A Young Woman's Heart

"Get lost." Zhou Yong rolled his eyes. "You womanizer, stay away from me."

"Wow, where do I get any luck with women?" Li Hongran lowered her voice. "Look at me, I don't have a girlfriend either."

"Tsk, that noon I walked across the playground and saw a short girl looking for you by the basketball court. She even gave you candy. Do you think I don't know what happened?"

"That's just one of my admirers."

"Why not just develop it a bit?"

"Oh, I see. So you prefer being passive? You don't like to take the initiative to confess?"

"I'd like to be passive, but what girl would be blind enough to confess to me?" Zhou Yong said with a bitter smile. "The kind of girl who's more suitable for me is probably an ordinary one."

"Fine, the girl you're putting up with is really pathetic," Li Hongran said irritably.

This surprised Zhou Yong, who realized that he might have gone a bit too far. Was he choosing a less desirable alternative because he couldn't find a better one?

With that mindset, you probably won't find an ordinary job.

Just as he said this, Tang Sishi, who was sitting behind him, pushed up her thick glasses and couldn't help but glance at him.

"If you don't believe me, I'll ask around for you. Tang Sishi, Chen Baicheng, who likes Zhou Yong?"

"Him? I don't like him at all." Chen Baicheng said with disdain. "He's only slightly better than Liu Xiaowei and Gao Yuan."

Compared to Liu Xiaowei, this is too tragic.

Zhou Yong felt sad, but the thought that he was better off than Gao Yuan made him feel much better; at least Gao Yuan was quite wealthy...

"I don't like it," Tang Sishi replied seriously.

"Then why don't you like him? Is he not handsome? Or is he a bad person?"

"I guess so." Chen Baicheng didn't really want to answer the question and buried himself in his comic book.

"She's not good at looking good, and she's not good at inner qualities either," Tang Sishi answered very honestly.

"It's mainly because of her appearance." Just as Li Hongran was about to speak, Chen Baicheng added insult to injury without hesitation.

"Damn, you two are just average-looking too." Zhou Yong finally couldn't hold back anymore.

“Girls have the right to choose boys, but you don’t,” Chen Baicheng said sarcastically.

Although he wanted to refute it, after careful consideration, Zhou Yong sadly realized that it seemed to be true.

Unless he is truly exceptional—rich or handsome.

Having talent alone is probably not enough, let alone the fact that he has no talent at all.

"Please accept my condolences." Li Hongran had originally intended to encourage him, but now she found it only made him more discouraged, so she offered a helpless word of comfort.

"Festival my foot!" Zhou Yong slumped onto the table. "Come on, it's just a small thing, nothing to worry about."

"Okay, I get it. You're probably aiming to achieve the milestone of being single for thirty years, right?"

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Zhou Yong shouted with a laugh, waving his hand as if shooing away flies.

But there was a bitter self-deprecating smile hidden beneath that laughter.

……

Chapter 125 Slot Machines

Slot machines were a gambling machine that swept through an era.

In the Rabbit Kingdom, which has existed for two thousand years, these machines can be found everywhere, not only in front of KTVs, but also in grocery stores, clothing stores, and even snack shops. These machines, which seem to have nothing to do with the business, are placed there.

Some owners paid rent to the boss to place the slot machines here, while others bought them themselves to earn some extra money.

But regardless, these slot machines, where you can potentially win a large sum of money with just a small investment, are extremely popular.

From students to adults with stable jobs, people would occasionally drop in a coin to try their luck when they saw each other.

If it's not like an arcade where you can exchange game tokens, then you have to insert at least one one-yuan coin to start each time.

Not many, not few.

At that time, one yuan still had strong purchasing power.

Of course, with the development of the times, there have also been many serious cases caused by slot machines, as well as cases of students stealing money from their families or even other people in order to play slot machines. Although the country has not yet banned them, Yukong High School strictly prohibits students from playing slot machines.

If discovered, it will result in a warning.

In some aspects of discipline, Rainy Sky High School is quite strict.

No matter where you play slot machines, if you do and the teacher finds out, there's nothing more to say.

However, rules are rules, and whether or not to follow them is another matter entirely.

After all, teachers can't patrol the entire time, so as long as they don't play slot machines near the school, there shouldn't be any problems.

Many students deliberately take a detour to play slot machines after school.

Ma Jia and Ma Jianhang, these two brothers love to use their pocket money to play slot machines, but they are relatively restrained. At least when they run out of pocket money, they stop and don't steal or cheat money from their parents to continue playing.

The two walked through the alleys with practiced ease, leaving the school behind, and arrived at a village-in-the-city area between their home and the school.

This place has undergone some renovations, connecting it to the main road outside. The original walls have been demolished, and it has been integrated into the city, becoming part of it.

In places like this, there are all sorts of small restaurants, and quite a few people come to eat there—mainly because they're cheap.

As for whether it's clean and hygienic... it's better not to know too much about some things.

In front of a grocery store on the corner, there were three slot machines, and chairs were thoughtfully provided so that people could sit down and enjoy the fun of gambling.

