ABMSI Chapter 54

During the Lunar New Year season, movies generally focus on being family-friendly, so the theater was filled with people who’d brought along their parents, children, and grandparents. After the movie began, Duan Wei glanced around and was relieved to find no little kids present — otherwise there’d be no point in watching this film at all.

He’d chosen a detective-comedy, a mix of crime-solving and humor. Beyond the comedy elements, the film’s puzzle-solving and suspense were actually quite well done.

For Duan Wei, this kind of movie was fun, but he’d always been the type to miss details. When it came to reasoning and deduction, he lagged far behind. So as he watched the film, everything felt foggy and confusing.

This led to a funny contrast: he laughed along with the comedy parts, and fell dead silent during the deduction parts.

Sitting beside him, Fu Duqiu quickly picked up on his odd behavior. He glanced at the screen and whispered, “Did you notice it?”

“Notice what?” Duan Wei turned his head.

Earlier, the small tray between them — meant for holding drinks — had been pushed up by Fu Duqiu, so when Duan Wei leaned slightly, their shoulders could touch.

Fu Duqiu paused, then continued, “The suspect collapsed, but there’s no broken glass under him. The victim, on the other hand, does have glass underneath. What does that tell you?”

Hearing this, Duan Wei thought hard for a moment, then suddenly understood. “I got it! It means the suspect fainted earlier than the victim, so he’s not the killer!”

Seeing him look so enlightened — finally getting a bit of the ‘detective movie experience’ — Fu Duqiu couldn’t help shaking his head with a smile before turning back to the movie.

In truth, by the time the film reached one-third of the way through, he had already more or less guessed who the culprit was. Almost all the later deductions revolved around the same person. The more he watched, the less novelty there was.

But he still stayed very focused — because Duan Wei kept turning to ask what hidden clues were in each shot. After the tenth round of Q&A, Fu Duqiu had no choice but to concentrate:

“Why did the victim deliberately provoke the suspect?”

“Because he wanted to frame him.”

“Then where did the killer actually murder the victim?”

“In the car.”

Two hours later, Duan Wei finally managed to muddle his way through the entire film. As they exited the theater, he looked at Fu Duqiu with genuine surprise. “I didn’t expect you to be this good at detective movies!”

Fu Duqiu simply smiled without answering, tossing Duan Wei’s leftover trash into a bin.

People walking by glanced at the two of them, but Duan Wei didn’t notice at all. He stared at a nearby glass panel — it was still only noon, hours until dinner. He frowned slightly, suddenly thinking of something, and said to Fu Duqiu, “There’s an arcade downstairs. Want to go?”

This whole district was the busiest commercial center in Shunqing City. Every floor of the massive mall was a separate entertainment zone. Familiar with the place, Duan Wei led the way down. Even before they reached the entrance, the music from inside could already be heard.

Unlike the family-filled cinema earlier, this arcade was packed with young people. The air was thick with an overwhelming mix of pheromones. Duan Wei frowned slightly, went to the counter, and exchanged cash for a hundred game tokens.

Once everything was ready, he dragged Fu Duqiu to a claw machine, dumped half the tokens into his hand, and gestured for him to play.

But the moment Fu Duqiu accepted the tokens, he didn’t move. He stared at the claw machine with a kind of unfamiliar curiosity. Only then did Duan Wei realize what was going on. “Wait— you’ve never played before?”

“No,” Fu Duqiu replied honestly.

Duan Wei was stunned. He tossed two tokens in and demonstrated how the machine worked.

He didn’t catch a single prize — but compared to the movie earlier, their roles had completely reversed. The one who knew nothing and the one who knew everything had swapped places.

Fu Duqiu had taught him math, recited texts with him, and even showed him how to cook dumplings that morning. But this was the first time Duan Wei was teaching Fu Duqiu something. He felt a little thrilled, a little mischievous, and more than a little proud. Tossing a few more tokens into the machine, he said, grinning, “Your turn. Try it.”

The arcade was noisy and chaotic; they had to speak loudly to be heard. Fu Duqiu nodded, gripped the control stick, moved it a few times, and pressed the button.

He caught nothing.

He looked genuinely surprised, and quickly fed in a few more tokens. Three attempts later, still nothing.

Duan Wei wasn’t shocked — every beginner lost miserably their first time playing a claw machine.

He hid the smirk threatening to climb up his face, patted Fu Duqiu’s shoulder, and said, “Don’t worry. Totally normal.”

Then he turned away, unable to stop a triumphant grin. Who would’ve thought that the always-perfect, always-capable Fu Duqiu would have a day like this?

Truly touching. Truly poetic.

Fu Duqiu, however, remained expressionless, staring at the limp, useless metal claw inside the machine, as if analyzing it deeply.

After a long moment, he picked up a handful of tokens — and dumped all of them in at once.

