Chapter 9: The Cinema Date

  That emerald green Jade Belt River runs from south to north, dividing the territory of Feicui City into two parts from east to west. Feicui City has built several bridges to connect the eastern and western sides of the Jade Belt River.

  There are two stone bridges near Lin Xiaoyu's home, one of which is located in the southeast. This bridge was the first bridge in Feicui City, and it can be seen from the weathered stones on the bridge that they have been exposed to the sun for a long time, just like the dark skin of farmers who work hard in the fields under the scorching sun. When this bridge was built, Lin Xiaoyu's father still wore open-crotch pants, so it has become very old and outdated now. This bridge has a poetic name called Sunset Bridge.

  Another bridge is located northeast of Lin Xiaoyu's home, a newly built large stone bridge with brand new white granite stones on its body as smooth and vibrant as a girl's skin. This bridge was just completed before Lin Xiaoyu wore open-crotch pants. It also has a very good name, called Yongjiu Bridge.

  These two stone bridges are like two lovers connected by a red thread, quietly lying on the north and south sides of this jade belt river. The jade belt river water flowing beneath them seems to be their endless love and longing for each other. They are in sight of each other but cannot come together.

  Lin Xiaoyu's home was just behind a small road on the west bank between these two stone bridges, and from the window of Lin Xiaoyu's small room, you could see these two stone bridges facing each other at dawn and dusk, about two or three kilometers apart.

  During this summer vacation of her first year in high school, Lin Xiaoyu went jogging with Li Jingru along the embankment of Yudai River near their homes at 6:30 every morning.

  They ran slowly from the middle of the riverbank at their home's entrance to Luoshiguang Bridge, and after crossing Luoshiguang Bridge, they continued running along the east bank of the river on the opposite side of their home until they reached Yongjiu Bridge. After crossing Yongjiu Bridge back to the west bank where they lived, Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru would slowly walk back home along the riverbank on the west bank.

  Li Jingru attended piano and calligraphy classes during the holidays, so after running back from her run, Li Jingru took a bath, had breakfast, and then went to class on time.

  Lin Xiaoyu strongly opposed her family signing her up for summer interest classes and took back her summer vacation playtime. After her parents went to work, it was Lin Xiaoyu's free time alone. Watching TV, reading comics, running outside and wandering around, holding a basketball to the court to sweat - these were all things Lin Xiaoyu did every day.

  In his spare time, Lin Xiaoyu made a small basketball hoop with thick copper wire on the wall of his own small room.

  Lin Xiaoyu found a thin copper wire in her father's toolbox, slightly thinner than a pencil. She used pliers to bend the iron wire into a small circle about the size of a bowl mouth. The remaining copper wire was like a tadpole's tail behind the copper ring. Lin Xiaoyu then cut open the red and yellow striped plastic mesh bag that she had brought back from buying pomelos, and used string to tie the mesh around the small copper ring in a circular motion, forming a spherical net.

  Lin Xiaoyu found a small wooden board the size of a textbook, nailed two small holes on it with iron nails, and then passed the two copper wires that were wrapped around the back of the small basket like tadpole tails through the two small holes. Then she used pliers to tighten the copper wires that had been passed through the small holes, so that the small basket was fixed on the small wooden board.

  Lin Xiaoyu used long steel nails to firmly fix a small wooden board on the wall of her room. To make this little ball basket look better, Lin Xiaoyu specially asked Li Jingru to draw some beautiful patterns on the board.

  A delicate little basket with a golden net and red and yellow alternating balls was born.

  The small basket is ready, but it's hard for Lin Xiaoyu to make a small basketball by herself.

  Lin Xiaoyu started by using table tennis balls as a substitute for basketball, but because the table tennis balls were too small and light, Lin Xiaoyu didn't have any feeling when hitting the ball into the hoop. Later, after buying two tennis balls at a store, Lin Xiaoyu felt that these tennis balls made excellent mini basketballs.

  From then on, this small basketball court in Lin Xiaoyu's room became the best place for her to entertain herself when she was bored at home.

