Chapter 39: Secretly Taken Photo

“Can’t they just pick a better spot? I can’t even get a clear shot.”

Tiny little Yang Shuli crouched behind a tree not far away, holding up her phone while muttering nonstop complaints.

In this somewhat stuffy weather, anyone would naturally feel irritable—just like Ye Qingchang had been earlier toward Xiao Yi’an.

But things were different on Yang Shuli’s side, because standing beside her was Xu Nian.

A parasol was perfectly positioned to shield her head from the sun, and a small paper fan—where it came from, no one knew—gently stirred the air, creating a soft breeze.

He hadn’t said a single word, afraid of disturbing Yang Shuli’s covert photography.

“I can’t get a good shot… Xu-ge, you do it.” After trying again to no avail, Yang Shuli handed her phone directly to Xu Nian.

“I can try. But… can I ask why you’re taking this photo?” Xu Nian took the phone without hesitation.

He still had no idea what Yang Shuli was up to—but whatever she wanted to do, he would go along with it.

“That’s our dorm’s number three. She’s currently spending time alone with that endlessly entangled, drama-filled clubmate-slash-digital-pet of hers. Don’t you get how juicy this is?”

Yang Shuli sounded extremely excited, but unfortunately, Xu Nian didn’t quite follow.

He furrowed his brows and adjusted the camera lens toward the two people sitting in the shade in the distance.

“So, they’re on a date?” Xu Nian zoomed in and gave a disinterested glance. No matter how he looked, it didn’t seem like a date.

It looked more like two retirees going for a leisurely post-lunch walk.

“Uh, if they’re hanging out together, it must be a date. Number three’s definitely sneaking off behind our backs.” Yang Shuli insisted on the nature of their relationship.

Xu Nian tilted his head slightly. “Sneaking off? I don’t see a single sign of studying from either of them.”

“Not studying! Sneaking off to date! Is your brain only capable of thinking about school?” The tiny dorm leader jabbed a finger at the back of Xu Nian’s head.

“I also think about eating with you.”

Xu Nian’s expression remained calm.

Today was supposed to be just another meal with Yang Shuli, like always. But on the way, they happened to run into familiar faces.

He knew not only Yang Shuli’s so-called “dorm number three,” but also the guy sitting next to her.

Xiao Yi’an was in his class—a bit of a loner, someone Xu Nian rarely interacted with. In fact, running into him here was already surprising enough.

“If you can take a good photo, I’ll enjoy dinner even more,” Yang Shuli said, resting both hands on Xu Nian’s crouched shoulders. The two looked just like a pair of joined-at-the-hip paparazzi.

As Xu Nian adjusted the angle, he asked, “What exactly are you planning to do with this picture?”

“I’m gonna post it in the dorm group chat and expose Number Three for sneaking off!” Yang Shuli muttered. “We all agreed not to care about that stupid romance mission, and now she’s secretly trying to fulfill it? That’s betrayal!”

The tiny dorm leader gritted her teeth. “She was the one who kept saying she wanted to ditch that guy.”

Of course, little loli dorm leader Yang Shuli had no idea that Ye Qingchang had already given up on her phase-one plan—nor that her target had changed entirely.

All thanks to Xu Nian constantly pulling Yang Shuli out whenever the dorm was having a strategy discussion.

So in her mind, Ye Qingchang was definitely sneaking around behind their backs.

“What romance mission?” Xu Nian paused what he was doing and turned to look at her.

He hadn’t understood what she was talking about before, but back then it didn’t seem to concern either of them.

But now it was different—this involved Yang Shuli.

“It’s a mission assigning each of us a romance target, and we’re supposed to date them or something. Number Three’s assigned target is that guy sitting next to her right now. If that’s not sneaking off, then what is?”

The tiny dorm leader crossed her arms with a face full of righteous indignation.

“So, who’s your romance target?” Xu Nian’s concern clearly had nothing to do with who was sneaking off or not.

Yang Shuli instinctively blurted out, “You…”

“…Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Nothing much, just curious.” Xu Nian seemed to have gotten his answer, but he wasn’t entirely sure.

Either way, he suddenly felt like sneaking a photo.

“Old Xu, hurry up and take it!” Yang Shuli slapped Xu Nian’s back excitedly, as if she’d just discovered gold.

Following her line of sight, Xu Nian’s phone screen captured the image of a girl gently cupping a boy’s cheeks.

The sunlight was perfect, and so was the breeze.

The people were perfect, and the mood was even better.

So, with a grin, Yang Shuli sent the photo to their dorm group chat.

Her mood instantly lifted—by who knows how much—and she tugged at Xu Nian, who was still crouched on the ground.

“Run, run, she just looked at her phone! If she sees that message, she’s gonna come murder us!”

*****

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Yi’an asked as he noticed Ye Qingchang taking out her phone.

“Someone messaged me. Most of my contacts are set to ‘Do Not Disturb’ unless it’s something important.”

Then she added meaningfully, “Of course, you’d never be on my DND list.”

And right then, Ye Qingchang saw the extremely ambiguous photo.

Naturally, Xiao Yi’an, who was beside her, saw it too.

She turned toward the direction the picture had been taken from—and caught sight of Yang Shuli and Xu Nian’s backs as they ran away in a panic.

Yang Shuli even tripped once, and Xu Nian had to yank her up and drag her along.

Ye Qingchang had known those two were out messing around, but she hadn’t expected to run into them here.

“Was it something troublesome?”

“Not really, just got snapped in a photo. It’s nothing.” Ye Qingchang waved it off. At best, this counted as a minor interruption.

But when she saw Xiao Yi’an beside her looking all shy and fidgety, she suddenly seemed to realize something.

Her eyes lit up, and a beautiful smile tugged at her lips.

“But you know, the picture turned out kind of nice. I’ll send it to you.” Her finger tapped lightly on the screen, and the photo was instantly forwarded to Xiao Yi’an’s phone.

He adjusted his glasses and stared at the image—of himself looking slightly unfamiliar, and beside him, Ye Qingchang overflowing with gentleness and affection.

This wasn’t something he’d asked for. The president just happened to send it to him.

As soon as he finished studying the photo and looked up, he saw Ye Qingchang resting her chin on her hand, grinning as she stared at him.

It felt like she could see right through him—his cowardice, his sadness—everything was reflected and embraced in the moonlight mirrored in the lake’s surface.

Under her gaze, he turned back into the lost little boy who constantly longed for that sliver of moonlight on the internet, all his defenses crumbling in her presence.

But something stubborn in him pushed back. He had to say something—anything—to break the moment. To try and treat Ye Qingchang as just a target he could “conquer” like in a game.

Maybe it was some sort of crisis instinct, but his gut told him he couldn’t keep sinking like this.

So he said, “President… the sports festival’s coming up. How about we run a few laps?”

Ye Qingchang laughed.

Laughed because she was exasperated.