Besides the typical claw machines, there’s also another type: the scissor machine.

It’s the kind where a big plushie hangs inside the machine by a string, and a pair of scissors replaces the claw.

Instead of grabbing a plushie, you have to cut the string.

What’s more, you have to control the position where the scissors stop and the angle at which they extend, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty quite a bit.

One try costs 10 Game Coins.

Outrageously expensive.

Shen Yuan looked at the last 20 coins in his pocket, then glanced at the 1.5-meter-tall dog plushie in the scissor machine.

Then he silently began to count his coins.

Seeing Shen Yuan’s actions, Li Zhi couldn’t help but say, "Didn’t you say before that these machines are a total rip-off? You’re still going to try it?"

Shen Yuan pointed to the plushies in their little cart. "I’ve counted. We have enough to trade for two big plushies already. With the few coins we have left, we won’t get anything good from the claw machines anyway. Might as well try this."

After hearing Shen Yuan out, Li Zhi felt he had a point.

"It’s my money you’re spending, isn’t it?" the Eldest Female Cousin huffed, planting her hands on her slim waist.

"Hey, you can just take one home with you later."

"That was still bought with my money."

As the Eldest Female Cousin spoke, she leaned in closer to the scissor machine, watching Shen Yuan feed the Game Coins in one by one.

"So, bro, think you can do it?"

"No idea," Shen Yuan said, shaking his head. "These machines are purely a test of the owner’s conscience. If they have one, it might pay out after two or three hundred coins, which is about 150 bucks. But for 150 bucks, you could just buy two of these things outright."

Shen Yuan continued, "And even if I fail, we’ll just consider these 20 coins an offering to the God of Claw Machines."

’Some offering,’ she thought.

Yang Yishui glanced at Shen Yuan’s track record.

Honestly, Yang Yishui was starting to think there was some truth to Shen Yuan’s title of "Claw Machine King of Jiyang."

She and Li Zhi had blown through over fifty yuan worth of coins and only managed to get three plushies.

They were practically charity cases.

But Shen Yuan?

His haul could only be described as "restocking inventory." He’d even left the arcade staff dumbfounded.

’So, does this God of Claw Machines actually exist?’

For the first time, the Eldest Female Cousin felt a real generation gap between her and Shen Yuan.

"Well then, I’ll be waiting to see what you can do."

Beside her, Li Zhi nodded in agreement, her gaze fixed intently on the machine.

She was waiting for Shen Yuan’s performance to begin.

Watching the Game Coins drop, the Eldest Female Cousin suddenly remembered something and took out her phone to start recording.

After 10 coins dropped, the sound of the machine changed instantly.

Hearing this special sound, the arcade staff and other customers all turned to look.

Shen Yuan’s cart of prizes was just too extravagant.

A pro player was taking on the scissor machine. This was a sight not to be missed.

But Shen Yuan didn’t make his move right away.

He simply placed one hand on the joystick and began muttering an incantation.

"Oh, revered God of Claw Machines, your faithful follower hereby sacrifices his last twenty silver coins. If you would look kindly upon your servant, please grant me perfect hand-eye coordination, aligning my sight with my target. Let the blades find the string’s fatal weak point."

"Bless me, that I may capture this doggy in two snips, and I shall forever sing praises of your merciful control over the springs! Amen."

The moment he finished speaking, Shen Yuan quickly moved the controls, made a slight adjustment, and aimed the scissors at the string.

He pressed the button, and the machine began to move forward.

When the string was right between the blades, Shen Yuan released the button.

In the next second, Shen Yuan saw the scissors lurch forward a tiny bit more.

Seeing this, the corners of Shen Yuan’s mouth lifted into a slight smirk.

The scissors closed.

Naturally, the string wasn’t cut, but you could see a clear mark had been left on it.

Seeing the big dog plushie still hanging securely in the machine, Li Zhi’s face fell with disappointment.

The Eldest Female Cousin slapped Shen Yuan on the arm. "So, can you do it or not?"

"We’ll only know if I can do it after we try."

With that, Shen Yuan began feeding more Game Coins into the machine.

When he got to the eighth Game Coin, Shen Yuan held it out in front of the Eldest Female Cousin.

"Give it a blow for luck."

Yang Yishui looked at the Game Coin in front of her, then back at Shen Yuan, and gently blew a breath of air onto it.

Shen Yuan inserted the Game Coin, then played the same trick again, holding the next one out to Li Zhi. "Give it a blow."

Li Zhi blew on it.

Shen Yuan took the final Game Coin and gently flipped it into the air with his thumb.

The Game Coin made a clear TING in the air before he caught it securely.

"HOO!"

After giving it a blow himself, Shen Yuan inserted the Game Coin into the scissor machine.

Against the backdrop of the machine’s dynamic music, Shen Yuan moved the controls over the string and, without any fine-tuning, pressed the button.

As the scissors moved forward, the very instant they touched the string, Shen Yuan quickly let go.

Just as the program dictated, the scissors continued to move forward a fraction more, perfectly aligning the blades with the mark on the string.

The moment the scissors closed, the big dog plushie dropped with a THUD.

The Eldest Female Cousin’s eyes went wide, and beside her, Li Zhi covered her mouth in shock.

’How is that even possible?’

Shen Yuan cupped a hand to his ear. "Why don’t I hear any cheering?"

The next second, the Eldest Female Cousin smacked him on the arm.

"Holy crap! Yuan! Teach me! Teach me! I have to learn this trick!"

Shen Yuan wailed, "Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! You’re going to break my arm!"

Beside them, Li Zhi quietly retracted the excited little hands she had raised.

Looking at the big dog plushie, now free from its string, the beautiful girl clenched her fists, her face flushed with excitement.

The arcade staff retrieved the big dog plushie.

"Old Yang, you want it?"

Hearing what Shen Yuan called her, Yang Yishui rolled her eyes.

"I’m not old yet, dude. I’m still full of energy."

Shen Yuan gave a sheepish smile. "Alright then, my young, beautiful, cool, and wealthy Eldest Female Cousin, do you want this plushie?"

Yang Yishui shook her head. "You two can have it. I’m past the age for this sort of thing."

"What are you talking about, ’past the age’?"

As Shen Yuan spoke, he traded in the smaller plushies for two large ones.

One for Li Zhi, and one for Yang Yishui.

"One for each of you. Nobody goes home empty-handed!"

In the end, the three of them, each hugging a large plushie, walked back to the parking lot under the envious gazes of all the little kids in the mall.

After stuffing all the plushies into the car, Yang Yishui drove the two of them back to the entrance of their apartment complex.

"Get home safe, and don’t forget to send me that video of me winning the plushie!"

Shen Yuan called out to Yang Yishui as he usually did.

"I know, I know! I’m leaving, I’m leaving! Zhizhi, bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye, Sister Shui!"

Yang Yishui waved to the two of them and drove off. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Hugging their plushies, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi watched Yang Yishui leave before turning to head home.

"Hey, you should take this plushie with you, too."

Li Zhi glanced at the big dog plushie Shen Yuan was holding. "Isn’t it a bit too big?"

"What’s the big deal? It’s not like you don’t have room for it."

As soon as Shen Yuan said that, a lovely smile curved up the corners of Li Zhi’s previously conflicted face.

"Hey! You were pretending to be conflicted, but you were secretly happy about it, weren’t you?"

Having been found out, Li Zhi let out a "Hmph!" and turned to walk toward the elevator.

"Hello, Auntie!"

Shen Yuan swaggered into Li Zhi’s home, still hugging the plushie.

Just like with Li Zhi, this was clearly not Shen Yuan’s first time visiting the beautiful girl’s home.