Chapter 60: Not Used to It

Just as Huai Xiang had thought, Cheng Shimumeng really did despise Huai Xiang’s wild imagination.

So she deliberately brought out her true skill and thoroughly crushed her.

Cheng Shimumeng never actually intended to beat Huai Xiang at fighting games; it was just an excuse to get her out of the way.

As for the milk tea… did she look like she was short on cash?

But since Huai Xiang was asking for it, Cheng Shimumeng was happy to oblige.

“Hmm~ hmm~”

After dealing with the suddenly arrogant Huai Xiang, Cheng Shimumeng hummed a cheerful tune, her mood visibly brighter.

Now was the perfect chance. 

While Huai Xiang was busy questioning her life at the arcade cabinet, she could sneak back and check on Ning Wanciu and An Yu!

With that thought, Cheng Shimumeng stealthily returned to the claw machine area and hid herself to observe the two.

“Oh?” 

Her eyes lit up. 

She had discovered something interesting again.

Right now, Ning Wanciu was hugging An Yu from behind, seemingly teaching her how to play. 

The posture was… excessively intimate.

***

Not long ago, An Yu’s third attempt had failed once more.

Not just the third—even the fourth, fifth, and many more attempts after that all ended in failure.

The closest she had ever gotten was actually her very first try.

Was this machine broken?!

An Yu narrowed her eyes slightly, glaring angrily at the claw.

Either it didn’t even touch the prize, or the claw was too weak to hold it. 

The worst was when it did grab something, only for the shaking to fling it right back down!

Damn it! This wasn’t fun at all!

An Yu felt a little discouraged. 

Her first time at an arcade, and before she could experience anything else, she had been solo-killed by a claw machine.

“An Yu, want to keep going?”

Ning Wanciu’s gentle voice came from behind. 

An Yu instinctively turned and saw her looking at her curiously, holding the box of coins.

An Yu expressionlessly looked up. After a brief hesitation, she was about to shake her head no.

This broken machine was definitely rigged. 

No more wasting time. 

She wanted to go play something else with her big pillow.

“…Should I teach you?” 

Noticing An Yu’s hesitation, Ning Wanciu spoke softly.

An Yu blinked instinctively and looked at Ning Wanciu in confusion.

She knew how to do this?

“Hehe~” 

Seeing An Yu’s dazed expression, Ning Wanciu couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Come on, I’ll teach you~”

She dropped a coin in and wrapped her arms around An Yu from behind, apparently planning a hands-on lesson.

She took An Yu’s hands and whispered in her ear, voice soft and warm. 

“Here… like this!”

“Mm…”

It felt… hot. Really not used to it…

An Yu didn’t know what was wrong with her, but something felt strange. 

She really wished Ning Wanciu wouldn’t breathe in her ear.

Completely unaware of An Yu’s reaction, Ning Wanciu continued talking softly by her ear while gently pushing An Yu’s hands to move the claw back and forth.

“Just like that—now press!”

“Mm…!”

Neither of them noticed the faint blush creeping up An Yu’s ears, or the rare trace of panic on her otherwise expressionless face.

The swinging claw descended, wobbling. 

At the final moment, it perfectly caught the little cucumber.

After grabbing it, the claw rose smoothly, still swaying.

Because it had succeeded, An Yu’s attention was completely drawn back to the machine. 

She forgot whatever felt weird and stared unblinkingly at the scene inside.

In the end, the claw still loosened mid-air. 

The whereabouts of the cucumber seemed doomed once again…

“Ah…” An Yu let out a small involuntary cry.

Was even Ning Wanciu going to fail?

The shaking claw fully released, and the cucumber fell. But thanks to the momentum, it miraculously slid right into the prize chute.

The expressionless cucumber plush dropped out. An Yu froze in place.

“See? That’s how it’s done~”

While An Yu was still stunned, Ning Wanciu had already bent down to retrieve the cucumber.

“Here, this is the one you wanted, right?” 

Ning Wanciu smiled softly and handed the plush to An Yu, her eyes full of tenderness.

An Yu stared blankly at Ning Wanciu, then at the plush in her hand, speechless.

Ning Wanciu is amazing…

Even like this she got it. 

As expected of the pillow I chose—pretty and useful.

“An Yu?” 

Ning Wanciu looked at her curiously, unsure what she was thinking again.

“Mm. Thank you, Ning Wanciu.”

An Yu nodded, took the plush, and squeezed it.

Pretty cute, but Ning Wanciu was still cuter.

She pulled over her schoolbag and tied the cucumber to it.

She still had other things to play later. 

Carrying it around would be annoying.

Slinging the bag onto her back, An Yu shook it lightly twice. 

Seeing the cucumber stayed put, she relaxed.

“Ning Wanciu, let’s play something else.” An Yu reached out to her.

Hold hands, play something else, go now.

She was done with claw machines. 

It wasn’t something she could master, and she already had the cucumber. 

Mission accomplished.

“Okay~”

Today Ning Wanciu seemed to be endlessly spoiling An Yu. 

She took her hand without hesitation, as always unable to refuse.

“Meow~”

Just as they were holding hands and about to head to the next game, a cat’s meow interrupted them.

An Yu looked at the cat that had suddenly appeared in the corner, pulled Ning Wanciu over, and instinctively reached down to pet it once. 

Just once.

Hello kitty, goodbye kitty.

An Yu quickly stood up and walked away with purpose.

She had no time to play with cats right now. Next 

stop: those co-op games she had never tried. Perfect, since Ning Wanciu was with her!

“Meow meow!”

The cat meowed anxiously twice. Seeing An Yu ignore it, it left dejectedly.

***

Meanwhile, in another corner, Cheng Shimumeng was frantically patting her chest in relief.

Good thing she ran fast, or she would’ve been caught!

Who would’ve thought—while she was happily spying, a cat suddenly rubbed against her leg.

Before she could process why there was a cat in an arcade, it suddenly meowed.

And it deliberately ran closer to An Yu before doing so, almost like it was alerting her.

Cheng Shimumeng had immediately fled the scene and avoided being spotted by An Yu and Ning Wanciu.

But seriously, wasn’t that way too weird?!

What kind of cat does that?!

She shook her head helplessly and stopped hiding. An Yu and the others weren’t there anymore anyway.

Though it was bizarre, Cheng Shimumeng chalked it up to coincidence. 

Cats couldn’t possibly do it on purpose, right?

She started walking again, but suddenly stopped.

“Hm?”

Wait, why was she even hiding? 

It wasn’t like she couldn’t explain herself. 

Weren’t they all here to play together anyway?

“Tch.”

Her brain must’ve been damaged by Huai Xiang. 

She’d have to get revenge later.