Chapter 394: For couples, it

At 9:20 a. m., the large screen at the center of the theater began playing My Youthful Days.

After finishing the group chat logs, Ying Chanxi, blushing, temporarily put away her phone and sat with Li Luo in the couple's seat, ready to watch the movie.

Li Luo held a bucket of popcorn, eating one himself and then feeding one into Ying Chanxi's mouth.

Seeing this, Ying Chanxi quietly shifted her small buttocks closer to Li Luo while the movie's opening credits were still playing.

Only when her shoulder pressed against Li Luo's arm did she stop, whispering, "This way, eating popcorn is closer and more convenient."

"Then this is even more convenient," Li Luo said, opening his right hand, lifting it over Ying Chanxi's head, and settling it on her other shoulder, pulling her into his arms.

Ying Chanxi's face instantly flushed red as she leaned intimately against Li Luo in the dim, backmost row of the theater.

Their classmates sat just six rows ahead.

If Ren Zheng and the others turned around to look carefully, they might see this intimate scene.

"The three-hour couple experience isn't over yet, right?" Li Luo asked softly, lowering his head.

"Mm…" Ying Chanxi nodded lightly, offering no resistance, settling comfortably against Li Luo's chest.

Now, with one hand holding the popcorn and the other holding Ying Chanxi, Li Luo had no free hand left to eat.

So Ying Chanxi reached out her small hand, dipped into the popcorn bucket, picked up a sweet kernel, slipped it into Li Luo's mouth, then ate one herself.

Amid this intimate atmosphere, indistinguishable from that of a real couple, My Youthful Days officially began.

I have to say, the plot of this movie, viewed from a later era, is probably already a bit cliché.

But for the present moment, it actually hits just right.

The female lead Lin Zhenxin, an utterly unremarkable ordinary girl at school, secretly harbors a crush on the campus heartthrob Ouyang Feifan.

The male lead Xu Taiyu, on the other hand, is the school's top dog, skilled in fighting and brawling, and has a crush on the campus beauty Tao Minmin.

As it turns out, the two of them secretly discover that Ouyang Feifan and Tao Minmin have been meeting up privately and have long since confirmed their relationship.

So they form a "heartbreak alliance," determined to break up this campus beauty and heartthrob couple together.

The story unfolds amid such everyday school life.

Although Li Luo finds the "campus beauty" and "campus heartthrob" setup a bit ridiculous, after forcing herself to accept it, the plot really does manage to move those young students and white-collar workers who have just graduated.

Even someone like Ying Chanxi, usually a fairly rational and sensible girl, can't help feeling a pang in her heart when she sees the female lead discover that the boy she likes is with another girl, and dive straight to the bottom of the swimming pool to hide, not wanting to be caught peeking.

Li Luo could even sense that, while watching this part of the plot, Ying Chanxi's body sat up slightly and tensed, wondering what she might be associating it with.

She actually seemed to be empathizing a little.

"You're so pretty, you'd be in the campus beauty tier in there, not the same type as the female lead," Li Luo said softly.

"What nonsense are you spouting," Ying Chanxi muttered softly, "I'm no campus beauty; you're the one who's more like a campus heartthrob."

"Since when did I become a campus heartthrob? I didn't even know it myself."

"Xin Yan told me," Ying Chanxi whispered, "in the girls' dorm, the guy we chat about the most right now is you."

"That can't possibly be a good thing!" Li Luo couldn't help complaining, "they're probably all laughing at me for secretly writing web novels."

"Not at all," Ying Chanxi softly retorted, "they're all praising how impressive you are."

"Actually, a lot of girls don't even read your book; they just know you get great grades while writing."

"And you're also great at writing songs—you've written so many good ones for Aunt Yuan."

"You also play guitar, you're a member of the rock club, you sing when you perform on stage, and you're the president of the literature club."

"Now it's not just the second-years—even the third-years and first-years have lots of girls who know you and talk about you privately."

Li Luo listened in stunned disbelief. Although she had heard them say similar things before, she hadn't expected that she had now also become a "campus heartthrob" level figure?

This gave Li Luo a rather strange, peculiar feeling.

But since they still had to watch the movie, the two chatted for a bit and then continued snuggling up together to watch.

The plot afterward was also very simple.

Xu Taiyu, as the school's top dog, starts off occasionally bullying Lin Zhenxin, but later, through their interactions, he's moved by her sincerity and gradually begins to change himself.

He even studies hard and ranks tenth in the entire school.

And Lin Zhenxin, inspired by Xu Taiyu, slowly grows bolder.

After Xu Taiyu ranks tenth in the school and is publicly accused of cheating by the disciplinary head, who punishes him by making him run laps on the field, she secretly teams up with all the students to confront the disciplinary head at the school anniversary celebration.

In the end, all the students respond in force, winning back a fair shake for Xu Taiyu.

The two grow together through such mutual help, and gradually each discovers that they seem to have fallen for the other.

But at the same time, both mistakenly believe the other still likes the original campus beauty and heartthrob.

Coincidentally, after both have undergone change and growth, the campus beauty and heartthrob instead each end up falling for the male and female leads.

