SWG Chapter 46

Chapter 46

That night, the night of the photoshoot, Ruan Shengyi had insomnia.

This was a pretty common occurrence, but the reason for her insomnia that night was that she had once again rejected a kiss.

How did things develop to such a point where they were so infatuated with each other that they wanted to kiss?

Ruan Shengyi turned over, for the first time hating her curtains for being too thick, completely blocking out the pale moonlight from outside the window.

Speaking of which, perhaps it was the atmosphere at that time, just like now, drowsy and hazy, most capable of stirring one’s heartstrings.

In order to adjust the lighting, all the lights in the room were turned off, and then a deep yellow light shone from directly in front of Ruan Shengyi. After raising the light a bit, and going through a series of operations that Ruan Shengyi couldn’t understand and marveled at, thinking, “as expected of a photographer,” Xiao Wenyu finally told her to look at the camera, and clicked several photos in a row.

Xiao Wenyu held the camera, carefully looking at it with her head slightly lowered. After a long while, she said, “Do you want to take a look?”

Ruan Shengyi didn’t understand the process, she looked around blankly, “Is it finished already?”

They had prepared for so long just now, could it be that quick?

Xiao Wenyu chuckled, “How could it be? We have to take at least a dozen poses. It’s not easy to find such a comfortable model, so I have to make good use of you, right?”

“Alright then, you can look at them together after you’re done.”

The last set of poses required a chair, first a high stool.

Ruan Shengyi was especially obedient tonight. She let one leg hang down, and gently stepped on the horizontal bar in the middle of the stool with the other. She supported her chin with one hand, but her gaze was required by Xiao Wenyu to look at the flowers next to her with “affectionate eyes.”

Affectionate eyes.

Ruan Shengyi didn’t know how to do it before, but now she did.

She looked at the fake flowers placed next to her, her breath trembled slightly, and in the next instant, a watery tenderness enveloped the bouquet of flowers, her eyes flickering slightly, as if endless affection was about to rush over and hug them tightly.

The person holding the camera was somewhat stunned.

It wasn’t that Ruan Shengyi’s pose was bad, on the contrary, she posed too well. The flickering in her eyes was too captivating, so much so that…

It reminded Xiao Wenyu of the countless moments when they accidentally made eye contact.

She had already experienced the ups and downs of emotion, so how could she not notice Ruan Shengyi’s feelings for her gradually changing, from the initial mindset of perhaps wanting to have some fun with her, to later developing special feelings, and then learning to restrain her emotions.

She saw it all, and could understand it.

But it was also today’s deliberately disguised, deliberately emphasized emotional “affectionate eyes” that suddenly made her realize a trace of something special.

In the countless times when Ruan Shengyi belittled herself, saying that she wasn’t very good, a trace of attachment would always flash in her eyes, a little affection. Those fluctuations were deliberately forgotten by her, but at this moment, they all surged back to the surface of her memory.

“Is it done?” Ruan Shengyi supported her neck, “It’s sore.”

“It’s done, do you want to take a look?”

“Yes, I do.”

Ruan Shengyi walked over, stretching her neck, standing behind her, very close to her, their heads almost touching, so that she could see the photos on the small screen.

So close that their warm breaths mingled together, and she could even hear the soft sounds of each other’s heartbeats.

Ruan Shengyi suddenly tasted a bit of the fun of taking photos like this—

Two people, alone in a closed room, enclosed, dark, quiet and humid, and after it was over, they could put their heads together like this, feeling their breaths intertwined, listening to each other’s quiet heartbeats.

She didn’t even know if she was admiring the photos, or admiring the pleasant heartbeats.

She said softly, “Xiao Wenyu, let’s take more photos in the future, I’ll be your model.”

The hand holding the camera paused for a moment, and asked, “Do you really like the photos I take?”

Ruan Shengyi was suddenly stumped by the question.

