Chapter 314 – The Game of Life

Ai Mi asked me to buy two banana splits from DQ when we passed by the ice cream booths. We sat down at a seat and finished our own shares.

I’m not sure why Ai Mi likes DQ more than Häagen-Dazs. It might be because she sees no difference in ¥30 and ¥60, they both might as well be free.

The DQ saleswoman looked at the Häagen-Dazs booth across from her with a smile of contempt like how a victor looks at a loser.

The Häagen-Dazs across didn’t have a single customer and the salesman felt uncomfortable and began to draw something on the glass of the freezer.

Don’t tell me he’s drawing something to curse the DQ customers?

That’s enough. Why do you guys have to fight to the death when you’re only selling ice cream? Also, you guys face each other every day, why not take some time after work and go on a date, stop always trying to curse the customers.

Later on, Ai Mi and I unwittingly walked onto the level of the mall with a video game arcade.

Ai Mi looked through the glass and exclaimed:

“Hey, Winnie’s in there.”

I took a quick glance and saw Xiong YaoYue sitting in front of the Street Fighter 4 machine. She was currently in the middle of a decisive battle with a middle-aged man with long hair, earrings, and a stubble beard.

Ai Mi grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the arcade. The female cashier behind the counter excitedly paid her respect to the God of Wealth as Ai Mi passed by. Last time, Ai Mi gave her quite a generous tip after she had her buy some ice cream.

The middle-aged man in a battle with Xiong YaoYue whole-heartedly admitted his loss before we got closer. He stood up from the stool and lowered his head to Xiong YaoYue:

“You’re incredible. I’ve never met someone as skilled as you in a long time. I originally thought if I don’t make it in music, I can still do well in fighting games… who knew my worldview was so small.”

Xiong YaoYue was wearing short-sleeves and hot pants as usual. But this time, she didn’t have the superman S logo on her shirt, instead, the word ‘Show Off’ was written in the front.

I can’t believe you would wear that shirt. Although I’ve seen many young men wearing these kinds of shirts recently, it’s the first time I’ve seen a young girl wearing one.

Even though the words ‘Show Off’ was written on her clothes, Xiong YaoYue did not show off in front of the middle-aged man.

“Oh, mister, you don’t have to be that polite~”

Xiong YaoYue scratched her head and giggled.

“Mister, it seems you lost miserably, but your attacks were really strong. I got nervous and actually exceeded my normal abilities and won on a fluke.”

Hah, usually most people would be negatively influenced by nervousness, but you exceed normal capabilities when you’re nervous? It’s a waste playing video games if you can defy the natural order.

“Miss Xiong, you really know how to comfort people…”

“Don’t call me Miss Xiong, call me Yue Yue.” Xiong YaoYue emphasized her statement while knocking on the machine, “I didn’t lie. If I lied, then let me never be able to get married.”

The middle-aged man made a bitter smile: “Miss Yue Yue is beautiful and spirited, how can you never get married? But for an old man like me, I might not be able to find a wife…”

“Don’t be discouraged.” The energetic Xiong YaoYue didn’t want to see other people feeling dejected, “If you continue with your music, you’ll make it one day. One of my classmates went to one of the restaurants you sang at and they really appreciated your music. She said your music was filled was sadness and was great to listen to when in a bad mood…”

The middle-aged man had an awkward expression, but then he quickly became relieved.

“Haha, I can’t help it, it’s my style. Other people all feel sad when they hear my music… I won’t bother you anymore. I still have to perform at three different restaurants with my band in the afternoon.”

He spotted Ai Mi immediately when he turned around to leave.

Ai Mi was wearing a relatively plain gown for her, and her two ponytails were tied up with a red string. She wasn’t wearing sunglasses, but she should still appear different than her image as an idol.

The long-haired middle-aged man grabbed his stubble with an expression of disbelief. His gaze was concentrated on Ai Mi even after he left the arcade when he looked through the glass at her one last time.

Damn, is he a lolicon like Director Cao? It looks like I have to stay alert even inside the mall. If Ai Mi was molested because I couldn’t watch properly, then I’ll have to punish myself.

But the man’s eyes had a bit of sadness and it wasn’t filled with lust like Director Cao. Maybe he’s not a lolicon, but a musician, perhaps he recognized Ai Mi.

Then the sadness in his eyes could be explained. Ai Mi was able to obtain numerous fans purely based on her appearance and sweet voice, even when she sang songs she didn’t even like. Yet diligent artists are forced to be always on the move because they can’t obtain the appreciation of the masses. There’s too much difference in destiny.

