Chapter 13
Chen Zhiyu kept a straight face throughout.
There were indeed several good movies released this summer.
Josh was puzzled and was about to ask him why he suddenly wanted to watch a movie when he realized how the man addressed him. He jumped up, ran over, and pinched the man's ear. "You brat, you're getting more and more disrespectful. Call me 'sister,' do you hear me?"
Josh had already let his hair out of the hair dryer, his long hair hanging down his back. When he bent over, a strand of wet hair fell on Chen Zhiyu's face as he got close. The wet feeling, mixed with the sweet scent of shampoo, was like a delicious ice cream in summer.
But this brat seemed to be deliberately going against her. No matter how she threatened him, Chen Zhiyu wouldn't budge. What's more, he even tilted his head and smiled at her.
Josh was taken aback by his smile. When Chen Zhiyu smiled, his double eyelids deepened, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, giving him a roguish air.
Just the day before, Josh thought Chen Zhiyu was a quiet and reserved person, but it turns out he's a sly devil. In Josh's eyes, this was a blatant provocation. Later, he belatedly realized his mistake and felt ashamed of his judgment.
Ultimately, she couldn't resist and gave in, returning to her room in a huff.
Having offended someone, Chen Zhiyu got up and ran to Qiao Xi's door. He knocked twice with his fingers, paused for a moment, and then knocked twice more tentatively.
"Get lost, I'm buying a ticket."
A loud, irritable voice came from inside the room.
Hearing the noise inside, Chen Zhiyu leaned against the door without moving, and chuckled softly. He took out his phone from his pocket, opened the chat app, tapped the pinned WeChat icon, and sent a string of emojis.
Kitten, bear, dog.
They act cute, they act adorable, they act cheeky.
These were things Chen Zhiyu had stolen from Qiao Xi. After sending her the movie links he wanted to watch, he thought for a moment, typed a few more words, and then knocked on the door again. "I'm going to cook. If you don't tell me what you want to eat, I'll just make something random."
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone beeped twice, receiving two text messages. Chen Zhiyu picked it up, glanced at it, smiled slightly, and turned to go to the kitchen to cook.
In the bedroom, Josh lay on the bed, holding his phone high with both arms, staring at the words "sister" on the screen. He looked at it again and again, wondering what was wrong with this child. Why did she have to post it on WeChat after making someone angry?
I ended up watching the movie the following afternoon.
The location was chosen to be on the sixth floor of the China World Trade Center in the city center.
Chen Zhiyu had been with Qiao Xi since he was fourteen. The two lived a very frugal life. Although they weren't starving, they had to spend their money wisely, so they avoided all entertainment activities.
At that time, Josh was shuttling between school and various part-time jobs, and his free time was filled with studies and work.
After Chen Zhiyu learned how to drive an electric bike, the job of delivering sea cucumbers fell to him.
Compared to Josh, he seemed to be better at business. Throughout his three years of junior high, Chen Zhiyu somehow managed to recruit a small group of classmates' parents as customers. In one month, he earned enough to cover both of their living expenses.
The last and only time they went to the movies was with tickets given to Josh by her advisor.
She had just finished hosting a department event and hurriedly tidied herself up before heading to the movie theater with Chen Zhiyu, who had come to the school to find her.
It was winter, and the heating in the theater was on very warmly.
The movie was a niche art film, and it was a 10 p.m. showing. There were only the two of them in the huge screening room.
They watched very carefully.
Before the accident, it wasn't that the two of them hadn't seen movies. It was just that the nostalgic longing for the beautiful things that had passed was what mattered more.
Three or four years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Josh and Chen Zhiyu took the elevator directly to the sixth floor. In the waiting room of the movie theater, the few seats available for people to rest were all occupied.
Similarly, on the massage chairs around the corner, seven or eight people lay sprawled out, surrounded by the incessant mechanical sounds prompting for QR code scanning, creating a multi-dimensional, immersive experience.
They arrived a little earlier than expected, with half an hour to go before the show started. Seeing the huge crowd in the waiting area, the two of them turned around and headed out in unison. There were several shops nearby where they could browse and kill some time.
"The weather will get cold soon after school starts, let me buy you a jacket." Josh stopped in front of a sportswear store, touching the clothes on the mannequins outside, and said to Chen Zhiyu.
"No need, I have my school uniform." Chen Zhiyu refused without even thinking.
“You can’t wear a school uniform every day. You have to go out eventually, and you need to wear one to go out.”
"Really, no need, I have..." Chen Zhiyu didn't want Qiao Xi to waste money on him. Birthday gifts were one thing, but this was another.
He tried to dissuade her, but just as his fingers touched Josh's wrist, she suddenly turned around and glared at him. "You mean to say that you have Chen Zhibin's old clothes, right?"
Chen Zhiyu's hand froze in mid-air.
A few years ago, the two of them never bought new clothes. Qiao Mai and Chen Zhibin's old clothes accompanied them through spring, summer, autumn and winter. "Now I have a stable job, and my internship period is over. I have extra money."
