Haunted

Wait...

Lin Xiaoyou?

The best university in the country? Winning scholarships every year? Graduating early with a master's degree?

That little money-grubber who was always shouting "Senior, treat me," "Senior, you're so rich," and "Senior, provide for me"?

That round face instantly popped into his mind—

Her ponytail bobbing back and forth, her almond eyes sparkling, and her little mouth opening only to say "Senior, Senior"...

...Did she have even half a dime's worth of connection to the word "top student"?!

Fang Qi's eye twitched slightly.

Xiaoqing's voice also carried a trace of emotion:

"You couldn't tell, right."

"Actually, she could have developed her career in a much bigger city. There were large companies over there trying to poach her with high salaries."

"But in the end, she still came back."

She paused, her gaze drifting across the way again, the curve of her lips softening a bit:

"She said... she wanted to come back to keep me company."

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes, looking at the pink figure across the way who was still gesturing and bouncing around.

Her ponytail was still bobbing.

A top student. A brilliant graduate. Giving up a high salary to come back and keep her best friend company.

Lin Xiaoyou, oh, Lin Xiaoyou...

If there isn't something suspicious about you, I'll do a handstand and kiss Liguang ten times!

This persona of yours...

Is really getting more and more interesting!

Right at that moment, Lin Xiaoyou ran back carrying the cakes.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter!

"I'm back!"

Lin Xiaoyou's voice was crisp and bright; her voice arrived before she even walked in.

The pink figure dashed in with a whoosh, holding two small cake boxes in each hand, the boxes swinging by her sides.

"Senior! I picked out four!"

She placed the cake boxes on the table, her small face flushed red:

"Strawberry mille-crepe! Matcha mille-crepe! Tiramisu! And this one—a new arrival! Strawberry cheesecake!"

She pointed at the four boxes, looking at Fang Qi with sparkling almond eyes:

"Senior said I could pick whatever I wanted! I didn't hold back!"

The ponytail bobbed behind her head. That smug little look...

No matter how you looked at it, you really couldn't tell...

That she was actually a super scholar who had completed a combined bachelor's and master's program and graduated early from the best university in the country?!

Fang Qi's mouth twitched:

"...Yeah, I said it's my treat, so it's definitely my treat. I'll transfer the money to you in a bit!"

"Yay, Senior is the best!"

Lin Xiaoyou put down the cakes, only then noticing that the three of them were sitting at the same table.

"Eh?"

She blinked, tossing her ponytail:

"Why are you guys sitting together? What are you talking about?"

Xiaoqing glanced at her, her voice still soft:

"We were just about to talk about the movie theater."

Lin Xiaoyou froze for a second, then let out an "Oh" and immediately scooted over next to Xiaoqing!

She sat beside her, opposite Fang Qi:

"Then I want to hear it too, I want to hear it too!"

Fang Qi, meanwhile, looked down at the silver-haired girl beside him.

Liguang was still sitting quietly beside him, her two small hands holding his hand that had been pinched earlier...

Huu— Huu—

She was still blowing on it softly, warm and ticklish, looking docile and well-behaved.

But Fang Qi knew she was also listening, waiting.

Waiting for Xiaoqing to speak, waiting for that story about her "friendly fellow townsman"!

He gently patted that little head wearing a beret.

"Alright, you don't need to blow on it anymore."

The silver-haired girl looked up, blinked, then obediently nodded and let go of his hand.

She placed her two small hands properly on her lap, her back straight...

The standard picture of a well-bred lady, exuding a "I am very good" and "I listen to my master" vibe.

"Alright, is everyone seated?"

Xiaoqing's voice rang out.

Holding her cup of milk tea, her gaze swept across their three faces, finally landing on Fang Qi.

"Then I'll begin."

...

...

I've been working at this "Coca-Co Milk Tea" shop for two years now.

Actually, I haven't been here that long. It's the old shops in the mall, the veteran employees who have worked here for ten or twenty years, who truly know the stories of this shopping center.

The first time I heard about the movie theater on the third floor was during my second month on the job.

There weren't many customers in the shop that day, and Uncle Wang from the hardware store next door came over to borrow some hot water.

He's an old man in his fifties with graying hair, and he's been working here for almost twenty years.

I casually asked, "Uncle Wang, why did that movie theater on the third floor close down? The rest of the mall seems pretty lively to me."

In my impression, a mall's movie theater should be the most resilient business.

Even if all the other shops went out of business, the movie theater could usually hold on.

But this one was different. While the mall was still doing quite well, the movie theater closed its doors first.

Uncle Wang was pouring hot water into his cup at the time. When he heard my words, his hand shook, and a few drops of hot water splashed out.

He stayed silent for a few seconds, then lowered his voice and said:

"Little girl, you don't know? That movie theater... is haunted."

...

...

"Pfft—!"

Lin Xiaoyou nearly spat out a mouthful of milk tea.

"It's really haunted?!"

Her eyes went wide, her ponytail practically standing on end:

"Xiaoqing, are you serious? There's no such thing as ghosts these days!"

Xiaoqing immediately glared at her:

"Don't interrupt! Let me finish!"

"Oh, oh, oh..." Lin Xiaoyou quickly covered her mouth.

Fang Qi, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, listening very attentively.

Beside him, the silver-haired girl still sat upright, her posture impeccably submissive.

But Fang Qi knew she was listening.

The small hand hooked around his pinky was now unconsciously rubbing his finger.

Her attention was also entirely focused on Xiaoqing.

And Xiaoqing continued:

...

...

Haunted.

When those words came out of his mouth, my back suddenly felt a chill.

Uncle Wang sat down across from me, holding that chipped enamel cup, and began to tell me the story.

