Chapter 60: Herald of Spring

“Regardless of what I say to you later”—this sentence was quite thought-provoking.

Han Xuan meant that even if she changed her mind later due to certain factors, Chu Susu had to stick to it no matter what.

But wasn’t that self-contradictory? What if she later said there was no need to take her home? Should she bring her or not? Chu Susu couldn’t figure it out.

Did it mean that Han Xuan might say some insincere words not from the heart? But how could that be possible?

Before she could think it through, Han Xuan got out of the car on her own, her expression as calm as ever, waiting for her to walk together toward the tall building not far away.

This was a bustling area, and this shopping mall had the highest foot traffic in the vicinity, so it was packed with people, crowded everywhere.

The deep autumn weather was already cold; even just exhaling would produce a puff of white mist in front of one’s eyes.

Chu Susu asked softly beside her, “With so many people, how do you know where the person you’re looking for is?”

She wasn’t questioning the other’s ability; she just felt that finding someone among the thousands here for dining and shopping was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“They’ll come to us on their own.” Han Xuan lowered her gaze. “I can roughly guess what they want to do—most likely the same as last time with the cameras, trying to obtain evidence of my unusual abilities through some method.”

“Then it’s easy. As long as you don’t make a move, they won’t find any evidence.”

Moreover, it wasn’t convenient to use abilities in a place like this; one slip-up and someone might witness everything. This was actually perfect.

But a perfectly good date suddenly turning into this felt a bit off.

Chu Susu pondered for a moment, then asked once more, “Are you sure you don’t want to leave? We don’t need to take this risk—there are plenty of chances to watch movies.”

The unspoken part was that she couldn’t relax and enjoy the movie like this, constantly on edge with no atmosphere at all.

“Mm, no leaving.”

Han Xuan clenched the palm-sized paper in her hand.

“If we leave now, it’ll tip them off and alert the snake in the grass. They’ll know I can sense their presence, making it impossible to guard against later. Better to play along this time and lure the snake out of its hole.”

After saying that, as if afraid these words would pressure Chu Susu too much, she added, “But my premonitions aren’t always accurate, so don’t be scared.”

They took the escalator up. Chu Susu subtly scanned the surroundings. The passersby all seemed normal, nothing suspicious.

“Mm, you don’t need to worry too much either.” She parted her lips. “Let’s go get the tickets.”

Since Han Xuan had said so, and Chu Susu confirmed she had made up her mind, she said no more.

Setting everything else aside, Han Xuan had saved her when she was trapped in the warehouse last time, so when Han Xuan needed support, she naturally should stand by her.

Though Chu Susu didn’t know what an ordinary person like her could do to help.

They had plenty of time. They collected their tickets from the machine, bought two drinks, and after leisurely handling all that, still had fifteen minutes to spare. They decided to enter the theater and sit down first.

Everything was calm until ticket inspection, when things suddenly took a turn.

The ticket inspector took their movie tickets but didn’t immediately tear off the stubs and return them. Instead, she nodded slightly and said,

“Ma’am, the film you’re watching is an advance screening in our theater, so every customer entering must undergo a random personal security check to prevent anyone from bringing in recording devices that could lead to piracy and affect box office sales.”

She nodded again, and two staff members with security scanners approached from nearby.

“Please cooperate, and also, kindly open your backpack for us to check the items inside.”

Only then did Chu Susu finally understand what Han Xuan meant by “something off.”

This was too off— she’d watched movies countless times growing up, and never once had she been searched. Not even during the hottest New Year releases.

“Is this a new rule in your theater?” She gave them a cold look, refusing to go along with the ticket inspector’s words and pointing out sharply, “How strange—why weren’t the people who went in earlier searched?”

The ticket inspector was momentarily stunned, then explained, “Sorry, ma’am, we do random spot checks, not everyone. Please cooperate with our work, thank you.”

That made even less sense. Random? And it just happened to be them? What a “coincidence.”

Chu Susu pressed her lips together seriously, instantly believing Han Xuan’s earlier premonition. Sure enough, someone was waiting for her.

She knew she couldn’t show weakness to these people, or they’d only get bolder. Just as she was about to snap, someone tugged her sleeve.

“It’s fine.” Han Xuan said softly. “Let them search. We didn’t bring anything prohibited.”

Chu Susu understood her meaning—a “security check” was just a quick scan with a metal detector; they wouldn’t find anything.

Only then did she let the two staff members approach and check their belongings. Everything was naturally normal.

One of them finished checking Han Xuan’s small bag, then suddenly fixed her with an eagle-like stare. “Ma’am, are you wearing colored contact lenses?”

Before Han Xuan could speak, Chu Susu sharply stared back and countered, “What’s the problem? Can’t we wear contacts?”