Josh spoke with deep meaning. She certainly knew why Chen Zhiyu didn't want her to spend money.
Chen Zhiyu always felt indebted to her.
But some things cannot be measured in this way.
"My... there's nothing wrong with my brother's clothes, they're fine on me."
"Remember what I tell you most often? Money isn't what's overwhelming you; it's your mental stress that's."
Josh knew how stubborn this man was, and through their interactions, he gradually figured out how to handle him. He wouldn't listen to his explanations and would just keep walking into the store. "It's not like I'm buying you stars and the moon, just a piece of clothing. Why are you acting so bitter and resentful?"
Life must go on.
In Chen Zhiyu's view, he may have been putting pressure on Qiao Xi, but Qiao Xi herself knows that his appearance has also given her strength in an invisible way.
Knowing each other's personalities, Chen Zhiyu carefully followed behind Qiao Xi and coaxed, "I saw there's a discount event, buy one get one half price, why don't you buy one for yourself?"
Josh finally decided to turn back.
The two ultimately chose a spring/autumn style jacket, unisex.
Because they were discounted and all sizes were sold out, Josh chose a dark brown one for herself and an olive green one for Chen Zhiyu.
From choosing the clothes to trying them on and finally receiving them, the whole process took no more than fifteen minutes. When we came out, there was still time before the movie started, and after we put the clothes away, we had ten minutes left.
Josh went to the ticket machine first to get the movie tickets, and Chen Zhiyu followed behind her. When he saw three tickets coming out of the machine in a row, his brow furrowed. "Why is there an extra movie ticket?"
“No,” Josh said, looking at the three tickets. “There are three.”
"Then what's this?" Chen Zhiyu pointed to the three tickets in his hand and asked somewhat uneasily.
"Hey, didn't I tell you? As soon as your sister Tang Ning heard that we were going to see a movie, she insisted on coming too."
Just then, a dark figure suddenly darted out from behind Josh and grabbed her.
It's Tang Ning.
Tang Ning held her tightly, and his first words were, "Long time no see, did you get the tickets?"
Seeing the movie tickets in Josh's hand, Tang Ning took them from her and glanced at them. "This movie is good." Then, quite casually, she handed them out to them.
Six rows with 7 seats, six rows with 8 seats, and six rows with 9 seats.
Chen Zhiyu glanced at the movie ticket shoved into his hand, then subtly glanced at the ticket in Qiao Xi's hand beside him.
Tang Ning held up his own sign, “Sixth row, eighth seat.”
Chen Zhiyu glared at her coldly.
Soon it was time to enter. The three of them didn't chat much and went straight to line up to have their tickets checked.
From the moment he got his ticket checked to the moment he entered the screening room, Chen Zhiyu kept a straight face, silently following behind and coldly staring ahead.
Tang Ning, who was walking in front, was practically hanging on Josh. What's more, Josh was also protecting her. The two of them were so intimate that no one could possibly interfere.
The three people entered the hall and accurately located their seats in the sixth row.
The aisle between the front and back seats was narrow. Tang Ning had been walking in front, but Chen Zhiyu, who had been following behind, suddenly sped up, took the lead, and squeezed forward, stopping in front of Qiao Xi and Tang Ning to sit down comfortably in the sixth row, eighth seat.
By the time Tang Ning discovered that the other woman had taken over, it was too late. An invisible anger surged up, and she glared at Chen Zhiyu, who was sitting comfortably in his seat, and said with dissatisfaction, "Hey, you little brat."
Normally, it doesn't matter how three friends are seated when watching a movie, but for these three people, it's not normal.
Chen Zhiyu ignored her completely and showed no intention of moving. However, seeing that the people behind them were about to arrive, Tang Ning couldn't stand it and could only sit down in seat number seven, glaring at him resentfully.
Josh was puzzled by their antics, so he walked past the two men and sat down on the other side of Chen Zhiyu.
Once everyone in the hall had found their seats and settled in, the movie finally began. The lights dimmed, and the curtain slowly rose.
The movie I chose today was a comedy, and it was full of laughs from the very beginning. Before long, Tang Ning was captivated.
Josh was also drawn in by the humorous plot and watched with great interest.
It was the hottest time of summer, and the air conditioning in the screening room was on full blast. She shrank back into her seat, and as she moved, her arm bumped into the person on her right. She then turned her head to look at them.
The light from the screen enveloped the entire screening room.
The dim light shone on Chen Zhiyu's face, making his profile appear even clearer and more defined. The male lead in the movie had made a fool of himself again, and a burst of laughter erupted around him. Chen Zhiyu's eyes crinkled into a smile, and a barely perceptible smile played on his lips.
It looks very nice and natural.
At least, the smile is much better and more genuine than it was four years ago.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Just as Josh was about to turn his head and refocus his attention on the big screen, Chen Zhiyu suddenly turned his head, and their eyes met unexpectedly. In the blur, shadows flickered, and Josh seemed to see him still smiling.
Yes, he's smiling.
She laughed even more happily than before.
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