IWBL: Chapter 216

Xiao Li didn’t immediately respond to the text message. He placed his phone into his pocket and refused Wang Huai. “No, I saw a pet hospital on the street when I came. You should go back first.”

Wang Huai didn’t insist. “Okay… I’m going.”

His mobile phone also vibrated constantly. He said goodbye to Xiao Li and left the food stall, disappearing at the end of the street. Xiao Li calculated the time that the pet hospital would close and rushed to send the white cat to the hospital in time. Scans were taken and it was placed in the hospital.

After all this, it was already the last bus by the time he headed home.

The little black cat followed him all the way. Perhaps he was stimulated by the white cat but he refused to return to the little yellow book. He insisted on walking with his paws, only using his unique colour to hide in the boy’s coat when getting on the bus. He continued to persist when getting off the bus and collapsed on the scratching board when he got home, his little pink tongue sticking out.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Li gave him a few rare words of comfort. “You are already fat so just become fatter.”

The cat wasn’t as skinny as the previous time in the Soul Gathering Village. The little black cat hatefully bit the finger that the young man brought to his mouth. However, before biting down, he changed to licking.

Xiao Li settled down the little black cat and sat on the sofa. He took out his phone to take a look and found that the movie screenshot Shen Chenzhi had sent to him was really the movie he wanted to watch, ‘Alien Evolution.’

This was the work of a famous Western director who claimed that he had sharpened his sword for five years. It was about a scientist who accidentally discovered a different dimension and he personally released a monster from it. The monster bit him and he found that he was slowly changing over time. He called this change ‘human evolution.’ His partner couldn’t accept it and denounced him to the public. The movie involved a lot of physics knowledge.

Xiao Li hadn’t replied to the other party so Shen Chenzhi asked ‘Where are you?’ several times. However, he fell silent after not getting a reply.

Xiao Li replied to him, “I was busy just now. I have already seen the trailer.”

He had seen it previously on Weibo. The editing was good, it was full of scenes and the plot logic chain was online.

Shen Chenzhi replied quickly, “It will be released on Friday. Shall we go and see it together?”

This Friday…

“Okay.”

There were three days left until Friday. He was inexplicably looking forward to it.

***

Three days passed in a blink of an eye and it was the day when the movie was released.

Shen Chenzhi picked a movie theatre in the central business district and it was located on the top floor of the building. This was an imported blockbuster and all the crowds in the movie theatre were rushing to watch this movie.

Shen Chenzhi came half an hour early. By the time Xiao Li arrived, he had already queued up to buy the tickets. He also bought a bucket of popcorn and two cups of Coke. Xiao Li naturally took a cup of Coke from him, lined up to enter and sat in a chair in the movie theatre.

The movie theatres in the big city were far more comfortable as those in Styland. The comfort of the chairs alone surpassed it, not to mention the movie screen and sound effects which were extremely wide and clear.

Shen Chenzhi had picked just the right seats. They were close to a corner and didn’t miss the best viewing angle.

In an instant, the overhead lights went out and the movie theatre was plunged into darkness. There was the initial fire warning safety video and then the movie started.

The scientist in the movie conducted an experiment alone in the laboratory late at night. After increasing the impact of the equipment, a small-scale explosion occurred. He got up from the messy ground and found the door to an alien space.

Xiao Li watched seriously at first but then he felt the eyes of the young man next to him staring at him. It hadn’t been so obvious in the instance. Now that Xiao Li was slightly aware of it, he had no way to focus on the plot.

After a while, he couldn’t help lowering his voice and asking in a low voice, “Are you really interested in this movie?”

Shen Chenzhi was very straightforward. “I’m interested in watching the movie with you.”

‘The important thing is being with you, not what we are doing.’

Xiao Li gave him a look. He seemed to be afraid that their conversation would disturb others. Shen Chenzhi leaned more toward Xiao Li’s side and he almost whispered, “Aren’t you continuing to watch?”

His lips touched Xiao Li’s ears as he spoke.

“…Turn your head and look at the big screen.”

Shen Chenzhi told him, “I will listen to you if you answer a question.”

Xiao Li asked silently with his eyes.

Shen Chenzhi asked it all in one breath. “That day, you didn’t reply to me for a long time. What were you doing?”

Xiao Li saw that the other party hadn’t asked at the time and thought Shen Chenzhi didn’t care. Unexpectedly, a few days passed and this person still remembered it. However, he didn’t intend to hide it from Shen Chenzhi.

“Do you know what is currently happening in reality? There have been supernatural incidents in many places. He asked me to meet him about this.” Xiao Li summed up the news from Wang Huai and told the other person.

