"Oh, then I’ll hurry up." Zhang Ningzhi, in a great mood, took away the few successful desserts.
On the way to the cinema, Zhang Ningzhi volunteered to book the tickets and picked a highly-rated romantic film from an island country.
Partly to cover the date expenses, and partly for her own movie experience.
She knew well, if Jiang Nian chose...
The movie they ended up watching would either be a comedy, an animated film, or a sci-fi or mystery movie.
"How about this one?" She handed her phone over for Jiang Nian to see, "It’s a classic movie."
"A romance movie?" Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment.
"What’s wrong?" Zhang Ningzhi felt her heart in her throat, "Because... there haven’t been any good new movies lately."
In fact, Jiang Nian was researching an "Upgrade."
His question was just to buy himself a little more processing time for his dual-core brain.
"Exactly, look..." Zhang Ningzhi was chattering away beside him, blushing and nitpicking other movies.
Jiang Nian nodded in a daze.
"Okay!" Zhang Ningzhi’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she took the milk tea from his hand, "We’re running late."
"Then let’s hurry up." Jiang Nian fully snapped back to reality.
After a mental brainstorm, he decided to test his phone first. Just in case... something happened, like the phone evolving.
Anyone who’s seen that must be of a certain age. Chinese brand model 2060 phone, Dumb Niu... Niu.
Jiang Nian was confident he’d live to see 2060, but the scriptwriter better make sure they release Dumb Niu by then.
"Hehe." Just as he was about to laugh out loud, he checked the time, "Are we really running late? They won’t refuse us entry for being late, right?"
"Huh?" Zhang Ningzhi wanted to explain.
Suddenly, with a snap, Jiang Nian grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, so she shut her mouth.
There was nothing to explain, humph!
She even gave a considerate reminder.
"Only five minutes left."
"Damn, what kind of stupid rule is this?" Jiang Nian had definitely seen movies before, just looking for an excuse to hold hands.
They rushed and barely made it for the start of the movie.
"Let’s pick up the tickets first." Jiang Nian took off his jacket, scanned the code, and got the tickets, "Theater 5, this way."
"Oh." Zhang Ningzhi didn’t need to think about anything, just had to follow Jiang Nian, "Didn’t buy popcorn."
"You’re right." Jiang Nian had her wait there for a moment, then went back to get a tub of popcorn.
Along with buying two drinks, all of which he brought inside the theater.
The screening room was pitch black, only the speakers were rumbling. The lighting was so dim you couldn’t even see the steps.
"Follow me." Jiang Nian led Zhang Ningzhi through the darkness with a tub of popcorn in one hand and holding her with the other.
"Alright." Zhang Ningzhi felt the warmth from his palm, her mind was almost blank, her heart was beating intensely.
In the pitch dark, both her face and ears were red.
Luckily, the darkness hid everything, only the girl’s eyes were bright. Like gemstones or a shimmering lake surface.
After sitting down, Jiang Nian almost exclaimed out loud.
Damn it, it was supposed to upgrade the phone. Damn it, it upgraded a plastic phone case to a glass-backed one!
The upgraded version could be found on the market with some minor adjustments, equivalent to an upgrade in quality.
Jiang Nian wanted to bang his head against the wall, then he glanced at Zhang Ningzhi’s bracelet, which looked silver.
That thing wasn’t worth much, but also because it wasn’t worth much, it was safe.
He directly lifted Zhang Ningzhi’s wrist, fiddling to see if this silver bracelet could turn into gold.
Most likely, it wasn’t viable.
"What are you doing?" Zhang Ningzhi blushed as he suddenly started playing with her hand, a bit perverse.
"Nothing, just thought your bracelet was pretty." Jiang Nian lied smoothly, "I’m a country bumpkin, never seen silver."
Zhang Ningzhi: "...."
"There’s already a thick barrier between us." Jiang Nian lowered his voice, speaking into her ear.
Whispering close, not because of intimacy.
