Chapter 274 : Playing Games with Big Brother~
"Can you two let go of me, please?"
Ling Ning sighed, looking helplessly at the twin sisters seated on either side of her.
She was currently in a movie theater, watching a horror movie called Dark Play. Even though Ling Ning wasn’t particularly afraid of ghosts, the film gave her the chills. Li Qian and Li Meng, however, were clinging to her arms with sweaty hands, gripping so hard that her arms were probably red by now.
Originally, Ling Ning had planned to bring little Dong Xue along, but her parents, the Li couple, had returned yesterday and taken Dong Xue home. It was just as well—if Dong Xue had come and ended up crying from fear, she’d have felt guilty.
Then again, Dong Xue didn’t seem to fear these things. At home, she’d watched plenty of horror films with Ling Ye, but it was always Ling Ye who ended up terrified, while Dong Xue remained as adorably blank as ever.
Ling Ning was starting to think that Dong Xue might not even understand the concept of "fear."
“I’m not… I’m not scared of horror movies…” Li Qian tried to deny her fear, but then a ghost face popped up on the screen, making her shriek and bury her face in Ling Ning’s shoulder.
“You’re such a coward, sis…” Li Meng began, trying to keep a straight face so she could tease her sister. But right after the ghost face, another set of ghostly figures flashed across the screen, and she ended up copying her sister, her face buried in Ling Ning’s other shoulder.
Their screams weren’t the only ones. The theater was filled with shrieks from other girls and even some yells from the guys.
Ling Ning looked at the twins, exasperated, and whispered, “If you’re both so scared, why did you even want to see this movie? Wouldn’t a nice comedy have been better?”
The twins pouted in unison. They’d invited Ling Ning to a horror movie hoping to see her get scared and cling to one of them. But they hadn’t expected the movie to be this terrifying, and to make matters worse, Ling Ning wasn’t scared at all—they were the ones who’d chickened out first.
They felt helpless.
Shaking her head, Ling Ning decided to ignore the two scaredy-cats and focus on the film, which was turning out to be quite gripping. Even though she wasn’t a horror fan, she found it surprisingly enjoyable… until the “kid from hell” in the seat in front of her started acting up.
The kid turned around, giving her a mischievous grin as he looked at her popcorn. Without waiting for permission, he reached over, grabbed a handful, and stuffed it into his mouth, grinning at her the whole time.
Ling Ning frowned. In the dim theater lighting, she could clearly see the snot on the kid’s hand. Her popcorn was officially ruined. To make matters worse, the kid’s mom had noticed but did nothing, merely turning to smile at Ling Ning, as if expecting her to understand it was “just kids being kids.”
Ling Ning had put up with this kid’s antics for long enough. Since the movie started, he’d been crawling all over his seat, twisting and turning, even blocking her view.
She’d managed to tolerate that, figuring he was just a kid. But he’d also been constantly asking questions, and his mom, who had clearly seen the film before, happily spoiled every single scene he asked about. How was she supposed to enjoy the movie like this?
It wasn’t just her—everyone sitting near them looked extremely irritated. They couldn’t get immersed in the film with a running commentary spoiling everything!
After finishing the handful of popcorn, the kid turned back, obviously wanting more.
Staring at his little bratty face, Ling Ning had had enough. But instead of getting angry, she smiled sweetly and said, “Aww, you’re so cute, little guy! Do you want some more of big brother’s popcorn? If you want, after the movie’s over, you can come play some special games with big brother, and I’ll give you all the popcorn you want~”
Ling Ning dropped her voice, using her practiced mimicry to give it a deep, gruff tone, especially emphasizing “big brother.” After all, she’d been working on her voice-acting skills and could easily pull off a gruff man’s voice.
The kid froze, and his mom looked at her as if she’d seen a ghost. Without another word, she grabbed the kid and hurried out of the theater.
Finally, peace returned.
Several audience members gave Ling Ning looks of admiration. Now they could finally enjoy the movie. As for the fans who had been admiring Ling Ning’s beauty, they were visibly distressed. A delicate beauty like her… was actually… And those twins…
Li Qian and Li Meng gave her a thumbs-up, grateful. They had also been annoyed by the bratty kid for a while and had nearly lost control, ready to slap him themselves if Ling Ning hadn’t stepped in.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
“Phew! Finally done with that movie. It wasn’t scary at all!”
“Right, not scary at all!”
Ling Ning looked blankly at the two haughty sisters. They could barely stand upright yet insisted on putting on a brave face. What was the point?
“So, where should we go now?”
Ling Ning checked the time—it was already past lunchtime. No wonder she was feeling hungry. She hadn’t even eaten breakfast this morning, hoping to save her appetite for lunch since Li Qian had offered to treat.
“Of course, let’s eat! I’m starving!”
As they stepped out of the theater, ready to find a place to eat, they noticed a crowd gathered by the roadside, looking at something.
“Let’s go see what’s going on,” Li Qian suggested.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
Author’s Note:
Dark Play is really good! My favorite episode is “The Tragic Bow.”
Also, I went to watch Resident Evil yesterday and got spoilers from the person next to me. I wanted to punch them. Can’t people just watch the movie quietly? Why spoil it?!
And a quick recommendation: check out the book Even if I Turn into a Mimic, I Still Want to Fall in Love/就算变成宝箱怪我也要谈恋爱, written by the great “32 Transformations.” It’s about Chu Zining, who crosses into a world of swords and magic and becomes a wooden mimic monster. Short arms, short legs, no handsome face, and even an overzealous female knight with a giant sword chasing him down for the treasure inside him… but hey, even as a mimic, he’s determined to find love and maybe save the world along the way—because isn’t that just common sense?