A Young Woman's Heart

"Height 167cm, weight 51kg, on the thin side."

"I haven't grown taller or gained weight," Cha Li sighed, stuffing the receipt into her jeans pocket.

She was wearing a loose white short-sleeved top and black cropped jeans.

The reason she wore long pants in such hot weather was because she hadn't shaved her leg hair. If she wore a skirt, you could see tiny, pale golden hairs swaying in the wind.

Shaving leg hair is a hassle, especially for girls with a lot of body hair.

Furthermore, frequent shaving can easily injure the skin, and if you peel it off, it can lead to folliculitis.

The laziest way is to cover it up with clothes.

She came to see a movie—alone.

Many movies will be released during the summer season, including a number of imported science fiction or animated films, mainly to attract students on summer vacation.

From older children to younger children, everyone can always find one or two shows they enjoy watching.

However, Cha Li was different; what she came to see was the kind of tea that many children weren't interested in.

Compared to stories that are detached from reality, she prefers farces that are full of life and belong to ordinary people.

The movie is called "Get on the Bus!" and the actors are all relatively unknown. One of them is a male actor who looks a bit ugly at first glance, but becomes quite endearing after watching him for a while. He was the main reason that Cha Li decided to watch the movie.

Because it's so realistic. In real life, how can every ordinary person be a handsome man or a beautiful woman?

It seems that not many people have seen this movie. Its poster is placed in an inconspicuous corner, so it's unlikely that people who decide to watch the movie on a whim will notice it.

"Hi~!" Just as Cha Li was walking into the movie theater, a clean and cheerful greeting came from behind her.

She turned her head and saw Mr. Xue, dressed in white and impeccably groomed, walking briskly towards her: "Oh, Mr. Xue? You're here to watch a movie too?"

"Just call me Xiaoxue." Mr. Xue smiled. "It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision; I just wanted to see what good movies were available."

"Oh~ would you like to watch it with me?" Cha Li asked with a smile as she looked at Mr. Xue walking beside her.

"Sure, I don't know what to watch anyway. Which movie are you planning to watch?"

"This," she pointed to the poster in the corner, "Get in the car, let's go!"

"This name is interesting, but I don't think I recognize any of the actors."

"It's better if we don't know them. That way, we can spend the money where it's needed. Otherwise, if we hire big-name actors, we won't have much money left to make movies."

"Indeed." Mr. Xue nodded, then looked closely at Cha Li's shoulder-length hair. "Have you had a haircut?"

"Oh, you could tell?" she asked with some surprise. "My mom always said it was completely unreasonable."

"I can tell, it's been trimmed; it looks much neater now," he replied earnestly, then chuckled twice, revealing a few white teeth. "How much did it cost?"

"thirty."

"Haha—compared to this price, it really is the same as not cutting it at all." Mr. Xue grinned and laughed. He was actually a talkative person, but he didn't usually take the initiative to talk to people.

There were many parents with children queuing up to buy tickets at the movie theater counter.

These were mostly elementary school students or even kindergarten children, and it was the noisiest time of the day. They were running around everywhere in the hall, and one of them bumped into Mr. Xue with a 'splat'.

Despite his small size, the child was quite strong, and the unexpected collision caused Mr. Xue to stumble back two steps.

"Are you alright?" Cha Li and Mr. Xue asked in unison.

However, she asked him, while he asked the little boy who bumped into him.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I bumped into you! You brat, what are you doing running around like that? Hurry up and apologize to your brother!" The child's mother rushed over and scolded her son.

"I'm fine." Mr. Xue smiled kindly, helped the little boy who had fallen to the ground up, and gently patted his head. "Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?"

"It's okay... Brother, I'm sorry."

"Ha, it's alright." He laughed loudly. "Be careful next time. Luckily you bumped into me. It would have been terrible if you had bumped into the wall."

"Uh-huh!"

"It seems my son really likes you. He's usually not this obedient when I try to lecture him," the boy's mother said with a friendly smile, pulling the little boy over.

Mr. Xue nodded: "Actually, from a scientific point of view, boys prefer to play with men. Does he listen to his father more at home?"

"How did you know? It's true, but his dad is too busy and hardly has any time to spend with him."

“Boys will have some problems if they lack their father’s company during their growth. If possible, it is best to let his father spend more time with him.”

"Sigh, that's life. Who doesn't want to spend more time with their son? It's just that I'm too busy to earn a living and don't have much time at home."

"Hmm." Mr. Xue didn't say anything more. After all, every family's situation is different. Families like Mr. Xue's, where the father cultivates children's ability to disassemble and reassemble objects, design circuits, and build remote-controlled cars from a young age, are rare.

Cha Li's eyes darted around, and after the mother and child left, she whispered with a chuckle in his ear, "Xiao Xue, it seems you're very suited to educating children in the future."

"Maybe, but it also depends on whether I have the time. Sometimes life is really helpless."

The line quickly reached them. Mr. Xue was about to take out his wallet when Cha Li beat him to it.

"Two tickets for 'Get on the Bus!' I'll also give you a bucket of popcorn and two large Cokes." With that, Cha Li took out her blue denim wallet, pulled out a twenty-yuan bill, and slapped it on the counter.

