Chapter 39.1: Daddy’s going to show you how it’s done.

There was a lot of background noise in the amusement park. Not far from the carousel there was a huge, cheap black speaker playing cheerful nursery rhymes with very poor sound quality, and there were girls’ laughter and the sounds of children playing all around.

Shen Juan had already pulled Lin Yujing to the side, but the two of them stood there in place so they were still somewhat in the way. Next to them was a small booth where people could shoot balloons for prizes. A couple stood there now, and the “bang bang” sounds of balloons bursting came non-stop.

It was a late autumn night and the weather was cold and crisp, but at this moment it seemed to be extraordinarily hot. Lin Yujing could even feel herself slowly heating up.

Shen Juan looked natural, like nothing was out of place. He’d simply bowed at the waist and looked at her, waiting quietly.

Lin Yujing backed up a little to open the distance and spread the two ends of the little devil headband with her fingers. Clearing her throat, she said with a voice that wavered slightly, “You… keep your head down.”

Shen Juan lowered his head obediently.

She raised her arm and put the small headband on his head. The young man’s jet-black hair passed through her fingertips, feeling unexpectedly soft.

Lin Yujing leaned back. With a look she saw that it was a little crooked, so she felt for the ends of the headband to straighten it for him.

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She said honestly, “You look quite devilish now.”

Shen Juan looked at her, then suddenly raised the corners of his lips. “Do you know what demons generally like?”

Lin Yujing said cooperatively, “What?”

“Maiden sacrifice.” Shen Juan looked at her with meaning, then suddenly leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Are you willing to dedicate your body and mind to me?”

His warm breath colored the tip of her ear, and Lin Yujing was entranced, feeling half her body go weak.

There was a “bang” from the booth nearby of another burst balloon.

She came to her senses, calmly took a half-step back, and praised him. “Classmate Shen, you got into the role very quickly.”

Shen Juan straightened up.

The girl who popped the balloon just now cheered and hugged the waist of the boy next to her, saying coquettishly, “Am I good?”

The boy raised his hands and applauded, giving her a lot of face. “Awesome! You’re so good it’s scary.”

The girl was very happy. The two hugged, nibbled each other passionately, and then took a small keychain and left.

Lin Yujing stretched out her head and snuck a glance. She’d thought the prizes in this small game booth would be ugly, but the keychains were unexpectedly beautiful. They had little skateboard ornaments with fine patterns engraved on them, and could also be used as bottle openers.

“That keychain looks pretty good,” Lin Yujing leaned closer to Shen Juan and whispered.

Shen Juan said, “There are too many games like this in this place, no one will come if the prizes aren’t good.”

Lin Yujing nodded. “The industry is fiercely competitive,” she said while walking over, and after taking a few steps, she turned her head and found that Shen Juan hadn’t moved. She raised her hand to grab the hem of his clothes and went to the booth to look inside at the prizes on display.

There were all kinds of small keychains, eye masks, mugs, and plush toys of all sizes.

On the innermost shelf was a large brown teddy bear, roughly half the height of a person, wearing a green sweater with a red letter “L” stitched onto it.

It looked like the jewel of the shop.

The boss was placing the new balloons and saw that she was very enthusiastic. “Play it, little girl. Ten yuan for twenty rounds.”

With a very clear goal Lin Yujing pointed at the bear. “How can I get that?”

“For that one, you have hit all of them in a row,” the boss said. “That’s very difficult, but if you hit five in a row you can get a key ring, and if you get ten you will get a pair of couple’s mugs.”

Lin Yujing had never played this kind of thing before. The only time she’d been to an amusement park was a spring outing when she was in middle school, organized by the school. However, she’s never eaten pork but she’s seen pigs running [1]; it wasn’t that she didn’t know how to play.

This store was a little different from the ones she’d seen before. There were rows of small colorful balloons tied to the backboard in a square, twenty horizontally and twenty vertically, just like Anipop [2]: if you hit a certain number of balloons in a horizontal or vertical row, you could get small prizes.

Lin Yujing wasn’t very good at playing this kind of video game, but still, reality is a little different.

She paid ten yuan and watched the owner of the stall tie up the balloon. She raised her hand and bit the rubber band on her wrist, then tied up her hair into a high ponytail, looking neat and confident.

Shen Juan raised his eyebrows and leaned on the side to watch.

Lin Yujing picked up the gun. It was very light and contained yellow hard-plastic bullets.

She first took aim at a blue balloon in the middle and fired.

With a “bang,” a yellow balloon to the lower left of the blue one burst.

Lin Yujing laughed, her eyebrows curved. She tossed her hair confidently, looking very proud.

Shen Juan lowered his head and quietly chuckled.

Lin Yujing felt like she’d found the trick. This gun couldn’t be accurate. She was confused playing the mobile game, but what Li Lin had told her about ballistic trajectory seemed clearer now.

Lin Yujing raised her gun, squinted, and took aim.

The bullet should be deviating to the lower left corner…

There was a “bang” but nothing burst.

Um?

UM?

Why??

Okay, it’s okay, this must be a problem with the angle, just raise it a little bit more. 

While comforting herself, Lin Yujing calculated the angle very accurately. After ten shots, she felt like the stupid bullets were not deviating to the lower left at all. Otherwise, why didn’t the balloon burst? She felt like she’d already hit it.

Do these things seem like they’ve actually grown legs, flying around and about chaotically?

She felt like her IQ and judgment were constantly being insulted. She stared at the balloon board for a while, then turned her head away.

Shen Juan leaned against the tree trunk next to her and lowered his head, shoulders shaking.

Lin Yujing stared at him blankly. “Shen Juan, our relationship is done.”

Shen Juan raised his head and licked his lips with a smile. He walked over, took the gun from her hand, shook it, and threw it away. He then picked up a small plastic pistol next to him, lowered his head, and asked her, “Want that bear?”

Lin Yujing nodded and raised her finger, swiping in the air. “This row, you must hit them all.” 

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[1] “never eaten pork, but seen pigs running” – She hasn’t done it herself, but she’s seen it done.

[2] Anipop – a popular Chinese Match3 game.

Edited By: ceres