It's none of my business. I'm just a lunch box seller.

"How about you help me out, and then I'll treat your whole family to a meal."

Xiao Xin emphasized: "Eating is not the point, the point... the point is whether there is room for acting to be developed?"

“It’s very effective.”

So, the Nohara family took Xiao Xiangcheng and followed another crew member back to the studio.

The filming at Xiao Xiang Cheng went smoothly, and the filming at Boss Cheng was also in progress. However, because of the need to shoot various scenes, the speed of all the shooting was far less than the "one-shot" of normal tourists or experiencers.

Tired of waiting, Xiangcheng decided to go with Shinnosuke, and after obtaining the consent of Xiangcheng and Shinnosuke, Shinnosuke's parents put Xiangcheng, Shinnosuke and Aoi in the children's "storage" center specially prepared for parents at the expo.

There were so many children in the child care center that it was unimaginable. Looking around, there were about 300 people gathered in the "under-six area" alone.

Seeing this, Xiao Xiangcheng curled her lips, completely lacking the joy and excitement that other children of the same age would have when they were together.

"Tsk, I thought I'd meet some bigger kids to bully, but they turned out to be just a bunch of little brats."

Xiao Xin stared at me with innocent eyes and asked, "Yuzu-chan always bullies older kids and elementary school students, why doesn't she bully other kids?"

Xiang Cheng told Xiao Xin: "Only older kids who take advantage of their age dare to bully us. Bullying such guys won't be a burden. Otherwise, if my aunt and uncle catch me bullying other kids, Xiang Cheng will be punished with love."

"Eh? The Whip of Love..."

Shin-chan once again recalled the fear he felt when he was dominated by Misae's iron fist.

"Shin-chan! Kaguya-chan!" When Kazama saw that the two and Xiaokui were also thrown here by their parents, he quickly stood up and waved his hand, asking the two to bring Xiaokui and the other little ones from the Kasukabe Defense Team together.

After everyone gathered together, Xiao Xin asked the others bluntly: "Have you all been abandoned here by your parents?"

"We can't help it." Feng Jian shrugged like a little adult, "After the adults came here, they didn't care about us at all."

Then, Fengjian noticed that Xiao Xiangcheng and Xiaoxin had not brought any food and were thrown here. So Fengjian decisively offered his bear biscuits to Xiao Xiangcheng. But before Xiao Xiangcheng could reach out to take it, Xiaoxin next to him snatched it away.

"Damn it, that's for Yuzu-chan!"

But Xiaoxin blushed and emphasized: "I just wanted to eat your food, I didn't expect you to fall in love with someone else and forget about me."

Feng Jian also blushed and shouted at Xiao Xin: "Hey, don't talk nonsense!"

Little Xiangcheng didn't care, but took out a big wallet from her bag. She stood up and looked around. After she couldn't find what she was looking for, she asked other children: "Where is the supermarket that sells snacks? Why can't I find it?"

Fengjian pointed to the innermost part of the "storage" center, and Xiao Xiangcheng nodded, opened his wallet to count, and asked everyone what else they wanted to eat.

"As long as it's under 5000 yuan, there's no problem."

"Hey! 5000 yuan!"

The other children were all shocked by the number that Xiao Xiangcheng casually said. After all, they were just preschoolers who had not even gone to elementary school, so how could they possibly handle such a large sum of money on their own?

But in fact, there is not only 5000 yen in Xiao Xiangcheng's wallet, but 50000 yen! After all, Boss Cheng only cares about the points in the competitive world and the "money" he owes to the master controller. As for the different currencies in different worlds, he really has no concept of more money and less money.

After all, the gold in the underground base was increasing, to the point where Boss Cheng was too lazy to exchange it. So Boss Cheng had no idea what the whole stack of 1000 yen that he stuffed into Xiao Xiangcheng "for emergencies" meant to a child.

10 yen is just over 700 US dollars, which is equivalent to the sales of 60 lunch boxes.

