Chapter 183: Chapter 183
Turns out it was a balloon-shooting game, with plush toys as prizes. The ultimate reward was a massive two-meter-tall stuffed bear.
The owner, trying to draw a crowd, divided the balloons into two sections. Two people could compete at the same time; whoever burst all the balloons in the shortest time would win the round’s prize. If someone won ten consecutive rounds, they’d get the giant bear.
The contestants were mostly young men, eager to impress their girlfriends and going all out.
Unfortunately, these young folks were too hooked on online games and lacked exercise. Their physical strength left much to be desired, and their arm strength was downright abysmal.
Over two hours after opening, the owner still hadn’t seen anyone succeed in claiming the giant bear.
Zhang Xiaoyu’s eyes were glued to that giant bear, practically drooling.
She rubbed her palms together, visibly itching to give it a try.
"Boss." Zhang Xiaoyu raised her hand and walked over. "I want to join."
The owner saw that it was a little girl and immediately smiled. Another easy customer giving away money.
"It’s five bucks per round. Each round gives you twenty shots. If you can burst all the balloons faster than your opponent, you win the prize for this round. Otherwise, you get nothing."
Zhang Xiaoyu promptly handed over the money, walked up to the table, and picked up the air rifle, fiddling with it.
On the opposite side was a boy around eighteen or nineteen, who glanced at Zhang Xiaoyu out of the corner of his eye and sneered, "Little girl, do you even know how to use that air rifle? This is a man’s game. You’d better run back home and find your mom."
Zhang Xiaoyu rolled her eyes. "Why are you talking so much? Stop yapping and wasting time."
With that, she found the loading spot, fiddled with it, successfully loaded the gun, and grinned broadly in triumph.
The owner waved the stopwatch in his hand. "Alright, little girl, I’m starting the timer now."
Zhang Xiaoyu aimed at a balloon on the other side, fired one shot, and immediately popped a balloon.
She jumped up gleefully, turning to look at Shen You’an and Zhang Feifei.
"Sister An, Xiaoyu is amazing!" Zhang Feifei exclaimed excitedly as she tugged on Shen You’an’s arm.
Shen You’an smiled and raised an eyebrow.
The boy on the other side snorted disdainfully.
Standing beside him was a girl, presumably his girlfriend, who glared unhappily at Zhang Xiaoyu.
The boy reassured her, "Relax. The first shot was just beginner’s luck. I’ll definitely win you the doll you like."
On her second shot, Zhang Xiaoyu missed. Still, she wasn’t discouraged and kept aiming.
"Twelve balloons in total, one minute and twelve seconds. You’re the best girl I’ve seen play this game. Not bad." The owner gave a thumbs-up in praise.
Zhang Xiaoyu frowned unhappily. The more she played, the better she got the hang of it. But near the end, there were clearly balloons she hit that didn’t pop, which frustrated her to no end.
The boy began to feel some pressure, patted his girlfriend’s shoulder, and raised his air rifle to aim.
Dramatically, the boy also hit twelve balloons by the time he reached his final shot.
It was the deciding point.
If he missed the last one, the result would be a tie.
Only now did the crowd realize how thrilling the situation had become.
The boy gritted his teeth, aimed at the last balloon, and pulled the trigger.
To everyone’s disappointment, the balloon didn’t burst.
The boy furrowed his brows, angrily tossing the air rifle aside.
His girlfriend pouted. "How could you lose to a little girl?"
The owner announced the results: "One minute and twenty-two seconds. Though both of you hit twelve balloons, the little girl took less time. So, she’s the winner of this round."
"Oh yeah!" Zhang Xiaoyu jumped up excitedly.
The boy’s face darkened. "That’s not fair! Boss, are you working with this little girl to cheat me out of my money?"
The owner quickly defended himself: "Don’t spout nonsense!"
"Nonsense?" The boy, tall and imposing, took a menacing step forward, exerting a strong sense of intimidation.
The owner, a short and skinny old man, seeing that the boy might cause trouble after losing, hesitated and seemed about to change his tune to avoid conflict.
Zhang Xiaoyu, fearless as ever, put her hands on her hips and snapped at the boy, "What, can’t handle losing? A grown man picking on a little girl like me, how embarrassing! Hey everyone, tell me if I’m wrong—he can’t handle a loss and now wants to bully someone?"
The onlookers started pointing fingers at the boy, all agreeing that his behavior was out of line.
The girl beside him looked even more upset.
Embarrassed and furious, the boy raised his hand to slap Zhang Xiaoyu. "Shut up, you little brat...!"
But Zhang Xiaoyu, still just a kid, froze in place, startled by the boy’s sudden aggression.
However, the anticipated slap never landed.
Zhang Xiaoyu cautiously opened her eyes and saw the boy’s wrist firmly grasped by a slender, pale hand. Under the sunlight, that exposed skin was so white it was blinding.
She stared blankly upwards, only to see an exquisitely beautiful girl, her features like pearls and jade, radiating an icy brilliance that stunned everyone around her.
The boy stood motionless, dazed, his eyes full of awe and forgetting entirely what he had been about to do.
The crowd began murmuring, "Wow, she’s so gorgeous... definitely not from around here."
The girl was tall and wore an all-black casual outfit, making her exposed porcelain skin appear even more striking.
Her petite, oval-shaped face boasted exceptionally delicate features—breathtaking at first glance and only more attractive with each look.
Especially her eyes, shimmering like sparkling lights, yet in a fleeting moment resembling an ancient, serene well. The more stunning they were, the more deeply they captivated.
"Can’t handle losing?" the girl questioned coldly, her voice like autumn sunlight, carrying a faint chill.
"You... So what if you’ve got numbers on your side? If you’ve got the guts, you compete against me!" The boy snapped back, finally regaining his composure, but his eyes couldn’t leave her face.
The girl raised an eyebrow and loosened her grip. "If you lose, you apologize to this little girl and the stall owner."
The boy let out a cold laugh. "So confident, are you?"
Looking at her slim wrists, he wasn’t even sure she could hold up the rifle.
Shen You’an stepped forward, effortlessly picking up the air rifle.
"An’an, I’m fine. Don’t overdo it," Zhang Xiaoyu said as she walked over.
An’an had her head buried in studies all the time; she probably didn’t know much about gaming or fun things .
The girl raised the rifle, fluidly loaded it, aimed, and fired, all in one seamless motion. Her movements were strikingly smooth and precise.
"Ayao, you’ve grown up in the big city. If it weren’t for this trip back with Aunt Chongyang for the ancestral rites, you’d probably have never come to a small-town festival in your life," said one of two well-dressed teenage boys walking into the crowd. The taller boy looked visibly annoyed by the noisy surroundings.
"This is boring. Let’s go back." The boy was about to leave when a loud, piercing scream broke out from the crowd ahead.
His companion’s eyes gleamed. "Ayao, let’s go check it out. Looks like something interesting is happening."
The boy frowned but reluctantly followed.
With his height, he easily spotted the center of the gathered crowd from the outskirts.
It was a balloon-shooting stall.
A boy and a girl were in the middle of a competition.
From his vantage point, he could only see the girl’s back—slim and tall.
The boy narrowed his eyes slightly.
The standing position with a rifle had the highest center of gravity and minimal stability, making it the most challenging.
Yet the girl handled it with ease, firing all twenty shots in a rapid sequence without missing a single target amid the rhythmic "pop pop pop" of balloons breaking.
The entire crowd fell silent.
The owner’s jaw hung open wide enough to fit an egg.
The timer in the owner’s hand read: 11.88 seconds...