The Silent World And Him - Chapter 11

On the way to the mall just now, Peng Jingyang straightened out his thoughts. He speculated why Qin called two girls over, considering Qin’s previous behavior of always inviting Pu Chen to join them for meals whenever they saw her in the cafeteria, persistently explaining math problems to her, albeit in his own name. He had reason to suspect that Qin seemed to have a fondness for Pu Chen. Although he himself was startled by this absurd idea, he always trusted his intuition.

Since his good friend was racking his brains to invite out a girl he liked, Peng Jingyang felt obligated to assist him. In order to create opportunities for Qin and Pu Chen to be alone together, he set aside his grievances and said to Zhao Shu, “Let’s go, let’s find a game to play one-on-one.” In terms of academics, Zhao Shu couldn’t match Peng Jingyang, but when it came to playing, she had never lost to anyone. “One-on-one it is then, just don’t secretly wipe away tears if you lose later.” She said the last three sentences very softly, only Peng Jingyang could hear them.

Needlepoint against wheat, neither looked favorably upon the other. Jostling each other, the two went to the service desk to exchange coins. Qin Yu and Pu Chen remained in place. He watched as Peng Jingyang and Zhao Shu walked away, unable to pull Peng Jingyang back. He glanced at Pu Chen, wondering if she would be upset.

Pu Chen, still in shock from seeing so many claw machines, hadn’t even recovered yet, and hadn’t even paid attention to when Peng Jingyang and Zhao Shu left. She silently counted, there were a total of fifty-five claw machines of various sizes, arranged in two rows, quite spectacular. “What do you want to play? I’ll accompany you.” Qin Yu’s tone was much gentler than in the morning. Pu Chen shook her head. She wasn’t a child who needed someone to be with her all the time. Most of the time, she didn’t want to communicate with people for fear of causing trouble and eventually annoying them. [I want to play claw machines, you go play whatever you like. When I catch a doll, I’ll come find you.] Originally, she wanted to type ‘find you’, but she didn’t know if it was because of guilt, so she changed it to ‘you guys’.

Qin Yu complied with her, he went to exchange coins, adding quite a bit of money, intending to give some to Pu Chen, but she refused, insisting on buying her own coins, so he had to give up. Pu Chen looked at the price list. The more you recharge, the more cost-effective it is. Just now she saw Qin Yu recharge two thousand on his membership card, and Peng Jingyang and Zhao Shu also got membership cards and recharged quite a bit of money. She heard that Peng Jingyang’s and Zhao Shu’s families were both in business and lived in the villa area. As for Qin Yu’s family, let alone, just that car alone was money that many people couldn’t earn in their lifetime. She couldn’t compare to them. But since they were out to play, she couldn’t dampen their spirits. She exchanged one hundred yuan.

Pu Chen held a small basket, less than half full of more than one hundred coins. She wasn’t interested in other games and went straight to the claw machine. It was her first time playing this, at first she couldn’t find a rhythm, if she couldn’t catch it she would switch machines, watching as the coins in the basket became fewer and fewer, she didn’t catch a single doll. When there were only twenty-something coins left, she still had nothing.

Pu Chen stood in front of the claw machine she liked, comforting herself, just one doll, even if bought online, wouldn’t be too expensive. At this moment, it seemed like another voice was saying, what’s bought isn’t the same as what’s caught, catching it yourself brings a sense of accomplishment. She told herself, try catching the last three times, if you still can’t, give up. Luckily, fortune finally smiled upon her, and she caught the doll she liked. Feeling elated, she moved to another claw machine and found dolls she liked there too. What Pu Chen didn’t know was that this machine had just been caught by someone else two minutes ago, so it couldn’t be caught in a short time. Seeing the coins in the basket getting fewer and fewer, she was soon at her wits’ end.

