Chapter 25. [First Update] "Don't bother me, He Yan!"...
After He Yan reminded her, Wen Xue focused her attention on the movie.
This comedy film, perfect for the Lunar New Year, was packed with laughs, and she was amused several times. The people in the row in front of her were huddled together, seemingly whispering their impressions of the film. She couldn't help but lean forward slightly and glance at He Yan's seat, only to be startled. Almost everyone was engrossed in the story, but he was the exception. In the laughter-filled theater, he was propping his head up with one hand, and had actually fallen asleep…
He Yan couldn't maintain a relaxed attitude to appreciate any movie, whether it was high-quality or poorly made, funny or sad; he wasn't interested in any of them.
The theater was crowded and warm, and the seats were quite comfortable. The laughter of men, women, and children all became hypnotic white noise in the environment. He intended to close his eyes and rest, but he accidentally fell asleep.
He was very tired.
His fatigue was no less than Wen Xue's, but he never showed it.
Wen Xue quietly looked at him for a while, then her gaze shifted slightly. This was the second time she had looked at Mr. Eight since she came in.
Number Eight was happily sipping his milk tea, laughing so hard he was bent over, when suddenly he keenly sensed a gaze. He looked in the direction it was directed and found himself in the dimly lit last row, staring into the eyes of Wen Xue, the woman who had made him fall unilaterally in love with her forty minutes earlier, only to have him quickly fall out of love with her.
He unconsciously swallowed the milk tea in his mouth; oh no, his heart was fluttering again.
Wen Xue was somewhat embarrassed.
She knew she was being a bit abrupt. He had tried to chat her up before, but she had ignored him. Now, if she asked him to change seats or help her put her scarf on He Yan, wouldn't that be too much?
Number Eight was startled when she hesitated, and instinctively turned her head to look at the man sitting on the other side of her. Seeing that this fearless warrior dared to fall asleep while watching a movie with his girlfriend, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration and lowered her voice to the lowest level, "Shall we change seats?"
Her eyes lit up, and she asked softly, "Is that alright?"
“…Okay!” Number Eight nodded immediately, his heart aching even more. The good news was that the goddess had spoken to him; the bad news was that the goddess wanted to change seats to be closer to her boyfriend.
Wen Xue breathed a sigh of relief and gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you."
"No, you're welcome."
The two crouched down and quickly switched seats. Wen Xue quietly sat down next to He Yan.
He was breathing shallowly and sleeping soundly.
The screen light flickered, casting a shadow on his high, straight nose.
He wasn't afraid of the cold, but she worried that he would catch a chill. If in the past he was like steel that had been tempered a thousand times in her heart, then after spending this time together, she discovered that he was actually just an ordinary person. Although his willpower was stronger than anyone she had ever met, he was also an ordinary person who could get hurt and feel pain.
She unfolded the scarf, turned to the side, and gently draped it over his leg.
I don't know if it will be useful, but it's at least a little bit heartwarming.
Don't catch a cold, don't get sick.
After finishing this task, she felt a little more relaxed and looked at the screen again, laughing along with the main characters.
The movie was two hours long, and it was almost over when He Yan opened his eyes. He felt a stiffness in his neck and shoulders, so he tried to move them. He leaned his head to the side and unexpectedly caught a whiff of a cool, refreshing scent. He casually looked up and saw that they were very close, so close that the first thing he saw was a fair and delicate face.
His gaze paused. When did she arrive?
Wen Xue didn't even notice he was awake. She stared intently ahead, perhaps captivated by the plot. She grabbed a few popcorn kernels, lost in thought, and forgot to eat them.
He Yan looked away and noticed the fluffy scarf spread on his lap, and understood immediately.
No wonder he was woken up by the heat.
As the movie ended, before the end credits even started, many people were already getting up and heading out to catch the next show. It was quite noisy. Wen Xue craned her neck to see if there were any Easter eggs, but as she was struggling to reach them, she felt something on her leg. Looking down, she saw it was her scarf.