  A small basket hung on the wall about two meters five high, which made it very difficult for Lin Xiaoyu, who was only one meter five eight tall now, to reach the basket. Lin Xiaoyu kept jumping hard in order to dunk the ball into this small basket.

  Lin Xiaoyu was at home with nothing to do, so she started shooting small tennis balls into a small basket, having the time of her life. When the ball went in, the tennis ball and the nylon net on the basket would rub against each other, making a "swishing" sound, which made Lin Xiaoyu even more excited.

  In just a few days, Lin Xiaoyu was able to hit the tennis ball as skillfully as a basketball, and could even dribble it back and forth. Lin Xiaoyu was already able to dunk the tennis ball into a small basket with one hand.

  Lin Xiaoyu often imagines himself as a certain basketball superstar in the NBA, in his own small room. In a crucial moment of an important game, he dribbles the ball to the small hoop, makes a sudden stop, turns around, and flies up for a dunk...

  Lin Xiaoyu was happy in her own little world with her basketball dreams.

  The holiday time always passes quickly, and Lin Xiaoyu spent the whole day playing and suddenly realized that her summer homework had not been written in the last few days before the end of the holiday.

  Lin Xiaoyu's attitude towards her own vacation time is like a nouveau riche who unexpectedly got a large sum of money, and in the midst of extreme joy, she squanders the wealth that fell into her eyes, only to find that when the money runs out, she becomes even more impoverished than before.

  Lin Xiaoyu was now a spendthrift, worrying about the little summer vacation time he had left.

  Lin Xiaoyu, who was worried about her homework, thought of this convenient and labor-saving good method.

  Lin Xiaoyu then called a few good friends to borrow their summer homework to get through the difficulties, but these good friends who were as playful as Lin Xiaoyu also had the same idea as themselves. Everyone basically hadn't touched the summer homework, and they were also worried about this matter now.

  Lin Xiaoyu suddenly lost interest, while Xiao Ruo had already finished her summer homework early on. Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoyu and she were not in the same class, nor did they have the same teacher, and the content of their summer homework was vastly different. So even if Lin Xiaoyu asked to borrow hers, it would be of no use.

  Suddenly Lin Xiaoyu thought of the lovely girl who sat at her desk, Murong Huimin, who always blushed. This girl, who was very serious about doing things, must have already finished her summer homework.

  Like a drowning person grasping at a straw, Lin Xiaoyu quickly found Mu Rong Hui Min's phone number and dialed it.

  "Hello?"

  Lin Xiaoyu heard Mu Rong Hui Min's soft and pleasant voice in the receiver.

  "Hello? Is it Murong Hui Min?" Lin Xiaoyu knew who the speaker was, but still asked a sentence to confirm.

  Suddenly hearing a familiar voice she hadn't heard in a long time, Mu Rong Hui Min was stunned, holding the microphone.

  Is it him?! Mu Rong Hui Min's heart was both shocked and delighted, he called me... What does he want from me? Could it be... Her mind suddenly flashed with many warm and romantic scenes, Mu Rong Hui Min's heart felt like it was being tossed about by a thousand giant waves, her small face was filled with red clouds.

  After waiting for half a ring, the voice on the phone suddenly disappeared. Lin Xiaoyu asked strangely: "Hello, is Mu Rong Hui Min at home?"

  Lin Xiaoyu's question pulled Murong Hui Min back from her daydream, and she quickly grasped the phone to answer nervously; "En, I...I am. Are you Xiaoyu?"

  Lin Xiaoyu, who was thinking about how to ask Murong Huimin about the summer homework, didn't notice the tension in Murong Huimin's slightly trembling voice.

  "Hey, it's me. How was your summer vacation?" Lin Xiaoyu felt embarrassed to directly ask someone for homework copying over the phone.

  "It's okay, I'm fine. How about you?" Mu Rong Hui Min's heart was no longer as tense, and her voice returned to normal.

