When they left the screening room, Lin Ci had fallen asleep leaning against Shen Xiyan.
Shen Xiyan gently shook her awake. Lin Ci glanced around in a daze, and Shen Xiyan softly wiped away the suspicious sparkle at the corner of her mouth.
Lin Ci blushed with embarrassment.
Luckily, all of this happened before the lights came on. Qin Sheng didn’t see it; she was still immersed in the movie’s plot, chattering away to Shen Xiyan about the story.
“Only the first person you fall in love with is true love. No matter what happens after, they’re just rotten fish, spoiled shrimp, crooked melons, cracked dates—they’re substitutes, compromises…”
“That’s a bit one-sided. Haven’t there always been plenty of scumbags, men and women alike, in this world?”
“Well, can’t I at least talk about myself?”
To be honest, the movie was all right. It was a low-budget production, so no one expected any big surprises.
But an unexpected moment of heart-fluttering hit the softest spot in Qin Sheng’s heart, and the ending only strengthened her beliefs.
Of course, it also made Lin Ci’s belief even firmer: Childhood friends always win!
A thousand viewers see a thousand Hamlets. That’s about what it means.
“Xiyan! If you’re reborn, you have to come chase after me!” Qin Sheng stopped in her tracks and looked at him, her face full of sincerity.
Shen Xiyan wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination.
When Qin Sheng said that, the lines of her little face softened, her brows and eyes gentler than usual. For some inexplicable reason, she seemed to have gained a hint of womanly charm she never had before.
“If I chase you, will you like me?” Shen Xiyan’s reply was rather perfunctory, but it was the truth.
Qin Sheng thought it over carefully.
That’s right!
If Xiyan was reborn, he’d just have to do nothing.
If he tried to do anything, he’d only make things worse, and even if he saved her then, she might still think he’d done it on purpose.
“Then you wait for me. Wait for me to come chase you!”
For her, meeting Shen Xiyan had always felt like a romantic, fated event—the most romantic encounter of her life, bar none.
She’d bet her whole life on this one moment, and never expected to win a whole lifetime.
Shen Xiyan sighed quietly, thinking: You’ve already been chasing.
Qin Sheng truly was devoted from beginning to end.
“Brother! Come here for a second.”
Wenwen ran over, face gloomy, grabbing at the hem of his clothes and tugging him back.
“What is it?”
“Do you have any shame at all?!” Wenwen waved her little hand.
Those little hands actually hurt when they hit. Shen Xiyan covered his arm, a little baffled and also a little aggrieved. “What’s wrong?”
“What were you looking at on your phone during the movie?”
Shen Xiyan froze: “…Uh, you saw that?”
“I was watching your side the whole time. How could I not see?!”
“Hm?”
Realizing she’d let something slip, Wenwen hurriedly changed the topic: “Lin Ci-jie saw it too. Now the ‘family scandal’ is out in the open, I’m telling you!!!”
“The group idiots sent it—how can you blame me? I didn’t even pay attention, Qin Sheng was grabbing my phone.”
“Don’t bother explaining to me!”
Wenwen covered her ears, face full of disgust: “When Lin Ci-jie asked me why I was fighting with you, I still covered for you. Now figure it out yourself… Disgusting! Disgusting!”
Wenwen thought: Lin Ci-jie will definitely think it’s disgusting.
But Wenwen didn’t know, most normal girls actually look at that stuff; girls as innocent as her are a rare minority among girls.
Lin Ci was a reserved girl who never troubled others.
At first, she really did find that sort of thing pretty gross. But if she ever really ended up in bed with Shen Xiyan, would she want him to teach her step by step?
How embarrassing would that be.
Of course, she’d be the one teaching Shen Xiyan: “That’s it, put it in bit by bit.”
Her best friend said it’s always the girl who teaches the boy about these things, because girls mature earlier, right?
So before, she’d only click a Baidu link or two, but if the webpage showed a risk warning, she’d close it in a panic.
But now, she’d actually click in and then scold herself: So perverted, Lin Ci! You… you actually look at this stuff!
And after studying it ten times with rapt attention, a strong wave of shame would wash over her.
So this is how it is between men and women.
Reading about it is never the same as real experience.
Sometimes, when she couldn’t sleep, she’d even fantasize about those female-oriented scenes.
Shen Xiyan would push her forcefully onto the bed, his voice cold as ice as he growled fiercely, “Lin Ci! Remember this! You’re my woman—always have been, always will be.”
And then Shen Xiyan would roughly tear open her clothes, ignore her resistance, and enter her body with brute force.
Didn’t quite fit the roles she and Shen Xiyan played?
No matter, there was a poem that suited them better.
It was written by Song Huizong for Li Shishi.
[We share shallow wine before others, soft jade embraced by the lamp, glancing back into an embrace always full of longing, pain, pain, pain.
Gently pushing my love, soon the trembling sound is heard, a sudden flush of red.
Trying more and more, not the least bit of a gap, this time the flavor drives one mad, move, move, move.
Arms entwined, lips pressed together, tongues entangled.]
Isn’t that much more fitting?
***
On the other side.
Shen Xiyan was pulled away by Wenwen, so Qin Sheng lost her target and could only turn her fire on Lin Ci.
“Lin Ci, Xiyan and I are going to keep shopping later, so you and Wenwen make sure to go home early. It’s not safe for two girls to wander around outside all night—not like me, I’ve got Xiyan looking after me…”
“And we might come home a bit late today. If we’re in the mood, we might not even come home at all… I’ll tell you a little secret: Xiyan’s got a box of condoms in his pocket. Isn’t that shameless? Clearly I don’t even need them.”
“You’re the big sister. Stay at home with Wenwen and remember to look after her. If you get hungry, just order takeout. If Wenwen wants something to eat, tell me—if it’s too expensive, I’ll order for you.”
“If you feel jealous, you can call Xiyan; I’ll turn a blind eye and even send you pictures of me kissing Xiyan. We’re all family, don’t be shy. If I get the meat, you should at least get some soup, right?”
“Oh, and let me show you a super fun video. Xiyan spoils me so much it’s almost embarrassing!”
Lin Ci didn’t want to look; she could tell just by thinking with her toes that Qin Sheng was up to no good, and she could feel Qin Sheng’s hostility clearly.
But still, when she snuck a glance and saw Shen Xiyan on the screen, she just couldn’t help herself.
Qin Sheng sneered.
Turns out what they say in Animal World is right. When breeding season comes, animals always pull out every trick to secure mating rights.
This little vixen Lin Ci was no exception!
Her fighting power in this life was a little bit stronger than before.
Unlike her past life, where she couldn’t even get out a squeak after one hit, and ten years later told everyone she was a lesbian, and Shen Xiyan actually believed it?
Waited for ten years? That madman!
“What’s going on?”
Qin Sheng pinched her orchid fingers and cooed, “When we met this morning, he could’ve come right up to me, but instead he had to take a huge detour to surprise me—and I caught him! Isn’t that embarrassing?”
“Don’t believe what boys say—judge them by what they do, not what they say. You don’t stand a chance.”
“Don’t believe me? Don’t trust me? How about this: let’s stand apart, and when Xiyan comes out, see who he goes to first. Guess!”
“Hmph! Here comes Xiyan.”
Qin Sheng “cheated,” waving her hand hard.
But Shen Xiyan just glanced at her, then headed straight for Lin Ci.
Qin Sheng: “???”