And just as the college entrance exams are approaching, Xu Taiyu learns from his father that he's about to be sent to study in America.

So when the campus beauty comes to confess to him, Xu Taiyu accepts her confession and brings her to find Lin Zhenxin, breaking the news.

As Ying Chanxi watches Lin Zhenxin force a reluctant smile, try hard to offer sincere blessings, then stumble in the pouring rain, slide down against a wall in a corner, and sob her heart out.

Somehow, Ying Chanxi also feels miserable.

Watching Lin Zhenxin cry so heartbreakingly, Ying Chanxi seems to project herself in, as if seeing some kind of scene.

She couldn't hold it together anymore, and tears just streamed down her face.

Li Luo sensed something was off, turned her head, and saw Ying Chanxi already crying like a little wet kitten. She hurriedly pulled out a tissue to wipe her face and said with a chuckle, "Why are you crying like this?"

"Don't you think this plot is really hard to watch?" Ying Chanxi said between sobs, wiping her tears, "They clearly like each other, but in the end they can't be together."

"Sure, a lot of these movies love to do tragedies, but it hasn't finished playing yet—maybe they'll end up successfully together later?"

"But I'm upset right now," Ying Chanxi buried her face in Li Luo's chest and nuzzled hard a couple of times, "Don't you feel for Lin Zhenxin? So heartless."

"I think that campus beauty is pretty pitiful too, right?" Li Luo said, "Xu Taiyu only agreed to her confession hoping Lin Zhenxin would completely let him go. In reality, he's about to fly off to America—he never actually intended to date her."

"You're so annoying." Hearing Li Luo say that, Ying Chanxi immediately puffed out her cheeks, and the sad atmosphere from a moment ago was instantly shattered.

But just as Ying Chanxi was about to fire off a retort, a particularly familiar voice suddenly rang in her ears.

"I hear raindrops falling on the green grass~"

"I hear the distant school bell ringing~"

As Lin Zhenxin wept heart-wrenchingly, the film's background music began to play.

Scenes of Lin Zhenxin and Xu Taiyu's past interactions flashed across the screen, representing the whirlwind of memories in Lin Zhenxin's mind.

"You're the luck I most want to hold onto~"

"We were once so close to love~"

When the song reached its climax, Ying Chanxi was once again drawn into the film's sorrowful atmosphere.

But soon, she snapped back, turned to look at Li Luo, and couldn't help asking, "This sounds… like Aunt Yuan's voice?"

"Mm." Li Luo smiled, leaning close to Ying Chanxi's ear and whispering, "Didn't people keep asking me to write songs? I wrote a few and sold them."

"So this song was written for Aunt Yuan?"

"Mm. They specifically requested that Aunt Yuan sing it as the film's theme song."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Company stuff? We don't usually talk about it." Li Luo teased in her ear, "You haven't even graduated high school yet, and you're already trying to become Chongran Culture's CEO and get company secrets?"

"I'm not!" Ying Chanxi pouted in his arms, "Who wants to be your CEO?"

"Besides, my parents aren't cut out for it either." Li Luo said, "They can barely handle organizing the song request company's info, let alone anything more."

"But your company doesn't really have any other business, does it?" Ying Chanxi asked curiously. "Even if I really come to help you later, there doesn't seem to be anything for me to do."

"There'll always be something." Li Luo said. "For example, my novel 'Little Joys' is launching in January. If someone could manage the accounts on all platforms and handle promotion, that'd be a great option."

"If Aunt Ying's company ever acquires the film and TV rights, we could also collaborate on development."

"And if any costumes or merchandise from this urban drama become popular, we could consider running those too."

"Actually, if you think about it, there's quite a bit we could do—right now, it's just fine to leave it be."

After listening to Li Luo's words, Ying Chanxi nodded repeatedly, her eyes brightening slightly; her vision of the future now held a little more concrete imagery.

The film's plot continued to unfold.

After Xu Taiyu left for the United States to study abroad, Lin Zhenxin's high school life returned to normal.

She went on to enter university, graduate, get a job, live an ordinary life, date a mediocre boyfriend, and work under a mediocre boss.

Finally, when she opened the tape Xu Taiyu had left her and heard his voice again, she decided to leave her current life behind and strive to live the life she truly wanted.

So she quit her job decisively.

But when she tried to attend Liu Dehua's concert, she failed to get a ticket and could only take a photo with the poster outside the venue.

Coincidentally, Liu Dehua saw her, took a photo with her, gave her a ticket, and invited her to come.

In the end, Lin Zhenxin and Xu Taiyu reunited, and only then did she learn that this Liu Dehua concert, titled "I Truly Love You," was precisely what Xu Taiyu had worked hard to arrange.

When Ying Chanxi saw the film's final scene—the two walking back together—she once again shed tears.

This time, they were tears of joy.

"See?" Li Luo stroked her head and smiled. "Didn't true lovers finally end up together?"

"Mm!" Ying Chanxi nodded vigorously, then leaned into Li Luo's arms and whispered, "But even if I hadn't been with the person I liked during school, I wouldn't date anyone else."

"Why?" Li Luo's heart trembled slightly at her words.