That's it?

Can it be called money?

0165 Earth Hour is late

Snacks at the 20th Century Expo were very expensive, but Xiang Cheng didn't know that. So, in front of the other kids who looked at her like a fool, she spent more than 7000 yuan to buy a bunch of snacks that were worth at most 5000 yuan. Although she spent nearly 3000 yuan more, Xiang Cheng believed that her "uncle" would not care.

Xiao Xiangcheng is a child who knows how to share. She not only shared the snacks she just bought with the children of the Kasukabe Defense Corps, but also bought ready-to-drink baby milk for Xiaokui. After Xiaokui drank the milk, she kept lying in Xiao Xiangcheng's arms, laughing.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't you think so?" Feng Jian ate the banana-flavored rice crackers that Xiao Xiangcheng bought, and whispered to his friends: "Recently, the adults in our family have been acting strange after coming to the 20th Century Expo. Although the things sold here are all outdated, it's rare to see the adults being so completely immersed in it!"

"That's true!" Nini, who was standing next to Xiao Xiangcheng, echoed, "It's really rare to see adults like this."

Zheng Nan also told everyone with an anxious tremor in his voice: "After my mother came here last week, she has been hiding alone and playing with dolls recently."

"Yeah, yeah!" Feng Jian also revealed: "My mother has been talking like a child recently."

Nini also said: "The principal and teachers in the kindergarten are not normal either. They often hold fairy wands and magic wands in their hands."

Based on Nini's description, Xiao Xiangcheng imagined the scene of the headmaster, who looked like a gangster, waving a fairy wand and spinning in circles. How can I put it? "Chilled" cannot express the impact of the picture.

Ah Dai, whose dull eyes often flashed with a glimmer of wisdom, also said with emotion: "Maybe when we grow up, we will understand."

Fengjian, Nini and the others were all worried that if things went on like this, their parents might no longer be their parents. Even Shin-chan was worried about his own parents.

The only one who doesn’t need to worry about her parents is Xiao Xiangcheng, because her “uncle” and “uncle’s lover” don’t need her to worry. Because Xiao Xiangcheng knows that one of them had a childhood in the past in the 20s, and the other had a childhood in the future more than 20 years later.

As for the 20th Century Expo, located between Kasukabe and the Tokyo metropolitan area, its exhibition content includes all the popular elements of (Japanese) civilian society from the 20s to the early 50s.

According to the guide, all the nostalgic items of the 20th century are for sale in the 20th Century Expo. There is also a game plaza, where people can relive their childhood gaming time. In the video studio, adults can realize their childhood heroic dreams. There is also a nostalgic theme restaurant, where people can taste all kinds of nostalgic flavors of childhood.

all in all……

“This is a great place to reminisce about the past and hang out with friends. Have fun and reminisce about your childhood!”

"Welcome to the 20th Century Expo!"

As the sun sets, when Boss Cheng and the captain, with an unhappy little Xiang Cheng, take the free shuttle bus of the Expo back to Kasugabe, the atmosphere in the bus is still filled with all kinds of nostalgia.

Boss Cheng, who died in an interstellar war, doesn't know a thing about nostalgia. But Rogers felt from the passengers the vigor and vitality of the working families in Brooklyn after the Great Depression.

He suddenly recalled the day on March 1940, 3, when Seabiscuit won the Santa Anita $2 prize competition, which inspired and gave confidence to countless ordinary people. That victory inspired the entire American people, just like the Osaka World Expo, and represented the rise of two countries.

But this breath of nostalgia for past glory and beautiful memories...

The atmosphere seemed to grow thicker as the car approached the center of Kasukabe. The streets were filled with classic cars from the 1970s and 1980s, which amazed the store managers and team leaders who had not experienced that era.

"Wow, these cars all look old, but why do I feel like their designs are better than..."

“Much prettier than any car I saw in Manhattan (in 2012).”

