Jiang Mo took out a straw, poking it into her drink as she said, "Gu Ye couldn't find something at home and asked me where it was." Then she took a big sip and added, "Oh, by the way, Senior, you know Gu Ye, right?"
"I’ve heard of him. Came across him online before—he’s a pretty popular celebrity, isn’t he?" Pei Ting replied.
Noticing Pei Ting standing, Jiang Mo glanced at the small bench she was sitting on and scooted over, making room. "Senior, don’t just stand there. Sit down."
Pei Ting looked at the space she’d cleared and obligingly sat beside her. The remaining space was tight, and their legs naturally ended up pressed together. He was wearing casual trousers, while Jiang Mo, dressed for the heat, had on a pleated skirt that revealed her slender, fair legs.
Averting his gaze, he suggested, "Should we go somewhere else?"
Jiang Mo checked the time. "It’s almost time. Let’s just rest here in the mall, grab a bite, and then head to the concert."
Pei Ting nodded. "There’s a claw machine and a photo booth downstairs. Want to check them out?"
Jiang Mo slurped her milk tea. "Sure! I’m a claw machine expert—just wait till I fill a whole sack with plushies for you."
Ten minutes later, her pink cart already held four small plush toys.
"You really are an expert," Pei Ting remarked, his face softening with an indulgent smile as he watched her enthusiasm.
Jiang Mo bent over the claw machine, inserted a coin, and focused on the moving claw. With perfect timing, she pressed the button, and a capybara plush tumbled down.
She retrieved it and placed it in the cart, then turned to Pei Ting. "Senior, why aren’t you playing? Give it a try!"
"I’ve never played before. I’m not as good as you," Pei Ting said, picking up two coins and casually dropping them into the adjacent machine, which happened to be free.
Jiang Mo was about to suggest trying a different machine—this one looked tricky—but before she could speak, the claw expertly snagged a rabbit plush, gripping it firmly before dropping it into the chute.
She blinked in surprise. "Wow, you’re amazing! How did you do that?"
"Just luck," Pei Ting chuckled, adding the rabbit to the cart while mentally calculating how many more they’d need to exchange for the large plush Jiang Mo wanted.
When he proceeded to grab two more plushies in quick succession, Jiang Mo eyed him skeptically. "Senior, are you sure you’ve never played before?"
Pei Ting shook his head. "Really, I wouldn’t even be here if not for you."
Jiang Mo’s claw machine skills were honed through countless attempts, so seeing Pei Ting’s effortless success made her sigh—some people were just naturally gifted.
Spotting a few empty machines nearby, Pei Ting pointed. "How about we try this one?"
"No, someone just grabbed one from there. The odds are bad now," Jiang Mo explained, sharing her hard-earned wisdom. "These machines have fixed probabilities. It’s best to wait until someone’s tried a few times before jumping in."
In other words, swoop in for the leftovers—that’s when the chances were highest.
Pei Ting raised an eyebrow. "So that’s your secret technique?"
"Yep, and it works pretty well."
After forty minutes of dedicated effort, they’d collected over twenty plushies, and Jiang Mo finally exchanged them for a giant capybara.
Pei Ting naturally took the bag holding the prize. "Let’s go eat."
Jiang Mo trailed behind him. "Senior, are you hungry? I’m not too famished. Maybe we can just grab something light?"
Pei Ting nodded. "Whatever you prefer."
The basement level was packed with snack stalls. Jiang Mo craved roujiamo (Chinese burgers) and grilled sweet potato skins, so she went on a mini spree, buying several different treats.
Unexpectedly, Pei Ting ran into a male colleague from his law firm there.
The colleague, accompanied by his girlfriend, greeted him. "Didn’t you say you were going to a concert? What are you doing here alone?"
"Yeah, we’re grabbing food first," Pei Ting replied casually.
The colleague glanced at the spread on their table. "Wow, you’ve got quite the feast. There aren’t many seats around—mind if we join you?"
Just as Pei Ting was about to decline, Jiang Mo returned with a bag of grilled duck necks.
Learning they were Pei Ting’s colleagues asking to share the table, she agreed cheerfully. "Of course! It’s crowded here, so seats are hard to find. Good thing we got one early."
The colleague had been present during the last case where Pei Ting and Jiang Mo crossed paths at a meal. Seeing them together again today, he put two and two together.
This guy’s definitely into her.
Jiang Mo shared her snacks with them, and the colleague said, "We’re crashing your table and mooching your food—how embarrassing. Here, try some of ours too."
"So you studied law too? Where are you working now?"
Jiang Mo answered without hesitation. "I’m kind of an embarrassment to the profession—I’m not practicing. Right now, I’m working as a nanny."
That caught the colleague off guard. It wasn’t a career path he’d encountered among his peers.
Pei Ting shot him a look. "Being a nanny isn’t easy. The standards are high, and not everyone can do it."
"True," the colleague conceded, recalling the elite domestic staff employed by wealthy clients—often better off than many white-collar workers.
"But I’m planning to ease back into my field eventually," Jiang Mo added between bites of grilled sweet potato skin.
She’d taken the nanny job at the Gu household during a low point, wanting to break out of her rut at home. It was a stepping stone.
Plus, the position was a favor to her mom—a cushy arrangement. But lately, she’d realized she still had her own small ambitions.
Pei Ting, as always, offered, "Let me know if you need any help."
The colleague mimicked him teasingly. "Let me know if you need any help. Man, Lawyer Pei, who knew you had such a soft side? You’re usually so icy with the rest of us."
Jiang Mo turned to him. "Senior isn’t icy at all! He’s really easy to talk to."
"You should’ve seen him when he first joined the firm—total ‘ice prince.’ Nobody dared approach him outside work. Took ages for him to warm up to us," the colleague joked. "But of course, little junior here is the exception."
Jiang Mo flushed slightly. "That’s just because we’ve known each other longer."
Pei Ting interjected dryly, "So this is how you’ve all been talking about me behind my back."
After more chatting and eating, Pei Ting checked the time. "We should head to the concert now. See you later." He effortlessly picked up the plushies and Jiang Mo’s bag.
Jiang Mo wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood.
The colleague waved them off, watching Pei Ting’s retreating figure laden with bags. With a chuckle, he mused, "Turns out even the coldest ‘ice prince’ has to step off his pedestal when he falls for someone."
