Green Tea? She's Clearly a Hidden Gem!

The group walked and stopped, exchanging basic introductions along the way.

Xia Tao looked at the stunning man and beautiful women before her, her heart utterly delighted.

Free models! The kind that would look great in any shot!

"Hey, handsome, how about you stand next to the lady in red for a photo first?"

Xia Tao pointed at a stone lion, hugging her camera, eager to start.

"Heh, wouldn't it be better to take a picture of all four of us together?"

Su Muzhi glanced at Shen Wanyu and Shen Guoguo, asking with a smile.

"Ah, that's not impossible either, but I feel like you and that handsome guy have more chemistry—easier to get a good shot."

Xia Tao scratched the back of her head.

"Take their photos first."

Shen Wanyu said indifferently.

"You don't want to join us?"

Su Muzhi asked.

"..."

Shen Wanyu was silent for a moment, then said:

"I'll do it later. You go first."

Su Muzhi chuckled, unfazed, and went with Jiang Linyuan to take photos.

Wow, seriously, I just escaped the wolf's den and now I'm in the tiger's mouth.

Listening to their exchange, Xia Tao held her camera, complaining silently in her mind.

Still, it was okay—being a bystander was much better than being a participant.

"That's right, just like that. Mm, get a little closer. Uh, no need to get *that* close..."

She chattered away while snapping photos nonstop.

"Sis Wanyu, you're just going to watch?"

Shen Guoguo stood beside Shen Wanyu, head down and frustrated.

"Let her have her fun for a bit."

Shen Wanyu said, finding a nearby milk tea shop and sitting down.

The streets were filled with laughing people—couples, families, strangers—each carrying palace lanterns as they wandered through the crowds.

In the distance, lion dance performances and fire-breathing artists entertained the crowd, cheers and applause ringing out continuously.

The girl before her, dressed in a gorgeous red gown and makeup, smiled sweetly as she leaned against the boy beside her, the camera shutter clicking endlessly.

As if they could capture this beautiful moment forever, like photographing the most perfect instant of a firework.

But fireworks are cold, and people drift apart.

Shen Wanyu thought quietly.

"Heh, do you really think you're some Taoist nun, acting like you've seen through the mortal world?"

Su Muzhi, having finished taking photos, ran up to Shen Wanyu, puffed out her chest with a regal air, and waved her hand as if granting a favor:

"Go on, go take photos with him. I'm bestowing him upon you."

"In the past, you would have said you were bestowing *me* upon him."

Shen Wanyu looked at Su Muzhi.

Su Muzhi chuckled, smoothing her skirt as she sat down beside her, then adjusted the phoenix crown on her head:

"I wouldn't have said that in the past either. Is your memory that bad?"

Shen Wanyu ignored her, slowly stood up, and walked toward Jiang Linyuan:

"You'll regret this someday."

"I won't."

Su Muzhi shook her head; the crown, barely steady, tilted again. She squinted with a smile:

"Shen Wanyu, this is where you're inferior to me. I can be sad, I can cry, I can admit my mistakes—but I will never regret. So I never hesitate. You've always been afraid of regret, and that's why you never dare to take the initiative."

"Such a small fry, heh."

She raised her chin, speaking with a provocative air, her eyes full of disdain.

"You've changed a bit."

"Isn't that only natural? People move forward."

Su Muzhi waved her hand impatiently at Shen Wanyu:

"Only someone like you stays the same from childhood to now."

Shen Wanyu said nothing more and walked over to take photos.

...

The group ran around, taking plenty of pictures.

When they got tired, they found a milk tea shop to sit down.

Today is my lucky day!

Xia Tao sat down, scrolling through her Nikon, her face beaming like a flower.

Perfect! This shot is perfect! And this one looks amazing too!

She really wanted to post them on social media and show off!

Thinking of that, she looked apologetically at Jiang Linyuan sitting across from her:

"Handsome, can I post these photos online?"

"Mine are fine, but ask them about the others."

Jiang Linyuan nodded.

Xia Tao glanced at Shen Wanyu and Su Muzhi; their expressions said it all.

Clearly, not okay.

Oh well, I'll just post the handsome guy then!

She pulled out a data cable, plugged one end into her phone and the other into the camera, and started transferring.

Then she opened a group chat.

It was a group she'd created herself, full of photography enthusiasts.

She sent the photos.

[Peach Queen]: Today's handsome guy, got his permission.

[Image]

As soon as the photos were sent, the group erupted with chatter.

"No way! Where did the admin find this model? So handsome! Got his contact info?"

"This is obviously AI. Look at the clothes—they're distorted. If you're brave, post one without clothes."

"Not bad, admin. Your skills have improved a lot. Not edited yet, right? Send me a copy later, and I can do free post-production for you."

