In front of the claw machine, Zhuang Lujun inserted a coin, controlled the joystick, stared intently at the plush toy she wanted, and pressed the button with a snap.
The claw of the claw machine descended shakily, grabbing the doll's head, but when it lifted it up, the claw seemed to suffer from muscular dystrophy, loose and limp, letting go after a slight pull.
Zhuang Lujun sighed, and the two classmates next to her immediately laughed, "What's the point of catching it? If you want it, just buy it."
"It feels different to catch it yourself," Zhuang Lujun laughed. "Never mind, we've used up all our game coins, let's go to the cat cafe."
The three girls left the arcade together and headed towards the cat cafe on the other side.
Watching the three figures gradually disappear into the distance, Song Yunshen and Xia Jinshu peeked out from the arcade entrance, and after confirming that they had left, they exchanged a glance.
"Everyone's gone, can we play now?" Song Yunshen shook the small basket containing game tokens in his hand.
"Hmm." Xia Jinshu nodded gently, "What should we play?"
"Playing the claw machine?" Song Yunshen tilted his head and gestured towards the claw machine. "I saw them playing it just now."
"But it seems like we can't catch them all." Xia Jinshu frowned slightly. "It feels like we're losing out."
"It's okay, we'll just try it once," Song Yunshen said. "We'll probably only play for about twenty minutes, no need to spend the whole time on the claw machine."
Xia Jinshu thought what he said made sense, so she stopped refusing and followed Song Yunshen to the claw machine.
"Which one should we choose?" Song Yunshen asked.
Xia Jinshu looked around and, instead of choosing the machine that Zhuang Lujun had failed to win, picked a claw machine next to her that was full of SpongeBob SquarePants.
"You like SpongeBob SquarePants?" Song Yunshen asked curiously.
"I don't really have a preference," Xia Jinshu gently shook her head. "I feel like they're all fine, I'll just pick one randomly."
Actually, it's because Ningning would probably like it—that's what Xia Jinshu thought to herself.
She doesn't really have any particular fondness for dolls, and neither do her two younger sisters.
Because we didn't have much spare money, we didn't even have dolls at home.
However, Xia Kening often said that her lucky color was yellow, so Xia Jinshu simply chose this claw machine.
"Here you go," Song Yunshen said, handing over the small basket. "Just two coins will do."
"Aren't you going to play?" Xia Jinshu asked hesitantly.
"You go first, then I'll do my turn after you're done," Song Yunshen said. "Let's see who's better."
"Okay." Xia Jinshu finally stopped being polite with him, reached out and picked up two game tokens, and put them into the coin slot.
Soon, the claw machine displayed a start-up status.
"Pick one you like first," Song Yunshen reminded him from the side.
"Hmm." Xia Jinshu took a deep breath, not bothering to choose which one she liked or disliked, and directly identified the one closest to the cave entrance. After a brief aim, she pressed the grab button.
As the claws slowly descended and successfully grasped SpongeBob SquarePants's body, Xia Jinshu's heart rate increased slightly.
But when the paw lifted SpongeBob SquarePants halfway up, it once again showed its old-age muscle weakness, and accidentally let go.
As SpongeBob SquarePants fell from mid-air, Xia Jinshu's eyes flashed with disappointment.
What a waste of money!
I shouldn't have played it.
Arcade tokens are exchanged at a 1:1 ratio; that one swipe just now was worth two dollars.
It would be better to use that money to buy something practical.
These thoughts flashed through Xia Jinshu's mind, when she heard Song Yunshen exclaim in surprise beside her.
"Holy crap! It's stuck!"
Xia Jinshu was startled. When she looked up again, she saw SpongeBob SquarePants falling from mid-air, one of his feet stuck on the edge of the hole.
Because there were other SpongeBob SquarePants below, it got stuck on top, half above the hole and half outside, in a situation where it could fall off or not.
"This—" Xia Jinshu said with a helpless expression, "What bad luck."
