"Do I need to tell you guys anything?" Xia Liang looked somewhat troubled as she tilted her head, "Li Yaqing, when did you become so clingy?"
The remark made Li Yaqing across from her pause for a moment, then her smile grew wider: "Interesting, you're like a completely different person, much more fun than before."
"But it doesn't matter, since you've shown up in front of us again, it's time to settle some old scores."
"Last time you bailed on us and messed up a lot of things; don't you think we should talk about compensation? For instance, as an old friend, help us cover some expenses here?"
Having said that, she wore an amused smile, waiting for Xia Liang's response.
Xia Liang, upon hearing this, slightly averted her gaze: "I don't think there's anything to talk about."
——"What are you doing?"
Li Yaqing was about to say something, but her words were interrupted by a voice from behind. She turned around and saw a plainly dressed but striking blue-haired little girl standing there.
"What's this, where did this brat come from." A blonde delinquent girl immediately intended to shoo her away, "Didn't you see we're discussing serious matters? Scram and play over there!"
Before she could actually approach, she was stopped by Li Yaqing: "Looking at this situation, this kid is probably the person Xia Liang was waiting for?"
The delinquent girls immediately joined in jeering:
"Xia Liang, when did you stoop to hanging out with elementary school kids?"
"Is she your sister? No, you don't have a sister, and besides, you don't look anything alike."
"Could it be someone's finally willing to adopt you?"
"Doesn't this kid look a bit like that shorty from class three? I remember Xia Liang has been getting quite cozy with that shorty recently."
They discussed among themselves boisterously, but this time, Xia Liang didn't respond to any of it. She merely looked at Emerald Sparrow with a helpless expression and pitifully squeezed her eyes.
Emerald Sparrow, holding the basket in her hand, looked at Xia Liang and then at the group of delinquent girls in front of her. She instantly understood the little trick Xia Liang was playing.
She couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
Then, ignoring the chatting delinquent girls around her, she directly faced Li Yaqing in the middle, lifting the basket: "You want this?"
"Do you have any objections?" Li Yaqing narrowed her eyes at Emerald Sparrow.
"I can give it to you."
Emerald Sparrow moved her raised hand back: "But, there are conditions."
"Putting on airs! Why should I negotiate with you?"
The blonde delinquent girl became agitated, and seeing that Li Yaqing, their leader, did not stop her, she reached for the basket in Emerald Sparrow's hand. But as her hand stretched out, Emerald Sparrow firmly caught her wrist.
The blonde girl tried to break free, but no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't make Emerald Sparrow let go. She cried out in surprise: "Such strength... what's going on? This weird kid!"
"Since this is an arcade, let's make it an arcade game challenge."
Ignoring the other's protests, Emerald Sparrow grasped the blonde girl's wrist, her gaze sweeping over Li Yaqing and the rest of the delinquent girls: "If you win, you can have all the Game Coins in my hand; but if you lose, you have to apologize to Xia Liang for what you've done."
As she finished speaking, the faces of several delinquent girls turned a bit strange.
"Competing against Yaqing in games... haha, are you serious? Hey, Xia Liang, haven't you told your little sister?"
"Yaqing, she actually said she wants to challenge you!"
Two girls looked at Li Yaqing and laughed.
As the real party in question, Li Yaqing remained aloof. After hearing Emerald Sparrow's proposal, she shook her head: "Not enough."
This answer made Emerald Sparrow frown.
"...I don't know what your relationship with Xia Liang is—let's assume you're her sister? Getting me to apologize won't be so easy."
Li Yaqing took a couple of steps forward, looked down at Emerald Sparrow: "If you lose, I will be asking for quite some money."
Emerald Sparrow calmly looked back at her.
If before she still harbored any hopes for peace, hearing the other's words made her give up on such notions.
She'd heard from Xia Liang about these delinquent girls' past, including their attempts to involve Xia Liang in work that was not suitable for a girl of her age, and she did not have a favorable impression of them.
Seeing the flippant attitude these delinquent girls exhibited only reinforced her resolve not to give in.
As for the demand for money, it was a secondary concern. Putting aside the question of whether she had the money, she didn't believe she would lose at all.
So she readily agreed to the other's demand, calmly saying: "You choose, what's the contest?"
"You're letting me choose? Let's go with the dance machine then."
Li Yaqing's lips curled into a slight smirk: "Challenging me, will make you regret it."
With the stakes and the game agreed upon, the upcoming contest naturally fell into place. The two of them stepped onto the same dance machine, each inserting coins.
In the arcade, dance machine contests often attracted attention, and this time the competitors included a distinctive blue-haired little girl, immediately drawing the notice of many nearby players. Even without anyone prompting, a crowd of onlookers quickly gathered.
Li Yaqing adeptly made selections from the menu, setting her requirements, and then gestured to Emerald Sparrow: "2p." Then as Emerald Sparrow went up to perform the operations and showed unfamiliarity even with the basic interface, Li Yaqing's face revealed a touch of scorn.