"I just don't want to." Ying Chanxi spoke with innocent sincerity. "I'd rather wait alone, even if it's just watching him grow, than settle for someone else."

Most people would hear this from a sixteen-year-old girl and think it was just childish nonsense, unaware of time's power.

People's hearts change.

But Li Luo, returning from a distant future, knew clearly that Ying Chanxi might truly have been waiting silently all along.

At least he'd never heard any rumor from his past life that Ying Chanxi had ever dated anyone.

"So silly." Li Luo ruffled Ying Chanxi's hair, then gently wiped away her tears.

Ying Chanxi let him wipe her tears, then puffed out her cheeks: "Where's the silliness? It's romantic, isn't it?"

"True." Li Luo lowered his head, pressing his forehead to hers, and smiled softly, "It really is romantic."

Feeling Li Luo's breath draw near.

Whether because she'd already kissed him twice—or from some sudden courage—Ying Chanxi puckered her lips and pressed a quick kiss to Li Luo's lips, so close they touched.

The sudden softness stunned Li Luo; he froze, momentarily unable to react.

But Ying Chanxi's face flushed crimson; she buried her head into his chest, refusing to look at him again.

Only a quiet murmur escaped her in his arms: "The couple experience isn't over yet, right? Kissing in the theater is normal for couples."

"Mm…" Li Luo gently held her, stroking Ying Chanxi's smooth, long hair. "It's normal."

The film ended.

The four people in row six knelt on their seats, not watching the movie at all—instead, their eyes sparkled with burning, insatiable gossip, fixed on the couple's seat in the back.

"Did Xi Xi cry?" Hua Xiuxiu whispered.

"Looks like it," Ren Zheng nodded eagerly. "The monitor's wiping her tears."

"Holy shit! Deputy monitor's brutal!" Lin Yuan exclaimed. "He actually kissed her!"

"What?!" Ren Zheng turned her head to speak, then snapped it back toward the back row—only to see Ying Chanxi nestled in Li Luo's arms. She clenched her fist in frustration. "Damn! I didn't even see it!"

"He did kiss her," Fang Chen nodded. "Just once, though."

"I wonder if they kissed earlier," Lin Yuan mused, stroking his chin. "They're in the couple's seat—probably didn't stop at just that one kiss."

"They're getting up. What do we do?" Hua Xiuxiu asked.

"Let's go too."

…

【Ren Zheng】: Breaking news!

【Lin Yuan】: The monitor and vice-monitor just kissed again—on the couple's seat!

【Ren Zheng】: Go die!

【Lin Yuan】: You didn't see it, so it's up to us to say it.

【Zhu Yufei】: The monitor's really going all out.

【Zhang Guohuang】: Yeah, what he writes in his book is pretty wild too.

【Zhu Yufei】: Really? I remember there was a plot where Li Yang secretly took Mo Qinghan to the cinema to watch Jiang Mingyue's movie—didn't they even kiss?

【Zhang Guohuang】: Maybe soon we'll see Li Yang and Shen Dongdong going to the cinema together and kissing on the couple's seat.

【Lin Suifeng】: Senior Li Luo is… writing a novel or an autobiography?

【Ren Zheng】: He's writing the Bible.

【Fang Chen】: He's writing the Bible.

【Lin Yuan】: He's writing the Bible.

【Zhang Guohuang】: He's writing the Bible.

【Lin Suifeng】: …

…

On the way home, Ying Chanxi sat in the backseat of the taxi, leaning against Li Luo, quietly finishing the latest chat logs in "Dongdong Is the Cutest in the World."

"What are you looking at? You keep smiling out of nowhere." Li Luo, holding Ying Chanxi in the car, leaned over curiously—only for her to immediately cover her phone screen with her hand, blocking his view. "That's kind of hurtful. Are you secretly chatting with some other guy behind my back?"

"I'm not!" Ying Chanxi puffed out her cheeks and bumped her head against him, then whispered, "It's a group chat New Yan started—can't show it to just anyone."

Li Luo thought it was some private girls' group chat, so he didn't press further, respecting their privacy.

At that moment, the driver up front curiously asked: "You two are students from Qianjiang University, right?"

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi blinked, then said, "We're…"

"Yes, we're from Qianjiang University." Li Luo tugged on Ying Chanxi's sleeve, picking up the driver's thread with a smile. "Master, you've got great eyes."

"Really? You look so young—freshmen, right?"

"We are indeed quite young."

"My daughter's a sophomore at Qianjiang University—your senior," the driver said proudly.

Upon hearing this, Li Luo immediately offered two compliments.

When the taxi arrived at the entrance of Bihai Lanting, the two got out, and Ying Chanxi whispered: "Why did you say we're from Qianjiang University?"

"Qianjiang University Affiliated No. 1 High School," Li Luo nodded. "Isn't that Qianjiang University?"

Ying Chanxi: "…"

"Alright," Li Luo patted her head, then let go. "Our three-hour couple experience is over—time to go eat lunch."

"Oh." Ying Chanxi nodded, a faint sense of disappointment creeping into her heart.

But thinking of her date with Li Luo that morning, she smiled again, bouncing happily as she followed him toward Unit 1502.