Chapter 127: The Plush Toy That Can’t Be Caught

(1)

Playing games is a joyful thing in itself, but what makes it even better is having the girl you like watching you play, not interrupting, but instead taking an interested part in it.

“What’s the name of that character with the thick legs, wearing flesh-colored stockings?”

“Ah? That’s Chun-Li.”

“You just beat Sun Wei with her, right?”

“Yeah… Hey, her leg attacks are really strong, and her range is pretty long. She’s one of my better characters.”

“Oh~ Then what about the one in red clothes? She looks so revealing.”

“That’s Mai Shiranui. She attacks with fans. Pretty interesting too.”

“Wanna try playing with her?”

“Sure!”

An Jing agreed happily and quickly pressed the confirmation button.

After the game room switched their machines, the games were upgraded as well, adding many characters An Jing hadn’t seen before.

This time, Sun Wei picked a new character, so he easily defeated her.

“Haha, don’t you know how to play Mai Shiranui? How’s that?”

“Damn… acting cocky with a new character.”

“Play another round and beat him~!”

“Alright!”

In the second round, An Jing lost again without surprise.

She scratched her head a little discouraged.

“Forget it, I really can’t beat him…”

“It’s okay, it’s normal to lose when playing games,” Zhu Ying said, pressing her face close to An Jing’s.

“Don’t be sad, Xiao Jing~”

“Damn.”

Sun Wei grumbled, “Why does it feel like I both won and lost?”

“Jealous, huh?”

Zhou Chao, who just won a round against Fang Qiang, turned around to tease him with a big smile.

“Damn it, I’m done. Zhou Chao, you’re up!”

“Haha, so that’s a no?”

“I’m just going to crush A Qiang.”

“Crush me? Come on, try it! My Crazy Eight is feeling hot today!”

“Oh? Losing to Zhou Chao and still acting so arrogant? Let me show you how tough I am!”

“Zhu Ying, instead of watching An Jing play, why don’t you try fighting him?”

“Okay! I’ll give it a shot!”

“Great.”

An Jing nodded and hurriedly began teaching, “This joystick moves the character, this one is light punch, that one is heavy punch, and this is kicks, which also have light and heavy versions, and then…”

While An Jing was still explaining the controls to Zhu Ying, Sun Wei had already won again at lightning speed, laughing as he raised his hands.

“How’s that!”

He turned around, ready to gloat, but saw An Jing and Zhu Ying’s hands right next to each other as An Jing was helping Zhu Ying switch characters and use skills.

Their bodies were close, almost merging into one.

“Damn!”

“Haha? What’s wrong?”

“Jealous to death!”

“You find someone too.”

“Shut up, A Qiang. Just obediently get crushed by me!”

“Tsk tsk, just wait. I’ll win back next round…”

***

(2)

Game coins always get spent quickly.

An Jing had only played eight or nine rounds with Zhu Ying, but they’d already used up the remaining coins.

She felt a little reluctant and rubbed the change in her pocket, wondering whether to buy more.

“This is pretty fun.”

“Yeah, want to play more?”

“Nope!”

Zhu Ying pinched An Jing’s cheek.

“Can’t beat you, so no fun~”

“Damn, if you could beat me after just a few rounds, all my years of practice would be for nothing.”

An Jing rolled her eyes.

“If we’re not playing that, then… wanna try something else?”

“How about claw machines? There are a lot of new plush toys now.”

“Ah, that again?”

“Yeah, I still have a few coins left, probably enough for about ten tries.”

“Spending so much just to grab plush toys, that’s really extravagant.”

“Anyway, I don’t spend much usually, so I’ve saved quite a bit of pocket money.”

Zhu Ying put a hand on her hip, laughing softly.

“Come on, come on, let’s try! If you catch one, it’s yours~”

“I don’t want one…”

An Jing awkwardly scratched her head.

“Those things are only for girls.”

“You are a girl now, Xiao Jing.”

“Uh…”

“Look over there, that white, fluffy little dog plush toy. Isn’t it cute?”

“Which one?”

“That one.”

“Ah… it’s… ahem… I don’t really find it cute.”

“Really~ Anyway, let’s try for it!”

“Think we can catch it?”

“Let’s see!”

***

(3)

Claw machines don’t require much skill; luck is the most important factor.

After all, no one knows when that weak claw will actually hold onto a plush toy tightly.

No matter how well you aim, it still releases the toy when it wants to.

Even though people know the odds of catching a plush toy are pre-set, they can’t help but keep trying — maybe they’ll be the lucky one.

“One last try!”

The coin rolled into the slot with a clink.

Zhu Ying took a deep breath, slowly moving the mechanical claw until it hovered over a plush dog, then pressed the button sharply.

The claw dropped with a swoosh.

An Jing held her breath, watching as the claw carefully grabbed the plush dog and slowly retracted to the side, getting closer to the prize slot.

