Future Love Contract (GL) - Chapter 7

Countless thoughts surfaced and disappeared in Zhao Xinyun’s mind. Her thoughts twisted and tangled in loops, but in the end, she still couldn’t muster the courage to speak up. Instead, it was Gresya who broke the awkward silence first.
“Let’s go watch a movie.”

Zhao Xinyun didn’t say much—just nodded.

Since Venus Base Two didn’t have a large population yet, there weren’t many people visiting the cinema either. Most of the audience consisted of couples holding hands. As Zhao Xinyun glanced at those affectionate pairs around them, she sneaked a look at Gresya’s side profile. Out of nowhere, she felt a surge of courage and a mischievous impulse to tease her.

She tossed all the earlier awkwardness out the window, puckered her lips slightly, brought her nose close to Gresya’s cheek, and smiled teasingly.
“So, are you just trying to go through all the typical couple date activities, or are you actually planning to pursue me?”

As soon as she said it, even Zhao Xinyun was startled by her own boldness. Acting on impulse was never a good idea… But honestly, if she had overthought it, she wouldn’t have dared do it at all.

Gresya turned her head slightly and smiled, her gaze slowly scanning Zhao Xinyun’s face before finally settling on her lips.
“Take a guess. If you guess right, I’ll do exactly what you want.”

That tender yet unreadable expression made Zhao Xinyun’s heart flutter for a brief moment.
Now that she thought about it, Gresya really liked to say, “Take a guess,” didn’t she?

Wait—hold on a second! That look in her eyes just now… why was she staring at my lips like that?! Don’t tell me she’s planning to kiss me!? We’re not at that stage yet, are we?
But if Gresya really leans in for a kiss, what am I supposed to do?! This would technically be my first kiss—both in this life and the last! That’s a pretty serious matter! Should I give it more thought? But then again, what would I even say—“Sorry, I’ve never kissed anyone before”? That’d just get me laughed at… or worse, teased—especially in a world six hundred years in the future! No way, nuh-uh. Although… if I get laughed at, at least I might be able to keep my first kiss safe? Yeah, maybe that’s the better option. Let’s go with that.

Thoughts like these flew through her mind in rapid succession, and before she realized it, her face was already a little red.

“I was just joking. We’ve both been working all week—now that it’s finally the weekend, I just wanted to relax. There aren’t many entertainment options in the base, so I figured we’d just go out for a bit,” Gresya explained, seeing Zhao Xinyun frozen in place and silent.

Before she transmigrated, Zhao Xinyun had been a bit of a homebody, so she didn’t mind the whole “lack of entertainment” situation. But she hadn’t yet recovered from that whirlwind of thoughts just now, so she just nodded mechanically—completely forgetting that moment of sudden heart-flutter from earlier.

“Come on, let’s go. The next movie’s about to start.” Gresya pointed to the electronic screen beside them, as if nothing unusual had happened.

“Sure… Wait, I have to point out—your logic earlier made no sense! If you really were planning to pursue me, and I guessed you were, but I hoped you weren’t, how would that even work? Even if I guessed right, I’d still think you’d go after me anyway!”

“That’s because I already know what you’re thinking, so don’t get caught up in the details.”

“That’s not a detail at all…” Zhao Xinyun mumbled under her breath.
She herself didn’t even know what she truly felt inside, so how could Gresya possibly know? For days now, she’d been in a constant state of inner turmoil. Being suddenly transported six hundred years into the future had left her feeling completely unmoored. While she didn’t dislike Gresya, she couldn’t figure out her true intentions either, which left her unsure how to respond. So, she changed the subject.
“Fine. So, what movie are we watching?”

Zhao Xinyun had a mild case of choice paralysis, and since she had just transmigrated, she didn’t want to dig through the original host’s memories to recall what movies she’d seen before. So she simply tossed the choice over to Gresya.

Without missing a beat, Gresya’s eyes lit up. “I want to watch Battle for Proxima B!”

Battle for Proxima B? What’s that…? Zhao Xinyun searched through her memory. She’d heard of the title but had no memory of the plot, which meant she likely hadn’t seen it.