"Don't rush." Song Yunshen Shen chuckled, took two steps to the right, then took a deep breath and slapped out with his palm, slamming it onto the right side of the claw machine with a bang.
The next second, the SpongeBob SquarePants inside the claw machine all jiggled from side to side.
The foot that was wedged in the hole wobbled, SpongeBob SquarePants's head tilted, and then he wobbled and fell into the hole.
"Huh?" Xia Jinshu was stunned; she hadn't expected such an off-field maneuver.
But her first reaction wasn't surprise; instead, she quickly turned her head left and right, looked around, and then glanced at the front desk, as if she were a thief, afraid of being discovered.
"Hurry up and take it." Song Yunshen patted Xia Jinshu's shoulder.
"Hmm----" Xia Jinshu finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one had noticed Song Yunshen's little actions just now, and then she felt a little amused and exasperated.
She crouched down, opened the lower partition, took out the SpongeBob SquarePants, and hugged it to her chest.
Although Xia Jinshu was quite happy to have received the doll, she still said to Song Yunshen, "Don't do that next time, it doesn't feel right."
Song Yunshen reached out and pinched the SpongeBob SquarePants on Xia Jinshu's chest, chuckling as he said, " Teacher Xia, do you know what you sound like when you say that?"
"Like what?"
"Like Mom."
Xia Jinshu's heart skipped a beat at his words, and she quickly turned away, somewhat flustered. "What are you talking about? It doesn't look like it at all."
This was the first time Song Yunshen had called her "Mom" in front of her, catching her off guard.
Although it wasn't exactly a direct shout, it was still a bit too sudden.
It made her blush a little.
Seeing her reaction, Song Yunshen felt as if he was gradually finding a way to control Xia Jinshu.
Every girl is really different.
"Shall I try it too?" Song Yunshen asked, taking out two game tokens. " Teacher Xia, can you help me pick out a machine?"
"Choose whichever you like," Xia Jinshu said, having recovered by now, while hugging SpongeBob SquarePants.
"Your luck is good today, I'll listen to you," Song Yunshen said.
"Then—" Xia Jinshu thought for a moment, then pointed to the machine on the other side that was full of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles chibi dolls and said, "This one will do."
"OK." Song Yunshen walked up to the machine and inserted two game tokens without hesitation. "Come on, help me pick one."
Xia Jinshu didn't stand on ceremony anymore and pointed to the one closest to the cave entrance. "This one will do. I also picked the one closest to the entrance."
"You've got a good idea," Song Yunshen chuckled. "No wonder you were able to catch them."
"That's all thanks to that slap you gave me," Xia Jinshu said with a laugh.
"With our combined swordsmanship, we're invincible." Song Yunshen Shen said, already manipulating the joystick, aiming at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and pressing the grab button.
The claws wobbled as they fell, but somehow, this time they weren't so loose; they actually kept lifting the object.
The doll successfully reached the top of the cave entrance.
Song Yunshen and Xia Jinshu subconsciously moved closer to the claw machine, staring at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles falling into the hole. Then they turned to look at each other, blinked, and realized they were a little too close.
Xia Jinshu was the first to pull her upper body back, taking a half step back to create distance Song Yunshen.
Song Yunshen smiled, squatted down, and took out the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from inside. "As expected of Teacher Xia, you can catch whichever one you want."
Xia Jinshu hadn't expected things to go so smoothly, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
It wasn't until Song Yunshen stuffed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into her chest that Xia Jinshu came to her senses and quickly refused, "You caught this, you keep it."
"I play claw machines mainly for the thrill of that moment when I grab the plush toy," Song Yunshen shook his head. "If I were to actually take one home, it would just be taking up space."
"You really don't want it?" Xia Jinshu hesitated for a moment, glanced at the green Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and thought that Xiao Nuo would probably like it.
"No." Song Yunshen shook his head decisively. "I might consider it if it were a Transformers."
Or even a cute girl figurine would be fine.
