The second movie was a bona fide romance film, with bright red couple seats. At first, Yu Yingying went in thinking of it as “experiencing another audiovisual feast,” but as the plot unfolded, her eyes filled with surprise, her face clearly saying, This can be like this?
She discovered, to her surprise, that Jiang He’s criticism actually made some sense. At least for this light romantic comedy, it was brainless, awkwardly funny, and extremely dull. The character setups didn’t hold up, and the plot barely made any logical sense.
But it wasn’t completely without merit. The plot might have been bad, but it was bad in a way that felt oddly reassuring. Couples sitting in the couple seats could get wrapped up in passionate kissing for three to five minutes and then glance back at the big screen without missing anything important—because there really wasn’t much of a plot to miss.
All of that, however, was pure torture for Yu Yingying.
A dimly lit cinema, bright red couple seats, couples kissing as if no one else existed. You could hear the rustling of fabric, and even hurried, suppressed breaths…
“Hey, be gentler.”
“Okay, okay, baby, don’t move.”
“……”
Low, ambiguous sounds came from somewhere, making her scalp tingle.
This was ridiculous!
Yu Yingying leaned against the armrest of the couple sofa and quietly glanced at Jiang He sitting at the other end. She found that the distance between them was wide enough to seat a third person. Jiang He sat upright with a serious expression, looking fully immersed in the movie—obviously pretending.
He was just as awkward as she was.
Realizing this, Yu Yingying inexplicably felt a little better. Still, she sat on pins and needles, not daring to look around, afraid that one careless glance might land her with a live-action scene. If that happened, others wouldn’t be embarrassed—she would be.
The entire two-hour movie passed somehow, though she had no idea how.
Was it funny? No idea.
Was the love between the male and female leads moving? No idea.
When the movie ended and she walked out of the theater with Jiang He, they exchanged a glance and quickly looked away, both looking at a loss.
It wasn’t until she returned to her dorm and took a shower that Yu Yingying suddenly thought of something: the second movie was bad—so bad they could have left early. Why had they stayed there enduring it the whole time?
……
Happiness Garden Residential Complex.
Jiang Chengyu asked in disbelief, “The movie was that bad and you still stuck it out till the end? Why didn’t you leave early? Bro Jiang, you’re really going all out.”
Jiang He lounged on the sofa, flicking a lighter in one hand. “What do you mean, going all out?”
“I mean fooling Yu Yingying!” Jiang Chengyu said. “Before, you said you’d pretend to be her boyfriend, toy with her feelings, and make her socially die once she recovers her memory—I raised both hands in support! But now, why do I feel like you’re getting way too invested?”
“A watch worth over a hundred thousand, just like that! Sure, that money’s nothing to you, but to Yu Yingying, that’s help in a snowstorm! Sell the watch and she’d have enough for a down payment on a small apartment in A City!”
“And then it got even worse. She didn’t want the watch, and you actually went and bought a whole set of laptop and tablet for her!”
The more Jiang Chengyu thought about it, the more anxious he became. “Bro Jiang, don’t let this turn real! Don’t go in thinking you’re playing with her feelings and end up losing yourself!”
“What turning real? What could I possibly lose?” Jiang He sneered. “The doctor said it won’t be long before she recovers her memory. The more she uses my stuff now, the more shame and humiliation she’ll feel once she learns the truth. By then, I’ll be her nightmare.”
Jiang Chengyu grew even more worried. “What if she never recovers her memory? Are you just going to keep this up forever?”
Jiang He: “…Are you teaching me how to do things?”
He grabbed a pillow from the sofa and hurled it at Jiang Chengyu, snapping impatiently, “Get lost, get lost! Why are you worrying about nonsense here? Who gave you the nerve?”
Jiang Chengyu: “……”
Fine, he’d stop talking.
Brother Jiang surely knew what he was doing. He was just overthinking it.
With that thought, Jiang Chengyu suddenly felt optimistic. He stood up with a grin. “Alright, alright. As long as you’ve got it figured out. I’ll head out then—Monkey and the others invited me for drinks and barbecue. Supposedly, there’ll be several pretty girls tonight. With how rich I am, I’ll definitely get out of being single in one go, hehe.”
Jiang He waved him off, adding, “Don’t cause trouble. I don’t want to bail you out at the police station.”
If he really committed some heinous crime, he wouldn’t bail him out anyway. Sentence what should be sentenced, punish what should be punished.
“What trouble could I cause?” Jiang Chengyu said with a beaming smile on his chubby face. “My brain’s not cut out for complicated stuff. I’m all about mutual consent. It’s fine if people are after my money—I’m not some good guy anyway. All of that’s made clear from the start.”
Jiang He didn’t want to talk to him anymore. One concise word: “Scram.”
Jiang Chengyu scrammed.
The room fell quiet.
With the eyesore gone, Jiang He closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, enjoying the rare peace and quiet, letting out a comfortable sigh.
After relaxing for a bit, his mind inexplicably replayed the image from earlier that day—after the first movie, Yu Yingying’s eyes red from crying, her nose rubbed red as well.
When she recovered her memory and he unloaded everything on her, would she cry even harder?
Thinking of that, Jiang He muttered irritably, “Damn.”
His mood suddenly soured.
Just then, his phone chimed with a message notification.
He opened WeChat and saw that it was a message from Yu Yingying:
【Happy 520. I bought you a small gift. I’ll give it to you tomorrow.】
Jiang He: “…?”
The corner of his lips couldn’t help curling upward. He gave a soft snort, his low voice clearly pleased. “At least you know what you’re doing.”
He just didn’t know what the gift was.
Given that she was being fairly sensible, no matter what it was, he’d just say he liked it when the time came. Unlike her, he wouldn’t be so picky.
Jiang He replied:
【Going to shower. See you tomorrow.】
Yu Yingying replied with a cute sticker:
【Good night, little kitty.jpg】
Jiang He clicked his tongue and commented, “Acting cute.”
He sent back 【Good night】, grabbed his clothes, and went to take a shower.
That night, he had a dream he couldn’t speak of.