Chapter 45, The Butterfly Dream, is similar to a movie.
"Let's go. I reserved a seat at Ruomu Pavilion in advance. Tomorrow is the weekend, and there should be a lot of people tonight."
Jing Yuan was carrying two cups of hot goat milk he had just bought from a snack stall. The moment he saw Shen Mi, he immediately took out one cup and handed it to him.
Seeing that she was reading a book, he lowered his head and asked with interest, "What book are you reading?"
Shen Mi closed the book and showed Jing Yuan the title on the cover. He suddenly realized, "So it's 'Butterfly Shadow'."
Shen Mi nodded, reached out and took the straw, and stuck it into the cup. The straw went in smoothly, but before it reached the bottom, it seemed to touch something soft. Shen Mi curiously took a sip, and a round bead slid into her mouth along with the warm goat milk.
Round, bouncy, and very chewy, isn't this a pearl?
Shen Mi looked surprised; he hadn't expected to be able to drink bubble tea here.
Jing Yuan looked at her and said with a smile, "The goat milk shop in Chang Le Tian has launched a new drink with tapioca balls in it. What do you think of the taste?"
Before Chen Mi could even swallow the pearls in his mouth, he gave a thumbs-up and blurted out, "Drink up!"
Jingyuan also took out his cup from the bag, aimed the straw at the bottle opening, and tried to insert it several times but couldn't. When he tried to force it in, he broke the straw.
With a soft chuckle, Shen Mi couldn't help but burst out laughing, and Jing Yuan smiled awkwardly upon hearing the sound.
"Give it to me."
Shen Mi reached out and took the cup from him, then took the straw, avoiding the part that went in, folded the straw in half, and used the pointed end to poke a hole in the plastic seal of the goat milk.
"for you."
Under Jing Yuan's astonished gaze, Shen Mi tossed his hair, displaying the nonchalant composure of a master leaving the scene.
The two strolled leisurely, walking step by step toward the Ruomu Pavilion not far away. The small restaurant was on the second floor, and with the experience from the last visit, Shen Mi found their reserved spot without any effort.
The waiter was clearly used to the two of them appearing together. He came over with the menu and casually said, "The usual? One pot of Longjing tea and two plates of crispy lotus root?"
“Today is different,” Shen Mi said, shaking the hot goat milk in her hand at the waiter. “There’s already some to drink.”
"Then I'll serve you two two plates of crispy lotus root first, and you can take your time to look at the rest."
"good."
Unlike her initial awkwardness upon arrival, Shen Mi was now a seasoned veteran. She skimmed through the menu, ordered several of her favorite dishes, and then pushed the menu towards Jing Yuan, waiting for him to make his selection.
Jing Yuan lowered his eyes and saw that Shen Mi had also selected the same dishes he wanted to order. A warm feeling welled up in his heart. He closed the menu and placed it on the table.
In response to Shen Mi's question, Jing Yuan smiled and replied calmly, "There's nothing else I'd like to order."
"Then I'll send the menu over!"
It was lunchtime, and if Jingyuan hadn't reserved seats in advance, they would never have been able to squeeze in.
Inside the restaurant, the waiters were busy serving tea and water, and Shen Mi didn't want to trouble them to make the trip. Since the front desk was not far away, Shen Mi simply delivered the menu herself, since she had nothing else to do anyway.
Having just returned from delivering the menu, Shen Mi saw that the crispy lotus root had already been served. After thinking for a moment, she advised, "You should still avoid eating it. Eating too much lotus root can cause indigestion."
Jing Yuan had just picked up a piece of food when he heard Shen Mi's words. His chopsticks paused, and a regretful expression appeared on his face, like a kitten reluctantly retracting its outstretched paw after hearing its owner's command to "stop."
Shen Mi couldn't help but chuckle, unwilling to see him show disappointment. She pushed the plate of crisp lotus root closer to him and gave him a command: "Eat, eat, just don't eat too much."
Jingyuan then regained his smile and savored each bite of the crisp lotus root, feeling it dance on his taste buds. He closed his eyes contentedly, a sense of blissful happiness washing over him.
They didn't order much today; most of the dishes were on the sweeter side: sweet and sour pork ribs, Linyuan vinegar fish, and a vegetarian dish: bean sprouts stir-fried with fried dough sticks.
During the meal, Jingyuan suddenly brought up "Butterfly Shadow" and asked Shenmi which of the ten books she liked the most.
Shen Mi thought for a moment.
"It should be 'The Last Night on Luofu Mountain'."
"Oh?" Jing Yuan became interested. "Tell me, why are you so fond of this one?"
Shen Mi waved his hand, politely declining, "I haven't read the entire Butterfly Fantasy World yet, but I think the analysis and evaluation of it in 'Butterfly Shadow' is quite good."
"I see. Shall we go take a look after we finish eating?" Jing Yuan suddenly suggested.
Shen Mi was stunned for a moment, somewhat incredulous: "Ah, what do you mean?"
"The Butterfly Theater is showing it again today." To prove that what he said was true, Jing Yuan took out his phone and showed Shen Mi the theater's schedule for today.
Shen Mi looked across the table and focused his gaze on Jing Yuan's palm-sized screen.
"Really?!"
So, do you want to go see it?
Shen Mi hesitated for two seconds before making a decision: "Let's see."
"Okay, I'll buy the tickets then."
"Yes, thank you for your hard work!"
The magazine's report was true; when the two of them finished their meal and arrived at the theater, the line for the Butterfly Fantasy show had already stretched from inside to outside. Shen Mi found it hard to imagine how Jing Yuan had managed to snag tickets.
Jing Yuan was tall, and his armor was large, so many people deliberately avoided him to avoid bumping into him, hiding behind him and thus safely reaching the inside of the theater.
