Chapter 548: Chapter 184: The ’80s Drama Queen Forced to Become a Top Student (19)

Eight thick poles were driven into the ground, and a heavy hemp rope was used to cordon off the area.

Sheng Leyun had ordered a large number of custom-made wooden rings, which were all packed into medium-sized bamboo baskets. After setting out a cardboard sign that read, "50 cents a basket, 1 yuan for three baskets! Play to your heart’s content!", she blew a sharp little whistle and officially opened for business!

"Step right up, take a look! Every prize in our ring toss is exquisite, beautiful, and full of artistic flair! You’re guaranteed to win something! You could win a prize with your eyes closed! If you don’t win, you don’t pay! If you don’t win, you don’t pay..."

Sheng Leyun’s voice was like a warbler’s, clear enough to cut through the bustling crowd and instantly catch the ears of passersby.

Then, she picked up a megaphone and started announcing the types of prizes. "All handmade, with exquisite designs! Each one is a unique work of art!"

"We’ve got all sorts of trendy hair clips, headbands to frame your lovely hair, pencil cases for the romantic soul, keychains to capture that special feeling... Are you just tossing rings here? No! You’re setting your spirit free..."

Sheng Leyun chattered on, mixing in all sorts of inspirational platitudes with a freestyle marketing approach. Inevitably, a few of her lines would be enough to make the crowd stop in their tracks.

The people of Xiahua loved a bustling scene. When they saw the stall was filled with unique and beautiful fabric crafts they had never seen before, and that the price wasn’t too high—most importantly, 50 cents for one basket and one yuan for three—they all had the same thought. ’Where did they find this idiot?’

’No one else on the entire street does business like this!’

’It’s exactly the kind of thing a true romantic would do...’

"I’ll take a yuan’s worth!" called out a man who was on a date, unable to resist showing off a little.

Sheng Leyun answered brightly and deftly handed over three baskets. ’Doesn’t that have to be at least eighty or a hundred rings?’ The onlookers were intrigued.

His girlfriend pointed sweetly at the stuffed animals in the back. "I want that rabbit, and that little bear... Oh, and that clutch is pretty, too..."

She pointed out seven or eight things in one go.

The man grinned and puffed out his chest, promising to win them all for her. With that, he grabbed a ring and hurled it with all his might.

The wooden rings were light and bouncy. The man clearly hadn’t played this kind of game often, and his aim was off. Most of the rings just glanced off the prizes. Even when one occasionally landed perfectly, it would simply bounce away...

The girlfriend grew increasingly disappointed, but she started tossing rings too, just hoping to win something as she aimed for the prizes.

The prizes in the first two rows were small but packed closely together, so it was pretty easy to win one every three to five tosses.

Few people played ring toss trying to make a profit; they were mostly in it for the fun. Just winning something was enough to lift their spirits.

The woman’s constant, happy shrieks made the onlookers itch with anticipation.

By the time they had thrown all three baskets of rings, the man had only managed to win a single pencil case, while the woman had her hands full of small hair clips.

The onlookers were green with envy. Those hair clips were pretty and unique. ’If you bought those at the co-op, wouldn’t they cost at least ten or twenty cents apiece?’

’The craftsmanship is simple, but not many people can make them in different shapes, use the patterns so well, and create something so elegant, beautiful, and unique. The ones you make yourself always end up looking a little tacky, but the ones other people whip up so effortlessly are always a delight.’

’It’s true what they say: you get what you pay for!’

It seemed the stall owner was right—as long as you played, you’d get something. One by one, people started pulling out money to buy rings. Since one yuan was a much better deal than 50 cents, almost everyone chose that option.

People’s wages weren’t very high, and normally, they’d be reluctant to part with a whole yuan. But this was for the New Year celebration, wasn’t it? Everyone was looking for some festive fun, and parents with children were especially willing to spend.

Buying a beautiful cotton candy from the nearby stall and then trying your luck at the ring toss—that was the true joy of visiting the market.

Sheng Leyun and her friends had discussed this beforehand. Fearing business would be too busy for them to handle, they had decided to work in teams of two.

Gong Zicheng, full of interest, had also joined in, teaming up with Sheng Leyun.

