Xu Qingnan couldn’t read between the lines of all that subtle subtext, cheerfully serving up a solid character witness for Ren Xubai: “Right, he’s brilliant, and his photography skills are top-notch, too.”
Standing right beside Xu Qingnan under the collective gaze of everyone present, Ren Xubai felt a surge of pure, unadulterated bliss from head to toe, yet he still plastered on a shy, bashful expression of faux modesty, playing the role of the obedient model student to perfection: “As long as Xu-ge likes it.”
Then, turning around to flash a wide grin at Deng You, he delivered an overt, provocative wink, phrasing his words with an exquisite flair that screamed reveling in unearned spoils while rubbing it in: “If you fancy this feature as well, all of your wristbands will be updated with it the next time we log online.”
Who on earth would actually want that?!
“Really? That’s fantastic!” Deng You replied with sincerity dripping from his smile. “Though since the fireworks show is about to start right now, doesn’t that mean we’re stuck letting Xubai handle all the photography?”
Oh?!
Then how on earth was he supposed to get a couple’s photo with Xu Qingnan?
A flicker of unease flashed across Ren Xubai’s mind.
Refusing to give Ren Xubai a window to chime in, Deng You pivoted smoothly to address Xu Qingnan. “Qingnan, I caught a glimpse of the fireworks earlier they’re massive! The kind they usually banish from urban sectors entirely. They’ve got to be gorgeous!”
Ever since automated surveillance spun up into an overarching Skynet blanketing the skies above metropolitan districts, the government had outlawed the launch of airborne fireworks, given that maintaining the Skynet architecture remained a monumental undertaking.
While several prominent virtual scenic locations periodically organized simulated fireworks displays, their complex production demands and exorbitant ticket prices meant Xu Qingnan had never witnessed one firsthand.
The moment those words dropped, a sharp shh-whoosh of air being cleaved apart echoed from a distant point behind the group.
A brilliant, dazzling firework burst into bloom across the night sky, acting as though a master switch had been flipped. Immediately after, one explosion followed another without a break—each new blossom overlapping the preceding one, layer upon layer, as multi-colored sheets of liquid fire tore half the firmament wide open, casting shimmering, dancing reflections across the rippling surface of the sea.
The four individuals standing nearby had all witnessed such displays in reality; while the production crew’s virtual rendering possessed a higher degree of exquisite realism, it fell short of inducing genuine, jaw-dropping awe.
Consequently, while they watched, their expressions remained devoid of any true sense of wonder.
Deng You was still occupied with plotting how to provoke Ren Xubai and force him into the role of dedicated photographer.
Only Xu Qingnan had never laid eyes on a spectacle of this scale before.
With the professional gear-grinding gear inside his head instantly triggered, his mind began involuntarily calculating what pigments would be required to render it on canvas, how to blend the color gradients, and what kind of visual impact it would yield before snapping back to reality to turn his head sharply toward Ren Xubai. “Can you take pictures of this?”
On Xu Qingnan’s other flank, Deng You leaned past Xu Qingnan’s shoulder to fire a retaliatory wink right back at Ren Xubai.
Though feeling somewhat choked with suppressed irritation, the moment Ren Xubai caught Xu Qingnan’s inquiring gaze, that irritation dissolved into thin air.
Whatever, as long as Xu Qingnan is happy.
“Sure can. How does Xu-ge want them shot?”
As he spoke, Ren Xubai began stepping backward to widen the framing distance.
Yet Xu Qingnan suddenly reached a hand out.
“?” Taken aback by the gesture, Ren Xubai stared blankly at the broad, cleanly textured palm extending toward him, instinctively laying his own hand right atop it.
What was the phrasing again?
Ah, right, there’s no harm in taking advantage of a good thing.
Ren Xubai was clearly milking the momentum gained from the earlier photo session.
Yet he simultaneously prepared himself with acute self-awareness for his hand to be swatted away in rejection.
Doesn’t matter, just making physical contact is already a win.
Ren Xubai thought with a smug buzz of satisfaction.
Only to find his hand clamped securely in a tight grip.
The entire length of his arm felt suddenly paralyzed by a wave of numbness.
Skipping a beat, Ren Xubai’s heart hammered against his ribs.
His eyes glued themselves directly onto their interlocked hands.
The very next second, he watched Xu Qingnan cleanly and decisively strip the wristband right off his wrist, immediately releasing his hand as he held the device out before Ren Xubai’s face: “Unlock it.”
Blinking rapidly, Ren Xubai hadn’t even fully processed the sequence of events, mechanically unlocking the wristband while his hand remained tinglingly numb, his brain failing to turn over. “What do I need to do next?”
With zero comprehension of what was transpiring, the rest of the group instinctively drifted into a waiting posture for Xu Qingnan’s instruction.
Lowering his gaze to inspect the wristband’s operating status, Xu Qingnan spared Ren Xubai a single stray glance and dropped a command: “Stand right there and watch,” before spinning on his heel to sprint off toward the deck, leaving the cluster of people standing frozen in place, staring at one another in mutual bewilderment.
All eyes instinctively snapped back to Ren Xubai.
Even more dazed, Ren Xubai replayed the fleeting, indifferent glance Xu Qingnan had tossed his way repeatedly inside his mind.
“Ahem,” recovering his wits under the scrutiny of multiple pairs of eyes, Ren Xubai offered a thinly veiled cover of a cough. “If he tells you to watch, just watch. Why are you staring at me?”
“Tch,” reading him instantly, Deng You scoffed under his breath, “Pervert.”