"Why are there so many people?" Shen Mi stared at the crowds of people and muttered to himself.
Jingyuan leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Today is the fourth day of the fifth month. The academy has organized students to come and see the Butterfly Illusion."
Shen Mi suddenly realized why there were so many people.
"Are they here to see 'The Last Night on the Luofu River' too?" Shen Mi pointed to the students who were whispering and laughing.
Jing Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Some are, some may not be."
Then, he gave Shen Mi a brief explanation: students at different stages will have different viewing needs. The academy customizes the corresponding Butterfly Fantasy catalog according to the children at each stage, in order to increase their knowledge and broaden their ability to learn about the outside world.
Shen Mi thought for a moment, and realized that this was the required reading list that her school had assigned to each grade level when she was a child.
She smiled. Sure enough, even though she had traveled through time, the traditional Chinese education system was still chasing after her.
Is it about to start?
Jing Yuan checked the time and said, "There are still ten minutes left. I can go to the restroom now."
Shen Mi nodded and handed him the canvas bag: "Hold this for me, I'm going to the restroom, I'll be right back."
Chen Mi jogged toward the sign that indicated the restroom.
The women's restroom was crowded, but fortunately there were many stalls. Chen Mi waited outside for a while. While waiting, she opened her phone and found her chat history with Dan Heng. The conversation was still on the pictures she had sent that morning.
It's been almost twelve hours. Are you that busy? So busy that you don't even have time to reply to messages?
Finally, Shen Mi shook her head, thinking to herself with a self-deprecating smile, "It's all because Dan Heng always replies instantly, which spoils her. Now she can't even wait a little while."
She put her phone away, and the person inside came out. Shen Mi nimbly slipped into the empty cubicle.
After relieving himself and washing his hands, Shen Mi came out of the toilet. As soon as he turned the corner, he saw Jing Yuan holding two buckets of bolu and two bottles of drinks. He was leaning against the wall, waiting leisurely. People were coming and going in the corridor, looking hurried, but quite a few eyes were still cast at him.
As Shen Mi looked at him, a phrase inexplicably came to mind: "His appearance was slender and graceful, his demeanor refined and elegant, his temperament gentle and warm like jade, and his spirit serene and divine."
This phrase is most fitting to describe Jingyuan at this moment.
Shen Mi jogged up to him and said, "Let's go, it looks like it's about to start."
Jingyuan handed her the drink in his hand: "I didn't know if you liked salty or sweet bok choy, so I bought both. If you like them both, you can switch between them."
Shen Mi smiled and took the bottle, then picked up his bottle as well, saying, "Let's go inside first and talk about it later. It'll start later."
Chen Mi held the bottle cap between her fingers, freeing one hand to pull Jing Yuan's sleeve.
Jingyuan was gently pulled by her, and before he knew it, he was being led away.
Shen Mi was also quite shocked. He had wanted to test the other party's bottom line, but he didn't expect to be stopped so easily. The system's announcement sounded at the right time.
[Target character – Jing Yuan, conquest value increased by 5%.]
"What's wrong?"
Seeing that Shen Mi suddenly stopped, Jing Yuan asked.
Shen Mi shook his head and pulled his sleeve tighter. "It's alright, it's alright, let's go in."
Upon entering the corresponding Hall No. 4, Shen Mi was truly grateful that she had just grabbed Jing Yuan's sleeve. Otherwise, in this pitch-black environment, she could easily have slipped and fallen. Moreover, Jing Yuan was carrying two portions of Bo Lou, so if she had fallen, she wouldn't even have had a hand to brace herself.
The large screen directly in front of us emits a dazzling white light, and each row of steps in front of the seating area has a small green light embedded in the floor with numbers printed on it.
"Jingyuan, what row are we sitting in?"
Shen Mi lowered his head and carefully searched for their seats.
"Nine rows, one seat and two seats."
Shen Mi said, "Okay, it's inconvenient for you to carry so many things, let me lead you."
Shen Mi walked slowly, turning back frequently to remind Jing Yuan to watch his step.
After passing through rows of steps blocking their way and bypassing the students sitting in front, Shen Mi and Jing Yuan crouched down and arrived at their designated seats—two-seaters in the last row without any partitions.
Using the faint light cast on Shen Mi's face from the steps, Jing Yuan carefully observed her expression.
Seeing that Shen Mi had no objection to the seat and sat down calmly without even asking any questions.
After sitting down, Shen Mi reached out and took the Bo Lou that Jing Yuan had been holding.
"Sit down, sit down." Shen Mi patted the seat next to him.
When Jingyuan booked the tickets, only two-seat seats were left for this movie. He knew what two-seat seats meant and understood why they were scheduled for the last showing. He hesitated for a while about changing to another showing, but the other showings were all too late. This was the only suitable one.
Aside from being forced to make this choice due to circumstances, he also harbored a little bit of his own selfish motive, wanting to know her insights into the Butterfly Fantasy as soon as possible.
For no other reason than that, "The Last Night on the Louvre" was also his favorite.
He wanted to hear her evaluation, her thoughts, and whether they coincided with his.
If it were just such a simple reason, Shen Mi wouldn't find it strange, much less refuse it; on the contrary, she would understand and agree with him.
However, people with a guilty conscience will only worry and overthink.
For such a simple reason, why do thoughts act like the left and right hands that are hindering each other, even though they are both part of the same body...?
But when I saw so many students sitting in the front row, my worries vanished instantly, as if I had found a reason to explain my shameful thoughts.
—Look, there are so many people, it's just a regular two-seater, it's nothing.
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Author's Note: Author: People with impure thoughts are prone to overthinking [glasses][glasses][glasses] What mischief does Mimi have up her sleeve? Mimi just wants to be closer to you [dog head with rose in hand]
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