Chapter 327 - Claw Machine’s Secrets
After Shui Junzhuo and Su Tao finished their meal, they took a stroll in the night market. Ah Jun was following behind them and maintained a distance. He ensured that he's out of their sight, while they're in his view.
Su Tao bought yogurt from a convenience store for Shui Junzhuo, those with fruity bits inside. The latter drank as they walked. For a cultured woman, it was unetiquette of them to eat and drink while walking. However, Shui Junzhuo did not look too bothered by it. On the contrary, she felt that living her life in this manner was free without concerning herself with the view of others.
As they walked under the lamps for ten-odd minutes, Shui Junzhuo threw away the emptied yogurt. However, she missed to throw it into the rubbish bin. Su Tao swiftly reacted and picked it up. When he raised his body, he bumped heads with Shui Junzuo, who acted a tad slower. Rubbing her forehead, Shui Junzhuo hissed from the pain. But soon after, she bore the pain and walked with her head lowered while staring at the tiles on the ground, kicking as she walked.
"Does it still hurt?" Su Tao suddenly came up to her and wanted to brush apart Shui Junzhuo's hair.
However, Shui Junzhuo subconsciously took a step back. Alas, she wasn't as agile as Su Tao. The latter had one hand on Shui Junzhuo's shoulder to keep her from fidgeting. When he saw that the injury was somewhat red, he coaxed, "You have to treat it immediately. Otherwise, it will bruise tomorrow. With the cold weather now, the metabolism in your body will be slowed down. So if you don't treat it in time, I'm afraid that it will take at least ten days to a month for you to recover. You don't want to have a blue patch on your face for such a long time, right? You won't look pretty!"
"I can cover it with my fringe!" Despite her words, she was cooperative and allowed Su Tao to massage her injury.
Bruises were formed due to the damage of skin tissue. If someone else rubbed it, the bruises would deteriorate. However, Su Tao had used a unique technique that activated the metabolism before using the Beautifying Cream on her injury. Within a short period, there were effective improvements.
"How is it? Are you feeling better?" Su Tao's gentle voice resounded. But in fact, he knew that there wasn't a problem with his technique, and Shui Junzhuo would feel a cold sensation on her injury with her pain alleviating.
Lowering her head, Shui Junzhuo wore a sweet smile.
Letting out a cough, Su Tao tried to hide the awkward atmosphere. Seeing an arcade nearby, he smiled. "Come, I'll bring you to a place that you've never visited!"
Before Shui Junzhuo could react, she felt Su Tao grabbing her hand. Even her feet had uncontrollably followed him.
She never expected that Su Tao would bring her to an arcade. Truth be told, Su Tao had never visited an arcade himself, so he figured that it must be the same for Shui Junzhuo. Standing before the counter, Su Tao exchanged tokens corresponding to ¥200, with ¥100 for 300 tokens. Holding onto a bag of 600 tokens, the bag tinkled with the coins rustling around.
Just as Su Tao had expected, Shui Junzhuo had no experience with the arcade here, just like him. They're both people that have eaten pork but have never seen how the pigs ran in the field. However, Shui Junzhuo has seen how couples would play the claw machine in dramas. Pointing at the claw machines located to the side of the entrance, she smiled. "Let's play the claw machine!"
Those plushies were worth less than ¥10, but it's impossible to catch any without skills. Some people might not be able to obtain one even after ¥100-200.
"No problem!" Su Tao said without lacking confidence. "My skills are superb, and I can catch any that I want. What would you like? I can guarantee success!"
"That Mashimaro!" Shui Junzhuo pointed at a Mashimaro that wore a blue cap.
"Rabbit? It doesn't look cute at all!" Su Tao glanced at Shui Junzhuo. He knew that this lass was purposely giving him a challenge. Half of that rabbit was buried amongst the other plushies, and the claw was slippery. So a little obstruction would determine failure.
"I like the Mashimaro! I had a nickname when I was younger, Mashimaro!" Shui Junzhuo said with excitement as she clasped her hands together.
"Alright. Now that you mention it, you do share some resemblance to it!" Su Tao put three tokens into the machine. He knew that the arcade has already calculated the cost. There's only a 10% chance of success with the claw machine, which meant one chance every $10. They bought it for probably ¥7-8, and after calculating it, the arcade was undoubtedly confident that it would be a profitable deal.
"Go, go! Watch out! Slow down!" At this moment, Shui Junzhuo was even more excited than Su Tao. Even her tone had changed at this moment.
Because Su Tao was distracted, his angle was off and he failed to capture the plush. He did not even catch the fur on the plush, so he grumbled, "My dearest sister, can you quiet down a little? Don't you know that I have to be focused when catching the plush? You're distracting me by yelling around!"
"Can I be blamed? Didn't you claim to be skillful at it?" Shui Junzhuo was a little annoyed as she looked at Su Tao. However, when she noticed that Su Tao's gaze was directed at the couple playing the claw machine, she instantly had a comprehension and sourly said, "I've realised it now. You're just boasting, and you have no idea how to catch the plushies!"
