28. Cheesy action movies
Lately, Lingling has been juggling system development and copywriting, putting her under immense pressure. On a rare weekend, she only had one day off. After a long nap, she woke up disheveled and surveyed her empty attic. Suddenly, she felt the urge to stock up on some popular items, to add a touch of comfort to her single life. So she headed to Xihongmen for IKEA. She'd always remembered the first time she saw an IKEA brochure in middle school, convinced her future home would look just like that. But actually browsing IKEA felt like a dull love affair: everything was there, yet it always fell short. After two rounds, she bought a sky-blue Lasker shelf, a fragrant orange Risato storage basket, a dark green Ankomster vase, and a natural-wood Jitda wooden figurine. Essentially, it was just a small cart, a basket, a glass bottle, and a doll. Tired from shopping, the line at IKEA's fast food restaurant was incredibly long, and the people cutting in line and grabbing seats was a real letdown. So, she found a quiet place to eat at the Huiju Shopping Mall. Popularity is king at restaurants in shopping districts; those with few customers are either bad or expensive, and 90% of the time, that's because they're bad. After finishing her meal, she left dejectedly. Strolling past the cinema, she saw the James McAvoy film "The Assassins" playing. McAvoy was an actor she had long admired during college. His performance in "Becoming Jane Austen" was the only film Ling Ling had seen twice, and he had always been her beloved, a man of deep affection. With nothing else to do, she decided to follow her idol and see this rerun. She left her stroller, basket, and other items at the cinema front desk, went in early, and rested on a couch. Calming down, Ling Ling reflected on the reason for her boredom today—she had always enjoyed solitude, always feeling free when alone. But now, it was clear that loneliness wasn't as pleasant when someone was in her heart. She randomly scrolled through her phone's contacts and found Yu Chuanbei's name. She suddenly wanted to ask him what he was doing. While she was deleting and revising text messages, she thought she was hallucinating, as if she heard his voice floating nearby. "Sorry, I don't really like sweets. My teeth haven't been doing well lately, and I can't handle cold food." Ling Ling looked in the direction of the voice and saw him. She was so surprised that she almost stood up. But the next second, she fell into a deep pit. Next to Yu Chuanbei stood a woman with a curvaceous figure...
Lately, juggling system development and copywriting, Ling Ling's workload has been incredibly stressful. On a rare weekend, she only had one day off. After a long, frantic sleep, she woke up disheveled and surveyed the empty attic. Suddenly, she wanted to stock up on some popular items, to add a little comfort to her single life.
So she ran to Xihongmen to go shopping at IKEA.
She will always remember the feeling she had when she first saw the IKEA brochure in middle school. She was determined that her future home must look like that. But when she actually went shopping at IKEA, it felt like a boring love affair: it had everything it needed, but it was always disappointing.
After two rounds of shopping, she bought a sky-blue Lasker shelf, a fragrant orange Resato storage basket, a dark green Ankomster vase, and a natural-wood Jitda figurine. To put it simply, it was just a small cart, a basket, a glass bottle, and a doll.
Tired from shopping, the line at IKEA's fast food restaurant was incredibly long, and the people cutting in line to grab a seat was a real letdown. So, she headed to the Huiju shopping mall and found a quiet place to eat. Popularity is king in shopping districts. Restaurants with few customers are either unpalatable or expensive, and 90% of the time, that's because they're unpalatable. After her meal, she left, feeling dejected.
He casually wandered to the entrance of the cinema and saw that the movie "Assassins" starring James McAvoy was showing. McAvoy was an actor she had liked for a long time when she was in college. His performance in "Becoming Jane Austen" was the only movie Ling Ling had seen twice. He had always been her favorite actor.
Since she had nothing else to do, she decided to follow her idol and watch this rerun of an old film. She left her stroller and basket at the front desk and went in early to rest on the sofa.
Calming down, Ling Ling couldn't help but sort out the reasons for her boredom today. She used to enjoy solitude and always felt free when she was alone. But now, it was obvious that if she had someone in her heart, solitude would not be so pleasant.
She randomly swiped through her phone's address book and found Yu Chuanbei's name. She suddenly wanted to ask him what he was doing at the moment.
While she was deleting and revising text messages on her phone, she felt like she was hallucinating and seemed to hear his voice floating not far away.
"Sorry, I don't really like sweets, my teeth haven't been very good lately, and I can't eat cold food."
Ling Ling looked in the direction of the sound and indeed saw him. She was so surprised that she almost stood up. But the next second, she fell into a deep pit.
Next to Yu Chuanbei stood a curvaceous woman in a black, hip-hugging skirt that revealed her shoulders. She held a can of ice cream in front of him, flattering him. Hearing his refusal, she smiled sweetly again and offered it to him, saying, "Your teeth are so white, how could they be bad? This ice cream is super delicious, so soft and chewy! Or I'll feed you!"
She actually pushed the ice cream towards Yu Chuanbei's mouth, and he couldn't dodge it, and his mouth was covered with strawberry milkshake. The woman laughed tremblingly at this, and wiped the corner of his mouth with her delicate hand.
Yu Chuanbei was also a little scared. He turned around awkwardly and walked out of the theater, saying he was going to the bathroom to wash up.
