Chapter 37: A Chance Encounter at the Mall

To waste more of Yan’s time, Chen Lin gave her the address of a bun shop far away, hoping she would have to travel a longer distance and exhaust more of her energy.

After Yan left his home, Chen Lin sat on the living room sofa and began to ponder what he should do next.

But without any leads, he had no choice but to brush his teeth and wash up.

Having not slept all night, Chen Lin felt physically drained, unlike his usual energetic self.

He thought that if he were to do math problems now, his error rate would skyrocket due to mental fatigue.

At this critical moment, he absolutely could not afford to be tired.

To refresh himself, Chen Lin opened the refrigerator after washing up. Inside was a can of iced coffee.

He had tossed that can into the fridge half a year ago and never had the chance to drink it, so it had been sitting there ever since.

He picked up the coffee and checked the expiration date. As expected, it had expired, but fortunately only by a few weeks.

After pulling the tab, Chen Lin took a small sip.

The coffee was freezing cold, slightly numbing his tongue. Luckily, there was no foul smell; it was still drinkable.

To get his mind back to normal, Chen Lin tilted his head back and downed the coffee in one gulp.

The iced coffee surged into his unprepared stomach. The cold shock caused his stomach to contract, and he nearly threw up.

After drinking, perhaps due to the caffeine, Chen Lin felt his mental state improve a bit compared to before.

Yan didn’t keep him waiting long. About twenty minutes later, she returned with the buns.

Chen Lin had already disposed of the coffee can, not wanting Yan to see he had drunk coffee to stay alert.

Sitting at the dining table under Yan’s watchful gaze, Chen Lin slowly chewed the buns.

Of course, he had considered whether the buns might be problematic, so while chewing, he paid attention to any off-flavors.

After finishing the buns, his stomach, irritated by the coffee, felt much better as it warmed up.

“Big brother, did you not sleep well last night?” Yan asked, noticing his slightly haggard state and faint dark circles under his eyes.

“No, let’s go to the cinema,” Chen Lin replied, having no intention of telling the truth.

After eating, he took Yan on foot to the nearest shopping mall.

He had reasons for choosing this place.

First, it was the closest mall to his home. After the movie, he could return quickly without wasting much time. The round trip would take about half an hour, and the movie itself an hour and a half. Optimistically, he could be back home and asleep within two and a half hours.

Second, this mall was usually crowded, as it was surrounded by residential areas. On Sundays, nearly every screening had a large audience. With more people around, Yan would be more cautious about making a move.

These were the two main reasons Chen Lin chose this location.

On the way to the mall, to save time, Chen Lin and Yan had already started buying tickets through a mobile app.

Chen Lin didn’t care what movie they watched, so the choice was left to Yan.

Yan chose an action film—a cliché story of a hero saving a damsel in distress. However, thanks to its exciting fight choreography, it was still a very popular popcorn movie.

Although audiences claimed they were tired of formulaic films, such movies often sold the best.

Some directors, misled by “public opinion,” had made high-budget anti-formula films, but only a few succeeded; most bombed disastrously.

After all, formulas had always won people’s hearts. Formulaic films usually turned a small profit and rarely suffered heavy losses.

Since Yan chose the movie, Chen Lin picked the earliest screening, which happened to be a very full one.

Nearly half the seats were already taken, and those were the best ones. The remaining seats had poor viewing angles.

Chen Lin directly selected the two front-row seats.

Choosing such seats would make Yan more hesitant to act, as there were many eyes behind them.

Arriving at the mall, they took the escalator up to the fifth floor, where the cinema was.

But as luck would have it, on the third floor, they ran into Shihan, who was just about to take the down escalator.

She held a small paper bag in her left hand, which seemed to be a men’s watch brand. The moment she saw Chen Lin, she quickly hid the bag behind her back.

“What a coincidence! Are you shopping too?” Shihan greeted him immediately.

“No, I’m here to watch a movie,” Chen Lin replied.

Shihan’s gaze then fell on Yan, who was following behind Chen Lin. Yan was staring at her with a hostile look.

“Let’s go, let’s go! The movie’s about to start!” Yan tugged hard at Chen Lin’s shirt, trying to drag him away.

“But it’s still twenty minutes before it starts. There’s no rush,” Chen Lin said, though Yan still pulled him onto the ascending escalator.

“If you’re watching a movie, count me in. I have nothing else to do this afternoon,” Shihan immediately followed, jumping onto the step.

“You’re not welcome!” Yan snapped before Chen Lin could speak.

Shihan wasn’t one to be bullied. She immediately retorted, “Whether you welcome me or not doesn’t matter. Unless you’ve booked the entire cinema, I can buy a ticket and get in.”

Seeing that Shihan was determined to tag along and be a third wheel, Yan pulled out her phone to reserve all the seats near her and Chen Lin.

She knew this was no time to be stingy with money. Even if she had to lose some pocket money, she didn’t want Shihan to ruin things.

Shihan kept an eye on Yan’s actions. Peeking at the screen, she noticed Yan booking tickets. From the number and positions, she quickly deduced where Yan and Chen Lin were sitting.

Beating her to it, Shihan reserved all the tickets Yan intended to buy.

“You bully!” Yan cried out, nearly in tears. It was supposed to be her and Chen Lin’s date, and now this sudden intruder Shihan was ruining it.

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