Hall 9’s sudden silence felt strangely peaceful.
She checked her phone—9:45 a.m.
If the final had started at 9:00 a.m., the first half should be over by now.
Even after leaving Hongjing for so many days, it felt as though she was still living on the same timeline as them.
Training hours, study hours, rest hours…
At specific times each day, she couldn’t help but think of her students and Wang Fa.
The competition schedule had been announced by the organizing committee long ago, so she knew very well that if they had made it, today would be the final.
Sometimes, Lin Wanxing asked herself why she had left so decisively, without leaving any room for reconsideration.
But when she heard about Shu Yong’s suicide case again, her instinct was to flee—to not see, hear, or think about it. She decided to follow her instincts and leave Hongjing.
Facing pain head-on is for the brave, but don’t people also have the right to give up?
Yet, whenever she pondered this question, Wen Chengye’s lost expression at the end still surfaced in her mind.
She had told her students to become the person they aspired to be.
But what about herself?
Had she achieved that?
Through countless self-reflections, Lin Wanxing came to understand just how cowardly and insignificant she truly was.
Gazing at the towering mountains, she realized that the real challenges in life were never the wolves and tigers in the wilderness, but losing the courage to aspire to the summit when you knew how high and distant it was.
She hugged her knees and stared at the dark screen ahead.
G1123, Hongjing to Yongchuan.
In the second-class cabin of the high-speed train, Fu Xinshu and Wen Chengye sat side by side.
Fu Xinshu wasn’t sure why he had suggested accompanying Wen Chengye on the train.
Perhaps it was a subconscious thought that this would be a good opportunity to have a private conversation.
But now that they were seated together, he remained silent the entire journey.
After their late-night talk on the court, Fu Xinshu had acted as if nothing had happened.
Since childhood, he had been adept at enduring and pretending.
Most of the time, problems would gradually fade with time. One just needed to look forward.
But on some nights, panic would suddenly emerge.
You’d open your eyes abruptly, unable to fall back asleep.
Guangming Cinema, Hanling City.
Stepping out of Hall 9, Lin Wanxing began her rounds before the first screening ended.
On the large screen in Hall 7, the class representative’s test had reached question 28.
This meant it was likely the girl’s final time loop.
This was probably Lin Wanxing’s favorite scene in the entire movie.
The screen was tinted with the light green of willow trees swaying in the wind. Soft music played, accompanied by sunlight, ocean waves, and young boys and girls confessing their feelings—a warm and serene moment.
After watching the confession scene she had been most looking forward to, Lin Wanxing left Hall 7.
As she gently closed the door, a young girl called out to her.
The girl, with twin ponytails, looked to be a middle school student. She carried a large black wooden case, likely a cello.
Lin Wanxing recalled the mall’s layout—next to their cinema was a music store, and many students came for lessons on weekends.
“Miss, are you a staff member?” the girl asked, looking at the name tag on Lin Wanxing’s chest.
“Yes, is there anything I can help you with?” Lin Wanxing crouched down slightly.The little girl produced a ticket for the 10:05 animated film in Theater 4. "Miss, I want to watch this movie, but I brought my instrument and it won't fit in the seat. Could you keep it for me? I'll pick it up after the show."
"Of course."
She led the girl to the front desk, first verified the item was intact, then helped her check it in.
"This movie ends at 11:55. It shouldn't interfere with your classes, right?" Lin Wanxing asked while filling out the storage tag.
There was no response beside her.
She turned to see the girl smiling awkwardly.
"Miss..."
"Hmm?"
"My lesson has already started."
Instinct took over. In that moment, countless thoughts flashed through Lin Wanxing's mind - what should she do? Should she notify the parents? Or let the girl skip class to watch the movie?
But she quickly relaxed. None of this was really her concern.
Completing the final stroke on the storage tag, Lin Wanxing tore off the claim stub but held it in her hand without handing it over.
The girl watched her with pleading eyes.
"You should still let your family know, so they don't worry."
"But I just don't want to practice today!" The girl's eyes reddened. "Mom said I could stop after passing Level 10, so what's the point of learning anyway?"
"So you decided to come watch a movie instead?"
"Yes, today I'm watching a movie!" the girl declared firmly.
With her single eyelids, twin ponytails, neat white shirt and school uniform pants, she looked about the same age as the film's heroine, and just as stubborn.
Lin Wanxing took a deep breath. For some reason, she felt completely defeated. She lowered her head, slowly relaxed her grip, and pushed the claim stub forward.
"Remember to silence your phone in the theater," Lin Wanxing reminded.
The girl raised her phone, showing a black screen. "I turned it off."
The high-speed train crossed the bridge, the lake water receding rapidly behind.
Fu Xinshu could still feel the panic from those sleepless nights.
He looked at Wen Chengye and said, "I told them I got beaten up that time because I lost a customer's phone."
In Theater 6, the movie began its first loop again.
Lin Wanxing stood by the steps, watching the girl take her seat.
The other seemed to wave at her, or maybe not.
On the screen nearby, the young heroine in the film wore an exceptionally determined expression. Once again, that passionate line echoed through the imagery.
For some reason, Lin Wanxing also took out her phone.
She climbed the corridor, pushed open the wooden door, exited the theater, and lit up her screen.
Chapter 126: The Screen
Switching to WeChat was absolutely an impulse decision.
Then Lin Wanxing's phone froze.
Heaven knows how many messages her students had sent her these days. Her WeChat interface kept showing "Receiving," but the screen remained completely unresponsive no matter how she touched it.
Just as Lin Wanxing was considering whether to restart her phone, she suddenly noticed a message in her pinned chat with Wang Fa.
Theater 9 redemption code: 1S7DY678
This was a message from Wang Fa that she'd never seen before.
On the wall directly opposite her hung an exaggerated sci-fi poster under blinding spotlights.
"Theater 9" and "redemption code" could mean many things.
But in her cinema, there was a Theater 9 that had been permanently reserved and hadn't opened for days.
And not long ago, she had just walked out from there...The most unbelievable conjecture made Lin Wanxing's head spin.
At the cinema's front desk.
Facing her colleague behind the cash register, Lin Wanxing momentarily didn't know how to begin.
"What's wrong?"
Hearing this, Lin Wanxing glanced down at her phone. The screen was still frozen. Though she didn't know the context before and after Wang Fa's message, she inexplicably stated with certainty: "I need to redeem a movie ticket."
"Huh?"
Lin Wanxing took paper and pen, copied the redemption code onto the paper, then handed it to her colleague.
While muttering under her breath, the colleague habitually input the redemption code.
Clear, slow keystrokes sounded.
After the final enter key was pressed, Lin Wanxing felt inexplicably nervous.
Just then, the ticket printing machine emitted a soft click and began operating.
"There really is a ticket," the colleague said with some surprise, staring at the screen. "Theater 9?"
Lin Wanxing felt momentarily flustered and at a loss, but quickly steadied herself.
"What's the movie, and when can it be screened?" she asked.
"Wait, let me check."
The cinema had a standardized screening procedure, but privately booked screenings weren't subject to restrictions.
Lin Wanxing neither understood how Wang Fa knew she was here, nor why he would book a private screening at the cinema.
OpenNovel