel at all that this is a gathering of tokusatsu fans.

Because there were no signs or advertisements at all, only those who were invited knew that this was the location of the gathering.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and it was dark and gloomy when I woke up early in the morning, making the air feel somewhat stuffy.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan entered the seemingly empty factory area, and after a few turns, they found that the surroundings had become lively.

Although the surrounding factories are somewhat dilapidated due to relocation, with weeds growing at the base of the walls and green vines climbing all over the houses and even blocking the windows, it would definitely be the best location for filming ghost movies if you came at night.

Even during the day, it feels like the ruins of a post-apocalyptic city.

Because there really was a three-story building next door that had been half demolished.

The party was held in this open space, with the entrance blocked off by simple roadblocks, giving it a very postmodern feel.

A person dressed as a Kamen Rider was collecting tickets at the only entrance.

There was a makeshift stage against the wall at the back, where enthusiasts were playing games together.

But if you look around, you'll find...

Among these roughly one hundred people, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan were the only women.

Even an ordinary girl would attract attention if she walked in here, let alone two very beautiful girls with very different styles.

Mo Xueyao handed the two tickets to the person dressed in a Kamen Rider outfit at the entrance without any hesitation. However, she didn't recognize which Kamen Rider it was; she didn't seem to remember ever seeing it before.

This is quite normal, since there were very few Kamen Rider DVDs available at that time; most of them were Ultraman or Super Sentai. And even people who like tokusatsu (special effects) will have their own preferences and biases.

And to be precise, what this staff member is wearing should be considered a leather suit, right?

"Welcome, have fun." At this moment, a familiar voice came from the leather case, making Mo Xueyao pause for a moment.

"Huh? Duanmu Ji!?"

"Ah."

"Wow, why are you wearing this?" Seeing that it was an acquaintance, Mo Xueyao couldn't help but pat his shoulder and feel the texture of the suit... It was quite different from the Ultraman suit. Although she had never touched an Ultraman suit, it certainly didn't feel like this.

"I'm one of the staff members who came to help."

"So, the person who organized this event is someone you know?"

"Perhaps I'm more familiar with you."

"what?"

"One of the organizers is Wang Qianyu."

Mo Xueyao had met her English teacher Wang Qianyu at the exhibition last time. Wang Qianyu pretended not to know Mo Xueyao and gave herself a nickname in the industry called "Yuyu Jiang"... or you could call her "Qingyu".

"Teacher Qianyu, I thought she was interested in other anime last time, but I didn't expect her to be a tokusatsu fan too..." Mo Xueyao thought about her family's financial resources and was no longer surprised that they could hold such an event.

Or perhaps holding a party in a place like this is actually saving her money?

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan arrived early this time. On the stage, the partygoers were spontaneously organizing games together. The host hadn't come on stage yet, and it was obvious that Wang Qianyu would be the host.

It's great to be rich; you can play around like this.

"Did she provide this suit too?" Mo Xueyao asked.

"Ah."

"Which Kamen Rider is this...? I don't think I've seen it before, and it's so well made."

"Kuuga was just released in Japan this January. Only the first few episodes are available on DVD, and there's no translation yet," Duanmu Ji's voice came from inside, sounding slightly muffled.

"Can you see clearly from inside?" Mo Xueyao waved her hand.

"It's clear, but not very convenient." After putting on the hood and the helmet that covered his face, Duanmu Ji seemed to talk more than usual.

How does it feel to wear it?

"I'm not used to it."

"Hehe, you're a Kamen Rider now, how about you do a transformation pose?"

Duanmu Ji remained silent in response to Mo Xueyao's question, then looked at the next person to enter and silently collected their ticket.

Seeing that he was embarrassed, Mo Xueyao stopped teasing him and grabbed Li Wanyan's wrist to walk inside.

Just like Moses parting the sea, the crowd parted to make way for the only two girls attending the gathering.

Even including the host, Wang Qianyu, there were only three women at this exhibition.

This is even less than the last anime fan gathering that Mo Xueyao attended, where at least there were a few girls.

The male-tokusatsu fan base is severely imbalanced.

Mo Xueyao muttered to herself, and in a sense, she should be considered on the boys' side.

After all, her liking for tokusatsu (special effects) dates back to when she was a boy.

Girls like Li Wanyan don't like this kind of thing.