Naturally, Xu Qingnan remained completely oblivious to the colorful storms raging inside Ren Xubai’s head.
Sprinting until he found an ideal vantage point, he narrowed the viewfinder frame to successfully encompass the rolling hills on the left, the fireworks bursting across the firmament, and the breathtaking expanse of the shimmering sea.
In truth, it formed an ideal composition for an illustration one that would undoubtedly pop with vibrant brilliance following a touch of artistic post-processing.
Adjusting the viewfinder through various focal lengths while unceremoniously ordering Ren Xubai and the others to act as human props mostly capturing them from behind.
Silhouetted dark figures rendered against the exploding light suited the mood perfectly.
Besides, they looked more than eager enough to cooperate, shoving and jostling one another with high spirits.
The execution satisfied Xu Qingnan to such a degree that he found himself growing genuinely hooked. In a rare display of initiative, he stepped up to assume the role of primary photographer, snapping a handful of group shots of the lot that hadn’t initially figured into his compositional layout.
As the fireworks display drifted gradually toward its grand finale, Xu Qingnan stepped backward to frame a sweeping, grand-scale panorama.
The rest of the group bounded over to cluster directly behind him, watching quietly as he fine-tuned the filter parameters.
Right as the adjustments locked into place, a tiny, dark silhouette flickered into existence within the corner of the frame resembling someone emerging straight from the ocean depths, striding steadily closer toward their direction.
Closer and closer, taking the shape of a human figure.
Framed against the backdrop of the sky-shattering fireworks display, walking forward in slow, deliberate steps.
While Ren Xubai and the others squinted, attempting to identify the newcomer.
A light flickered in Xu Qingnan’s eyes; feeling the timing matched the frame with absolute perfection, he nudged the filter brightness up by a fraction and barked out a sharp, resonant shout: “Ye Yuyao!”
The figure’s head snapped upward abruptly.
Illuminated entirely by the brilliant, dazzling fireworks blooming across the heavens.
Xu Qingnan depressed the shutter button.
Only then did the group realize that Ye Yuyao had been missing the entire time.
Ye Yuyao had logged offline to redress his medical dressings; the wound across his forehead ran somewhat deep, and the formal cap included in the production crew’s ensemble pressed directly against it. Barely half an hour into wearing it, the throbbing pain became entirely unbearable, prompting him to file an offline request to change his bandages.
Stepping out of the holographic pod upon his return, his hand hovering over the doorknob prior to opening it, he caught the sound of his father and older brother engaged in a heated argument through the partition.
Ye Yuyao paused mid-motion.
His father’s furious roar resonated straight through the wooden panel: “He’s getting too big for his boots! Daring to settle scores with me now? Nursing a childhood grudge all this way? Everything I did back then was for his own good, yet he kept reverting to his old ways! And getting caught cradled in someone else’s arms what kind of unseemly spectacle is that!”
A chill sank straight to the bottom of Ye Yuyao’s heart.
Followed immediately by Ye Yuheyuan’s conciliatory tones attempting to mediate: “Dad! Yaoyao’s always loved playing around with this stuff. If you don’t let him, it’s only because he didn’t get enough of it when he was little. Besides, talking about being ‘cradled in someone’s arms’ is blowing it wildly out of proportion didn’t he almost take a fall back then?”
Ye Yuyao processed the exact memory referenced within seconds.
Yet that incident belonged safely to the past.
Whose handiwork was it that deliberately shoved this exact footage right under his father’s nose?
Not that it took a genius to guess.
A mocking, derisive curve twitched at the corner of Ye Yuyao’s lips to think that he and Ye Yuheyuan could ultimately degenerate to this exact pass as well.
“My expectations for him were simply too high! If you hadn’t been chronically ill all those years, I would never have groomed him as the sole heir! A completely hopeless piece of trash!” Patriarch Ye’s voice, laced with equal parts contempt and boiling rage, bled through the wall. “Thankfully, your health has fully recovered now. Rest assured, your father will never let him snatch your rightful position away!”
Ye Yuyao closed his eyes.
A fresh throb of pain pulsed against the wound across his forehead.
Outside the door, Ye Yuheyuan’s voice continued smoothly: “Why bring that up again, Yaoyao is exceptionally talented as well—”
Not a single additional syllable registered in Ye Yuyao’s mind.
Abandoning any intention of changing his bandages, he reached out with zero hesitation to snap the deadbolt into place.
Click.
The lock engaged, instantly severing the noise echoing from the hallway.
Ignoring the father whose fury would only escalate upon hearing the deadbolt slide, alongside the ever-dutiful older brother, Ye Yuyao re-entered the holographic pod.
Instead of returning straight to the party pavilion given his current suboptimal state, he had zero desire to subject himself to anyone’s amusement he drifted off toward a secluded corner of the shoreline, staring aimlessly out across the dark expanse of the ocean.
It wasn’t until the first firework erupted across the sky that Ye Yuyao roused himself to head back.
Spotting the cluster of people watching the display from afar, it struck him that not a single soul had apparently noticed his absence.
Mirroring precisely how, years ago the moment his older brother’s health recovered, he had instantly plummeted into insignificance with nobody caring where he was or how he fared, invoking that exact, familiar weight of isolation.
“Ye Yuyao!”
Cutting straight through the howling roar of the sea breeze and the thunderous concussions of the bursting fireworks, that single, resonant shout carried far closer to an auditory illusion than reality.
Stunned into immobility, Ye Yuyao lifted his head.
On top of the deck, bathed in collective adulation with the entire world revolving around him, Xu Qingnan’s figure crashed headlong into his line of sight.
Turns out, someone really is calling me.