In the last two days of the holiday, Li Ying and Zhao Wen made an appointment to play basketball at the university. After playing, the two took a shower and walked to the parking lot.

It was almost evening, the setting sun covered half of the sky, and the campus was full of vigour.

This kind of neither hot nor cold weather is the most comfortable. Zhao Wen twisted his neck and saw two girls walking towards him. They were whispering and peeking here, with shy smiles on their faces, looking a little green, like freshmen.
(vv: If you say that someone is green, you mean that they have had very little experience of life or a particular job; they are shy, immature, pure, innocent, etc.)

Zhao Wen glanced to the side; the eyes of the young man who was being watched were lowered slightly, turning a blind eye to the surrounding situation.

When the two girls walked by, Zhao Wen suddenly said, “You are a senior, you have fewer classes, and you’ve completed grad school; what are you planning on doing next?”

“What about you?” Li Ying asked back.

“Have you ever thought about falling in love or something?” Zhao Wen said with a smile, “I’ve been single with you for almost a year, and I have to find a girlfriend this year no matter what. How nice it is to hold your girlfriend’s hand and take graduation photos.”

Li Ying squeezed the mineral water bottle in his hand and said, “…I don’t have this plan for now.”

“Hey,” Zhao Wen couldn’t help but say, “You really plan to be a bachelor for the rest of your life—or is it just like the rumours outside?”

“What rumours?” Li Ying asked.

“There have been a lot of rumours outside.” Zhao Wen told him, counting them one by one. “Some say you have unspeakable secrets; some say you have secretly talked with someone for several years; some say you are a closet; and some say you can’t love.”

Zhao Wen laughed, as if he found it interesting: “The most outrageous thing is that some people say that we two are together.”

Li Ying lowered his eyes and didn’t answer. It seemed that today’s interest was not very high; Zhao Wen didn’t say anything else.

Li Ying came here today by car, and their home happened to be in the same direction, so Zhao Wen went back in his car along the way.

As soon as he sat in the passenger seat, Li Ying’s cell phone on the cup holder rang.

The car had just started, and Li Ying, who was about to drive away, glanced down, paused slightly, and picked up his phone.

[Jiang Yu: Are you free tonight?]

Then Zhao Wen saw Li Ying’s slightly pursed lips hook up bit by bit.

[Li Ying: Yes.]

[Jiang Yu: Do you want to watch a movie? My sister said that there has been a movie with good popularity recently.]

[Li Ying: Alright.]

Li Ying exited the chat box, clicked on the movie ticket purchase interface, and located Jiangzhou. There was a movie theatre there, and he took a screenshot and sent it to Jiang Yu.

[Li Ying: Is this one okay?]

[Jiang Yu: It’s too far away from you; let’s go to Haicheng City.]

[Li Ying: It’s okay, I’ll drive there.]

[Jiang Yu: Okay.]

[Jiang Yu: My sister will also tag along; do you mind?]

[Li Ying: I don’t mind.]

Li Ying put down his phone and saw Zhao Wen staring at him curiously. Li Ying drove away from the parking lot calmly.

“I have something to do; I will drop you at the university gate; you can take a taxi back today.”

Zhao Wen got out of the car and was still thinking hard about Li Ying’s appearance. How to put it, he couldn’t tell.

It was not very Li Ying.

Originally, Jiang Meng wanted Jiang Yu to help make an appointment with Li Ying two days before the holiday. But Jiang Yu agreed to make an appointment for her, but Jiang Meng insisted on letting him follow him to be a light bulb and said that it would be awkward for her and Li Ying to be alone.
(vv: about to be a lightbulb; I’ll put it at the end of the chapter, clearing out some misunderstandings.)

In the end, this matter could not be negotiated, so the appointment was not made. It was not until the end of the holiday that Jiang Yu was so annoyed by her that he reluctantly agreed to be her foil.
(vv: The meaning of being a foil for others is adding other things to make the main thing more prominent. Pinyin: [péi chèn 陪衬])

The three of them made an appointment to meet at the movie theatre. When Li Ying arrived, the movie had just started. Jiang Yu and his sister had already bought delicious food and drinks and were waiting for him.

There were not many people in the cinema hall, so Jiang Meng chose three consecutive seats in the best viewing area in the middle.

