Chapter 64: Can You Drive At Night?

This translation is originally posted on

https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

Shen Qingzhi glanced at the result interface for a while. When she took off her helmet, she found herself sweating profusely.

That was close. She almost got taken out by a newbie who was playing for the first time. She would lose face if this news spread.

Wait, how could a newbie be this skilled on their first try? Even with exceptional talent, in the beginning, they would show some unfamiliarity, not handle it so effortlessly.

Shen Qingzhi felt her analysis was logical, and based on objective facts. It definitely wasn't because she got knocked around by NPCs the first time she played.

"You lied to me. You must have played this game before." Shen Qingzhi felt like she was being toyed with, seething like an inflated pufferfish.

Gu Jinrong reached out and ruffled the hair of a certain little girl that was about to stand up, "Why would I lie to you about something like this?"

"Of course, it's because you wanted to play the pig to eat the tiger, creating a sharp contrast between suppression and surprise."

Shen Qingzhi was the first to come up with this idea, but now that someone else had taken advantage of it, she was even more angry.

Gu Jinrong chuckled lightly and leaned in close to Shen Qingzhi's ear, softly breathing, "I'll eat you without needing to play the pig.”

Shen Qingzhi:!

What's going on? Can you drive* at night?

*开车 (Kāichē) lit. to drive a car, slang for dirty talks, or sharing porn materials on the net, stemmed from a Yunnan folk song uploaded on the net in 2008 entitled “Old Driver Take Me With You” with variating lyrics, some with outrageous and sexually explicit lyrics.

Gu Jinrong saw Shen Qingzhi's small, red, and swollen face at this moment, didn't tease her anymore, and honestly said, "I didn't lie to you. This is indeed my first time playing this game. But when I was filming 'Special Agent S' before, because there were many scenes that required real shooting, I did two months of training in advance. This game's design is quite realistic."

Shen Qingzhi looked at Gu Jinrong's expression, feeling speechless: Is this person a monster? She is too omnipotent.

She originally thought that the arcade would be her territory, an opportunity to show off. 

But now, instead of showing off her skills, she ended up being outdone. Just when she was proud of her simulated gaming proficiency, the other person had already started playing for real.

Shen Qingzhi glanced at other popular attractions in the arcade; holographic racing, dance mats...

Judging from Gu Jinrong's filming experience, these weren't suitable for the two of them to play together. Who knew if that person had previous experience in race car driving or dancing?

Shen Qingzhi didn't want to continue to be crushed in the game.

Quietly passing on various attractions in her mind, she finally said seriously, "How about this, let's play separately for a while and contact each other later."

"No, that won't work." Gu Jinrong immediately objected. Seeing Shen Qingzhi glaring at her, she softened her tone, "This place is huge, and I'm a bit directionally challenged. It would be quite troublesome if we got separated."

Gu Jinrong has a poor sense of direction? She had never heard of this before.

Shen Qingzhi doubted the truthfulness of this statement but then thought it made some sense.

She wasn't sure if Gu Jinrong was genuinely directionally challenged, but Shen Qingzhi herself had experienced getting lost in the arcade and shopping malls before.

Both times she had wandered around looking for someone and had to resort to using the public paging system. It was embarrassing.

With these memories fleeting in an instant, she saw Gu Jinrong still waiting for her response, Shen Qingzhi nodded, generously saying, "Well then, I'll continue guiding you. Stick close, and don't get lost."

"Okay." Gu Jinrong's eyes softened, and the two held hands again.

***

This translation is originally posted on

https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

"Ah, I missed it again!" Now, the two of them stood in front of a claw machine. Originally exchanging a hundred coins, they were now left with less than ten.

Shen Qingzhi had just led Gu Jinrong halfway around the arcade before stopping at this claw machine. There were two reasons for this.

Firstly, while some people could train in martial arts or shooting for acting roles, no one would train to grab dolls, making it a fair game for everyone.

Secondly, there lay a fluffy gray stuffed rabbit inside, as if grinning at her and catching her eye.

