Every beautiful older sister has an unlucky little brother.
In their past life, Lin Shen had always supported Lin Qianqian. Now, with such a sudden role reversal, Lin Wangye’s emotions were all over the place.
Lin Shen rummaged through the bag, unzipping an inner pocket. Inside, there was a thick stack of cash—at least ten thousand. He didn’t bother counting it exactly, just grabbed a chunk and gave it a quick glance before saying to Lin Qianqian,
“Looks like around two thousand or so. Sister, I’m taking this, okay?”
It was rush hour, and traffic was heavy. Lin Qianqian just gave a casual “Mhm” and kept her focus on driving.
Lin Shen stuffed the money into his pocket and was about to zip the bag back up when he noticed a string attached to the zipper.
Curious, he pulled it out completely. At the end of the string dangled a black cat charm—it felt like ceramic, with an uneven shape and rough paintwork. Even the eyes were slightly crooked.
It totally didn’t match the bag’s style.
Lin Shen raised an eyebrow and asked, “Sister, where’d this come from? Doesn’t look store-bought.”
They happened to hit a red light. Lin Qianqian glanced over and said, “I didn’t buy it. Qu Liuliu made it at a DIY pottery shop. She’s really into this kind of stuff lately and gave me a whole bunch.”
“Oh.”
Since it was his sister’s best friend who made it, Lin Shen held back any comments about how crude it looked. Silently, he zipped up the bag and placed it on the empty back seat.
After weaving through all the congested roads, making turn after turn, Lin Qianqian finally pulled into the underground parking lot of a large mall near No. 7 High School. As she parked, she said, “I’ve got some errands to run nearby later tonight, so let’s just eat here first.”
Lin Wangye, ever cooperative, was the first to respond, “Sure! Anywhere’s fine.”
His enthusiasm clearly pleased Lin Qianqian, who was the one treating them. She grinned and asked,
“What do you feel like eating? You pick.”
Since the question was out there, Lin Wangye didn’t bother with pointless formalities. After thinking for a moment, he said, “How about barbecue? It’s been ages since I’ve had any. Is that okay, sister?”
Lin Qianqian waved her hand, “No problem, let’s go.”
The group took the elevator straight to the dining floor. As soon as they stepped out, they all realized one thing—it was the weekend, and the mall was packed.
Lin Qianqian made her way straight to the mall’s most expensive barbecue joint, only to find they still had to wait. Luckily, it was the place with the shortest wait time.
After getting their number, the ticket showed there were two tables ahead of them.
Lin Shen wasn’t the type to wait around idly, so he suggested they head downstairs to the arcade to kill time while he and Lu Chengxuan went to grab some drinks.
Lin Qianqian readily agreed and took Lin Wangye to try their luck at the claw machines.
In an arcade, the claw machines were the main attraction.
They were easy to play, enjoyed by both boys and girls, and quick to drain your cash. Every arcade had rows of these machines, big and small.
Each machine had its own music, so once you entered the area, the noise was overwhelming. No matter how much you shouted, it was impossible to hear. Lin Shen, coming back with milk tea, had to search through row after row. But soon enough, he spotted a familiar figure.
There stood Lin Wangye next to one of the claw machines, his hands and body covered in all kinds of stuffed toys, looking like a Christmas tree draped in flashy decorations.
Lin Qianqian, on the other hand, wasn’t holding anything. She was focused on operating the machine in front of her.
It was clear that all the toys hanging off Lin Wangye were ones she had won.
The claw machine had cute yellow bee plushies, a style Lin Wangye didn’t have yet. Both of them were fully immersed in the game, moving from machine to machine, one after the other, completely unaware that Lin Shen and Lu Chengxuan had caught up with them.
Lin Shen stood by, watching for a while. He noticed that every time Lin Qianqian activated the claw, Lin Wangye would watch closely with eager eyes.
If she won, he would immediately cheer as the toy dropped, bending down to grab it from the hole, holding it up with a big smile. He’d admire it while praising Lin Qianqian for being amazing and the toy for being cute.
If she missed, he wouldn’t show any disappointment. Instead, he’d beat her to the complaint, grumbling that the claw was rigged, that it was designed to drop the plushie on purpose.
In short, the emotional support was definitely at full throttle.
To be honest, claw machines do have a bit of skill involved—but not much.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to the claw’s preset probability.
The grip strength is programmed from the start, and as long as you keep playing, eventually, you’ll hit a round where the claw actually holds on tight.
For Lin Qianqian, though, it was all about her wallet.
If she missed, she’d just keep throwing in coins—sooner or later, she’d win.
Everyone knew this logic, but with Lin Wangye hyping her up so wholeheartedly, a small crowd had started gathering around the human Christmas tree to watch. Lin Qianqian, feeding off the attention, grew even more confident—like she was about to claw-machine this arcade into bankruptcy, burying Lin Wangye under a mountain of plush toys.
At one point, as he bent down to grab yet another toy from the chute, Lin Wangye finally spotted Lin Shen and Lu Chengxuan standing nearby.
He immediately lit up, like he’d just found his saviors, and frantically started shoving plushies into their arms.
“You guys finally showed up! Help me carry some, I seriously can’t hold any more! Sis is amazing, all these are from her!”
Lin Shen looked at him, speechless, and motioned for Lu Chengxuan to grab a bag from the counter. He sighed, “You’ve got such a sweet mouth. If you keep this up, I bet my sister’s gonna end up getting tricked out of a hundred thousand or so.”
