Chapter 107: Want to Try the Haunted House
"You're right, playing those rides right after eating isn’t a good idea."
After thinking for a moment, Ye Ziming nodded. He felt what Lin Muqing said made sense.
Judging by her expression, even if it was a good time for thrill rides, she wouldn’t go anyway. She definitely wouldn’t agree to it.
"Yeah yeah, so let’s not do anything too intense."
She wiped her forehead with one hand, pretending to brush away some imaginary sweat. As she let out a sigh of relief, she said to her best buddy.
"Mm, then let’s go try the haunted house." (evil grin.jpg)
“!?!” (shocked.jpg)
The two fell silent again, but this time Ye Ziming didn’t just sit there staring at Lin Muqing. Instead, he stood up and left his seat. After all, hotpot needs dipping sauce. So he went to get some.
He knew Lin Muqing always went simple: just scallions with soy sauce, or garlic with soy sauce, maybe with a little sesame oil at most. And that’s it.
"Wait here for me."
Before walking away for real, Ye Ziming reminded her to stay and wait for the food.
Seeing her obediently nod, he smiled with satisfaction and headed toward the sauce station.
A moment later, two young waitresses brought over their hotpot, and right after that, Ye Ziming returned to the table with a few small bowls of dipping sauce.
While they were eating, Ye Ziming didn’t bring up the amusement park again. Lin Muqing didn’t think too much about it either. Her whole attention was on the hotpot.
Halfway through, she started feeling a bit of regret. When they were watching the movie earlier, she really shouldn’t have eaten so many shrimp chips and popcorn. Her stomach wasn’t that big to begin with, and now part of it was taken up by snacks. What a loss.
But to be fair, this hotpot place was really tasty. The dipping sauce Ye Ziming made was amazing too. Lin Muqing was very happy.
And to make it even better, when they went to pay the bill, she was surprised to find the price wasn’t high at all.
"Wow, your VIP card is really something."
Walking out of the hotpot restaurant, Lin Muqing turned her head and said with surprise.
Thinking back to when they paid, her best buddy suddenly pulled out a VIP card, and just like that, she had to pay a lot less than she expected. She had mentally prepared herself to pay a big bill to treat him, but it turned out she was overthinking.
"It’s alright."
Ye Ziming gave her a small smile and replied softly.
This shopping mall was the same one they visited last week, so he was super familiar with it. To keep things low-key, he didn’t mention it and just told her, as before, that he was a VIP member here.
Saying they should "walk it off after eating," Ye Ziming led Lin Muqing out of the shopping center and toward the nearby amusement park.
Well, “nearby”, but the walking distance actually wasn’t that short. It would take some time on foot, which made it perfect for a post-meal stroll.
"Didn’t you just say you were full?"
While passing by a bubble tea shop, under the glow of the streetlamp, Ye Ziming noticed Lin Muqing’s eyes change. He sighed inwardly.
She was staring straight at the bubble tea shop, and the expression on her face couldn’t have been more obvious. Ye Ziming couldn’t not notice it.
"Ahem… I can drink it later."
She let out a couple of awkward coughs, pulled her gaze back, then gave him a calm smile and slightly raised her head to say it.
Those coughs, who knows if they were to cover up the awkwardness or just to hint that she was thirsty?
Maybe both.
"Should we go get a cup then?"
That was a classic case of "asking when you already know the answer." Ye Ziming raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.
"I think we should."
Surrounded by the smell of milk tea, and looking over at the milk tea shop nearby, Lin Muqing felt her mouth starting to water. Without thinking, she licked her lips. She really wanted to go over and buy a cup right now.
“But I think you shouldn’t.”
“!?”
Lin Muqing was shocked. Suddenly, this good buddy in front of her felt like a complete stranger. He actually didn’t go along with her and buy the milk tea.
Lin Muqing: So... love really does fade away, huh?
Under Lin Muqing’s stunned gaze, Ye Ziming calmly took out his phone and opened a search engine. He tapped on one of his search results and showed it to Lin Muqing.
On the screen was an article about the dangers of drinking milk tea after a meal.
“Be good~ I’ll buy it for you later.”
Like a big brother spoiling his little sister, Ye Ziming patted Lin Muqing’s head gently and spoke to her in a soft voice.
This unexpected “head pat” caught Lin Muqing completely off guard. She wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say. Feeling a bit unwilling, she turned her head to look at the milk tea shop again. She still wanted it, badly.
“Come on, we shouldn’t block the way,” Ye Ziming said with a helpless smile when he noticed she was still hesitant. Then he simply reached out and held her small hand, leading her toward the amusement park.
Looking at Lin Muqing like this, Ye Ziming found her kind of cute, puffed-up cheeks and a slightly grumpy expression. But even though she looked unhappy, she still obediently followed him away from the milk tea shop.
Ye Ziming felt a strange feeling in his heart. He didn’t really understand what it was, but he knew one thing.
It felt nice and he liked it.
All the way to the entrance of the amusement park, Ye Ziming continued to hold Lin Muqing’s hand.
Along the way, he clearly felt that Lin Muqing tried to pull her hand back a few times. But he didn’t want to let go, so he didn’t.
“Ahem.”
When they reached a more crowded area, Lin Muqing couldn’t help but cough a couple of times, trying to get his attention.
“What’s up?”
Ye Ziming quickly picked up on the hint, turned to her with a soft smile, and asked.
“Do we really have to keep holding hands the whole time?”
She felt a little awkward. Even though they had just decided earlier that she would play the role of his "girlfriend" seriously, holding hands like this still felt a bit much. Especially since they weren’t really a couple.
“Sure, but it’s a little crowded here, so stay close.”
Looking into her eyes, Ye Ziming let go of her hand with a smile.
Then he continued leading Lin Muqing around the area. It seemed like they were just wandering aimlessly, but actually, he had a destination in mind.
And even though he let go of her hand, he was already plotting how to get her to naturally cling to him again later.
They walked around for a bit, and Lin Muqing joined in on some games. At one point, she even helped Ye Ziming shoot a few toy guns. This was the kind where you shoot balloons with a fake pistol.
There were also some other fun little games that Lin Muqing really enjoyed.
They had pretty good luck too. They won a cat-shaped plush pillow from one of the booths. Lin Muqing was so happy she almost jumped for joy. Even though the prize wasn’t worth much money, it gave her a strong sense of achievement. She was thrilled.
In her excitement, she didn’t even realize that less than 100 meters away from them… was the haunted house.