But the claw bumped hard when returning to the start, causing the plush dog to fall and hit the plastic wall at the exit, dropping back into the pile of toys — just like a basketball that nearly made the basket, so close but so disappointing.

“Ah, what a shame.”

“Ah, I thought this time would work…”

Zhu Ying sighed regretfully.

“Well, that’s that~”

“We tried so many times, feels like we almost got it. Want to buy some more?”

“Hmm—”

Zhu Ying hesitated, “Okay, let’s try again?”

“Alright!”

Then, an even more frustrating scene unfolded.

The plush toy got stuck on the edge and wouldn’t drop.

An Jing tried shaking the machine subtly, but it only caused the toy to fall back into the pile—“Ah…” She scratched her head hard.

“Damn it!”

“The more you can’t catch it, the cuter it seems.”

“Yeah… no, I just don’t want to give up!”

“Forget it~”

“There’s still one yuan left!”

An Jing pulled out her last coin, ready to exchange it for game coins, but Zhu Ying stopped her.

“Well…”

“One yuan is enough. If you really want to try, you might as well try the slot machine and see if you can win.”

But the coin she put into the slot machine vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.

“Bad luck today.”

An Jing sighed.

“Yeah—hmm~ it’s getting late. Time to go home.”

“Ah… okay.”

An Jing checked the time on her phone.

Just as she was about to put it away, she received a text from Yu Mingfei.

“Don’t get into trouble again!”

“Little one, Huihui’s driving to T City to pick me up today, so you eat out by yourself! Remember to come home early.”

“T City? Why did Fei Jie go all the way to T City…”

An Jing mumbled softly, “Does work take her that far?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Fei Jie and Huihui won’t be home tonight, so I have to eat out.”

“Oh~ then come eat at my place!”

“Your mom’s cooking?”

“No, my dad’s cooking today! Come on? He’s really good at cooking.”

“Ah… uh… then, can I just mooch a meal?”

“Then let’s go home now!”

“Ah ah, wait a minute, let’s go together with everyone. Their coins are probably almost used up too.”

***

(4)

By evening, the game room was still lively — as some people left, others came in.

The young man sitting at the cashier desk continued watching his novel on an MP4, seemingly unaffected by the noisy chaos around him.

Lu Qiaojing glanced at the group of middle schoolers who had just walked out and slowly approached a slot machine.

He dropped a coin in, selecting the symbol with the highest payout.

The red light started spinning, and after a few seconds, coins poured out of the machine’s coin slot.

He collected the coins into his pocket, leaving only one on the cashier’s table.

“Change for one yuan?”

The young man reading the novel asked without looking up.

“Just one yuan.”

“What are you playing?”

“Claw machine.”

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Yeah.”

“Can you get the boss to raise your salary?”

“I’ll put in a good word.”

He pursed his lips and pulled out an almost obsolete blue floppy disk from his jacket pocket, placing it on the upper right corner of the desk, then returned to reading his novel.

Lu Qiaojing quietly put away the floppy disk and took the exchanged game coins to the claw machine.

The simple mechanical claw grabbed a white plush dog in an unremarkable way and dropped it plainly into the prize chute.

With a soft sound, it fell.

Lu Qiaojing bent down to pick up the white plush toy dog, then turned and walked out of the game room.

He slipped it into the hands of a little boy crying and calling for his mother near the stairs.

When the boy stopped crying and looked up in confusion, Lu Qiaojing’s figure had already disappeared.

“Pangpang, Pangpang, how did you get here? Mommy’s been looking for you!”

“Mommy!”

“Don’t run off again, okay?”

“I… I was just watching the claw machine!”

The little boy stammered.

“I bought something downstairs, and you ran all the way from the first floor to the second floor just to watch the claw machine?”

“Because I couldn’t find Mommy…”

“Where did this fluffy little dog come from?”

“I don’t know. Someone put it in my arms…”

“How strange…”

“Mommy, it’s really clean! Can I take it home?”

“Well, it does look pretty clean, so you can hold it.”

“The fluffy little dog is mine!”

The young mother smiled helplessly and shook her head, gently patting the boy’s head.

At that moment, An Jing, who had just left the arcade with the others, suddenly shrank her neck, looking around suspiciously.

“What’s wrong, Xiao Jing?”

“Weird…”

“Hm?”

“It feels like someone’s watching me. Maybe it’s just my imagination…”

“Eh, don’t tell me it’s those killers or something?”

“No, no way… the police car’s parked right outside, and there are so many people here…”

“Maybe they’re surveilling you?”

An Jing jumped in fright.

“Then, should I use mind reading?”

“Better not, you might pee your pants — and there are so many people, can you even hear clearly?”

“…I’m still kind of creeped out.”

“Then let’s just go home, home~”