Still Frame Chapter 27
byChapter 27: The Hunter (1)
Zhang Liuxin kept Wen Jin’s library card tucked inside the romance novel. Every day when he returned to the dorm, seeing that striking red flash, he couldn’t help but flip it open, gazing at the handsome face again and again until he felt a little disgusted with himself.
When the notice for the first official club activity was posted, everyone started a roll call in the group chat to sign up. Zhang Liuxin checked every five minutes to see if that person had signed up.
He was the student advisor; there was no need for him to sign up, right? Although he thought this, Zhang Liuxin still couldn’t stop himself from clicking back into the chat.
“Liuxin, what are you doing, staring blankly at your phone?”
Tian Ke leaned closer, making a move to look at his screen. Zhang Liuxin instinctively turned it off and said it was nothing.
“You’re not dating, are you?” They were sitting in the classroom waiting for class to start, and Tian Ke’s tone was teasing. “I never expected our Liuxin, who looks so ascetic every day, to be the first one in our dorm to get a girlfriend.”
Zhang Liuxin smiled helplessly. “You’re overthinking it.”
Tian Ke continued, “Don’t lie to me. Last time I saw you eating in the cafeteria with a very cute girl.”
Zhang Liuxin dropped his smile. “Tian Ke, that’s my high school classmate. We are very good friends, not a couple.”
Seeing his serious expression and earnest tone, Tian Ke became a little awkward. He gave a dry laugh and clapped Zhang Liuxin on the shoulder in a buddy-buddy way. “I was just kidding, don’t be mad, don’t be mad. How about I treat you to coffee later?”
“No need,” Zhang Liuxin said, opening his phone again and seeing a new message in the Botany Club chat.
It was from Wen Jin.
Wen Jin was actually going to participate in their club activity. Zhang Liuxin read it several times, staring at the rain-scene profile picture, unable to suppress a surge of excitement.
He decided to go to the library the day before the club activity to transfer the book to his own library card. Coincidentally, Jiang You needed to look up materials at the library that day, so the two arranged to go together.
Zhang Liuxin brought Jiang You a fruit tea and hesitated before asking, “Jiang You, does eating with me usually cause you any trouble?”
Hearing his sudden question, Jiang You nearly choked on her fruit tea and coughed several times. “What do you mean?”
Then she realized what Zhang Liuxin was talking about and quickly waved her hand. “I don’t mind at all, Liuxin. You don’t need to overthink things. Besides, I’m not the type to care what others say.”
She looked at the cup of fruit tea in her hand and said, “You didn’t buy this for me because of that, did you?”
Zhang Liuxin smiled. “No, I saw they were running a promotion when I passed by.”
“Hmph, I knew it,” Jiang You nodded in satisfaction. “But thank you anyway.”
The two entered the library and agreed to meet on the first floor later. Zhang Liuxin went to pick out a few more books to read. Of course, he wouldn’t be so lucky as to run into Wen Jin on that floor every time.
After processing the two books he borrowed at the self-checkout machine, Jiang You came down, holding a large stack of foreign language documents. Zhang Liuxin naturally took them and asked her, “Why don’t you read digital files? These are too heavy.”
“Looking at the screen for too long makes me dizzy. Reading physical books leaves a deeper impression,” Jiang You said. “I’ll hold your two books then. Hey, hey, your library card fell out!”
Zhang Liuxin subconsciously said, “Wait, I…”
“Holy crap.” Jiang You squatted down to pick up the library card, and the moment she clearly saw the name and photo on the card, she couldn’t help but exclaim.
Her voice was a little too loud, and passersby looked over. Jiang You made an apologetic gesture and quickly pulled Zhang Liuxin out of the library.
“I didn’t see wrong, did I?” Jiang You rubbed her eyes, forgetting she was wearing glasses, and nearly knocked them off.
She suddenly felt the card in her hand become hot. “Is this the card of the Wen Jin I’m thinking of?”
It must be. Jiang You looked at the ID photo—that face that was impossible to duplicate.
“You said you hadn’t met him before,” Jiang You exclaimed, though Zhang Liuxin didn’t know where she got all these strange ideas. “Don’t tell me you two…”
Zhang Liuxin couldn’t help but interrupt, “Stop. Before university, I really hadn’t spoken to him, but do you remember I told you I joined the Botany Club? He is the club advisor.”
“Oh my god, someone like Wen Jin actually participates in club activities?” Jiang You muttered, her reaction identical to theirs at the time. “I thought he was truly a celestial being.”
Zhang Liuxin nodded. “Yes, during the club’s icebreaker activity, it was pouring rain and I didn’t have an umbrella. It just so happened that he was going the same way as me, so we came to the library together. Then I realized I didn’t bring my library card, and he kindly lent me his card.”
Understanding the whole story, Jiang You nodded. “So that’s what happened. Now that you mention it, he seems quite approachable.”
Zhang Liuxin laughed. Describing Wen Jin as “approachable” was surprisingly fitting.
“So when are you going to return it to him?”
“Tomorrow, during the club activity.” Zhang Liuxin put the card away carefully.
“Oh, but I realized, based on what you said, Wen Jin must trust you quite a bit. A library card is pretty important, and he just lent it out.”
Jiang You’s casual remark made Zhang Liuxin pause in thought, but he couldn’t think of any reason for it. In the end, he simply said, “We’re in the same club. Maybe he knew I couldn’t run away.”
