In the photo, Pei Muchan and Xu Qingyan snuggled up to each other, but their gazes never quite met, remaining blurry and unclear.
The old master scratched his head, but he didn't pursue perfection too much.
Sea breeze, blue sky, cable car, couples—all the elements were there, and the composition was perfect. There was no need to nitpick, especially since there was another round in the afternoon.
Going down the mountain started from the other side of the hill, crossing a part of the shallow sea area. A long stone path extended from the coastline, and the cable car passed overhead, with the deep blue sea below.
In a sense, this part could truly be considered a sea cable car.
The old master earned his pay, continuously shooting on the way down with high efficiency. Halfway through, the photo shoot was already finished.
The two finally relaxed their tense nerves, leaning to the side and taking out their smartphones to rest.
Pei Muchan's fair fingers idly swiped across the phone screen, repeatedly pulling down to refresh the message interface.
Perhaps because it was summer, the cable car itself was quite small. Plus, with a following photographer and the old master, four people were crammed into a cable car meant for two.
Xu Qingyan was sitting right beside her, and even though both of them were on their phones, she could distinctly feel the warm presence next to her, which made her somewhat distracted.
The sea breeze blew, and it was silent inside the cable car.
Their current situation resembled that of two people who had not known each other long being forced together in a wedding ceremony, where the drinks in their exchanged cups weren't alcohol, but rather chilled sour plum juice.
"We're here," Xu Qingyan said, tilting his head slightly and glancing at her.
Sure enough, the cable car started its clattering approach to the station. There seemed to be someone with a camera ready to take a photo at the landing, with the shooting free of charge and printing for fifty.
Just as the person focused the camera, they realized that the opposite party consisted of four people with all sorts of professional photographic gear. And to make matters worse, they recognized that the old master's camera hanging around his neck was dozens of times more expensive than the one in their hands.
Awkward.
After getting off the cable car, Pei Muchan and Xu Qingyan were both ready to head back when the old master called out to them from behind.
"The photo! Here, I'll give each of you two copies."
The two were taken aback, not expecting the old master to be more enthusiastic than them—he actually hustled over and spent fifty to buy that photo.
In the photo, the two leaned against the side of the cable car seat, Xu Qingyan looking languid. Pei Muchan wasn't looking at the camera; at that moment, her gaze turned to his profile.
At lunch, only Shen Jinyue and You Zijun came back, both sitting at the table looking exhausted.
"I don't want to go this afternoon," Shen Jinyue said with despondence, "That photographer is so mean, making us run back and forth seven or eight times, I'm almost knocked out from exhaustion."
"I don't want to go either, my heart... my heart can barely keep beating." You Zijun was pale, turning to look at Xu Qingyan, who was playing with his phone.
"Brother Xu, how did your shoot go?"
"Me? Not bad, I guess. Took a cable car by the sea."
"Wow, a sea cable car?" Shen Jinyue was completely overwhelmed. "Why did I get the task running back and forth on the beach like a monkey!!"
"Maybe they're spreading out the shoots, perhaps you'll be on the sea cable car this afternoon," Pei Muchan consoled.
"No! Impossible!" Shen Jinyue reacted as if struck by a terrible illness, her face contorted, she covered her chest and said, "Pei sister, do you know what the photographer said before he left?"
"What?"
"He said! 'See you at the same place at four o'clock in the afternoon!'" Shen Jinyue held her head with both hands, utterly devastated, "This afternoon, I have to take photos like Sun Wukong by the sea again!!!"
You Zijun also bumped his head against the dining table, sighing incessantly.
"The photographer said our group is quite lively and suitable for a youthful and dynamic themed photoshoot, but in the end... in the end, it turned out to be military training at the seaside!"
Pei Muchan smiled, feeling somewhat out of place with the atmosphere of these two, glanced instinctively to the side, and then froze.
"Are you studying music theory?"
"Yeah." Xu Qingyan watched the teaching video with a buzzing head, responding somewhat blandly, "Aren't you a singer? I wanted to have more in common with you."
In fact, that was pure nonsense; he just wanted to make money.
The barrage had been laughing and joking about Shen Jinyue's abstract performance, but as soon as the camera switched to Pei Muchan and Xu Qingyan, emotions instantly polarized.
"Thanks for the invite, but the corpse is feeling a bit uncomfortable, going to lie down first."
"It's over! How did their relationship get so good? It's not for real, is it? Director, Director, speak up, is it scripted?!"
"I'm indifferent, but a friend of mine might be a bit broken up over this; he's not feeling well and went to sleep, of course, it's not me, ha. I've always been fine, just an observer. It shouldn't really affect me or anything, just wanted to look out for my friend, he's a bit upset, can you two not get along so well, I don't really feel anything, it's just for my friend... wuwuwu!!"
Pei Muchan blinked, obviously not believing what he was saying.
She leaned in slightly closer, peered at his phone screen for a while, and discovered he was watching a three-hour lesson on B-site on how to write a song, which made her smile amusedly.
"Watching these won't be of any use to you."
"Hm?" Xu Qingyan looked up, "Then what should I watch? I'm not that interested, just a little bit interested."
He presumptuously pinched his fingers, making a gesture that would collectively unsettle every Korean stick.
"Look..." Pei Muchan was about to recommend a course, then remembered he was probably just a three-minute enthusiast, "If you really want to learn, I can teach you."
"Really?" Xu Qingyan immediately set aside the video in his hands.
"Yes, if you just want to experience the fun of songwriting, I can teach you some simple methods," Pei Muchan nodded.
"When is the photoshoot this afternoon?" she asked.
"Seems like it starts at four thirty."
"Then good, come find me at three o' clock," she said.
While the two of them were talking, Shen Jinyue had been watching all along, shoveling rice into her mouth incessantly. Her eyes roamed continuously, glancing at Xu Qingyan then at Pei Muchan.
"Xu Qingyan, since when did you become so close with her?" she blurted out directly.
"With who?" He looked up at her, his expression immediately turning indifferent, which irked Shen Jinyue.
"With Pei Muchan!" she puffed out her chest and protested, "How come it feels like your relationship got better after just one trip out? Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened." Pei Muchan felt her face heat up at the comment and could only bow her head and eat.
Xu Qingyan, still with that same annoying expression and a scrutinizing attitude, said leisurely, "Adult matters, you shouldn't pry, talk too much and you'll go sit at the kids' table."
The more he spoke like this and gave her a 'keep quiet' attitude, the more irritated Shen Jinyue became. She let out a few consecutive snorts of contempt and whispered.
"Stingy Xu Qingyan!"