Jiang Yu wanted to create opportunities for them and walked lazily at the end, so Li Ying naturally sat between the siblings.

The movie was not bad; it was a comedy, but Jiang Yu doesn’t like watching movies very much, so he just ate popcorn to pass the time, occasionally taking out his phone to scroll, but he didn’t get too involved.

Seeing that he ate half of the bucket of popcorn, Li Ying turned to him a little and asked, “Is it delicious?”

“It’s good.” Jiang Yu took a sip of coke, just about to push the popcorn over, when he caught a glimpse of the bucket of untouched popcorn between Li Ying and Jiang Meng.

Jiang Yu had a flash of inspiration and put down the coke: “My sister still has a bucket; eat it; don’t waste it.”

Li Ying looked at him, and his eyes suddenly dropped and stopped on his lips.

Jiang Yu’s heart seemed to be hooked lightly, feeling a little weird. “What’s wrong?”
(vv: nothing; he just wants to kiss you… maybe.)

Li Ying slowly raised his hand and tapped the corner of his own mouth: “There’s something here.”

Jiang Yu licked it subconsciously; it was a piece of popcorn crumbs.

Li Ying’s eyes moved, his Adam’s apple rolled slightly, and he withdrew his eyes: “The girls like to eat a bucket by themselves; I can’t eat.”

This didn’t mean he understood girls well, and it didn’t look like he had no love experience at all, Jiang Yu thought to himself.

“Oh, then you can eat from my bucket.” Without doubting him, Jiang Yu changed direction, moved to Li Ying’s side, and placed the popcorn between the two of them.

Looking at it from Jiang Meng’s point of view, the two of them were almost side by side, eating a bucket of popcorn and occasionally bowing their heads and talking to each other.

It would be okay if this distance were placed on other people, but it would be a bit unbelievable if it were placed on Li Ying.

Jiang Yu didn’t have the heart to act as a light bulb for them. He held a glass of juice in his hand, looking around, taking out his phone from time to time to swipe for a while.

After watching the movie, the night market was at its busiest. Jiang Meng and Li Ying discussed and planned to find a place to eat.

“What do you want to eat?” Li Ying asked.

Jiang Yu glanced over and realised that Li Ying was looking at him and asking. Jiang Meng also turned her head when she heard this, making him seem like the protagonist of this date.

Jiang Yu shook his head and said, “I already ate at home.”

After a slight pause, he said, “How about… you both go and eat, and I will wait for you at the internet cafe?”

Jiang Meng subconsciously raised her head to look at Li Ying. There was no emotion on his face; he just looked at Jiang Yu for a moment.

The two looked at each other for a while. Jiang Yu turned his eyes away and was about to speak when Li Ying said in a low voice, “It’s up to you.”

Jiang Yu: “…”

Why did he suddenly feel an indescribable sense of guilt? Sure enough, not everyone can do such a thing as pull a red line.
(vv: To pull the red line is to be a matchmaker.)

Just when the atmosphere was slightly stale, a female voice came over: “Jiang Yu?”

Jiang Yu turned his head to look; it was Chen Jingjing, the girl who often played games with them; she was at the same university as him but had a different major.

Chen Jingjing excitedly pulled her best friend over and said, “You finished watching the movie?”

There is a group of people they often play games with, and Chen Jingjing is also in the group. Jiang Yu didn’t have time to chat with them tonight, but when someone asked, he explained.

Jiang Yu hummed.

Chen Jingjing glanced at Jiang Meng and Li Ying beside him.
She opened her eyes slightly. They were all handsome men and beautiful women; even her best friend beside her was quietly pinching her hands excitedly.

Chen Jingjing glanced at Jiang Meng, then secretly glanced at Li Ying twice, and politely said, “Hello brother and sister, I am Jiang Yu’s classmate.”

Jiang Meng also greeted her politely, then glanced at Li Ying.

As a girl, she can best understand the mind of a little girl. This little girl liked her brother immediately, and she couldn’t control her eyes.

Chen Jingjing smiled and asked Jiang Yu, “Are you still playing the game tonight? Take me to the next stage.”

Jiang Yu was most afraid of this kind of promise: “I may not be able to play tonight; you let Li Wenhao level you up.”

