Chapter 4: Claw Machine
Lu Zhiyin sat honestly in school for a day, ignoring Ouyang Qing as much as possible and dedicating herself to her studies.
When school was over, before Lu Zhiyin could pack her things, Ouyang Qing became impatient and kicked Lu Zhiyin’s small leg, reminding her it was time to go find some fun.
Her leg, still bruised from being kicked in the morning, was now injured further.
Fortunately, Ouyang Qing had controlled her strength, only causing Lu Zhiyin pain, not affecting her ability to walk.
“Got it, got it.”
Lu Zhiyin quickly packed her brand-new textbooks and stood up briskly.
This guy is really childish, Lu Zhiyin thought, and her impression of children worsened.
In a corner of the classroom, Long Qinxin originally didn’t want to pay attention to Lu Zhiyin, as she wasn’t the old acquaintance she knew.
But Lu Zhiyin’s identical face still attracted Long Qinxin’s unmoving gaze.
Watching Lu Zhiyin and Ouyang Qing leave, Long Qinxin naturally assumed they were friends.
She started fantasizing again, wondering if things wouldn’t have happened if she had only been willing to let their relationship stop at friendship.
As she thought more, Long Qinxin’s eyes began to water.
On impulse, she followed Lu Zhiyin and Ouyang Qing.
“…Hey, I was wondering, someone seems to be following you.”
When they reached the school gate, Long Qinxin was still following Lu Zhiyin from a distance.
Ouyang Qing noticed and alerted Lu Zhiyin.
“It’s nothing.”
Lu Zhiyin shook her head.
She probably knew who was following her.
It could only be Long Qinxin.
She started thinking about where to take Ouyang Qing.
Just going to a park would likely annoy the childish person beside her. After all, as a deity, she wouldn’t be interested in mere scenery; she could see whatever she wanted if she wished.
She would probably only be interested in certain human trinkets.
Lu Zhiyin’s first thought was video games, but she dismissed the idea.
The reason? Lu Zhiyin had no money.
“…Tch…”
Lu Zhiyin sighed, touching her empty pockets.
Without money, let alone video games, she couldn’t do anything.
She looked at Ouyang Qing beside her.
“Do you have any money?”
Her words made the divine maiden’s eyes widen.
“You mean you brought me out to have fun and you’re asking me for money?”
She looked incredulous.
“…Yes, that’s right. After all, I’m penniless right now.”
Lu Zhiyin glanced back at Long Qinxin, who was following them from afar.
Although she could probably trick Long Qinxin out of some spare change using her looks, Lu Zhiyin didn’t want to get involved with her again after finally escaping.
“…Useless. If you don’t have money, find a way to earn it.”
Ouyang Qing kicked Lu Zhiyin again.
Long Qinxin, unable to hear Ouyang Qing’s words from afar, naturally couldn’t perceive the weight behind the seemingly light kick.
She mistook it for flirting between Lu Zhiyin and Ouyang Qing, envied their good relationship, and lamented her own situation.
If she had only been friends with Lu Zhiyin, could she have gotten along as harmoniously as the pair in the distance?
Following Ouyang Qing and Lu Zhiyin all the way, Long Qinxin only felt increasingly distressed.
She finally stopped following the two and returned to her apartment.
“Cough, cough… I’ll earn some later.”
After a couple of coughs, Lu Zhiyin bent down and touched her small leg.
“…Too useless…”
After muttering a couple more times, Ouyang Qing pulled a few banknotes out of her pocket from nowhere.
“Let’s go.”
Rolling her eyes at Lu Zhiyin, her tone grew more unpleasant.
Lu Zhiyin shrugged speechlessly and then led Ouyang Qing to a convenience store.
She stopped in front of the claw machine outside the store.
“What are you doing?”
“Didn’t you want to have fun? Go play.”
She pointed to the tall claw machine.
There weren’t many toys in the claw machine. Most were small, with only one slightly larger rabbit doll standing out.
“Do you think I’m a child? This is too childish.”
Ouyang Qing felt like kicking Lu Zhiyin again, but Lu Zhiyin anticipated it and dodged.
Missing the kick, Ouyang Qing almost fell. She tried to punch, but fearing she’d dirty her hand, she retracted it.
Just as Lu Zhiyin was about to laugh at her, a banana peel appeared under her feet, and she fell to the ground clumsily.
“Cough, cough… cough, cough…”
Lu Zhiyin choked on her own saliva and started coughing.
Ouyang Qing laughed at Lu Zhiyin’s foolishness.
“Hahaha… Ha, useless is truly useless.”
She laughed maliciously, her laughter surprisingly pleasant.
Lu Zhiyin got up and brushed the dust off herself.
She wasn’t particularly angry, as she had expected the deity not to let her be the only one to suffer.
Returning to seriousness, Lu Zhiyin walked to the claw machine.
She patted the joystick used to control the machine’s claw.
“Although it looks childish, it’s actually quite fun. It’s difficult, so you get a sense of accomplishment when you grab something and win a prize. The more you fail, the greater the sense of accomplishment.”
“Uh huh…”
Her smile fading, Ouyang Qing walked to the claw machine and touched the smooth glass.
“Is this thing really that difficult? It looks quite simple.”
“It’s very difficult, especially if you don’t cheat with divine power.”
Lu Zhiyin touched the coin slot and looked at the various dolls inside the claw machine.
She wouldn’t tell Ouyang Qing that such machines were rigged by the owners. She didn’t even need to think about it; even if Ouyang Qing could read minds, she wouldn’t understand.
Combined with Ouyang Qing’s natural prejudice against humans, she wouldn’t bother understanding human technological products. Even if she could see the machine’s interior, she wouldn’t know what was wrong.
“Tch… This kind of thing doesn’t need cheating. Watch me grab the biggest one in one go.”
Ouyang Qing pointed to the largest stuffed rabbit in the claw machine, about thirty centimeters tall.
“If I succeed, I’ll turn you into a stuffed rabbit and put you back inside. How about that?”
Narrowing her eyes, Ouyang Qing wanted to play with Lu Zhiyin again.
“What if you fail?”
“Nothing. Surely you don’t think we’re making a bet? Don’t be ridiculous, you’re not qualified for that.”
Even away from her own domain, the divine maiden was still so overbearing.
“Anyway, you try first.”
Lu Zhiyin wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and subtly stepped back a few paces.
Ouyang Qing stepped forward two paces, taking Lu Zhiyin’s previous position. She grasped the joystick and shook it, but the claw inside the machine didn’t move at all.
She looked somewhat displeased.
“You have to insert a coin here first to play.”
Lu Zhiyin, seeing Ouyang Qing’s impatience, promptly informed her of the gameplay.
“You should have said so earlier.”
Glaring at Lu Zhiyin, Ouyang Qing took a coin from her pocket, dropped it into the coin slot, and then began operating the machine’s claw inside the claw machine.
