43 Chapter 43
◎You two move closer◎
Gao Qiang and Lao Fang briefly explained the precautions to everyone before starting filming.
The first thing to do is to shoot a group shot. The first scene is that everyone lines up and walks towards the camera together.
This scene sounds simple, but it's actually not easy to film. The photographer wanted to capture the feeling of a group portrait, where the scene needed to have a sense of casualness as people walk, natural interaction between them, and just the right expression on each person's face.
Zhan Xinyue was using a textbook as a prop, with a high school girl standing on one side and Shi Ziqian on the other. The group walked back and forth several times, but the photographer was still not satisfied.
"Energy! Do you understand what energy is!" Old Fang shouted to everyone, "Straighten your backs, perk up, and exude that confident aura so that others can immediately tell you are top students and that our school is a prestigious one."
Gao Qiang, who had been watching with his arms crossed, suddenly stepped forward and directed, "Come on, Xiao Shi, why don't you stand in the middle? It'll look better that way."
Shi Ziqian didn't move: "I'm too tall, I'll just stand on the side."
"Alright." Gao Qiang didn't insist. "Let's leave it at that for now. Just be more natural. You don't need to look at the camera. People next to you can talk, and you can also make some hand gestures."
Zhan Xinyue thought to herself: Given Gao Qiang's personality, it would be a miracle if he gave up so easily. He would have to find another way to achieve his goal indirectly.
Sure enough, after that shot ended, Gao Qiang directed everyone to sit in a circle, with two foreign teachers standing in the middle carrying tape recorders, creating an atmosphere like a classroom activity. This formation, with everyone in a circle without a clear center, allowed Gao Qiang to subtly direct the cameraman to film around Shi Ziqian, even though he didn't explicitly say anything.
Unconsciously, Shi Ziqian still became the center, and Zhan Xinyue, who was sitting next to him, also became the middle person.
This little incident has passed, and although there were many problems along the way, the overall process was relatively smooth.
Although Shi Ziqian had initially refused to participate in the filming, he was very cooperative after agreeing to come. Apart from the issue of positioning, he was very cooperative in everything else.
Having sat next to Shi Ziqian for so long, Zhan Xinyue had gradually realized that although everyone secretly called him "Young Master," he was actually quite approachable and easy to get along with. Perhaps because he didn't care about many things, he only wouldn't back down in a few situations; most of the time, he was surprisingly easygoing and didn't care what anyone said.
For example, right now, the photographers kept changing their minds, one telling everyone to do this and another telling everyone to do that. They even occasionally let everyone argue amongst themselves. As the sun gradually rose and the temperature increased, many people showed some impatience on their faces. However, Shi Ziqian remained calm and showed no extra expression.
The filming took much longer than expected, and after 10 o'clock, a new situation arose. Gradually, classes that were having physical education classes began to gather not far away on the playground, and many people in the groups craned their necks to look in their direction while doing warm-up exercises.
After a while, they let everyone move around freely, and immediately groups of people gathered over to watch the excitement, and then the crowd grew larger and larger.
then--
“Come on, this girl, smile and turn your head to look at the boy next to you. Your movements are too stiff. You need to make eye contact and look like you're having a serious discussion.”
Zhan Xinyue couldn't manage a smile. The area was surrounded by several layers of people, all staring intently at them, some even covering their mouths and laughing. She even saw someone on the outer circle secretly taking out their phone to take pictures when Gao Qiang and the others weren't looking.
She never imagined that the shoot would be watched like this. In a daze, she felt like a small-time artist shooting an outdoor scene for the first time, being stared at by passersby. Suddenly, her body felt so awkward that she didn't know where to put her hands and feet.
She stiffly turned her head to the side as the photographer asked, looking at Shi Ziqian beside her, and sighed inwardly.
This is truly an undeserved disaster.
The large crowd gathered outside the venue was largely thanks to the person next to them. Initially, only a few students were curious and came over to take a look, but once they discovered Shi Ziqian was there, everyone was rooted to the spot and wouldn't move. They even called out to each other, and so the crowd gradually grew larger and larger.
This legendary classmate rarely shows his face in public, and he had never had such an opportunity to be observed so closely. So everyone stopped playing and just stood there watching them take pictures.
The group photos had already been taken, and individual photos had been taken for each grade. Everyone was supposed to disperse like that, but Gao Qiang insisted on leaving some people behind to take some close-up shots.
Given Gao Qiang's personal motives, it would be reasonable for him to keep Shi Ziqian, but why was she also implicated?
Gao Qiang specified a scene and asked the two of them to take a photo alone: she was sitting at a desk, and Shi Ziqian was standing next to her, explaining a problem to her with his head down, and the two of them were discussing something.
As Gao Qiang had requested, Shi Ziqian was standing beside her, looking down at her.
With so many people watching, he didn't react much, and his expression showed no sign of discomfort.
The sunlight was already quite intense, and when he lowered his head, he blocked some of the sunlight, making Zhan Xinyue feel less hot.
The photographer directed the two: "Move a little closer, boy, put one hand on the table, and yes, lower your head a little more."
Shi Ziqian bent down and leaned towards her as instructed, the faint scent of pine on his body instantly filling her breath.
In the interplay of light and shadow, his face drew closer and closer, and she could clearly see his long, thick eyelashes and his eyes, which were as black as ink. At that moment, her reflection was clearly seen in his bright pupils.
