Chapter 48: The Movie Began

Jiang Mingyue leaned back in her seat, sipping her milk tea slowly in small sips with one hand, while scrolling through her phone with the other.

She was looking online for a tutor, but none of the ones she had seen so far seemed particularly satisfactory.

A representative from an educational agency sent her another recommendation.

“Take a look at this teacher. He’s still a university student, but he has a pretty good reputation. The students he’s taught improved their scores by at least 50 points over the summer.”

Attached was the teacher’s résumé.

Jiang Mingyue opened it and found it quite impressive—he was a sophomore at Jingbei University and had ranked third in the entire province in the college entrance exams. He had tutored four students, all of whom had been admitted to prestigious universities this year. The parents’ reviews were also very positive.

Jiang Mingyue handed her phone to Qi Ze.

“Qi Ze, take a look at this teacher. What do you think?”

“Looking for a tutor?” Qi Ze took the phone.

“Mm.” Jiang Mingyue bit her straw and leaned her head a bit closer to him.

“I think this teacher’s pretty good. A student from Peking doing tutoring over summer break, and look—every student he’s taught went from struggling to getting into a top university.”

Qi Ze’s elegant fingers swiped up and down, finally stopping at the section with the teacher’s basic information.

His jet-black hair fell slightly over his forehead, and his curled eyelashes shaded his dark, lustrous pupils, making it hard to read the thoughts in his eyes.

Then, as if offhandedly, he said,“ Twenty years old. Male teacher.”

“Yeah, really young. And kind of good-looking too.” Jiang Mingyue said casually.

At that, Qi Ze’s finger paused mid-scroll. He lowered his gaze and glanced at her.

But since Jiang Mingyue was wearing a hat, all he could see was a round head bobbing in front of his chest.

Jiang Mingyue couldn’t see his expression either.

So Qi Ze, feeling a bit irritated, stretched out a finger and flicked her forehead.

“What was that for?” Jiang Mingyue tilted her head up and blinked at him innocently.

Qi Ze saw his own reflection in her bright eyes. Suddenly, he tugged on the brim of her hat to cover her eyes and cleared his throat lightly.

“Nothing. Just… maybe this teacher isn’t quite right for you?”

“Your hair’s messed up.” Jiang Mingyue swatted his hand away and adjusted her hat.

“Why isn’t he suitable?”

Qi Ze took a sip of milk tea and started analyzing seriously.

“First, he’s too young and lacks experience.

The résumé only lists successful cases, and the authenticity is questionable. He might’ve taught a lot of students, but maybe only a few made it.

Lastly, he’s already in his sophomore year of college, which means he graduated high school two years ago. He might not remember all the key points from high school, and he may not be familiar with the past two years of college entrance exams.”

After listening, Jiang Mingyue felt that it made sense.

“So you think it’s better to find someone more experienced?”

“Mm.” Qi Ze continued,

“Someone older with a deeper background usually has more teaching experience. And those kinds of teachers often study past exam papers, so their teaching tends to be more targeted and effective.”

“What you said makes sense. Then I’ll look for another one.” Jiang Mingyue said, taking back her phone and asking the educational consultant to recommend a few more.

“Mm.”

Across from them, Qi Moyang had tried several times to start a conversation with Qiang Wei, but she didn’t seem interested in responding, clearly a bit upset.

Qi Moyang was a little annoyed himself and turned his head to the side.

Suddenly, he noticed that the girl next to him had two cups of milk tea in her hands, and the guy also held milk tea—or popcorn.

Only the three of them had empty hands.

His eyes drifted to the table where Jiang Mingyue’s two milk teas sat. She took a sip from one, then the other.

Both straws were flattened from being bitten.

Did girls really like drinking this stuff?

Qi Moyang reached up and scratched the back of his head. He glanced at Qiang Wei, feeling a bit awkward.

“Do you… want some milk tea? I can go get you one.”

Before Qiang Wei could say anything, Lin Shuangshuang quickly interjected, “Better not. That kind of stuff is bad for your skin.”

Qi Moyang looked at Qiang Wei again. Seeing she said nothing, he gave up. “Alright then.”

Qiang Wei: “……”

Qiang Wei glared at Qi Moyang and said through gritted teeth, “I do want one.”

“Oh.” Qi Moyang froze for a moment, then quickly stood up.

“I’ll go buy it. What do you want?”

“You should try this new drink.” Jiang Mingyue suddenly looked up from her phone and recommended to Qiang Wei.

“This new release is really good.”

“Who asked you? No one’s talking to you.” Qi Moyang said coldly.

“I wasn’t recommending it to you. Why are you butting in?” Jiang Mingyue retorted, just as annoyed.

“You—” Qi Moyang started, but didn’t finish.

Qiang Wei spoke up. “Sounds good.” She smiled lightly and nodded to Jiang Mingyue. Then she looked up at Qi Moyang.

“I want to try the new one. Can you go get it for me?”

“Sure! I’ll get it for you. Do you want anything else? I can get you two cups if you like.” Qi Moyang immediately softened, speaking gently.

“…Just one is fine.” Qiang Wei replied.

“Okay.” Qi Moyang said and turned to leave.

Suddenly, Lin Shuangshuang chimed in.“ Wait, then I want to try it too. Could you get me one as well?”

“Okay.” Qi Moyang turned back and left.

Qiang Wei turned to Lin Shuangshuang with a smile and asked, “Didn’t you say it’s bad for your skin?”

“Just trying one cup won’t hurt.” Lin Shuangshuang replied with a soft laugh.

Then she tilted her head slightly and looked at Qiang Wei.

“You… don’t mind, do you?”

Qiang Wei smiled right back. “Why would I mind? Aren’t we all friends?”

Jiang Mingyue was secretly watching them while looking at her phone, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, busy indulging in gossip.

Just as the movie was about to start, Qi Moyang came back, holding three cups of milk tea.

One for Lin Shuangshuang, one for Qiang Wei, and one for himself.

The movie began ticket inspection, and Jiang Mingyue picked up the movie tickets from the table and went with Qi Ze to have them checked.

“Row five, seat seven, row five, seat seven.” Jiang Mingyue muttered the seat number as she searched for her place.

Then she found Lin Shuangshuang.

“Your seat is here?” Jiang Mingyue said.

“Yeah.” Lin Shuangshuang said, even pulling out her movie ticket to double-check: “Mine is row five, seat seven.”

Jiang Mingyue also pulled out her own movie ticket to check, and it actually said “row five, seat five.”

She clearly remembered that she had bought seats six and seven in row five — her ideal viewing spots.

Seat six had been given to Qi Ze, and seat seven was supposed to be hers.

Lin Shuangshuang said: “Could it be that you remembered wrong or bought the wrong ones?”

Jiang Mingyue felt a bit unsure. Could she really have bought the wrong seats?

“Excuse me, can I get through?”

Someone nearby was trying to pass.

“Oh, sure.” Jiang Mingyue quickly moved aside, and to avoid blocking the way, she sat down in seat five for the time being.

Qi Ze said: “How about you take my seat instead?”

“It’s okay, seat five works too.”

After sitting down, Jiang Mingyue was still a bit confused, trying to recall in her mind which seats she had actually bought.

She suddenly remembered that she had bought the tickets on her phone, so there should be a record.

She quickly took out her phone and started searching through it.

Soon, she found the record.

It was indeed seats six and seven.