Reading the praise flooding in, Xia Tao felt smug, scrolling through each comment. Then she came across one that made her speechless.

[Little Snow Pear Syrup]: Admin, don't post niche weird stuff, or the group might get banned.

Who the hell is this?

Xia Tao tapped on their profile picture and suddenly understood.

Ah, it's that abstract, constantly-online weirdo in the group. Every day, instead of discussing photography, they flood the chat with garbage. Who knows why they even joined?

Changed their username again? Weren't they something like [Everyone's on the Rooster Bus to Go Wild] before?

Before she could reply, the person sent another message.

[Little Snow Pear Syrup]: @Juntang, your husband.

[Juntang]: Don't talk nonsense!

Xia Tao vaguely remembered Juntang. She was an old member, someone who genuinely focused on photography techniques.

She usually liked to ask about candid shots and sneaky photography skills—probably someone who shot birds and was afraid of scaring them off.

[Peach Queen]: @Little Snow Pear Syrup, don't sully the handsome guy. Warning: mute.

[Juntang]: Queen, where did you take these?

[Peach Queen]: The Forbidden City in Yanjing. Just met them.

[Juntang]: Ohhh, thanks.

Pretty polite. If only everyone in the group were like her.

"Where did you post my photo?"

Jiang Linyuan held his phone, looking at Xia Tao with a strange expression.

Why's he looking at me like that? Did I post in the wrong group? No, this isn't a smut group—it's a photography group, right?

Xia Tao double-checked, then looked up:

"I posted it in one of my photography enthusiast groups. What's wrong?"

Jiang Linyuan helplessly showed her his phone, which had a chat screen.

[Yellow Monster]: Holy shit! Jiang Linyuan, I saw your pics!

[Photo]

"You went to Yanjing on New Year's to shoot? How many leading ladies?"

Xia Tao stared at the familiar avatar, her mouth twitching.

Oh my god! The daily-shit-posting weirdo in the group is actually friends with this gorgeous guy!

"Haha, what a coincidence."

Xia Tao laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, quite a coincidence."

Jiang Linyuan sighed and replied to Huang Taoyan:

"Did I force you to look?"

"Did I force you to look at what?"

"My hand can show off."

"My underwear can show off too."

Blocked!

Jiang Linyuan ignored her and blocked her directly.

...

On the other side, Huang Taoyan, lying in bed, suddenly sat up and yelled at the girl beside her:

"What the hell, your husband blocked me!"

"Cousin! Don't call him that!"

Zhang Juntang's face was flushed red.

"What 'don't call him that'? He's in Yanjing right now. How are you going to visit his family for New Year's tomorrow?"

Huang Taoyan squinted at Zhang Juntang.

"Can I just not go?"

Zhang Juntang asked.

Useless!

Huang Taoyan was furious at her incompetence:

"I already picked out a rival for you! You're going to face your love rival tomorrow. Even if you don't see Jiang Linyuan, you have to crush her spirit!"

"What love rival!"

Zhang Juntang's face turned even redder.

Huang Taoyan forwarded her chat history with Yu Songsong and said:

"This person asked me for Jiang Linyuan's hometown address, saying she planned to visit on the fourth day of the New Year. I figured I could use it to push you, so I told her. If you don't go tomorrow, she might even call him 'father-in-law' and 'mother-in-law' in a day!"

Zhang Juntang looked at the chat log, then back at Huang Taoyan:

"Cousin, are you sure you weren't scammed?"

"What do you mean?"

"I, I have this person's WeChat. She posted on her Moments on New Year's Eve. The photos had the senior in them. Didn't you see them?"

Huang Taoyan paused, then scrolled through Yu Songsong's Moments. It was completely empty. She exploded with rage:

"She blocked me!"

Shit! Didn't she say the fourth day? How was she already there on New Year's Eve!

And also!

"You saw it on New Year's Eve, why didn't you say anything!"

Huang Taoyan shook Zhang Juntang, demanding loudly.

"Even if I said something, it wouldn't have changed anything..."

Zhang Juntang mumbled quietly.

Hearing that, Huang Taoyan sighed. Her cousin was right.

Thinking about it, she couldn't help blaming herself. She'd been hoping for Jiang Linyuan's romantic battlefield on the fourth day.

This Yu Songsong had just gone straight there on New Year's Eve! She'd never trust her again!

"So what are you going to do? You're not going to see him the whole winter break?"

"I'm going to Minhai to hang out with my roommate."

"What are you doing with your roommate?"

"My roommate said the senior plans to visit her after the New Year."

Huang Taoyan froze.

Jiang Linyuan, you're unstoppable.

Spent New Year's Eve with the big-boobed girl, now in Yanjing who knows which girl, and after the New Year, there's another girl to entertain.

Impressive, really impressive. How much stamina do you have to pull this off?

What a legendary player.