“What is going on here?” Liu Qingyan asked curiously. “Did it not grab it properly just now?”
“Yes, that is the mechanism of claw machines.” Lu Zheng explained. “Claw machines do not rely on whether you aim accurately, because the claw is not tight every time. Depending on the operator’s conscience, it only grips firmly every ten to thirty attempts or so.”
“So you have to aim perfectly on that one firm grip to win the prize.” Lin Wan added. “Catching dolls requires both skill and luck. You need to guess how many failed attempts have happened before.”
Liu Qingyan’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Is that not dishonest?”
Lu Zheng shrugged. “But those are the rules. Though some say there are special techniques to catch dolls even in these conditions.”
“What techniques?” Shen Ying asked.
“I do not know.” Lu Zheng shook his head. “I never looked into it, but honestly, I am not sure I believe it.”
“Shall I try?” Shen Ying said eagerly.
“Go ahead! But I need to top up the card first.” Lu Zheng smiled.
They went to the counter. Lu Zheng added five hundred yuan, then returned to the claw machine that had first caught Liu Qingyan’s eye.
“Watch me get it for you!” Shen Ying linked arms with Liu Qingyan and smiled, then swiped the card confidently and began moving the joystick.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
With Shen Ying’s cultivation, she did not need to glance left or right. She effortlessly positioned the claw over the easiest doll and pressed the button.
“Click.”
The claw descended, tightened on contact, grasped the doll firmly, and lifted it slowly. However, halfway up, the claw wobbled, and the doll dropped.
Shen Ying, “…”
The women all laughed. Lu Zheng shrugged. “I told you, did I not?”
Shen Ying pouted. “Again!”
She swiped once more, moved the joystick again, pressed the button again. Then, just as the claw reached halfway and the doll was about to slip, an invisible force supported it, preventing the fall.
When the doll reached the exit with the claw and the claw released, the force vanished, and the doll gently fell out.
“Wow! This young lady caught one!”
“She got it, she got it! What amazing luck!”
The nearby players and onlookers grew excited, as if they had won it themselves.
“For you!” Shen Ying bent slightly, retrieved the plush cartoon rabbit from the exit, and handed it to Liu Qingyan.
“Hee hee, thank you!” Liu Qingyan thanked her cheerfully.
Shen Ying raised an eyebrow, then noticed a five- or six-year-old girl nearby gazing enviously. She smiled softly, crouched down, and asked, “Do you want a doll too?”
The little girl nodded sadly. “Daddy tried for ages and could not get one!”
Her father looked embarrassed and tried to save face. “This machine’s odds are outrageous!”
But the mother spared him no mercy. “The issue is you rarely aim properly!”
Everyone, “…”
Shen Ying’s lips curved. She laughed lightly. “Big sister seems lucky today. Shall big sister catch one for you?”
The girl’s eyes lit up. She nodded vigorously and held up her game card. “I’ll swipe for you!”
Knowing a machine that had just paid out should be avoided, the girl decisively moved to the one the young couple had failed on several times. “Let’s try this one!”
“Fine by me!”
Shen Ying did not mind. She let the girl swipe, then effortlessly caught a rainbow pony.
Onlookers: (=°Д°=)
Little girl: ♪(^∇^*)♪
“Thank you, big sister!” The girl cheered, took the rainbow pony, and hugged Shen Ying warmly.
“This…” The parents looked awkward and hesitant.
“It was your card anyway. I only helped catch it.” Shen Ying smiled.
“Thank you! Thank you!” With that explanation, the parents could not refuse and thanked her repeatedly.
…
Having helped a little girl snatch a doll from a unscrupulous claw machine, Shen Ying was delighted. She rubbed her hands, ready for more.
But Lu Zheng stopped her. “Claw machines draw too much attention. Try the clip doll machines instead. The scissor offset is more subtle, and the timing is precise, so the odds are better. You can clip cleanly without using magic.”
“Oh?” Shen Ying’s eyes brightened with keen interest. “Where?”
Lin Wan pointed to four clip doll machines nearby. “Over there!”
Three machines had rows of five or six hanging dolls, requiring horizontal scissor positioning. Align well, and success was more likely.
The fourth had one large doll, needing only timing, though surely offset.
“Come on!”
Shen Ying grasped the rules, then stood grinning before one. Swipe, move joystick, hold, release, snip!
One cut severed the string, and a doll fell.
“Yay!” Shen Ying cheered like the girlfriends in other couples, then turned, hugged Lu Zheng, and kissed him, feeding the onlookers a mouthful of dog food.
“Want to try?” she asked the others with a smile.
“Yes!” Liu Qingyan nodded eagerly, now interested too.
The four women took turns, using no magic. They swiped eighteen times and clipped twelve dolls, instantly emptying three machines. Finally, Lu Zheng stepped up and clipped the largest Hello Kitty from the big doll machine in one attempt.
The nearby attendant’s face turned green, unsure whether to restock.
The onlookers were stunned!
Beyond amazement at four stunning beauties excelling at clipping dolls, they were shocked that each beauty, upon success, kissed the ordinary-looking man beside them!
What was this?
So thrilling?
No helping it. Shen Ying started the trend, Si Lingxi and Liu Qingyan cared nothing for mortals’ opinions, and finally Lin Wan refused to yield. Lu Zheng had to endure.
Yet when someone tried to photograph, he gently used magic to cause a “slip” of the hand.
Thus…
In mere minutes, seven or eight phones cracked their screens, drawing wails, though drowned by cheers.
