Chapter 195: Inside Job, No… It’s a Frame-Up!

“The handsome guy is right, having fun is the most important thing when you’re out.”

A certain longing light emerged in the female boss’s eyes.

After ten years of running a stall, her heart had grown as cold as her bank account balance.

Upon hearing this, Xu Qianqian’s gaze swept over the various prizes on the stall, filtering them based on a forty-yuan cost.

After some estimation, she realized that unless they managed to ring a large plush toy, they were definitely going to lose money on this trip.

Although she didn’t know what Jiang Nian was up to, she still agreed out of a certain intuition. At the same time, she silently prayed that just breaking even would be a victory.

By the time Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian received their rings from the female boss, the couple in front of them had already finished their throws.

They hadn’t hit anything, just ringed a whole lot of nothing, and walked away dejectedly with a small consolation prize.

Jiang Nian thought, if the prizes were replaced with Okamoto condoms, perhaps they could put a ring on a ring.

“You go first. We each get ten rings.”

Xu Qianqian hummed in agreement, fixed her gaze on a small plush toy, and began throwing rings. After three rings, she finally landed one, and a sigh of relief escaped her.

The small consolation prize the boss mentioned, given for not hitting anything worth twenty yuan, was a bit ugly, like a watermelon rind that had been stepped on.

She didn’t want it, planning to rely on her own efforts to win small and medium-sized plush toys; getting two would mean not losing too much.

As for the large plush toys, Xu Qianqian decided to play it by ear. If she got the small and medium-sized plush toys she wanted, then the last few rings would be used to try and hit a large one.

The female boss, having nothing to do, provided plenty of emotional encouragement from the side.

Watching Xu Qianqian’s fourth ring fly towards a medium-sized cat plush toy, she gasped.

“Ah!… What a pity, just a little bit off.”

Xu Qianqian frowned, throwing three more in a row, but they all just grazed the target.

The female boss’s face broke into a smile; in less than ten minutes, fifty yuan was easily in her pocket, and she felt a bit smug.

“Little sister, why don’t you try for a bigger plush toy? The medium-sized ones are hard to get. Try for a bigger one, and you might just hit it.”

In reality, those large plush toys wrapped in plastic had been slightly tampered with. Unless a whole handful of rings were thrown at once, maybe one might hook on.

Throwing them one by one was just throwing money away, two yuan per throw, two yuan per throw.

Xu Qianqian was unmoved, switching to the small plush toys. Four rings later, she hit two, and calmly said:

“They’re just average.”

The female boss also laughed. These things were bought wholesale, costing less than one or two yuan each when averaged out. She beamed, stepping forward to hand Xu Qianqian the plush toys she had hit.

“Little sister, hitting three is already very impressive.”

Xu Qianqian was a bit annoyed, but she wasn’t good with words around strangers. So, she imagined the female boss as Jiang Nian, and glanced at her sideways, saying:

“Hmm… yes, I hit three. So, will this affect my chances of getting into a 985 university later?”

The female boss: “…”

The female boss didn’t understand scores, but she knew the best universities all had numbers in their names. Like 233, 886.

And this female student in front of her, she clearly looked like the kind of particularly smart, well-behaved girl. Even if she wrote’solution’ for a multiple-choice question, someone would unhesitatingly copy it.

Jiang Nian’s lips curved into a smile, and he cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.

“Boss lady, I’ve never played this before. If I hit something, I can take it, right?”

“That’s right.” The female boss shifted her gaze from Xu Qianqian. “Whatever you hit, you take. You can even take everything if you hit it all.”

“Oh, oh. So, is my chance of hitting a large plush toy greater?”

“Yes, little handsome guy, you can try.” The female boss beamed. “This depends on luck. Throw a few more, and you might just hit one.”

Xu Qianqian stepped down to the side, tugged Jiang Nian, and whispered a reminder:

“The big ones are impossible to hit. Go for all the small ones; the probability of hitting those is higher.”

The pirated small figurines were all sorts of strange, and Jiang Nian didn’t recognize any of them with a quick glance. They had a kind of beauty from mixed toy copyrights, worthless anyway.

The medium-sized plush toys were visibly of better quality, and the large plush toys were fluffy, about half a person’s height.

Besides these, closer by, there were also rewards like tissues, drinks, and snacks.