He said the owner of the movie theater was a middle-aged man in his forties with a good head for business. He had originally rented the entire third floor, decorated it beautifully, and business was exceptionally good for the first few years after it opened.

But later on, strange things started happening.

At first, it was the owner himself who noticed it.

That night, after the last movie ended, the staff cleared the theaters, turned off the lights, locked the doors, and all left. The owner had some things to take care of and stayed in his office doing the accounts until past one in the morning. Just as he was getting ready to leave—

He heard a sound.

It was coming from the screening room furthest inside.

The sound of a movie.

When Uncle Wang reached this point, he lowered his voice and glanced out the door, as if he was afraid of being overheard by something.

Uncle Wang told me that the movie theater owner was cursing under his breath at the time, thinking the staff had forgotten to turn it off.

He grabbed a flashlight and walked over there, thinking to himself that he definitely had to dock that kid's pay tomorrow.

The corridor was pitch black, with only the beam from his flashlight illuminating a small patch of light.

The door to that screening room was closed, but through the crack in the door... light was spilling out.

Flickering, the kind of light you see when a movie is playing.

The owner got even angrier and shoved the door open—

But inside, it was pitch black.

The screen was dark, the seats were empty, and the entire screening room was dead silent. What movie?

He swept his flashlight around the room. There was absolutely nothing.

The boss froze right there, the flashlight in his hand trembling slightly.

He figured he was just too tired and had heard wrong. He locked up, went home, and went to sleep.

But things like this began to happen frequently after that.

It happened every few days. Sometimes at 1:00 AM, sometimes at 2:00 or 3:00 AM.

After all the staff had left and the boss occasionally stayed behind, sounds would come from the innermost screening room.

The sound of a movie.

The whispers of an audience.

And occasional laughter.

The boss eventually decided to keep a close eye on it. Once, when he heard the sounds again, he didn't push the door open right away. Instead, he peeked through the crack in the door.

The light leaking through the crack was indeed flickering.

There were definitely moving images on the screen.

And the seats... were full of people.

Rows upon rows of dark silhouettes, all staring intently at the screen.

The boss's legs gave out.

He collapsed onto the floor, staring at the door for a long time.

Then, not knowing where he found the courage, he suddenly stood up and shoved the door wide open.

Pitch black again.

Empty.

There was absolutely nothing.

When Uncle Wang reached this part of the story, I almost dropped the milk tea cup in my hand.

But that wasn't even the scariest part.

Later on, after a midnight screening ended, the boss was tidying up at the front desk.

A few young people walked out, chatting as they went.

"So many people today. I didn't expect a full house for a midnight show."

"Yeah, no kidding. This theater's business is actually really good."

The boss was dumbfounded.

He remembered that screening very clearly. Only a dozen or so tickets had been sold. How could it be a full house?

He immediately went up to the young people and asked, "Did you say... there were a lot of people inside?"

They nodded right away. "Yeah, it was packed! It took us forever just to find our seats."

The boss's face turned pale on the spot.

He immediately ran to check the security footage—the camera for that specific screening room during that movie.

It turned out that the footage for that timeframe... was all static.

Nothing but white noise, making it impossible to see anything. It was as if something was interfering with the signal.

The staff said it might be an equipment malfunction, but the boss knew in his heart... it wasn't.

After that, customer complaints started piling up.

Some customers reported that while watching a movie, they constantly felt like someone was staring at them.

When they turned around, they would see a couple sitting in the row behind them, engrossed in the film, who would just look back at them in confusion. But as soon as they turned back around, that feeling of being watched returned.

Another customer complained about a lunatic sitting next to them who copied their every move.

If they scratched their head, the person next to them scratched their head. If they took a drink of water, the person next to them would bring an empty cup to their lips. In a pitch-black movie theater, it was absolutely terrifying.

As the complaints grew, rumors of the theater being haunted began to spread.

Uncle Wang said that all the long-time vendors in the mall knew about it back then. When getting off work at night, no one was willing to walk down the third-floor corridor; they preferred taking a long detour to go down the other side.

Hearing this, I couldn't help but ask Uncle Wang, "Then how did it end up going out of business? Didn't the boss try to do something?"

Uncle Wang sighed.

He said that the boss was actually quite smart. When the haunting rumors broke out, a normal person might have been scared off, but he wasn't.

He started proactively scheduling more horror movies, B-movies...

Things like The Midnight Ring, The Grudge of Curses, and all those gory, low-budget horror flicks—he scheduled them all for that "haunted" screening room.

And guess what?

It actually became a massive hit.

Thrill-seeking young people came specifically for the title of the Haunted Cinema. They just wanted to experience what it felt like to watch a horror movie in a supposedly haunted place.

So, not only did the theater avoid immediate bankruptcy, but during its final days...

It became a favorite spot for horror movie enthusiasts.

...

...

Hearing this, Lin Xiaoyou blinked.

"Isn't that a good thing? So how did it end up closing?"

Xiaoqing looked at her, her eyes becoming somewhat complicated.

Then she glanced outside the door, almost as if...

She was afraid of something overhearing her.

"Because very soon after, something happened..."

"A major incident."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"Because of that incident... the boss was almost scared to death on the spot."

Fang Qi's heart skipped a beat.

Oh boy, here it comes!

The silver-haired girl completely stopped rubbing his fingers.

Lin Xiaoyou stopped talking as well, her almond eyes wide and round.

The milk tea shop fell so quiet that only the bubbling sound of the tea brewer could be heard.

Xiaoqing looked at them, her lips moving.

Outside the window, a sudden gust of wind blew past.

"Whoosh—"

The sign of the dessert shop across the street swayed gently.