To protect his dear mom.
This was a cinema, every little rustle would be amplified endlessly. Forget chatting, it’d be piercingly sharp.
No need to ask, asking equals lack of manners.
"Mm." Zhang Ningzhi felt the warmth by her ear, her eyelids twitching uncontrollably, her body softening.
She mimicked him, leaning in close to his ear.
"I’ll give you one next time."
Jiang Nian thought to himself, what did he need it for? He still had a piece of gold in his drawer that hadn’t been traded in yet.
On the big screen, the movie’s main plot was gradually unfolding.
Turns out there were two Neal Wus.
Zhang Ningzhi’s attention gradually got absorbed in the film’s plot, her emotions fluctuating with the heroine’s perspective.
Slowly, she became engrossed.
Next to her, Jiang Nian wasn’t very interested in romance films. Resting his head on his hand, he watched for a while, feeling a bit bored.
So, he pulled up the system panel.
In the rewards section, he found another reward he just received, "Zhang Ningzhi’s Memory Fragment."
It wasn’t his first time viewing a Memory Fragment, and he gradually figured out the patterns.
The fragments varied in length.
Short ones induced temporary sleep for a few minutes, while longer ones... could last several hours, but occurrences of the latter were rare.
Estimating the movie’s duration, he decided to gamble and activated "Zhang Ningzhi’s Memory Fragment."
In the theater, Jiang Nian’s vision fell into darkness once again.
Lijiang, a midsummer avenue.
"Long time no see." Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
The advertising crew set the filming location in the South of Caiyun. "Jiang Nian" traveled with the team, coming across Zhang Ningzhi.
"Long time... no see." He was stunned.
Before him was a girl in traditional clothing, with colorful makeup. Her appearance had changed, but her eyes remained the same.
"Didn’t recognize me, did you?" Zhang Ningzhi smiled triumphantly, deliberately spinning around before him.
The crew of several tool carriers stared blankly at Zhang Ningzhi.
Even though there were scantily clad girls nearby, only wrapped in a piece of cloth, unable to contain their fair chests.
Even compared to them, no one could rival the beauty of traditionally dressed Zhang Ningzhi.
Her natural beauty was beneath the Caiyun, a cooling breeze before the silent mountains.
The sky was so close here, as if she’d descended from the clouds.
"Didn’t recognize you at first, what are you doing here?" Jiang Nian was stunned for several seconds before stammering out.
"Didn’t you say you were usually staying in the capital?"
"An out-of-town task, it’s just that I wanted to play here." Zhang Ningzhi laughed, "So I applied for an out-of-town trip."
After speaking, she added another line.
"Not because of you, it’s just... just part of my travel plans this year, it included this place anyway."
"Oh." Jiang Nian nodded.
Indeed, branch office employees could apply for trips. Whether or not they’d be approved depended entirely on luck, couldn’t just come whenever they wanted.
What do you think you’re, the boss?
As per the usual, the crew had a day off to rest.
Jiang Nian returned to his room, changed out of his sweaty clothes, washed them, and hung them on the drying rack outside the room.
Lijiang had ample sunlight, they’d dry in a few hours.
Knock knock knock, a knocking sounded.
Silence outside for a moment, then the knocking resumed.
Jiang Nian’s eyelid twitched, recalling some unsavory rumors. He grabbed a clothes hanger, slowly heading over.
He yanked open the door abruptly, revealing an innocent face.
"Hi." Zhang Ningzhi waved softly.
"Why are you..." Jiang Nian started asking, then suddenly laughed, "Let me change clothes, be right back."
Some things went without saying.
Zhang Ningzhi, dressed in ethnic attire, stood obediently by the door. She glanced around occasionally, feeling quite sneaky.
"Let me take some photos of you."
He showed the device in his hand and the camera bag over his shoulder. Starting to get the hang of it, his photography skills were decent.
Zhang Ningzhi beamed, stood before him, and gave him a little pirouette.