Professional claw-machine player and toy collector x novelist
Short-tempered, domineering, guiding cool guy x socially anxious, poker-faced, absurdly lucky airhead
Lu Zhao (male) x Song Huaijin (female)
1
Song Huaijin is very socially anxious and doesn't know how to communicate with people. She's been slow on the uptake since childhood, or to be precise, she has no tact.
When her roommate tells her their partner is moving in and kicks her out, she gives them a cash gift. When her boss says her writing is no better than shit, she thinks they're right. When her coworker picks on her, she suddenly understands.
So this is how people interact these days.
Unemployed and kicked out of her shared apartment, with nowhere to go, she wanders the streets until she spots a whole street full of claw machines.
She sees a little yellow dog inside one of them.
It's so cute.
That's right, she falls in love with a dog.
Song Huaijin walks into the bustling arcade street and stops in front of the little dog.
The words on the machine's glass catch her eye even more than the dog.
[Try to reach inside and steal a prize, and I'll beat your ass.]
?
Song Huaijin stares at the notice in confusion for quite a while.
She doesn't understand it.
But she's paying to play, so it should be fine.
She puts in her first coin, gently turns the claw machine's joystick, and presses the button.
Then she watches helplessly as the machine drops the plushie into the back of the cabinet.
?
This claw machine seems a little different from the ones she's seen before.
Only after spending over eight hundred yuan does someone who looks very handsome, if a little fierce, come up beside her and slap the glass in front of her.
She jumps.
"Hey, are you here to wreck my business?"
"What does 'don't claim it after winning' mean?"
Lu Zhao is very tall. His shadow can envelop her as he looks down and speaks.
The guy who threatens to beat people up has arrived.
Song Huaijin gets nervous and shrinks back a little, answering softly,
"Does paying to play count as wrecking your business?"
Her face is hidden beneath her mask, so no one can see her expression. But from the outside, her barely visible eyes look a little like she's rolling them.
"?"
She's provoking me.
Unable to take it anymore, Lu Zhao takes the little yellow dog out and tosses it in front of her.
"Next time, read the machine first."
He taps the notice on the glass cabinet with his fingertip, then walks away, leaving Song Huaijin looking worried.
He's so nice, just giving it to her like that. Won't the boss yell at him?
Carrying the dog, Song Huaijin guiltily puts another two hundred yuan into the machine.
Lu Zhao: Dumbass.
Song Huaijin: What an amazing good person!
She sees this handsome and kind, maybe? man again three hours later, dragging a mountain of luggage and standing outside Lu Zhao's door.
"Hello, are you looking for a roommate to share the rent?"
2
Lu Zhao works hard to appear perfect. In front of his coworkers, he's a highly capable senior colleague.
But when he's playing claw machines as a side hustle, that's when he shows his dissolute, irritable side.
The image he presents only has to work on other people.
He can be whatever kind of person others want him to be.
That's not hard for him.
Until he meets the person who crosses paths with both his job and his side hustle,
and sees both sides of him.
Any normal person would think he's crazy, wouldn't they?
That's what he thinks, but the person in front of him suddenly says,
You're a good person.
You're so nice.
?
Is she out of her mind?
Later, gazing at the person asleep beside him, he feels a rush of joy.
If it's with this person,
then whatever kind of life they spend together,
it'll be worth it.
The first version of the blurb has been taken down. The second version was written on 2026.03.09.
Theme: A vivid story, but a fleeting connection