There was still nearly a thousand yuan in her phone, but she was reluctant to recharge again. In less than half an hour, a hundred yuan was about to be spent. Her dad worked hard all day and sometimes didn’t earn even a few hundred yuan, this hundred yuan, her dad didn’t know how many cars he had to fix to earn. In recent years, the family had become much better off. Since her aunt started working, she gave her dad tens of thousands of yuan every year, but her dad didn’t touch a penny and kept it all in the bank. Her dad said he didn’t have the ability to save up dowry for her aunt, and these money would be used by her aunt to buy what she liked when she got married in the future.

Pu Chen looked at the coins in the basket and decided not to catch dolls. If the coins were spent, she would be idle and would affect the mood of the other three.

“It’s not good to be too stingy when going out to play,” her father repeatedly reminded her before leaving home, urging her not to be reluctant to spend money.

In the end, Pu Chen gave up on grabbing dolls. She had to ensure that there were always coins in her small basket so that she wouldn’t feel embarrassed when she bumped into the three of them later.

Sitting in front of a small game, she watched the constantly changing images on the screen, pretending to study how to play, but never put in another coin.

All of her actions and expressions over the past half hour were noticed by Qin Yu. When she stood in front of the doll machine for such a long time, hesitating whether to continue putting in coins, he couldn’t bear to watch.

He regretted bringing her here and should have taken her to a place where she didn’t have to spend money. Her family only had her father’s income from repairing cars, and she was so sensible that she naturally wouldn’t spend money recklessly.

Whether it was him, Peng Jingyang, or Zhao Shu, they were accustomed to spending money like water. Qin Yu stood up and walked towards the doll machine. He knew a little trick about grabbing dolls; actually, there was no trick, just stand there and keep grabbing until you get one. Every machine was set with a probability, so you would eventually get one by keeping at it. Half an hour later, he grabbed five dolls.

There were special bags in the arcade for putting dolls in, which could be slung over the shoulder. He asked for two bags, intending to grab one of each of the good-looking dolls. Pu Chen looked up and saw his tall figure. Did he also like dolls?

Peng Jingyang and Zhao Shu walked over. He had just competed with Zhao Shu and was defeated miserably. He came over to catch his breath and see how Qin Yu and Pu Chen were doing.

“Wow, you’re so good!” Zhao Shu picked up the bag and saw that he had already grabbed the sixth one.

“Come clean, do you have a girlfriend in Beijing?”

Apart from grabbing dolls for the girl he liked, there wouldn’t be a second reason for a guy. Pu Chen heard Zhao Shu’s words when she walked over.

Qin Yu was focused on grabbing dolls and only said after a while, “Yes.”

Pu Chen’s heart suddenly jumped, feeling indescribable. But then she thought, it’s not strange for him to have a girlfriend, he’s so handsome, it would be abnormal if he didn’t.

In less than three seconds, Qin Yu pressed the confirm button and turned to Zhao Shu, saying, “Several.”

He had several girlfriends. His tone made it seem more suspicious. Pu Chen wasn’t sure whether he really had them or not.

“I grabbed another one!” Zhao Shu exclaimed.

Qin Yu stuffed the dolls he grabbed into the bag and continued to the next doll machine. He took out his membership card and handed it to Peng Jingyang,

“Next time you come, who knows when, you guys will wipe out all the coins here, it’s a waste to leave them inside.”

Peng Jingyang and Qin Yu were always close, and Qin Yu still hadn’t applied for a campus card, so they shared one. Zhao Shu was even more straightforward. She decided to keep the coins in her card to play during the winter vacation.

“Thanks, Boss Qin, for treating us. Chen Chen, let’s go exchange coins.”

Pu Chen felt embarrassed to take too much. Her situation was different from Zhao Shu’s; she didn’t have the financial means to reciprocate, which indirectly made her lose the confidence to play freely when others treated her. She took a symbolic amount and used it all to grab dolls.

They played until seven o’clock in the evening. Qin Yu grabbed a total of thirty-five dolls, divided into two bags. Pu Chen only grabbed two in the afternoon, but she was already very satisfied. As night fell, they parted ways downstairs in the mall. Zhao Shu’s father came to pick her up, and Peng Jingyang, being her neighbor, gave her a ride.

