Chapter 48 They just... actually held hands...

They went to try the bumper cars. Lu Ming didn't want to go, since they were all just kids, but Wen Chu insisted, so he had no choice but to go. Adhering to the principle that dates should be spent together, Wen Chu chose to ride in the same car as him. The car was so small that Lu Ming's legs were squeezed in and he couldn't even stretch them out.

They were in the crowd, and for some reason, they were targeted by the children who kept bumping into them.

"Hit that older brother or sister!"

"Run them over!"

The children's voices rose and fell. Lu Ming pursed his lips. He was attacked from all sides. He didn't want to argue with the kids, so he could only keep turning the steering wheel to dodge and hide in the corners. But the little brats behind him were relentless and surrounded them. Wen Chu was knocked around and her stomach hurt from the seat belt.

She stood up angrily and grabbed the steering wheel from him. "Lu Ming, do you even know how to drive?! Get out of the way, let me have it! I'm going to teach these little brats what it means to bully the weak!"

She slammed the steering wheel shut, crashing head-on into a parent with a young boy. Then she rampaged through the children's play area, scattering them in disarray as they scattered and dodged. She acted like a tyrant. One child tried to ambush her, but she easily dodged him, even making a face at him, which made the child pout in exasperation.

Lu Ming watched the girl playing so enthusiastically, unsure of what to say.

After the battle, Wen Chu rubbed her shoulder, which was sore from the seatbelt, and tried to grab someone to go on the carousel. But Lu Ming refused, saying, "You go play, I'll just watch from here."

Why not go together?

"It's full of children..."

"We're kids too, just a little bigger."

"If you are, then I am not."

After arguing for a few rounds, Wen Chu saw that Lu Ming was really reluctant, so she didn't press the issue and relented, saying, "Okay then, take a picture of me down here, you have to take one! Take a serious picture, or you'll be dead if you make me look like a caveman!" She handed him her phone and said fiercely.

Lu Ming took the phone and chose to take a picture over riding the carousel. In fact, he hadn't recovered yet. He was already dizzy from riding roller coasters, and the girl on the bumper cars was acting like she didn't care about her life. He felt even more nauseous, and the sight of anything spinning made him want to vomit.

He suppressed his nausea, maintaining a calm and collected demeanor, and casually asked, "What's the password?"

"My birthday."

What's your birthday?

"If you don't know, you have no right to look at my phone!" Wen Chu scoffed and walked away. However, taking photos didn't require a password, so Lu Ming didn't ask any more questions. He watched as the girl carefully chose a tall horse, mounted it, turned around, and gave him a peace sign.

In her memory, Wen Chu had only ridden a carousel once when she was very young. In fact, she wasn't very interested in it. She wasn't interested in amusement parks at all. In the past, she had spent most of her life dealing with artificial intelligence, so she didn't really have much of a childlike heart.

However, some experts say that people become quite childish when they feel happy. Things that were originally uninteresting, childish, and boring suddenly become vivid and interesting just because another person is there.

A gentle breeze blew by, making it very cool. Wen Chu hugged the pillar and noticed a little girl staring at her intently, her big eyes fixed on her.

Wen Chu smiled, leaned closer, and unconsciously raised her voice to ask, "Why are you staring at me?"

The little girl said sincerely in her sweet, childlike voice, "Sister, you're so pretty."

Wen Chu smiled broadly, "Really? Thank you, you're cute too."

"Is that big brother taking pictures of you? Is he your boyfriend?" The little girl pointed innocently at Lu Ming and asked curiously as the rocking horse turned to face Lu Ming again.

Wen Chu looked up in the direction the little girl was pointing. Lu Ming was holding his phone up to her without looking up, seemingly dutifully finding the right angle for her.

"Yes, I am." Wen Chu smiled and looked at the little girl again. "Isn't he handsome?"

The little girl rubbed her hands together and nodded emphatically: "Handsome! I want to find a boyfriend as handsome as him too!"

"Hahahaha." Wen Chu laughed even harder. "Then I wish you find it soon."

When Lu Ming received Wen Chu's gaze through his phone screen, his heart skipped a beat, and he accidentally turned off his phone screen.

He tapped the screen again, but facial recognition failed, and he was automatically redirected to the password input page. Staring at the six-digit password, a few numbers suddenly popped into his head. Almost unconsciously, he placed his hand on the screen and entered those numbers: 990423.

The screen suddenly jumped to the main interface.

Lu Ming's eyelids twitched. It was... unlocked? He was quite surprised.

He tried hard to recall the origin of those six numbers, but his mind went completely blank; he couldn't remember where he had noticed the other person's birthday. It was more like a muscle reaction formed from inputting it countless times before.

"Let me see! How did it turn out!"

Hearing the woman's voice, Lu Ming snapped out of his indescribable surprise and quickly turned off his phone again. He saw Wen Chu get off the carousel, wave to a little girl, and skip over to him, snatching the phone from his hand.

Wen Chu had prepared herself for a terrible sight, but to her surprise, only four or five photos were taken inside, but the tone and lighting of each one were exceptional, and she looked beautiful in every single one.

There are images of her back, her smiling profile, her head bowed as she talks to a child, and the moment she hugs a pillar and looks up at him. Every moment of her life is vivid.

Wen Chu stared at the photo for a few seconds, surprised that she had never seen such a pure and radiant side of herself. She couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, Lu Ming, your photography skills are really good!"

Lu Ming asked casually, "Where else do you want to go?"

"Of course it's a haunted house!"

Wen Chu is terrified of ghosts and the dark, but that doesn't stop her from having fun. She's always been someone who faces challenges head-on. Besides, even if she hasn't experienced it herself, she's seen it happen; in TV dramas, the male and female leads often go to haunted houses to deepen their relationship.

