111: Chapter 111 This movie is suitable for young couples.

The lights in the screening hall hadn't been turned off yet, and a few scattered couples were sitting together in pairs, whispering to each other.

Lu Li and Shen Qingxue sat in the sixth and seventh seats of the eighth row, with an armrest between them.

Lu Li placed the popcorn on the armrest between them, put the cola into the armrest's cup holder, and then leaned back against the chair with his arms crossed, waiting for the movie to start.

Shen Qingxue sat beside him, quietly waiting as well. Before long, the lights in the screening hall went out.

The screen lit up, and the opening credits began to play.

Lu Li grabbed a piece of popcorn and tossed it into his mouth. After chewing twice, his gaze fell on the screen.

The opening wasn't long, and it quickly transitioned to the main feature.

The very first shot was a scene of the male and female protagonists meeting on a rainy night.

The female protagonist didn't bring an umbrella and was standing at the entrance of a convenience store to avoid the rain. The male protagonist came out from inside, opened an umbrella, glanced at her, and then handed the umbrella over before rushing into the rain himself.

The female protagonist froze in place, holding the still-dripping umbrella in her hand, her gaze following the male protagonist's back as he disappeared into the curtain of rain.

Then, the subtitles displayed the movie title.

Lu Li's chewing motion paused for a moment.

Why did he feel this opening was a bit familiar? It was extremely similar to the classic tropes of those romance films.

But he didn't think much about it and continued watching.

As the plot progressed, he felt more and more that something was wrong.

The male and female protagonists went from misunderstanding to reconciliation, from strangers to familiar faces, and from opposing each other to developing feelings for one another.

Every plot point was within his expectations, and every turning point seemed carved out from a template.

It was a typical assembly-line product.

Lu Li turned his head to glance at Shen Qingxue.

Shen Qingxue was intently watching the screen, the light from the screen falling on her face, flickering and making her expression unclear.

Her sitting posture was very upright with her hands placed on her knees, and she was indeed watching with great concentration.

However, considering the reason that Shen Qingxue hadn't seen many movies... it was somewhat understandable.

Lu Li withdrew his gaze and continued watching the movie.

To be honest, although this movie was cliché, if watched as eye candy, it wasn't unwatchable.

However, when the plot progressed to the male and female protagonists starting to kiss, Lu Li felt the atmosphere in the screening hall become somewhat subtle.

Not only the front row, but all the couples near them had already leaned together and started kissing the next second.

That's right, aside from them, basically everyone around them was a couple.

Lu Li almost wanted to curse.

If you want to kiss, just kiss, damn it, making those smacking noises the whole time—is this kissing or gnawing on each other?

Lu Li felt extremely awkward, moved his gaze away from the screen, and subconsciously glanced at Shen Qingxue beside him.

Shen Qingxue still maintained that upright sitting posture without any unnecessary movements.

But Lu Li noticed that her fingers resting on her knees curled slightly.

The kissing scene on the screen hadn't ended yet; the camera pushed from a long shot to a medium shot, and from a medium shot to a close-up, capturing every single detail clearly.

Lu Li genuinely felt awkward.

No, is there something wrong with this director? Filming a kissing scene for so long, are they afraid the audience can't see it clearly? Or are they just padding the runtime?

However, he was also a bit annoyed. Originally, he thought this recommended romance movie would be filled with emotions like love, sweetness, and regret.

Just like the incomparably classic "Titanic".

But none of those emotions were present; the plot of this movie was a bit melodramatic from start to finish, and too cringe-worthy.

It only slightly brushed against romance and was purely an idol drama.

He wasn't the only one feeling awkward.

Shen Qingxue's sitting posture was even stiffer than before.

The two of them sat side by side just like that, neither speaking, pretending to watch the movie attentively.

Lu Li took a deep breath and reached out to grab some popcorn.

When his fingers reached into the bucket, they brushed against another icy-cold hand.

Their fingers made brief contact inside the popcorn bucket and then simultaneously retracted.

Lu Li's hand hovered in mid-air, and he froze for a moment.

Shen Qingxue's hand was also pulled back.

The lighting in the screening hall was very dim, making it impossible to see each other's expressions, but Lu Li inexplicably felt that the temperature coming from Shen Qingxue's side was a few degrees higher.

He withdrew his hand, continued watching the movie nonchalantly, and stopped trying to take any popcorn.

The kissing scene on the screen finally ended, and the camera cut to the next scene.

Lu Li let out a breath as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

He turned his head to glance at Shen Qingxue.

Shen Qingxue still maintained her upright sitting posture, looking straight ahead as if nothing had happened just now.

Before long, the movie finally ended.

The moment the lights in the screening hall lit up, Lu Li felt as if he had been rescued from a long torture.

It wasn't that the movie was all that bad, um... although it really wasn't much to look at, it was still quite agonizing for them.

This kind of movie was only suitable for young couples to watch.

"Let's go."

Shen Qingxue had already stood up, her tone bland and her expression returning to its usual aloofness.

It was as if nothing had happened in those past two hours.

Lu Li let out an "en", stood up, cleaned up the empty popcorn bucket and cola cup, and held them in his hand.

The two walked out of the screening hall one after the other, tossing the trash into the trash can at the entrance of the hall.

When passing by the front desk, the female ticket seller was still there. Seeing them come out, she asked with a smiling face.

"Was the movie good?"

Lu Li's mouth twitched as he squeezed out two words.

"It's alright."

The ticket seller's gaze wandered between the two of them, and her smile deepened.

"Welcome to come again next time."

Lu Li's mouth twitched, and he didn't reply.

Shen Qingxue followed behind him, her pace still composed.

The two walked into the elevator, and Lu Li pressed the button for the first floor.

The elevator quickly arrived at the first floor, and the doors opened.

Lu Li walked out first, with Shen Qingxue following behind him.

The two walked out of the mall's main entrance, and the night wind rushed at them with a hint of coolness, blowing away much of the lingering sultry heat from the screening hall.

Lu Li stood on the steps, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.

"What's next? Are we going home?"

He turned his head to look at Shen Qingxue.

Shen Qingxue was looking down at her phone. Hearing this, she raised her head and was about to speak when her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a small stall on one side of the square lit with warm yellow lights.

"What is that for?"

Lu Li looked over in the direction of her gaze.

At the edge of the square, a temporary small stall had several colorful small lightbulbs hanging on top, glowing with warm yellow light.

In front of the stall stood a sign with large characters reading "Hit Balloons to Win Dolls".

Beneath the sign were several rows of colorful inflated balloons, fixed to a wooden board with thin strings.

"It's for shooting balloons."

Lu Li answered casually and withdrew his gaze.

"Let's go home."

He stepped toward the roadside, but after taking two steps, he noticed that Shen Qingxue hadn't followed.

Lu Li stopped his footsteps and looked back.

Shen Qingxue was still standing in place, her gaze falling on that row of dolls—more accurately, falling on the largest teddy bear.

Her expression still showed no emotion, but within those eyes, there was clearly a hint of... yearning?

Lu Li froze for a moment and subconsciously spoke up.

"Do you want that?"

Shen Qingxue quickly withdrew her gaze, glanced at him, and spoke in a bland tone.

"I don't."

Having said that, she strode forward, her pace not stopping at all as she passed by Lu Li.

Lu Li stood in place, looking at Shen Qingxue's back, and couldn't help the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.

Stubborn.

Clearly wanting it, yet refusing to say so.