But I don’t care if you’re sad or jealous. Even if you’re a hidden lolicon, I’ll protect my sister. So please don’t do anything that would make me go berserk.

After I warned the long-haired man, I saw Ai Mi and Xiong YaoYue already playing together.

“Winnie, do you come here every week?”

Xiong YaoYue was really happy because AI Mi didn’t call her ‘Miss Xiong’.

“Pretty much. I can get some free AC on hot days and you can play a long time with one token, so it’s worth it.”

The cashier lady looked at Xiong YaoYue with scorn. The arcade usually doesn’t welcome high-level players.

Xiong YaoYue waved at me, “Ye Lin, as expected, you came with Ai Mi! How about let’s play a round?”

“Play with me first.” Ai Mi took the second player seat of the machine, then she ordered me to buy arcade tokens for her.

When I returned with 50 tokens, Ai Mi didn’t want to carry them because it was too heavy, so she told me to carry all of it.

She didn’t even bring a handbag today, so she couldn’t carry it on her even if she wanted to.

I thought it would be boring just watching the two girls so I went to play hoops. Before I left, I left 25 of the tokens with Xiong YaoYue and asked her to accompany Ai Mi.

“No problem.” Xiong YaoYue replied, “If you’re paying, I can even purposely lose a few games, because I’m the ‘if I pay I would never lose, but if someone else pays, I don’t mind throwing a few games’ person!”

Can you please not bring up that nickname again? Also, why would you mention you’re going to throw games in from of Ai Mi? She might be small, but she has a lot of pride, actually, she’s already frowning at you.

“Winnie, you don’t have to throw games. I can easily master these simple games.”

“Huh, are you an expert? If you’re even better than Ye Lin, then I’m looking forward to it.”

“Of course, the manservant is on a much lower level… which key do I press to throw bombs.”

“…..”

I threw 50 consecutive shots at the basketball machine. I wanted to maintain my skill and I tried to deceive myself: my skill wouldn’t drop even if I haven’t touched a basketball recently.

I could hear the Fu Yan Jie advertisement ringing next to my year: “Regardless if it’s now or the future, let’s maintain our love.”

The future is near. If I lose the basketball game, then I would have to drink Fu Yan Jie in front of the class.

“Ye Lin, Ye Lin, come over here.”

Xiong YaoYue suddenly called me. It seems they already went to play on the boxing machine.

Every time you use a token, the target would rise. You can punch it as hard as you can to determine the power of your punch.

I thought Xiong YaoYue called me because she wanted to know my strength. I was eager to give it a try, but Ai Mi told me she called me over so I could get a picture and become the target on the screen. Then they would have more enthusiasm when they play.

Why are you guys making evil grins? Do you really want to put my face on the screen and give me a beating?

I couldn’t change their minds, so I stood in front of the camera and got my picture taken. I’m actually pretty photogenic, some people might think I’m a dedicated villain for the game.

Ai Mi raised her fist and said: “I’ll go first.”

She mustered her strength and punched the target.

“Oof~” I made a sound effect to accompany her punch.

The target didn’t move at all. You can see a slight indentation on the corner of my mouth on the picture, but there was virtually no difference from the original. A score was displayed in the top right corner: 18

Regardless if the unit of power was pounds or kilograms, the attack power was shockingly low. The jaws of a polar can exert over 1800 kilos of force, so even if there were a hundred of you, they can’t open a polar bear’s jaws.

I guess you would only be around half of Gong CaiCai’s strength. How embarrassing. If you’re this weak, how would you protect yourself against lolicons. No wonder you can’t leave your bodyguards.

Ai Mi looked at her unprecedented low score with shame. Fortunately, Xiong YaoYue came up from behind and ruthlessly punched the target.

299 points. Although the unit of power was unclear, my face on the screen began to swell up like a pig and Ai Mi cheered. Are you that happy with your brother being hit?

In order to teach them a lesson, I rushed forward and struck the rising target ferociously.

550 points. It seems the unit of measurement is pounds. I read on a boxing magazine that the power of Tyson’s left hook was 500 kilograms, so if I was able to hit 550 kilos, wouldn’t I be insane?

Before I pulled out my phone to use a unit converter, my picture had a completely sunken nose, and his face was already unrecognizable.

Wow, it really looks like I have nothing better to do, I actually beat myself up.