Chapter 267 Extra: Zhou Ting x Xia Mingzhao
"Welcome to InterContinental Cinemas. For theaters 1 to 5, go straight and check your tickets on the left. Theaters 6 to 8 are on the sixth floor. VIP1 and VIP2 take the elevator to the seventh floor."
"The concession stand? It's right across from you. There's a group deal on Douyin right now, a super cheap Coke and popcorn combo for two, you can compare it!"
"Massage chairs... We have massage chairs in all our theaters, but to be honest, they're not as comfortable as the ones in shopping malls. However, they're quite cheap, only fifteen yuan an hour. You can decide for yourself whether you want to use them."
"Was the popcorn you bought last time damp? Impossible. We have very strict food safety standards. Any unsold snacks are destroyed on the same day, so it's impossible for it to be damp. But since you asked, I'll give you another serving. Would you like it creamy or caramel flavored?"
The staff member was so easy to talk to that even the woman who had been glaring at her felt a little embarrassed: "The popcorn getting damp is a problem with the cinema, not yours. You don't need to pay for it yourself, right?"
"No need, don't worry. How about I give you half caramel and half cream, you can try both?"
The woman naturally agreed. She was struggling to decide which flavor to choose and wanted to try both. Half and half would solve her indecisiveness.
The woman happily accepted the popcorn, but upon seeing the young man's face, she suddenly hissed, "I just realized you look familiar. Have you been on TV?"
Of course, he looked familiar. As the young heir to the InterContinental Cinemas chain, Xia Mingzhao was inspecting all the cinemas under his brand, and incidentally editing the footage into a vlog to post online. He had received a lot of praise for his good looks, pleasant personality, and sincere and enthusiastic treatment of customers.
Moreover, he and Zhou Ting appeared on a variety show together last year. The show garnered a lot of attention due to Xia Mian's various outrageous antics, and many customers felt that he looked familiar.
By the way, speaking of Zhou Ting...
Xia Mingzhao looked around and happened to see the man's figure at the entrance of the cinema.
I hadn't seen him for over a month. He was darker and thinner, with a neat buzz cut. The hesitation and indecisiveness that used to appear in his eyes were completely gone, replaced by a deep pool, calm yet containing an invisible power.
The only thing that hasn't changed is its gentle nature.
When their eyes met, Zhou Ting smiled and nodded.
“Maybe I have a bit of an internet celebrity face,” Xia Mingzhao handed the popcorn to the woman, “Please enjoy.”
After saying that, he took off his gloves and apron, said a few words to the shop assistant next to him, picked up his car keys and walked quickly to Zhou Ting's side.
"When did you arrive? Why didn't you call me?"
Zhou Ting said, "I just arrived too. I saw you were busy, so I waited at the door for a while."
"We'll be on lunch break soon, so it'll probably be too late to go now. How about..." Xia Mingzhao tentatively asked, "Shall we have lunch together?"
"Okay, shall we go to Huixin?"
Huixin was the restaurant Zhou Ting chose when he confessed his love. Because it was so meaningful, the two of them have tacitly chosen Huixin for every important occasion since then, such as birthdays, anniversaries, and marriage registration celebrations.
Upon hearing this, Xia Mingzhao's hand holding the car keys trembled slightly: "Okay, let's go, I'll drive."
Zhou Ting glanced at the car keys: "Hmm."
Actually, this was the first time Zhou Ting had ridden in a car driven by Xia Mingzhao.
Actually, he wasn't much older than Xia Mingzhao, but when you love someone, you can't help but treat them like a child, caring for them, worrying about them, and taking care of them meticulously. So from the time they first met to their marriage, Zhou Ting always drove Xia Mingzhao around.
Xia Mingzhao got his license late and was often driven around by a driver, because his father was worried that he might get injured in an accident.
But now, sitting in the passenger seat, watching Xia Mingzhao skillfully change lanes, turn, and make U-turns, Zhou Ting suddenly felt like laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Xia Mingzhao asked curiously.