Jiang Nian wasn’t interested in those. Under the female boss’s beaming gaze, he casually threw a ring. The ring arced through the air, accurately landing on a large plush toy.

The air—it solidified at that moment. The female boss was utterly dumbfounded.

Holy cow, it’s rigged!

No, damn it, it’s a frame-up!

Does luck really exist in this world? The first ring hit a large plush toy, one of the first items she stocked when she started her stall!

Back then, she wasn’t this crooked, and it hadn’t even been opened from its plastic bag!

Beginner’s luck, beginner’s luck!

Xu Qianqian was also stunned. It was that simple to hit it? Did she miss something in between, or did she overlook something?

In any case, the grinning, seemingly brainless cat plush toy ended up in her hands. Brand new, still in its plastic bag.

“Boss, I still have nine rings. Do you want to buy them back for five yuan each?”

Jiang Nian’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Xu Qianqian turned to look at him.

The female boss hesitated, but still shook her head and refused. People can’t always be lucky, just as she occasionally bought rotten eggs at the supermarket.

“Rings that are sold are not bought back. Keep throwing.”

Jiang Nian said “Oh,” and with a flick of his wrist, he hit another bear plush toy.

“Oh, wow, another hit.”

The female boss’s face was almost black. This time, she was really going to lose money; the two large plush toys alone cost nearly forty yuan.

Xu Qianqian was also a bit stunned. Now she was surrounded, sandwiched between two large plush toys.

She was currently wondering whether to pull Jiang Nian away, but before she could figure it out, Jiang Nian moved again.

The female boss was going crazy, watching the ring fly towards the large plush toy, her old friend with whom she chatted every day after work.

No! Not there!

The ring hooked onto the dog plush toy’s ear, stopping in an extremely strange position.

The female boss knelt, violating her own principles, and spent thirty-five yuan to buy back Jiang Nian’s remaining seven rings.

They had snuck out after school that afternoon. They had evening self-study at 6:20 PM, so they couldn’t stay out too long. Moreover, the three large plush toys couldn’t be taken back to the classroom, so they had to go home first.

On the way home, the streetlights began to come on.

Jiang Nian rode the electric bike, with two large plush toys stuffed in front, held in place by his legs so they wouldn’t fall off.

Xu Qianqian sat on the back seat, hugging a large plush toy, speeding home. Several pirated plush toys were roughly stuffed into the tailbox.

The evening breeze blew, and Xu Qianqian felt everything was a bit unreal.

An hour ago, she was sitting in the classroom doing problems. Now she was sitting on the back of an electric bike, hugging a large plush toy.

Five yuan had bought her three large plush toys and several small ones, and she knew very well that all these plush toys were for her alone.

The streetlights were dim yellow, passing by in rounds in the wind. Xu Qianqian bumped Jiang Nian with her head, raising her voice slightly.

“How did you throw so accurately?”

“What?” Jiang Nian didn’t hear clearly.

“You…” Xu Qianqian called out, but then deflated. “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

Jiang Nian twisted the throttle, gradually accelerating, and tilted his head slightly, his voice blending with the wind.

“Aren’t I amazing, your Brother Nian?”

“Hmph!” Xu Qianqian rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t like plush toys. You take them back yourself.”

“What use do I have for them? As footrests?” Jiang Nian slammed on the brakes, turning his head. “They were originally for you to win. I practiced hard for a week, to bring you children… no, to repay your kindness.”

“Repay what kindness?” Xu Qianqian was a bit confused, ignoring his rude slip of the tongue.

“The math strategy you gave me before the joint exam last time! I always repay my debts.” Jiang Nian raised his eyebrows, tossed his hair, and started the electric bike again… Jiang Nian barely made it to evening self-study, just as the class bell rang.

It was all Xu Qianqian’s fault for being so slow, insisting on finding a good spot for the three plush toys. Didn’t she say she didn’t want them? She really mastered being two-faced.

As soon as he sat down, Jiang Nian grabbed his mineral water bottle and chugged a mouthful of water. Only then did he slowly calm down, looking up at the brightly lit classroom.

Zhang Ningzhi looked at him curiously, and couldn’t help but ask in a low voice:

“Where did you go this afternoon?”

Jiang Nian caught his breath and honestly said:

“I went to play ring toss with a pretty girl.”

Zhang Ningzhi leaned back on her desk, thinking, if he doesn’t want to say, then fine.