She froze, turned her head, and saw He Yan scrolling through his phone.
When did he wake up?
It was Mr. Number Eight who spoke up, drawing their attention.
The eighth person, holding an empty milk tea cup, forced a smile and said, "Excuse me."
Wen Xue and He Yan simultaneously pulled their legs back, making room for each other. After most of the people in the theater had left and the aisle was no longer so crowded, the two of them went out. He Yan went first, and Wen Xue lagged a few steps behind. Seeing him pull the movie ticket stub out of his coat pocket and casually throw it into the trash can, she quickly stopped him, "Give it to me."
He Yan turned around at the sound, waved the ticket stub, and asked in confusion, "You want this?"
Why keep the ticket after you've already seen the movie?
"Hmm." Wen Xue took a few steps forward, reached out and took the tickets, stacked the two tickets together, and carefully put them into her bag as if they were some kind of treasure. Noticing He Yan's gaze, she smiled and said, "I really like collecting these things."
Movie tickets, attraction tickets, train tickets—these are memories, and she will keep them all.
Moreover, she was willing to give this movie a special meaning, for example, it was not just a New Year's film, but also the first movie she watched after losing He Heng.
He Yan: "..."
Although he didn't understand, seeing her carefully putting away the ticket stub, he raised an eyebrow and asked in a good mood, "Want to see anything else?"
Since he's already here, it doesn't matter to him whether he watches one or two or three movies.
As long as she's happy.
Wen Xue zipped up her bag and shook her head. "I don't want it anymore."
She could foresee that he would fall asleep again in the next game, which was fine in the summer, but not in the winter.
He Yan didn't insist and took her to the parking lot to get the car. When they came out of the mall's underground parking garage, it was already dark. Snowflakes were hitting the windshield with a soft thud, the wipers were whirring incessantly, and the road was stuck in traffic for quite a while. By the time they arrived at the tenement building, it was already very late.
The two ate something simple for dinner. When Wen Xue wanted to clear the dishes, He Yan sternly told her to go back to her room, saying that he could wash the few dishes in no time.
Wen Xue, who always obeyed him, was uncharacteristically unwilling to leave this time, saying, "No, your hand isn't healed yet."
He Yan was speechless; only she took these few blisters seriously.
He nodded his chin, gesturing for her to leave: "Stop talking nonsense, it's cold here, go back to your room."
Wen Xue was annoyed. She had clearly told him that the infection would be serious and that he needed to go to the hospital, but he didn't care at all. She shouted anxiously, "Stop bothering me, He Yan!"
Why do you do this? Why don't you take your body seriously at all?
He Yan paused, bewildered by her addressing him by his full name.
She forced her way past him with a stiff face, snatched the dishcloth, and stood silently in front of the sink, washing the dishes with a splash.
In the not-so-spacious kitchen, he stood stiffly to one side, while she scrubbed the dishes with a heavy sigh. Perhaps because she was still angry, the water, which usually felt icy cold, didn't feel cold to her today.
He Yan finally came to his senses and took a step closer. "What did you just call me?"
Wen Xue lowered her head, her hands covered in dish soap foam, refusing to admit it, and said in a muffled voice, "You misheard me, I didn't say anything."
He Yan laughed in exasperation.
She actually had a worse temper than him. After washing the dishes, she walked past him without even glancing at him as she left the kitchen.
He Yan: "?"
What does she mean by that?
He wouldn't let her wash the dishes, and she got angry?
He paced back and forth in the kitchen, hands on his hips, questioning his existence. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the old ginger that Wan Nian had placed in a small bamboo basket. The road up and down the mountain had been unusually long today, and he had walked for a long time. He was perfectly fine, but she was red from the cold. After a moment's thought, he took out all the old ginger and washed it. Soon after, the sound of chopping on a cutting board came from the kitchen.
Wenxue went back to her room, sulked for a while, and then took out the movie ticket stub and tucked it into her green notebook.