Yu Chuanbei and the woman did not come alone. There were two men and one woman behind them, who seemed to be low-level employees in the company. The three of them pretended to be calm and laughed, then sat down one after another according to the order on the movie ticket.
They were actually sitting in the row in front of Ling Ling. She heard the younger girls complaining, "This Liu Bingqian is too much! I was originally planning to build a relationship with Mr. Yu and try to get transferred to his team, but who would have thought that Liu Bingqian would show up midway and ruin my whole plan. I set this up for nothing!"
A boy said, "That's nothing. You joined the company late, so you haven't heard about the legend of Liu Bingqian chasing after Mr. Yu."
The girl became interested and asked, "What legend?"
Another boy smirked and said, "If this wasn't in public, Liu Bingqian would have dared to lick the ice cream from Mr. Yu's mouth just now!"
The three of them laughed together, and then turned to whispering.
When Yu Chuanbei came back after washing up, he saw Liu Bingqian still waiting at the door of the theater. She pulled his sleeve and asked him to sit with her, so he had to respond politely.
As luck would have it, the couple was sitting right in front of Ling Ling. She pulled up the wide brim of her hoodie, covering most of her face, making it impossible for anyone to recognize her.
The movie began. In the darkness, she could only see the heads of the man and woman across from her occasionally bumping into each other. The woman played it safe, and the man seemed incredibly tolerant. The film's less intense scenes, a muffled gunshot, a mildly heart-wrenching car chase, became thrilling and exciting to the woman. She covered her face with her hands, moaning softly, and repeatedly burrowed into the man's arms.
Yu Chuanbei straightened his back and leaned in the opposite direction. He looked to the other side, as if asking for help from the younger kids, but no one paid any attention to him.
He rested his elbows on the armrests of the sofa, his fingertips pressed against his lips, as if he was a little depressed. But this seductive look aroused the woman's obsession even more, and she began to feed him popcorn.
Ling Ling was also annoyed throughout the movie. The former idol's style changed drastically in this cheesy action film. Next to Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, McAvoy was just a clumsy little dwarf.
What made her even more mad was that the back of the sofa she was sitting on kept getting kicked by the person in the back seat. She turned her head several times and saw that it was a greasy uncle dressed like a local. She tried to show her disgust and ask him to calm down, but his sense of shame was not enough to receive the signal.
She finally couldn't bear it anymore and lowered her voice to warn the other person: "Can you please stop kicking the back of my chair!"
The other party just spat and retorted: "Why are you so troublesome? Are you sick?"
Ling Ling turned her head angrily, only to see Yu Chuanbei looking back at her.
In the dim light of the movie screen, she saw the surprise flashing in his eyes.
But she ignored him and pretended to concentrate on watching the movie as if he didn't exist.
Liu Bingqian realized that something was wrong and asked Yu Chuanbei with a charming smile, "Do you know him?"
"Yes, the person I like." Yu Chuanbei said without hesitation, and then turned his head.
Ling Ling heard his words very clearly, and felt as if a huge stone was thrown into her heart, shaking and a little suffocated.
The movie was showing the scene where Angelina Jolie beat up the male protagonist. When she threw a punch, Liu Bingqian was inexplicably frightened and screamed. She also seemed to accidentally knock over the Coke, all of which spilled on Yu Chuanbei's legs.
Ling Ling watched them frantically from the back row and estimated that the Coke spilled over such an area would have soaked right into Yu Chuanbei's underwear. She began to imagine the woman wringing out the water from his underwear, hanging it dry, and then helping him put it on.
Another jolt of force pushed against her back, making her nauseous. Unable to bear it any longer, she jumped up and cursed behind her, "You're an old man in your forties, and you keep kicking people's chairs at the movies. Is crossing your legs the only thing you can do? You've been a loser all your life, and you don't want to stand up anymore, are you?"
After cursing, she didn't bother to pay attention to the scoundrel's insults, just wanted to get away from the scumbag as soon as possible. So she squeezed out of the theater angrily through the gaps between dozens of people's legs.
As she hurried towards the exit, she was stopped by a theater staff member: "Madam, the cart you left with us..."
Ling Ling ran back to the front desk dejectedly to pick up the goods, regretting that she had bought all these crap that hindered her cynicism.
Ling Ling was pushing a shelf and carrying a basket with vases and wooden figures rattling in the basket. She was walking around the mall in this state. She heard a few calls from the men behind her, but she ignored them completely.
"Ling Ling--" He finally caught up with her, grabbed her shelf and forced her to stop.
She glanced at the breathless Yu Chuanbei and asked coldly, "What are you doing?"
"You just challenged that scoundrel. It was quite dangerous."
"I don't think so. The movie ticket costs 90 yuan. Only a rubbish person would be reluctant to give up such a huge sum of money to argue with me." Ling Ling did not appreciate his concern.
"Well, did you see everything? There's nothing between Liu Bingqian and me." He explained directly.
Ling Ling said with a nonchalant expression, "What I saw was only what everyone saw in this public place. I didn't see it in other places."
Yu Chuanbei asked her with a puzzled look on his face: "What else could happen in other occasions?"
"I heard she can lick you." Ling Ling curled her lips and pulled her stroller away from his hand, walking towards the escalator.
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