Chapter 354: A Quiet Love

The next day, in the Film Club’s activity room.

“Senior, are you sure you’re not coming in?”

Chi Xiaoguo, wearing an apron, started to enter the mini darkroom and looked back at Jiang Ran.

“This is a great chance to learn, you know. Don’t you want to master the art of developing photos?”

“I’d better not.”

Jiang Ran shook his head. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew. I’m happy enough just learning how to use a film camera. Developing photos is a professional skill, so I’ll leave it to you.”

“Besides… that darkroom is too small. It’d be hard for us to move if we both stood in there, and it’d get hot and stuffy. I’m afraid I’d just get in your way.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Chi Xiaoguo lifted the darkroom’s curtain and ducked inside by herself.

“There are eight photos total on your roll of film. It’ll take me about two hours to develop them.”

“Of course, drying them will take a bit longer, but that doesn’t need a darkroom environment. They can be dried anywhere.”

“So, during these two hours, you absolutely can’t open the darkroom door, Senior! If any outside light gets in, the unfixed film will be completely ruined.”

“Okay, okay,” Jiang Ran nodded.

This was what the two of them had agreed upon yesterday.

Since the roll in the Fuji camera Nan Xiuxiu had given him was full, it was the perfect time to have Chi Xiaoguo develop the photos.

Jiang Ran was very curious about what the “extra” photo was.

That roll of film was supposed to have 8 exposures. He had taken 7 pictures himself, but then it showed the roll was used up.

That one mysterious extra shot… Who took it? And what was it of?

To solve this mystery, he would have to wait for Chi Xiaoguo to develop the photos.

Two hours wasn’t a short time, but Jiang Ran hadn’t planned on just waiting around.

After Fang Ze messaged him on WeChat yesterday, they had chatted for a bit, and Jiang Ran had mentioned he would pick him up from the airport.

So, he would let Chi Xiaoguo develop the photos in peace. It was about time for him to head to the airport.

Standing up, Jiang Ran put on his jacket and looked at the still-open darkroom door.

“I’m going to go pick up Fang Ze now. His flight is about to land. He’s probably tired after flying for over ten hours all the way from the United States, so I’ll go get him.”

“Okay, okay! Hehe, a great general of our Film Club has finally returned!”

Chi Xiaoguo, inside the darkroom, was overjoyed.

“By the way, you told me before that your graduate advisor is a Film Club alumnus, and you said he was going to invite us to his faculty apartment for dinner.”

“Now that Fang Ze is back too, does that mean we’ll be having that dinner soon? I plan to prepare myself so I can ask Teacher Zhang Yang for some advice!”

Jiang Ran nodded.

“Yeah, probably around the end of this month. Teacher Zhang Yang has been wanting to come back to the university and resume teaching, but you know the saying, ‘a hundred days to heal from a major injury.’ He’s been resting for less than two months after such a serious fracture, so his wife is still very worried about him.”

“So, she wants him to rest at home for another half a month. She’ll use that time to clean up the faculty apartment, and they’ll move in at the end of the month.”

“When the time comes, she’s going to cook a whole feast for us and wants to invite you and Fang Ze to join.”

“No problem!”

Chi Xiaoguo stuck a hand out from behind the curtain, flashing a peace sign and wiggling it back and forth.

“I love going to banquets!”

PFFT—

Jiang Ran nearly spit out his drink.

“This isn’t a banquet!”

“Ahaha, sorry.”

Chi Xiaoguo laughed awkwardly.

“Oops, whenever I hear someone mention a ‘table full of dishes,’ I just think of the big rural feasts back in my hometown.”

“When I was a kid, the thing I looked forward to most was going to those feasts. It didn’t matter if it was a wedding or a funeral, the food at those rural banquets was always amazing! Whenever a family was having an event, all us kids would go over early to ‘help out,’ and we’d get to sneak a lot of tasty food!”

“When I went back for summer break this year, I even helped out at two funerals. You might not think it to look at me, but I’m actually really good at planning funerals! And I’m a first-rate professional mourner—I can cry on command!”

…

As Chi Xiaoguo proudly listed her credentials, a chill went down Jiang Ran’s spine.