Zhou Ting: "Have you always driven this well?"
"No. I didn't drive much before, so my skills were a bit clumsy. But in the last two months, I've been traveling all over the country and I've gotten better at it. Don't I look like a seasoned driver?"
“Yes,” Zhou Ting paused, “I can feel more at ease from now on.”
Xia Mingzhao looked ahead and said nothing.
Upon arriving at Huixin, the manager was already waiting at the entrance. It was lunchtime, and the lobby was crowded, so the manager had reserved a private room for them in advance for the sake of quiet.
Xia Mingzhao asked, "Is there any room left in the hall?"
The manager paused for a moment: "The window seats are full, but there are two tables left along the aisle."
Xia Mingzhao: "Just open the main hall."
The manager responded and led them toward their seats while asking the waiter to bring the menus.
Having been there so many times, they knew Huixin's menu inside and out. Without even looking at it, they ordered eight dishes.
Of the eight dishes, the appetizers and main courses are predetermined, while the remaining dishes require the chef to freely combine them according to the ingredients available that day. Each time they eat there, it feels like opening a blind box, which is one of the main reasons why the two of them like Huixin.
The chef didn't disappoint them again today, serving a creamy pumpkin square dish among the hot dishes. Xia Mingzhao loves all things sweet and soft, so Zhou Ting gestured to the waiter to place the dish in front of her.
Xia Mingzhao picked up a small square piece and casually tried to put it on Zhou Ting's plate, but her arm paused in mid-air for two seconds before she picked it back up onto her own plate.
Perhaps afraid of getting burned, he didn't eat it, but poked at the pumpkin with his chopsticks, asking, "Where have you been these past two months?"
"Teaching in Qinghai".
"No wonder you're so tanned, Dad... Did Uncle Zhou let you go?"
"At first they wouldn't allow it, but they couldn't resist my insistence, so they turned a blind eye. As for you, you just said you're traveling all over the country, were you referring to visiting movie theaters?"
"Hmm. You know my family's situation; we've been barely surviving. To change this, we have to make a tough decision. I plan to do some in-depth research at the grassroots level and take the results back to study carefully."
"You did a great job," Zhou Ting praised sincerely.
"You're amazing too, able to leave behind all the glitz and glamour and go to such a faraway place. I've heard that Qinghai has an amazing ecological environment, and bears and wolves often come out in the middle of the night. Have you ever seen them?"
"How did you know I encountered a bear? I was passing through the Qiangtang Plateau that night..."
The two chatted about interesting things that had happened around them recently, one after the other, like old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time.
At 1:30, Zhou Ting gentlemanly got up to pay the bill. Xia Mingzhao drove, and the two headed towards the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Everything went smoothly after that. Two months ago, Zhou Ting filed for divorce. They had already been to the Civil Affairs Bureau once. Now that the cooling-off period had passed, the staff stopped trying to persuade them. They filled out the divorce agreement, attached photos, and stamped the document in one go. In less than half an hour, they received their divorce certificate.
Xia Mingzhao thought she would be sad, so she gave up the private room and went to the main hall for dinner because she was afraid of having an emotional breakdown when she was alone with Zhou Ting.
But looking at the red certificate, he felt unusually calm.
Do you still love Zhou Ting?
Without a doubt, it is love.
However, he could not accept Zhou Ting's wavering in relationships, and he could not forgive himself for the intentional or unintentional harm he had caused Zhou Ting—he had almost killed Zhou Ting once.
Just as Zhou Ting knew that his heart was no longer with Xia Mingzhao, he chose to let go of himself and each other.
They all deserve a wider world.
“Next time we meet, I’ll have to call you ‘ex-husband’,” Xia Mingzhao said, smoothing his messy hair at the temples. “I’ll call you Ah Ting one last time. Ah Ting, I wish you a smooth and successful journey, and that all your wishes come true.”
Zhou Ting glanced down at him, then looked up at the azure sky: "Thank you, Mingzhao. I also wish you freedom from constraints and a lifetime of happiness."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com