“It’s about an alien expedition. I promise you’ll love it,” Gresya said, patting her on the shoulder. “I heard that when they were shooting the film, the director actually wanted to bring the whole crew to Proxima B—but the costs were just too high. In the end, they gave up. But with the technology we have now, computer-generated effects can look completely real anyway. That just shows how serious the director was about this movie. I haven’t seen a lot of VR films, but for alien expeditions, the immersive experience really makes it exciting.”

“Sounds good!” Zhao Xinyun agreed easily. Her logic was simple: since she’d already come to the future, she might as well experience as much of it as possible—especially things that people from the 21st century never had the chance to see or hear.

The two of them quickly bought tickets and went into the theater. They put on the full set of VR gear. Since it was a virtual reality film, popcorn and soda were useless—but there was a straw attached below the helmet for drinking water, probably to simulate a space environment. If the seats were pre-set to be linked, the viewers could even interact with each other in the VR world. Most likely, this feature was designed specifically for couples watching together, Zhao Xinyun thought. The interactions were limited to simple actions and didn’t affect the plot.

Of course, in the future, there were also some interactive films that functioned more like the games from six hundred years ago, offering multiple endings based on audience choices. Those types of movies offered two ticket options: one that unlocked all endings, and a standard ticket for a single ending. But such features were clearly labeled in the promotions, and Battle for Proxima B wasn’t one of them.

The movie was indeed very exciting, and Zhao Xinyun was completely absorbed in it—especially since she had a strong interest in alien exploration. There was only one thing that made her want to complain: even though the title had “Battle” in it, the plot clearly wasn’t focused on that. The final showdown was underwhelming—more like a damp squib. It reminded her of how some web novels back in the day had flashy, misleading titles like “Devilish CEO”—totally mismatched with the actual content.

Gresya’s behavior in the VR world was very much in line with how she’d been these past few days—attentive and helpful in the little details. Zhao Xinyun even had to silently remind herself that this was just a movie.

When it ended, and they removed their helmets, Gresya still looked thrilled. Before she even took off all the gear, she was already pulling Zhao Xinyun into a discussion about everything they’d just experienced.

“Were you scared at the start when the spaceship malfunctioned? Honestly, even though I knew it was just a movie, I really felt a little frightened.”

“That spacewalk scene… I—I owe you an apology. I was way too careless. If I were really on an alien expedition, I’d definitely have to fix that problem!”

“By the time we were two-thirds through, I pretty much saw the ending coming—but honestly, the final battle wasn’t really the movie’s focus at all…”

“I thought so too!” Zhao Xinyun interrupted. “But the movie was great overall, so I don’t really mind the mismatch with the title.”

“Exactly!” Gresya echoed.

They returned the equipment to the designated area, still animatedly discussing the film all the way out of the theater. Zhao Xinyun was pleasantly surprised to find that their opinions on many scenes aligned almost perfectly. Could it really be that their brainwaves were in sync? She recalled the wild theory she’d come up with yesterday and chuckled inwardly. Still, Gresya really was a great person. Maybe they could keep getting to know each other. Even if the “breakup” ever happened, it wouldn’t have to be awkward—they could just be friends.

Gresya drove them home. By then, it was already afternoon.

She’s really into alien exploration, huh? Zhao Xinyun thought.
Even on their first day meeting, Gresya had mentioned it. Seeing how long she’d stayed here on Venus, it was clearly not just a passing interest. And today, she chose Battle for Proxima B so quickly, then got so enthusiastic while watching it—that interest had clearly seeped into every part of her life.

Speaking of alien exploration… Zhao Xinyun was tempted too. People always want more. A poor person who gets a million soon starts wanting ten million. It was the same for her. Now that she had seen what the future six hundred years ahead looked like, how could she not want to know what planets beyond the solar system were like?

Of course, she knew the chances of encountering aliens were slim, and the environment on alien planets was likely dull or even dangerous—but the thrill of exploration alone was enough to make her yearn for it.

Right now, her biggest worry was whether she’d be selected in the end. But exploration in this era was nothing like in the 21st century—in some missions, a single ship could carry thousands of personnel. At that point, it was less about exploration and more like colonization.
So maybe her chances weren’t so small after all.