"I'll pay."

"No, no, it's on me!"

“Okay.” Mr. Xue did not insist on paying himself anymore. He stood quietly to the side, with a half-smile, neither embarrassed nor secretly pleased, looking quite at ease.

Movie tickets aren't expensive, only five yuan each, but a bucket of popcorn is also five yuan, and a cup of cola is also five yuan...!

That's why people say the most profitable thing for movie theaters isn't movie tickets, but all kinds of food.

"Five yuan short," the cashier said expressionlessly. It was unclear whether she was tired from handling too much money or felt that her job was beneath her, but her attitude wasn't very good.

"Here you go." Mr. Xue took out a five-yuan note and handed it over. Cha Li glanced at him and put her wallet back in her pocket.

This is probably a tacit understanding between intelligent people.

To be precise, it's really just a matter of social etiquette; we invited him while also saving face for him as a man.

"Cha Li really likes denim fabric." As they walked in with their tickets, Mr. Xue took a sip of his iced cola and casually started a conversation to keep the conversation from getting awkward.

"Denim doesn't tear easily, doesn't get dirty easily, is easy to wash, and won't look old even after washing many times—and aren't those jeans that look like they've been worn many times all the time in fashion now? Many trendy jeans even have a distressed finish."

"That's true. Just like wine, faded jeans have a different kind of charm."

The two arrived at just the right time; the movie was about to start in five minutes.

The two found the theater and sat down in their seats. There were many empty seats behind them, so it seemed that not many people were watching this movie.

Or perhaps it's not movie time right now.

But watching a movie doesn't need to be crowded; the fewer people, the better. Too many people can make it noisy, especially when there are children in the theater.

"What story is this?" Mr. Xue asked in a low voice as the advertisement began to play.

Cha Li popped a small handful of popcorn into her mouth, making a 'crunching' sound as she chewed. After swallowing the popcorn, she said in a low voice, "It's about two young men from the countryside who drive a minibus from Shandong to Beijing. I think it's a comedy?"

"I understand." Mr. Xue nodded and didn't ask any more questions, because the movie was about to start.

The movie was very loud, so there was no need to worry about the sound of chewing popcorn disturbing others.

"Xiaoxue, aren't you going to eat?" Chali nudged Mr. Xue's arm and waved the popcorn in front of him. Because her voice wasn't loud, he didn't hear what she said, but he could understand what she meant from the gesture.

He took a few as a token gesture, then waved his hand to indicate that he didn't really like them.

"Oh, then help yourself if you want some." So Cha Li put the popcorn in the middle, comfortably lay down in the chair, and enjoyed the movie time.

This isn't a very popular mainstream film, but anyone who's seen it will think it's quite well made, even better than those so-called 'big-budget' productions.

Moreover, such movies basically don't need any special effects; they only need some props, and everything else can be filmed on location.

That's probably why they can put more effort into the plot.

The movie was almost two hours long, but it didn't feel long at all.

On the contrary, I felt a little unsatisfied.

The lights have been turned back on, and the cast list is scrolling across the screen.

"That actor was Huang Bo."

"Hmm, that sounds pretty strange," Cha Li couldn't help but laugh.

"what happened?"

"The 'huang' in 'yellow' is pronounced the same as the 'bo' in 'bo'..."

“Oh, haha, indeed,” Mr. Xue laughed. “He will definitely become a famous actor in the future.”

"Really? But he's not handsome."

"When acting skills are good enough, being handsome is no longer an important criterion."

……

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Qixi Festival on August 6th (Gregorian Calendar)

Qixi Festival is a traditional festival, but it is not as well-publicized as Valentine's Day.

There were hardly any Qixi Festival posters displayed in front of shops on the streets and alleys; it was just like any other ordinary day, with no difference from other festivals.

When Mr. Xue and Cha Li came out of the movie theater, it was almost six o'clock. The sky was still bright, so it couldn't really be called night; it was more like evening.

"Want to go have dinner together?" Cha Li turned her head and flicked her hair, then threw the popcorn she had finished into the trash can next to her.

"Either is fine. My parents went out to celebrate Qixi Festival today and aren't home." Mr. Xue smiled and nodded, taking out half a pack of chewing gum from his pocket. "Want some?"

"I like it sugar-free." Cha Li tossed her hair behind her. "What should I eat?"

Mr. Xue did not answer immediately, but instead looked at the restaurants in front of the movie theater.

At this time, many people have already finished get off work, and there are more pedestrians coming and going, but they are just passing by. For people who are busy with work, watching a movie is a very luxurious thing.

"Oh? Is today Qixi Festival?" Cha Li rubbed her eyes. "I didn't even know."

"Most people nowadays probably don't remember traditional festivals."

"Looks like traditional things are dwindling." Cha Li chuckled, casually slipping her hands into her jeans pockets as she walked down the stairs. "How about hot pot?"

Mr. Xue shrugged at Cha Li's suggestion and said humorously in a translator's tone, "Oh, beautiful lady, if you don't feel hot, then I'd be happy to."