Chapter 67: Ring-Toss

On the open ground to the side of the Intime building, there was a fairly large ring-toss stall, and the stall owner was a middle-aged man.

The stall was filled with all sorts of items, such as toys, Barbie dolls, snacks, and more; they were of different sizes and colorful, making one's eyes dazzle.

There were no customers at the stall at the moment, only a young couple standing outside the railing, their eyes sparkling with excitement; every time they tossed a ring onto something they liked, they would cheer out loud, and if they missed, they weren't disappointed, just focused on continuing to throw.

Noticing another young man and woman arriving, the boss hurriedly asked, "Beautiful lady, handsome man, want to toss some rings?"

Wu Yueer scanned the items in the field and asked how the rings were sold; the female boss said 20 yuan for 25 rings, 50 yuan for 70 rings.

Wu Yueer felt it was a bit expensive, but the boss grinned and said she would give the beauty a special deal and throw in an extra 5 rings; upon hearing this, Wu Yueer immediately went for the 50-yuan option, and after getting the rings, she generously divided 30 of them to Shen Yan, calling it "finders keepers."

Shen Yan had never played ring-toss before and couldn't help but become interested; he first observed the technique of the young couple nearby for a while, uh... they were as bad as a Master, so he had better figure it out himself.

There were quite a few items in the field suitable for adults to play for, and Shen Yan locked his gaze directly onto the skateboards in the last row.

1 ring, 2 rings... all 10 rings missed, and Wu Yueer teased from the side: "Haha! I thought you were someone who could do anything."

Shen Yan retorted: "We're both about the same; you just got lucky and happened to land one on a small doll, nothing to be smug about."

"Pfft! That's still better than you." Wu Yueer stuck out her tongue cutely.

Shen Yan was speechless for a moment; after some attempts, drawing experience from failure after failure, he had gradually grasped the mystery of the throwing force and angle.

He adjusted his posture, calmed his mind, and made his move decisively.

Damn! It actually bounced out.

He tried two more times, and the ring finally hung precisely on the skateboard.

"Wow! You got it, you got it!" Wu Yueer jumped up in excitement, her eyes shimmering as if they were bright stars in the night sky.

The boss delivered the skateboard to Shen Yan, his eyes showing heartache as he said: "Handsome, you've got good luck, keep it up!"

Shen Yan shifted his gaze to the second-to-last row, to a medium-sized panda plushie, and after 8 attempts, he successfully took it down again.

Immediately, the boss reluctantly handed over the panda plushie, the smile on his face completely gone.

Once could be luck, but twice already indicated something.

This deal was a total loss.

Wu Yueer widened her eyes and asked in surprise: "No way, Shen Yan, are you guessing or can you actually do this?"

Shen Yan replied it was luck plus feel; upon hearing this, Wu Yueer dumped all the rings to Shen Yan, pointed to the center at the back, and said with a look of longing: "I really like that large teddy bear, can you help me win it?"

Shen Yan naturally saw the boss's undisguised attitude; what's the matter, smiling when making money and pulling a long face when losing, can't afford to play, right?

Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson.

Throw, I throw, I throw again... the large teddy bear was truly quite difficult; after another ten failures, the ring hung precisely on the teddy bear's nose.

"Wow! Shen Yan, I love you to death!"

Wu Yueer jumped three feet high, and in her excitement, she threw herself straight into Shen Yan's arms, hugging him and shaking him up and down.

With the faint fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose and the soft sensation on his chest, Shen Yan was stunned into silence. Damn! This girl doesn't play by the rules, actually launching a sneak attack.

Does she really treat me like a brother? At least pay attention to the differences between men and women.

The young couple nearby turned green; the girl punched the boy's chest with her little fists, saying dissatisfiedly, look at her boyfriend, then look at you; the boy looked hopeless but didn't dare to argue back.

Actually, he really wanted to say, if my girlfriend were that pretty, even if I had to practice until I died, I would definitely win a teddy bear back.

The boss's face was so dark it could drip ink; oh my goodness, 50 yuan worth of rings, and they'd already taken away at least three or four hundred yuan worth of goods, and Shen Yan still had twenty rings left.

This business couldn't go on!

Pushing Wu Yueer away, Shen Yan steadied his mind and tossed for a few more exquisite ornaments—a pair of elk, a mythical beast of wealth, a round porcelain vase, and an eagle spreading its wings—until all the rings in his hand were gone, then he walked away under the shop owner's tearful expression.

There was no help for it; this stingy old man refused to sell any more rings to the two of them.

Holding a large khaki teddy bear, Wu Yueer complained as she walked: "What a lousy boss, smiling like an idiot when making money, but turning customers away when losing; a person like this will never get a decent meal in their life."

Shen Yan also couldn't stand that boss's character, but business is all about willingness; if they won't sell, there's nothing anyone else can do.

Then Wu Yueer started praising him again, saying how cool Shen Yan was just now, his moves were as fierce as a tiger, and asking if he had some secret technique; Shen Yan just said it could only be understood, not explained.

The key was that this thing was too mysterious; he didn't really know himself.

Although Wu Yueer didn't understand, the fact that Shen Yan was awesome was very clear.

He was worthy of being the man she had her eye on.

It was nine o'clock, the bright moon quietly hid behind the clouds, and the sky was dim, like a mist, giving people a dreamlike feeling.

"Shen Yan!"

Arriving at the roadside parking space, Shen Yan had just put the items into the trunk when he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him.

Turning his head to look, Yu Youwei, Xu Lin, and a group of young people were walking out of a KTV; one by one, the familiar faces were undoubtedly having a class reunion.

Shen Yan greeted them with a smile and said: "What a coincidence, we were just about to head back, do you want to go together?"

Yu Youwei scanned her eyes back and forth between Shen Yan and Wu Yueer, but didn't ask much, instead agreeing sweetly.

The group of classmates behind her were dumbfounded; was this confident, generous, and handsome person in front of them really Shen Yan? He was completely different from the person in their memories.

The Shen Yan of the past was dull and introverted, never knowing how to dress himself; how long had it been since they last met, and what could have happened to make someone undergo such a earth-shaking change?

Xu Lin was staring blankly at Wu Yueer; he had thought Yu Youwei was already as beautiful as a fairy, yet there was someone even better than her, so he took the initiative to step forward and ask tentatively: "Shen Yan, is this your girlfriend?"

Shen Yan responded indifferently: "A college classmate; alright, I have something to do, let's talk when we have time later."

After saying this, under the stunned expressions of his classmates, he sat directly into the driver's seat.

Yu Youwei waved goodbye to her classmates and walked straight toward the passenger seat, saying to Wu Yueer who was already seated: "Yue'er, I prefer sitting in the passenger seat, you shouldn't mind, right?"

Wu Yueer was slightly taken aback; why was Yu Youwei's gaze so strange, mixed with a hint of hostility? She didn't seem to have provoked her.

However, she naturally wouldn't care about such a small matter; just as she was about to get up, she heard Shen Yan say: "Everyone is seated, let's just leave it like this; it's only for a little while anyway."

Yu Youwei had no choice but to drop it, otherwise, she would appear too pretentious.