Gu Shiying had chosen the humanities track in high school. As a male student, his options for college majors after the gaokao were relatively limited, and he ended up choosing New Media.
Freshman year was half theory. After starting sophomore year, the curriculum added many hands-on technical skills courses.
This week, the teacher assigned them into groups for a project: choose their own topic, handle everything from scriptwriting to shooting video or photos, publish it on a simulated platform, then monitor and analyze the data, completing the entire simulated process.
Gu Shiying never half-assed his assignments. His major was also why he’d had some sense of direction when helping Yang Shuheng with the band situation.
He usually paired up with Zhang Zhi for group projects. This time, the groups needed to be around five people, so they needed to recruit three more classmates. The girl who had learned to swim with him that day proactively came over to team up with them. Zhang Zhi also invited another girl and a guy.
The topic options were diverse: helping farmers, entertainment-focused content, and many other choices. They could also propose their own, as long as the teacher approved.
During discussions with his group members, Gu Shiying proposed writing a script and creating a video centered on the delicious food around campus. The preliminary script and necessary materials were basically settled through discussion.
Du Zhihan said, “So that’s decided? Who’s going to handle the filming? Just to be upfront, my skills aren’t there yet. My friends all complain about my photography.”
Zhang Zhi: “Then Ying’er will be in charge. His videos and photos are great. I can handle the post-production editing.”
Gu Shiying nodded. “Okay.”
Luo Siwei: “I’ll contact the well-regarded food vendors to arrange the filming.”
Du Zhihan: “Then I’ll go on the forums and gather opinions from fellow students on which places have the best food.”
Gu Shiying: “Sounds good. But I think we could broaden our selection criteria. Not just our school—we could include nearby schools or even others in the city.”
Zhang Zhi: “Totally doable. That gives me a wider range of material for editing.”
Gu Shiying: “So, let’s set a time for filming the material. Should all five of us go together?”
Du Zhihan: “Of course, together! Five pairs of eyes are always better than one. We can capture more interesting scenes.”
Their group of five consisted of Gu Shiying, Zhang Zhi, Du Zhihan, and the more outgoing Luo Siwei, plus a more introverted girl. She was full of ideas, though, and had strong copywriting skills, diligently taking notes on everyone’s suggestions.
Gu Shiying tended to be quieter around people he wasn’t close to.
For this new assignment, they spent two evenings on prep work, meeting every night in an empty classroom to discuss.
Because of the mind-reading thing, Gu Shiying hadn’t picked up his phone to film his life for a while. The last segment he’d shot was of that cat named Youtiao.
To get back into the groove, he’d been trying some test shots over the past couple of days.
Luo Siwei had already coordinated with the vendors. They were officially heading out tomorrow evening to shoot the video. After spending two evenings mostly out of the dorm, Gu Shiying came back and couldn’t resist the urge to test-shoot something. His eyes landed on the un-gifted pink-bowed box.
He set up lighting for it, adjusted the angle, even built a little scene around it, and shot close-ups from different angles. However, the box’s pink color clashed with the rather austere items on his desk. Without softer items to complement it, he wasn’t satisfied with any of the shots.
He muttered to himself, “How can I shoot this to make it look better?”
When Fu Huan returned from outside, the sight that greeted him was Gu Shiying agonizing over the pink gift box.
Fu Huan pressed his lips together, musing internally: So the gift still hasn’t been given away? Is he planning a surprise for the person’s birthday?
As Gu Shiying held up the gift, Fu Huan happened to walk right past him, his aggressive stride stirring up a breeze. Was someone pissing him off?
Gu Shiying looked at the gift box in his hand. This pink, frilly box didn’t seem quite right for Fu Huan. And Fu Huan had those kinds of thoughts about him. Giving a gift like this would definitely make him overthink things again.
But he didn’t want to have a meal alone with Fu Huan.
Ever since he’d learned about Fu Huan’s strange thoughts, he’d sometimes catch Fu Huan secretly watching him. The way Fu Huan looked at him was a little frightening, like he wanted to devour him. Though those were only occasional glimpses; most of the time, Fu Huan masked it with a blank expression.
Gu Shiying: “You’re back?”
The others weren’t back yet. Might as well give Fu Huan the gift now.
“Mm.” Fu Huan nodded, then bent down to change his shoes, not even giving Gu Shiying a glance.
“Fu…” Gu Shiying was just about to call out to him when he saw him push open the balcony door and walk out. “Needs the bathroom that badly?”
Fine, he’d give it to him when he came out.
He waited for a full ten minutes, but Fu Huan still hadn’t emerged from the bathroom.
“What the heck, does it take that long to use the toilet?”
The curtains on the balcony door were drawn. Gu Shiying couldn’t see what Fu Huan was doing. The guy had a heavy smoking habit; maybe he was smoking.
Gu Shiying had just taken the knee pads out of the box when he heard Yang Shuheng and Guan Yu talking outside. He hastily shoved them back in.
Forget it. He’d find another time to give them.
Just then, Fu Huan came back inside. Seeing the others return, he sat down in his chair and opened his laptop to look at some data.
Yang Shuheng, sharp-eyed, had already noticed the box on Gu Shiying’s desk.
“Ooh la la, Ying’er, is something going on? Who’s the lucky girl you’re giving this to?”
“It’s not for a girl.” Gu Shiying’s explanation sounded exactly like a cover-up, and he stuffed the box into a drawer for good measure.
Yang Shuheng’s eyes were full of disbelief. He threw an arm around Gu Shiying’s neck and grabbed for the box. “I don’t believe you. Let me see what you got!”
