A Young Woman's Heart

Besides, the food stalls at the night market prepare food right in front of people, so they might be cleaner than those so-called hotel kitchens!

Of course, it's also possible that the ingredients themselves are not clean, in which case no matter how clean the preparation process is, it won't make a difference.

The entire night market looks like it's covered in mushrooms—if you look down from above.

After all, almost every stall had a large umbrella in front of it, in addition to the small umbrellas held by pedestrians themselves.

"Look, look! Wanyan, there are balloon poppers over there!" Mo Xueyao said excitedly, pointing ahead.

"Shooting balloons...Does Yaoyao know how to do that?"

"When I was in junior high, I would definitely play it whenever I saw it at the night market!" Mo Xueyao felt a little itchy to play. "I haven't played it in a long time, I don't know how good I am now."

"Go ahead and have fun if you want. Today is all about relaxing."

"Ok!"

"Does Zhuang Lianlian want to play?" Li Wanyan looked at Zhuang Lianlian, whose hand she was holding.

"Um... I... I guess I'll pass?" Zhuang Lianlian said with an awkward smile.

Night stalls always have all sorts of strange and unusual things, and Mo Xueyao is particularly interested in those stalls that have a game-like aspect.

For example, ring toss, or popping balloons.

The balloon popping stalls are usually small, just a tiny tricycle.

There was a shelf on the tricycle, which had seven or eight tiers and was decorated with colorful lights and stuffed with balloons.

There's a rolled-up piece of paper inside the balloon. When you pop a balloon, you can get the prize inside the paper.

The guns used included both long guns and short guns, all of which were loaded with BBs, which are those very small plastic bullets.

These bullets are so light that they can even be blown away in a strong wind.

The range is short, but it's enough to shoot down balloons.

Moreover, both long and short guns are single-shot.

When shooting, you must stand outside the line drawn by the vendor—in reality, most people miss.

Because the gun sights are all crooked, and some balloons are intentionally underinflated, making them less likely to be broken.

Some vendors, in order to demonstrate a certain degree of fairness, do not use the method of putting slips of paper inside balloons, but instead divide the reward levels according to the color of the balloons.

Of course, there's also the points-based system.

However, calculating integrals is sometimes too complicated, so it is rarely used at temporary night stalls.

This balloon pop-up stall belongs to the second type.

The sign next to the tricycle reads:

"Red Balloon: First Prize"

"Yellow Balloon: Second Prize"

"Blue Balloon: Third Prize"

"Green Balloon: Participation Prize"

"Boss, how do you play?" Mo Xueyao walked up and excitedly picked out the replica guns on the tricycle and asked.

"One yuan for two times, five yuan for eleven times." The shopkeeper approached with a beaming smile. "How about it, little girl, want to give it a try?"

"Hmm... what kind of prizes are there?"

"Hey, no fluff, we'll give you the money directly. First prize is twenty yuan, second prize is ten yuan, third prize is five yuan, and participation prize is one yuan."

"Oh, that's convenient." Mo Xueyao immediately pulled out a green fifty-yuan bill from her pocket. "I'll play for five yuan."

"Okay." The shopkeeper took the money and gave her the change. Mo Xueyao looked around for a while and then chose a handgun.

"Did you hit the target?" Li Wanyan asked. In her opinion, this was basically throwing money down the drain for a moment of pleasure, a completely 'meaningless' thing.

But since Mo Xueyao wants to play, let's play for a while.

Firstly, she doesn't usually spend money recklessly, and secondly... this was money given to his daughter by Mo Xueyao's father, so as her goddaughter, she had no right to dictate how she spent it.

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out, but not a single balloon popped.

"Where did the bullet go..." The bullet flew too fast just now, and Mo Xueyao didn't notice where it landed. She just felt that it seemed to be veering to the left. She remembered this and adjusted her aim again.

You have to aim at an angle to hit the target with this gun.

Another shot, still missed.

"Huh...?"

"what……"

"Huh?"

He fired nine shots in a row, but still missed everything.

The boss was all smiles, having made another five dollars for free.

After all, he wouldn't put it up if he wasn't making money.

Only a very small number of people with excellent skills or good luck can make money from the boss.

This is just as difficult as winning a game of chess against someone who has set up a chess endgame on a pedestrian bridge.

