CHAPTER 49

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Inside the movie theater, You Zhengping held the bag of popcorn with one hand and pinched his thigh with the other to avoid falling asleep because the romance film was too boring. Remember at all costs, wait for the romantic part, then hug Yu Hua and kiss him warmly, You Zhengping constantly reminded himself inwardly.

Yu Hua knew the approximate plot of this movie. As he watched the movie, he observed You Zhengping's expression, occasionally taking a couple of pieces of popcorn from the bag You Zhengping was hugging, putting the popcorn in his mouth and letting it slowly dissolve.

He didn't know what Xiao You's expression would be when he learned that this wasn't a romance film but a thriller. Xiao You's expression would probably be more worth watching than the movie. Yu Hua frequently put his chin in his hand to watch Xiao You.

At first You Zhengping was still pinching his thigh. When he watched the wife disappear and the husband madly search for her, he nodded to himself, thinking that this time he had finally chosen a romantic movie.

But when the plot went on to the husband having extramarital affairs and all the evidence in the wife's disappearance pointing to the husband having killed her, You Zhengping released the hand pinching his thigh, sat up straight, and began earnestly guessing the plot.

By the time the plot turned once again to the wife still being alive and having done everything in order to frame her husband, You Zhengping's eyes popped out of his head. Just then, a hand reached over and took two pieces of popcorn.

You Zhengping followed the hand, looking at the person next to him. When he saw Yu Hua, like the wife in the film, giving a falsely perfect smile, he couldn't help hiccuping. He frantically drank a mouthful of coke to keep down his hiccups, but the gas in the coke made him hiccup more violently.

"Hic, I didn't think, hic, that this movie..." In order not to bother the people around them, You Zhengping spoke and hiccuped quietly into Yu Hua's ear.

"Have some popcorn to settle your nerves." Yu Hua fed Xiao You a few pieces of popcorn. "I like this movie very much. Have you forgotten the TV dramas I've been watching lately?"

"Hic!" Remembering the dramas about husbands cheating and wives getting revenge or wives cheating and husbands being abused on top of seeing Yu Hua's increasingly manic smile, You Zhengping hiccuped even more violently.

Yu Hua gently patted his back, took out a bottle of water he had bought ahead of time, and gave it to him to drink so that Xiao You wouldn't choke from being too startled.

"Hic! Hic!" After drinking water, You Zhengping hiccuped while he stealthily searched for reviews of Gone Girl on his phone. When he saw the "thriller" label on them, he nearly started to cry.

He quickly remembered Waterloo Bridge, the movie Yu Hua had mentioned before they had gone in to see this one, then searched for reviews of Waterloo Bridge. It was a poignant story of life and death and cutting lovers apart.

"Hic!" Some fucking horror film! You Zhengping really wanted to go back to yesterday and beat himself up.

Yu Hua put the paper cup of coke between them aside, took the bag of popcorn, squeezed You Zhengping's hands. After kissing the backs of his hands, he laced their fingers together and stressed, "I really do like this movie. You chose well."

You Zhengping's hiccups eased considerably after having the back of his hand kissed. He saw that Yu Hua really was smiling faintly and watching the movie with keen interest. He thought, "It's-it's all right... At least we can hold hands."

It was still better than him and Cen Xiao and the rest getting worked up about the plot of the movie while Yu Hua sipped lemonade on his own. You Zhengping had bought the best seats for viewing, right in the center. 

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