Lin Xiang was eating with her head down, but she always felt like soone was watching her.
Although the gaze wasn’t invasive, being stared at while eating always made her feel a bit uncomfortable.
Lin Xiang put down her chopsticks and raised her eyes to stare at Cheng Jinyun, "Why do you keep looking at ?"
"Do you have any plans today?"
Before Lin Xiang could answer, Cheng Jinyun continued, "I heard that the maple leaves at Xiangshan have turned red. Let’s go see them together."
"Today?"
Cheng Jinyun nodded.
"Just the two of us?"
Cheng Jinyun continued to nod.
Lin Xiang felt her heart skip a beat.
Why did she suddenly feel a bit of anticipation?
The next second, she heard Cheng Jinyun say, "I asked Mom this morning, and she said she’s going to Xingfu Restaurant, so she has no ti to go out with us."
Her heart suddenly dropped back down.
Lin Xiang angrily bit into a big mouthful of at bun, "No way!"
Half an hour later, at Xiangshan.
Lin Xiang watched as Cheng Jinyun magically pulled out a point-and-shoot cara and waved at her, "You should stand under that big tree, and I’ll take a picture of you."
"Sure."
Many girls love taking pictures, and Lin Xiang was no exception.
In front of the cara, she naturally struck a pose, and with a click, the photo was taken.
"I heard from my aunt that this cara is called an instant cara, and the photo will co out soon."
As Cheng Jinyun’s words fell, a photo did co out, but the image was slowly forming, and at first glance, it just looked like a black blur.
"Did it fail? How about I take another one for you?"
"It didn’t fail. With instant photos, you have to wait a mont for the image to appear."
They waited a bit longer, and Lin Xiang’s image gradually beca clear.
She stood upright beneath the big tree, her lips curving slightly, serene and beautiful in the photo.
Cheng Jinyun stared at the photo for a while, then placed it in the cara bag’s compartnt.
"The scenery over there is also beautiful. Let’s go take so more photos."
Along the way, Lin Xiang kept walking ahead, while Cheng Jinyun occasionally lifted the cara to capture her beautiful monts.
He got so into taking pictures that by the ti he noticed, there was only one sheet of film left.
Lin Xiang had already struck a pose; seeing that Cheng Jinyun hadn’t lifted the cara for a long ti, she couldn’t help but run over, "Is there sothing wrong with the cara?"
"There’s only one sheet of film left," Cheng Jinyun looked around, "and there’s no place selling film here. How about you find a place to sit and wait for while I go to the Friendship Store to buy more film?"
It was his first ti bringing film outside, and he didn’t know it would get used up so quickly.
Lin Xiang said, "No need, let’s use the last sheet of film to take a picture together."
"We’ve known each other for so long but have never taken a picture together."
Lin Xiang took the cara from Cheng Jinyun’s hand, her eyes scanning around and seeing a couple not far away also holding a cara.
"Hi, could you please take a picture for us?"
Lin Xiang pointed at herself and then at Cheng Jinyun, who was following closely behind her.
"Of course. Where would you like the picture taken?"
They had already circled Xiangshan Park and were almost back at the entrance.
Lin Xiang chose the place where she had taken her first photo.
Underneath the tree, she and Cheng Jinyun stood side by side.
"Click—"
With the sound of the shutter, their first photo together took shape.
After taking a few more photos for the couple, the image on the film ford during the ti they helped.
Under the maple tree, the siblings stood shoulder to shoulder, Lin Xiang looking at the cara, and Cheng Jinyun looking down at her.
Even though the distance was too far for the film to capture Cheng Jinyun’s gaze, his slightly lowered expression seed full of deep emotion.
As this thought erged, Lin Xiang couldn’t help but shake her head.
The next second, a water bottle was offered to her: "Have so water."
"Okay."
Lin Xiang drank deeply from the cup, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cheng Jinyun looking at that photo.
His lips were slightly curved upward, and from her angle, she could see the tenderness in his eyes.
At this mont, a bold thought erged in Lin Xiang’s mind.
Could it be that he...
"Lin Xiang!"
She turned her head at the sound of her na and saw Zheng Miaoyue striding over towards her.
"Xiangxiang, I can’t believe I ran into you here; it’s wonderful!"
Zheng Miaoyue’s voice even carried a hint of sobbing.
Lin Xiang instinctively glanced in the direction Zheng Miaoyue had co from and saw several people standing there.
Two middle-aged couples, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, and a young man in his twenties, chatting but all seeming to look in their direction.
Zheng Miaoyue grabbed Lin Xiang’s arm, perhaps out of nervousness, her grip so tight that Lin Xiang even felt so pain.
"I went back to my grandparents’ house yesterday, and that family of three was also there and stayed over at grandma’s. This morning, that woman invited to Xiangshan. I’ve been to Xiangshan so many tis; I didn’t want to go with them at all. But grandma said that we are family and she didn’t want the relationship to be too strained."
Zheng Miaoyue cares a lot about her grandparents and doesn’t want to put them in a difficult position, so she reluctantly agreed.
But once they got to Xiangshan, she realized that woman had an agenda!
"Did you see those three people standing next to their family of three?"
Seeing Lin Xiang nod, Zheng Miaoyue continued, "That’s the woman’s brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Her purpose of inviting out was to pair up with her nephew for marriage!"
Zheng Miaoyue worked hard to get accepted into Huaqing University, but that man didn’t even finish junior high.
Even though Zheng Miaoyue’s parents remarried after their divorce, she has the love of her grandparents, and they are financially well-off. Not to ntion a future inheritance, she is set to secure a good job.
But that man, originally his parents fard in their hotown, and it was only after his stepmother married Zheng Miaoyue’s father that they were able to relocate to the city for work.
The family has no foundation, and that man has no prospects either.
Marrying soone like that would push Zheng Miaoyue into a life of misery, wouldn’t it?
"How far has it progressed?" Lin Xiang asked.
"She made it clear, asking to treat her nephew seriously. When I refused, she even told my dad that I didn’t understand her good intentions! She said her nephew is soone she’s watched grow up, with no bad habits and a known background, so marrying him would ensure I never suffer."
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