Chapter 98 I Won / I Lost Willingly

Hesitation will lead to defeat.

That year, he glanced at her one more time, hesitated, and ultimately failed.

Jiang Qingying looked at it for a long time. Many years had passed. The paper was not of good quality; it was a bit yellowed, soft, and damp to the touch. Even the words written in black ink in the middle had become somewhat blurred.

“I’ve seen your handwriting, it doesn’t seem like this.” She looked up at him, hoping to find a heart-fluttering answer in his eyes.

There's no need for her to search for them at all.

Lu Jinyuan said directly, "After all, it's been ten years, so it's normal for the handwriting to have changed a bit."

Therefore, the sentence below was written at that time, not now to make her happy.

Jiang Qingying tried her best to suppress the upturned corners of her mouth and restrain her overwhelming joy, "Do you have a pen?"

Lu Jinyuan didn't know what she was going to do, but he turned around and went to the cashier to get a pen from the clerk.

Jiang Qingying wrote a sentence below his phrase "utterly defeated".

"I won."

The moment she picked up her pen, she read that sentence aloud.

Lu Jinyuan tilted his head and looked at her with a smile, his cool voice murmuring, "Yes, I'm willing to lose."

Jiang Qingying wrote the date on it, folded the heart shape again, and handed it to him, saying, "Here's your love letter."

Lu Jinyuan took the letter and tucked it into the innermost compartment of his wallet. "I will definitely keep it safe."

Jiang Qingying beckoned to him with her finger. The blue diamond armor pieces that moved slightly in the air shimmered in the sunlight, like a ray of light in his life, attracting him to move forward.

He leaned closer and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Come closer." Jiang Qingying's red lips touched lightly, her soft breath carrying an air of ambiguity and undisguised joy, "I really want to kiss you."

Lu Jinyuan's chest trembled slightly. He braced his hands on the back of the chair she was sitting on, getting closer to her. When they were only millimeters apart, he closed his eyes, anticipating and enjoying her kiss.

"Pop—"

A crisp kiss.

She didn't actually have much strength; she just deliberately amplified her voice.

Lu Jinyuan slowly raised his eyelids, her figure reflected in his dark pupils. He smiled and said, "That's it? I had my hopes dashed."

"Tsk—" Jiang Qingying pouted, "There are too many people around, I'll make it up to you when we get back."

"Shall we go back now?" Lu Jinyuan seemed to be in a real hurry.

Jiang Qingying laughed and pushed him away, "No, who goes back right after coming out?"

Lu Jinyuan chuckled softly, "Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

"Isn't this place more familiar to you?" Jiang Qingying retorted. "You brought me here to play, and now you expect me to tell you how to play? You're not putting any thought into it at all."

Lu Jinyuan was speechless after being rebuked, and helplessly explained, "It's not that I wasn't prepared, I was just afraid that if the schedule was too full, you would be tired."

Jiang Qingying thought for a moment, then hooked his finger on the table, "Let's treat it as a date, have a meal, and watch a movie?"

"Let's go to the cinema first." Lu Jinyuan took out his phone and selected the movie with the earliest start time. "We still have half an hour, let's go."

Jiang Qingying, holding the cup of hot chocolate, casually asked, "Have you ever been to a movie theater?"

"To be honest, no." Lu Jinyuan held her hand. "I rarely watch movies, and even when I do, I usually watch them online."

“But movie theaters have a better atmosphere,” Jiang Qingying said.

Movies shown in theaters are usually available online after a while, but Jiang Qingying still prefers to go to the cinema. She can't quite put her finger on why, but she finds the atmosphere very comfortable and enjoyable. She especially loves watching late-night movies; when there aren't many people, the entire theater feels like her own private world.

"Yes, so you had a small movie theater set up at home."

"But you've never been, except for the time I invited you."

Lu Jinyuan was silent for two seconds, then said in a low voice, "I will definitely accompany you more often in the future."

