Being stopped by Lin Ci, it wouldn’t be proper to deliberately detour to Qin Sheng after all.
After all, Lin Ci spoke up first, and Qin Sheng only pleaded with her eyes; besides him, no one even noticed.
Whether Qin Sheng would be happy at that time, Shen Xiyan didn’t know, but Lin Ci would definitely not be happy.
[It was me, I was first—clearly, I was the one who came first. Kissing, hugging, even liking that guy—it was all me first.]
Sorry, wrong set.
[Clearly I was first, and you actually helped Qin Sheng? Qin Sheng hasn’t even said a word yet! You really like her! I’m going to tell Auntie you’re bullying me… ]
Shen Xiyan could just laugh and type “GG”.
“Which one?”
Qin Sheng: “???”
Shen Xiyan’s sudden movement made Qin Sheng’s face light up with a beaming smile, wanting to pounce over and act cute.
But she stopped abruptly, feeling so angry her heart ached.
How dare Lin Ci, that little vixen, cut her off?
“That little bear.”
Lin Ci pointed to a brown bear in the corner. “Doesn’t it look like the one you gave me before?”
Shen Xiyan raised his eyebrows. “Why did you put emphasis on that?”
Lin Ci widened her eyes, looking completely innocent. “I didn’t!”
“You clearly—”
Noticing Lin Ci’s “dangerous” glare, Shen Xiyan wisely shut up. “Alright, I must’ve misheard.”
Damn! Can this kind of thing turn into a battle of wits and schemes?
I haven’t even started flirting, so how did it turn into a battlefield already?
Qin Sheng and Lin Ci really don’t get along.
This won’t do, I need to brush up on Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.
Everyone curses Zhang Wuji, yet everyone wants to be Zhang Wuji.
If Zhang Wuji published a book, it would definitely be “Zhā Nán’s Self-Cultivation”.
“You haven’t played in ages, are your skills still there? Can you do it?”
“A man is never not up to the task!”
Except maybe after seven times.
When men are young, they like to make childish threats: like “I’ll make you unable to get out of bed”, “I’ll keep you up all night”, “I’ll make you die from it”.
But once they’re married, their words are more realistic: “I’m not in good shape today, I owe you one, don’t touch, I’m tired.”
Guys always think women are interesting—only because they haven’t reached a certain level. To put it bluntly, once you’re middle-aged, you have the will but not the strength.
Once a man has the will but not the strength, he gets chatty. When young, he was a silent lone wolf, never wasting words—when a girl wanted to talk after getting a room, his pants would already be off.
When you’re middle-aged and you get a room, you strip naked and he starts talking to you about literature and the universe, saying he suddenly feels life is so empty.
The woman says, “Take some medicine,” and he replies, “I did, the effect hasn’t kicked in yet.”
“Narcissist!”
Lin Ci said with mock annoyance, but she couldn’t hide her smile.
Shen Xiyan was someone who could “raise thunder in the silent void”.
Maybe not the perfect metaphor, but close enough—he could always surprise you in strange ways.
He had a ton of flashy skills, and whenever you ran into an unsolvable problem, you could always rely on him. Being with him gave you a special sense of security.
Over the years, Lin Ci had developed the bad habit of “relying” on her, and hoped it would last a lifetime.
“Let’s hope the boss hasn’t tampered with it… Some claw machines have loose hooks—people who don’t know can play a whole lifetime and never catch anything, then comfort themselves, saying the claw machine is just that hard.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, just like there are slot machines that can be cheated with remote controls—there’s nothing people won’t do for money, only things you haven’t thought of.”
But in reality, claw machines aren’t that hard; it’s just about skill and feel.
Shen Xiyan made a textbook-perfect demonstration.
He first spent a few coins to clear away the ones blocking the way, then nailed it with a precise shot.
Lin Ci bent over, stuck out her butt, and picked up the little bear, hopping and skipping like a Little Rabbit. The two Big White Rabbits on her chest swayed.
“Xiyan! How did you do that? Teach me, teach me…”
Shen Xiyan could practically picture those two pink, wide eyes.
“How am I supposed to teach you something that’s all about feel?”
“Teach me hand-in-hand!”
Lin Ci finished speaking and pulled Shen Xiyan behind her.
His tall figure wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her in his embrace.
This ambiguous, intimate pose made Lin Ci’s heart race, feeling instantly surrounded by his presence.
She quietly leaned back a little, naturally pressing her back against his chest, then took the liberty of slipping her little hand into Shen Xiyan’s palm.
“Let’s start.” Lin Ci urged.
Shen Xiyan could sense Qin Sheng’s murderous gaze from the side, but kept his eyes fixed forward.
His chin hovered just above Lin Ci’s shoulder, always maintaining a few centimeters of tantalizing distance. They could hear each other’s breathing, feel each other’s warmth.
Lin Ci’s heart was pounding wildly.
She couldn’t hide the sweet smile at the corner of her lips.
From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Qin Sheng, then looked at the machine’s claw in the display case, letting Shen Xiyan move her little hand on the joystick.
“Some you can tell at a glance you can’t grab—the hook will slide off, so the big-headed ones are the easiest to catch.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Lin Ci nodded earnestly, her hair “accidentally” brushing his chin.
Damn it, I thought I was going shopping with Wenwen today—didn’t even wash my hair before leaving! Should’ve taken a shower first!
Shen Xiyan took in the scent of Lin Ci’s hair and body, focused entirely, pressing down hard on the trigger.
“Yeah!!!”