“If that’s the case, we’d like you two to remove your contacts—they’re not allowed inside.” The staff member said. “Some spy cams nowadays are very advanced, even embedded as eye chips. We hope for your understanding.”

This was pure nonsense. Checking bags could barely pass as a safety measure, but removing contacts was ridiculous.

And this was a workday with fewer people; if it were peak hours, this kind of thing would get them chewed out by moviegoers.

The thought flashed through Chu Susu’s mind, and she quickly realized what they were after.

Han Xuan’s eyes were different from ordinary people’s, with a faint purple hue. She usually covered it decently with black contacts, but taking them out would expose it for sure.

No one would believe no one was lying in wait.

She sneered, ignoring their endless explanations, and directly grabbed Han Xuan’s hand.

“I’ve never heard of not being allowed to wear contacts to a movie. Once you take out dailies, you can’t put them back in—turns out your theater doesn’t welcome nearsighted people. Fine, we’re not watching.”

With that, she made to leave.

People in this society always bullied the soft and feared the hard. The ticket inspector had thought the two young women would be easy to deal with, but hadn’t expected such fiery tempers.

They hurriedly blocked their way. “Customer, please listen to us…”

“What’s there to say? I’m never coming back to your theater.” Chu Susu pulled out her phone with a stern face. The ticketing app on the screen was already open to the review page. “Excuse me, step aside.”

They had delayed here for several minutes, drawing odd looks from passersby.

The people queued behind were also confused about why the theater was doing this, whispering, “Who makes you take out contacts?”

“Yeah, what is this?”

“Tsk tsk, I have contacts too—does that mean I can’t watch?”

The ticket inspector, sharp-eyed and all too familiar with that review page’s color, plus hearing those words, instantly lost her momentum.

“Customer, p-please calm down, don’t be impulsive…”

If Chu Susu left a bad review, as the on-duty inspector, she’d definitely get docked pay; in serious cases, it could affect her monthly evaluation.

The ticket inspector couldn’t help inwardly complaining about her superiors. She thought checking contacts was excessive too, but it was orders from above—what could she do?

The two security staff panicked too, at a loss for words, just repeating “sorry.”

“Here’s the deal.” The ticket inspector made a snap decision. “Keep your contacts in, and we’ll give you a free bucket of popcorn. It was our mistake—please don’t mind!”

Chu Susu shot Han Xuan an inquiring look and saw her give a barely perceptible nod.

A full bucket of popcorn was presented to them. The ticket inspector, fearing they were still upset, threw them a placating glance.

Knowing these staff were just following orders and it wasn’t really their fault, Chu Susu softened her expression and took the popcorn. “Wouldn’t it have been easier if you’d done this from the start? Thanks for the popcorn.”

“And the bad review…”

“You at least have to let us in first.”

“Right, no problem.” The ticket inspector said. “This way, please.”

The screening room was not far from the inspection gate. Chu Susu held Han Xuan’s hand without letting go, while cradling the popcorn in the other.

“Thanks to you.” Han Xuan said softly. “If it were just me, I wouldn’t know what to say in a situation like this.”

She was far less sharp-tongued than Chu Susu in such matters.

“Shh.” Chu Susu whispered, suddenly pulling Han Xuan closer.

The two pressed against the wall by the theater entrance, standing still at the boundary between darkness and light.

About three minutes later, the audience behind them started entering after ticket checks one after another. With their precedent, no one dared check contacts or such.

The voice of that ticket inspector drifted over.

“You tell me, what kind of weird rules are these from above?” She complained discontentedly. “A little movie like this isn’t even that popular—who would bother secretly filming it? Why force us to check this? The reasoning doesn’t hold water at all.”

“Yeah.” The security guard echoed her. “It was a temporary rule that came down yesterday, specially telling us to check colored contacts on young girls traveling together. Totally speechless. Who knows which retard came up with it? When the bad reviews roll in, we’ll be the ones taking the blame. Might as well just quit.”

“Sigh, once I find a new gig, I’ll quit right away…”

Their griping chatter was all caught by the two girls’ ears.

Han Xuan paused for a moment, her puzzled gaze turning to Chu Susu. “When did you buy the tickets?”

“…Yesterday.”

In other words, by some ridiculous coincidence, she’d just booked the tickets yesterday when the cinema issued that rule about “checking colored contacts on young girls traveling together.”

“Might as well just print the ID numbers on them.” Chu Susu tugged at the corner of her mouth. There were way too many specific qualifiers—she wouldn’t buy that it wasn’t aimed at Han Xuan.

With how rampant data leaks were these days, if the other side had any skills or connections, pulling this off wouldn’t be surprising at all.

But one thing begged deeper thought: the tickets were bought by her, not Han Xuan…

The only explanation was that Chu Susu had been targeted too.