Chapter 161

The remote control operated gently. Her heart pounded, and just as the claw was about to grasp the little dinosaur, the fatigue from the blue pill wearing off caused the Golden Cudgel to plummet like a liquid ladle from a Chinese-style takeout delivery. She put the toy she'd finally managed to grab back, even moving it a little further in than before... Hua Xin lowered her head speechlessly, turning away so Xia Yan wouldn't see her tear-filled eyes. Did she really have no talent for claw machines...? She'd tried so many times, but each time she seemed just a little short of bringing it home... The girl sighed slightly, feeling a pang of disappointment, and then tugged at Xia Yan's sleeve, whispering, "Let's go." "Isn't the movie about to start...?" It seemed today was destined to be goodbye to this little dinosaur with whom she had such a troubled past. Before she knew it, she had spent over ten yuan on claw machines... Hua Xin shook her head slightly in regret, feeling a pang of heartache at the sudden expenditure of such a large sum of money. No... ten yuan was enough for two perfect meals. And she had spent it on this pointless thing... Her salary hadn't even arrived yet, how could she be spending money so recklessly? She only had a little over four hundred yuan left... Going out to play was really too expensive. The girl secretly made a resolution. She would never again go to these "casinos" that only stole her money! "Wait a minute." "You've had your fun, I haven't." Xia Yan blinked and said softly to the girl, whose disappointment was evident on her face. "You?" Hua Xin gave a slightly defiant snort, suppressing the tears that were about to fall, and reverted to her proud demeanor. If she couldn't, Xia Yan absolutely couldn't either. "Yeah, me." Xia Yan confirmed, then took two more coins from his pocket and inserted them into the machine. After restarting the claw machine, he stared intently at the claw inside. The girl who had already taken a few steps back turned and, seeing Xia Yan's identical operation, patted him on the shoulder, sighing with feigned maturity, "Don't try to be brave. I know you're not good at it either." "Trying to look cool in front of girls depends on the occasion... This machine is clearly set to the hardest setting by the staff to make money..." Hua Xin often watched videos, understood the tricks of these claw machines, but she couldn't resist. She was bad at it but loved playing, and after spending money, she regretted it. She seemed to foresee Xia Yan's fate, and unable to bear seeing Xia Yan disappointed face, she closed her eyes, perfectly setting a flag for the occasion. "If you can catch it, I'll..." Before Hua Xin could finish her gloating, Xia Yan bent down and took out the cute, fluffy green dinosaur plush toy from behind the partition, waving it in front of the girl. "So what?" He looked at the girl with a smile, then handed the plush toy to Hua Xin. "..." The girl didn't know what to say, blankly taking the plush toy from Xia Yan's hand. Wait, she had only closed her eyes for a few seconds, right? How did Xia Yan manage to catch the plush toy? This wasn't how the script was written! After a long silence, Hua Xin, clutching the little dinosaur in her arms, managed to squeeze out, "It's just a coincidence." "It's because I've laid the groundwork many times beforehand, so the machine just happened to work this time." "Ahem." Xia Yan cleared his throat, then pulled two coins from his pocket, looking at the girl seriously, half-jokingly and half-confidently, "What if I get lucky again this time?" "It can't be another machine coincidence, right?" "Logically, the machine's program should be reset now, right?" "Heh heh, you get lucky first." "I don't believe your luck is that good again!" Hua Xin said defiantly, not believing Xia Yan could be so lucky. Her pretty face showed complete disbelief. But the tension in her eyes already gave her a slight edge. Xia Yan didn't speak, concentrating on manipulating the joystick. Standing beside Xia Yan this time, Hua Xin stared intently at the iron claw that had been wobbling like an old man's joystick in her hands, now becoming remarkably stable in Xia Yan's. The clue extended. Precise positioning. Hooking. Pulling up. Moving. Falling. Finally...bang (exaggerated version in Hua Xin's ears)!!! A short while later, Xia Yan, carrying three small green dinosaur plush toys from a plastic bag in one hand, held the girl's slender, fair hand loosely in the other. His face wasn't overly happy, but the happiness in his eyes and the well-matched demeanor of the two standing together drew attention from the men and women around them, who were also waiting for the movie to start. "Two large buckets of popcorn and two cups of cola, thank you." "Okay...that's 110 in total, please wait a moment." Xia Yan brought up the QR code and paid with a beep. Hua Xin turned her head away as if she hadn't seen it, perfectly embodying the art of self-deception. After all, as long as she didn't see how much it cost, she wouldn't feel the pinch. Although it wasn't her money, Xia Yan's money was still money!! He collapsed from overwork and studying?...stop. The girl's initial feelings of concern for Xia Yan were immediately erased by the mental scanner. "Please always remember that the current owner of this body is 'Gu Xin Hua.' Do not use Hua Xin's identity to develop any unnecessary emotions towards anyone." Coming to her senses, Hua Xin glanced at their clasped hands, then guiltily looked away. Well... she had to admit that Xia Yan was indeed a master at claw machines. Not only did he succeed on the second try, but he even succeeded on the third (jealous face). All the coins she bought were wasted in her own hands, but in Xia Yan's hands, they turned into three toy dinosaurs. Fortunately, Xia Yan hadn't made any unreasonable demands. He just wanted to hold her hand. Considering his effort in winning the toy, she reluctantly agreed to reward him for a while. Sigh. After all, for her good friend, a perpetually Xia Yan boy, letting him hold her hand was more than enough. Hopefully, after death, I can use her current merits to send her to heaven. "Oh, right..." Hua Xin looked at the movie poster and seemed to suddenly remember something, asking Xia Yan with some confusion, "Which movie did you buy a ticket for?" "That 369 Bureau or the Baijing Fortress?" "It's not that Spicy Hot that's been criticized for so long, is it?" A faint sense of exasperation appeared on the girl's face. This was her first time watching a movie, but that didn't mean she hadn't read movie summaries or reviews online before. Most of the films listed above were more than just "bad." "Alien..." Xia Yan suddenly said...