Perhaps on impulse, he invited her to a second date.

"Pfft, okay."

Xie Linlin was amused, her eyes crinkling into a smile.

Of course, she didn't believe that Xia Che would be short of money for a movie ticket. The bouquet of roses he gave her was quite expensive; he couldn't possibly be so stingy.

So, is the reason you said that because you want to have a second date with yourself?

Realizing this, Xie Linlin suddenly felt a little nervous.

This tension came out of nowhere, yet it felt incredibly real.

Why am I nervous?

Her mission was clearly to make Xia Che fall in love with her and then kill him. Now that she had an extra date opportunity, why was she nervous?

Shouldn't we be happy?

Suddenly, Xie Linlin had a premonition, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xia Che's profile through the fluorescent light of the curtain.

This was the first time she had seen Xia Che so closely.

Often, Xie Linlin relied primarily on her own impression of Xia Che, neglecting his appearance.

Senior... he's quite handsome.

This sentence suddenly popped into Xie Linlin's mind.

Without that unsightly side-swept bangs obscuring his face, Xia Che's entire demeanor changed.

He had a straight nose, deep-set eyes, and a fair complexion that blended perfectly with the shadows of the movie theater. He seemed to be smiling, with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, making his eyes appear even gentler.

In an instant, Xie Linlin felt as if she had been struck by something, and her heart began to beat faster involuntarily.

It almost jumped out of my throat.

What does this feel like?

It felt like an electric current was flowing through my body, coursing through my limbs and bones, sending shivers down my spine.

Xie Linlin felt a little dizzy.

"Hmm?"

Xia Che's attention was initially drawn to the movie, but after watching for a while, he suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, as if someone was watching him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Xie Linlin staring blankly at him, and he was somewhat taken aback.

What's the meaning?

Why are you staring at yourself?

Could it be... nervousness?

Xia Che thought for a moment, then took out his phone, typed a line of text, pressed the side button to take a screenshot of the text, and enlarged it in his photo album.

He handed the phone over and placed it in front of Xie Linlin.

"What are you trying to do, staring at me like that?"

Xie Linlin blinked her long eyelashes, glanced at the words on her phone, froze, and her face quickly flushed red. She hurriedly turned her head away, "No...no, I was thinking about something..."

This is so embarrassing! So embarrassing!

He was caught peeping on the spot.

Is there anything more infuriating than this?!

Xie Linlin's toes were constantly digging into the soles of her shoes. She didn't even realize that this was the first time she had lost the initiative since she started dating Xia Che. Before, she had always been the one in charge.

Seeing the girl blushing so deeply, Xia Che almost lost his composure; his attempt to hide his embarrassment was written all over his face!

Give me your hand.

Xia Che suppressed the urge to laugh and said calmly.

"Huh? Oh..."

Xie Linlin was puzzled, but she still obediently reached out her hand.

What is the senior going to do?

Driven by the excitement in her heart, Xie Linlin was not averse to having some physical contact with Xia Che; on the contrary, she was somewhat looking forward to it.

Xia Che grasped Xie Linlin's wrist and placed her hand against his left chest.

Xie Linlin was stunned, even more confused, not understanding Xia Che's intention in doing this.

She looked up and subconsciously glanced at Xia Che, only to find him looking at her as well, their eyes meeting in a smile.

At this moment, Xie Linlin realized that she could feel a strong throbbing in the spot where she pressed her palm. The frequency of Xia Che's heartbeat seemed to be in some kind of harmony with the rhythm of her own heartbeat.

Their heartbeats synchronized at that moment.

"Could it be... that you're just as nervous as I am?"

Xie Linlin realized something.

Sure enough, Xia Che's smile deepened.

“I’m very nervous too,” he said.

Upon hearing this, Xie Linlin's heart pounded like a soldier, launching a full-scale attack at the general's command.

As if a meteorite had struck the Earth, the impact caused Xie Linlin's body temperature to rise rapidly, with steam billowing from her head.

Her face turned red all the way to the back of her ears.

"I...I got flirted with."

Xie Linlin let out a soft moan, her vision blurring.

Only now did she dare to conclude that the flutter in her heart when she received the flowers was not accidental.

She had indeed fallen for Xia Che.

Xie Linlin's defenses completely collapsed.

She could clearly sense that the power dynamic in her relationship with Xia Che was slowly shifting from her taking the initiative to Xia Che completely dominating.

But she had no way to help.

It wasn't a lie to say that Xie Linlin was attracted to Xia Che; she was absolutely certain that she had fallen for him.

That……

What should be done about the task?

Xie Linlin was stunned.

Falling in love with your mission objective—something that sounds incredibly cheesy—actually happened!

Seeing that Xie Linlin had completely gone limp, Xia Che decided to stop while he was ahead and released her wrist.

"call……"

Xia Che breathed a sigh of relief.

He learned this sales pitch while watching anime, and now that he's used it, it seems to be working quite well.

Who said that shut-ins don't know how to flirt?

It's just that otaku don't usually have the opportunity to use their flirting skills.

...

To be honest, this movie was a really bad choice.

Despite being marketed as a comedy, it insists on using some tired and clichéd plots. The first half is quite funny, but the second half tries to achieve some kind of elevation or tragedy.

They insist on forcing the audience to conform and instilling in their minds some kind of preaching that "the core of comedy is tragedy."

Xia Che chose this kind of comedy to relax; he understands those profound truths, he really does.

Life is already stressful enough, and all I want to do is watch a comedy to relax, but instead I get lectured instead.

Xia Che hated this arrangement.

So he didn't watch the second half of the plot at all, but this somewhat long and tedious period of time unexpectedly passed very quickly.

Even Xia Che himself didn't realize that time would pass so quickly when he was with Xie Linlin.

Before he could even react, the movie was over.

Two or three hours passed by quietly.

Even after they walked out of the movie theater and onto the street, Xia Che was still somewhat dazed.

Xia Che walked side by side with Xie Linlin on the path, his hands in his pockets, chatting as they went. He would occasionally glance back at her with a strange expression.

For some reason, he always had a premonition that someone was following him.

Xia Che's meridians were sealed, but his sixth sense was still intact.

Han Xinyue...

Is it following behind?

It must be her, right?

Xia Che scratched his face, looking very uncomfortable.

Given Han Xinyue's unpredictable nature, my premonition might actually come true.