Chapter 22

In Lu Family Village, the rule was that whenever someone in the family had a birthday, they got a bowl of egg noodles. Mother Lu rolled the noodles by hand, and there was only one long noodle in the whole bowl, served in clear broth with a plump white poached egg on top, sprinkled with chopped scallions, shredded cucumber, and two glossy green leaves. The birthday person had to finish the entire noodle in one breath without biting it off, symbolizing a long life free of illness and disaster.

In the relatively impoverished Northeast countryside, the three Lu siblings could only eat a bowl like this on each birthday. None of them had ever tasted birthday cake, much less seen such a fine spread of dishes laid out before them—no elderly person in their village celebrating their sixtieth birthday had ever held such a lavish banquet.

But for some reason, Lu Miaomiao felt that pretty sister's birthday was a little upsetting.

Lu Chi reached out and patted Lu Miaomiao's head. "When we eat later, sing a song for pretty sister."

Lu Miaomiao blinked her sparkling eyes and nodded repeatedly like a pecking chick.

A group of high school students who had never done housework, even the handy girls, took nearly an hour just to heat all the dishes through. When the boys flooded into the kitchen and everyone hurriedly carried the dishes to the table, it was already close to seven in the evening.

Qiao Shiyu wore a paper crown on her head and was pressed into the seat of honor by several close friends. Everyone egged her on to make a wish and blow out the candles—

"Hey, where are the candles? What kind of club sends cake but no candles?"

"Did they forget to pack them? I remember seeing candles in the private room."

"No way. What are we supposed to do now? Who eats birthday cake without blowing out candles?"

"Does the kitchen have matches?" Yue Bin scratched his cheek, offering a terrible idea. "How about lighting seventeen matches?"

"I'll go look!" Zhang Yang immediately got up and ran to the kitchen. Before long, he returned with a box of matches, only to find that there were just eleven left inside.

"Damn, what do we do?" Zhang Yang was at a loss too.

"Keep looking!" Lu Chi stood up as well. "People usually buy matches by the pack. There's no way they only bought one box. There must be more in the kitchen."

The moment Lu Chi finished speaking, a whole crowd rushed into the kitchen. After turning the place upside down for ages, they finally found the remaining boxes of matches, wrapped in kraft paper, in the corner of the cabinet's miscellaneous compartment.

"This is such a pain." Zhang Yang opened a box, counted out six matches, and stuck them into the cake. "If I'd known it would be this troublesome, I would've grabbed some candles at the supermarket."

"You should say that if you'd known it would be this troublesome, you should've brought the candles when you packed up the cake at the club!" another girl complained. Then she turned and saw Qiao Shiyu repeatedly checking the time. "Hey, Shi Yu, why do you keep looking at your watch?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm just checking when it'll get dark. Horror movies have more atmosphere at night." Qiao Shiyu took a deep breath, blinked her slightly dry eyes, and clasped her hands before her chest. "Light the candles. I want to make my wish and eat cake. I'm starving."

At Qiao Shiyu's urging, her best friend smiled and lit the matches. Qiao Shiyu closed her eyes to make a wish as everyone sang the birthday song, then blew out the matches with lightning speed. Afterward, Lu Miaomiao volunteered to sing a song for pretty sister as a celebration.

By the time everyone had devoured dinner, night had fallen completely. Qiao Shiyu led everyone to the movie room on the second floor. Inspired by the matches, she also directed the boys to carry several full-length mirrors from the neighboring bedrooms and guest rooms, placing them on either side before turning off the lights and drawing the curtains.

Several boys exchanged looks. "No way, right?"

Qiao Shiyu smiled with crescent eyes. "Are you scared?"

"How could we be?" The tall, sturdy boys scoffed. "How could boys be scared of horror movies? You girls can hide over here if you get scared!"

Yue Bin struck a bodybuilder pose. "You may rely on my broad chest and warm embrace!"

Half an hour later—

Lu Chi, who was eating potato chips while watching the movie, suddenly sensed something strange. He turned his head and, amid the eerie soundtrack and the protagonist's terrified screams, saw Yue Bin quietly inching closer.

Noticing Lu Chi's silent scrutiny, the campus heartthrob, who cared far too much about keeping up appearances, gave an awkward cough and said softly, "I was afraid you'd be scared. Look, everyone's huddled together."

At that, Lu Chi looked around. In the dim, flickering light of the movie room, the dozen or so tall, sturdy boys really were clinging to one another and trembling. They even let out terrified screams from time to time, just like the protagonists in the movie—they were deeply immersed in it!

As for the girls—

"Wow, this sister's eyes are so pretty!" Lu Miaomiao, whose little face was practically pressed against the screen, pointed at the enlarged close-up of the disheveled female ghost and exclaimed in admiration.

"Yeah, her eye makeup is so beautiful. Look at her eyeliner..."

"I think she's wearing colored contacts. Otherwise, her eyes wouldn't be so big..."

The dozen or so girls sat together chattering away. While criticizing the movie's various plot holes, they discussed the makeup and styling of the female lead and supporting actresses. The atmosphere was truly! So! Terrifying!

Crunch, crunch. As Lu Chi ate his potato chips, he sincerely thought to himself, They're terrifying.

Chapter 22

"Ah—"

"Argh—"

"Eek—"

Amid a wave of terrified, hoarse screams, the large screen abruptly went black. The movie ended with the entire group of protagonists wiped out and another batch of explorers entering the haunted house. The eerie, chilling ending theme drifted through the air. In the dim, flickering light of the movie room, the boys slumped dejectedly across the sofas and carpet, still shaken and drenched in cold sweat, their faces pale and limbs weak as though their bodies had been hollowed out.

With a snap, Qiao Shiyu got up and turned on the movie room's decorative lights. The soft, warm lighting instantly dispelled the horror and gloom brought by the ghost movie. The girls gathered before the big screen chatted excitedly about the plot while drinking and eating snacks, and some climbed up from the carpet to go to the restroom hand in hand.