Ji Chengnan burst into laughter upon hearing this. It was rare for him to meet someone who could so straightforwardly list their own merits, which made Mei Mengzhen’s personality truly interesting. He immediately said, "Let me take the photo for you; I’ve studied photography, and I’m pretty good."
But how embarrassing would that be, Mei Mengzhen said with some trepidation, "No, don’t, Brother Chengnan. If you take a picture of me and your fans scold me, what should I do?"
"They won’t. My fans only scold those who covet me. You have a boyfriend; why would they scold you?"
Ji Chengnan’s words were quite reasonable; after all, she did have a boyfriend, so there was no way the criticism would fall on her. Mei Mengzhen nodded in agreement and replied, "Then I’ll trouble Brother Chengnan."
Mei Mengzhen snatched the camera from Fan Tianyu’s hands and even glanced at the terrible photos he had taken. They were truly rubbish. With a look of disgust, Mei Mengzhen said, "Such a nice camera, it even has a stabilizer. How could anyone take such terrible pictures?"
It was too bad to even call them blurry, totally beyond redemption.
Ji Chengnan took the camera from Mei Mengzhen and glanced at Fan Tianyu’s photos, momentarily unsure of how to respond because the photos were indeed very unpleasing. But he still offered comfort, "Tianyu has never studied photography, so it’s normal for him to shoot like this. Good photos need lighting, composition... all these elements to turn out well, Zhenzhen, how would you like to pose?"
How to pose, Mei Mengzhen chuckled, "I could pose any way, but since you know so much, Brother Chengnan, why don’t you direct me a bit?"
Ji Chengnan was naturally willing. As they spoke, he found several spots with great framing. Mei Mengzhen wanted a full-body shot, which Ji Chengnan remembered. As she walked, he followed and snapped photos. After taking a few, Mei Mengzhen looked at the finished shots and exclaimed, "These look amazing, Brother Chengnan, your photography skills are more than just studied."
Mei Mengzhen noticed that Ji Chengnan’s photos added something called "feeling" to the pictures, as if it was still the same photo with the same poses and the same person, but the overall texture of the images seemed much more refined.
Ji Ran said, "Brother Chengnan is just being modest; he’s won the XX award before. His photography skills are, of course, impeccable."
Although the XX award might be obscure to most people, it was a significant accolade in the photography world. Mei Mengzhen, due to her line of work, had a bit of understanding and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my gosh, Brother Chengnan is so amazing. That award is really hard to get."
Ji Chengnan humbly said, "Zhenzhen knows about the award too, but it’s not as exaggerated as Ranran makes it out to be."
"Don’t, Brother Chengnan, don’t be too modest. We all know the prestige of that award, we all do. To be more modest would be pointless." With this thought, Mei Mengzhen suddenly became very excited, "Today is a rare opportunity, and it’s rare for Brother Chengnan to take photos for me, so why not take a few more."
Ji Ran said, "Sister Zhenzhen really knows how to make the most of her opportunities."
"Of course!"
"Alright, how else do you want to shoot?"
After some thought, Mei Mengzhen said, "We took full-body shots already; now let’s take some half-body ones. Actually, I look really good in close-ups."
Ji Ran’s mouth twitched. He had never seen someone so unabashedly praise themselves. Of course, he couldn’t deny that Mei Mengzhen indeed looked very good in photos; she had a strong camera presence and her own personal charm. She knew how to pose attractively and take tasteful photos.
He could tell that even his brother was enjoying taking these photos. It was obvious that the model and the photographer were a perfect match.
The group continued to shoot and have fun until they reached the lakeside mentioned by the villagers. However, due to the wrong season, the lake, which wasn’t very deep to begin with, had completely dried up, leaving the exposed mud and withered grass devoid of any aesthetic appeal. The only thing worth a look was the wooden pathway.
This path was particularly long; you could see the end from the beginning, but it would take about an hour to walk from one end to the other. They couldn’t just have Mei Mengzhen take pictures the whole time, so after a while, they took turns shooting each other.
When they emerged from the path, they arrived at the local specialty shop the villagers had mentioned, which sold, among other things, the beef jerky and dried yam slices.
The shop was quite accommodating, allowing tourists to sample the wares before making a purchase. Mei Mengzhen was specifically there for the beef jerky, having tasted it in her previous life and finding it genuinely authentic. Even though she had tried it before, she still sampled it again before buying.
The boss said, "The beef has already been weighed, 99 yuan per bag, with each bag weighing 10 pounds." That was essentially 10 yuan per pound. Although beef prices hadn’t soared to 40 or 50 yuan per pound ten years ago, beef was never cheap; 10 yuan per pound was a fair price, only possible because it was locally produced and sold — such prices were unthinkable elsewhere.
Mei Mengzhen tried a piece; she liked the tougher texture, finding the chewy beef very flavorful in her mouth. Of course, not everyone enjoyed this texture, which was why samples were offered. She said to the boss, "Give me ten bags."
Ten bags equaled 990 yuan. The boss quickly bagged up the beef jerky for Mei Mengzhen and, while giving change, said, "We also have individually packaged ones, 30 yuan per bag, or four bags for 100 yuan. I can throw in an extra bag for you for free. What do you say? It’s a good deal."
Mei Mengzhen had purchased this type of beef jerky in her past life as well. There were many buyers at the time, and they had haggled the price down to 5 bags for 100 yuan. But even at 5 bags, she didn’t lose out. She immediately agreed, "Sure, thank you, boss. You really know how to do business."
With a modest response, the boss said, "Oh, it’s just a small business. See if you’d like anything else."
Mei Mengzhen inquired, "How much for the dried yam slices? Your villagers said they were delicious when I came here."
Immediately opening a box of dried yam slices, the boss said, "These are 10 yuan per box. Try one and see how good they are."
Mei Mengzhen didn’t hesitate to try a slice and found the flavor very pleasing. She nodded and instructed, "Alright, give me ten boxes."
After she handed over another hundred yuan bill, the boss packed up eleven boxes, "Since you’re buying in bulk, this extra box is on the house."
"Thank you, boss."
Once the money was secured, the boss continued to ask, "Would you like to buy anything else?"
Mei Mengzhen was genuinely amused at this point, "No more, we still have to climb that hill. It’s hard to carry too much, we’re from nearby and came by foot. We might come back again, so next time I’ll buy more."
Mei Mengzhen wasn’t sure if she would return, but polite words are easy to say.