Her words just now were somewhat malicious, and she didn’t have much intention of admiring the beautiful pictures in front of her. Hearing this, she raised a hand to support the camera, and watched for a while, saying, “You have a lot of talent, you take really good photos.”

“That photography competition…”

Xiao Wenyu took back the camera, and shook her head, “I don’t have that ability anymore. It’s because you look good, not because my skills haven’t declined. There are a lot of flaws in this, but non-professionals might not be able to see them. In short, I’m not that good.”

Ruan Shengyi was already confused by the sudden interruption, and even more confused when she heard this person deny herself three times in a row.

Why deny it so exaggeratedly? Moreover, Beishi isn’t a very big city. Why does a city-level photography exhibition make Xiao Wenyu so afraid?

But before she could ask more questions, Xiao Wenyu re-positioned the camera, and said, “There’s another set of sitting photos, let’s change to a shorter stool.”

Ruan Shengyi walked back, sat down, thought for a while, and still said, “Xiao Wenyu, your photography skills are really high, can you believe in yourself? Stop denying yourself all the time.”

Xiao Wenyu was silent.

Ruan Shengyi didn’t want to say anything more. She arranged the chair, straightened her casual suit, and sat down, asking, “How should I pose?”

The woman said in a low voice, “…I’ll teach you.”

She dragged her skirt from the light, leaving a layer of phantom, walked slowly, and stopped in front of Ruan Shengyi.

Suddenly opening her mouth: “Ruan Shengyi speaks of me in beautiful terms.”

Her fingers hooked under her chin, slid down her cheek to the back of her head, and then she held the person’s head in front of her with both hands, raising it up, “Why don’t you do this yourself?”

Ruan Shengyi looked into her eyes, and was momentarily timid.

The cool index finger caressed the scar behind Ruan Shengyi’s ear. The woman said in a deep voice: “Dare to tell me the origin of this scar?”

“I…”

Xiao Wenyu pressed a finger to the corner of her lips, stopping her words, and said in a cool voice, “You say you’re bad, you really are bad.”

“Only teaching the magistrate to set fires.”

Ruan Shengyi was lifted a little sore, and her eyes were a little misty because of staring for a long time. Her voice was also a little hoarse. “Then what does it mean to allow the people to light lamps?”

“Tell me, this scar.”

“…That’s not a pleasant story.”

“Do little kids need candy to tell stories?”

Red lips were closer, and the voice was even more muffled.

Ruan Shengyi lowered her eyes to look at those red lips, naturally knowing Xiao Wenyu’s purpose in doing so.

She also wanted to, she wanted to very much, she was thinking about it all the time. She even thought that it was so quiet and deserted here, it wouldn’t matter if something else happened, right? It wouldn’t matter, right!

However, she didn’t dare.

The fear of intimate relationships overcame everything, and the fear of genes overcame sensibility.

If it was August, maybe she would try.

If it was September, maybe she would impulsively cross the final line of rationality.

But not now.

What she wanted to give Xiao Wenyu was not just a short-term intimate relationship, but a long-term reliance, so she couldn’t lose her mind. She didn’t know if she could come back after losing her mind.

It wasn’t impossible to love her soberly and restrainedly.

Or, make sufficient material preparations before letting her rationality fall.

She almost used all her strength to move her eyes away from them, and said in a hoarse voice, “Is your reward the same as what I’m thinking?”

But the next words were like a bucket of cold water, pouring over the two of them.

“Then it’s not necessary.”

The last set of photos was never taken.

They got into the car in silence, neither of them willing to turn their heads, let alone talk about what had just happened. Even entering the house was like ordinary roommates, without even saying goodnight.

Thus, it came to the present.

Three in the morning.

Ruan Shengyi turned over again, and simply sat up, picked up the phone next to her.

She adjusted to the stimulation of the light, and then found the flyer for the photography competition, looking at it one by one.

