What is his relationship with Duan Chan'er?
Chen Zhenzhen asked directly.
"Everyone in the class is saying that Zhang Zhaomu and Duan Chan'er are dating," Xiang Qing said honestly. "But Zhang Zhaomu said it's just a rumor and we shouldn't pay attention to it."
Chen Zhenzhen was already aroused by the time she heard the first half of it.
The fist hardened.
He just wanted to punch Zhang Zhaomu in the face.
But after listening to the second half, Chen Zhenzhen regained her composure.
Can't you speak more clearly, even if we're not best friends? It's just a rumor, right? The rumors about me and Zhang Zaowan have been circulating all over the school for ages!
Even in our science class, this isn't a rumor; it's practically a fact personally verified.
Chen Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a little confused.
What's there to compare? She clearly hates it when people spread rumors about her, and she doesn't like being thought of as a couple with Zhang Zaowan!
"So, are we just going to sit here and chat forever?" Zhang Zhaomu was getting a little bored. "Or should we find something else to do?"
"If all else fails, learning it would be good too."
Chen Zhenzhen's attention was immediately diverted, and she shouted, "No one is allowed to mention studying today! Zhang Zaowan, what else do you want to do besides studying?"
Zhang Zhaomu said, "Whatever."
Chen Zhenzhen: "Alright, there are three of us here, I suggest we play Dou Dizhu (a card game)."
"No, playing Dou Dizhu is too boring." Zhang Zhaomu shook his head. "Besides, we don't have any playing cards at home."
"Then let's play 'Who's the Spy'; it can be played with three people too."
"No, it's too unchallenging."
"So what do you want to play?" Chen Zhenzhen asked.
"Casual."
Chen Zhenzhen: "I'll follow your lead, my foot!"
Xiang Qing raised her hand and said, "How about we watch a movie?"
Chen Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Zhaomu.
Zhang Zhaomu nodded. "Okay."
Chen Zhenzhen: "?"
"No, why aren't you objecting anymore? Didn't you say nothing was allowed?"
Zhang Zhaomu glanced at her sideways. "It's just because what you said was all boring. Watching a movie is nice, though. Our TV hasn't been used in ages, so let's give it a little 'blessing' today."
"I suspect you're targeting me," Chen Zhenzhen said indignantly.
"Huh? How come you suddenly became so smart?" Zhang Zhaomu chuckled mischievously.
"Let's duel!" Chen Zhenzhen stood up. "I've really taught you a lesson. Today, it's either you die or I live!"
Xiang Qing also stood up, eager to try. "Are you going to bite Zhang Zhaomu again?"
Chen Zhenzhen sat back down and smoothly changed the subject. "So, what movie should we watch? How about a comedy, to rewatch some of Master Sing's films?"
"I want to watch Interstellar again," Zhang Zhaomu suggested. "Don't you guys think this kind of rainy day creates a special atmosphere for watching a sci-fi movie?"
"When you're with friends, you definitely have to watch a horror movie, right?" Xiang Qing tried hard to express her suggestion. "This is something I've always wanted to do, I've been looking forward to it for so long, and today is a rare opportunity!"
" Little Mute, be good. Your wish can be fulfilled after you find a boyfriend. I'm already so angry with Zhang Zaowan today, I need to watch something funny to cheer myself up," Chen Zhenzhen coaxed patiently.
"I don't want to watch anything except Interstellar," Zhang Zhaomu insisted stubbornly.
Xiang Qing glanced at the two of them, pouted, and said, "I don't want to back down either... I really want to watch a horror movie with you guys."
The three of them were immediately locked in a stalemate.
"We have one TV and two cell phones, so we can each watch our own," Zhang Zhaomu suggested.
"Of course not! What kind of fun would that be?" Chen Zhenzhen's eyes lit up, and she came up with a plan. "Let's vote, the minority shall obey the majority."
"I feel it's pointless... but it doesn't matter anyway." Zhang Zhaomu raised his hand and asked, "Raise your hand if you support watching Interstellar."
Both of them placed their hands firmly on their thighs at the same time.
"Tsk." Zhang Zhaomu lowered his hand, unsurprised.
Chen Zhenzhen then raised her hand and said, "Raise your hand if you support watching comedy movies!"
Zhang Zhaomu crossed his arms and chuckled.
Xiang Qing whispered, " Zhenzhen, I also feel that this ceremony seems meaningless... Everyone just wants to vote for what they want to see."
"Who can say for sure?" Chen Zhenzhen gestured for it to be her turn.
So Xiang Qing raised her hand. "I... I want to watch a horror movie with everyone!"
Under Zhang Zhaomu's incredulous gaze, Chen Zhenzhen quickly raised her hand and shouted, "The result is in! The Little Mute wins!"
"Yay!" Xiang Qing cheered and hugged Chen Zhenzhen: " Zhenzhen, you're so good!"
