"Of course, I have to protect it," Allen said seriously with one hand on the camera, "Just like a lance is a warrior’s life, a camera is a photographer’s life."
"..." Koa Jackson glanced at him.
"Bro," Allen was clearly dissatisfied with his reaction and said earnestly, "Can you perform surgery without a scalpel?"
"A doctor’s duty is to save lives; can it be the same?" Koa was very proud of his professional identity.
"Why isn’t it the same?" Allen’s two delicate eyebrows furrowed as he continued matter-of-factly, "You save lives, while we save souls. A doctor saves a life with one surgery, but sometimes a photographer can save many souls with one photo."
"Hmm," Koa looked at him with raised eyes, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his lips as he continued indifferently, "Without a soul, a person is a walking corpse, but without life, they’re just a mound of earth."
"..." Allen opened his mouth to look at him but couldn’t find words.
Mia Ginger couldn’t help letting out a light chuckle.
Allen glanced at Koa with grievance, stopped talking to him, and turned to Mia with excitement, "Little Pepper..."
"I told you not to call me Little Pepper." Mia directly interrupted him.
"Uh, what should I call you then?" Allen scratched his head helplessly and suddenly got excited, "Right, I don’t know your name yet. Haha, last time I heard it at grandpa’s house but forgot again."
"Mia Ginger." Mia responded concisely.
"Mia... Ginger?" Allen blinked, a bit confused as he seemed to be trying hard to remember the name.
"Yes, ’Ginger’ as in the spice, ’Ginger’ as in the Classic of Poetry."
"I know the spice ginger," Allen said like a curious child, "But what’s ’Ginger’ from the poetry?"
Mia rolled her eyes, "It’s a line from an ancient poem."
Allen’s Chinese wasn’t good enough to understand ancient poetry but hearing her mention it naturally sparked unprecedented interest. He leaned forward slightly, holding his camera, and asked with bright, jewel-like eyes, "Can you explain it to me? That way, I can remember your name."
Who cares if you remember my name?
Mia muttered silently in her heart and patiently explained, "The line ’Qing Qing Zi Jin, you you wo xin. Zong wo bu wang, zi ning bu si yin?’ comes from the Classic of Poetry. The Classic of Poetry contains many melodious lines. It means, ’Your green collar haunts my heart deeply, even if I don’t look for you, can’t you reach out to me?’ ’Qing Qing Zi Jin’ refers to the lover’s blue garment. Combined with the lines that follow, it’s a very old love poem."
She spoke at length, and Allen was completely captivated.
After a while, he sighed, "What you said is so complex, but it sounds especially romantic."
"Of course," Mia said with pride.
"Haha." Allen was amused by her rare smile and pushed his camera in front of her earnestly, "How about I teach you photography in the future?"
"Oh?" Mia wasn’t thinking of taking on a student, nor was she planning to learn photography, and was momentarily stunned.
Beside them, Koa watched the two having an ongoing conversation, feeling a bit of a headache, yet it was rare to see Mia so relaxed, so he tolerated their chattiness.
"Yeah." Allen turned on the camera to show her, "Take a look, aren’t my photos fantastic? Doesn’t this image feel really evocative?"