Chapter 8 is his photo of a male bodhisattva.
Seeing that Su Cheng did not continue to refuse, Xu Zhisui, who was busy playing matchmaker, had a bright idea in her eyes.
Could there really be a chance this time?
"Ding-dong! Teacher Xu's Love Class is in session~" She tapped the table with an air of seriousness, rubbing her hands together as if she was about to impart all her knowledge. "As the saying goes, 'It's easy for a woman to pursue a man,' but back in high school, the girls who were chasing him could have formed a cheerleading squad. But did you ever see him get close to any of those girls?"
"People, especially men, tend to lose interest in things that are too easily obtained. It's like fishing: if you throw the bait directly into the fish's mouth, the fish will turn its nose up at it; but if you know how to reel in and let out the fishing line, it will chase after the hook and bite."
Su Cheng was about to give Xu Zhisui a warm round of applause when she noticed something interesting.
"Teacher Xu, have you ever pursued anyone?"
If Xu Zhisui hadn't been cheating on her, their experience in pursuing men would be about the same.
All zeros.
"Haven't I ever eaten pork, even if I haven't seen pigs run?" Xu Zhisui said confidently, hands on her hips. "I've taken the essence and discarded the dross from 'Three Days to Make Him Fall in Love with You,' 'How to Catch Your Dream Man,' 'Succubus Crash Course,' and I've memorized them all!"
Well, so he's a theory master after all.
“Actually…” Su Cheng swirled her coffee cup around, leaving shallow ripples on the table at the bottom, “How could someone like him still be single?”
"Didn't you go to his house last week to help feed his cat? If he really had a girlfriend, why would he need to bother you?"
His fingers tightened slightly as he gripped the coffee cup. "But, wasn't he studying in Beijing before? Maybe his girlfriend is still there."
"If you ask me, you should send him a message right now: 'Jiang, your cat is so cute, did your girlfriend pick it out?'"
Su Cheng was embarrassed: "Isn't that a bit too direct? Won't he think I'm crazy?"
"So what are you planning to do?" Xu Zhisui leaned back and crossed her arms. "Study his social media every day? Or take advantage of the situation to launch an eavesdropping operation?"
Su Cheng nodded, her face showing an expression that said, "You guessed right."
"Don't take this lightly. According to reliable sources, Zhang Xiwen from Class 3, the girl who gave Jiang Muzhou a signed Durant jersey for three consecutive years, her family owns a media company. It's said that the contract is already prepared, and she's going to sign him." Xu Zhisui winked meaningfully. "When he marries a rich and beautiful woman and reaches the pinnacle of life, don't regret not going to try and win her over sooner."
Zhang Xiwen is employing a two-pronged approach: sending signals of attraction while simultaneously offering enticing job opportunities.
Upon hearing this, Su Cheng reviewed her core businesses: WiFi with full signal strength that can penetrate walls, Cainiao Station parcel pickup service, and the ultimate pet owner plus a deluxe bedchamber gift package.
Her only competitive advantage is her proximity to her hometown.
Let him pick Zhang Xiwen then.
Seeing that Su Cheng remained unmoved, Xu Zhisui became a little anxious, "One minute he says he doesn't like you, the next minute he says he has a girlfriend, so what about you? Do you like him or not?"
The affections of youth are pure; just catching a glimpse of that figure from afar can make your heart skip a beat; accidentally touching the hand that hands you a book and feeling the warmth from their fingertips can linger for a whole day.
The thrill of that time didn't need promises; a casual smile was enough to sustain the sweetness of adolescence.
But adult relationships always seem to be accompanied by various considerations, weighing gains and losses, and weighing the pros and cons, as if all the love expressed must have a happy ending to be worthwhile.
Three years of unrequited love is neither a long nor a short time.
But when faced with the question of whether she liked him or not, she herself couldn't say for sure whether her feelings for Jiang Muzhou could be considered liking.
Just like in the TV dramas, if you like someone, you have to forcefully take them, you have to be with them for life, and you have to claim Mount Fuji as your own just because of your love.
But it seems that her preferences are not like that.
"I don't know." After thinking it over and over, Su Cheng still couldn't come up with a clear answer.
She looked at Xu Zhisui, hoping that this experienced person could offer her some help, "And you, how did you become sure that you like Siqi?"
"Although I've always refused to admit it, it was actually me who fell in love first." Xu Zhisui paused for a moment, her voice softening. "Siqi is a key player on the volleyball team, and he always looks so spirited during training. But after his injury before the selection tournament, I saw a completely different side of him. Even though he was sweating profusely from the pain of his torn ligament, he kept insisting that he was fine so as not to worry his teammates and coaches."
“His parents were going through a divorce at the time, and no one had time to care about him lying in the hospital. I remember one night I went to deliver food and saw him leaning against the headboard with messy hair, looking like he couldn’t take care of himself. I suddenly realized that true love is not about seeing his glamorous side, but about being willing to accept and accompany him in his most vulnerable moments.”
After sharing real-life examples, Xu Zhisui seized the opportunity to teach her "Master of Love" course.
She went on and on about playing hard to get and how to be aloof, relentlessly spouting her theoretical dating techniques until the sun was almost setting before finally letting Su Cheng go home.
