Chapter 19

The atmosphere of senior year was like a tightening noose, silently tightening around every student's neck. Even Ling Yao, who always seemed nonchalant, was under increasing pressure from his family. Sister Yang showed up at school more often, sometimes delivering missing documents, other times communicating directly with teachers to ensure Ling Yao's grades met the minimum requirements for applying to prestigious overseas universities.

Ling Yao seemed increasingly irritated. He had no patience for those boring formulas and lengthy texts, and his anger, which he had nowhere to vent, occasionally spread to Su Rui.

For example, when Su Rui carefully sent a sunset photo that she was very satisfied with, she might receive an extremely harsh reply: "The composition is rubbish. The light is dirty. Reshoot."

"Your second-hand camera is such junk, just throw it away."

Or, when Su Rui tried to ask him a math problem, something he had to muster up a lot of courage to ask, Ling Yao would just throw it back: "You can't even do something so simple? Look at the answer yourself."

Su Rui would be stung by this sudden coldness, silently putting away his phone and staring blankly at his exercise book. But he would quickly excuse himself—Ling Yao was just under too much pressure, he didn't mean it. You see, before long, he might "casually" send another beautiful photo of clouds, or a nonsensical "Closer aperture."

This intermittent warmth, like a drug, made Su Rui unable to quit and instead became more addicted. He learned to more accurately guess Ling Yao's mood, and only dared to share his photos or ask small questions when he seemed to be in a better mood.

Photography became the only vent under the high pressure between the two people.

One weekend afternoon, Ling Yao, perhaps fed up with the endless mock exams, drove out and, for some reason, parked at the alley near Su Rui's house. He texted, "Come down."

Su Rui was helping his grandmother sort through cardboard boxes to supplement the family income when he saw the message. He practically ran downstairs.

Ling Yao's car window rolled down. He was wearing sunglasses, his expression unclear. He held out a heavy, black, professional camera bag. "Here. Try this." His tone remained flat, as if he were throwing away an old, discarded item.

Su Rui took it in a daze, opened it, and saw inside a professional SLR camera he had only seen in magazines. The lens was shiny, and it exuded a cool, technological feel. Compared to his shabby camera and old phone, this weapon was like a weapon from another world.

"This... is too expensive..." Su Rui was at a loss.

"Take it if I tell you to." Ling Yao interrupted impatiently, "Take something worth watching. Stop insulting my eyes with that crappy phone." He paused, then added, as if to explain, "This was discarded from Azhe's family. It's just gathering dust if it's left there."

Su Rui knew that this was definitely not a discarded person, and that Azhe had no interest in photography. But he didn't dare to expose it, and just hugged the camera bag tightly, feeling like holding a burning fire.

"Thank you..." His voice trembled slightly.

"Let's go." Ling Yao raised the car window, and the car roared and drove away quickly.

Su Rui stood there for a long time, not moving. He looked down at the camera in his arms, his heart filled with a huge, panic-stricken joy.

He began to delve into the camera like crazy. He tore through the manual, searched for tutorials online, and practiced on weekends and after school in alleys, by the river, anywhere he could. The camera gave him a whole new perspective, and it made him even more captivated by the world he saw through the viewfinder.

He took more and more photos, and they got better and better. Occasionally, when he mustered up the courage to send a photo to Ling Yao, the comments he received gradually changed from "rubbish" to "okay" and "interesting".

He even began secretly taking simple portraits of his neighbors, earning a very meager salary, which he carefully saved, thinking that perhaps in the future...

However, the pressure of reality hasn't faded. When the mock exam results came in, Su Rui's performance wasn't ideal. His homeroom teacher spoke to him earnestly, saying, "Su Rui, I know your family is struggling, but these are the last few months. You must give it your all. Get into a good university, and you'll have a bright future. Don't get distracted by... unimportant things."

Su Rui lowered his head, twisting the corner of his clothes with his fingers. He knew the teacher was right. Grandma needed better care, and he needed a stable future. Photography... could it make a living?

That night, he sat by the window, clutching his expensive camera, lost in thought for a long time. On one side was the tangible, dreamlike light and shadow brought by Ling Yao, and on the other was the heavy, cold reality of the future.

For the first time, he clearly realized that he and Ling Yao lived in two different worlds. Ling Yao could indulge in photography as he pleased because he had countless options. But he, on the other hand, was treading on thin ice with every step.

He picked up his phone, opened Ling Yao's chat box, typed and deleted, repeatedly, and finally sent only one sentence: "The camera is very useful. Thank you."

Ling Yao's reply was quick, as always, his style: "Yeah. I'll take some fresh photos next time."

Su Rui looked at the line of words, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

What he didn't know was that at the same time, Ling Yao was impatiently listening to Sister Yang's chatter about applying to schools, his fingers unconsciously sliding across the photos in the encrypted album on his phone - the latest one was a photo of Su Rui squatting at the alley entrance taking pictures of a wild cat when they had an appointment to take a walk together after school one day. He captured the silhouette of Su Rui from a distance with a telephoto lens.

Light and shadow outline the boy's slender and focused figure, as beautiful as a fragile dream.

Ling Yao tutted in annoyance and said to Sister Yang, "Alright, I got it. Just handle these messes. My mom is just pretending about going abroad, so you don't have to worry too much."

He hung up the phone and his eyes fell back on the phone screen, his fingertips lingering on the photo for a long time.

His little fox, under his "nurturing", has become more and more camera-savvy. This is great.

He never thought that this little fox might one day want to leave the circle of light he had defined and see the outside world.