The two were already deskmates and had always been quite close in the classroom, but it seemed like they had never been this close before.
And all this was under the watchful eyes of so many people.
A drawn-out "Wow!" came from outside the venue, and she heard the first-year high school girls who had just taken photos with her shouting especially loudly.
Zhan Xinyue awkwardly turned her eyes away.
"Why did she move? What a pity!" the photographer shouted. "Girl, don't move your head. That pose was pretty good, it's a shame we didn't get a shot."
Gao Qiang was unusually gentle today: "It's okay, we can do it again. You two be more natural, don't be so stiff. You can hold your books up a little higher and just pretend you're discussing the questions in the book."
“Yes, let’s find something to talk about,” the photographer said. “Keep talking so I can take some photos.”
Zhan Xinyue had no choice but to look at him again, but what should she say? The book she was assigned to hold was a physics book. Although Zhan Xinyue wanted to find a couple of physics formulas to recite to make up the difference, she couldn't think of anything for the moment.
Finally, Shi Ziqian spoke first, asking her softly, "Are you hot?"
"A little."
Shi Ziqian shifted slightly to the side, his tall figure completely enveloping her and blocking out all the sunlight.
Zhan Xinyue thanked her.
"Yes, that's right. You two keep talking, don't stop."
Shi Ziqian thought for a moment and then said, "By the way, the hospital called me yesterday. Panpan's surgeries have all been completed and were quite successful."
"Really?" Zhan Xinyue's attention was drawn, and she became excited. "Then can he be discharged from the hospital?"
"Not yet. Its spinal injury is quite severe, and it can't stand up yet. It needs some rehabilitation training to see how it goes."
Zhan Xinyue: "Can't you stand up?"
"Yes, it has no feeling in its hindquarters yet."
Zhan Xinyue's mood, which had just lifted, sank again. A spinal injury was no small matter. Although Shi Ziqian deliberately downplayed it, she knew that it actually meant hemiplegia.
She didn't show her frustration on her face, but he seemed to sense it and said, "Don't worry, it will be alright."
His tone was resolute, just like the day he told her, "It won't die," and it really did survive. Hearing him say that, Zhan Xinyue felt inexplicably at peace again.
Shi Ziqian always gave people a very reliable feeling. She inexplicably felt that anything he said would definitely come true.
So she said, "Okay, I'll go see it again the day it's discharged from the hospital."
The cameraman moved the lens around for a long time, but no one shouted "stop," so it was unclear whether they had actually filmed anything.
The two remained locked in eye contact. Zhan Xinyue glanced at the bustling crowd out of the corner of her eye, continuing to search for a topic of conversation, muttering to herself, "This feeling is really strange."
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Don't you think it's weird to be stared at by so many people? And if you're going to film the desks, why not film them in a classroom? Filming on the playground feels strange."
“Maybe it’s to save trouble, but it’s understandable, after all…” Shi Ziqian said, “Gao Qiang doesn’t seem to have much artistic talent.”
Zhan Xinyue couldn't help but glance at him a few more times. Although no one in the entire high school disliked complaining about Gao Qiang, it felt rather strange that these words came from Shi Ziqian's mouth.
Gao Qiang was some distance away from them and could only see the two talking, but he didn't know what they were saying. He turned to the photographer with satisfaction and said, "Not bad, not bad. This feels much more natural. Try taking a few more shots."
When his voice reached her ears, Zhan Xinyue almost laughed, but remembering that they were filming, she managed to purse her lips and hold it in.
Because of this little incident, she felt a bit more relaxed and spoke more casually. She kept staring at Shi Ziqian's face and continued to chat with him aimlessly: "I suddenly feel that sometimes being too good-looking can be quite a nuisance."
"how?"
Zhan Xinyue glanced at the crowd of onlookers and gestured to him, "Look at how you look. People stare at you wherever you go. Don't you feel uncomfortable?"
From her angle, she saw Shi Ziqian's Adam's apple bob slightly, but instead of replying, he asked, "Do you think I'm good-looking?"
"Of course," Zhan Xinyue said without hesitation, taking it for granted. "Anyone with eyes should think that way."
Shi Ziqian paused for a moment and said, "Thank you, I also think you are very good-looking."
His words sounded like a polite compliment, but Zhan Xinyue didn't take them seriously and asked again, "Actually, I've always wanted to interview you. When people look at you like this all the time, do you ever feel like a monkey in a glass enclosure at a zoo?"
She had been curious about this for a while, but quickly dismissed the question after asking it. "But monkeys probably don't feel uncomfortable. They're seen by people from a young age, so they're probably used to it. I didn't mean you're like a monkey, it was just a metaphor..."
A soft chuckle escaped Shi Ziqian's throat, so softly that she heard it.
She thought she had misheard, but when she looked over, she was surprised to see a genuine smile on his usually indifferent face.
This seemed to be the first time she had ever seen Shi Ziqian smile like that. When he smiled, the tiny halos in his pupils floated, like the first melting of snow in early spring.
“I’m used to it.” He said with a slight smile, his tone unusually playful. “I’ve been watched by people since I was a child.”
Zhan Xinyue stared blankly at his smiling face, and couldn't help but laugh along.
This seemed to be the first time she had discovered that he actually joked occasionally.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's the smile, keep it!" the photographer shouted, then his voice turned regretful again, "Oh dear—"
In her bright smile, this time, it was Shi Ziqian who first pursed his lips and looked away.
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