Song Yunshen was too embarrassed to say the second half of his sentence.
Hearing him say that, Xia Jinshu nodded gently and hugged the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into her arms as well.
That's perfect.
SpongeBob SquarePants gave it to Ningning, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gave it to Xiao Nuo.
Xia Jinshu herself didn't have much of a feeling for the dolls and planned to give both of them to her younger sisters.
After deciding who the toy belonged to, Song Yunshen looked at the whole row of claw machines and felt a little itchy to play.
However, since it was agreed that each person could only have one chance, he didn't continue, after all, luck can't always be this good.
The two walked deeper into the arcade, and Song Yunshen took her to try other games. Only a dozen minutes had passed by the time they had used up all their game tokens.
Song Yunshen originally wanted to exchange for more game coins, but Xia Jinshu Shu shook her head and said that they could go back to the barbecue restaurant to queue up first, which would be a good opportunity to rest.
Song Yunshen didn't insist, and took Xia Jinshu back to the fourth floor, where they sat down on a chair in front of the barbecue restaurant.
Before they could even get comfortable in their chairs, the receptionist called their number.
Song Yunshen paused for a moment, looked down to confirm it was their number, then quickly got up, patted Xia Jinshu's shoulder, and led her to the front desk.
After having the cashier scan the QR code of the coupon they bought on Meituan, Song Yunshen and Xia Jinshu followed the cashier into the store and sat down.
While ordering food via QR code, Song Yunshen couldn't help but laugh and say, "I feel like Teacher Xia is my lucky star. Everything I do seems to go smoothly."
They won every time they tried to win a prize at the claw machine. They said they'd come back and queue up, but when they got back, it was already their turn in line.
Not a moment was wasted.
Xia Jinshu felt a little embarrassed by what he said, but it was better than being called "Mom" than "Little Lucky Star," so she reluctantly accepted it.
Since it was a self-service barbecue, Xia Jinshu didn't hold back and ordered any cooked food she wanted.
After ordering the cooked food from the menu, the two got up together and went to the self-service area to choose meats that were sliced or diced.
Xia Jinshu followed Song Yunshen, curiously looking around at the store's layout.
It was her first time eating at a buffet, and she didn't know the rules. Song Yunshen explained them to her before she understood.
The two of them took seven or eight plates of meat, picked out some vegetables, poured drinks and mixed sauces, and walked back and forth two or three times before finally returning to their seats.
The grill pan was already hot, and Xia Jinshu took the tongs for grilling the meat and said to Song Yunshen, "I'll grill it."
"Don't rush." Song Yunshen reached out and pressed the clip back into her hand, took an apron from a drawer, and put it around Xia Jinshu's neck.
Xia Jinshu blinked, looked down at the apron she was wearing, and pursed her lips.
"Thank you," Xia Jinshu said softly, then picked up the tongs again and began grilling the meat with a serious expression.
Song Yunshen didn't try to take it from her; he just found it amusing.
After all, when I came here last time with Xia Kening, we each grilled our own food without any particular etiquette.
They even fight over food.
But coming here to eat barbecue with Xia Jinshu at this moment is a completely different experience.
Watching Xia Jinshu meticulously place plates of meat onto the baking tray, carefully arranging each area, Song Yunshen felt increasingly like a child being taken out to play by his mother.
I haven't experienced this feeling of being served food to others in a long time.
"Here you go." Xia Jinshu placed the first piece of grilled meat onto Song Yunshen's plate. "Be careful, it's hot."
"Hmm." Song Yunshen looked down at the meat on the plate, then looked up at Xia Jinshu sitting opposite him, and suddenly felt that if...
If my future wife is Xia Jinshu, that wouldn't be bad at all.
Why did I give up on Xia Jinshu and choose Xia Yunuo instead?
Even if Xia Jinshu initiated the breakup, wouldn't she have tried to win her back?
Or you could have both.
cough cough----
Song Yunshen buried his head in his meat, feeling somewhat shameless.