"Hey handsome, bring your girlfriend here to play hoops. Ten bucks for four hoops, and twenty bucks for ten. The prizes are bunnies, plushies, and the grand prize is a Xiaomi Mi bracelet.
When Zhang Heng and Hayase Asuka were walking around the night market, they came across a hoops game stall.
Hayase Asuka held a bowl of stinky tofu in her hand and stopped to watch the game. The stall owner immediately took the opportunity to promote the game, but his enthusiasm was in vain. Hayase Asuka, a Japanese exchange student, could not understand Chinese at all.
At this time, there was already a young couple playing in front of the stall.
The two seemed to be trying to win the Xiaomi Mi bracelet. From the packaging, it seemed to be a second-generation product, and the market price was about 120 bucks. It was definitely a good deal if they could win it.
However, hoops were just like the discount packs in a certain Penguin game. No matter how much you thought you were making a profit, the owner would never lose money.
Games like this often looked simple, but there was a lot more to it than meets the eye.
For example, the stall owner would usually place the valuable items far away, and the worthless items close by, tempting the players to win the prizes that were far away. However, this would make the game much more difficult to win. Also, the hoops were designed to be very light, making it difficult to control one's strength. On top of that, the hoops were very elastic, and the hoops would bounce off the sides of the hoops.
Therefore, the two young lovers spent 20 yuan to buy ten hoops, but none of them managed to catch a single one. There were a few times when the hoops were brushed against the packaging, but the boss was not worried at all. He even encouraged them with a smile, as if he could not wait for his big prize to be taken away by someone else.
When the young couple threw out the last circle, the boss saw their dejected expressions. He waved his hand and generously gave them a consolation prize — two One Piece keychains. Of course, Oda Eiichiro probably did not know which small workshop in Yiwu that he had authorized to produce these keychains.
When the young couple's offer to play one more time was rejected, the stall owner smiled as he watched the young couple leave. He then put away the 20 bucks that he had easily earned.
"What do you want?" Zhang Heng asked Hayase Asuka in Japanese.
"The bunnies are cute, but the international student dormitory doesn't allow us to keep them." Hayase Asuka looked at the rabbit in the cage and said with some regret, "But this game looks fun. How much does it cost to play?"
Zhang Heng translated the amount to Hayase Asuka, and the latter opened her wallet and took out 20 bucks.
"Oh, it's an international friend." The boss also heard their conversation in Japanese. He took the money and smiled. "Then I'll give you two more laps." As he said that, he handed over two more laps.
Zhang Heng passed them all to Hayase Asuka.
After the latter received the plastic ring, she looked around at the prizes on the ground. She first looked at the rabbit cage reluctantly, and finally locked her eyes on the Kingston 64gb USB flash drive. It had to be said that girls of all ages and countries were quite good at choosing goods. This was probably one of the natural talents of women.
Although the owner's stall had a lot of colorful things on display, most of them were unmarketable products produced by small factories. Other than the Xiaomi II bracelet that was used as a gimmick to attract customers, only the Kingston 64 GB disk was worth a bit of money.
The market price was about 70 yuan.
Hayase Asuka had good eyesight, and she had seen the young couple playing the game earlier. She knew that the bracelets were the most difficult to get, so she took the initiative to lower the difficulty.
She aimed for a long time before she threw the first plastic ring. But before she even threw it, Zhang Heng knew that it was impossible. Hayase Asuka had pressed the front of the ring when she threw it, and the ring would definitely hit the prize and bounce off.
From her gestures, the boss could tell that she was a newbie, and the smile on his face became even brighter. He did not forget to comfort her, "It's okay. You'll get the next one."
Zhang Heng interrupted Hayase Asuka before she threw the second plastic ring, correcting her posture. Hayase Asuka immediately came to her senses, and she stuck out her tongue at Zhang Heng to thank him.
This time, although she had solved the problem of pressing the front of the ring down, the plastic itself was too light, and it was difficult to control it properly. Perhaps she was not used to throwing it this way, and the second plastic ring missed even more.
Hayase Asuka looked at Zhang Heng again, subconsciously seeking his help. This time, however, Zhang Heng could only shrug his shoulders helplessly.
Theory was all there was to it. This was not like modifying a car or sending a rocket into the sky. There were so many points of knowledge that needed to be covered. As long as there was no major problem with the posture, the rest was purely a matter of skill and luck.
So Hayase Asuka had no choice but to fight alone. She threw ten rings, but unfortunately, the result was similar to the young couple. She either missed or bounced off.
She even gave up on the last one, choosing a worthless doll in front of her. Perhaps she was having a mental breakdown, but she did not manage to get the ring.
Seeing that she only had two free rings left, Hayase Asuka was a little depressed.
Zhang Heng said, "Do you want me to do it?"
Hayase Asuka nodded and handed the ring to Zhang Heng.
Zhang Heng weighed it in his hand to feel its weight. He had been staying in the West for some time, and he had mastered the art of lassos. He could even catch a bull in a herd of galloping bulls. A game like this wasn't difficult for him.
Without much preparation, Zhang Heng threw the plastic ring in his hand. Before the first plastic ring completely fell, Zhang Heng threw the second one.
In the end, one of the two rings was placed on the USB flash drive, and the other on the bracelet. The most valuable item on the stall was captured in one fell swoop.
The stall owner was still counting the money happily, preparing to give away the key ring as a consolation prize. He did not expect to lose his period in the blink of an eye, and his face fell. However, Zhang Heng's two rings were too accurate, and he could not find an excuse to cancel it. Besides, the stall owner knew that he had met an expert tonight.
One was luck, and although it was possible that he got both rings, the probability was too small.
Hence, the young man in front of him had to be an expert.
It was not easy to do business these days. He heard that some people bought dolls online and practiced at home just so they could catch dolls. Of course, there were also people who were bored enough to practice throwing rings.
Although this kind of game stall was quite profitable when there was a lot of traffic, it was common to encounter similar situations. Most of the stall owners were willing to admit defeat. This time, it was obvious that Zhang Heng had gone easy on his girlfriend. He only did it because he had two rings left. The stall owner shook his head, sighed, and walked over to take the bracelet and USB flash drive. Reluctantly, he congratulated Hayase Asuka, who was smiling brightly.
However, he did not want to be the only one who suffered losses. So, he decided to let his peers do the same. After that, the owner even gave Zhang Heng an idea. "Hey handsome, listen to me. There is a stall selling hoops thirty meters ahead. They have good stuff, and it's even more valuable than my Xiaomi bracelet. You should go there quickly."
"…"
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