We safely arrive at the mall. It was a fairly simple and straightforward ride.

“There you take the bus back home and stuff.”

Amy points toward the station across the road while leading me toward the mall.

“Do you know what toy stores they have?”

“I think they have, like, Toys R Us?”

She tilts her head with an unreliable expression.

“Which floor is it on?”

“I wonder~”

She turns toward me and smiles like a fox.

“How about you hang out with me and my pals first? Like, you have the whole day.”

“Heck no.”

I immediately shoot her down.

“I only came here to buy what I need. I didn’t come here to hang out.”

I still remember these dreadful days when I was a small kid and visited shopping centers together with mother. All that roaming about, window shopping... Brrr!

“C’mon, it’d be fun~”

She smiles and tries to grab my arm.

“Shoo!”

I dodge her and make some distance between us.

“What do you want anyway? You got friends to hang with, right? Just go and hang out with them. I don’t want any part in it.”

“Fine, fine.”

She shows me her back.

“The store is on the second floor, I think. You can use these two escalators to reach it.”

She points through her back, without turning to face me.

“Um, thanks.”

I follow her instructions and step on the nearby escalator. By the time I reach the first floor, I can see three figures approaching Amy; these must be her friends.

I then proceed to the second escalator, which leads to the second floor. Amy and her gang vanish from my line of sight and merge with the busy traffic of the shopping center.

There are countless shops around and there are people everywhere I look. I wonder how Lily would react if she were to come here. She’s locked in the office all day long, like a cute little prisoner.

I bet she’d run around in excitement, then would try to conceal her joy by acting cutely tsuntsun. Maybe if I build myself the reputation of a trustworthy worker, then Eric would allow me to take my cute daughter outside.

Once on the second floor, I immediately spot the Toys R Us logo which I haven’t seen in many years. I casually walk toward the entrance and scan the showcased goods.

Sadly, none of the displayed items is relevant to me, so I proceed further into the shop in pursuit of Lego sets. The store is fairly big, finding the Lego section will not be too easy.

I pass by many sections of toys and tools until eventually reaching the Lego section. It’s remarkably smaller than what I imagined, much smaller than the Lego sections I visited as a kid.

It doesn’t take me long to scan the poor exhibition from side to side.

The sets which catch my attention are the simplistic ones, which allow you to build a house or a shop. They have some detail to them, yet they are also fairly small and simplistic.

They’d make a great purchase, but...

“F-fifty bucks!?”

Are they kidding me!?

The prices on the other Lego sets aren’t exactly inspiring either. 50$ is far from being unusual in the displayed collection.

“Gah...”

Maybe it’s best to give up. In the first place, there’s no guarantee that Lily would ever figure out how to use Lego.

Maybe I should find a different game to teach her? This is a toy store after all, might as well explore it a bit.

I leave the lego section and walk around the shop, eying every product I pass by. There are action figures, collectible cards, plushies, school wares, video games and etc.

Nothing in particular catches my eye.

Before long, I end up in one of the store’s corners. It doesn’t seem to offer much, mostly board game such as monopoly.

“Jenga...?”

One box catches my attention.

The picture is a tower of wooden blocks and the big title says “Jenga”. By skimming the description, I’m surprised to find out that I know this game. I have never played it before in real life, but I saw characters play it in one anime.

There seem to be a sale going on corner, the Jenga’s price dropped from 29.99$ to 20.99$. It’s somewhat high, but it’s a favorable change from the lego’s 50 DAMN BUCKS.

I decide to grab the package and end my exploration at that.

“Hm?”

Just before reaching the counter, I spot a small corner with kiddie accessories. There are some cheap accessories which hardly cost 5 bucks.

There’s one package with a necklace of a nice icy design, based on some cartoon movie. Its price fell from 6.99$ to 3.99$, turning an already cheap product into cheaper still.

If I gift this necklace to Lily, I wonder what kind of face she’ll make?

As mother said: it’s rather odd for me to buy things for my job, especially something I won’t even use for QA. Nevertheless, I’m willing to throw away 4$ to see my daughter rejoice.

It’s a pretty cheap present, but I doubt my lovely daughter will be too picky about it. I decide to grab the package of plastic accessories and head to the counter.