Chapter 32 A round face is clearly prettier...
Before the embers of the first cluster of fireworks had even faded, more dazzling beams of light began to pierce the night sky in succession.
The entire sky resembled an overturned palette, with gold and red intertwined and purple and blue reflecting each other.
The sounds of explosions echoed across the river, making one's eardrums tremble slightly.
Chen Yubai had already put his hand back in his pocket, but Peng Chengyi still felt the coolness of his fingertips lingering on both sides of her cheek.
It subtly affected the frequency of her heartbeat.
She couldn't help but glance at the boy beside her out of the corner of her eye again.
He tilted his neck slightly back, his smooth facial features standing out sharply in the glow of the fireworks.
His dark eyes, which were originally hidden in the shadows, were now filled with shimmering light, like shining stars.
Peng Chengyi then looked away with relief, and a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.
The hands of my watch gradually passed 12 o'clock, and the fireworks on the opposite bank also came to an end.
A brief silence fell over the surroundings, and the river breeze, carrying a faint smell of gunpowder, brushed against their faces.
"Happy New Year." Chen Yubai turned his head, his clear voice breaking the lingering buzz in her ears.
Peng Chengyi turned her face, her eyes curving into crescent moons: "Happy New Year."
"Going home?" Chen Yubai raised an eyebrow.
Unsure if his parents had finished arguing, Peng Chengyi hesitated for a moment, not quite deciding what to say, when her phone started buzzing in her down jacket pocket.
She took it out and glanced at it. Seeing that it was Zhou Lifen, she quickly answered the call.
"Chengcheng, where did you go in the middle of the night?" Zhou Lifen's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone.
Peng Chengyi: "I'm going out to set off fireworks."
Zhou Lifen: "You silly child, why didn't you tell us you were going out!"
Peng Chengyi pursed her lips slightly: "I forgot..."
"Sigh, what can you remember from a day like this?" Zhou Lifen sighed, then hurriedly asked her, "Where are you setting off fireworks? I'll have your dad pick you up."
"I was by the river..." Peng Chengyi hadn't finished speaking when Zhou Lifen interrupted her with an exclamation, "You went to the river? It's so late at night, it's so dangerous for a girl like you! How can you have no sense of safety at all!"
Peng Chengyi: "No, what danger could there be on New Year's Eve? Besides, I'm with Chen Yubai, I'm not alone."
"Oh, Xiaoyu is here too." Zhou Lifen's tense voice relaxed instantly.
"Hmm." Peng Chengyi nodded, glanced at Chen Yubai who was cleaning up the broken sparklers beside her, quietly turned her face away, and lowered her voice, "Mom, did you hear any noise when you got home?"
Zhou Lifen asked curiously, "What's that noise?"
It seems things have returned to normal next door.
"It's nothing." Peng Chengyi smiled to cover up her embarrassment and quickly changed the subject. "We're just about to ride our bikes back. My dad doesn't need to pick us up. You two should get ready and go to sleep."
Zhou Lifen: "Alright, you two be careful on the road."
"Okay." Peng Chengyi hung up the phone, stuffed it into her pocket, and stood up. "Go back, my mom called to urge me."
"Okay." Chen Yubai tied a knot in the plastic bag full of firework debris and tossed it into her arms. "You go throw away the trash, I'll go get my bike."
"Why can't you go throw out the trash and I go ride the bike?" Peng Chengyi glanced at him with dissatisfaction.
"Because I'm sleepy and want to go back to sleep early, I can't ride your slow, serpentine bike, so I'll ride my own bike when I get back." Chen Yubai shrugged lazily and started taking long strides.
"..."
Speechless, Peng Chengyi hugged the plastic bag in her arms and obediently walked to the trash can on the street in the distance.
After she finished throwing away the trash, Chen Yubai's bicycle stopped beside her.
"Come on up." The boy, with one leg on the ground, gestured with his chin toward her.
"Oh." Peng Chengyi lifted her leg with some effort before straddling the back seat of the bicycle.
"Hold on tight," he said, turning his head to remind her.
Peng Chengyi couldn't help but complain: "Aren't you a great driver? Why do you need help?"
Chen Yubai scoffed: "No matter how good my driving skills are, there's still inertia when turning. How did you get a perfect score in physics?"
"..." Peng Chengyi choked for a moment, then silently reached out and grabbed his waist.
Chen Yubai's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, and with a push of his foot, the bicycle glided steadily forward.
Once the time for staying up all night was over, the streets became increasingly deserted.
There were hardly any pedestrians, and even cars were hard to see.
So the boy rode his bicycle very fast, and a strong night wind blew in his face. Peng Chengyi couldn't help but press his face against his cotton coat again.
His broad back shielded her from most of the wind.
The plane trees lining the street rushed past, their bare branches cutting the long shadows cast by the streetlights on the two people.
Although they had been through sixteen years of life together, this seemed to be the first New Year's Eve she had spent with him.
It's quite memorable.
Peng Chengyi pondered silently. After arriving at her building, she took out her phone and tugged at Chen Yubai, who was about to push her bicycle into the stairwell.
"Wait, let me take a picture."
"Why didn't you take pictures when you were setting off fireworks by the river? What are you taking pictures of now?" Chen Yubai glanced at her with amusement.
"Oh, let's keep this as a memento of our first and possibly only New Year's Eve vigil. It doesn't matter where we take the picture, as long as there's a record of the time."
As she spoke, she opened her phone's selfie camera and stretched out her arm: "Come closer."
Chen Yubai held onto the bicycle handlebars and leaned his head closer to her face.
Peng Chengyi tried to adjust the angle of her selfie: "Why is your face so big? Only half of it can fit in."
