After Uncle Zhang left, Jiang Cheng asked, "Your grandma is urging you to find a boyfriend?"
"Yeah." Huang Yuqi poked at the shredded cucumber in her bowl with the tips of her chopsticks. "She's always afraid I'll stay in Gansu and never come back." Sunlight filtered through the plastic tablecloth, casting dappled shadows on her face. "Just like... when my mom was volunteer teaching back then."
Jiang Cheng was about to speak when the system suddenly gave a "ding" notification.
"Ding! Detected the Host tasting the sincere atmosphere of the mundane world."
"Rewarding the Host with one gourmet cashback card."
Jiang Cheng silently put away the gourmet card and then said, "Then what kind of guy does your grandma like? Someone like me, would she like that?"
Hearing Jiang Cheng's words, Huang Yuqi's movement of eating noodles came to a halt.
She carefully suppressed the urge to cough.
She picked up the teapot on the table, poured some tea into a disposable cup, and gulped it down.
Although her face was slightly flushed with embarrassment.
But Huang Yuqi still said in a carefree manner, "Don't joke around. If my grandma saw someone like you, she'd definitely be so happy she'd faint."
Just as Huang Yuqi finished speaking, a Little Girl suddenly came running over like a gust of wind.
Standing breathlessly in front of Huang Yuqi, she called out with an expectant look, "Sister Yuqi!"
"Xiao Meng, what's wrong? Have you eaten?"
The Little Girl shook her head, her eyes fixed on Huang Yuqi. She seemed a bit embarrassed as she said, "Sister, can you lend me 10 yuan?"
Hearing this, Huang Yuqi asked with some surprise, "What do you need money for?"
The Little Girl quickly explained, "Sister, I want to play with that spring machine over there. It's 10 yuan for one round."
"spring machine?" Huang Yuqi looked in the direction the Little Girl was pointing and saw a group of children gathered on the ground, excitedly fiddling with something, their laughter and chatter rising and falling.
Seeing Huang Yuqi's brow furrow slightly.
Seeing this, the Little Girl hurriedly added, "Mhm, it's very easy to win. A lot of people have won fifty yuan! Li Tanghu just won 50 yuan, but I didn't bring any money with me..."
At this moment, it was lunchtime, and most adults were busy at home preparing lunch.
Or receiving visiting guests. The streets and alleys seemed a bit deserted, with only children left playing to their hearts' content.
Seeing this, Huang Yuqi said to Jiang Cheng, "Wait a moment, I'll go take a look."
After saying that, she followed closely behind Xiao Meng and walked quickly toward the group of children.
Seeing this, Jiang Cheng also hurried to speed up his noodle-eating.
Jiang Cheng quickly slurped a few mouthfuls of noodles, then greeted Uncle Zhang, telling him not to take the bowl away, and walked over to where Huang Yuqi was.
Coming closer, he saw a crude spring ball device set up on the ground.
Two strange boys were enthusiastically demonstrating how to play to a group of children, but their eyes flickered with a shrewdness beyond their years.
Seeing that her neighbor's little boy, Li Tanghu, was indeed among them.
Huang Yuqi furrowed her brows and called out, "Tanghu, why aren't you home for lunch yet?"
Hearing Huang Yuqi's shout, Li Tanghu suddenly looked up.
When he saw it was Huang Yuqi, an excited smile immediately appeared on his face, and he waved at her frantically, "Sister Yuqi, look, I won money!"
Huang Yuqi looked at the spring ball device in front of her.
She walked over and squatted beside Tanghu, making up a story, "Tanghu, go home quickly. Your parents are looking for you to eat."
Hearing this, Li Tanghu waved the fifty yuan in his hand.
"I'll play a few more rounds and then go. He has a rule here that if I win money during the trial, I have to play at least a few more rounds before I can leave. It's a pity, my luck wasn't great just now, and I lost all the money I won. But it's okay, I'll play one more round, and I'll definitely win it back!" His tone was full of confidence.
"Tanghu, these kinds of games are usually rigged," Huang Yuqi said to him in a low voice.
One of the boys, wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket, kept staring at Huang Yuqi.
Although he didn't hear what Huang Yuqi said, seeing her constantly trying to persuade Li Tanghu to leave.
He immediately looked up, a fawning smile plastered on his face.
"Sister, you've misunderstood. We wouldn't run a scam. He didn't spend a single cent just now and got to try it out first, and he even won fifty!" he said, pulling out a bill and waving it.
Huang Yuqi noticed the neat creases on the edges of the bill.
It was too new, not like currency that had been in circulation.
She squatted down and lightly tapped the edge of the cardboard box with her fingertip. "The spring's elasticity coefficient seems a bit unstable?"
The boy wearing a woolen hat's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly explained, "It's a ha-handicraft, after all. Flaws are unavoidable..."
Li Tanghu, however, had already pulled out ten yuan. "One more round!"
Jiang Cheng took a look and asked, "Is this gambling with balls?"
Huang Yuqi nodded and then pointed at Li Tanghu on the ground, saying in a low voice, "This thing is a scam. This kid is our neighbor; I'm trying to persuade him to go home."
Jiang Cheng glanced at the spring machine they had set up on the ground.
The thing was very crudely made.
It was a box made out of cardboard.
Hand-written amounts were placed in different positions inside.
There were 50 yuan, 100 yuan, and 200 yuan.
A hole was cut on the bottom right, with a rubber band holding a small stick. When the ball was placed on it and pulled down, it would bounce inside the box.
Wherever the ball landed, that was the amount won.
Soon, Li Tanghu lost.
Seeing his disappointed look, Huang Yuqi urged him again, "You lost, so just go home and eat."
The two boys squatting there heard this.
They immediately shot a look at a shill squatting nearby.
The shill understood immediately, stood up, and said with great excitement, "If he's not playing, I will!"
Saying that, he unhesitatingly handed the ten yuan in his hand to the two boys.
After taking the money, the kid seemed exceptionally excited. He couldn't wait to grab the spring lever and pull it hard.
With a "thump," the ball landed precisely on the spot marked "100 yuan."
"Wow! I won! I won!" the kid shouted excitedly.
The two boys also very readily handed him the 100 yuan.
Seeing this, Li Tanghu's eyes widened.
He was clearly rooted to the spot.
Over the next few rounds, the shill won some and lost some.
But unlike Li Tanghu, he won most of the time.
After a few rounds, he had already won 300 yuan.
At this moment, Li Tanghu was completely immersed in the thrill of winning that gambling brings.
This feeling had completely bypassed his reason.
For a gambler, when they see others winning big, they naturally think they can definitely win too.
Li Tanghu was clearly not resigned to the current situation. He said through gritted teeth, "I'll play one last round and then go home! I don't believe it; I'll definitely win this time!"
Li Tanghu was clearly unwilling to give up: "I'll play one more round and then go home. I don't believe it."
Seeing this, Huang Yuqi hesitated to speak.
As a neighbor, she should have immediately stopped this gambling behavior.
But thinking about Li Tanghu's usual habit of being lazy and slippery.
Huang Yuqi pursed her lips and finally just stood up. "Tanghu, remember the probability formulas taught in math class? Calculate the win rate for yourself."
However, Li Tanghu turned a deaf ear to Huang Yuqi's words. He didn't even look up, just casually brushing her off, "I know, I know. They taught it in school. Don't worry, I'll definitely win this round!"
Unsurprisingly, Li Tanghu lost this round as well.
Seeing that Li Tanghu had lost again, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but say to Huang Yuqi, "Seeing him lose again, I'm relieved."