After the 99th Confession , The Cold School Beauty's Personality Collapsed-Chapter 35
The movie theater was pitch dark, with a large screen displaying a popular film of the moment. It wasn’t a romance or a horror flick but rather an artistic film set against the backdrop of war.
Watching the movie was Ji Yan’s suggestion. When she picked this particular film, Qin Luo had a suspicion that she might have come across some strange advice online again.
However, he didn’t mind, as he was also somewhat interested in the movie, so they bought tickets and went inside together.
They sat near the back, with no popcorn, and Ji Yan didn’t order any drinks, though she did take the initiative to buy Qin Luo a cup of soda.
This time, there was no system reward, so Qin Luo curiously asked the system for an explanation.
The system responded: The criteria for rewards will become progressively higher.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.
Qin Luo immediately understood.
In the beginning, Ji Yan taking the initiative to approach him was considered "breaking her character," but as their interactions grew more frequent, simple gestures like coming to see him or buying him a drink were no longer classified as "breaking character" in the same way.
To keep earning rewards, he would need her to break character even more dramatically. For instance, something like when Ji Yan kissed him on the field yesterday—if that were to happen again, Qin Luo assumed it would trigger a major reward.
However, neither of them had brought that incident up since it happened, and they both seemed to tacitly act as though nothing had occurred.
During the movie, Qin Luo noticed Ji Yan glancing at him several times. Her hand, resting on the armrest, appeared somewhat restless, as if she were distracted.
Qin Luo found it amusing and pretended not to notice, focusing intently on the film.
By the time the movie ended, Ji Yan still hadn’t made any moves. She let out a quiet sigh, as if she had missed an opportunity.
As for Qin Luo, after watching the film, his feelings were summed up in one sentence: I got it, but not completely.
The director of this movie was quite famous, known for his strong artistic flair and a fondness for dark humor, using quirky dialogue to add layers of meaning to his films.
Some of the lines from his previous works had even become memes on the internet.
One of the lines from this movie had also turned into a meme.
“Do you keep a diary?”
“I don’t. Who in their right mind keeps a diary?”
Qin Luo had never seen the movie before, but he had come across this meme online and found it quite amusing.
However, as the movie played out, he could vaguely grasp what the director was trying to convey, but he couldn’t fully get it. What lingered in his mind was the image of the male lead running naked across the rooftops, a scene that was, frankly, a bit much for his eyes.
So, as they left the theater, Qin Luo asked Ji Yan, “What did you think of the movie?”
“Huh? Oh… it was good,” Ji Yan gave a half-hearted response.
It wasn’t that she was trying to brush him off; rather, she hadn’t really watched the movie at all.
Although she had suggested watching the film, her real intention wasn’t to enjoy the movie itself but to use the cinema’s atmosphere, as she had read online, to create some closeness between the two of them.
Throughout the film, she had been trying to muster the courage to sneakily touch Qin Luo’s hand, but no matter how many times she built up the nerve, just as she was about to make contact, her courage would deflate like a balloon, and she would quickly pull back.
She felt that such behavior was a bit too forward and unreserved, worried that it might come off as too abrupt and make Qin Luo uncomfortable.
What she didn’t realize was that her most unreserved action had happened just the day before, and she was now conveniently choosing to ignore it.
Ji Yan, having failed to achieve her goal, felt a sense of melancholy.
Seeing her like this, Qin Luo immediately understood.
Perfect, he thought. She didn’t understand the movie either, just like me.
Now I feel much better.
As they walked, the two passed by a painting shop.
Inside, there were various decals that could be colored with different powders, giving them vibrant hues, mostly featuring animated characters.
There were also several white sculptures on the shelves—Q-version or anime-like figures that looked quite cute but seemed a bit plain without any color.
Some had already been painted, probably by previous customers. The colors were fairly standard, but they gave off an urge to pick up a brush and color the blank ones.
After watching for a moment, Qin Luo suddenly asked, “Want to give it a try?”
Ji Yan glanced over. She had seen shops like this before during her mall outings but had never tried it herself. So, she nodded and said, “Sure.”
At the moment, there was only one other group of customers inside—a mother and her two children.
The kids had been diligently painting their decals, but upon seeing Qin Luo and Ji Yan walk in, they sat frozen in place, wide-eyed.
One of them mumbled, “Wow, they’re so pretty…”
The mother looked on with a sigh, her eyes filled with envy.
The young female store clerk was also stunned by their appearance but soon recovered and greeted them with a smile, “Hi there! Would you like to paint a sculpture or a decal?”
Qin Luo said, “I’ll paint a sculpture. What about you?”
Ji Yan, without hesitation, replied, “I’ll paint a sculpture too.”
Before long, they had each picked out their sculptures.
Ji Yan chose a little girl in a long dress, adorable with a sweet smile.
Qin Luo picked a little boy in a shirt and pants, also in a Q-version style, with a cool expression on his face.
The clerk brought them two reference sheets and said, “Here are examples of how they can look once they’re painted. You can follow these designs or choose your own colors.”
“Thank you,” Ji Yan nodded politely and took the sheet for the little girl, using it as a guide to start painting the skin.
Qin Luo, on the other hand, barely glanced at the sheet before putting it aside. He grabbed some paints and began with a standard skin tone, but then he started coloring the hair with a wild array of colors—purple, yellow, blue. The brighter, the better, turning the figure into something out of a flashy subculture.
He briefly considered adding green, but thinking it might be a bit much, he decided against it.
The young female store clerk stood quietly nearby, her eyes fixed on Qin Luo. She completely ignored the garish mess he was making of the sculpture, instead focusing entirely on his face.
Ji Yan noticed this and, feeling a strange sense of discomfort, cleared her throat softly.
The clerk, realizing she had been caught staring, smiled awkwardly and said, “Your boyfriend is really good at painting.”
Ji Yan glanced at Qin Luo’s outlandishly colored figure and couldn’t help but laugh, “It looks awful.”
After saying that, she noticed Qin Luo had stopped painting and was staring at her.
Ji Yan’s gaze wavered, avoiding his as she asked quietly, “Why are you staring at me?”
Qin Luo thought for a moment before saying, “I realized yesterday—your smile is really nice. You should smile more often. Keeping a serious face all the time might make you end up with facial paralysis.”
Yesterday...
Images of the scene on the basketball court from the day before flooded Ji Yan’s mind, and her pale face flushed with a soft pink hue.
She lowered her head involuntarily, replaying the words your smile is really nice over and over in her mind. Her lips curled into a faint smile, almost involuntarily.
After a moment, she quietly said, “Okay.”
Her voice was soft, like she had made a small agreement with someone.
