Of course, Eldest Female Cousin was just teasing.

It wasn’t like she didn’t know how much money Shen Yuan had.

But Eldest Female Cousin didn’t like to just settle for anything, either.

They still ended up at a beef restaurant, where the three of them ordered a little over 500 worth of meat.

For Shen Yuan, this was a completely acceptable amount.

Li Zhi sat on one side of the booth by herself, while Shen Yuan and Yang Yishui sat together. This arrangement kept anyone from feeling awkward.

Eldest Female Cousin took a sip of her juice and griped, "You two are on a long vacation, but I have to go back and grade papers tomorrow."

"English isn’t too bad, right? It’s just that grading the essays is probably a bit tiring."

Eldest Female Cousin nodded and said with immense relief, "Thank goodness I chose English. If I’d picked any other subject, I’d probably be dead by now."

Compared to other subjects, most of the work for English was done the moment the answer sheets were scanned.

All that was left was grading the fill-in-the-blanks and the essays, which wasn’t a huge deal.

At most, she just had to experience the special privilege high school students wield during English exams—the right to creatively assemble letters into words.

Their philosophy was, as long as you smashed some letters together to form a word, you were good to go.

As for whether it was the right word? That was up to fate.

And from what Yang Yishui had seen, fate was rarely on their side.

"Cousin, I think grading math tests is pretty easy too," Shen Yuan offered his opinion.

Li Zhi glanced up at Shen Yuan. "You mean grading *your* math test is easy, right?"

Shen Yuan reacted like an indignant husky. "Hey! That’s slander! Pure slander! My math tests are packed so densely with work that Teacher Bao’s eyes would go blurry looking at them!"

Eldest Female Cousin gently swirled the ice in her cup. "Yuan, no wonder Old Zhou always says when he’s grading the weekly tests, ’That dumbass kid’s attitude is pretty earnest.’ So it turns out attitude is all you’ve got."

"To put it nicely, it’s ’attitude.’ To put it bluntly, he’s just scribbling nonsense," Li Zhi added, twisting the knife.

Shen Yuan couldn’t take it anymore. He threatened, "I’m not taking you to the claw machines tomorrow."

"Fine, don’t take me then!"

Li Zhi pointed at him. "So childish!"

"Haha!" Eldest Female Cousin laughed, fanning the flames. "Zhizhi, if he won’t take you, I will. We’ll go play the claw machines later and just make him watch from the sidelines."

Li Zhi nodded.

When it came to teasing Shen Yuan, the two of them were completely united, and the awkwardness from earlier at Shen Yuan’s house had vanished.

That did it. Shen Yuan’s defenses were completely shattered.

"Fine! So you two have formed a united front, have you? This meal is ruined! I hereby announce my immediate withdrawal from this trio! I’m going solo!"

"Solo your ass!"

Eldest Female Cousin pushed his head down, forcing Shen Yuan to behave.

By the time the three of them finished eating, it was already 7:00 PM.

At 7:00 PM in September, the sky had just begun to darken. It wasn’t late, but it certainly wasn’t early anymore.

The perfect time for claw machines!

The place Yang Yishui chose was a shopping mall, which also had a claw machine arcade.

"Oh, they have blind boxes too. You guys want to buy any?"

Eldest Female Cousin lifted her chin, gesturing toward a nearby blind box shop.

Shen Yuan and Li Zhi shook their heads in unison.

"Too expensive. I’d rather play the claw machines."

Shen Yuan said with a look of disdain, "I prefer the feeling of winning it myself."

Li Zhi nodded lightly. "Buying blind boxes is like gambling. There’s no sense of accomplishment."

"What if I buy you each one?"

"Forget it. You’d be better off treating us to the claw machines. Give me 150 worth of Game Coins, and I’ll win you two big prizes!"

A smile befitting the "Claw Machine King of Jiyang" appeared on Shen Yuan’s face.

A classic Dragon King smirk.

However, once they got to the arcade, Shen Yuan discovered there was no stage for him to perform on.

Yang Yishui wasn’t short on cash for the claw machines.

