Testing the waters step by step, the psychology of ambiguity

During the movie.

Lin Yu didn’t do anything rash or overly aggressive.

When a girl subtly opens up to you without making her feelings entirely clear, you mustn’t respond too directly.

For example, rushing in right now and turning the raw ingredients into a finished meal would be absolutely unacceptable.

If luck was on your side, you might actually win her over.

But if it wasn’t, not only would you fail, you might even get yourself into trouble.

That hazy, indistinct kind of attraction was the most dangerous.

At this stage, a girl might not even like the boy himself.

She might simply be attracted to an image of him that she had imagined in her mind.

However.

The Lin Yu that Little Chi had imagined had not yet fully taken shape in her heart.

If he did anything inappropriate now, the situation before him could instantly turn around.

Her fondness could become disgust.

Even if he had to pretend, he had to keep pretending!

Pull back that drool!

Most importantly…

A girl as clever as Little Chi couldn’t be treated like an ordinary person.

How could she not know that talking about such suggestive topics in a private theater might lead to something happening?

What if…

This was a place she had carefully chosen?

A place specifically meant to test Lin Yu’s patience.

Since the system hadn’t given him any prompts, Lin Yu weighed the situation on his own.

First, he had to pass the first test: the impression test!

It wasn’t exactly a major trial, but neither was it insignificant.

Lin Yu had faced countless situations like this before.

If he didn’t even have this much self-control, how could he call himself the Holy Son of a sect?

Of course.

There was also one more thing to consider in the current setting.

He could show restraint and behave like a gentleman.

But he absolutely couldn’t overdo it and deliberately keep his distance from her.

If there wasn’t even the slightest bit of physical intimacy between them, how could they confirm what they were feeling for each other?

So.

The most appropriate thing to do right now was to maintain a few subtly ambiguous little gestures.

It would also let him see how Little Chi reacted.

The first move Lin Yu chose was a very common one…

Holding hands!

It sounded simple enough and didn’t seem difficult.

In fact, from an outward perspective, it might not even seem particularly intimate.

But holding hands wasn’t about exceeding the boundaries of behavior.

It was about crossing a psychological boundary!

Normally speaking.

No matter how close two friends of the opposite sex were, they wouldn’t hold hands for no reason.

Even hugs—those momentary gestures—might happen between friends.

But holding hands, which involved maintaining contact, simply wouldn’t happen!

The gesture itself wasn’t particularly sensitive.

But psychologically, it was.

Just thinking about it was enough to understand what kind of feelings the other person was conveying.

Lin Yu was extremely careful as he made his move.

He didn’t pounce on her like a hungry tiger and grab her hand outright.

Instead, he casually edged closer and placed his hand on the back of Little Chi’s hand.

If a girl was highly wary of you, she would inevitably pull her hand away at once, giving you no opportunity at all.

If she felt she hadn’t made up her mind yet, she might let you rest your hand there for a while.

Maybe ten-odd seconds, before finding a natural excuse to withdraw her hand.

That way, the guy wouldn’t feel quite so embarrassed.

It meant there might still be a place for him in the girl’s heart.

There was no need to give up too early or become too anxious.

It was simply that the timing wasn’t right, and taking things any further was definitely out of the question.

What would the best possible outcome be?

Exactly what Lin Yu was experiencing right now!

Not only did Chi Qingchi fail to pull her hand away after he placed his hand over it,

she actually turned her hand over and pressed her palm against his.

Lin Yu sucked in a sharp breath. “!!!”

Who said girls from the two-dimensional world were no good?

Recommend Series

Poor Talent? I Bought a Year of Cultivation for One Dollar!

Poor Talent? I Bought a Year of Cultivation for One Dollar!

ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!

What? They Weren’t Hypnotized?

What? They Weren’t Hypnotized?

s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."

Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation Per Second, How Will You Respond, Sir?

Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation Per Second, How Will You Respond, Sir?

e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”

Oh No, I’ve Been Tricked by the Yandere Sisters of a Wealthy Family

Oh No, I’ve Been Tricked by the Yandere Sisters of a Wealthy Family

lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."