  "It's okay, but these past few days have been tough." Lin Xiaoyu began to hint at her own troubles.

  "Ah, why?" Murong Hui Min heard that Lin Xiao Yu has been having a tough time lately and couldn't help but feel concerned.

  "Because of the summer homework, I was busy playing and didn't even touch it. Now school is about to start and I'm worried about it." Lin Xiaoyu complained to the girl who often sat in front of her desk chatting during class.

  Murong Hui Min heard that Lin Xiao Yu was worried about her homework and the stone in her heart was finally put down: "Oh, there isn't much homework, do you want me to help you with it?" Murong Hui Min was very willing to do something for Lin Xiao Yu.

  "Oh, no need for that, have you finished your summer homework?" Lin Xiaoyu felt very grateful when Mu Rong Hui Min said she wanted to help him with his homework, but Lin Xiaoyu was too embarrassed to let Mu Rong Hui Min do his homework.

  "It's all done."

  "Well, that's great, can you lend me all your summer homework to copy?"

  "Of course."

  "Are you free this afternoon?"

  "Yes."

  "Then bring your summer homework to me, and I'll treat you to a movie."

  Want to watch a movie? When Mu Rong Hui Min heard Lin Xiao Yu say that he wanted to invite her to watch a movie, those warm and romantic scenes reappeared in her mind, and her heart immediately felt as sweet as honey.

  Lin Xiaoyu heard that there was no more sound in the receiver, so she asked again: "Hui Min, are you listening? Shall we meet at 2:30 this afternoon at the entrance of Feicui Cinema?"

  "Okay, okay......" Murong Hui Min's voice became a little off-key due to the sudden arrival of great happiness.

  "Then let's meet at the entrance of Feicui Cinema at 2:30, bye." Lin Xiaoyu felt happy as the problem with her summer homework was solved.

  "Goodbye." Mu Rong Hui Min held the receiver to her chest, her heart unable to calm down for a long time. In her mind, those romantic and touching scenes of love reappeared once again.

  After hanging up the phone, Murong Hui Min rushed back to her small room and threw herself onto her bed, burying her flushed little face in the soft blanket. "Going to watch a movie together" "Date" these words were like living spirits flashing non-stop in Murong Hui Min's little brain, she happily fantasized about the afternoon's rotten comic face on her bed...

  At 2:25 pm, Lin Xiaoyu arrived at the entrance of Feicui Cinema and saw Murong Hui standing at the door waiting for him.

  Murong Hui Min had obviously dressed up carefully for this date.

  She was wearing a light blue suspender top with a white pleated skirt, and crystal-colored sandals on her feet. Her hair, which was usually tied up in a ponytail, fell naturally onto her smooth white shoulders, with a small blue barrette clipped to the right side of her forehead, and a string of small pearls shining on her wrist. She held a large white plastic bag in front of her, probably containing summer homework for Lin Xiaoyu.

  Lin Xiaoyu only recognized the pretty girl who looked like a star as her classmate who always blushed when she saw her, from Muyong Huimin's delicate face and the familiar red cloud on her small face.

  "You're here so early?" Lin Xiaoyu walked up and greeted him.

  "I haven't been here for long." Murong Huimin said softly, her small face flushing red. In fact, she had already been standing at the entrance of the cinema when it was two o'clock, and her pure and beautiful figure made many passersby glance at her sideways, which made Murong Huimin, who was usually shy, feel very uncomfortable during the twenty minutes she waited for Lin Xiaoyu.

  But Lin Xiaoyu didn't understand these things.

  "You look really good today, I almost didn't recognize you." Lin Xiaoyu said sincerely to Murong Hui.

  "Really?" Murong Huimin's small face turned red as she said softly with her head down.

  "Come on, let's go buy some snacks to eat while watching a movie." Lin Xiaoyu said to Murong Huimin.

  "En." A soft, mosquito-like voice came out of Murong Huimin's mouth.