"Yes!" Boss Cheng had to admit: "Although the design sense seems too backward, I also think that this backwardness is more beautiful and more individual than the current (2024) design language."

"But on the street..."

However, the people on the street who were wearing all kinds of exaggerated styles, metal rock and hippie-style clothes from the 1970s and 1980s really made Boss Cheng and the captain confused.

"Wow! Afro!"

"Wow! Bell-bottoms!"

"Wow! Why is that guy carrying a speaker on the street?"

“These people are dressed so weirdly!”

"Look again, look again!"

After returning to the hotel, Xiao Xiangcheng kicked the boss and the captain in the calf, then said, "I will never take you out to play again," and hurried back to the apartment to find Xiao Nagato.

In fact, the two adults did not expect that the Nohara couple would directly drop their two children and Xiao Xiangcheng off at the "storage" center, and then the two of them would spend the entire afternoon wandering around the expo park.

Boss Cheng also felt that the couple had become less and less like young parents with two children since they went to the Expo. Perhaps it could be said that all parents who went to the Expo seemed to have become more or less irresponsible.

But then again, the two adults had a lot of fun. Especially the experience of being a professional action actor for most of the day, which made the two guys say it was very exciting.

Moreover, just when they were about to leave the park, the director team specially handed them the rough-cut videotapes and the videotapes of Xiao Xiangcheng's future-themed ninja short drama.

So when the dinner business hours were over, Boss Cheng went to the waste electrical appliance dump to pick up a few videotape players that looked still usable. Then he called the whole family over to watch the freshly made videotapes together.

Because it is the highest standard for the most consumption, the images being played on TV basically reach the standards and specifications of movies. Even the short film shot for Xiao Xiangcheng was shot with a movie camera.

Everyone sat around the large LCD TV, watching Shin-chan on the screen speaking his lines in a realistic manner, and watching Xiao Xiangcheng using the invincible martial arts of the Eastern Invincible School against the suit actor, and then using the Uzumaki clan's physical skills. The clever Xiao Xiangcheng even knew how to use and hold back his moves, and fought back and forth with the action actor in the villain suit, which was very exciting.

As for the video of the battle between Boss Cheng and the captain, the intensity of the fight between them can be described as thunder and lightning.

If the radio equipment had not occasionally recorded the cheers of the onlookers into the videotape, this eight-minute-long battle footage could even have been directly used in a popular action blockbuster.

Denise, who knows nothing about film production, exclaimed: "But this 8-minute short film actually took 4 hours to shoot?"

Rogers nodded and explained to Denise excitedly, "Yes, many shots have to be repeated four or five times. And it's not because the fighting is not up to standard, but because the shots need to be disassembled, such as close-ups of punching, close-ups of hitting the opponent, front, side, and back shots. Anyway, a set of actions are broken down and shot repeatedly!"

"It took so long to shoot a short film of 8 minutes." Fuso, who doesn't understand men's happiness, also asked: "Didn't you feel annoyed when filming?"

The boss and the captain shook their heads and said in unison: "It's not annoying at all!"

Ise tilted his head in a somewhat tempted manner, saying that he also wanted to try it, and Biaoge also said that he could play the villain for Ise.

"I'll go up and tickle you a few times, and then you'll... kick me down with a kick in the heart." Brother Biao even said, "Why don't we practice now, and then we'll give it a try when we have the holiday."

In other words, all the men in the store were really interested in shooting action scenes.

However, compared to the various excitement in Boss Makoto's store, Nohara's home seemed a little restless at this time.

Meiya didn't even go to cook, but crowded in front of the TV with Guangzhi to grab the VCR to play the video tape that was just shot during the day. Xiaokui kept protesting "ahhhh" because she was hungry, and Xiaoxin sat in the corner of the room angrily, shouting "Ultraman has started, I want to watch TV, I want to watch Ultraman".

Fortunately, Meiya has not lost her maternal instinct. After she found that she could not get the TV at all, she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the family.

