The two of them set off after eating.
The claw machine arcade was in a mall that was a bit far, so Shen Yuan and Li Zhi took a taxi.
Jiyang was a small place, a county-level city.
Many people came here looking for opportunities, but many also failed.
Otherwise, how could there always be new shops opening up?
According to Shen Yuan's own informal tally, from the time he was in middle school to his senior year, less than 30% of the small, independent shops he ate at were still in business a year later, not counting chain stores.
By the third year, that number dropped to a mere 5%.
It was a ridiculous number.
For a while, Shen Yuan even wondered if he was cursed, because it seemed like every goddamn place he ate at went out of business.
Li Zhi was cursed, too.
Because all the ones that closed down were places he went to with Li Zhi.
Hilarious.
When they arrived at the mall, Li Zhi couldn't wait to get out of the car.
"Let's go, let's go! I'm gonna win a full haul!"
A "full haul" was a Jiyang expression, meaning to win so many prizes you fill your arms to overflowing.
Li Zhi was the perfect embodiment of the phrase "all ambition, no skill."
Shen Yuan, however, was in no rush to get to the claw machine arcade.
"I ordered bubble tea. Let's go get it first."
Li Zhi's eyebrows shot up. "In that case, my treat for the claw machines!"
'Are you really treating me? Or do you just want to hog them all for yourself?'
CLATTER CLATTER...
Inside the arcade, passing customers couldn't help but look up at the beautiful girl holding a cup of mango pomelo sago.
So pretty.
Youthful and full of life.
With Li Zhi standing there, she basically fit the bill for any conversation about "that pretty girl from my high school days."
And then there was her uniform from Jiyang Middle School, which represented the most prestigious high school in all of Jiyang.
Pretty and a good student.
Even the act of feeding bright red bills into the machine was transformed from "wasting money" into "a healthy work-life balance."
What window could God have possibly closed for her?
Shen Yuan could say with certainty that God was, in fact, fair.
Because Li Zhi couldn't work a claw machine to save her life.
100 yuan got you 300 Game Coins.
But Li Zhi only took 20 to "get a feel for it."
The beautiful girl knew her own limits.
Clutching the Game Coins in her hand, Li Zhi stared greedily at the full basket of Game Coins that Shen Yuan had put in their little cart.
"You have to win at least 15! No, 20!"
Shen Yuan chuckled. 'You're underestimating me a little,' he thought.
"Alright, alright. If I can't win them, I'll make it up to you! Go see if there are any you want."
Li Zhi nodded and set off to "inspect" the store.
As for Shen Yuan, he was free to do as he pleased.
Shen Yuan didn't start playing right away, instead wandering around the arcade for a bit.
Maybe it was because the place was new, or maybe the owner had a bit of a conscience.
The quality of the dolls in the arcade was surprisingly good. They weren't the kind you could get 100 of for 30 yuan wholesale.
But good quality also meant one other thing.
The claws on the machines would be even looser.
A little bit of conscience, but not much.
In less than three minutes, Shen Yuan saw Li Zhi walking over, looking unhappy.
Shen Yuan glanced at her. Good grief. She had come up completely empty.
But when Li Zhi reached Shen Yuan's side, the unhappiness on her face vanished instantly.
Shen Yuan had already snagged three.
One per minute on average.
Li Zhi looked at the dolls in the cart and asked in amazement, "How did you get these?"
"I reached in and took them."
"Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to."
Shen Yuan gave a sly grin. His eyes darted to a little kid walking away from a machine with a glum look, and he quickly stepped up to take the kid's place.
"I'll let you in on a little secret. One of the tricks to claw machines is patience. Find a machine someone is already playing. Wait for them to give up after failing, then you try. If they actually win, just find another machine and wait."
As he spoke, Shen Yuan dropped in three coins, aimed, and slapped the button.
The claw rose up, holding a SpongeBob SquarePants firmly in its grip.
'Nice. It's cooperating perfectly.'
Seeing the amazement in the beautiful girl's eyes, Shen Yuan grabbed a random handful of coins from the basket and placed them in Li Zhi's hand.
"Go try it. All you have to do is stake out a machine."
The beautiful girl took the handful of Game Coins and happily went to try her luck.
Shen Yuan kept an eye on Li Zhi while continuing to wander around the arcade.
Whenever he saw someone leave a machine empty-handed, he'd step up and snag one.
He won one doll by hooking its tag, then got another one thanks to the machine's pity system.
'Someone's going to trigger the pity prize eventually, so it might as well be me.'
'An extra one is good for trading up to a big doll, anyway.'
Just then, Shen Yuan saw Li Zhi happily pulling an ugly-cute little chick doll from a machine.
"Look, look! I got one!"
Li Zhi showed off the ugly-cute chick in her hands, her smile captivating.
Shen Yuan crushed her spirits without mercy. "It's pretty ugly. We'll trade it in later."
"No way! This is the one I won!" Li Zhi hugged the ugly-cute chick to her chest, glaring warily at Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan suddenly felt a little envious of the ugly-cute chick.
'Nope. It must be destroyed!'
"What's so great about it? It's so ugly."
"I don't care, I like it!"
Li Zhi placed the ugly-cute chick in the cart and told Shen Yuan sternly, "Don't you dare touch it!"
"Okay, okay."
With that, Shen Yuan leaned in close to Li Zhi and whispered, "So? My method works, doesn't it!"
Li Zhi's eyes sparkled as she nodded. "Yeah! I saw a kid give up on a machine, so I went over, and I got it in two tries! But..."
She glanced at the ugly-cute chick, and the corner of her mouth twitched. "It is a little ugly, actually."
Shen Yuan cracked up.
Now that the thrill of victory had faded, the beautiful girl was starting to get critical.
...
"I heard the quality of the dolls at this arcade is pretty good, and they're easy to win. Wanna give it a try?"
Guo Weifeng stopped at the entrance to the arcade, a smile on his face that he considered to be dashing.
"Oh, really? But I'm not any good at claw machines."
Tong Churou maintained her signature smile, her expression perfectly controlled.
But if Shen Yuan were here, he probably would have commented that her expression was a little half-hearted.
Actually, Li Zhi had been wrong about one thing.
After the Lower Realm Witch entered the Upper Realm, she discovered that charming the people here was even easier than in the Lower Realm.
Although the prodigies of the Upper Realm were exceptionally intelligent, for that very reason, they had very little experience with romance.
Not like in the Lower Realm, where people loved with life-or-death passion.
The prodigies of the Upper Realm were all too busy with their own pursuits.
With just a few simple tricks, the Lower Realm Witch could bewitch the prodigy before her until he was completely smitten.
Hearing Tong Churou's words, Guo Weifeng beamed. "It's okay. With claw machines, the most important thing is to have fun."
Guo Weifeng scanned the QR code on the machine to pay 100 yuan.
The feeling of casually "splurging a fortune" made him feel good about himself.
Guo Weifeng came from a well-off family; 100 yuan was just pocket change to him.
Watching the Game Coins CLATTER out of the machine, Tong Churou put on a timely expression of anticipation.
Of course, this was naturally accompanied by verbal flattery.
"Weifeng, that's so many Game Coins! I've never seen so many in my entire life."
Hearing this, Guo Weifeng was tempted to throw down another 100 yuan, just to hear the RATTLE and CLATTER of the Game Coins again.
Seeing Guo Weifeng's satisfied expression, a flash of displeasure crossed Tong Churou's eyes.
'What is he even thinking about? In the time it takes to play with these stupid claw machines, I could have mastered a new concept!'