  Ling Xiaoyu, who had just bought a bag of snacks at the store near the cinema, saw that the clock on the counter was almost three o'clock. The movie was about to start. Hurriedly, Ling Xiaoyu pulled Mu Rong Hui Min's hand and quickly walked towards the cinema.

  Her small hand was suddenly pulled by Lin Xiaoyu, and Mu Rong Hui Min, who was walking on the street, blushed with a bright red face, feeling like her face was burning. She felt that everyone's eyes on the street seemed to be staring at her, and she looked down at Lin Xiaoyu's hand holding hers, not daring to look up at the passing pedestrians.

  Muruo Huimin felt the warmth and strength of Lin Xiaoyu's hand grasping her small hand, and from her own palm, she felt the waves of warmth emanating from Lin Xiaoyu's hand. Although being pulled by the hand on this big street made her feel extremely shy and embarrassed, Muruo Huimin hoped that this short street would never end. Muruo Huimin loved this happy feeling of having her small hand grasped by Lin Xiaoyu.

  Lin Xiaoyu's thoughts were just the opposite of Murong Hui's, and since the movie was about to start, he now hated that he couldn't jump over the two-hundred-meter-wide street in one step and into the cinema.

  Lin Xiaoyu dragged Mu Rong Hui Min to the cinema and bought tickets. They just found their seats when the movie started.

  The cinema is showing a movie starring Stephen Chow called "King of Comedy".

  Lin Xiaoyu has always liked the absurd movie style of Stephen Chow, so from the beginning of the movie, Lin Xiaoyu was very engaged and laughed loudly at times, amused by the comedic scenes in Stephen Chow's movies.

  Murong Huimin usually likes to watch movies with romantic and beautiful love themes, so she wasn't very interested in Zhou Xingchi who was being weird all day. But now sitting next to Lin Xiaoyu makes Murong Huimin feel happier than watching any great movie.

  Many times, Murong Hui Min's gaze would shift from the movie screen to Lin Xiao Yu's profile on his left, who was watching the movie with relish. Murong Hui Min found himself deeply attracted to Lin Xiao Yu's slightly childish yet elegant profile, short hair, and sparkling eyes that were intently focused on the movie. His occasional hearty laughter at the joyful scenes in the movie and his indignant expression at the sad scenes made Murong Hui Min think he was a thousand times, no, ten thousand times more captivating than the movie itself.

  Lin Xiaoyu, who was engrossed in the movie screen, did not notice Mu Rong Hui Min's feelings as she sat beside her in the cinema.

  Lin Xiaoyu didn't know that when he accidentally touched Murong Hui Min's small hand while taking the plum, Murong Hui Min's little heart would beat rapidly; Lin Xiaoyu didn't know that when his foot touched Murong Hui Min's knee while laughing at the movie, in the dark space, Murong Hui Min's face would be instantly covered with a red cloud; Lin Xiaoyu didn't know that after drinking from his own drink, he started drinking from the can that Murong Hui Min handed over to him, and Murong Hui Min's heart was sweeter than the sweet juice she was drinking; Lin Xiaoyu also didn't know that while focusing on the movie, there were a pair of bright eyes filled with emotions staring at him; Lin Xiaoyu even more didn't know that a pure and beautiful girl had quietly tied her heart that had just started to fall in love onto his body.

  The movie unfolds in the usual manner of Stephen Chow, with Chow initially playing a tragic and struggling small-time loser who eventually achieves his incredible dream through sheer hard work and some unbelievable luck, culminating in a grand finale.

  After the movie ended, Lin Xiaoyu returned to reality from the illusory world brought by the movie, and for Murong Hui Min, it was also the end of the 90 minutes of happiness spent with Lin Xiaoyu.

  As they walked out of the cinema, Lin Xiaoyu was still talking to Murong Huimin about the interesting scenes in the movie. Murong Huimin listened quietly and rarely responded because during the screening, her attention was not on the screen at all. As a result, she didn't even know what the movie was about after 90 minutes in the cinema.

