CH 13

He Xun rubbed his jaw and thought aloud, “They say that a maiden’s heart is a pink, then could it be a young man’s heart is pink as well?” (1)

(1) A ‘pink’ girl’s heart is similar to the english ver, a ‘fragile, young maiden’s heart’.

Angered by humiliation, Peijin yelled, “Brother Xun!”

He Xun lowered his head and looked at her in the eye, laughing in spite of himself, “How about going to the amusement park?”

Somewhere like the amusement park was a place that both boys and girls liked. Especially the Drop tower that made heart-rates go off the charts, it particularly received the favor of teenagers.

Peijin was just about to say, “It’s up to you,” but suddenly, she thought of He Xun’s ending in the book.

He Xun had been killed in an accident. As to exactly what kind of accident it was, the book had never written a word of it. So even after completely reading the entire text she was still unable to get any information on what the accident was.

Although amusement parks were safe for the most part and nearly had statistically like to no incidents, there was still that small probability. As a result, she was really afraid of letting He Xun go to play on the amusement park’s exciting rides. She didn’t dare challenge something like probability.

She shook her head in refusal, “No.”

“Drag racing?”

Drag racing? Wouldn’t that be more dangerous than going to the amusement park?

Peijin wildly shook her head, “No, no.”

He Xun raised a brow, “Or bungee jumping.”

Bungee jumping? That was even worse!

The sound of Peijin’s voice heightened, “No, no, no.”

He Xun clicked his tongue, “You say no to this, and no to that, could it be you want to find a girl to let loose with?”

What the hell was he saying! Peijin flushed red as soon as she heard He Xun’s remark.

She wasn’t even a guy, so what girl was she supposed to be looking for. If she were to, then she should find a boy to let loose with. And, wasn’t there a readily available handsome young man right next to her?

After she realized what she had just said, Peijin immediately went ‘ew, ew’, ew’.

What was she thinking? Sure enough, after being a ‘boy’ for so long, had her thinking had also started to become impure?

Peijin was afraid He Xun would say something even more out of line, so she blurted out, “Let’s go catch some dolls.”

He Xun chuckled and teased, “Turns out this young man’s heart really is pink.”

If it were pink, then it was pink. All as long as He Xun didn’t do anything risky and put his life in danger.

Thinking so, Peijin took He Xun to an arcade next to the karaoke box.

There was an abundance of games inside the arcade. Naturally, there were also claw machines, quite a few of them too and around a dozen of them lined a whole row.

However, there were also a lot of people who stood before the machines.

Peijin found an unoccupied machine and put in a one yuan coin. (1)

(1) One yuan = roughly 0.15 USD

As expected, she didn’t catch anything. To be exact, she technically caught it, but it fell afterwards.

Peijjin had always suspected that the claw machine’s boss must’ve rigged the it, because she had come across this kind of situation before. She caught the doll, but just as she was just about to win it, it would fall.

But think about it. Skills were needed to play the claw machine, if it were so easy to play, then wouldn’t it’s owner be making a loss?

After Peijin lost three times, He Xun spoke up, “Let me.” Once she heard him she quickly stepped aside and dropped in a coin for him.

Against all her expectations, he didn’t win either.

Peijin glanced at He Xun in surprise, was he just trying to get a feel for his first try, and accidentally lost?

But for the second, third, and fourth time… He Xun still kept losing.

This fact told Peijin that He Xun was the same as her, a rookie at playing with claw machines.

He Xun’s brows knit as he looked at the claw machine before his eyes. After losing several times, he just opted to give up.

His voice was filled with doubt, “Are there actually people who can catch something?”

Just as He Xun finished speaking, the boy next to them successfully caught a pink peppa pig doll, grinning as he gave it to the girl beside him.

The girl excitedly hopped in place, praising, “You’re amazing!” several times.

The boy sheepishly scratched his head and humbly replied, “It’s not that hard to win, I’m not anything amazing.”

This conversation was clearly heard by the two. With great caution, Peijin peeked at He Xun and found the an extremely unsightly look on his face.

“Brother Xun, how about we stop trying to catch something, let’s go try something else.”

He Xun didn’t respond, not agreeing nor refusing. He looked around and then waved over one of the arcade’s staff members nearby.

This employee had a courteous smile on their face and after arriving, they politely asked, “Hello, is there anything I may help you with?”

He Xun pointed at the claw machine and spoke in the pretentious manner of a wealthy man, “I want all of the dolls in this machine. State your price.”

