Chapter 60 Part 2

Lu Qingyuan reached out and steadied him. “Slow down. Watch where you’re going.”

Chen Annan laughed it off with a “Heiya,” panting slightly. “My shoes got dirty.”

Lu Qingyuan handed him the umbrella, took out a pack of tissues from his backpack, and crouched down to wipe the mud splatters off the white uppers. “If you don’t watch where you’re going next time, I won’t wipe them for you.”

Truth be told, on a rainy day, shoes would get dirty again even after being wiped. But new shoes always felt especially precious in one’s eyes; any little stain was remarkably annoying.

Today, for their date, Chen Annan had deliberately dressed in all-new clothes from head to toe. When he’d left the house that morning, Lu Wenyuan had teased him for quite a while about it. Who knew the date would fall through, and it would even start raining on top of that.

Heaven truly has no sense of romance.

Chen Annan smoothed out the wrinkles on his loose white hoodie, pulling it down slightly so the blue checkered logo was fully visible.

Lu Qingyuan took his hand and led him forward.

The rainy sky was very dim. Hankou Road had an abundance of trees, almost entirely blocking the street from any hint of daylight.

The temperature had dropped. The plastic door curtain in front of the supermarket was pulled down. This street was packed with snack shops, their colorful signboards lining up one after another, emitting fuzzy halos of light in the dark, rainy night.

As Chen Annan walked, he saw someone ahead using the rain to their advantage, pouring out vegetable-washing water into the ditch with a loud splash.

On the other side of the road, a young couple huddled together. The girl held a photo and said, “Does my face look a bit crooked in this picture? Do you think it looks good? This has to be pasted on the marriage certificate—look carefully.”

The boy coaxed her seriously, “Where’s it crooked? It’s clearly adorable. Look, your eyes are as big as grapes. They make me look like Sun Honglei in comparison.”

Hearing this, the girl started giggling.

Chen Annan couldn’t help but glance at them a few more times.

The young couple had already reached the street corner. The boy held the umbrella, and the girl hung onto his arm, almost dangling from him. With light, quick steps, they hopped over a puddle. “Once we get the certificate, let’s save up our wedding leave and go play at the Ends of the Earth!”

Chen Annan stared blankly in that direction until the two figures disappeared among the hazy sea of people.

“Want to go take a photo?” Lu Qingyuan tugged his hand and suddenly asked.

Chen Annan came back to his senses. Surprised, he said, “Take a photo? Is there a place to take photos here? Take one with our phones?”

“Not with the phone. Let’s take some sticker photos.” Lu Qingyuan smiled. He was in extremely high spirits today and actually pulled Chen Annan into a jog.

The wind howled behind them. Chen Annan, still mindful of his new shoes, made a point of hopping over the small puddles as he ran, but ended up splattering black mud dots all over his pant legs.

He bounced along for a bit before finally giving up entirely, running freely and recklessly along with him.

Rain pelted the umbrella surface, muffled and urgent, like a heartbeat.

Lu Qingyuan stopped in front of a photo studio. Chen Annan looked up and saw the words Nanyuan Photo Studio.

This studio had been open for many years. Its storefront was narrow and small, quite inconspicuous, wedged among the constantly changing shops. The old residential building behind it seemed to serve as its backdrop. The characters on the shop sign were haloed into hazy neon by the rain.

Lu Qingyuan took off his jacket and draped it over his arm, revealing the white short-sleeved shirt underneath.

Then, he lifted the plastic curtain and let Chen Annan enter first.

The person on duty at the photo studio was a middle-aged man. His narrow-rimmed glasses couldn’t hide the fine lines at the corners of his eyes. Hearing someone come in, he asked without looking up, “What kind of photos do you want?”

“Two-person ID photos,” Lu Qingyuan said. “I want a set of every size.”

“Weren’t we taking sticker photos?” Chen Annan asked, puzzled.

“Exactly, we’re taking sticker photos.” As Lu Qingyuan spoke, he placed both hands on Chen Annan’s shoulders, propelling him inside.

The studio truly was very small. Behind a simple wooden partition was the photography area. A black leather bench sat in the very center, with a silver reflector panel to the side.

When Chen Annan entered, he saw a large-format camera aimed right at the blue backdrop behind them.

The photographer came in and had them both sit down on the bench.

The two of them sat close together. Lu Qingyuan’s shoulders were half a head higher than Chen Annan’s.

Accustomed to taking ID photos, Chen Annan habitually smoothed all his stray bangs up, afraid of not meeting the requirements. After smoothing his hair, he sat up straight and proper, his back ramrod straight, his round eyes staring intently into the lens.

Lu Qingyuan’s posture, in contrast, was slightly more casual. He didn’t even take off his glasses.

The photographer adjusted the camera for a long while, then said, “Okay, just like that. Don’t move. Ready? Three, two, one—”

The instant the white flash went off, Chen Annan’s eyes involuntarily blinked from the glare.

The photographer checked the negative and said, “Let’s do one more. No blinking this time, definitely no blinking, okay?”

Chen Annan nodded obediently. Afraid he’d blink again, he deliberately opened his eyes wide and round. Lu Qingyuan tilted his face slightly, saw his nervous look, and reached out to brush his hair back for him.

The strands tickled Chen Annan a little. Lu Qingyuan took his hand under the table and gave a soothing squeeze.

