Chapter 18
The photo of Su Rui was like a huge rock thrown into the lake of his heart, causing unprecedented storms in his heart.
He clicked on it repeatedly, zooming in, carefully examining himself on the screen—a self he had never seen before, a self captured by someone else's camera. Quiet, focused, even a touch of lonely poetry. Was this how he looked in Ling Yao's eyes?
This feeling of being "seen" so seriously was completely different from the feeling of being teased by Azhe and his classmates, and being despised by other classmates. It had an almost brutal penetrating power, piercing through all of Su Rui's inferiority and defensiveness.
He carefully saved this photo and even secretly set it as the lock screen of his phone, just for the momentary palpitations every time he opened it.
And Ling Yao seemed to have found new fun in it.
He began sending Su Rui photos from time to time. Sometimes they were casual snaps of a corner of campus, captured from a tricky angle but surprisingly beautifully composed. Other times, they were funny moments he'd seen, like a fat cat licking its paw on a windowsill, or a classmate's comical fall on the basketball court. Once, he even sent a photo of Sister Yang at home, frowning while drinking coffee, with the caption: "Does it look like you drank poison?"
Each photo is intensely personal—sharp, precise, with a touch of deadpan irony and a commanding aesthetic.
Su Rui watched intently. He marveled at Ling Yao's talent, an innate mastery of light, shadow, and composition that he could never achieve, no matter how much he studied the atlas. He was more like a clumsy apprentice, while Ling Yao was a born master.
The content of their text messages was gradually replaced by photography.
Su Rui would summon up the courage to ask, "Is the aperture set too wide in this photo?" "How did you capture the moment it jumped?"
Ling Yao's reply was still concise, but it was no longer just a simple "hmm" or "oh", but rather a guiding one: "Nonsense." "Prediction. Understand?" "Pull over the curve in the later stage."
Even occasionally, he would be extremely stingy and throw out a one- or two-word evaluation: "Not bad." "There's been progress." (In response to a photo Su Rui bravely sent him of her grandmother's silhouette against the light in the kitchen.)
This was a tremendous encouragement to Su Rui. Like a dry sponge, he greedily absorbed the little "blessings" Ling Yao casually sprinkled upon him, and his passion for photography surged to an all-time high. As he became more proficient in using his old phone, he began to boldly experiment with different angles and themes.
He vaguely felt that there was finally a bridge between him and Ling Yao, beyond the vague "good" they had, that allowed them to truly connect. This bridge, built on light and shadow, was fragile yet real.
However, he did not realize that what Ling Yao enjoyed was not only this one-way guidance and being looked up to, but also the feeling of complete control.
He liked to see Su Rui marveling at every photo she took for him, liked to see his eyes light up at his casual advice, and liked the feeling that everything he did - even if it was a casual shot - could get the warmest response from the other person.
Su Rui's entire world seemed to be firmly held in the palm of his hand through this small mobile phone.
His lens is his city, and Su Rui is his city's most devout and only citizen.
This sense of control greatly satisfied a certain unknown need deep in Ling Yao's heart, and even temporarily suppressed the gloom brought about by his mother.
On the way home from school, Ah Zhe hooked his arm around Ling Yao's shoulder and winked, "Brother Yao, have you been getting pretty close to that unknown person lately? Is he even teaching her how to take photos? Are you playing development games with her?"
In the past, Ling Yao might have denied or belittled it with a sneer.
But this time, he just lazily raised his eyebrows, with an ambiguous arc at the corner of his mouth, and his tone was full of self-determination:
"Why? My people, I'm happy to teach them."
Ah Zhe was stunned for a moment, then whistled and smiled ambiguously: "I understand, I understand, Brother Yao's personal photographer!"
Ling Yao didn't say anything else. He glanced out the window and happened to see Su Rui holding her schoolbag and walking out of the school gate alone. Her steps seemed a little lighter than usual.
He took out his cell phone and randomly took a picture of the thin figure.
Blurry, dynamic, yet inexplicably catchy.
He looked down at the screen and moved his fingers, but did not send it to anyone. Instead, he saved it in an encrypted album.
Tag named: "My"
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