Seatless Movie Theater

At the entrance of a county cinema, Old Li was struggling to carry a long bench into the ticket hall. He was wearing an outdated blue down jacket, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and a crumpled movie ticket in his hand - "Ne Zha 2".

The young ticket seller took the ticket with a numb expression. She glanced at Old Li’s bench and said with a flat tone, "Seatless ticket, bring your own seat, please go in."

Old Li sighed, thinking that in this day and age, even watching a movie requires “self-reliance”. He carried his bench into the screening hall. It was already dark inside, but not because it was full of people. Instead, it was crowded with all sorts of chairs: small stools, plastic chairs, folding chairs, and even someone carrying a half-cut wooden post. Everyone carefully tried to find a spot in the gaps, like a group of ants trying to find food.

Old Li finally found a corner and put his bench down. On the screen, Ne Zha was fighting fiercely with Ao Bing, the flashing lights reflecting the numb and tired expressions on everyone's faces. This absurdity of “bringing your own stool to watch a movie” was like an invisible hand, gripping everyone’s throat.

Since the cinema introduced seatless tickets, business had actually boomed. People seemed to have numbly accepted this “new normal”, getting used to finding amusement in this crowding and inconvenience. Old Li was the same; he had even deliberately sharpened the legs of his bench before coming, to prevent them from poking anyone.

Halfway through the movie, the plot reached its climax. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the screening hall, and someone pointed at the screen and shouted, "Look! Look!"

Old Li squinted and looked closely at the screen. He was stunned.

In the movie, Ne Zha and Ao Bing were fighting fiercely in a chaos, their feet had nothing to stand on, seeming to be suspended in a void. And the screening hall he was in, also resembled this void: no seats, only people and all sorts of chairs, suspended in this corner forgotten by reality.

He suddenly remembered the TV news he had watched last night, where experts were solemnly analyzing the “new normal of movie-watching”, saying that this was an embodiment of “breaking tradition and embracing innovation”. He laughed, his laughter full of desolation.

The movie ended, the lights in the screening hall were brightly lit, and people started to walk out. Old Li also picked up his bench and slowly moved towards the door. Suddenly, he heard someone call him from behind: “Old Li, your bench is really good!”

Old Li turned around and saw a middle-aged man, staring at his bench eagerly.

“You want it?” Old Li asked.

“Hehe, yes, I didn’t get a seat today and stood for more than two hours, my feet are numb,” the man smiled honestly, and added, “I’ll give you ten yuan for your bench, is that okay?”

Old Li was stunned. He looked at his bench, then looked at the various chairs around him. He suddenly understood something – it turned out that they were not watching a movie at all, but a play about survival, and this play would never end.

He smiled, didn't answer, picked up his bench, and walked out of the screening hall. Outside, it was a cold winter night, and crowded streets. He thought, maybe he should buy a more comfortable bench tomorrow, after all, life must go on.