This time, both of their gazes fixed on the dark camera lens. Chen Annan’s eyes curved, bright and sparkling. Another white flash burst, a click sounded, and the photographer pressed the shutter button.

Hearing the sound, Chen Annan waited a few seconds before quickly asking, “Did I blink just now?”

“No, that one was very nice,” the photographer said, seriously studying the negative. “Wait for it. Come pick them up in three days.”

Lu Qingyuan didn’t want to wait that long. He simply paid a bit extra for an express rush job. The photographer said they could come back to pick them up in two hours.

Chen Annan happily grabbed Lu Qingyuan’s arm. On their way out, the two bought a bag full of snacks and ate them slowly as they strolled along the street. It truly felt a bit like a date now.

At eight o’clock in the evening, the two finally got their photos. Kodak photo paper had a nice, thick texture. The freshly developed photos curved slightly, feeling faintly warm in the palm of one’s hand.

Lu Qingyuan had ordered one set of every size. Those photos, big and small, were carefully tucked into an envelope.

When they came out of the photo studio, it was still raining outside, pattering continuously without letup.

Chen Annan was waiting for him outside, holding the umbrella. The kid was staring at something, motionless for a long time. From this angle, the back of Chen Annan’s head was also round. The slightly grown-out ends of his hair were flipped up from being rubbed by his hoodie.

A weight suddenly dropped onto his head. Chen Annan spun around, startled, and saw his brother had come out, one hand cupping the back of his head, ruffling it.

“You messed up my hair!” Chen Annan said.

“I called you several times with no response. What were you looking at so intently?” Lu Qingyuan asked.

Chen Annan dodged the question. “The photos are developed?”

“Yeah. Let’s find a place and look at them together.”

Chen Annan nodded.

Lu Qingyuan led him into a Blue Bay Cafe next door. This cafe was a place students in the area frequented often. There were quite a few students inside; people often brought their laptops, ordered a coffee, and sat for an entire afternoon.

The two of them sat down on the second floor by the window. From here, one could clearly see the comings and goings of people at the street corners, umbrellas crossing paths. The honking of scooters didn’t reach here; the blues music inside the shop drowned out all the clamor from outside.

Lu Qingyuan took the photos out of the envelope.

Chen Annan accepted them curiously. Upon seeing the photo of them together, his eyes went slightly round.

The background of the photo was actually red. When they’d gone inside, the background behind them had clearly been blue.

“I didn’t have the owner keep the blue. I had him change it to a red background. Wanted to leave a little surprise for you,” Lu Qingyuan said.

Chen Annan stared at the photo for a very long time. In the picture, both of them were wearing white clothes, sitting very close, shoulders touching, heads tilted slightly together. Lu Qingyuan’s eyes were full of laughter, holding a softness and focus that was different from his usual self.

For no particular reason, Chen Annan thought again of the young couple he’d encountered on the road earlier. They must have just come to pick up their marriage registration photos.

Was it also at this photo studio? Was the background the same shade of red?

An inexplicable envy rose in Chen Annan’s heart. He most likely would never have that kind of opportunity in this lifetime.

He looked at himself in the photo—smiling broadly, eyes curving, gaze clear. A tiny wisp of hair had slipped down by the side, curling slightly, lending a touch of unexpected childishness. The photographer hadn’t reminded him about it at the time.

This was the first such formal photo he and Lu Qingyuan had taken together. Though Lu Wenyuan usually loved taking photos of them, none of those were quite like this one.

A powerful sense of life seemed to permeate through the paper, pressing against his palm.

Chen Annan propped his chin on his hand. For a good long while, he couldn’t say a single word. He felt a little happy, but not entirely happy. His fingers kept gliding over the photo’s surface, his thoughts long having drifted elsewhere.

Behind the photo, Lu Qingyuan, in contrast, calmly pulled out a stack of stiff cardstock from his bag. He’d bought it along the way at a stationery store—several colors, and a pair of scissors too.

He was busy for a long time. When he looked up, he saw Chen Annan still in a daze, his gaze unfocused, his spirit completely blank. He’d probably spaced out all the way to Siberia.

“Nannan,” Lu Qingyuan called him.

The voice seemed to come from far away, drawing nearer. Hearing it, Chen Annan’s vision slowly refocused. His pupils gradually reflected the objects around him, and then, the inverted image of the person before him.

Chen Annan blinked, putting the photo down, when he suddenly heard Lu Qingyuan say, “We didn’t get to see the dolphin show today. Here’s a small gift to make up for it.”

Chen Annan lowered his head.

In that instant, his heart seemed to stop beating. It skipped a beat.

A small booklet was placed in front of him. A clumsily made red cover. Opened, it revealed pale pink inner pages. The right side was pasted with their freshly developed photo together—a tiny piece, yet exceptionally striking on the paper.

Because on the side of that red-background photo, a simple watermark had been drawn by hand.

This was a marriage certificate with absolutely no legal validity whatsoever. Everything on it had been drawn by hand. No mechanical typography, no embossed seal, no officiant. Everything in this little booklet was nothing more than a little trinket Lu Qingyuan had drawn to cheer him up.

Yet Chen Annan still heard his own heart hammering wildly. His gaze fixed itself firmly upon it. To the left of the photo, a line of small handwritten characters, strokes upright and strong, without a trace of messiness—

Certificate Holders: Lu Qingyuan, Chen Annan

Registration Date: October 25, 2011

Marriage Certificate No.: J320100—2011—102517