This thick notebook contains quite a few movie tickets.
Many of the movies were shown at cinemas near the university. She and He Heng both loved watching movies and would always try to snag cheap tickets. The cinema was their most frequent date spot. She slowly sat down, lowered her eyes, and flipped through the films one by one. Her emotions were like a virus, floating in the air, and her resistance was very weak right now. If she wasn't careful, depression and confusion would pounce on her like a net, making the happiness she had just a minute ago vanish without a trace.
Her gaze wandered aimlessly, unable to find a focal point. Suddenly, a splash of red caught her eye. She paused, then her thoughts returned to normal. She remembered it was a red envelope, New Year's money from He Yan.
It was very thick and bulging, almost bursting the red envelope.
She reached into her bag and took it out. After hesitating for a moment, she opened it and counted the bills one by one. It was exactly eight thousand.
…
Knock knock knock—
Wen Xue's mind was completely occupied by the money. She was thinking about the best way to handle it when a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. As if she had done something wrong, she hurriedly stuffed the red envelope under a cushion. After making sure that He Yan at the door wouldn't see it, she opened the door. But after remembering what had happened in the kitchen, she wiped the smile off her face.
He Yan stood at the door with a bowl in his hand. His gaze swept over her face, and his tone was somewhat uneasy. "Ginger soup to ward off the cold, drink it."
Wen Xue smelled a pungent ginger scent and wanted to back away. Was this retaliation?
She wanted to say that she had taken good care of herself today and that she would definitely not catch a cold, but the words caught in his deep gaze and she swallowed them back down. She obediently took the bowl and said, "I'll wait for it to cool down a little before I drink it."
"OK."
He Yan knew she wouldn't lie, so after giving her a brief explanation, he turned and left, leaving her staring at the full bowl of ginger soup with a tragic expression of heartbreak.
As He Yan descended from the third floor to the second, he bumped into Nana and Wannian, who were returning from their date. The two were holding hands sweetly and were about to pass each other when He Yan stepped down a few steps, stopped, and said, "By the way, there's ginger soup in the kitchen. Remember to drink it."
He only intended to cook one bowl, but he didn't control the amount well and accidentally cooked more than half a pot.
After saying that, he didn't bother to see their reactions and hurriedly returned to his room, his footsteps fading into the distance.
The young couple looked at each other, wondering if they were hallucinating. Dazed, they stumbled up to the third-floor kitchen, lifted the pot lid, and found a steaming pot of ginger soup brimming with ingredients. Nana was overwhelmed with mixed emotions, sighing, "Yan-ge is really great sometimes..."
Although this statement is a generally accepted fact, everyone here knows that He Yan is a reserved person. At this moment, facing this pot of ginger soup, everyone who sees it can't help but say that this is the tender side of a tough guy.
Wan Nian said emotionally, "Brother Yan must be upset that we didn't go back to our hometown for the New Year."
Nana sniffed, "You know what, it's really cold today. Brother Yan really put his heart into it."
Each person ladled out a bowl of ginger soup and gulped it down, hissing from the spiciness, yet still keeping an eye on each other. Even if they died from the spiciness or from overeating, they were determined to finish this pot of lovingly made ginger soup, no matter the cost.
On the other side, Wen Xue nestled on the sofa, sipping her soup slowly from her bowl. Her nose wrinkled from the spiciness. She drank very slowly, pausing occasionally to search for videos on how to weave a safety buckle on her phone, studying each step carefully. She slowly finished the bowl of ginger soup. As he said, it did indeed dispel the cold. After drinking it, her body began to warm up, and sweat even appeared on the tip of her nose.
She thought for a moment, switched to his chat window, and proactively edited and sent a message: "Finished drinking."
He replied quickly, as if he had been waiting for this: "The medicine has been applied."
Wen Xue paused slightly, then smiled broadly: 【^^】
This time he took several minutes to reply, seemingly reluctant after giving in: 【Hmm】
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