She exchanged 200 yuan for Game Coins right away, tasked Shen Yuan with winning 20 prizes using 100 yuan’s worth, and then Eldest Female Cousin took Li Zhi and went wild.

For Li Zhi, playing the claw machine was all about having fun.

The same went for Yang Yishui.

The two of them aimed for any doll they liked, grabbing randomly and completely ignoring the techniques Shen Yuan had taught them.

If they failed, they’d just frown and insert more coins.

If they won, they’d squeal with delight, absolutely ecstatic.

Shen Yuan, on the other hand, had to uphold his reputation as the "Claw Machine King of Jiyang." He had to use his 100 yuan worth of Game Coins to win a number of prizes worthy of his title.

This was the burden of fame!

Staring at the claw machine before him, Shen Yuan dropped in a Game Coin.

He guided the claw down, and it hooked securely through the doll’s tag, lifting it up.

"Tsk, piece of cake."

The title "Claw Machine King of Jiyang" wasn’t just for show; Shen Yuan’s skill in this area was undeniable.

But just as Shen Yuan picked up his prize, he heard Eldest Female Cousin cheer.

He turned to see Eldest Female Cousin pulling a white doll from a claw machine.

"Woohoo! Zhizhi, you’re amazing!"

Li Zhi was clearly basking in the praise, her face beaming with pride.

’A 130 on your Chinese exam gets no reaction, but win one prize from a claw machine and you want to tell the whole world.’

Watching how happy the two of them were, Shen Yuan found that he couldn’t feel happy himself.

’Damn, playing the claw machine is starting to feel like a job.’

’It’s true. Once anything is associated with work, all the sense of accomplishment disappears.’

’So what if I’m the Claw Machine King of Jiyang?’

’Haven’t I just been reduced to working for them?’

Shen Yuan looked at the smiles on Eldest Female Cousin’s and Li Zhi’s faces, and a wave of resentment rose in his heart.

’Hate, hate, hate!’

’Why do they get to have fun playing the claw machines, while I’m stuck here playing with no sense of accomplishment?’

’No!’

’This isn’t how it should be!’

’I am the magnificent Claw Machine King of Jiyang! How can I not even have a hype man by my side?!’

At this thought, Shen Yuan took out his phone, snapped a photo of his prize, and sent it to Ah Jie.

Shen Yuan: "Let’s see yours."

Zhou Shaojie: "[Image]"

Shen Yuan opened it and was immediately hit with the "Super Idol" meme.

On Douyin, it was the equivalent of Bilibili’s ultimate bait-and-switch song, "Never Gonna Give You Up."

However, the psychological trauma they inflicted was on completely different levels.

After getting tricked by the latter, the victim might even willingly start doing the Rick Astley dance.

But the former was just pure psychological damage.

Pure torture. All their energy went into tormenting the masses.

After sending Ah Jie a long string of "blessings," Shen Yuan muted his notifications and moved their chat to the "message assistant" folder, giving Ah Jie the cyber cold shoulder.

Just as he finished, a white cat doll appeared in front of him.

"Ta-da! Am I amazing or what! I got it in just twenty coins!"

Shen Yuan nodded, crossed his arms, and declared in a deep voice, "Young lady, you have earned the recognition of the Claw Machine King of Jiyang!"

Hearing this, Li Zhi gave Shen Yuan a sweet smile.

"Then I, too, recognize your status as the Claw Machine King of Jiyang!"

Behind them, Yang Yishui copied Shen Yuan’s arm-crossing pose, a classic "proud auntie" smile on her face.

’Childhood sweethearts really are the best.’

Not everyone yearns for love, but some people certainly do.

While Yang Yishui wouldn’t say she yearned for it herself, seeing the sweet interaction between the young man and woman made her fantasize about how wonderful it would be if love were to find her, too.

As she imagined the scene, Eldest Female Cousin suddenly shuddered.

’Crap! A traitor is trying to harm this emperor!’

’I’ll think about love and all that once I’m financially free.’

’This is the age for making money, not for falling into the trap of love!’