They arrived at the parking lot, which was a bit less crowded now. Glancing at the time, it was 11 o’clock; by the time they reached Qinglong Lake, it would be around lunchtime.
Then, they entered a 40-minute drive through various landscapes, from neighborhoods and shops to houses in the countryside, and finally into a wooded area.
“That taxi in front is probably the one Ji Yun and the others are in.”
As they drove, there were fewer cars around, and only one taxi ahead, which they assumed Ji Yun and her group were in.
“Yes, it seems to have stopped. Let’s go check on them.”
“Alright.”
Xu Lin was a bit worried, not about car sickness, but about the safety of a car full of beautiful girls in such a remote area. They quickly parked the car and walked over as the taxi drove past. Xu Lin called out to them.
“Why did you get off here?”
“The driver said that turning ahead leads to the East Gate, and this is the South Gate, which is closer.”
They walked over and saw a set of stairs leading down, just a few meters, then a path lined with flower tiles leading inside.“With the trees blocking the way, we thought you stopped because of car sickness.”
“No worries, we’re fine. Let’s head down.”
“Okay.”
“Be careful and hold on; it’s a bit slippery.”
“Sure.”
Xu Lin went down first, feeling the slippery tiles underfoot. Why would they pave the steps with something so slick? It seemed like a safety hazard, one that should be reported for improvement.
The five girls helped each other down, while Xu Lin stayed at the bottom, ready to catch them if they slipped. Luckily, they made it down safely, breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Looking around, they were instantly charmed by the beautiful surroundings. Flowers surrounded the stone path, mostly chrysanthemums, with some other varieties past their blooming season.
Xu Lin noticed that the flowers were planted in four distinct rows, with the third and fourth rows currently in bloom. He realized the first two rows were for spring and summer blooms, now transitioning from autumn to winter.
The arrangement was designed to ensure that visitors could see blooming flowers in any season.
“Such an interesting design,” Ji Yun remarked, noticing the pattern.
“What’s up?”
“Look at the flower types in each row.”
“This makes me even more excited to see what’s inside.”
“Almost forgot, I need to park the car properly. There’s a parking spot back there.”
As they were about to move forward, Qin Yunhe remembered their car was still parked by the roadside.
“I’ll go with you and grab my camera.”
Seeing the scenery, Xu Lin thought it was a good time to test the camera he had just gotten, which was equipped with a system-purchased shooting capability.
“When did you start carrying a camera?”
“When we arrived, I had a bag with me. I left it in your trunk; the camera is in there.”
“No, Teacher Su, please come with me. Sister Qin, you stay here with everyone else.”
“Oh… got it.”
Qin Yunhe quickly understood Xu Lin’s concern about leaving a group of girls unattended in an unfamiliar place. He felt safer with her staying behind.
After parking the car, Xu Lin and Su Qingwan walked back along the roadside. Su Qingwan was ahead, and Xu Lin, inspired by the moment, aimed his camera at her, adjusted the settings, and pressed the shutter.
“Huh?”
Su Qingwan turned around abruptly, seeing Xu Lin lower the camera and smile sweetly.
“Why are you taking a picture of me?”
“You look great. If I don’t photograph you, who else would I photograph?”
“Then why not take a frontal shot?”
“I don’t want others to look at my girlfriend.”
“Hahaha, Xu Lin, are you starting to use cheesy lines on your teacher?”
“No, it’s from the heart.”
“Such nonsense! Let me see how it turned out.”
Su Qingwan walked over, and Xu Lin handed her the photo to take a look.
In the photo, the light refracted down, casting onto her graceful silhouette. Her hair fluttered in the wind, with sunlight gleaming through the strands, making her appear like an elf bathed in light.
“This is amazing! You have this kind of talent?”
“Capturing the moment is crucial. If you asked me to take another photo now, I might not be able to capture something as beautiful.”
“Then you should take more pictures of everyone. We rarely get to go out like this.”
“I will. Actually, I mainly shoot videos; I want to edit a vlog.”
“What’s a vlog?”
“Oh…”
It dawned on Xu Lin that the concept of vlogs was relatively new, popularized initially on foreign networks. It had only become popular in China around 2017-2018, despite similar video forms existing before then.
“It’s a video documenting life.”
“Oh, I remember now. Sister Qin mentioned you’ve been filming food videos lately. I saw that cola cake one. I didn’t expect you to be so versatile.”
“Your boyfriend is really talented.”
“Xu Lin, do you really want to be my boyfriend, or are you just saying it?”
Xu Lin adjusted his camera settings for a shot, and Su Qingwan suddenly asked seriously.
“How should I answer that?”
“Just be honest.”
“Then yes, I want to. But I’m a fickle person, can you accept that?”
“I can! But it must be just me and Qin Yunhe.”
Xu Lin didn’t expect Su Qingwan to respond so quickly and decisively, with an unexpected answer. After a brief moment of thought, he replied.
“You’re different from Qin Yunhe. Even though you’re best friends, you can’t represent her.”
With that said, Xu Lin walked ahead, leaving Su Qingwan looking after him, clenching her fists.
“Sister Qin, you’re really ahead of everyone that night.”
Muttering to herself, she followed Xu Lin.
Despite feeling a bit disappointed with Xu Lin’s response, as it was a rejection in disguise of her subtle confession, it also rejected the idea of her best friend’s double collection.
She felt that Xu Lin could resist this temptation, which also showed his character and was worthy of her liking.
But in Xu Lin’s heart at this moment, “double collection” is not acceptable. My goal is 12. If I collect double, how can I carry out my future work?
Back on the stone path, Xu Lin started recording, filming as he walked, until he reached the entrance, completing the first scene he had imagined.
“You really brought the camera over. Can I try it?”
“Sure.” Xu Lin handed the camera to Liu Qinnuan, who took a couple of looks before giving it back to him.
“It’s too heavy.”
“So it’s not easy for the teachers who shoot for you, who are using a larger camera to shoot you all day.”
“Well, no job is easy.”
“Why don’t you go in?”
“There’s only a bird there, the ticket seller might have gone to the toilet?”
Qin Yunhe replied, and Su Qingwan also came over, looking at the South Gate and finding that the South Gate was blocked by a large iron gate.
Xu Lin glanced at the ticket office and found that there was no one in the window, but there was a black crow in the glass.
Xu Lin went up and gently touched the glass.
The crow, who had been silent, suddenly flapped its wings twice, seemingly startled from sleep.
Then, the next second, to the shock of everyone, the crow actually started talking!
“Tickets! Click! Tickets, buy them!! Ah!”
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