  As many people walked out of the cinema, Lin Xiaoyu and he were squeezed together by the crowd in the exit corridor, almost touching each other. Amidst the mixed smells at the cinema's exit, Lin Xiaoyu suddenly caught a whiff of faint fragrance, which made him feel extremely comfortable. The scent almost made Lin Xiaoyu forget about the trouble caused by the crowded flow of people, as if he were in a peaceful and serene world.

  Lin Xiaoyu knew that this was the scent of Murong Hui's body, which had been pressed against her own and made her face flush with embarrassment. Suddenly, a strange thought popped into Lin Xiaoyu's mind: "If I could smell Murong Hui's fragrance all the time, it would be great." As for why she had such a thought, Lin Xiaoyu herself was startled by the sudden appearance of this idea in her mind.

  This might be the beginning of love, but Lin Xiaoyu, who knew nothing about love and was unprepared, did not feel the small sprout of love that had just emerged in her heart. The little sprout had just poked its head out in Lin Xiaoyu's heart when it was buried by the messy things in her curious mind.

  Sometimes there are some beautiful things that suddenly appear in people's unintentional moments and disappear in people's unintentional moments.

  It wasn't easy to finally walk out of the movie theater's door. The summer sun made Lin Xiaoyu and Murong Huimin, who had just come out of the dark cinema, involuntarily squint their eyes.

  Lin Xiaoyu was about to throw the movie ticket in her hand into the trash can on the side. Murong Hui Min stopped Lin Xiaoyu's rare behavior of following hygiene rules and not littering.

  Murong Hui Min asked Lin Xiaoyu for two movie tickets that were trash in Lin Xiaoyu's eyes. She smoothed out the crumpled tickets with her small hands and carefully put them into the small pocket of her pleated skirt.

  Lin Xiaoyu couldn't quite figure out what Murong Hui Min wanted the two useless movie tickets for, but Lin Xiaoyu didn't ask either.

  Lin Xiaoyu felt a bit thirsty again under the scorching sun on this summer day. She had just finished drinking almost two cans of drinks at the cinema, and even the can that Murong Huimin had only taken a few sips from was also emptied by her. Lin Xiaoyu then said to Murong Huimin beside her: "Let's go eat ice cream at that ice cream shop across the street." Lin Xiaoyu knew she must be thirsty too, since she had finished all of Murong Huimin's drink that she hadn't drunk much of.

  "En, hao." Murong Hui Min replied happily. As long as she was with Lin Xiao Yu, Murong Hui Min was happy to go anywhere.

  Lin Xiaoyu walked side by side with Murong Huimin on this most prosperous street in Feicui City.

  Lin Xiaoyu and Murong Huimin are now walking on Guanghua Road. This is the most prosperous section of Feicui City, Guanghua Road is a commercial street located in the central area of Feicui City, with shops lined up on both sides of the road to meet the shopping and leisure needs of Feicui citizens. Therefore, this place also gathers the largest flow of people in Feicui City.

  Suddenly a hand was placed on Lin Xiaoyu's shoulder from behind as he walked down the street, and Lin Xiaoyu turned around to look at the hand resting on his shoulder.

  Lin Xiaoyu saw a stylishly dressed man leaning on her shoulder. This person was more than half a head taller than Lin Xiaoyu, with 70% of his hair covering half of his eyes, looking arrogant, wearing a fashionable black T-shirt and jeans. Next to him stood a similarly fashionably dressed girl. Such people would be evaluated by the residential committee aunt in Lin Xiaoyu's neighborhood as "small hooligans".

  "Haha, Lin Xiaoyu." That smooth-talking boy greeted Lin Xiaoyu.

  "Haha, Chen Yi. It's you, that little rascal. Almost didn't recognize you." Lin Xiaoyu recognized this elementary school classmate who always got her into trouble back in the day. Seeing her old friend from elementary school made Lin Xiaoyu very happy too.

  "It's been almost a year since I last saw you, wow, on a date with your girlfriend? You've had a girlfriend for almost a year now? You're quite something!" Chen Yi saw Mu Rong Hui Min standing beside Lin Xiao Yu.