It was a good thing he was there to hold down the fort. His presence would deter anyone from trying to bully Sheng Leyun, a young girl, and Grandma Guo, an old woman.

At Sheng Leyun’s suggestion, he had also set up a table at the back of the stall, where he was writing New Year’s couplets with a calligraphy brush on pre-cut, gold-flecked red paper.

The finished couplets were clipped to a rope at the back, but their corresponding numbers were written on stones placed among the prizes in the middle rows.

After all, a set of those gold-flecked couplets would cost several dimes if bought elsewhere.

With the added attraction of a handsome young man doing live calligraphy, the crowd could no longer contain their inner impulses and eagerly pulled out their money to give it a try.

Sheng Leyun was a whirlwind of activity—collecting money, gathering used rings, handing out new ones, retrieving prizes for winners, and restocking the displays. She was as happy as she was busy.

And the canvas bag tied around her waist grew steadily plumper!

Meanwhile, Grandma Guo had been swarmed with customers buying cotton candy ever since she sat down.

There was another vendor selling it on the same street, but they didn’t have colored cotton candy, let alone all the cartoon shapes that so captivated the children.

A plain cotton candy was ten cents, the same price as the other vendor’s. If a customer wanted a special shape, it would cost an extra three to five cents.

The adults were trying it for the novelty, and with the children staring so longingly, most parents couldn’t refuse.

The other friends’ stalls were also packed with people.

One game had glass bottles lined up with banknotes inside, ranging from one-fen notes to the large 10-yuan "Great Unity" bill. Players would try to toss a ping-pong ball into a bottle, and if they made it, they won the cash inside!

This type of game would become common in later years. When it was first introduced, players could actually make the shot, and some even managed to turn a ten-yuan investment into a hundred.

But these games always evolve. It was just like with the ring toss: one year, stall owners would put the prizes on the ground, but a rolling ring could accidentally snag an extra prize. So, the next year, all the owners started putting the prizes on elevated stands.

The ping-pong-in-a-bottle game was also being upgraded. The bottles were now arranged in tricky formations, all designed to get players hooked and keep them coming back for more.

The bottles were custom-ordered from a glass factory, with openings just wide enough to fit a single ping-pong ball.

The bottles containing the 10-yuan bills were arranged in a single, sparse line. The five-yuan bottles were spaced a little closer together, and the two-yuan and one-yuan bottles were clustered even more tightly.

Most of the one, two, and five-cent prizes were concentrated in a large group, surrounded by a perimeter of ten, twenty, and fifty-cent prizes.

The ground beneath the stall was also covered with a cloth, so that any ball that missed and hit the ground would have its bounce dampened and its direction altered!

With so many tricks up their sleeve, it was no surprise that the crowd, intrigued by this new game, swarmed the stall. A price of one cent per throw wasn’t expensive at all.

Passersby watched others struggle to make a shot, feeling a secret anxiety on their behalf, until they finally just pulled out their own money to try it themselves!

"I’ll take ten..."

"Give me twenty..."

It looked easy, but once people were holding the ping-pong balls themselves, they discovered the things simply refused to cooperate!

The occasional winner only got a one or two-cent prize. Almost no one bothered to ask for the money, instead just exchanging their winnings for more throws.

Another group of friends had spent a day making contacts and went all out, setting up two large rope bridges at their stall with an air cushion spread out underneath.

This was a competitive game. It cost fifty cents to enter. Each round featured ten contestants on one of the bridges.

That made for a five-yuan pot per round. The last player left standing on the bridge would win two yuan, and their entry fee would be refunded.

In effect, the five-yuan pot was split evenly between the winner and the stall owner!

The people of Xiahua had a competitive streak in their blood, especially the men. Egged on by the laughter of friends and family, they would pay the fee—shy, but filled with a fighting spirit—and climb onto the bridge.

Soon, the teams on both bridges were assembled. A whistle blew, and everyone dropped into a low horse stance. At the same time, they began to rock the plank bridge back and forth, just like a swing.

The bridge was solidly built, but since it was made of individual planks linked by ropes, it had a fair amount of give.

The men had the advantage in balance, weight, and endurance. As for the women who had joined in on the fun, many of them tumbled off like dumplings dropping into a pot before they even knew what was happening, landing safely on the air cushion below.

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