The young man’s eyelashes trembled and his pale eyes looked like a hunter’s eyes. He concealed the real emotions in his eyes. “He was looking for you to say this?”

“Otherwise?”

“I thought he was looking for you to do what we are doing now.”

Xiao Li was dumbfounded. “…I just told you so much yet your focus is here?”

It was because this was Shen Chenzhi’s only focus. Of course, Shen Chenzhi didn’t say what he was thinking. He concealed it. “No, it’s just that I have already heard about these things happening in reality.”

He continued very quickly, “The version I heard is that someone wants to establish a channel between here and the rules.”

“Channel?”

“Or it can be called absorbing, integrating and incorporating this world into the instance reincarnations. The people in reality will become the next plot characters and the universe will give birth to the next batch of reincarnators.”

“Reality is a special place. ‘He’ couldn’t enter before but soon, this place will no longer be special.”

Xiao Li followed his words and asked, “Why will it no longer be special?”

“…I don’t know.”

Xiao Li lowered his head and thought about it.

Shen Chenzhi originally didn’t want to think about this matter. He saw the other person’s appearance and couldn’t help opening his mouth again. “Will you go out with him because of the things happening in reality? It is the same with me.”

It seemed he realized he was wrong. Before Xiao Li could frown, Shen Chenzhi put away his aggressiveness and softened his posture. “In the previous instance world, you went to him that night. I was actually very jealous. Then when you came back to reality, you went to him again. I…”

He couldn’t finish.

The young man leaned closer like he was going to squeeze into Xiao Li’s seat. Xiao Li couldn’t concentrate on watching the movie because of him. Xiao Li simply turned around and wanted to say something to this big cat. “You give me a break.”

At this time, the scientist had recovered from the painful ‘evolution’ in the night and wore a coat to cover his overly thick arms. The daylight in the movie was too bright. The light projected from the movie screen fell on the faces of the viewers, making the young man’s eyes particularly vivid.

Shen Chenzhi’s heart was moved. Compared to Xiao Li’s black eyes, his eyes were full of emotions and eye-catching in the light. They were like streams flowing underneath the sunlight. Before Xiao Li could speak, Shen Chenzhi leaned down and kissed him on the corner of his lips.

***

The movie ended and Shen Chenzhi went to buy milk tea.

Xiao Li stood there and waited for Shen Chenzhi’s return. The corner of his lips were rubbed red. Therefore, he put down his hand and continued to bite the straw while thinking about going to the hospital to check on the white cat.

Then a familiar voice was heard behind him. “Xiao Li, are you also watching the movie?”

Zheng Yi breathlessly came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It is rare to see you here. Are you watching it alone? Why didn’t you come and find me? I didn’t dare to ask you if you wanted to see it.”

Xiao Li replied, “No, I came here with someone else. He went to line up.”

Zheng Yi was surprised. “Shen Chenzhi?”

He laughed slyly. “Are you dating?”

Xiao Li, “……”

“No.”

Zheng Yi had the word ‘gossip’ on his face. “Why aren’t you agreeing? In addition, I saw it on the forum. Who is that Old wang?”

Xiao Li completely ignored the last question and thought about the previous one. “He will always leave.”

Zheng Yi didn’t understand at first. Then he pondered on it with Xiao Li’s usual thinking and realized this person’s meaning. He scratched his head. “Everyone will leave… when the time comes, they will leave. You can’t refuse a relationship just because he will leave.”

Xiao Li paused.

Zheng Yi continued. “In addition, he seems to love you very much. My father has never treated my mother like this. You should know that they are a model couple in the circle yet they don’t always stick to each other.”

This wasn’t the first person to say that Shen Chenzhi liked him but it was the first person to say that Shen Chenzhi loved him. Xiao Li was briefly in a daze. Then he soon asked Zheng Yi, “What do you think love is?”

“Huh?” Zheng Yi hadn’t thought about it before and tried to answer. “I have never been in love but based on my years of experience watching dramas, it is to trust each other and give each other some space and freedom while feeling safe enough to know they will come back every night…”

Trust, freedom, space. Such a love could last.

Xiao Li was silent for a moment. Then he released the straw he was biting, stared at the other person and spoke softly, “However, I don’t think that is enough.”

The neon lights in the shopping mall above him were turned on even during the day and they looked like strange stars. These things were perfect for normal people but it wasn’t enough for him.

Xiao Li wanted everything.

He wanted blatant preferences, he wanted a hug so tight that there were no gaps, he wanted a madness that would make the person run through half the city just for him. Even if he fell into the abyss, there must be someone willing to accompany him and be covered with mud.

He wanted such a thorough, complete and crazy love.

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Proofreader: Tofu