That way, the shop owners can make more money!

In gambling, as long as enough money is invested or enough people play, it's practically impossible to lose money.

Moreover, most slot machines have modified multipliers, making it a guaranteed win.

Even though many people know about these things, they still can't help but play, because everyone thinks that they are the lucky one who can win back the money that others have lost.

Unfortunately, reality is not a novel, and there aren't that many so-called incredibly lucky 'protagonists'.

"Boss, two bottles of Double Happiness cigarettes, please." Ma Jianhang stepped forward and handed over a one-yuan bill.

This grocery store is known to many students in the neighborhood; it sells cigarettes not only by the pack but also by the cigarette.

Although it's a bit more expensive than buying a whole pack, it's very popular with students because at least they won't have cigarette boxes on them that their parents might find out about.

"Okay." The shopkeeper took the money, quickly took out two cigarettes, handed them to the two men, and also handed over the six cents change.

"It's on me." Ma Jianhang picked up a cigarette and put it in his mouth, then tossed the other to Ma Jia.

"Oh, boss, you're so generous." Vest chuckled with a smug grin, then turned to the boss, "Boss, can I borrow a light?"

Borrowing a light is free; after all, the store has plenty of lighters, and lighting a few cigarettes won't cost much.

After lighting two cigarettes, the two somewhat dark-skinned teenagers took a deep drag, looking completely refreshed.

"Ah—ah, that feels good." Vest, who was just over 1.7 meters tall, with a square face and neither fat nor thin, sat down. His black skin was a wheatish black, while Ma Jianhang's black skin was a reddish black.

How much money did you bring with you today?

"I brought two coins." The man in the vest pulled out two one-yuan coins, which meant he could play a maximum of two rounds.

"Hey, I brought six yuan. I got change from the last one, so I have five left." Ma Jianhang put his hands in his pockets, shaking the coins inside so they jingled clearly.

"Then you go first," Vest said, a cigarette dangling from his lips. "Let's see how lucky you are."

"I don't have high expectations today, just double the winnings!" Ma Jianhang laughed and started playing with coins one by one. Just when he was about to lose all his coins, he won five more in one go.

Everything has returned to where it all started.

Although they didn't have many coins, the two played the slot machine for more than half an hour, winning and losing, but in the end they lost all the money in their pockets before reluctantly leaving.

"Sigh, I should have stopped earlier. I bet too much in that round. I had already won ten yuan!" Ma Jianhang said with a look of regret.

"You're lucky. I didn't win a single time with my two dollars."

"Let's come again next time, but next time we must stop in time," Ma Jianhang said.

"Haha, you always say that, and what's the result?"

"Tsk, why didn't you remind me?"

"I've told you so many times, okay?" The man in the vest shook his head helplessly, took out a 50-cent orange coin from his pocket, and said to the shopkeeper, "Boss, give me two Double Happiness cigarettes, and use the remaining 10 cents to buy two Coke candies."

"Oh, there's still 50 cents left?"

"Yes, it's on me," the man in the vest said, handing a cola candy and a cigarette to his friend.

"Yeah, I'll go home after I finish smoking, and I can even have a Coke candy to cleanse the smell. Not bad, not bad."

"Yeah, gotta get back to homework." Ma Jia, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, leaned against a nearby lamppost with his friend. "Hey, Ma Jianhang, out of all the girls in our class, which one do you like?"

"Me? What's wrong with that? There are so many pretty girls, can't I like them all?"

"Damn, you're such a womanizer!" the alias laughed and scolded. "If you had to choose one as your girlfriend, who would you pick?"

"What's the point of choosing? We're not even familiar with each other."

“I’m just giving you an example.” The man in the vest glanced at him sideways. “Besides, we’re not ugly, we’re at least handsome, right? We’re just a bit dark-skinned, oh, and you’re a bit short.”

"I'm roughly 1.7 meters tall, okay?"

"Then I'd have to be 1.8 meters tall?" Vest said, standing on tiptoe.

"If I had to pick a girl I like, how about twin sisters? Hehehe, maybe I could get both of them. Just imagine, a threesome!"

"Damn, are you a python? You have such a big appetite!" Ma Jia rolled his eyes at Ma Jianhang and took a small puff of his cigarette.

"Bullshit, I was born in the Year of the Pig," Ma Jianhang joked, clearly trying to belittle himself.

“No wonder,” the man in the vest said jokingly. “If I were to choose, I think Wang Jiale is pretty good. She’s lively and innocent, and most importantly, she’s easy to handle.”

"So, the key is that it's 'easy to handle' after all?"

"Well, women are hard to manage, so life is impossible. A virtuous wife and loving mother is the best, but they're hard to find. It's not bad to find one who's a bit simple-minded and easy to manage. You can easily have an affair later, right?"

"Wow, you're not human! You haven't even started a relationship and you're already thinking about having an affair?" Ma Jianhang held a cigarette between his fingers and blew out a less-than-perfect smoke ring.