Seeing this, Duan Wei thought Fu Duqiu must’ve gotten angry over failing the claw machine, so he quickly blurted, “Wait, don’t—”

Before he could finish, Fu Duqiu had already slammed the start button. The silver claw jolted forward with a few mechanical clanks, dropped straight down, and—just like that—picked up a fluffy bunny plush and deposited it cleanly into the prize chute.

“You’re too… fast…” Duan Wei finished the sentence he hadn’t gotten out earlier, looking utterly dumbfounded.

???

He’s hacking, right?

Thinking back to his own first attempt at claw machines—he’d spent hundreds that night and not even grabbed a single hair, his mom greeted him with a slap the moment he got home—Duan Wei refused to believe this was skill. He chalked it up to pure dumb luck.

So he shoved the rest of his tokens into Fu Duqiu’s hand, suspicious. “Do it again!”

Fu Duqiu accepted them, inserted a coin, pressed the button—and won again.

Duan Wei: “…”

Speechless.

In desperation to salvage his dignity as the “teacher,” he tossed the rest of his own tokens into the machine and practically plastered his face to the glass, analyzing every angle like a wannabe forensic expert. If he could’ve crawled into the machine, he would’ve.

And still, he caught nothing.

Staring at the few remaining coins in his basket, Duan Wei could already foresee Qiao Ying beating him to death the moment he got home. Fu Duqiu, standing beside him, chuckled softly, then handed all the plushies he’d won to Duan Wei.

“Thank you, Teacher Duan.”

“…Are you mocking me?” Duan Wei’s eyebrow twitched violently.

“No,” Fu Duqiu denied instantly—though the faint smile tugging at his lips said otherwise. “It’s just… the student surpasses the master.”

Duan Wei: “…”

“This claw is too slippery. Nothing can be caught.” Duan Wei lied through his teeth, then yanked Fu Duqiu toward the inner arcade.

Inside were all kinds of game machines—Duan Wei’s territory, his true battlefield. He walked up to a basketball arcade machine, dumped in all the remaining coins. “Come on, basketball match. You and me.”

“Alright,” Fu Duqiu agreed easily.

Duan Wei set the plush toys aside, unwound his scarf, rolled up his sleeves—ready for war. Fu Duqiu, by contrast, simply picked up a few basketballs with calm elegance. The massive countdown lit up before them.

As soon as it hit 1, Duan Wei launched the first ball. The trick to this machine was the constantly shifting hoop—a test of reflexes and adaptability, both things Duan Wei excelled at.

His aim was 100% on point, but his speed… lagged far behind Fu Duqiu. Halfway through the game, seeing the widening score gap, he resorted to psychological warfare.

“Didn’t expect this from the campus heartthrob—you’re good at everything, huh? What other surprises are you hiding from your emperor?”

Unfazed, Fu Duqiu shot one ball after another, replying smoothly, “If you keep getting to know me, you’ll find I’m full of surprises.”

Duan Wei rolled his eyes so hard they nearly hit the floor. Not only did the trash talk fail, it made him fall even further behind.

Time ran out, and he lost miserably.

Sweaty and panting, Duan Wei collapsed onto a nearby seat, questioning all of his life choices. Why did he think challenging the literal male lead was a good idea? He had essentially volunteered to be humiliated.

Just as that self-loathing settled in, he noticed an Alpha across the room.

The guy looked about his age, playing basketball alone—fast, precise. An idea flashed in Duan Wei’s mind. He hopped up and headed straight toward the Alpha.

“You—” Fu Duqiu took a step forward to stop him but hesitated. Then he stayed where he was.

He stood still, watching as Duan Wei approached the Alpha with an easy, friendly smile. Duan Wei had always been good with people—sunny, approachable, the type who could close any distance with just one grin.

Fu Duqiu’s grip on the basketball tightened. His eyes dimmed.

Meanwhile, Duan Wei was blissfully unaware of the stare drilling into the back of his head. His plan was simple: if Fu Duqiu was that good, why not make it two-on-one? No way the protagonist halo would let him win against multiple opponents… right?

According to the Alpha, he was a nearby student, bored during the New Year holiday and came alone to play. Running into Duan Wei was just a chance.

As for an Omega with solid athletic skills like Duan Wei—well, the Alpha found that pretty fascinating. His interest shot up instantly, and he agreed to join the game with a smile. But when he glanced at Fu Duqiu, something felt… off.

Too bad Duan Wei was impatient and didn’t give him time to think. He shoved the last coins into the machine, dragged the Alpha to stand beside him, fully prepared to destroy Fu Duqiu.

The machine wasn’t big, and in two-on-one mode, the two-person team had to squeeze together.

Duan Wei stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Alpha, his scarf undone, exposing the vulnerable glands at his neck. Because he was a bit overheated, a faint trace of his pheromone drifted into the air.

Fu Duqiu withdrew his gaze. His face had lost every trace of earlier warmth, replaced by an icy stillness as he stared at the countdown.

Teaming up with someone else against me?

You’ve grown bold.

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Author’s note:
Little Duan: yet another near-death experience.