It was dusk when I left the coffee shop, but the air was still filled with heat.
It must be said that Xu Zhisui's master class was indeed unique, at least it helped her clarify her originally chaotic thoughts.
More than her crush, Jiang Muzhou was her motivation to go to school.
He was too perfect a person. During her high school years, filled with exercises and tests, she projected all her hopes and fantasies onto him.
No response is needed, not even acquaintance is required; simply gazing from afar can add a touch of anticipation to the daily grind of campus life.
She worked hard for this unattainable dream, memorizing more words and solving more problems, so that her name on the monthly exam list would get a little closer to him, a little closer still.
Rather than saying it's for a specific person, it's more about using this vague longing to give yourself a reason to persevere. After all, you always need some kind of hope to make the dull and boring days pass by naturally.
Until her name finally appeared alongside his on that list of names, the once dazzling phantom lost all its luster.
It was like completing a long pilgrimage, only to find upon reaching the end that what truly sustained her throughout the journey was the power of her own steps.
In the four years that followed, the figure that had illuminated her entire youth gradually faded into a faint shadow in the depths of her memory.
Occasionally, on a quiet afternoon in the library, or while passing by the basketball court, she would have a moment of reverie.
But such nostalgia is always fleeting; she will eventually pack her bags and embark on the next journey alone.
Su Cheng sighed softly and inadvertently looked up at the sky.
The clouds in the twilight were dyed golden red by the setting sun, the thick wisps of clouds edged with gold, and a few rays of light peeked through the layers of clouds, rendering the entire sky into a flowing oil painting.
Her steps unconsciously slowed down.
Jiang Muzhou's words suddenly came to mind clearly: "There are too many fleeting beauties in this world. If no one stops to record them, they may eventually be buried in the dust of time and no one will know about them for a lifetime."
She took out her phone, pointed the camera at the direction she had been gazing at, and tapped and swiped on the screen, constantly adjusting the angle, trying to capture the perfect composition for this moment.
But camera lenses are never as sensitive as the human eye, or perhaps she, as an outsider, wasn't professional enough.
All the vibrant colors faded into a monotonous gray-blue; the folds of the clouds disappeared, and the layers of the sunset vanished.
She looked up at the real sky, then at the image on her phone, comparing them several times. She also fiddled with all the incomprehensible parameters like ISO, exposure compensation, and white balance, and after a lot of fiddling, she finally managed to take a few barely acceptable photos.
Su Cheng walked slowly back in the afterglow of the setting sun.
What kind of caption would be suitable for this series of photographs?
She racked her brains, only to find that she had forgotten all the ancient poems she had memorized before, and could only come up with the old-fashioned line, "The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is near dusk."
Forget it, let's not get into the nitpicking.
She simply posted her most genuine question: "[When will mobile phone cameras be able to reproduce the scenery as seen by the human eye?]"
-
After getting home, Su Cheng took a hot shower and applied fragrant body lotion, feeling completely relaxed.
She nestled comfortably into the sofa and ordered takeout to reward herself for a hard day's work.
She received quite a few likes on her WeChat Moments, so it wasn't a waste of all the mosquitoes she fed.
Just as I was about to swipe away, two private messages popped up.
1801: [From an optical perspective, mobile phone lenses cannot completely replicate the imaging effect of the human eye.]
1801: [However, it can be approached as closely as possible through post-processing color correction, such as using curves to enhance dynamic range, brightening shadow details, and then fine-tuning specific hue saturation using HSL.]
A top student is a top student. Seeing the screen full of professional terms, Su Cheng felt his head buzzing. What was he muttering?
Su Cheng: [Can I use Meitu Xiu Xiu?]
1801: [You can send it to me, and I'll fix it for you.]
For a lazy person like Su Cheng, it's better to teach someone how to fish than to teach them how to fish; ideally, you could also pick out the fish bones for her.
She sent a meme of a kitten offering roses to express her gratitude, and then happily went to her album to select photos.
Next to her set of sunset photos was the photo of Jiang Muzhou wearing a tank top, depicting a male bodhisattva.
She watched it several more times, and indeed, women need to look at these things to have the energy to make a living.
Since she categorized her feelings for Jiang Muzhou as "pseudo-unrequited love," she no longer had to hold her breath for fear of him discovering her feelings, nor did she have to pretend to be nonchalant and walk quickly past him when they bumped into each other in the corridor. That feeling of walking on thin ice instantly vanished.
Instead of getting caught up in defining feelings, why not just let things happen naturally? A wonderful neighbor has appeared out of nowhere, with looks that could rival the wonders of the goddess Nuwa. She gets paid to pet cats, occasionally receives perks, and even thoughtfully helps her edit photos.
What more could she want?
She suddenly felt that the cold and impersonal nickname "[1801]" was not suitable for the situation, and thought about changing it to a more cool and stylish nickname.
Before I could decide what to change, [1801] sent another message.
1801: [Quoting chat log: Image | Does this one also need editing?]
?
Is her photography skill so good that it doesn't need any editing?
She clicked on the picture that was being used and froze instantly.
It's his picture of a male Bodhisattva.
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