“That’s possible. What is Wen Jin like in person? Tell me quickly.”
Not understanding why Jiang You was suddenly so excited, Zhang Liuxin could only answer honestly, “Very handsome. More handsome than his ID photo, and more handsome than his news photos.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake and immediately fell silent.
Jiang You took a large sip of fruit tea and slowly said, “So you went and looked at his news too?”
Zhang Liuxin looked away and argued, “I just scrolled past it.”
Jiang You clearly didn’t believe him but simply hummed in response. “Alright.”
The club activity was held again in the spacious and bright activity room at the Academy of Sciences. Initially, Zhang Liuxin didn’t understand why their club chose the Academy of Sciences activity room, especially since no one in their club, apart from Wen Jin, was from the Academy of Sciences.
When they arrived, he heard Lin Xun explain, “I got lucky. New regulations came out this year, and the school requires the seniors to actively participate to promote the development of club activities. It just so happens that my dad is a professor at the Academy of Sciences, and since our club is unpopular and has few members, the senior chose ours.”
So that was the reason…
Zhang Liuxin sat down in a corner. A Duo handed him snacks and said with a smile, “These have been meticulously selected after multiple rounds of testing by me. Try them, they definitely won’t disappoint.”
“Thank you, Senior.”
Lin Xun said, “Don’t keep calling us ‘Senior,’ it makes it sound like we have a hierarchy. Just call us by name. This cocoa pie is especially delicious; it has a molten center. I gained three pounds last month because of it.”
“Mhm,” a warmth flowed through Zhang Liuxin’s heart. The cocoa pie was indeed delicious. “It’s really good.”
“Right? But remember to collect your trash so we can throw it away together later, or the cleaning lady will complain.”
A short while later, Wen Jin arrived. Perhaps he didn’t have class today, as he was dressed more casually. His dark hair was slightly loose, making him look even more like the ID photo, equally captivating.
This time, Wen Jin sat further away from Zhang Liuxin, but Zhang Liuxin still felt uncomfortable because whenever Lin Xun spoke, both he and Wen Jin would look up simultaneously, their eyes inevitably meeting in the air before awkwardly shifting away.
Wen Jin’s expression was cold, carrying his usual indifference. He looked at Zhang Liuxin like a stranger, though they were strangers to begin with. After adding Wen Jin’s account, they hadn’t chatted. Zhang Liuxin had morbidly compared the differences between his two accounts, concluding, while simultaneously despising himself, that both were essentially zombie accounts.
“Since this is our first time, we’ll do a simple plant rubbing activity. Starting next week, we’ll divide into groups—tropical, temperate, and arctic—to conduct research presentations on related plants. Later, we’ll make ecological terrariums and such. At the end of the year, there’s a Club Festival, and we’ll have a booth. Everyone, brainstorm some good ideas and tell me or A Duo.”
A Duo distributed the tools and materials for plant rubbing. Zhang Liuxin received fern grass, wild peony, and a few other wildflowers he couldn’t name.
Someone nearby commented, “It feels like an elementary school club activity.”
Lin Xun pretended to be angry. “Don’t say that! Elementary school students don’t have access to this many beautiful flowers and plants.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Plant rubbing looked easy but was quite difficult to execute. The flowers and grasses were beautiful but soft and fragile. They had to be gently secured with tape and arranged into the desired pattern.
Only two loops of the first roll of tape remained when it reached his hand, and one corner still wasn’t secured. Zhang Liuxin stood up, intending to find Lin Xun for a new roll. Before he could straighten up, a roll of tape was placed on his desk.
Zhang Liuxin followed the hand to a section of a well-defined forearm, and then to Wen Jin’s dark, slightly lowered phoenix eyes.
He sat back down in a daze and said, “Thank you.”
Wen Jin didn’t leave, however. He sat on the tall stool next to Zhang Liuxin. A silent, intense presence emanated from beside him, causing Zhang Liuxin’s hand, holding the tweezers, to tremble slightly.
“Are you nervous?”
Zhang Liuxin shook his head. “No.”
“Senior Wen,” someone nearby called Wen Jin. Zhang Liuxin paused his movements, then heard the girl say, “Could you come and see if I’m doing this correctly?”
“I can.” Wen Jin stood up, and the small patch of shadow reflecting on the cloth moved away.
Perhaps no one expected Wen Jin to be so patient. Several people asked him questions, and he answered them all, even actively helping with the operation.
Zhang Liuxin didn’t know if Wen Jin had participated in such activities before, or if it was due to his extensive lab work, but his movements were precise. In a short while, he had rubbed a bougainvillea flower onto the cloth. It was perfectly intact and beautiful, the crimson folds imprinted as a hazy blur, like an exquisite miniature artwork.
“Thank you, Senior, the dye is so even!”
Lin Xun saw them all gathered around and reminded them, “Hey, hey, the Senior is here to advise, not for one-on-one instruction. Don’t just watch, start practicing.”
She spotted the half-crushed wild peony on Zhang Liuxin’s desk with her sharp eyes. “Liuxin, be gentler, or the print will be ruined and ugly. Let me teach you.”
Zhang Liuxin looked down; his attempt was indeed a bit tragic. “Okay, I’ll be gentler.”
Lin Xun was still two steps away from his desk when Wen Jin’s voice came from a closer distance behind him, deep and resonant in his ear—
“What are you struggling with?”