Purple Summers had clawed more than twenty dolls, only stopping when it became too much to carry.
She wasnât foolish and knew that Alexander Summers must have done something, but she still felt delighted and asked, âWhatâs going on here? I could never grab one before!â
âThe claw machine is actually a type of gambling machine; its gripping force and sensitivity can be artificially set. For a high probability setting, you get one strong grip every twenty tries. For a low probability, it takes a hundred tries for one strong grip,â Alexander Summers said teasingly, looking at her with a smile, âI had it set to a hundred percent strong grip, yet out of ten tries, you only grabbed five times. Are you silly or what?â
âBecause Iâm picky,â Purple Summers asserted confidently. âSome dolls are easy to grab but they donât look good, and I donât even like to grab those.â
Alexander Summers couldnât help but chuckle. Seeing that her mood had improved, he took her to a poker performance next.
This was a casino show, blending magic with finger dexterity. Purple Summers was fascinated by the performerâs agile fingers, exclaiming in amazement, finding it unbelievable.
Immersed in the atmosphere, she no longer found it noisy. Instead, she felt it was lively and joyous, like a scene of peace and prosperity.
After the show, Alexander Summers led her to the buffet restaurant to eat. The casinoâs food also had its own unique flair, with a cake shaped like dice and a pie with jam shaped into â777.â
The most interesting was a dessert called the golden fish cake. When bitten into, golden beans spilled out from the belly of the fishâthe golden beans were made of cornmeal and sticky rice flour, soft and chewy, fragrant and delicious.
This fish cake had to be served fresh, so Purple Summers had Alexander queue up for it while she went to the restroom.
When she came out of the restroom, Purple Summers saw a man and a woman arguing outside the menâs room.
She was surprised, for that woman was none other than Yolanda Summers.
Purple Summers instinctively hid, concealing herself behind the broad leaves of an indoor plant to avoid embarrassment for both of them if seen.
Yolanda Summers was losing her temper at the man: âEvery time I have to wait, wait, and wait! How much longer do you expect me to wait?! Do you think I donât know what your mother is planning? Youâve been hanging out with Ms. Jones lately, does your mother want you to marry her? Is that it?!â
âThatâs just socializing,â the manâs voice was mellow, trying to downplay the issue, âWhen my mother invites her over, I canât just ignore her, can I? Besides, we didnât do anything; we just went to a concert one timeâ¦â
âI bet you wanted to do something, but she just wasnât willing, right?â Yolandaâs voice was cold, âSince youâve got your heart set on someone else, wouldnât I be in the way between you two? I wish you a lifetime of happiness together!â
With that, she turned and walked away, and the man quickly followed after her.
âThatâs just what my mother thinks, youâve misunderstood me!â the man explained, âDonât be angry, weâre supposed to be enjoying ourselves today. I promise Iâll make things clear with my mother when we get backâ¦â
He explained and coaxed at the same time, and Yolandaâs anger seemed to dissipate a bit, though her face was still sullen.
âIâm not in the mood to play around. When you clear things up with your mother about us, then get in touch with me,â Yolanda said coldly as she left.
The man sighed, feeling his spirits dampened, so he went off to find his friends and have fun instead.
Purple Summers stepped out from behind the plants after they had gone and went to look for Alexander.
Alexander was holding a plate of freshly made golden fish cakes, glittering and fragrant.@@novelbin@@
Seeing them made Purpleâs eyes light up, âWowâ¦â
âWeâll eat them in a minute; theyâre still hot,â Alexander said as he moved the plate away and asked her, âWhat took you so long?â
Purple recounted the incident she had just witnessed to Alexander.
âIt seems like the other party is playing the field,â Purple Summers said, revealing a rare gossipy streak. She sighed, âYolanda is quite something. She made it seem like she was hinting at a breakup but in reality, every word she said was hooking him in so he couldnât get angry and had to plead with her.â