The haunted house was pitch black, with various severed hands and feet, bull heads and horse faces hanging on the walls, and terrifying background music playing from above. She had just reached the entrance and was cautiously peeking inside when a zombie suddenly sat up next to her, its face covered in blood, accompanied by sound effects. She was so frightened that she jumped and grabbed Lu Ming's arm.

Looking at his arm, which was already injured before he even started, Lu Ming hesitated and asked, "Are you sure you really want to go in?"

“Go ahead! We’re already here, how can we desert?” Wen Chu said, mustering her courage.

"Then let go of me. You're going to break my hand."

"oh."

Lu Ming said coldly and ruthlessly, "Let me make this clear beforehand: once you're inside, if you're too scared to leave, I won't help you, and I won't allow you to take the opportunity to lay a hand on me."

"Fine, you cold-hearted man!" Wen Chu was furious. She straightened up, her anger giving her a lot of courage. She vowed to win this time and said fiercely, "Someone is talking nicely now, but who knows, he might be carrying me out after he goes in!"

Lu Ming chuckled lightly, "We'll see."

Wen Chu became even angrier, distanced herself from the others, and strode straight inside with a death-defying air. But before she had taken five steps, an NPC wrapped in a white cloth jumped out and grabbed her arm. She yelled and shook off his hand, rolling back to Lu Ming's side, but with great pride, she didn't touch him again.

Lu Ming glanced at her and continued walking forward.

Along the way, Wen Chu witnessed corpses with their bodies severed in two, severed hands that suddenly appeared, NPCs who suddenly opened their eyes, and pitch-black darkness. Her mental endurance had reached its limit. When she encountered a row of zombies blocking her way through a swaying iron net, she refused to go any further.

She felt like that row of NPCs could rush out at any moment, grab her, and pin her against the iron fence. Although her rational mind told her that it was all fake, it was still terrifying.

"Is it too late for me to go back now?" Wen Chu asked with a mournful face.

"Then you are very honored to be the first tourist to enter through the entrance and exit through the entrance."

"What?! I'm definitely not the only one!"

"Hurry up, how many more minutes are you going to waste in this boring scene?" Lu Ming looked around at the decorations on the walls and said, "Looking at this, I feel like I could open one too."

Wen Chu was speechless. This person had gone crazy for money and was beyond saving.

She steeled herself, took a deep breath, and charged forward in one go. When the row of zombies saw her pass by, they all roared at her as if they had been injected with chicken blood. One of the gray-black hands even touched her shoulder. Wen Chu got goosebumps all over her body and almost performed a breakdance on the spot.

Lu Ming walked to her side. The two had only gone halfway, and seeing that a daring young couple behind them had already overtaken them, Lu Ming sighed with some worry.

Poor, weak, and helpless, Wen Chu hugged herself and was about to continue walking forward in the dark when something else grabbed her foot. Meanwhile, Lu Ming was also pushed from behind by the ghostly hand and bumped into Wen Chu.

"I can't take it anymore, can you grab me and drag me out?" Wen Chu was completely oblivious to the subtle physical contact at this moment, and said with a heart full of despair, "I never want to play this again. This is so long, it feels like there's no end in sight."

She could no longer bear the darkness and uncertainty that lay ahead.

Although she said that, she didn't stop walking. She held her hands in front of her chest, her eyes were wide open, and she looked around. She walked timidly and took small steps to go deeper into the area, trying to hold on a little longer.

But the screams of tourists coming from ahead were still pushing her limits.

Lu Ming watched the girl's every move, his eyes unfathomable.

Another unexpected scare occurred. Wen Chu took a step back, her arm pressed against Lu Ming's, their hands colliding. She instinctively grabbed his hand. As she tried to let go, the man suddenly gripped her hand in return.

Wen Chu's heart skipped a beat. She froze for two seconds, then didn't say anything, but just silently tightened her grip.

"You're so afraid of the dark, yet you still came to play." Lu Ming held her hand, letting the girl stay close to him.

"I thought you would take care of me, but who knew you would be so heartless!" Wen Chu complained.

Lu Ming could feel that the girl's palms were sweaty, so she was genuinely scared and not faking it.

But in the past, she probably would have seized the opportunity to get close to him long ago. I don't know why she's become so stubborn now.

He walked slowly forward and asked again, "It was very dark at your house last night too. If you don't come home with me, aren't you afraid to go home alone?"

Wen Chu trembled and said, "Yes, I'm scared, but I can't always think of asking for help when I encounter problems. I have to overcome them."

Lu Ming glanced at her sideways but didn't say anything.

Wen Chu followed closely beside the people, her eyes closed, taking each step with them, and finally saw the dawn of victory.

Several pairs of tourists sat at the entrance of the haunted house, patting their chests and discussing their experiences.

Both of their palms became damp. Upon seeing the light, Wen Chu felt as if she had been granted a pardon, let out a heavy breath, and let go of each other's hands first, feeling a little embarrassed.

Lu Ming withdrew his hand without saying anything.

They went to the flower bed to sit and enjoy the breeze before playing other games, but the juice spilled on the ground because it wasn't placed properly.

Wen Chu let out a soft "Ah," looking at Lu Ming with immense regret.

Lu Ming stood up calmly and said, "Someone will handle it. I'll go buy more."

"Thanks for your hard work!"

While Lu Ming went to buy her milk tea, Wen Chu belatedly raised her left hand to look at it.

They just... actually held hands? And for five minutes?

Her fingertips twitched slightly as she recalled the sensation from just now. The man's hand was much larger than hers, with distinct knuckles, and it felt quite nice to touch.

It's kind of amazing; this is the first time she's ever held hands with a man.

"He definitely likes me a little!" Wen Chu slapped her thigh, secretly pleased.

Saying you won't care about her is just a sign that you're being soft-hearted!