Chen Jingjing pursed her lips, her eyes lit up suddenly, she grabbed Jiang Yu’s jacket sleeve, and she pointed to the balloon-playing booth not far away.

“Let’s test your actual combat ability,” Chen Jingjing said, “Help me fight one.”

Speaking of this, Jiang Yu also became a little interested; he hesitated for two seconds, turned to look at Jiang Meng and Li Ying, and was about to ask them to order food and wait for him when Jiang Meng, who saw his intention, said: “Let’s go together; fight for me too.”

After speaking, she glanced at Li Ying, who had a very calm expression and no reaction.

“Ok.”

Jiang Yu nodded, glanced at Li Ying, and when he was about to go there, he heard Li Ying say, “I’m going to smoke a cigarette; you go first.”

Jiang Yu turned his head to look at him when he heard the words; his lips moved slightly, and he was about to say something when Chen Jingjing, who couldn’t wait, grabbed his clothes and walked away.

Li Ying’s cigarettes were in the car, and when he got the cigarettes and came back after smoking one, the three girls already had a doll in their hands.

Jiang Yu stood in the middle, putting the air rifle/gun on the side of his face. His movements looked standard and beautiful. Every shot could accurately penetrate a balloon; the speed was fast and accurate, and the little girls beside him were cheering for him.

Jiang Yu had played three rounds before, and in each round, he hit nine balloons and won three medium-sized dolls.

He didn’t believe in losing and wanted to try again, but the boss disagreed. Several people were chattering, and the onlookers were urging, so the boss reluctantly agreed.

In order to avoid the situation in the first three rounds, Jiang Yu moved his fingers after firing the fifth shot. At this time, there was a very faint smell of tobacco in the air, mixed with the air in late summer and early autumn, which was quite pleasant.

Jiang Yu turned his head to look, and as expected, it was Li Ying who came. The corners of his mouth were raised slightly, and his eyes were full of smiles, showing approval.

Jiang Yu suddenly got a little more energy, re-set up the air rifle/gun, aimed at the balloon, and “bang bang bang” five shots without a single miss, and won the highest award.

Several girls and the surrounding crowd couldn’t help cheering for him.

Li Ying was also smiling, staring straight at the boy surrounded by people with a gleam of brilliance in his eyes. When Jiang Meng turned her head to the side, she happened to see this scene.

After two seconds of silence, she silently closed her eyes.

The boss reluctantly asked Jiang Yu to choose a large doll. Jiang Yu quickly glanced at them and chose the Pikachu one.

When he turned around with Pikachu in his arms, Jiang Meng and Chen Jingjing looked at him in unison.

Jiang Yu paused, and after a two-second stalemate, he walked up to Li Ying and stuffed Pikachu into his arms, saying, “For you!”

Li Ying was stunned for a moment, glanced down at Pikachu, and looked up at him: “For me?”

“En.” Jiang Yu thought of something: “You don’t like it?”

It’s true that no boy would like dolls; he himself doesn’t like them. Jiang Yu thought to himself.

“No,” Li Ying said softly, his voice a little heavy under the lingering light at night. “I like it very much.”

Now I like it.

The night market was brightly lit and crowded with people. Jiang Meng clicked on the WeChat of her best friend, Li Qianwen.

[Sister, I discovered a big secret…]

The author has something to say:

What’s the secret? Let’s hear it.

Extra information

1. A person being a lightbulb means that when other people are dating, especially when their friends or girlfriends are watching movies, eating, etc. with the opposite sex or couples, they will stand aside uninterestedly and hinder others from intimate activities. Light bulb, a common saying, comes from the Cantonese saying light bulb, which mainly refers to a third party who is in the way of men and women when they fall in love. Many people think that light bulbs can emit light, which affects the romantic atmosphere of the scene. This is a misunderstanding. In daily life, it is often used by a third person to tease out the intimate relationship between two other people. Being a light bulb is actually very great, illuminating lovers and loneliness. I am light. To put it bluntly, a light bulb can only illuminate the happiness of others.

2. In ancient times, when a man and a woman got married, the woman could not see the road because of a piece of head covering, so the man used a red thread (cloth, silk) to lead the woman. Later, shadowing became a ceremony when men and women got married. Today, pulling the red thread means that the matchmaker brings together two men and women who do not know each other. Of course it’s also for man man and woman woman.

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