She originally planned to simply try twice, but she failed again and again. Several times, the rabbit was halfway aimed at the exit, and when the claw loosened, it slipped away.

Shen Qingzhi persisted despite repeated failures, almost getting fixated on the claw machine.

The gray rabbit inside seemed to gaze at her for a long time, as if wanting to be taken home, but…

It was so frustrating.

Shen Qingzhi weighed her remaining eight coins, glanced at Gu Jinrong watching nearby, and grumpily said, "How about you give it a try?"

"Okay."

With eight coins, they had four attempts left. As the claw machine's iron claw began to move again, Shen Qingzhi felt a mix of emotions, uncertain whether she hoped for her to succeed or fail.

She didn't have time to unfold her rich inner drama as her gaze followed the claw's movements.

On the first attempt, the claw grasped the rabbit's head but didn't hold on when lifted, and fell off.

On the second try, it hooked onto the rabbit's chin, almost reaching the exit, but the rabbit fell, hanging halfway from the exit.

….

In several consecutive attempts, it seemed like they had successfully grabbed it each time, but in the end, they hadn't succeeded.

Shen Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this: It's similar to what I just said. Sure enough, no one is omnipotent.

However, gazing at the fluffy rabbit inside the claw machine, she couldn't help feeling unhappy.

As the last two coins dropped, Gu Jinrong regretfully raised her hands, "Sorry, this one is indeed quite difficult."

It was rare to see Gu Jinrong also struggling. Shen Qingzhi waved her hand, indicating, "There's no need to apologize. Consider it practice. I'll exchange for another hundred coins. Practice makes perfect."

"I'll go, rest here for a while."

Shen Qingzhi was halted by Gu Jinrong and didn't argue with her. While waiting for the coins to be exchanged, she pondered strategies, staring at the claw machine.

If grabbed in a normal way, the iron claw wouldn't bear the weight properly. It'd be best to hook somewhere and then, as the iron claw loosened, use the inertia of its movement to precisely toss the rabbit into the exit.

The plan was flawless, in theory.

Shen Qingzhi's mind raced through the strategy. Before she knew it more than ten minutes had passed while Gu Jinrong was gone to get the coins.

As she finally came back to reality, starting to worry if she'd been left behind, Gu Jinrong returned holding a hundred coins.

"Qingqing, sorry for the wait."

"No problem. I just planned it all out again. Wait and see, it's hunting time."

Shen Qingzhi boasted confidently, but she was actually unsure in her heart. After so many failed attempts earlier and considering the awkward position of the gray rabbit now.

She decided to be cautious. She chose to practice with the nearby white rabbit, which had a better position.

Following the mental rehearsal she'd practiced earlier, she aimed, descended with the claw, and hooked it.

The estimate of the inertial path wasn't precise this time, but surprisingly, the claw was stable. It didn't loosen until it reached directly above the exit. The white rabbit then rolled down from the opening.

Did she succeed?

Shen Qingzhi squatted down to pick up the white fluffy rabbit, wearing a face of disbelief. “I'm so good at this! I only gave it a try and I caught it? If I knew, I would have aimed for the gray one directly!”

“Qingqing is so awesome! I saw the person next to us who came earlier than we did, and they still haven't managed to grab anything. But you grabbed it on your first attempt.”

Gu Jinrong's praise was very timely, disregarding the dozens of previous unsuccessful attempts.

Although she didn't get her favorite gray rabbit, Shen Qingzhi was in a good mood after being praised.

She stuffed the white rabbit into Gu Jinrong's arms. “This one's for you. I'll continue trying for the gray one.”

"Okay.”

In this round, Shen Qingzhi seemed to have unlocked some special skills. She descended the claw, hooked it, and moved it to the exit, then released the claw.

The gray rabbit she had been eyeing for a long time was tossed out of the exit.

Although the actual trajectory of the two attempts had deviated slightly from her planned parabolic curve, they ultimately reached the same result.

With the new plan, at least the claws have become stable, which can be regarded as an unexpected gain.

Shen Qingzhi held the gray rabbit in her arms and smiled with her small white teeth.