The employee was dumbstruck as soon as they heard him, believing themselves to have misheard him.

“Excuse me?”

He Xun reined back his temper and repeated again, “These dolls, I want them all.”

The employee faltered for a moment, but then in a business-like manner they said, “This…Sir, the dolls inside the machine can only be acquired by catching them, they are not for external sale.”

He Xun took his wallet out of his pocket and drew out a silver card, “Then I’ll buy all of the machines. The price is up to you.”

‘The price is up to you’ was really one of the most wonderful and most beautiful words to hear in this world. It was a shame that no matter how tempted this employee was, they could only refuse. First, there were no procedures for this. Second, what would all these players here play with if they sold the machines?

Besides, she just didn’t have that much authority, so she fundamentally couldn’t take charge of such matters,

For instance, this was the first time she had been met with a request to purchase all of the arcade’s claw machines. She was feared she might’ve stumbled upon a super-rich second gen nouveau riche.

Once this employee thought about this, with a beaming smile, she grabbed over a brand new, stuffed Patrick Star doll from the side.

“Sir, winning a doll requires skill and patience. We gift you this doll, free of charge, and wish you and your friend a great time at the arcade.”

He Xun still wanted to say something. At this time, Peijin hands shot out and took over Patrick Star from the staff member’s hands, thanking her.

“May I help with anything else?”

Peijin waved her hand, “No thank you.”

“Alright.”

Once the staff member left, He Xun slid his hands into his pockets and lowered his head to look at Patrick Star in Peijin’s hands.

It was nothing but a worthless toy, but he couldn’t catch even one earlier.

“Is one enough?”

Peijin clutched the doll in her hands and quickly nodded, “It’s enough, enough.”

He Xun asked her again, “Is it really?”

“Really, it’s enough.” Peijin was terrified that He Xun would act on impulse and buy all of the claw machines, so she proposed, “Brother Xun, let’s go play something else.”

He Xun gave a ‘H’m’ sound.

Right then, a loud commotion came from the arcade’s entrance.

A group of people were laughing and joking, shoulders slung around each other’s arms as they came in.

Peijin unconsciously looked at where the sound was coming from.

She was only met with a pack of boys around her age noisily coming near her direction.

Maybe it stemmed from a girl’s keen sixth sense, but in an instant she found a girl among the group of boys.

Amidst ten or more boys, there was only one girl.

She was dressed in a very masculine and casual fashion, with short hair and extremely heroic features.

Actually, if you didn’t attentively examine her, just from her looks alone it would’ve been very difficult to perceive she was a girl.

But Peijin’s intuition was the same as hers, she was also a girl who had conned her way into a group of boys.

In her mind, Peijin had already guessed the identity of this girl.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this valiant and neat looking girl should be the female lead of All Handsome Men’s Highschool, Xia Ying.

After that group approached them, they quickly discovered Peijin and He Xun.

There was an exceptionally handsome boy of unusually distinctive bearing who step forward greet He Xun, “Young Master He.” (1)

(1) He calls him He’shao, the Shao indicating someone of wealthy background in this context, like a young master, but can also mean familiarity. Since He Xun is so cold to everyone, but at the same time no one seems to care, it could be either.

He Xun gave a self-important nod, which was his reply.

The boy laughed and took the lead to extend an invitation, “Would you like to join us?”

He Xun dismissively declined, “No need.”

The boy had anticipated this and he gently smiled, “Well then, Young Master He, later.”

“Later.”

She waited until the group was out of sight and then quietly asked, “Brother Xun, who was that guy you just talked to?”

The guy from before was very attractive, although slightly less than He Xun. With his warm, soft eyes and smooth voice, he easily makes one feel comfortable around him.

He Xun casually replied, “The youngest son of the Ji family.”

Peijin exclaimed, “Ji family? Is he Ji Chengjue?”

As He Xun heard her, the look in his eyes faintly changed, “You know him?”

Peijin was quick to choose her words carefully, “I didn’t, I had just happened to overhear this name.”

Peijin had wholly never thought she would run into the book’s male and female lead so early on.

However, even the book’s male lead had to politely address He Xun as Young Master He, even if He Xun’s response was very dry. It appears her roommate really was a remarkable character.

Yet the four words “death by unforeseen accident” was a knife that could fall anytime and honestly, it made one unable to set their mind at ease.

Peijin pursed her lips and silently made up her mind.

She would definitely help He Xun survive that calamity, definitely.