Good grief.

‘So there’s a “Funeral King” in the East Sea University Film Club!’

He already knew Chi Xiaoguo’s family wasn’t well-off, but he never would have imagined she’d had such a simple and unadorned rural life.

Jiang Ran had only ever seen scenes of professional mourning online, with people in sackcloth and wailing so hard it seemed the sky would fall… He’d been shocked at first, but later realized it was a required performance at funerals, and that some families even hired a “Mourning Woman” to set the atmosphere.

Who would have thought.

To think that Chi Xiaoguo had mastered this craft at such a young age, and had even started training as a child.

It really made him wonder what kind of life this young club president had lived before coming to East Sea University.

“Huh?”

Hearing no response from Jiang Ran, Chi Xiaoguo poked her head out from behind the curtain.

“Senior, you don’t believe me?”

“I believe you!”

“I can give you a live demonstration right now. It’ll be totally convincing.”

“That’s really not necessary!”

Jiang Ran opened the door and bolted at the speed of light.

…

At the airport, he picked up Fang Ze, who, as expected, looked exhausted.

“You look so tired,” Jiang Ran said with concern.

“Sigh, I can never sleep well on planes.”

Fang Ze yawned. “I’m going to head back to the dorm and catch up on some sleep first. Let’s ask Chi Xiaoguo to have dinner with us tonight. I need to report in to the club president.”

As they settled into the pre-arranged car, Jiang Ran looked at Fang Ze in the seat next to him.

“Did you find your brother?”

“No.”

Fang Ze shook his head. “I actually took your advice and looked all over Los Angeles. But, sigh… the world is so big, and there are so many people. It’s not that easy to find someone out of the blue.”

“I just hope my brother sees the error of his ways and turns over a new leaf. As it is now, unless he’s willing to contact me himself, I really have no way of finding him.”

Jiang Ran listened silently, not saying a word.

He had thought he could help the two unfortunate brothers, but he hadn’t expected the Future World of 2045 to have been changed by the Butterfly Effect. Without the Future Prison, there was naturally no way to find Fang Yang.

“Is Cheng Mengxue not coming back?” Fang Ze turned to look at him.

“Yeah.”

Jiang Ran confirmed it. “She went back to the University of Pennsylvania to take care of some things. She’s not coming back to East Sea University.”

For now, Jiang Ran was telling Chi Xiaoguo, Zhang Yang, and Fang Ze the same story regarding what had happened with Li Yini.

It was better to keep things simple. The whole situation with Cheng Mengxue being an impostor was too complicated to explain, and there was no point.

“Heh.”

Fang Ze gave a mysterious smile.

“Well, that makes things easier for you.”

“Easier how?” Jiang Ran asked, confused.

“You have one less girl to deal with.”

Fang Ze spread his hands. “Honestly, as a guy, it’d be a lie to say I’m not jealous of all the female attention you get.”

“It’s all a misunderstanding.”

Jiang Ran was speechless. “There was nothing going on between me and Cheng Mengxue. We were completely innocent.”

“Oh?”

Fang Ze raised an eyebrow. “Completely innocent, yet she slapped you by the river and bit my arm? Completely innocent, yet the two of you go on a trip to Hang City, and then she goes back to the United States without a second glance?”

“…” Jiang Ran couldn’t be bothered to explain.

“Aiya—”

Fang Ze stretched lazily.

“I wonder if the number of girls flocking around you has increased in the half-month I’ve been gone… Could it be that some other girl has come to fill the vacancy left by Cheng Mengxue?”

“Heh, you think too highly of me.”

Jiang Ran waved his hand dismissively. “What do you think this is, a revolving door? One leaves and another arrives? Seriously, you’re a grown man, why are you always so gossipy? Why don’t you go find a girlfriend yourself?”

“I’m not the love-struck type,” Fang Ze replied.

“Am I?”

Jiang Ran shot back. “Do I look like the love-struck type to you?”

“You’re definitely not.”

Fang Ze answered honestly. “Love-struck people are usually paranoid and capricious. They do things without considering the consequences, acting purely on impulse.”