Although this one looked similar to the white rabbit in Gu Jinrong's hands, she just felt it was the best-looking among all the rabbits and the one she was most fated to have.

Gu Jinrong looked at the gray and white fluffy rabbits that looked like twins in their arms and also felt very happy.

Shen Qingzhi had initially planned to keep fighting, but unexpectedly, after just two tries, she graduated. Now, she looked at the remaining ninety-six coins in her hand and felt troubled.

With so many coins, how long will it take to play other games?

Adhering to the principle of finishing what she started, she decided to feed all these coins into the claw machine as per the original plan.

She didn't have a specific target this time, so she wasn't so focused on catching them, but she was able to catch six out of ten.

What does this mean? It means that she was able to catch the toys not by luck but by strength!

She gave half of the coins to Gu Jinrong and asked her to go to the machine next door to catch, as a result, Gu Jinrong only caught two out of ten attempts.

Shen Qingzhi, who had been feeling aggrieved for a long time finally regains some pride, feeling triumphant, standing tall and straightening her back and chest.

The claw machines in this arcade are usually very difficult to play, and usually, nine out of ten players will fail.

And next to their machines, there were quite a few dolls stacked up, naturally attracting quite a few onlookers.

Most people who come here to play are foreign friends. And among those interested in the claw machine, young girls are the majority.

Among them, some recognized Shen and Gu, this town isn’t big, and some had already met them when they first came to town.

Therefore, compared to the surprise of seeing celebrities, everyone is more amazed by their doll-catching skills.

Clearly, Gu Jinrong getting two out of ten is already considered pretty good, while Shen Qingzhi getting six out of ten can be called a master level, the key is seeing how effortlessly she catches them.

So many girls gathered around, admiring and marveling while watching.

This is where knowing multiple languages comes in handy, for instance, Shen Qingzhi fully understands praises in five different languages around her!

This is her first time being recognized in a public place, not only without worrying but also receiving so much praise, she had never felt this accomplished even when receiving awards before!

Shen Qingzhi is very happy, after running out of coins, generously takes out a pile of dolls nearby for the onlookers to pick.

Among so many dolls, the two rabbits are the most beautiful, but they already have owners.

While the pile of kittens and cubs also gained the affection of many girls, everyone happily received the dolls they couldn’t catch themselves and thanked the two of them.

Only now did Shen Qingzhi realize that many of the girls who came to watch were in pairs, even the dolls they picked seemed like they were in pairs.

Is it her illusion, or is it her lesbian eyes?

Shen Qingzhi handed the two little raccoons to the two little white girls. These two girls were the first to come and watched them the longest.

The tall white girl handed one of the little raccoons to her companion and said with great enthusiasm, "Thank you so much. My girlfriend and I have tried to catch this nearly a hundred times. If it weren't for you, she might have cried tonight.”

The short girl tugged on her sleeves, seemingly dissatisfied, but actually acting coquettishly.

Shen Qingzhi: It seems that it is not an illusion.

Witnessing the joy of helping others, she was genuinely happy and kindly said, “Actually, this machine seems mysterious, but after trying a bit more, you'll discover the techniques. If you still want to catch, I can teach you.”

The little white girl's eyes lit up. She still had some coins left and immediately started playing on Shen Qingzhi's machine, hoping to benefit from the master's luck.

Shen Qingzhi generously shared the newly realized technique without holding back. Her apprentice was quite talented, and managed to catch a hamster stuffed toy after two attempts, .

There was another round of 'Wow' sounds around them. Shen Qingzhi was willing to continue teaching but was pulled away by Gu Jinrong.

“It's getting late, we need to go back. Everyone, continue playing.”

Shen Qingzhi was dragged away reluctantly, holding the gray rabbit in her arms and feeling a bit unsatisfied: “Why didn't you let me finish teaching?”

“Don't teach anymore, teaching more will make the boss lose money.”

At this moment, beside the two, the original claw machine, the white girl inserted ten more coins but failed to catch anything.

She tilted her head in confusion: Strange, why can't I do it once the master leaves? Seems like I still haven't mastered the technique. But this time, it's still considered a gain, not bad.