He didn't even care about being Little Mute anymore.
Zhang Zhaomu opened his mouth, but finally managed to utter, "So, you're playing these tricks, Chen Zhen?"
"Hehe." Chen Zhenzhen said to Xiang Qing triumphantly, " Little Mute, don't let Zhang Zaowan's tall and strong appearance fool you, he's actually terrified of ghosts. He can get so scared that he jumps up and bangs his head against the ceiling."
Zhang Zhaomu:".
What used to be an exaggeration is now actually achievable.
"How about we vote again?" Zhang Zhaomu forced a smile. "I suddenly think watching comedies is pretty good. Master Sing is my eternal idol!"
"Dream on!" Chen Zhenzhen raised her pointed chin. "You've been bullying me all day, and I've finally got my chance to get revenge!"
" Little Mute, let's pick the scariest movie ever! The kind that will give him a month of psychological trauma!"
Zhang Zhaomu gritted her teeth.
You, Chen Zhen, are such a cunning, ruthless, and treacherous person!
"How about this one? The cover looks really scary." Xiang Qing whispered to Chen Zhenzhen, holding her phone.
"A domestically produced horror film? Don't be ridiculous, you Little Mute." Chen Zhenzhen curled her lip. "By the end, it'll most likely be either a hallucination or a murder. The main theme is believing in science."
"I watched a movie called 'The Wicked Ghost ' before, and it really had ghosts in it," Xiang Qing said blankly.
"That's a childhood trauma, but now that Chu Renmei is riding a white horse to the Western Heaven Paradise to obtain the scriptures, I'm afraid Zhang Zaowan," Chen Zhenzhen said.
"What about this one? The Ring!" Xiang Qing exclaimed excitedly, "I've heard it's really scary."
"It's such an old movie. I urged Zhang Zaowan to watch it before, but he ran away after watching half of it," Chen Zhenzhen commented. "Besides, I don't think it's as scary as Ju-on."
" Zhenzhen, you seem to know a lot about horror movies." Xiang Qing said with admiration.
"It's alright, it's alright." Chen Zhenzhen waved her hand.
Actually, she was initially very afraid of watching horror movies, but after discovering that Zhang Zhaomu was even more afraid than her, she suddenly developed a great interest in them.
After watching so many horror movies, most of them no longer scare her.
"Then Zhenzhen, you choose." Xiang Qing handed over her phone.
"As for horror movies, Japanese films like to create atmosphere, America like to suddenly scare people, but the most comprehensive ones have to be Thailand films." Chen Zhenzhen fiddled with her phone. "Hey? This one's pretty good."
Xiang Qing: " Malevolent Ghost Coming Soon? Is it scary?"
"That would be enough to scare Zhang Zaowan, especially the last one... hehe." Just thinking about that scene made Chen Zhenzhen's lips curl into a smile.
"Then let's look at this!"
So Chen Zhenzhen turned on the TV and then cast the video from her phone to the TV screen.
Seeing Zhang Zhaomu get up and intend to sit on the sofa, she quickly ran over to stop her, saying, "The sofa is my and Little Mute's territory, you sit on the stool!"
"Tch, who cares?" Zhang Zhaomu retorted defiantly, then moved a stool and sat down next to the sofa.
Smack
Chen Zhenzhen turned off the light, and the room immediately went dark, with only the television screen emitting a faint glow.
The sound of rain outside the window continued, as if isolating the entire room from another world.
The atmosphere was fantastic.
"Hehehe!" Chen Zhenzhen chuckled mischievously, "The fun time has begun!"
"Expect!"
Xiang Qing had already assumed the posture for watching a horror movie – her legs were curled up in front of her, her arms wrapped around them, her chin resting on her knees, her whole body curled up into a ball.
Zhang Zhaomu's gaze was involuntarily drawn to it.
Even if you curl up, your legs will outlive me.
Before he could finish his thought, a warm, soft hand covered his eyes, and Chen Zhenzhen's malicious voice rang in his ears. "Sir, this isn't the place to look at legs."
"Please put away your dirty thoughts and watch the movie properly, okay?"
Zhang Zhaomu brushed her hand away and said irritably, "I already told you I'm researching outfits... What's so great about legs? I'm not a leg fetishist!"
At this point, the main feature had already started playing on television.
At the beginning, a little girl wakes up in a dilapidated, dark, and eerily gloomy old house, next to her lies the bloody corpse of a boy whose eyes have been gouged out.
Zhang Zhaomu fell silent, a sense of unease creeping into his heart.
It's a little embarrassing to admit, but he is genuinely afraid of ghosts. Even though he knows they're fake, he can't control the fantasies in his head, especially when he's lying alone in bed with the lights off at night, or when he has to close his eyes to wash his hair...
