“Ahmm…” Liang Jin’s face suddenly turned bright red.
Liang Sheng noticed the favorability rising and felt a moment of daze. Were there no normal female leads in this novel? Why had this one gotten so excited at the mere mention of forbidden love?
“You…” Liang Sheng opened her mouth to ask.
“Sister Liang Sheng!” Liang Jin interrupted suddenly. “Didn’t you say you were taking me out to have fun? Where are we going?”
Noticing the topic change, Liang Sheng smacked her lips and swallowed the question she’d been about to ask. “Oh… I don’t know. I was just bored and wanted to hang out with you.”
“Um, then…” Liang Jin touched her head and said, “How about we go see a movie?”
Liang Sheng agreed without a word. The awkward atmosphere from earlier began to ease a little. While Liang Jin wasn’t paying attention, Liang Sheng slapped her own mouth twice hard. Serves you right for running your mouth!
At the movie theater, Liang Sheng, of course, picked a horror flick to flirt. The title left her speechless, but with it being the only horror movie playing in the massive theater, she gritted her teeth through the pain of spending money and bought two tickets. That’s right—she was the gentleman here, insisting on paying for the lady.
After buying the tickets, Liang Jin looked surprised. “Sister Liang Sheng, since when are you so generous?”
Damn that little rascal for the shade! She should’ve let her buy her own ticket, Liang Sheng thought with a forced smile.
Liang Sheng handed the ticket for Liang Jin over. Liang Jin took it, intending just a quick glance, but her eyes locked on instantly. Her hand trembled uncontrollably, her gaze went blank, and she stammered out a bizarre question. “Kayako and Sadako teaming up against the Pen Fairy?”
Hearing the title again left Liang Sheng speechless once more. Damn, these days even ghosts were teaming up to fight other ghosts. Were humans not even on their radar anymore? Sure enough, trash novel paired with a trash movie—like shrimp fried with eggs, total nonsense.
They entered the screening room and sat properly in the second row, waiting for the movie that was supposed to make them scream.
Liang Sheng had it all planned out in her head. When the scary parts hit, Liang Jin would whimper and burrow into her arms. Then she could unleash her innate boyfriend power, hold her tight, comfort her, and rack up some favorability points.
But fantasies are beautiful; reality is harsh. Did you think it would be Liang Sheng holding a sobbing Liang Jin, begging for comfort? Nope.
About thirty minutes into the opening, Liang Sheng was ready to curse out loud. What the hell? Had all these screenwriters gone bald and lost their brains? Why was the protagonist making such dumb choices? You spot Sadako and Kayako, and instead of calling a priest or our kind, hardworking police officers, you summon the Pen Fairy to deal with those two ghosts? Is that even fair? Two against one—no honor in that. You should’ve found another one.
And when you summon her, don’t you think she might not help? What if she wants a piece of you too? One person isn’t enough to go around for three ghosts. They’d polish you off before they were full.
Everyone’s felt this, right? That pent-up frustration, fidgety as hell, wanting to scream but too deflated, stomach cramping for the bathroom but no clue where it is. That’s exactly how Liang Sheng felt—restless and uncomfortable.
And so, this so-called horror movie that was really just nonsensical comedy played on amid the snores of lonely singles and the smooching of couples, reaching the two-thirds mark.
Liang Jin found it boring too. She turned to gripe to her cousin about this hellish movie choice, only to see Liang Sheng with tears streaming down her face, plip-plop.
She panicked and wrapped her arm around Liang Sheng, comforting her. “Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. It’s all fake!”
Sometimes you don’t coax a crying person. After Liang Jin’s words, Liang Sheng cried even harder, burying her face in the other girl’s shoulder and wailing.
Liang Jin gently patted her head, murmuring comforts nonstop.
Suddenly, Liang Sheng spoke up.
“Damn it! When’s that female lead gonna bite the dust? She’s pissing me off!”
The scene turned incredibly awkward.
Liang Jin realized then that Liang Sheng wasn’t crying from fear—she was crying from rage.
“Waste of my emotions! Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Liang Jin shoved her clinging cousin away without mercy.
Liang Sheng wiped her tears sheepishly. “I was too choked up earlier. Speaking made it worse, so I figured I’d wait till it passed.”
Fine, no more talking. You’re always right, Liang Jin thought grumpily as she turned back to the boring horror movie.
In the end, Liang Sheng curled her lip. Predictable—man-made all along. Domestic movies are always like that. Science rules; we’re all atheists anyway.
Overall, aside from the eerie soundtrack and jump-scare sound effects, there was nothing scary about it—just cheap shocks and fake hauntings, Liang Sheng concluded.
Leaving the screening room, Liang Sheng felt utterly drained. She’d wasted two hours on a trash movie, gained zero favorability, and nearly given herself an aneurysm. Money spent, suffering endured, no payoff, and she almost ended up in the hospital.
“So, what’s next, Sister Liang Sheng? Where do you want to go?” Liang Jin asked again.
“Whatever. I’m beat. Just destroy it all,” Liang Sheng said weakly, slumping into a nearby chair.
Seeing this, Liang Jin sat beside her, lips pursed as if she wanted to say something but held back.
What could escape the eyes of our clever, sharp-witted current female lead, Liang Sheng? She picked up on it immediately and perked right up, shooting to her feet like a corpse revived in its deathbed. She grabbed Liang Jin’s arm. “What do you want to tell Sis? Spill it. Don’t bottle it up like I did in there.”
Hearing that, Liang Jin seemed to steel her resolve. “Sister Liang Sheng, what’s your take on sibling romance?”
Liang Sheng paused, slowly releasing her grip on Liang Jin’s hand.
“Well,” Liang Sheng said after a moment, “I’m probably what you’d call someone with messed-up morals. Anyway, I think if there’s love, that’s enough. Doesn’t matter the status, position, or gender.”
Liang Jin watched her expression and saw Liang Sheng staring back seriously, her tone firm and sincere.
“Sister Liang Sheng…”
“Ding-dong~ One Heartthrob Value System canon law released. Reward: Due to the Favorability System unilaterally releasing Law Three, this reward is voided.”
What? Liang Sheng’s brows furrowed. Things were getting more complicated by the minute.
