Chapter 228: Chapter 228: Watching a Movie

In the end, after failing to persuade his agent, Cang Hong tearfully boarded the starship to the next planet.

It was such a pathetic sight that even his agent’s heart softened. “Just be good and finish the tour,” he said. “When you have some downtime, I’ll negotiate a commercial engagement for you in the Empire.

Then you can take the opportunity to see Miss Jiang.”

’As for joining the show’s recording, he could just forget it. There was simply no time for that recently.’

Cang Hong was displeased, but there was nothing he could do.

’He couldn’t actually go into debt. After all, all three of Jiang Qin’s partners were loaded.’

Seeing that he’d successfully placated him, the agent sighed for the umpteenth time. ’Good,’ he thought, ’he has a weakness now…’

***

Meanwhile, Jiang Qin fell into a thoughtful silence as she looked at the 1,300 Game Coins she now held.

Standing beside her, Yuan Ling was like a child who had done something wrong, wanting to explain but not knowing how.

’Jiang Qin actually understood. It was one of those games—fine if you didn’t play, but once you started, you couldn’t help but take it seriously.’

’Especially for someone like Yuan Ling, who seemed to have a professional’s conditioned reflexes. Making him miss on purpose would be pretty difficult.’

After that, Jiang Qin stopped deliberately picking expensive games just to burn through their Game Coins.

She took Yuan Ling to play the more childish ones.

Things like the sightseeing cart ride. They were time-consuming, but at least their Game Coin count started to go down.

They spent the entire morning there, unable to leave the arcade.

The hostile comments in the live stream chat continued, but Lan Yuyan had only paid to clear the ones on Jiang Qin’s stream, ignoring Yuan Ling’s.

After all, he was only generous with his money when it came to his partners and family.

By noon, Jiang Qin was feeling a bit hungry. She asked Yuan Ling, “What flavor of nutrient liquid do you like? I have all kinds.”

Yuan Ling quickly refused. He took out two bento boxes and shyly handed one to her. “Here, have this,” he said. “Think of it as an apology.”

The food in the bento looked delicious, so Jiang Qin accepted it.

She had lunch boxes prepared by her partners in her Space Button, too, but she figured drinking nutrient liquid was more convenient when she was out.

She was surprised that Yuan Ling also preferred eating a proper meal, so she didn’t hesitate to accept.

The two of them sat on a bench, holding their bento boxes and eating slowly, taking small bites.

Watching them made the crew members and Yun Xie, who were secretly following, hungry too. The group of them downed a tube of nutrient liquid each, their faces expressionless.

“This is really good. Did you make it, or did you buy it?”

Yuan Ling smiled shyly. “I made it myself.”

Ever since he was expelled from the academy, he hadn’t been able to find a job or get any more commissions.

Later, he just set up his own little workshop to make small gadgets and sell them in his Star Network shop.

This left him with a lot of free time.

Cooking was one of the ways he expressed his emotions. Whenever he was in a bad mood, he would quietly prepare many exquisite bento boxes and store them in his Space Button.

’Jiang Qin thought the men in this Interstellar age were truly incredible—basically omni-competent.’

’You could just run into any random guy, and he’d be an amazing cook.’

Even though she saw her own partners through rose-tinted glasses, she had to admit that Yuan Ling’s cooking was the best she’d had since arriving in the Interstellar age.

’She even wanted to lick the box clean…’

After lunch, they went back to playing in the arcade. By the time they finally used up all their Game Coins, it was already two in the afternoon.

Jiang Qin, who loved her afternoon naps, was feeling a bit drained.

However, they still had to head to their next date spot: the movie theater.

They didn’t need to buy tickets; the show’s production team had provided them.

So, Jiang Qin and Yuan Ling started discussing which movie to see.

“Yuan Ling, what kind of movies do you like?”

Yuan Ling didn’t really have any favorites. As far as he was concerned, all the movies currently out were boring.

The main reason was, he just didn’t like watching movies to begin with.

’But even he wasn’t dense enough to be that blunt with a woman.’

He was just about to say that she should pick when he suddenly saw Jiang Qin’s name.

It was on a movie poster.

The actors on the poster could be described as disheveled and destitute. A world-weary-looking man stood at the forefront.

Behind him stood a plainly dressed woman who still retained an elegant charm, an elderly person, and a middle-aged man in glasses who looked somewhat sickly, with dark circles under his eyes and pale lips.

Finally, there was a young man leaning against a train, his hair messy and dyed blond.

The others all had black hair.

At the bottom of the poster was the title: *I Am Not a God*.

Then his eyes caught the credit: Screenwriter & Director: Jiang Qin.

Yuan Ling pointed at the poster and asked, “Miss Jiang, is this… a movie you wrote and directed?”

“Mhm, that’s right.”

“Then… can we watch this one?”

Jiang Qin smiled. “Of course. Thanks for contributing to the box office.”

At her words, Yuan Ling pursed his lips into a small smile.

’It had been a long time since he’d met someone who wasn’t hostile and could just get along with him in a friendly way.’

’They were like… friends.’

At the thought of the word “friends,” Yuan Ling’s smile faded slightly.

…

The two walked into the theater.

Even though Yuan Ling didn’t like movies, he always paid close attention once one started, even if it was a terrible film.

He hadn’t expected to get so drawn in, however. He became so engrossed that he even forgot Jiang Qin was sitting next to him.

Since she had already seen it many times and was feeling sleepy, Jiang Qin couldn’t help it and drowsily drifted off to sleep.

When Yuan Ling finished the movie, still wanting more, he turned to see her serene, sleeping face.

’He had to admit, Jiang Qin was truly beautiful.’

’But what was most captivating was her aura. With some people, you can’t quite picture their personality, but you just feel that their appearance is exactly as it should be.’

’A face like that was meant for her.’

’Yuan Ling felt that his literature classes had really failed him. He wanted to praise her but couldn’t think of any of the elegant phrases from the ancients.’

’He wanted to recite a line or two of poetry, but he didn’t know which words would do her justice.’

Since filming the movie screen wasn’t allowed, their live stream camera had been black the entire time, broadcasting only silence.

Many of the viewers had already left the live stream.

After all, the movie was long, the screen was black, and the two of them weren’t talking. It was just too boring.

Only the Jiang Fans remained, anxiously keeping watch.

[Hasn’t the movie ended? Why is it still silent?]

[So worried, so worried. That punk isn’t taking advantage of our Qin Bao, is he?]

[Since we can’t see anything, I’m starting to suspect they might have kissed.]

[I wonder if any of the fansite photographers managed to get in. Crap, I’m gonna go ask in the group chat.]

Beta, of course, had managed to get in.

After all, the production team had only provided tickets, not booked the entire theater. It wasn’t just her and her companions; plenty of other moviegoers were there too.

However, once the movie was over, almost everyone had left.

She, however, was crouched in a blind spot, taking pictures.

At first, she’d photographed Jiang Qin’s focused expression as she watched the movie. Later, she captured shots of her sleeping face.

When Yuan Ling quietly gazed at the sleeping Jiang Qin, she only managed to snap a few shots before stopping.

’She would keep these photos for her private collection. At most, she’d send them to Jiang Qin, but she had no intention of posting them on the Star Network.’

’As a photography enthusiast, that last scene was just too atmospheric; she couldn’t resist capturing it.’

’But as one of Jiang Qin’s solo stans, she would never let photos like that leak out and be used to start rumors.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep