Sitting on Pins and Needles

"Chen sis, the movie’s already started."

Gu Sheng was starting to feel unable to take it. He gave Wu Mengchen a wry reminder.

His gaze remained fixed on the big screen, but out of the corner of his eye, he also kept watch on Lin Qinghe, Le Erya, and Wu Mengchen.

Lin Qinghe looked perfectly calm, as though she were watching a movie as usual. Le Erya occasionally turned her head to look at Gu Sheng, her eyes full of amusement and a faint smile playing on her lips. From time to time, she glanced around, seemingly thinking about how she should deal with Gu Sheng.

As for Wu Mengchen, she was being bold and obvious. From the moment the movie began, her gaze had not shifted even once. Her glasses remained fixed on Gu Sheng the entire time.

The focused look on her face made it seem as if Gu Sheng were some kind of object. Even after he reminded her, she continued doing as she pleased, her gaze remaining just as unwavering and completely unrestrained. It made Gu Sheng terribly uncomfortable!

"It’s fine! I’ve never had a younger brother before! I don’t know why, but I just click with little brother Gu so well. I want to look at his side profile a little more."

Wu Mengchen looked bashful, covering her mouth with both hands. She looked exactly like a lovestruck fangirl, but Gu Sheng couldn’t feel happy about it at all.

When a beauty gazed at you with the eyes of a fangirl while quietly reciting a string of data—your height, build, muscles, measurements, facial shape, blackheads, skin, and other precise details—wasn’t she treating you like a lab rat for research?

"Hiss~"

Gu Sheng suddenly hissed. He felt a sharp pain on the right side of his neck. When he lowered his head to look, he saw a half-eaten piece of popcorn fall onto his collar.

The popcorn had not fully popped in the oil, leaving half a kernel unpopped. Its owner probably hadn’t liked it and had tossed it aside. He had to admit, the force behind that casual throw had been impressive.

Gu Sheng swept his gaze around. Huang Anqi was obediently eating snacks and watching the movie beside him, not daring to look askance. Lin Qinghe was lying back in her seat, her eyes focused on the screen. As for Wu Mengchen, her eyes had not moved at all and remained fixed on him.

That left Le Erya as the final suspect. Ever since they came in, she seemed to have let him off, eating popcorn and watching the movie without even looking at Gu Sheng. Only she, as an Ability User with Telekinesis, could hit him from such a tricky angle and make it hurt so much.

"Little brother Gu, what’s wrong? Do you want some popcorn?"

At that moment, Wu Mengchen smilingly picked up the half kernel of popcorn from Gu Sheng’s hand. Then she took another piece from the box beside her, pinched it between her fingers, and brought it to his lips. "Come on, big sis will feed you. Don’t be shy."

"Um…"

Gu Sheng tilted his head, but he didn’t manage to dodge it. He gave an awkward smile. "Chen sis, I have my own popcorn. You should eat yours."

"It’s fine. Chen sis doesn’t like popcorn. Besides, I’ve wanted to take care of my little brother for ages. Just fulfill this wish of mine, okay? Here~"

As she spoke, she brought the popcorn to Gu Sheng’s lips again. "Or do you dislike Chen sis? You don’t like me anymore?" As she said this, she pulled a long face. Her expression made it impossible for anyone to refuse her.

"This… all right!"

Gu Sheng couldn’t bring himself to firmly refuse such a beautiful woman’s earnest request. He opened his mouth and ate the popcorn, his lips accidentally brushing against Wu Mengchen’s finger.

"Mmh~"

Wu Mengchen’s ears suddenly flushed red. When her fingertip touched Gu Sheng, a deeply hidden thrill made her body grow warm. However, she didn’t show any other reaction. She grabbed another piece and brought it to his lips, as if coaxing a child. "Aaah~~~"

"Honestly…"

Gu Sheng silently accepted Wu Mengchen’s feeding. Just as he was eating enthusiastically, another pain struck his head. When he picked up what had hit him, it was another unpopped kernel. He turned his head and saw Le Erya calmly watching the movie, as if everything had nothing to do with her.

I’ll endure it!

Gu Sheng could only put up with it. He silently sat back down, thinking that he would find a chance to teach Yaya sis a lesson. Making her call him "Dad" sounded like a pretty good idea.

Le Erya had an ordinary figure. She couldn’t compare with Wu Mengchen or Huang Anqi, and she couldn’t even match Lin Qinghe. But she did have her advantages in certain areas!

"Hehehe~~~"

After Gu Sheng lay back down, Le Erya seemed to have been tickled by the movie’s plot and burst into peals of laughter. Then she grabbed another handful of popcorn and brought it to her mouth, the corners of her eyes filled with mischief as she glanced at Gu Sheng.

"Little brother Gu, here~~"

Gu Sheng had just lain down when Wu Mengchen leaned over again. With the popcorn already at his lips and those sparkling eyes full of anticipation staring at him, Gu Sheng truly couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He silently opened his mouth and accepted her feeding.

Not long after Gu Sheng sat down, he suddenly felt something digging into his back. He reached behind himself and pulled out a popcorn box that someone had eaten empty and crushed into a ball. The smiling face printed on the box was aimed straight at Gu Sheng, seemingly mocking him in silence.

Gu Sheng turned his head and saw that the box Le Erya had nearly finished was gone. She had taken out another full box and was eating and laughing. It really infuriated him!

"Yaya sis! Can you tell me when you threw this stuff over here?"

Gu Sheng called out to Le Erya, but with Huang Anqi between them, she actually pretended not to hear him and simply ignored him.

"Yaya sis!"

Huang Anqi couldn’t stand it anymore. She poked Le Erya, signaling for her to look at Gu Sheng.

"Yaya sis, can you explain these pieces of popcorn and this box? If I remember correctly, among everyone nearby, we’re the only ones who bought popcorn!"

Gu Sheng swept his gaze around. In the ten seats across the two rows sat ten men, and not a single one of them had popcorn. That made its source easy to determine.

"Little brother Gu, oh dear! How did the trash I threw end up in your hands? I clearly threw it behind me!"

Le Erya looked around, somewhat annoyed. Seriously, why didn’t any of these people buy popcorn? How could anyone enjoy a movie without eating popcorn? Seeing that she could no longer deny it, she put on a look of surprise, as if the matter had nothing to do with her at all.

"Yaya sis, not that I’m criticizing you, but pay attention to your image. You’re a servant of the people. How can you take the lead in setting a bad example?"

Gu Sheng had no way to deal with Le Erya’s feigned ignorance. He gave her a lecture, handed the trash back to her, and then returned to his seat.

After Gu Sheng scolded her, Le Erya behaved herself for a while. But once Wu Mengchen latched onto Gu Sheng again, her old habits resurfaced. A shower of popcorn crumbs, crushed into tiny pieces by someone, began raining down over Gu Sheng’s head, even managing to slip accurately into his hair.

Gu Sheng lowered his head and scratched again and again. Le Erya had tormented him thoroughly, but with Wu Mengchen watching right beside him, he couldn’t fight back at all. This movie had been exceptionally arduous for him.