Holding a bucket of popcorn, Lin Yu entered the movie theater and found his seat according to the number on his ticket. When he saw the two people sitting next to his seat, he froze for a moment, unsure of what to say.
Could this be any more of a coincidence?
Xia Yueshan also noticed Lin Yu and, naturally, the girl behind him. He was the first to snap out of his shock, quickly standing up and moving past his sister, switching from the seat on Xia Muzhu’s left to the one on her right.
By the time Lin Yu regained his composure, what was supposed to be two adjacent seats had turned into two single seats separated by Xia Yueshan and Xia Muzhu.
A vein throbbed on Lin Yu’s forehead.
He lightly kicked Xia Yueshan’s shoe and shot him a look that clearly said, "Get lost."
Xia Yueshan, however, slumped lazily in his seat, putting on a shameless act.
He wasn’t budging.
What are you gonna do about it?
Lin Yu gritted his teeth in frustration, but with so many people around, he couldn’t exactly give Xia Yueshan a "loving education" right then and there. He had no choice but to sit down next to Xia Yueshan and hand one of the two popcorn buckets to Tang Manman, gesturing for her to take the other seat.
Tang Manman looked a little unhappy but, being the understanding person she was, she complied. Before leaving, she even handed Lin Yu a bottle of cola.
And so, the two of them sat separated by Xia Muzhu and Xia Yueshan, the atmosphere growing oddly tense.
After a round of commercials, the movie finally began.
Lin Yu decided not to bother with Xia Yueshan’s childish antics and generously placed the popcorn bucket between them, letting him share.
Xia Yueshan, however, had no gratitude for the gesture. He shoveled handfuls of popcorn into his mouth while occasionally shooting Lin Yu a glare—utterly shameless.
Lin Yu ignored him, peering past the not-so-tall boy to check on Xia Muzhu and Tang Manman, worried that something unpleasant might happen between them…
Wait.
Logically speaking,
there was no way they’d get along, right?
Fortunately, both of them were gentle souls. Even if their relationship wasn’t exactly harmonious, they could at least maintain surface-level politeness.
Tang Manman, in particular, played her part well, placing her own popcorn bucket between them for sharing.
Seeing that nothing had escalated, Lin Yu let out a small sigh of relief.
Thank goodness it was these two considerate and kind-hearted people sitting together.
If it had been two hotheads like Qing Mo, he wouldn’t even dare imagine the chaos.
With his mind at ease, Lin Yu leaned back in his seat and started competing with Xia Yueshan for popcorn.
Maybe it was the unique recipe, or maybe it was just psychological, but Lin Yu always thought movie theater popcorn tasted way better than the stuff outside.
At the very least, it smelled amazing!
After a while of snacking, Xia Yueshan’s mouth grew dry, and he shamelessly reached out, demanding Lin Yu’s cola.
Lin Yu glared at him. Despite his annoyance at Xia Yueshan’s earlier behavior outside the theater, he still handed over the drink.
Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw a message from Tang Manman.
SugarCube: Refund the coupon!
Lin Yu knew she was upset about not being able to sit next to him, hence the protest. Suppressing a laugh, he typed back:
DragonOverlord: "No refunds."
DragonOverlord: "You already used the complimentary claw machine service. No takebacks."
SugarCube: O(≧口≦)O (Angry)
SugarCube: Then this movie doesn’t count!
SugarCube: You have to take me to another one later!
DragonOverlord: We’ll talk about it later.
Lin Yu employed the classic stall tactic.
SugarCube: No "later"! O(≧口≦)O (Angry)
Buzz~
Another message came through.
Seeing the sender ID—Xia ProudEarth—Lin Yu turned to Xia Yueshan beside him, wanting to say something but not knowing how to phrase it.
Well… he wasn’t wrong.
Even though they were sitting close, it was better not to talk in the theater and ruin others’ experience.
With that in mind, Lin Yu lowered his head and started texting with Xia Yueshan, who was less than twenty centimeters away.
Xia ProudEarth: Is she your girlfriend?
DragonOverlord: Not yet.
DragonOverlord: But soon.
Xia ProudEarth: ?
Xia ProudEarth: Then what about my sister?
Xia ProudEarth: You know she likes you.
DragonOverlord: ...
DragonOverlord: Your sister and I aren’t a good match. Stop stirring the pot—your top priority right now is getting into high school. Stay out of this.
Xia ProudEarth: ?
Xia ProudEarth: I’m only in seventh grade. Why am I worrying about high school already?
DragonOverlord: Seventh grade is no excuse to slack off. You’ve only got about 800 days until the high school entrance exam. Get studying.
Xia ProudEarth: ...
Xia ProudEarth: I wanna punch you.
After some back-and-forth banter, Xia Yueshan eventually got absorbed in Kung Fu Panda 4, leaving Lin Yu relieved to no longer have to deal with him.
Distractedly making it through the movie, Lin Yu didn’t even bother saying goodbye to Xia Muzhu afterward. He quickly sent Tang Manman a "Let’s bolt" message and whisked her out of the theater.
Once outside, Tang Manman wanted to retrieve the plushies they’d left at the front desk, but Lin Yu stopped her.
"Let’s leave them there for now. We’ll grab them after we finish shopping," he reasoned.
"Carrying them around now would just be a hassle."
Tang Manman thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Leading her away from the theater, Lin Yu was about to head to the supermarket on the basement level to stock up on New Year’s snacks when a sudden, spine-chilling sensation crept over him.
Turning toward the source of the cold aura, he came face-to-face with a familiar, icy beauty.
Lin Yu couldn’t help but sigh.
Really?
You just had to show up the second I thought of you?
Qing Mo!
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
