Chapter 721 — Coming Right Up

Shen Yushu tossed one sandbag after another, every one of them missing — until the last one landed smack on the biggest plush Grey Wolf on the back row!

"Oh yeah! I hit it! I won the grand prize..." Shen Yushu cheered — but she only got half the cheer out before staring in blank astonishment. The Grey Wolf plush had merely wobbled a couple of times. It had not fallen. It sat there steady as ever on the shelf.

"What a shame, little girl. You came within a hair of the jackpot! That Grey Wolf plush is genuine merchandise, not one of those knockoffs!" The owner looked at Shen Yushu with an expression of profound regret. "You just don't have the strength. Put some muscle into it next time!"

"Impossible! I threw with everything I had. I could punch a shark to death — and I can't knock over a plush toy?" Then Shen Yushu remembered what Tang Yun had said earlier, and her eyes narrowed on the owner. "Hey — you haven't rigged this thing, have you?"

"How could I? Little girl, don't go tossing accusations around. I've done business here for years — old and young alike, I cheat no one. Someone won the jackpot just last month. Ask any of these regulars. Last month the plush I had up here was SpongeBob; this month I swapped it out for Grey Wolf!" the owner said hurriedly.

The onlookers nodded at that — it was true enough. Last month the plush on that shelf had indeed not been Grey Wolf; it had been SpongeBob. And if no one had knocked it down, why would it have been replaced with Grey Wolf?

"Then I'll try again!" Unconvinced, Shen Yushu spent another ten yuan on ten sandbags and started throwing...

"There's definitely something crooked about this..." Tang Yun whispered to Wei Zhao.

"Mm, I see it too. But it's rare for them to want to play like this. Cooped up at home, they hardly ever get a moment this happy," Wei Zhao said.

Shen Yushu threw four or five sandbags. She did hit a "Fishman" doll, but it was too small to be worth much. On the sixth sandbag her luck flared again and she struck the Grey Wolf plush — yet just as before, it wobbled twice and then stood there, steady as ever.

The owner had not expected Shen Yushu to be lucky enough to hit the Grey Wolf plush again, and for a moment he was at a loss. To claim the first throw lacked force was one thing — but the second as well? That was stretching it, surely.

Still, the man was a veteran of the con, and he could lie without blinking: "Still not enough force, I'm afraid. Looks like you've used up everything you've got. But the distance is too great. My advice: aim for one of those slightly smaller medium-sized dolls up front."

Shen Yushu ground her teeth in fury and turned to Wei Zhao. "Arrow-Brand Bro, come help little Shu. I want that Grey Wolf plush!"

"Heh. I'll give it a try." Wei Zhao suspected the Grey Wolf plush was rigged as well, so he did not decline.

The owner would have been only too glad to see someone else take a turn. Shen Yushu's luck was too good — two hits in a row. If a third attempt also failed to bring the thing down, that really would raise questions. So he hurried to say, "Yes, yes, let the young man try. He's got more strength!"

"Heh, you don't have just the one plush, do you? If I knock it down, what about everyone else?" Wei Zhao was thinking that one plush would not be enough to go around — he would want one each for Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Yun.

"I run a business here. How could I keep only one in stock? There are more. Go ahead and throw!" The owner thought: Knock it down first, then we'll talk. I've seen plenty of your kind — all swagger and confidence, and in the end they walk away with nothing.

"All right then." Wei Zhao picked up a sandbag at random, did not aim, did not even look, and threw.

Watching him, the owner sneered inwardly. Showing off? Putting on airs? If that one hits, I'll eat my hat...

"Bang!"

The sandbag struck the Grey Wolf plush dead-on and knocked it clean off the shelf onto the ground.

"Huh?" The owner stared in disbelief at what had just happened. Had the impossible truly come to pass? How could it have hit? And not merely hit — knocked it down? He had smeared a layer of foam glue on the shelf, positioned to stick fast to the plastic bag at the bottom of the Grey Wolf plush. Even if it were knocked down, no one would ever notice, because the foam glue was stuck to the shelf first.

Only — no one had ever knocked it down before! Had the foam glue lost its grip after all this time? Or had the plush come loose after Shen Yushu struck it twice earlier? And so Wei Zhao's throw had landed true?

The owner's heart ached. But there was nothing to be done. With so many people watching, he could hardly go back on his word. And to draw customers he stocked only genuine plush — several hundred yuan apiece. To give one away just like that, he truly could not swallow it!

Every so often the owner would bring in a shill, who would pretend to knock down the jackpot. In truth it was one of his own relatives — aunts and uncles and the like taking turns posing as players and carrying off the grand prize, when really it only went back to his own home!

After a while, once people had forgotten about that plush, he would change the plastic bag and put out a new one, letting everyone think he had restocked — and no one would suspect a thing!

But today he had slipped up. Ah, if only he had known — he ought to have made a show of inspecting it, and reinforced the foam glue while he was at it.

"Congratulations, young man. You're the first player this month to knock down the jackpot!" Though it pained him, with so many eyes on him, welching now would end his business for good. Better to hand the plush over to Wei Zhao cheerfully — it made fine advertising for his stall, besides. "Anyone else want to play? Maybe the next big winner will be you. Better act fast!"

"Heh. You'll have one right away." Wei Zhao took the Grey Wolf plush and handed it to Shen Yushu.

"Oh oh oh, Arrow-Brand Bro is amazing!" Shen Yushu took the Grey Wolf plush, beaming with delight.

Gu Mengyao and Tang Yun were rather envious, but they could hardly say anything.

Shen Yushu, though, once her joy had settled, said, "Arrow-Brand Bro, you can't play favorites! You have to win one for your first wife and your girlfriend too!"

"..." Wei Zhao had meant to keep throwing anyway, but Shen Yushu's words put him squarely on the spot. If he kept playing, would that not amount to admitting Gu Mengyao was his first wife? Tang Yun being his girlfriend — that was no problem at all.

"Xiaoshu, don't talk nonsense!" Gu Mengyao kicked Shen Yushu, then said to Wei Zhao, "Just win one for Tang Yun. I don't need one."

"Heh, there are two sandbags left — just enough for two more jackpots. One for each of you." Wei Zhao smiled.

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