At least three sets of fifteen photos are required to participate. The theme is self-selected. The winners of the competition will be exhibited at the Beishi Photography Exhibition in May of next year. What is currently being held is just the preliminary round. Before November, the registration form must be sent to the designated mailbox according to the requirements.

Ruan Shengyi pondered for a moment, simply put on a bathrobe, and tiptoed out of bed.

*

Another difference between Le Xin and Tonight Intoxicated is the time when the excitement starts.

Tonight Intoxicated is a small gathering after everyone gets off work, a fine-tuning of a weary life, so it often doesn’t start to get noisy until after seven or eight in the evening.

Le Xin took a completely different approach. As long as there were people, there was music. As long as there was music, it could attract more people. There were even people who drove for more than half an hour from the city just to be thoroughly noisy.

Such noise also had one advantage: it was less likely to be discovered when seeking tranquility in a corner.

Chen Yuexin went straight to the bar after entering, “Who’s looking for me?”

The bartender was very anxious when she called her, so she rushed over from home.

The bartender raised her chin and pointed to a corner.

When Chen Yuexin saw it, a layer of cold sweat broke out on her palms.

Why did Xiao Wenyu run to her place? No, didn’t her silly student tell her? This, this, this… shouldn’t need to collude, right?

She turned her back to the corner, took out her phone and called Ruan Shengyi.

One wasn’t answered, two weren’t answered, three still weren’t answered.

Just wait to die, you idiot, dropping the ball at a critical moment.

Chen Yuexin slowly exhaled a breath, straightened her collar, and then walked to Xiao Wenyu, reaching out her hand, “Hello, Xiao Wenyu, I’m Chen Yuexin.”

“Hello…” Xiao Wenyu squinted her eyes slightly, and suddenly realized, “It’s you, the boss of the congee hot pot restaurant.”

Chen Yuexin coughed awkwardly.

This was why she only wanted to talk to Xiao Wenyu on the phone for so long!

This was somewhat embarrassing.

Xiao Wenyu was no longer polite, and after sitting down, chuckled, “She said she lied to me about a lot of things, it seems this is one of them.”

This was what Xiao Wenyu came to do this time.

She now felt that Ruan Shengyi was a little too wrong. Every time, Ruan Shengyi took the initiative to come forward to care about her, taking step after step after step towards her, and even dissecting her own wounds to try to comfort her. But whenever she wanted to take half a step towards Ruan Shengyi, that guy would immediately retreat, placing a layer of nails in front of the door of her heart, listing all kinds of bad things about herself, trying to stop her.

This state was too wrong.

But asking Ruan Shengyi was destined to not get anything out of it, so she simply didn’t ask anything and went straight to Chen Yuexin.

After all, Chen Yuexin had told her before that this matter was a long story.

Sure enough, although Chen Yuexin’s expression changed quickly, the momentary astonishment still exposed the reality that she knew something.

Xiao Wenyu then took a step further, “You said on the phone that this matter is a long story, we might as well talk about it slowly here.”

“…” Chen Yuexin sighed deeply, and resigned herself to fate, “Xiao, she has been trying her best to dissect her past for you to see, these things can’t be rushed.”

“But, is she dissecting it for you to see like this, advancing and retreating?”

“That’s different.” Chen Yuexin finally regained some of her home court authority, picked up a glass and held it in her hand, gently tapping the table, “For me, she doesn’t need to worry about whether I can accept it.”

“But for you, she has to consider a lot, one of which is,”

“She doesn’t want to scare you.”

Xiao Wenyu’s breath paused slightly.

Again with this description, did she look like a very timid person?

Chen Yuexin thought for a while, clenched the glass and gently propped it under her chin, and said, “I can only tell you…”

“Before solving this problem, she can’t approach you with peace of mind, even if she is very, very close to you now.”

Xiao Wenyu was silent for a moment, and then smiled shallowly, and said softly, “So I need to understand more, instead of relying on her to show me blood and flesh one knife at a time.”

“…Aren’t you guys going out to play?”

“That’s another problem.”