“But someone like you, it’s obvious you’re not the love-struck type. Your actions are logical, you have a strong will, and you know exactly what you want to do and what your goals are.”

“However… based on the teen romance novels I’ve read, you can’t let your guard down. You’re not entirely disconnected from the love-struck type.”

“How so?” Jiang Ran looked at him.

Fang Ze smiled faintly.

“While you may not be the love-struck type, people like you…”

“…tend to attract them.”

…

As soon as Fang Ze got back to the graduate student dorm, he pulled the curtains and went to sleep, telling Jiang Ran to wake him up for dinner.

Jiang Ran saw it was about time, so he left and headed for the Film Club’s activity room.

When he pushed open the door, he was surprised to see Chi Xiaoguo sitting blankly in front of the lab bench, her posture perfectly straight, like a primary school student being scolded by a teacher.

Her gaze was fixed on something outside the window, her expression a little melancholic.

“What’s wrong?”

Jiang Ran walked in. “Are the photos developed?”

Chi Xiaoguo turned her head.

Seeing Jiang Ran enter, she stood up and bit her lower lip.

“I’m sorry, Senior… I, uh, I accidentally saw the photos while I was developing them.”

“Oh, that’s fine.”

Jiang Ran knew she must be talking about the photo of Nan Xiuxiu. “How could you not see them while developing them? It doesn’t matter. Where are the photos? Are there eight of them?”

Chi Xiaoguo nodded and handed him a stack of photos from the table.

“Then… you should see for yourself, Senior.”

Jiang Ran took them.

Judging by the thickness, there were indeed eight photos.

This meant one of them was a photo he hadn’t taken.

Now, the answer would finally be revealed!

He looked at the top photo. It was the sunset from yesterday, and it was truly beautiful.

He pulled it out, placed it on the bottom of the stack, and looked at the second photo.

It was a landscape shot taken at Dazhi River Park.

The third, fourth, and fifth photos were also scenery from Dazhi River Park.

Then came the pitch-black, failed shot where he’d forgotten to take off the lens cap.

Earlier that afternoon, Jiang Ran had insisted on developing every single photo, so Chi Xiaoguo had complied. He had been afraid of missing some piece of information, and besides, the cost of the extra paper and chemicals was negligible.

Finally, there were only two left.

He removed the black, failed photo, and an overwhelming aura of youthfulness hit him.

The second-to-last photo was of that unconventional girl with the pink hair.

He had to admit.

It was a stunningly beautiful photograph.

Jiang Ran couldn’t believe that he, who had barely been able to figure out the camera at the time, had managed such a great shot.

In the photo…

Nan Xiuxiu’s sweet smile seemed to ripple along with her waterfall of pink hair. The scattered flash of the camera was as dazzling as starlight, and the light reflecting off the cream cake made her already lovely face seem even more flawless and fair.

Time was frozen in that single moment.

Frozen at Jiang Ran’s 19th birthday party… with that love-struck girl whose eyes, whose smile, and whose heart were all filled with him.

Chi Xiaoguo didn’t speak, just watched him silently.

Her gaze shifted from the photo of the beautiful girl to Jiang Ran’s eyes, then… she lowered her head and stared at her own shoelaces.

Jiang Ran’s breathing grew heavy.

He felt as if he was on the verge of a realization.

This photo of Nan Xiuxiu with her birthday cake was the very first picture he had taken after opening the camera’s gift box.

That meant the last photo in the stack could only have been taken *before* the camera was put in the gift box…

Jiang Ran’s fingertips tightened.

A strange force seemed to pull at him, urging him not to look at the last photo.

But he held his breath.

He separated it from the picture of the beaming, pink-haired girl, and looked down at the bottom, at the final photo, which was also the very first one—the answer.

The photo was of a birthday card sitting on a desk.

On the card was elegant handwriting, uniquely hers:

[Hehe~ Surprised, aren’t you!]

[I learned how to use this brick of a camera, too! I’m secretly taking a picture first!]

[See, whatever you like, I’ll slowly come to like it, too!]

[So…]

[From now on, please be a little more patient with me… okay?]