"You don't believe me? Then you can have a go at it!" Su Tao shoved tokens into the claw machine and gently pulled Shui Junzhuo over to control the joystick.
Shui Junzhuo had seen how the joystick was controlled. So she was somewhat familiar with it and she carefully controlled the claw. "Help me angle it. I feel that there's a refraction from the angle that makes it easy to miss!"
Su Tao placed his face against the glass and instructed, "A little to the right! Slower, slower! You overshot! Left, left!"
"Now?" At this moment, Shui Junzhuo felt her heart throbbing out of her chest.
"No, a little to the left. You overshot!" Su Tao sighed as he covered his eyes.
Shui Junzhuo was ticked off by Su Tao while she was following his instructions. That fellow must be messing around with her!
"You can't do it too! Let me!" Su Tao chuckled as he put more tokens into the machine. Shui Junzhuo was annoyed and felt it was hilarious at the same time. How is Su Tao a divine physician at this moment? He's no different from an overgrown kid!
After a brief pondering, it made sense as well. Su Tao was currently 21, and it's impossible for anyone to learn the knowledge he possesses in their lifetime. However, Su Tao has held that knowledge in his heart. Perhaps it had something to do with his talent, but he was also more hardworking than anyone. Hence, Su Tao did not enjoy childhood like everyone else.
This time, Su Tao was careful with his movements. He wasn't even so focused during surgery, and then the claw machine grabbed onto the Mashimaro, Shui Junzhuo immediately burst out in cheers. But the claw only managed to move the plush's head before failing.
"Unscrupulous merchant!" Su Tao couldn't help cursing.
"Don't curse others if you're not capable!" Shui Junzhuo smiled as she rolled her eyes.
"The claw has been fiddled with!" Su Tao was an expert when it came to instruments. He could even shoot silver needles out. So this claw machine was still not on the level of giving him trouble.
"Excuses! Let me do it!" Shui Junzhuo shoved Su Tao away, took out tokens from the bag and placed them into the machine.
"Go ahead and embarrass yourself!" Su Tao laughed. Shui Junzhuo slapped on the button a tad too early and she ended her round without the claw touching the plush. When he finished speaking, he had already taken over the joystick and the claw grabbed onto the plush above the Mashimaro.
Su Tao's forehead was covered in sweat at this moment. As the claw rose up, more beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Success!" Shui Junzhuo cheered as the green light lit up, and a caterpillar plush was caught.
"Your turn!" Su Tao wiped his sweat as he said to Shui Junzhuo with a smile.
He had already proven himself by catching the caterpillar plush. So now, it's the chick's turn to have fun.
"Me?" Shui Junzhuo hesitated with no confidence.
"Yeah, don't you want the Mashimaro plush? I have already caught the caterpillar plush on top of it. So if you give it a try now, there will be a high chance of success." Su Tao patiently explained.
So it turns out that he already had a plan. Shui Junzhuo initially thought that Su Tao only caught the caterpillar plush by luck.
"Alright, I'll have a go at it!" Shui Junzhuo controlled the joystick once again. Her palm had turned moist from the sweat.
Su Tao came to Shui Junzhuo's back and placed his hands above hers. Shui Junzhuo was startled by the intimate contact and she felt her body burning up. Even her breath was warm.
"I'll help you!" Su Tao thoughtfully said, since he was taller than Shui Junzhuo by half a head. With his chin on her soft hair, a fragrance blew in his face that made his nose ticklish. He even nearly let out a sneeze.
Shui Junzhuo blushed and felt herself highly embraced. Hence, she turned her head and glanced at Su Tao. "This position is a little uncomfortable!"
"I'm doing this to let you have a sense of catching the plush!" Su Tao showed a pure expression, as if there wasn't another gentleman comparable to him in the world.
"Alright, I'll let you take advantage of me this time!" Shui Junzhuo submitted. But in her heart, she was actually rather fond of this feeling.
She was having intimate contact with her lover!
Under Su Tao's guidance, the joystick slowly moved. The claw looked like it had a pair of eyes growing of it, stopping directly above the Mashimaro plush. After determining the angle, it dropped down without any hesitation!
"I caught it!" Shui Junzhuo yelled. Her voice startled the couples nearby as they looked over.
"Alright!" Su Tao smiled, "At least I did not disappoint you!"
"I want that octopus!" Shui Junzhuo was addicted to the claw machine at this moment.
"Then go for it!" Su Tao put another three tokens into the machine and looked at Shui Junzhuo with a smile.
Grabbing onto the joystick, Shui Junzhuo briefly pondered before she whispered, "I want you to teach me like how you did earlier!"
"Alright. Your learning ability seems to be mediocre!" Su Tao naturally grabbed onto Shui Junzhuo's hand. Her body was like an aromatic cake that permeated with a savory fragrance.
He couldn't help himself from pecking at Shui Junzhuo's hair. The latter felt as if she had been electrocuted; she was stunned!