Lin Qianqian pressed the button again, grabbed a stuffed toy, and turned with one hand on her hip, pointing at him.
“If you could be swapped, I’d trade you in a heartbeat!”
No sooner had she finished speaking, the sound of the claw moving echoed, and a plush rabbit dropped into the hole.
Lin Wangye bent down quickly, grabbing it with excitement.
“Got it again! You’re amazing!”
“Ha ha.” Lin Qianqian covered her face and smiled, then lifted her phone to check her makeup in the screen, speaking absently, “I’m not on my A-game today, normally my success rate is higher.”
Lin Wangye, holding his arms full of toys, squinted his eyes with a grin, “Then next time, you’ve got to bring me again!”
Lin Qianqian made a mental note to book the arcade next time and get the owner to raise the chances. She nodded seriously.
“No problem, dear. I really wish you were my real little brother.”
Lin Shen shivered out of nowhere, muttering as he walked away, “Damn, I think I’m allergic to green tea.”
Lu Chengxuan went to the counter and asked for a plastic bag—one so huge it looked like it could hold a sack of fertilizer. Lin Wangye dumped all the plushies he had been carrying, big and small, into it in one go, filling it up completely.
Little green teas often had special privileges.
Lin Qianqian received a text saying their table at the barbecue restaurant was almost ready. She turned to Lin Shen and told him to carry the bag, leading the empty-handed Lin Wangye upstairs.
Though the stuffed toys were light, a whole bag full definitely wasn’t something you could just ignore in terms of weight.
Since the mall floor was smooth and clean, and Lin Shen was feeling lazy, he decided to drag the bag on the ground. Lin Qianqian didn’t mind as long as it didn’t get dirty inside.
When they reached the barbecue place, Lin Qianqian showed the ticket with their queue number.
After spending most of the day in class and then having fun at the arcade, Lin Wangye and the others were starting to feel hungry. Just as they were about to head inside, they were suddenly handed the queue number back. The server, speaking with a very apologetic tone, said,
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but your number’s already been called.”
“What? How is that possible?” Lin Qianqian was confused. “I just got the reminder text a second ago, and it took me less than two minutes to come up from downstairs. How could I miss it?”
The server slightly bowed and explained, “The table was cleared ahead of time, and when your number was called, you weren’t here. We had to prioritize customers who were waiting in the restaurant.”
To be fair, the server’s attitude was polite, but the more Lin Qianqian heard, the more annoyed she got. She couldn’t help but argue,
“First of all, cleaning the table earlier was unexpected, but that’s not my responsibility, is it? Does your ticket say that customers must wait right at the door, or else their number is void? And if being absent means I lose my turn, then what’s the point of sending me a reminder text?”
Her logical, flawless argument completely left the server speechless.
In reality, the situation was simple: after the table had been cleared, a VIP customer had suddenly shown up. The server in charge of the queue assumed the previous group wasn’t coming back, so they gave the table to the VIP customer without considering the reminder text.
It was clear that the restaurant was in the wrong.
But the group who had taken the table had already started ordering.
Since they were VIPs, kicking them out now would have been more awkward for the restaurant, so they tried to sweep the issue under the rug as best as they could.
No matter how Lin Qianqian expressed her dissatisfaction, the server only kept apologizing, offering no real solutions, clearly just brushing her off.
Miss Lin had never been the type to take such nonsense lying down. She didn’t want to back down, but after considering that the three high school students had already been in class for most of the day and were probably exhausted, she decided not to waste any more time here. She pulled out her phone and started looking for another barbecue place she often visited, planning to make a reservation.
At that moment, a man in a white dress shirt and formal suit came jogging out of nowhere.
When he saw the group standing at the entrance of the barbecue restaurant, about to leave, his expression changed immediately. He quickened his pace and intercepted them, smiling and handing Lin Qianqian a business card.
Lin Qianqian was visibly displeased. She glanced at the card between her fingers, reading ‘7F Floor Manager’ and waited for him to speak first.
The manager immediately turned to the restaurant staff, his face darkening as he began to scold them in a sharp tone. “What’s going on here?”
Although each store in the mall operated independently under its own management, by choosing to open in this particular mall, they had entered into a partnership that came with certain expectations. When they signed their contracts, they agreed to abide by the mall’s regulations. They couldn’t just do whatever they wanted.
It was crucial not to offend customers, as it could damage the mall’s reputation.
Not long after the manager arrived, another man in a suit quickly walked over. Though he tried to appear calm, his quick breathing made it obvious he had been running.
Lin Wangye glanced at the name tag on his chest and saw ‘Customer Service • General Manager.’
Noticing the logo on the left side of the name tag, Lin Wangye suddenly had an epiphany, a jolt of realization hitting him.
This mall was owned by the Lu family!
Well, well, well. It was like a real-life flood hitting the Dragon King Temple[mfn]The idiom ‘大水冲了龙王庙’ (dà shuǐ chōng le lóng wáng miào) literally means ‘a flood washed into the Dragon King’s temple’. In Chinese culture, the Dragon King is a mythical figure who controls the seas and rainfall, so his own temple being flooded is ironic — it’s like a powerful figure being affected by the very thing they control.[/mfn].
And just like that, he found himself in the middle of a classic face-slapping moment.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
