Prince charming, your persona has collapsed!
Chapter 844 - 348: Baby, I'm Coming to Find You!

Nothing particularly special happened during the few days of Chinese New Year. Because of the snow, it was especially cold outside, so Zhou Yuwen stayed home and played cards with Su Qing and Lu Wanting out of boredom.

Sometimes Peng Xiaoyong would join in, and the four of them would play cards together. Speaking of card skills, Zhou Yuwen was definitely the best, while Peng Xiaoyong's lackluster skills clearly showed he wasn't used to playing cards. Despite not knowing how to play, he thought it was simple, carried blind confidence, and believed his intelligence was superior, making him think he'd easily dominate. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't win. Later, Lu Wanting complimented Zhou Yuwen right in front of him, saying Zhou Yuwen was so skilled at cards and must be very smart.

This made Peng Xiaoyong a bit upset. Out of the blue, he blurted, "Playing cards is all about practice. If you don't focus on studying and spend all your time playing cards, no wonder you didn't get into a good university."

That remark left an awkward silence. The worst part was that Su Qing also went to a second-tier university, so she wasn't happy to hear it.

In theory, Peng Xiaoyong was the oldest among them, so he should've led the group. But as things played out, the other three often had to accommodate him, which ultimately ended in a less-than-enjoyable time, prompting them to stop playing altogether.

In the end, even Lu Wanting didn't want to play with Peng Xiaoyong anymore. It was far more enjoyable for the three of them to play Dou Dizhu instead.

Besides lying in the room playing poker, evenings were spent going out with relatives for meals or casual outings. By the fifth day of the New Year, the snow had mostly melted, and the group finally decided to go out walking around.

Su Bei's small county was still very lively during Chinese New Year, with activities like ring toss, balloon shooting, and bumper cars lining the streets.

I remember as a child being particularly fond of bumper cars, but they were too expensive—ten yuan for just five minutes. As I got older and finally had money, the bumper cars had already increased to twenty yuan for five minutes.

But now, Zhou Yuwen wasn't short on money. Looking at the bumper cars he used to love, he no longer felt the urge to play.

Maybe this is what's called,

"Wishing to buy osmanthus wine and share it, yet it's never quite the same as youthful wanderings."

As a child, my biggest dream was to make lots and lots of money, so I could play bumper cars all day long. Now that I finally have the means, I no longer have that desire.

That evening, Zhou Yuwen went out with Su Qing, Lu Wanting, and a cousin, making it a group of four. Since it was Lu Wanting's first time experiencing Chinese New Year in China, she found everything fascinating as they wandered the cheerful and bustling streets.

The specially designated street was jam-packed with people. It was truly shoulder-to-shoulder, to the point that even Su Qing was tightly clutching Zhou Yuwen's arm.

But Lu Wanting kept darting around, which left Peng Xiaoyong extremely uneasy. He followed closely behind, repeatedly urging her to slow down.

Lu Wanting, however, giggled and insisted they hurry up to keep up with her.

"This looks fun! Let's play this!"

Lu Wanting spotted a balloon-shooting stand up ahead and pushed her way through, insisting they try it out. According to the rules of the stand, ten yuan got you forty bullets, and if you hit every target, you'd win a giant stuffed animal pillow.

After carefully examining the stand, Lu Wanting immediately pointed to a large teddy bear and said to Peng Xiaoyong, "I want this one!"

Although Peng Xiaoyong wasn't in a romantic relationship with Lu Wanting, some girls have a way of naturally exuding their feminine charm, regardless of their relationship status.

And instead of feeling annoyed, most guys would find such girls endearing.

Of course, that's only if she's good-looking.

At least for Peng Xiaoyong, Lu Wanting met the criteria. He adjusted his glasses and said, "Alright!"

He handed ten yuan to the stall owner and ordered, "Ten yuan's worth, please."

Then he started shooting away at the balloons with sharp, concentrated focus.

Shooting balloons like this actually wasn't too difficult. With a good aim, you could easily hit the targets. The challenge was managing to hit all forty in a row.

"Make way! Move aside!"

A few other people eager to take their turn started pushing through, urging Peng Xiaoyong and Lu Wanting to clear the area a bit.

Peng Xiaoyong was hitting the balloons accurately at first but quickly noticed someone jostling Lu Wanting. He stepped beside her to confront them, asking, "What's your deal?"

"Oh, hero saving the beauty, eh?" scoffed Jin Kai, a stocky man smoking a cigarette. Without really looking at Peng Xiaoyong, he sneered.

But when Jin Kai finally caught sight of Peng Xiaoyong, he froze and frowned slightly, muttering, "Huh? Why does your face look so familiar?"

"Have we met somewhere before?" Jin Kai asked.

Peng Xiaoyong recognized Jin Kai but didn't understand the context of Zhou Yuwen's past interactions with him. He denied it outright with a cold tone, "You're imagining things. How could I know someone like you?"

"What?" Jin Kai paused for a beat and was about to lose his temper.

At that moment, Zhou Yuwen showed up, holding Su Qing's hand, and caught sight of the familiar face. Smiling, he quipped, "What's going on here? Are you picking on people again?"

Jin Kai's body tensed up just at the sound of Zhou Yuwen's voice. When he turned around and saw Zhou Yuwen, his whole demeanor shifted—he slapped himself lightly and stammered, "B-Brother, I didn't know it was you!"

It dawned on him who Peng Xiaoyong was, and he grinned sheepishly, "Ah, buddy! I was wondering why you looked familiar. You wouldn't admit it earlier, but if you had, I wouldn't have nearly made such a mistake!"

Peng Xiaoyong stood puzzled, unable to make sense of Jin Kai's sudden change in attitude.

Zhou Yuwen smirked dismissively and shot back, "Alright, why are you still hanging around here?"

"Oh, oh! I'll leave right now, sure!"