Jiang Qingying suddenly recalled the scene of watching a movie at home last time. That was hardly watching a movie; it was more like making a movie herself.

-

We arrived at the movie theater.

Lu Jinyuan bought her popcorn, which Jiang Qingying held to her chest and ate slowly.

"Eat less." Lu Jinyuan stretched out his long arm and hugged the person in his arms. "Otherwise you won't be able to eat later."

Jiang Qingying responded absentmindedly, her attention entirely focused on the screen in front of her, which was currently playing the trailer for an upcoming film. She inadvertently spotted a familiar face – her dear younger brother, Jiang Xu.

Suddenly remembering something, she tugged at his sleeve, "Hey, Lu Jinyuan."

"Hmm?" Lu Jinyuan lowered his head and kissed her cheek.

"Last time you asked Jiang Xu to act as an intermediary, what did you agree to his demands?"

“I’ll agree to any request, and I can deliver on it anytime,” Lu Jinyuan said. “But he hasn’t used it yet.”

"Are you afraid he'll blackmail you?" Jiang Qingying chuckled, annoyed, and recounted to him what Jiang Xu had said in her office last time.

"You see, Jiang Xu just seems indifferent to everything on the surface, but he's actually more cunning than anyone else. You ask him to put out a fire, but he first adds fuel to the fire, then tries to put out the fire on a perfunctory basis, and he gets the benefits from both sides."

Lu Jinyuan narrowed his long eyes and pondered for a moment, "How about I find a way to trick him? But wouldn't that be repaying kindness with enmity?"

"Aren't you a ruthless businessman? Why are you afraid of being accused of repaying kindness with enmity?"

"Isn't 'vicious businessman' the word he used to describe you?"

"..." Jiang Qingying turned her head away, cleared her throat, and said in an attempt to cover up her mistake, "I am clearly his beautiful, generous, kind and lovely older sister. Besides, with you here, how could I be more vicious than you?"

"Okay." Lu Jinyuan accepted the inexplicable label she had put on him.

The trailer has just finished playing, and we're now getting into the main content.

Jiang Qingying looked at the familiar opening credits and title, then gave him a half-smile, "Why did you buy this movie?"

"The Legend of 1900." Lu Jinyuan repeated the title, shrugged, and said, "There's nothing I can do. This is the only movie I can watch at this time. The rest are all animated films for kids."

I saw this movie in the cinema when I was in college.

"Hmm, and then what?"

I fell asleep before I had read even a third of it.

As soon as he finished speaking, they both burst out laughing.

Jiang Qingying said, feeling a little embarrassed, "It's not that I can't appreciate piano music. It's just that most of the time the music is playing, and the movie scenes keep changing like a roller coaster, which makes my eyes dizzy."

Lu Jinyuan smiled gently and squeezed her hand. "Want to keep watching?"

Jiang Qingying fell into deep thought, but decided to watch it anyway, since it was their first date at the movie theater.

Then...

Fifteen minutes later, she started to feel sleepy again, her head felt incredibly heavy, and she nodded off and on.

Lu Jinyuan saw this scene, smiled silently, and gently pressed her head on his shoulder. Jiang Qingying was awakened by his action and was about to open her eyes when his deep and warm male voice sounded in her ear.

"It's okay, go to sleep."

Lu Jinyuan took the popcorn from her arms and placed it on the empty seat next to him. He then hugged her a little tighter and kissed her on the forehead.

When the movie was halfway through.

Jiang Qingying had been in the same position the whole time, and her back was a little stiff from sleeping, so she moved her bottom a little, put one leg on his leg, and continued to fall asleep to the music.

Lu Jinyuan lowered his eyes, watching her toes unconsciously brush against his trouser leg. He took a deep breath, and the next second, her head, which had been on his shoulder, began to wriggle, her soft hair brushing against his neck and Adam's apple.

He closed his eyes and endured it, trying his best to suppress the burning sensation in his abdomen.

This woman, even in her sleep, tries to seduce people.