Chen Yubai chuckled: "Is it possible that it's because your arms are short?"
“…Then you take it.” Peng Chengyi, both angry and unable to argue, shoved the phone into his hand.
Chen Yubai's smile deepened, and with a simple stretch of his arm, the screen immediately appeared much wider.
Peng Chengyi glanced at the screen and continued to instruct him, "Lift it a little higher, it will make your face look smaller."
"Like this?" Chen Yubai casually raised his hand.
"Pretty much." Peng Chengyi nodded, raised her hand to make a peace sign, and nudged Chen Yubai with her elbow, "You should make a peace sign too."
"How silly." Chen Yubai scoffed softly, but still raised his other hand to make a peace sign above her head.
Peng Chengyi's smile froze, and she turned her face away speechlessly: "Don't put it on my head! It makes me look like a rabbit."
"What's wrong with rabbits? Aren't they cute?" he said lazily, tapping her head lightly with his fingers. "Look at the camera, I'm going to take a picture."
"..." Peng Chengyi could only quickly turn her face to the side and force out a sweet smile.
With a click, the image freezes.
Chen Yubai withdrew his arm, casually tapped the screen with his slender fingers, and opened her WeChat.
Seeing him operate the camera, Peng Chengyi quickly snatched the phone back from his hand: "Let me edit it and then I'll send you the photo."
Chen Yubai's hands were empty, and he casually lifted his eyelids: "You're quite concerned about your image too, and you're still criticizing me."
Peng Chengyi looked down at the photo and retorted confidently, "That's different. After I send it to you, there's a chance that other people will see the photo, so of course I have to maintain my image."
"..." Chen Yubai stared at her speechlessly for a moment, then gave an ambiguous laugh and pushed his bicycle into the building.
Before entering the house, Chen Yubai took off his coat and threw it into her arms.
"Thank your dad for me."
Peng Chengyi hurriedly caught it: "Shouldn't you thank me too? Without me, who would have gotten your coat for you?"
"Thank you anyway, little rabbit," Chen Yubai replied lazily, then turned and went inside.
The moment the door closed, Peng Chengyi realized what was happening: "Chen Yubai! Who are you calling a rabbit!"
But the only response she received was the sound of the door opening behind her.
"What are you yelling about in the hallway in the middle of the night? You're already at your doorstep, why aren't you coming in and going to sleep!"
Zhou Lifen, wearing her pajamas, stood at the door and called to her.
Peng Chengyi's heart skipped a beat, and she turned her head with an awkward smile: "...Mom, why aren't you asleep yet?"
"How can I sleep if you're not home yet?" Zhou Lifen frowned and pulled her into the house with a helpless expression.
Perhaps it was because she was too excited from running around at night, but Peng Chengyi wasn't sleepy at all after washing up and getting into bed.
After tossing and turning for a while, I picked up my phone in the dark and started editing the photos.
After slimming her face down by two sizes and adding a more pointed chin, she finally glanced at Chen Yubai.
Then they noticed that his face had been automatically widened a bit.
But it must be said that his looks are indeed quite striking.
Even though the proportions were distorted by photo editing software, the facial features remained three-dimensional and distinct.
The widened silhouette only diminished his sharp and edgy aura.
So she didn't bother to do anything to fix it and just sent him the repaired photo.
Within two seconds, she received his reply.
Chen Yubai: "?"
Peng Chengyi, who was about to put her phone down, paused and quickly tapped the screen: "Didn't you say you were sleepy a long time ago? Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Chen Yubai: "I was so angry at the photos you edited that I woke up."
Peng Chengyi: "I edited it so perfectly!"
Chen Yubai: "My face is all deformed."
Peng Chengyi pursed her lips guiltily: "That was the software's automatic recognition, what does it have to do with me?"
After a moment of silence, the other end sent a screenshot, in which her noticeably smaller face and deliberately sculpted chin were circled in red.
Chen Yubai: "Is this what you call automatic recognition?"
Unexpectedly, he circled the area she had edited so precisely. Peng Chengyi's fingers, hovering over the screen, froze, and she was momentarily at a loss for how to defend herself.
A moment later, a new message popped up on the screen.
Chen Yubai: "This automatic recognition is utterly devoid of any aesthetic sense."
? ? ?
She spent so much effort to create such a perfect face, and he was implying that it was ugly!
Peng Chengyi's fingers, which had been hovering, immediately started moving, typing rapidly: "What do you know about aesthetics! I think you're just jealous that my photoshopped pictures look good, and you're only nitpicking because you don't have any yourself!"
Chen Yubai: "Yes, yes, I'm jealous that your face is smaller than mine and your chin is sharper. You look more like an alien at first glance."
Peng Chengyi: "...You're the one who looks like an alien! I just added a little bit of a chin!"
Chen Yubai: "Wasn't it supposed to be automatic recognition?"
...
Suddenly realizing he had fallen into his trap, Peng Chengyi's fingertips froze, and he buried his head in the blanket, letting out two soft "Ahhh" sounds.
He slowly retrieved his phone, then resignedly admitted defeat, "I'll fix you up again!"
Chen Yubai: "No need to edit it, just send me the original image."
Peng Chengyi: "No, my face is too round in the original photo."
Chen Yubai: "That's why I said you have no aesthetic sense."
Peng Chengyi: "?"
She's already admitted her mistake, so why is this dog still attacking her?
Is it really necessary to be so petty?!
Peng Chengyi twitched the corner of his mouth, preparing to launch a counterattack, when his reply popped up in the chat box.
Chen Yubai: "A round face is clearly prettier."
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Author's Note: [Eating popcorn][Eating popcorn][Eating popcorn]
Thanks to uoow, 时有落花至, and 75981039 for providing the nutrient solution!
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