The youngest person at the party looked to be a junior high school student, while the oldest looked to be a college student or a recent graduate.

These tokusatsu enthusiasts all appeared somewhat shy and reserved when facing Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan.

Of course, what interested Mo Xueyao was not that, but the props that many people made themselves with simple materials.

This party was essentially a very niche masquerade ball.

They played characters from those tokusatsu (special effects) films.

Very few people can afford to wear an exquisite leather suit like Duanmu Ji. Most people use cardboard or nylon, and some even draw their favorite characters on their white shirts with pens that won't wash out.

In contrast, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan, dressed in casual clothes, looked quite 'ordinary'.

"Ah, that, Seven glasses! Did you make them yourself?" Mo Xueyao saw a boy wearing Seven transformation glasses looking at her, and then rushed over, startling him.

"Ah...ah? Me? Mine? Yes..." the boy stammered, "You...like it too?"

“Yeah, hey, since this is a gathering of enthusiasts, let’s not worry about gender!” Mo Xueyao casually put her hand on his shoulder. “How did you do that?”

"I bought the resin myself, made the mold, and then poured in the resin of the correct color to solidify it." The boy immediately became animated as he spoke, "It took a lot of effort to make this!"

"Wow, that's impressive..." Mo Xueyao pointed to the glasses on his face, "Can I borrow them to take a look?"

"Sure!" The other person immediately picked it off excitedly.

People who knew him nearby started laughing at him: "You wouldn't lend me your money when I asked you earlier."

"Exactly, they forget their friends when they see a pretty face."

Mo Xueyao didn't care at all. At this moment, she didn't see herself as a girl, but as a pure tokusatsu enthusiast—more like a boy.

At this moment, she was so captivated by the props that many people had made that she even left Li Wanyan behind, watching her dart around in the crowd.

It's a lot of fun to connect with like-minded people.

At first, these people were a little embarrassed to talk to Mo Xueyao, but they gradually became surprised to find that they had seen so many tokusatsu works. Once they had common topics, they no longer felt unfamiliar with each other, and could even forget the differences in their identities or the subtle 'barriers' between men and women.

"I think the story of Seven is more profound and better than Kamen Rider V3."

"The storyline in V3 is indeed relatively weak..."

Li Wanyan couldn't understand any of these topics and felt like an outsider, standing there somewhat awkwardly.

At some point, Duanmu Ji, wearing the 'Kuuga' suit, walked up to Li Wanyan and silently watched with her as Mo Xueyao, who had already become friends with many people, became close to them.

Many people also gathered around Duanmu Ji.

"Can I touch it?" someone asked in surprise.

"You're not charging admission anymore?" This was probably the person who had greeted him earlier.

"This suit is so cool, how much does it cost?"

"It's conservatively estimated to be over ten thousand yuan," someone speculated.

"Hey, Duanmu Ji, you're here?" Mo Xueyao noticed the unusual commotion behind her and turned around to look at him. "Tell me about the plot of 'Looking Down on Me,' I haven't even seen it yet."

"I think this one is quite good." Duanmu Ji seemed a little nervous surrounded by so many people, and you could clearly hear him taking deep breaths. "It's just... a bit adult-oriented."

Mo Xueyao listened intently, about to ask something, when she suddenly saw a little girl squeeze into the crowd, grab Duanmu Ji's leg, and shout in a childish voice, "Daddy!"

……

Chapter 244 Transformation!

The once noisy open space suddenly fell silent.

The people in front were silent for a second after seeing it, and the people behind, not knowing what had happened, also fell silent.

"The voice sounds quite young, but is the person in the cloak actually a 30-year-old man?" someone among the crowd began to murmur.

Then, the atmosphere returned to normal.

The most shocked person was Mo Xueyao.

Although Li Wanyan knew that the person under the cloak was Duanmu Ji, she did not show any surprise.

"No way? Xiao Ji...you, you already have a daughter? You're still a minor, aren't you? How old were you...when you got married?" Mo Xueyao licked her dry lips. "No, you can't get a marriage certificate at this age, can you?"

It was impossible to tell what Duanmu Ji's expression was beneath the visor, but his tone was certainly strange: "I don't know her either..."

"Really?" Mo Xueyao squatted down in confusion, looking at the little girl who was probably only in first grade at most. "Little sister, why do you call him dad? Do you know him?"