The movie's plot is full of high-energy moments from the very beginning. A little girl is grabbed by a crazy woman named " Sister-in-Law Fusang- in-law," and just as she is about to kill her, she is stopped by the villagers and hanged from a roof beam.
The scene shifts, revealing that everything in front of us was actually a movie called " The Malevolent Ghost " playing in theaters.
The male protagonist, Xiao Qian, also appears. In order to pay off his debts, he and his colleagues are planning to secretly record this horror movie that has not yet been released.
The pace slowed down a bit, so Chen Zhenzhen asked, "How is it?"
"It's a little scary..." Xiang Qing hugged her legs tightly.
"So-so." Zhang Zhaomu tried to keep his tone calm. "Pretty boring. Isn't it just a ghost from a movie coming to life to claim a life? I can guess the rest of the plot. My assessment is that there's absolutely no need to continue watching."
"You wish." Chen Zhenzhen saw through his facade of strength at a glance.
As the movie continued, Zhang Zhaomu's guess was correct: the ghosts in the movie began to hunt down the main characters. His colleague was dragged into the movie scene at the beginning and died a very tragic death.
What followed was a series of intense and terrifying scenes, one after another.
Xiang Qing screamed in fright, then pitifully sidled up to Chen Zhenzhen: " Zhenzhen, can I hug your arm?"
"Of course." She stretched out her arm, then looked at Zhang Zhaomu, who was sitting alone not far away, with a slightly strange expression.
He sat upright, his face calm, showing no sign of being frightened. When he noticed Chen Zhenzhen's gaze, he even revealed a mocking smile.
"Why aren't you afraid?" Chen Zhenzhen couldn't help but ask.
"Heh." Zhang Zhaomu raised his chin slightly and chuckled, "It's just a horror movie. I was just teasing you before. You didn't actually think I was scared, did you?"
Chen Zhenzhen looked at him suspiciously, without believing a single word.
As the movie continued, Chen Zhenzhen, taking advantage of the dim lighting, would occasionally peek at Zhang Zhaomu's reactions, and finally managed to catch him red-handed.
" Zhang Zaowan! You actually closed your eyes right before the scary part!" She jumped up and shouted angrily, "That's cheating!"
"What cheating? I don't understand what you're talking about." Zhang Zhaomu's tone was a little weak. "My eyes were just a little uncomfortable, so I blinked."
"Still trying to deny it!" Chen Zhenzhen grabbed Zhang Zhaomu's arm. "No, I can't let you hide so far away. Sit on the sofa and stay within my sight!"
"No, this is a two-seater sofa." Zhang Zhaomu said righteously, "If I sit there, there will inevitably be physical contact, how awkward would that be? Chen Zhen, don't you know what it means for men and women not to touch each other?"
"I don't mind!" Chen Zhenzhen said quickly, "We're buddies, what's the big deal about sitting next to each other? We've sat side by side before!"
"I mind." Zhang Zhaomu waved his hand and said, "I definitely can't. What decent person would sit next to their buddy watching a horror movie? It just sounds weird, okay?"
Xiang Qing glanced at the two of them and suggested, " Zhang Zhaomu, why don't you sit over here? I don't mind, and I like being squeezed in; it makes me feel safe!"
"No way!" Chen Zhenzhen objected reflexively, "Men and women shouldn't touch each other!"
"This won't work, that won't work, so I'll just sit here," Zhang Zhaomu said, seizing the opportunity. "It's a win-win situation for everyone."
"This..." Chen Zhenzhen was a little speechless.
"What's so good about it?" Chen Zhenzhen asked incredulously.
Let this guy have two women on either side? Wouldn't that be a reward for him?
"That way, Zhenzhen, you can keep an eye on Zhang Zhaomu," Xiang Qing said earnestly. "And I can squeeze in with everyone to watch horror movies—it's the best of both worlds!"
" Little Mute, it seems you haven't considered my opinion. Can your clever brain come up with a solution that benefits everyone?"
" Zhang Zhaomu interjected."
"Shut up!" Chen Zhenzhen had been fundamentally opposed to Xiang Qing's suggestion, but hearing Zhang Zhaomu's words, she laughed angrily, "Consider your opinion? You're probably secretly delighted, but you're still pretending!"
It seemed that only in this way could Zhang Zhaomu agree to sit down. Chen Zhenzhen gritted her teeth, hesitated for a while, and finally made up her mind.
Anyway, Xiang Qing is so innocent, there's nothing to worry about even if they sit next to each other. They're classmates, they sit together every day. The most important thing is to scare Zhang Zaowan and prevent him from finding an excuse to hide.
So she pulled Zhang Zhaomu to sit down in the middle of the sofa and said coldly, "Sit still and watch the movie, don't close your eyes!"
He paused, then couldn't help but add, "Also, you're not allowed to lay a hand on Xiang Qing. I'll be watching you closely!"