It had been a long time since I felt this comfortable. Unlike the previous attempts to conceal or cover up, this time Wen Mo directly revealed their identities.
And he wasn't wrong; they are a couple, and there's nothing wrong with that.
The cashier was a little confused. She clearly heard the man say "no" just now, but she didn't know why he changed his mind.
However, he didn't think too much about it. After all, he couldn't really ask her to kiss him to prove that they were a couple. He figured a little something was enough.
"Here, these are your game coins, please keep them safe."
After Wenmo scanned the QR code, the clerk smiled and took out 25 game tokens from the counter, stuffing them all into Wenmo's hand, and even thoughtfully included a bag as a bonus.
Wen Mo nodded in satisfaction as he twirled the bag in his hand, and said to Xia Lian with a smile, "Let's go, let's play whatever we want."
He doesn't come to the arcade often. He used to occasionally go there with Qin Zhou and Xiao Nan after school to relax, but now both of them are busy with evening self-study, so he's the only one who has more freedom.
Beyond the sea lies not freedom, but learning.
"The machines here are all pretty normal; they don't give you that mind-numbing problem that happens several times in a row," Wen Mo muttered to himself.
Xia Lian looked around curiously, clearly a first-timer to this kind of place. The colorful neon lights overhead gave the entire arcade a relaxed atmosphere.
"This place is beautiful."
"It's really beautiful. The lights are flashing, which is designed to attract couples to come here and spend money." Wen Mo explained, reaching out to grasp a ray of light, which shone from his palm onto the back of his hand.
"And it's amazing."
Xia Lian couldn't take her eyes off the things around her, things she had never encountered before, and she subconsciously thought they were cool.
"You still haven't told me what you want to play. We can't just look around here; we have to try our hand at it too." Wen Mo chuckled and rubbed her cheek.
"I...I don't know." Xia Lian was so groped that she could barely speak. "Wen Mo will decide."
"I've decided? Okay."
Wen Mo didn't hesitate much. He had just thought of bringing her to play the claw machine. It's easy to operate, without too many complicated steps. Whether you catch something or not is just a matter of one claw.
"Have you played this before?" Wen Mo turned to look at Xia Lian.
Xia Lian shook her head, pressed her head close to the glass of the claw machine, her eyes devoid of emotion, simply staring intently.
"No, I've played it."
"Alright, let me demonstrate first. This thing is very easy to operate." Wen Mo looked confident, inserted a coin, and waited for the machine to make the start prompt.
Although he hadn't played this game in a while, he was confident that his skills were still there, and catching a dozen or so plush toys shouldn't be a problem.
Then……
Lower claws.
The robotic claw slowly extended downwards, grabbing the tail of a shark toy. The toy seemed to "struggle" for a moment before rolling back down.
"You failed. Please try again next time!"
"..."
Ignoring the claw machine's annoying beeping, Wen Mo felt a little embarrassed and looked at the girl next to him who had been watching him operate the machine.
"I think I know how to play now." Xia Lian nodded with a hint of certainty.
Insert a coin, press the button, wait for the claw to drop down, grab a toy, and then throw the toy back.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
"...Yes, that's how you play it. You try it." Wen Mo pretended to be calm as he stepped away from the joystick and pushed Xia Lian forward, secretly pleased with himself.
Since it's her first time playing anyway, she probably didn't understand the rules very well, so it's fine to let her play casually.
Then.
Five minutes later.
"Wenmo, the machine seems to be broken."
Xia Lian, holding a bunch of plush toys, tilted her head and looked at the much emptier claw machine with a puzzled expression. Most of the plush toys were already in her arms.
“…What’s wrong?” Wen Mo was speechless. He thought this girl had hit the guaranteed win, but she’d hit every time! And this was her first time playing… So, I was the one who was flying the most…
"Claws, they're broken."
Xia Lian pointed to the clips inside.
I just watched Wenmo's demonstration, and it should have dropped the plush toy back into its original position after grabbing it, but now the claw has actually pulled the plush toy out of its place.
"...The clip isn't broken, you're just too amazing."
"well?"
"It's okay, as long as we're having fun." Wen Mo breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled and stopped thinking about it. He reached out to help hold the remaining plush toys. "Alright, let's go play on the next machine."
Carrying so many plush toys was inconvenient, so the couple left the toys at the front desk and asked the staff to help them pack them in a large bag. The whole process drew envious glances from other couples around them.
Amazing!
They might not even be able to catch two plush toys when they play, they can only have a fleeting moment of fun, but this couple in front of them is like they've just bought a whole batch.
Seemingly noticing the gazes around him, Wen Mo subconsciously straightened his back, pulled Xia Lian closer to him, and revealed a smug smile.
My girlfriend caught it, isn't that amazing!
Although these words were not spoken aloud, the surrounding gazes already understood their meaning.
"You're amazing," Wenmo couldn't help but praise, reaching out to take the little hand in his.
They wouldn't dare hold hands at school, but here no one knows them, so they can hold hands however they want.
"Am I... really good?"
"Yes, the god of ancient Greece who controlled claw machines."
Wenmo didn't really like playing these things, thinking they were just a waste of money. His parents had brought him here when he was little, but they were the ones who did most of the playing while Wenmo just watched.
He was very well-behaved, neither crying nor making a fuss. He sat in his seat watching his parents show affection, which made his then-young father sigh, "Wow, he's grown up."
Now that I think about it, I understand. It's not that I don't like playing these machines, but that I didn't play with people I like. To be honest, even if I hadn't won a single prize in the claw machine just now, Wenmo would still have been very happy.
That's the power of love!
"What other machines would you like to play? Let's..."
Wen Mo took out the remaining game tokens and was about to drag Xia Lian to play some other machines when a shout suddenly came from behind.
Upon closer listening, it turned out that the front desk clerk had run out.
"Hello, would you two be interested in taking a photo together?"
"A group photo?" Wen Mo paused for a few seconds, looking at him strangely.
"Yes, just consider it a souvenir. After all, it's the first time I've ever seen someone win so many plush toys at once." The shop assistant was also startled by the scene just now and only wanted to take a picture to remember the moment.
"My girlfriend caught it. Let me ask her."
When Wen Mo answered, he pronounced the words "girlfriend" particularly loudly. He turned to look at Xia Lian beside him, and before he could ask her anything, he heard the girl's soft reply.
"I want to take a picture."
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