Chapter 78 Stop Pretending! You Must Be An Insider!
Shen Muyan’s face was still pale as Lu Qin approached to check on her.
Fang Ya looked up and said, “She stuffed herself with your fried noodles, then got dragged by the little one onto the pirate ship, played bumper cars, and tried a 3D roller coaster. It’s no wonder her face looks bad—she’s lucky she didn’t throw up.”
“I’m fine,” Shen Muyan said stubbornly.
Lu Qin frowned slightly and turned to Lu Xiyao. “Yaoyao, Mommy gets carsick and is afraid of heights. Next time, don’t make her go on pirate ships or anything similar, okay?”
Shen Muyan shot a glance at Lu Qin but said nothing.
The little one makes me play? Isn’t that reversed?
“Got it, Daddy~!” The little one replied innocently. “But if we don’t do pirate ships, swinging pendulums, or aerial rides, then what do we play?”
“Ride rocking cars, the carousel, or go fishing—something more relaxing, not thrilling,” Lu Qin suggested.
The little one sighed helplessly.
“Fine, I guess. I got tired of those when I was three, but since Daddy says so, I’ll treat it like revisiting my childhood.”
Shen Muyan’s elegant face twitched. She felt subtly disdained but had no evidence. Fang Ya was suppressing laughter with great effort.
“Are you guys done playing? At 8 o’clock, we’re seeing Yaoyao’s idol, Li Xue, perform. I got you seats as well. It’s almost time.”
“Li Xue? You mean the famous young singer, Li Xue?” Fang Ya asked.
“You got seats? How do you even know her?” Shen Muyan asked.
The little one chimed in, “Sister Li Xue loves Daddy’s fried noodles~!”
Shen Muyan and Fang Ya both nodded in understanding.
Fang Ya then pointed to the claw machine.
“This little one likes that Pikachu. I spent 100 coins and still didn’t get it. Help me find a brick, and I’ll just smash it open!”
Shen Muyan bought 100 coins.
Before she could start, Lu Qin took the coins from her, saying nonchalantly, “You won’t make it. Let me do it.”
Shen Muyan stood to the side, speechless.
Why does it feel like I’m being disdained again?
The little one was full of anticipation, leaning on the claw machine, watching intently.
In her eyes, Daddy was always the best.
Fang Ya wasn’t optimistic. While Lu Qin might be better than Shen Muyan, he couldn’t be better than her.
Fang Ya considered herself a decent claw machine player. Quick 360-degree joystick spins, precise timing, and claw tricks—what would Lu Qin know about these?
As she saw it, skill came from experience, and experience came from burning through coins. Fang Ya herself had learned through trial, error, and lots of money.
“Need me to teach you some techniques?” Fang Ya teased, crossing her arms with a smirk.
Lu Qin didn’t reply. He inserted a coin, adjusted the joystick, pretended to aim and wait for the right moment, then hit the grab button.
In reality, the system’s claw machine skill didn’t require any tricks. It simply boosted the success rate to 80%. He only needed to act like he was trying.
Fang Ya watched his clumsy movements and burst into laughter.
“Boss Lu, your technique screams newbie. You’re just handing money to the machine—you won’t catch anything even with $200.”
Before her words settled, reality slapped her in the face.
The claw descended shakily, seemingly unstable, yet it grabbed Pikachu by the leg. It wobbled back up with the toy firmly clamped. Those familiar with claw machines knew that claws were usually loose, either failing to grab or dropping the prize midway.
Fang Ya, with her years of claw machine experience, was 90% certain it would fall.
“It’s definitely going to drop,” she declared confidently.
The Pikachu was delivered to the prize slot. The little one’s eyes lit up, and she cheered excitedly.
“Wow~! Daddy, you’re amazing! You caught it~!”
She quickly squatted down and picked up the Pikachu.
“Daddy~! You’re the best~!”
Fang Ya was left dumbfounded.
Shen Muyan’s lips curled into a faint smile.
“No, no, that doesn’t make sense. It must’ve been because I spent so many coins earlier, and you just happened to hit the threshold to win,” Fang Ya insisted.
Shen Muyan gave her a sideways glance.
“Just say you caught it yourself.”
Fang Ya was exasperated.
“You don’t understand. That’s exactly how claw machines work!”
Lu Qin didn’t bother arguing with Fang Ya. “There are still so many coins left. Can we get a refund?”
“Papa~! Just keep going! I want Squirtle~!”
Lu Qin moved to the next machine, which had Squirtle and Charmander inside. He inserted a coin. He followed the same steps—adjust the joystick, aim, grab. The first attempt failed—just his bad luck hitting that 20% miss rate.
“See? See? It was pure dumb luck before. Grabbing like that isn’t as easy as it looks,” Fang Ya sneered.
He inserted another coin, followed the same process and got success. Squirtle was caught.
“Wow~! Papa~! You’re amazing~! You got it again~!”
The little one now held Squirtle in one hand and Pikachu in the other, showing them off right in Fang Ya’s face.
Fang Ya was dumbfounded.
This… this… Such luck? Seriously?
“If you’re so good, catch another one. I don’t believe it!” Fang Ya challenged, unwilling to admit defeat.
Lu Qin turned to the little one.
“Yaoyao, what else do you want?”
“That one! CJ7 from CJ7!”
One coin later, CJ7 was in hand.
Fang Ya was utterly flabbergasted. Shen Muyan also found it hard to believe.
Was this sheer luck? Skill? Or a combination of both?
Was he really this good at claw machines? She’d never known.
Lu Xiyao, now holding three plush toys, hopped around gleefully. Other parents and kids noticed the commotion and came over out of curiosity.
Among them were young couples and middle school students, all gravitating towards Lu Qin.
“Papa~! I want the carrot plushie!”
Two coins, one carrot plushie caught.
“I also want the teddy bear!”
Three coins, one teddy bear caught.
Fang Ya was completely numb by this point.
Everyone else was stunned.
“Wow! Mom, look at that uncle—he’s amazing! He caught so many toys!”
“He’s incredible! Dad, can you do that for me too?”
“This guy is insane! He catches whatever he wants!”
“No way, is this guy hacking?”
“He must be an insider! He knows the machine’s secrets!”
“Sir, could you share your technique? We want to catch some too!”
“Yeah, Uncle, you must be an insider! What’s the secret? Is it some joystick combination like left, right, left, right, up, down, up, down? I saw that on TikTok!”
Lu Qin was speechless.
“No tricks, really. I’m not an insider either.”
“Stop pretending! Nobody’s this good—you must be cheating!”