  Murong Hui Min heard the person who knew Lin Xiao Yu say that he was Lin Xiao Yu's girlfriend, her small face immediately turned bright red again, and she lowered her eyelids. However, in her heart, she felt a hint of sweetness, and at the same time, she also had some good feelings towards Lin Xiao Yu, this smooth-talking friend.

  "No, she's just a classmate." Lin Xiaoyu didn't have any feeling towards the term "girlfriend", and immediately clarified his relationship with Murong Huimin.

  Lin Xiaoyu's answer made Murong Hui Min's eyes, which were cast downward beside him, flash with a hint of loss.

  "Stop pretending, haha. This is my girlfriend, Xiao Mei." Chen Yi naturally put his arm around the fashionably dressed girl beside him and said to Lin Xiaoyu. The tone and manner in which Chen Yi spoke made people feel that he and the childlike Lin Xiaoyu were not of the same age.

  Lin Xiaoyu felt a bit different, her friend found a girlfriend so quickly. Lin Xiaoyu roughly glanced at Chen Yi's girlfriend and thought that this girl with a lot of makeup on her face was far less beautiful than her unmade-up classmates by her side.

  The girl greeted Lin Xiaoyu with a smile: "Hi, how are you?"

  "Hello." Lin Xiaoyu also greeted.

  Lin Xiaoyu and Chen Yi, two bosom friends who hadn't seen each other for almost a year, chatted on the street for a while. After each of them talked about their junior high school life, Chen Yi and his girlfriend said goodbye to Lin Xiaoyu and others because they still had something to do.

  After saying goodbye to Chen Yi, Lin Xiaoyu and Murong Huimin arrived at the ice cream shop, each buying an ice cream cone, then walked to the bus stop on Guanghua Road to wait for the bus.

  They all took a bus to the cinema. Lin Xiaoyu was waiting for the No. 7 bus heading west, while Murong Huimin and others were taking the No. 11 bus heading east.

  As Murong Hui Min stood on the platform watching Lin Xiao Yu get on the slowly departing No. 7 bus to bid farewell, in her reluctant gaze, their summer vacation date also came to an end at this moment.

  At night, Lin Xiaoyu was lying on her desk in her room, working hard to finish the piled-up summer homework. When Lin Xiaoyu turned over the borrowed homework book of Mu Rong Hui Min to copy the next page, she found a photo inserted between the pages.

  Lin Xiaoyu picked up the photo, and on it was a boy wearing a baseball cap backwards and a girl in a pink floral dress standing in front of a blue sea. The boy had a bright smile on his face and made a "V" shape with his right hand, while the beautiful girl beside him had a hint of shyness on her face, as if there was a faint red cloud floating across it. The sunlight cast a shallow golden rim around the two children.

  Lin Xiaoyu saw this photo taken with Murong Huimin during their last beach trip, and when she was in her own room, she felt that sea breeze with a hint of the ocean again.

  Lin Xiaoyu saw a line of delicate small characters on the back of this photo

  "Memories of our time by the sea".

  Lin Xiaoyu, who had been copying Mu Rong Hui Min's summer homework all along, recognized that this was her handwriting. Lin Xiaoyu didn't know why, but when she looked at the photo, she suddenly felt a warm feeling enveloping her heart.

  Under the same starry night sky, Mu Rong Hui Min inserted two slightly wrinkled movie tickets between the pages of her diary, which she had just finished writing. She then propped herself up on the table with both hands and reminisced about every detail of that afternoon, a smile with a hint of shyness appearing on her face from time to time.

  Murong Hui suddenly thought of the photo in her homework book and felt both nervous and excited: "I wonder if he saw that photo?"

  Murong Hui's gaze inadvertently fell on the photo frame on the right side of the small desk, and the frame was a photo that was exactly the same as the one in Lin Xiaoyu's hand...

  (This chapter was written until 5 am, and I'm out of cigarettes, it's a bit tough. Please support me.)