Pu Chen kept watching Zhao Shu and Peng Jingyang’s departing figures, thinking that if Zhao Shu didn’t accompany her, she and Qin Yu would be alone in the car later, which might be awkward. Qin Yu, on the other hand, looked thoughtfully at Pu Chen.

On the way home, Pu Chen was accompanied by two bags of dolls in the back seat, occasionally glancing at them. With Zhao Shu gone, the car was unusually quiet. Qin Yu’s message vibrated on Pu Chen’s phone, and she glanced at him. He was leaning back in the passenger seat, blocked by the backrest, and she could only see his shoulder. Perhaps it wasn’t convenient for him to say it in person with the driver present.

[Where do you want to go tomorrow?]

he asked. Without hesitation, Pu Chen rejected him: [I’m going to relatives’ house tomorrow, no time.]

She didn’t want to go anywhere, just didn’t want to spend more time with him. Maybe he really had a girlfriend.

Also, the three of them came from well-off families, they could afford to spend money wherever they went, but she didn’t have the luxury to go out every day.

Qin Yu: [I disappointed you today, I’ll take you to other places next time.]

Pu Chen feared that Qin Yu would see through her thoughts and hurriedly explained: [No, I had a great time, thank you.]

Pu Chen was afraid Qin Yu would see through her thoughts, so she hurriedly explained, “No, I’m really having a great time. Thank you.”

Qin Yu wanted to say that her disappointment was written all over her face, she just hadn’t realized it herself. If he had known that Peng Jingyang would stick to Zhao Shuying all afternoon, he wouldn’t have invited Zhao Shuying. But a girl as beautiful and cheerful as Zhao Shuying, even if Peng Jingyang liked her, he didn’t find it strange.

The car stopped at the entrance of an alley. It was narrow inside and not easy to turn around, so Qin Yu didn’t let the driver go in. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. Pu Chen got out of the car holding the two dolls she had caught.

Qin Yu walked to the back door of the car, opened it, and took down the two large bags of dolls. Pu Chen looked surprised. Qin Yu walked around to her side and said, “Let’s go, I’ll take you back.”

Pu Chen replied, “No need, my dad is still at the shop.” It was only seven o’clock and there were people coming and going on the street, so there was really no need for a ride.

Qin Yu walked forward with the two bags of dolls on his back. Pu Chen caught up with him and asked, “Why don’t you put these dolls in the car?”

Qin Yu turned his head to look at her and said, “They’re for you, how can I put them in the car?”

Pu Chen remembered the sentence he said about having a girlfriend at the arcade and refused, “Thank you, I have dolls, you can give them to your girlfriend.”

Qin Yu replied, “I’ve never been in a relationship, where would I get a girlfriend?”

He realized why Puchén asked him to give the dolls to his girlfriend and explained, “If I didn’t say that, Zhao Shuying wouldn’t believe it and would keep asking.”

Maybe Zhao Shuying would even snatch the dolls he caught. Hearing that he didn’t have a girlfriend, Pu Chen suddenly felt relieved, and her footsteps couldn’t help but quicken. All the gloominess of the evening disappeared without a trace.

Ahead was the repair shop, with its lights on. Qin Yu stopped and stood face to face with Pu Chen. He handed her the two bags of dolls and said, “I’m not interested in stuffed toys. I just caught these dolls for fun. If I take them back, my mom will throw them away. She doesn’t like having these things in the house. Can you do me a favor and take them in?”

Under the light of the streetlamp, he couldn’t find any trace of unhappiness in Puchén’s eyes. The previous disappointment on her face vanished, and there was a smile in the corners of her eyes. It turned out that dolls could heal all her unhappiness.

Peng Jingyang didn’t like her, and there was nothing he could do to help. But making her happy, he could still do that. In the future, he would often take her to catch dolls. He heard that the dolls in the claw machine would be replaced with new ones after a while, and they would never be able to catch them all. He could accompany her to catch them forever.