He Yang, holding the tickets, showed rare embarrassment as he said, “Actually, I was showing off in front of my classmates. I said I’d celebrate this day. With my charm, asking a girl out for a movie would be no big deal.”
“…”
“Then I asked a girl in my class if she wanted to watch a movie together, but I got rejected.”
“Even though I was rejected, I still had to see the movie; otherwise, where would I put my face?”
“What, are single people not allowed to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Today I want to spend this holiday with you two, my good buddies of many years. The three of us will have a sweet time together.”
As soon as He Yang finished speaking, Lin Zhexia and Chi Yao had the same reaction without prior coordination.
Lin Zhexia: “Bye-bye.”
Chi Yao: “I’m leaving. Go watch by yourself.”
He Yang hurriedly stepped forward to stop them: “No, I already bought the tickets, three of them, plus popcorn combos. Cost me quite a bit. Even though there’s a reason behind it, my desire to invite you to watch a movie is sincere! You can’t just abandon me like this!!!”
Lin Zhexia thought of her popcorn and hesitated slightly, her footsteps faltering.
So He Yang turned to the cold-hearted one and called out: “Brother Yao, do me a favor.”
Chi Yao: “Get lost.”
“…”
He Yang continued to plead: “Good brother, it wasn’t easy for me to save up money for these movie tickets.”
Chi Yao held back but slowed his pace: “Shut up.”
Finally, He Yang squeezed out one phrase: “Yaoyao!”
Two minutes later, all three were sitting in the corner of the waiting area.
Afraid they might run away, He Yang sat in the middle, with one on each side.
Lin Zhexia, on his right, held popcorn.
Chi Yao on his left had a cold expression, one hand in his pocket, the other pulling his jacket zipper all the way up, collar raised to cover half his face. Only his high, straight nose and slightly arrogant, downcast eyes were visible.
He Yang: “Is sitting with me so embarrassing? You don’t need to be like that.”
Chi Yao said coldly, “Good, that you know.”
He Yang: “…”
There were still more than ten minutes before the movie started.
Lin Zhexia ate popcorn, wondering how she had ended up “celebrating” with Chi Yao by coincidence.
Undeniably, at the moment she sat down.
She was somewhat grateful to He Yang.
Because without this setup, she would have found no reason, no legitimate position, to watch a movie with Chi Yao today.
He Yang snatched a piece of popcorn from her hand and put it in his mouth: “Brother Xia, what are you thinking about?”
Lin Zhexia came back to reality and said, “I’m thinking about what tool I should use to beat you up when we get back.”
He Yang hesitated, but finally gathered his courage to speak: “Actually… I have one more unreasonable request.”
“?”
“Could you take a photo with me? You don’t need to show your face, just hold the movie ticket and show your hand and ticket stub.”
“I, uh, want to post on social media.”
He Yang continued: “I’ve already told everyone I’m going out to watch a movie, so I have to show off the ticket stub.”
Lin Zhexia felt the popcorn in her mouth becoming difficult to swallow.
She asked: “So you plan to cover one lie with countless others?”
He Yang urged, “Help a brother out. If you don’t want to show your hand, you can hide it in your sleeve. Hurry up, Brother Xia, I’m already in position.”
“…”
Lin Zhexia looked at He Yang, who was holding his phone up with one hand, ready to take a picture and clutching the ticket stub with the other, feeling caught in a dilemma.
This guy, He Yang.
Did he have a stroke or something?
How could he come up with such a terrible idea to cover up his lie?
It was a small matter.
And she was very familiar with He Yang, but this kind of thing didn’t seem quite appropriate.
Before she could decide how to refuse, suddenly a cold voice, somewhat distant from her, abruptly spoke up: “You can borrow my hand.”
He Yang: “…!”
Lin Zhexia: “…?!”
Chi Yao pulled his hand out of his pocket and asked: “Where’s the ticket?”
Chi Yao’s words were surreal.