Gu Shiying quickly pushed the drawer shut. “It’s nothing, really. It’s not for a girl. The seller sent the wrong box.”
Somehow, the more he explained, the more it sounded like he really was giving it to a girl. Even Guan Yu joined in the fun.
Guan Yu: “Yang Shuheng, stop teasing him. He’s just shy.”
Gu Shiying: “Shy my ass.”
Yang Shuheng: “I don’t believe you. You totally look like a virgin.”
Gu Shiying: “What, you’re not a virgin anymore?”
Yang Shuheng: “Nope.”
Gu Shiying gave him a thumbs-up. “Hardcore!”
Yang Shuheng, arm still around his neck, burst out laughing. “Want your big bro here to tell you how it went down?”
Gu Shiying pushed him away. “Not interested in hearing you brag, thanks.”
Yang Shuheng and Guan Yu, convinced he was truly embarrassed, cracked up together.
CRACK!
The three, mid-horseplay, heard a crisp shattering sound.
All three simultaneously turned toward Fu Huan’s direction. Only his phone could produce a cracking sound that brittle. Their phones all had protective cases.
Gu Shiying and Guan Yu used cases to protect their phones; Yang Shuheng’s was for the cool design. Only Fu Huan’s black phone was case-less. The sound of its impact was stark and genuinely painful to hear—the sound of money shattering.
Yang Shuheng: “Brother Huan, why don’t you use a phone case? It’s easy to break like that.”
Fu Huan calmly picked up his phone. “I’m not used to cases.”
Gu Shiying didn’t join this conversation. He hadn’t sensed Fu Huan’s secret crush on him before, not because his intuition was dull, but because Fu Huan had hidden it well. He’d never even considered the possibility. Now, with that premise established, he could only think: Fu Huan’s phone “falling” just now? Could be Fu Huan was jealous?
He rubbed the back of his hand. Stop it, stop overthinking! Way overthinking!
Wait, letting Fu Huan think he was pursuing a girl should actually be a good thing, right?
How had he almost gotten sidetracked? He shouldn’t have been so honest just now with Yang Shuheng. Why hadn’t he just admitted it directly? How was it that he couldn’t master the art of smooth, off-the-cuff talking like Zhang Zhi?
He was way too honest. He needed to work on that.
The next evening, Gu Shiying and his group members headed out to shoot exterior footage.
Today’s pick wasn’t a large, flashy restaurant. It was a place with foot traffic, ranked on food review platforms, though most places paid for boosted reviews. They were looking for small shops or street food stalls, the kind of places students actually loved.
Their first interview subject was the fried rice food cart at the school’s East Gate.
It was a husband-and-wife operation. Every day, hordes of students lined up to buy their fried rice. While the husband stir-fried, his wife would stay by his side, always smiling warmly at customers, enthusiastically offering small stools for them to sit and wait.
Gu Shiying’s group had five members, but only three had shown up. The introverted girl wasn’t feeling well, and Luo Siwei, being in the student council, was called away to a meeting. That left only Gu Shiying, Zhang Zhi, and Du Zhihan.
With fewer people, Gu Shiying found himself more at ease.
The couple’s cart arrived later in the evening. The street was packed with people; Gu Shiying couldn’t even get a clean empty shot. But he could film the lively crowd, the surrounding shops, and the various other stalls also catering to the student crowd.
The increasingly hot weather and the smoky, lively atmosphere of a summer night made the city feel more passionate, shedding some of its coldness.
Gu Shiying filmed the couple arriving on their electric cart.
The boss was a shy man, not much of a conversationalist. Zhang Zhi did most of the talking and guiding.
Zhang Zhi’s family also ran a small supermarket back home, so he was naturally good at chatting with customers. The boss gradually relaxed.
However, halfway through filming, Gu Shiying’s phone popped up a notification: insufficient memory.
Gu Shiying: “Old Zhang, we’ll have to use your phone for the rest. I haven’t cleared old videos off mine; no more memory.”
Zhang Zhi: “My phone camera’s resolution isn’t good, and it has a built-in beautification filter. I’ve tried—it doesn’t look authentic.”
Gu Shiying asked Du Zhihan, “Zhihan, what about yours?”
Du Zhihan shook her head. “Mine’s no good either. I scratched the camera lens a couple of days ago.”
Gu Shiying tried shooting two clips with Zhang Zhi’s phone. They really weren’t as sharp as his own. He could only start frantically deleting unneeded videos from his phone on the spot.
Zhang Zhi suddenly waved toward the distance. “Ying’er, we’re saved! I see Fu Huan and Liang Qi!”
Gu Shiying’s heart started doing gymnastics at the name Fu Huan. “… “
Zhang Zhi, oblivious as ever: “Brother Huan! Brother Huan! Ying’er needs your help!”
Fu Huan and Liang Qi heard the call and walked over.
Gu Shiying was anything but eager. He kept his head down, continuing to delete videos.
Just as Fu Huan reached them, a middle-aged man suddenly slammed into Gu Shiying’s right arm.
At the same time, a stranger’s inner voice, one he hadn’t heard in a while, suddenly bored into Gu Shiying’s mind.
【I put something in that Wang guy’s fried rice. Once those college kids eat it, they’ll end up in the hospital for sure. He’s finished!】
Gu Shiying, caught off guard, stumbled. He pitched sideways toward a scalding soup cauldron. In his moment of shock, Fu Huan pulled him protectively into his arms, yanking him away from the danger zone.
Fu Huan’s inner voice domineeringly drowned out the stranger’s.
【Got to hold him. Gu Shiying is really soft.】
Gu Shiying felt Fu Huan take the opportunity to squeeze his arm. “…”
Dude, my fists can be really hard.