When she saw Li Wanyan's gaze fixed on her, she immediately shrank back and muttered softly, "Uh, haven't played in a long time, my skills are terrible... I have two more shots left, Wanyan, do you want to play?"

"Then how about I fire one shot, and then Zhuang Lianlian fires one?"

"Eh? Eh? Um... okay, okay." Zhuang Lianlian nodded a little shyly.

This time, Mo Xueyao watched from the sidelines.

Li Wanyan aimed at the red balloon and pulled the trigger, but the bullet traveled a very short distance and lost power just before hitting the balloon. It was then blown away by the wind.

Is that really the case?

From an outsider's perspective, Mo Xueyao, who could see things more clearly, felt a pang of regret, wishing she hadn't wasted those five yuan.

“Missed it, Zhuang Lianlian, you can have it now.” Li Wanyan handed the replica pistol to Zhuang Lianlian.

"Um... this, this... how do you play?" Zhuang Lianlian was actually quite eager to try, but she hid her excitement.

"Just pull the bolt like this, then look at your target and pull the trigger." Mo Xueyao made a gesture of holding a pistol.

"Is that so?" Zhuang Lianlian grabbed the bolt, gritted her teeth, and raised her neck, pulling it with great effort, looking extremely difficult.

"Is it that heavy...?" Mo Xueyao scratched her head. "Maybe I'm using the wrong method. Anyway, let's aim."

"Hmm... how do I aim?"

“Anyway, the crosshair is crooked.” When Mo Xueyao said this, the shopkeeper immediately chuckled. “Just aim randomly. Let’s go play somewhere else after we’re done.”

"Okay, okay..." Zhuang Lianlian, seemingly a little afraid of the gunshot, subconsciously closed her eyes. The gun barrel was so off-center that it was off the balloon stand. If the boss had been standing closer, he probably would have been hit.

"boom!"

"Alright, let's go..."

"Snapped!"

Surprisingly, the balloon was popped.

How could you hit something so skewed?

Mo Xueyao was shocked.

Is this what they call a lucky accident, or an unexpected stroke of luck?

The boss's smile froze on his face.

"Uh... I hit the red balloon."

"Boss, first prize." Mo Xueyao stretched out her hand as if it were a matter of course.

"Of course..." Although somewhat reluctant, the shopkeeper still handed her twenty yuan.

"Zhuang Lianlian, you're amazing! You earned these twenty yuan, so just tell me what you want to play later!"

"Um...no, no need..."

"Shopping should be fun, haha—I really made a profit!" Mo Xueyao excitedly held up the twenty yuan in her hand. "The shopkeeper must be crying now!"

"He can only accept his bad luck," Li Wanyan said, suppressing a laugh. "After all, it's just bad luck."

“Luck is sometimes a part of ability,” Mo Xueyao said, raising an eyebrow at Zhuang Lianlian. “Right, Zhuang Lianlian?”

"Hmm..." Zhuang Lianlian replied, smiling somewhat awkwardly.

After walking a few steps, the two came to a ring toss stall, where two rings cost one yuan, or twenty-five rings cost ten yuan.

Don't be fooled by the size of the circle; getting inside it is no easy feat.

Moreover, the various handicrafts or daily necessities displayed on the ground are all cheap goods. Even if you spend ten yuan to get one, the owner still makes a profit.

"Zhuang Lianlian is the luckiest today, so I'll give you fifteen, and then Wanyan and I will each get five."

"I...I don't need that many...What if I can't get one..."

"It's okay if I don't get it," Mo Xueyao laughed. "It's free money anyway."

"Mmm..."

Perhaps because the money seemed to have been picked up for free, after Mo Xueyao carefully tried to ring the first ring but failed, she simply threw out the remaining four rings together.

"Oh, I didn't win. Looks like my luck is really bad today." She scratched her head and muttered to herself.

"I got a watch," Li Wanyan said, pointing to the digital watch on the ground after quickly finishing throwing all five rings.

It was a simple electronic watch in a plastic bag. It looked very cheap and rough. It was fine for checking the time, but it probably wouldn't be good enough for accurate timekeeping.

But it's better than nothing.

"Not bad, at least I managed to get it." Mo Xueyao was somewhat dejected.

"Do you want it?" Li Wanyan asked with a smile, holding the digital watch handed to her by the boss.

"No need, I have a small alarm clock," Mo Xueyao said, putting her hands in her pockets.

"Hey!"