At dinner, Meiya asked Guangzhi again: "Honey, isn't there an important news about the 20th Century Expo on TV tonight?"

"Oh! Yes! I almost forgot about it."

At 7:30 p.m., in the 20th Century Expo, inside the replica of the Tokyo Tower, several old large computers suddenly started up at full power, and dozens of "office workers" who had to work overtime until the evening on Sundays were busy in front of the computers and some kind of high-power microwave transmitter.

On the radio, the countdown of "The 21st century will officially end in 30 minutes" sounded again. A man named Jian, who wore round glasses and had a mushroom-like hairstyle and looked very much like John Lennon, and his lover, a woman named Chako who looked very much like Yoko Ono, were sitting on a red woolen sofa.

Ken struck the same pose as Commander Ikari and muttered to himself grimly, "In half an hour, people will be freed from the 21st world."

"It's so fast."

"But for us, it's too long." Ah Jian continued to ponder: "The reality of the 21st century feels too depressing and heavy to me. I really hope it can end soon."

"There are still 30 minutes left. You just need to be patient for another 30 minutes." Chazi encouraged Ken and praised him, "The 20th Century you created has made those adults deeply addicted and unable to extricate themselves."

"Of course, because everyone misses the 20th century and hopes to return to the 20th century."

“Everyone has lost confidence in the future.”

But Ajian emphasized: "The future does exist. In the 20th century, we imagined what the 21st century would be like. I hope that the 21st century we imagined will not disappoint us and will truly appear in the future as we imagined."

After saying that, Ah Jian stood up from the red sofa and announced:

"Calling all branches nationwide! We have taken a crucial step forward with our 'Yesterday Once More' system. Our 20th century is shining like a newly unearthed diamond. That is why we must work even harder to return to an era of high economic growth. I have great confidence in you. So please keep working."

When the clock struck 8 o'clock Tokyo time, all wired and wireless signals of all TV stations in Japan were invaded by the black-and-white retro images of "20th Century Expo".

"Welcome to the 'Future Morning'. Let us welcome this beautiful morning."

But it was clearly 8 o'clock in the evening, but the host on the black-bordered TV screen called it "morning". And the black and white TV screen disappeared after these two short sentences, and the TV signal returned to the garbage time filled with various boring advertisements.

However, in countless households across Japan, countless adults who saw the black and white TV images just now turned off the TV without exception after the black and white images ended.

"For a better future, we should also go to bed early."

"Yeah, go to bed early."

Then, without exception, these adults who had watched TV returned to their bedrooms and fell asleep early. No matter what they were doing, whether they had finished their meals, whether they had unfinished housework, or whether their children had finished their homework, they all returned to their bedrooms, put down the quilt, got into bed, and fell asleep.

【Beep! 】

[High-intensity brain wave resonance signal detected, risk level determined: Level 3]

[The signal has been blocked, please rest assured...]

[Hey! What happened to you? Why were you suddenly attacked by such a strong hypnotic signal? ]

Boss Cheng, who was watching a comedy movie, was also confused and immediately replied: "I'm not here, I'm watching a movie!"

[Wait a minute, don't go out yet! I'll help you detect Kasukabe where the attack took place. ]

【Boom! 】

[The high-intensity brain wave resonance signal has disappeared, and the level 3 risk alert has been lifted. ]

Boss Cheng left the restaurant and came to the streets of Kasukabe. At this time, he looked around and saw that the lights were going out one after another. Even the street lights began to be turned off one by one from far to near. In less than 5 minutes, the whole Kasukabe fell into a strange darkness and silence.

"What the hell!" Boss Cheng couldn't help but ask himself, "I turned off the lights for an hour at the beginning, why are you still here? Is it that the 'Earth Hour' lights-off event in this world is too late?"

0166 Let's make the fire burn brightly

The next morning, Brother Biao got up early as usual, and after taking care of his personal hygiene, he left the apartment. He was the first to arrive at the hotel lobby and started the simple cleaning routine that he did every morning.