About half an hour later, Liao Juan, wearing a white down jacket, walked into the arcade.
"Liao Juan, over here!"
Qin Tian called out after seeing her.
Tang Heng, standing beside him, trembled slightly, raised his hand to touch his bangs, and then followed Qin Tian's gaze.
Liao Juan had good natural looks, a beauty above average, and her style of dress after entering university had also enhanced her appeal.
For Tang Heng, who had been single since birth, the attraction was undoubtedly sufficient.
Watching the girl walk briskly towards them, Tang Heng's eyes brightened, and he began to feel excited.
"Qin Tian, Nuannuan, Happy New Year!"
Liao Juan walked up to them and greeted them proactively.
"Happy New Year!"
Xia Nuannuan replied with a smile.
"Happy New Year!"
Qin Tian greeted her with a smile, then introduced Tang Heng and Tang Wen.
Liao Juan was slightly surprised and then quickly greeted them both.
During this interaction, Tang Heng maintained a gentle and refined smile, and his words and actions were all very polite.
Liao Juan didn't find anything strange, only thinking that Qin Tian's cousin seemed quite mature.
However, in the eyes of Qin Tian and Tang Wen, Tang Heng was clearly being too deliberate, even finding him a bit comical.
Xia Nuannuan simply found it amusing, her gaze lingering on their faces with interest.
"Nuannuan, what should we play?"
Liao Juan asked enthusiastically.
"Anything is fine, there are game tokens here, just take what you need."
Xia Nuannuan pointed to a basket of game tokens placed nearby.
"Great, you guys are playing the claw machine, did you catch anything?"
Liao Juan stepped forward, smiling as she asked.
"No!"
Xia Nuannuan shook her head with a smile.
"Then let me try, watch this."
Liao Juan rubbed her hands together, took a few game tokens, inserted them, and began operating the claw machine.
"Little brother, what should I do? Give me some advice!"
Tang Heng nudged Qin Tian with his elbow and whispered for help.
He truly lacked experience; after a brief greeting, he didn't know what else to say.
"Figure it out yourself. I said I could only help you this much."
Qin Tian replied indifferently while eating chestnuts, refusing.
"Oh, come on, please."
Tang Heng pleaded with a wry face. Seeing Liao Juan fail to catch the doll, his eyes immediately became eager.
Qin Tian sensed his thoughts and advised, "Unless you're absolutely sure you can impress, I'd advise you not to go up. Your carefully crafted image will be ruined."
Tang Heng was taken aback by his words, and the flame burning in his eyes instantly extinguished.
"Then what should I do?"
"Nothing, what's the rush? There will be opportunities. Haste makes waste, you know?"
"Heh heh… I understand."
Tang Heng suddenly smiled a little lewdly.
"You understand nothing. I think your thoughts are going astray, not that you understand."
Qin Tian rolled his eyes and reminded him unceremoniously, "Stop smiling. You look very lewd, you know that?"
Tang Heng immediately restrained his smile and nervously glanced at the three girls ahead. Seeing that no one had noticed his smile, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"What I mean is, don't rush to find a topic. It will only lead to awkwardness. Just wait for the right opportunity."
Qin Tian explained with some helplessness.
"Right, right, I understand."
"You understand again?"
"Cough cough… Stop messing around. I really understand this time."
"That's good!"
"Little brother, you really have experience. No wonder you could win a girlfriend like your sister-in-law."
Tang Heng said with admiration in his voice.
"What experience? Don't talk nonsense. Nuannuan and I are each other's first love, alright!"
"Alright, alright, I get it, stop showing off."
...
...
While the two were quietly conversing, Liao Juan failed two more times.
"I don't want to play this anymore, it's not interesting. Let's play other games!"
Liao Juan suggested with a smile.
Xia Nuannuan and Tang Wen both agreed.
Afterward, the three girls went to find other games to play, while Qin Tian and his second cousin Tang Heng followed behind, carrying their things so they could enjoy themselves.
Before long, they had many prize tickets in their hands.
Some games in the arcade, upon reaching a certain score or with good luck, would award corresponding prize tickets.
These prize tickets could be saved up, and once a certain quantity was accumulated, they could be exchanged for prizes. The more prize tickets, the better the prize.
After playing a round of bowling, Xia Nuannuan received more prize tickets. Seeing the stack of prize tickets in Qin Tian's hands that he could barely hold, she suddenly had an idea.
"What's wrong?"
Qin Tian asked with a smile, seeing her thoughtful expression.
Xia Nuannuan walked up to him, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Brother, I want to give Wenwen a New Year's gift. What if I collect more of these prize tickets and redeem the best grand prize?"
Qin Tian was stunned for a moment and said with amusement, "There's no need for that. That grand prize requires a lot of prize tickets. To get so many prize tickets, it might cost more money than buying the prize directly."
"It's fine, I received a lot of lucky money today, it's definitely enough. My piggy banks are full, and I'll have to buy another one."
Xia Nuannuan pointed to the bag he was helping her carry.
Qin Tian looked down at the bag and felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.
How many red envelopes did she receive? Not only was it bulging, but it also felt quite heavy!
"What are you two whispering about?"
Tang Heng asked curiously from the side.
Qin Tian shared Xia Nuannuan's idea with him.
Tang Heng was dumbfounded.
Don't blame him for his ignorance; it was indeed the first time he had heard of such a plan.
"Cousin, see if there's anything you'd like, I'll get one for you too."
Xia Nuannuan said with a smile.
"No, no, no! Please don't!"
Tang Heng waved his hands repeatedly and said with a dry laugh, "I'm the elder brother, so I should be the one preparing gifts. How can you give me something?"
"It's fine, don't worry about such details."
"No, no, really, you don't have to. You should still give one to Little Wen."
"Alright then!"
Xia Nuannuan nodded and didn't insist further.
"Speaking of which, there's time to consider. If we want to accumulate enough prize tickets to redeem the grand prize, it might be difficult for us to play until dark today!"
Tang Heng reminded them.
"Oh, right!"
Xia Nuannuan suddenly slapped her forehead, a look of distress on her face.
"I do have a way."
Qin Tian said with a smile.
"What way?"
Xia Nuannuan looked at him with sparkling eyes.
"Are you sure you really want to do this?"
Qin Tian confirmed.
"Mhmm!"
Xia Nuannuan nodded vigorously.
"Cough, cough!!"
Qin Tian put his left fist to his mouth, cleared his throat, and suddenly shouted loudly, "Attention everyone, from now on, all consumption is on Ms. Xia!"
As the words fell, the surroundings suddenly fell silent, and confused gazes turned towards them.
Liao Juan and Tang Wen also looked at them in confusion, not understanding what was going on.
"Everyone can come to us to receive fifty game tokens each time. You must play games that award prize tickets, and then all the prize tickets must be handed over to us. Those with more prize tickets will receive a certain amount of game token rewards, which you can keep for yourselves."
Qin Tian loudly explained his game rules.
The surroundings immediately became noisy, and many people looked excited and eager to try.
Getting to play games for free and receiving game token rewards was an unprecedented opportunity.
Of course, some people who were not short of money were indifferent to it.