The moment another little bear tumbled out of the claw machine, Lin Ci cried out in excitement, turned and hugged Shen Xiyan, completely forgetting everyone else for a second.
Then, realizing her voice had been a bit too loud and her actions a bit too intimate, she blushed and picked up the bear.
Wenwen tugged at Shen Xiyan’s sleeve, pointed at the display case, and pouted playfully. “Ge, I want one too.”
Shen Xiyan glanced silently toward Qin Sheng, sighed, “…Alright, coming.”
Qin Sheng smiled as she watched everything unfold.
If not for the sound of her teeth grinding “creak creak”, Su Jin might have really thought she had the poise of the Soul of the Queen.
What’s the point?
He doesn’t even care about you, but you insist on chasing after him like a lovesick puppy.
That’s the fate of a lovesick puppy—you won’t get the house!
Just then, Su Jin saw Su Hao walking straight over.
No one knows a little brother like his sister. Su Jin rushed forward and grabbed him, hissing under her breath, “What are you doing?”
“Didn’t you see she was so anxious she started hitting the claw machine? I’m going to help.”
Was she hitting the claw machine?
She was hitting people!
“Don’t ask for trouble! Do you even know how to catch a claw toy?”
Su Jin didn’t think much of her brother, but she couldn’t just stand by and watch him dig his own grave.
Of course, more importantly, she’d be in a tough spot.
If it was just him and Qin Sheng left, she wouldn’t care.
If school can’t teach him, let society do it. That getup of his really gives me a headache.
“What’s there to be afraid of? If I can’t catch it, I can still buy one!”
The main thing now was to help out.
If he really couldn’t get it, just spend a few hundred yuan to buy one from the owner and make Qin Sheng happy.
Qin Sheng obviously doesn’t care about a few hundred, but buying it herself and having someone else gift it is still different, right?
When the time comes, just casually mention a price of a few dozen yuan, and everyone’s “at ease”.
Qin Sheng knows it’s not just a few dozen, and he knows Qin Sheng knows it’s not just a few dozen.
Isn’t that pretty yasashii?
Back in middle school, the girls fell for this trick. Su Hao would spend a few hundred yuan on a little present, then pretend it was cheap and coax the girl into accepting it.
Then he’d have his buddies back him up, acting super shocked at the present’s origin, and the girl would be moved, thinking Su Hao was just too gentle!
“You borrowed money from me and still have money to buy this?!”
“It’s not the same… Don’t nag me!”
Su Hao shook off Su Jin and walked straight over, smiling, “Need any help? Want something? I can give it a try.”
Qin Sheng ignored him, turned to Su Jin, and asked coldly, “Is your brother looking for death?”
Su Jin thought Qin Sheng wasn’t joking, so she pulled her away.
“Just let Shen Xiyan disgust him a bit, don’t be hasty.”
Qin Sheng smiled faintly, “I’m not hasty! Am I?”
“Then why were you hitting the claw machine just now?”
Qin Sheng stared daggers at Lin Ci’s graceful back. “I just want to kill someone… That little vixen! So green-tea!”
Su Jin pursed her lips, “I thought you’d cause a scene. Didn’t expect you’d actually hold back?”
“I’m not Xiyan’s girlfriend, why would I make a scene? If I did, it wouldn’t be justified…”
“???”
“If I make a scene now, I’m just making things hard for myself.”
If she really wanted Xiyan to help her win a toy, she had plenty of ways.
Acting cute, getting angry, threatening, tempting… But whatever method, at its core, it depended on Shen Xiyan’s goodwill toward her.
If it’s someone you like, why get angry when you can act cute?
“So you’re not playing anymore?”
“Not playing.”
“Just wait for him to finish… He really couldn’t help you just now, he was stopped.”
“Heh~~ No need.”
Qin Sheng knew perfectly well: Shen Xiyan helped Lin Ci first, but she was the first to ask for help.
If she went over now, after Shen Xiyan helped Lin Ci and Wenwen, he would indeed help her, maybe even feel guilty—but besides guilt, what else?
Nothing.
If she wasn’t the first, then it was meaningless.
But if she didn’t go, Shen Xiyan would think she was mad.
Then… hmph hmph
He’d definitely be anxious, wondering how to comfort her.
You all say I don’t understand romance.
I really don’t, so I keep doing stupid things, still thinking I’m right, but as long as I understand Xiyan, that’s enough.
“Want to bet with me? That Psyduck will end up in my hands sooner or later! And Xiyan will personally give it to me!”
“Not interested… Why would I bet on that with you?”
Su Jin had no idea what Qin Sheng was thinking, just found it baffling.
She seemed to have an odd confidence in Shen Xiyan.
Even lovesick puppies would feel a pang of jealousy in this situation, right?
But Qin Sheng didn’t.
At this moment, after helping Wenwen, Shen Xiyan came over to ask Qin Sheng, “Qin Sheng, which one do you want? I’ll help you?”
Qin Sheng pretended not to hear, rubbed her little tummy, looked at Su Jin, and asked, “I’m a little hungry, what should we eat tonight? My treat…”
Su Jin: “…”
“Forget it! Can’t think of anything for now, let’s walk and see what looks good.”
Qin Sheng twisted her little waist, wrapped her arm around Su Jin, and walked away.
Even from several meters away, the air was thick with resentment and anger.
Shen Xiyan: “…”
Damn, this familiar little temper.
Su Hao walked over, patted Shen Xiyan on the shoulder with a smile, “Bro, looks like your reputation isn’t so hot after all…”
Shen Xiyan gave him a silent look.
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