Smile Code (Lost Laughter) 失笑 - Zhu Le 祖乐

60

A tearful warning: Don't let a determined man play with claw machines.

Gu Yi thought Liang Daiwen had lost his mind.

She had seen boys in middle school who liked their class "idols." They were so inexperienced that receiving a love letter would leave them breathless. Agreeing to go to a music store together would make them jump up excitedly. Holding hands while running five hundred meters or chasing after buses on bicycles-she'd always found these guys mysterious. What was there to get so worked up about? Their pointless excitement only made them seem immature.

But seeing Liang Daiwen occasionally show these small details, Gu Yi felt for the first time... kind of intrigued. Every time she saw him, he smiled right away-not the kind of smile you'd expect from a man his age, but the genuine happiness of a young boy. A few times, she thought he was about to leap high into the air before he held himself back with reason. So each time they met, she felt like his neck stretched unusually long.

When passing by a shopping mall, Gu Yi asked if they wanted to go inside. Liang Daiwen agreed without expression, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw him taking tiny steps. As they passed the glass doors, he even checked his reflection in the mirror.

They walked through the mall for about fifteen minutes. Liang Daiwen thought she might buy clothes, but instead, Gu Yi lost interest and dove into the game area on B1 floor to play claw machines. Liang Daiwen stood nearby with his arms crossed, looking silently disapproving.

Gu Yi was puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"What's fun about this?"

Gu Yi ignored him completely. After becoming a member, she wandered among the claw machines and stopped in front of Donald Duck. "This one looks good."

"Don't tell me it reminds you of me."

"Why not?"

"It doesn't look like that at all."

Gu Yi pursed her lips, hunching over and squinting at the claw machine from different angles. The claw seemed perfectly positioned above the plushies, yet it always missed by a hairbreadth. It brushed against Donald Duck's rear time after time, while the duck itself was rotated this way and that-still no success. After ten failed attempts, Liang Daiwen said, "Move it slightly right, about two centimeters toward you. Trust me, we'll get it this time."

Gu Yi remained skeptical, but after hitting the confirm button as instructed, the claw hooked onto Donald Duck's tie. Gu Yi snatched up the duck, exclaiming, "Holy crap! This is the first time I've ever won a plushie! How did you do that?!"

"Let's not make too big of a deal out of it," Liang Daiwen said with a dismissive wave of his hand, as if it were nothing special.

Impressed despite himself, Gu Yi greedily asked for another try. "Let's grab one more to make them a couple."

Liang Daiwen feigned nonchalance. "Oh, how about that junk cat next door?"

Gu Yi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets-the large-eyed junk cat with a pink patch on its head looked almost as if it had been waiting just for them. Already smugly satisfied, Liang Daiwen declared, "Scan the code for me. You'll see I can nail it in one go."

Without even bending his waist, he easily swiveled the direction lever, pressed confirm, and waited for the junk cat to take the bait. His claw swept over the junk cat's head, but it didn't react. The second time, he tried a bit more earnestly, moving his claw around and scratching at the junk cat's patchwork, but still no movement. The third time, he bent down and aimed carefully for half a minute before lifting his hand to press confirm. The twenty-second countdown passed.