Chapter 392: Whoa! Isn

At the entrance of the Shangcheng at Yintai Department Store.

Crowds flowed like a woven fabric.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi stood at the intersection of North Da Street and East Da Street, watching the passersby.

Ying Chanxi began setting up her tripod and camera.

Li Luo stood to the side, glancing left and right, then asked, "With so many people around, won't that interfere with your shooting?"

"No way," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "We need passersby for this."

Saying this, Ying Chanxi had already chosen her angle, adjusted the camera lens, and pointed it at the street along the riverbank on East Da Street.

After doing this, Ying Chanxi looked up at the sun in the east and nodded in satisfaction.

"How should I shoot it?" Li Luo asked with a smile. "Director Ying, give the order—I'll follow you."

"Here's my idea," Ying Chanxi pointed to the direction of the lens and the sun in the sky, then said to Li Luo, "Just like last night, walk in this direction, slowly, and don't look back."

"As you walk, the sun will be in front of you, and your shadow will be behind you."

"I'll follow your shadow forward and record one shot."

Listening to Ying Chanxi's words, Li Luo gradually caught the meaning, and hummed two lines of lyrics: "I can follow behind you~ Like a shadow chasing light, wandering in dreams~"

"Mm-hmm!" Ying Chanxi raised her thumb, savoring this moment of unspoken understanding, and said happily, "That's it! My shot will be slightly downward, with the shadow as the main focus."

"Got it. Let's go."

Li Luo nodded, indicating he understood.

Still, a tiny bit of disappointment lingered in his heart.

After all, during last night's MV shoot, we'd already… cough…

But Li Luo wasn't that lustful—he cooperated with Ying Chanxi slowly and patiently, obediently following Director Ying's script.

After finishing the first shot, Ying Chanxi nodded in satisfaction, then pulled Li Luo over to the traffic light at the intersection.

"You don't need to appear in this shot, but you have to stand over there on the other side of the road and watch the camera for me."

Ying Chanxi pointed to the position across the street, then said, "We're just shooting one simple shot."

"I'll stand here on this side, framed together with the traffic light beside me."

"You watch the camera's screen, and when you see a full cycle of the traffic light changing, press pause."

Li Luo nodded in understanding and acted according to Ying Chanxi's instructions.

At this moment, Ying Chanxi stood by the roadside, her right side next to a pedestrian traffic light.

In the camera's lens, the traffic light flashed red, and the girl stood beside it, quietly watching the street.

As time passed, she occasionally glanced left and right, or looked up at the sky, yet remained perfectly still, waiting.

Soon, the red light turned green, and pedestrians began walking, crossing the zebra crossing from one end to the other.

Passersby walked past the girl—some ignored her completely, hurrying on; others stole a glance, left deeply impressed, or couldn't help pausing to watch before reluctantly leaving.

When the green light turned red again, the pedestrians stopped.

The girl tucked her hair behind her ear, gazed toward the horizon, and a tear slid down her cheek.

When Li Luo returned with the camera to this side of the street and saw the tear tracks on Ying Chanxi's eyes, he couldn't help raising his hand to gently wipe them: "What's this…?"

"Just acting! Acting!" Ying Chanxi smiled shyly, letting Li Luo's fingertip brush her cheek, her face reddening. "It's required by the script."

"You're really impressive," Li Luo carefully wiped her fair, delicate face clean, smiling. "You can cry on command—you could be an actress."

"It's not as impressive as you say," Ying Chanxi tiptoed slightly, still unable to hide her inner delight at his praise. "I just thought of a few sad things—it's easy to cry."

Li Luo didn't ask what sad thing she'd thought of—he simply changed the subject: "What's next?"

"Hmm…" At this, Ying Chanxi's gaze flickered. She glanced at the passersby around them, feeling embarrassed.

Before leaving home, her mind had been full of last night's scenes by the river.

But now that she was actually here, standing at the busiest intersection of Yintai Department Store, surrounded by crowds coming and going, the courage she'd mustered suddenly dissolved.

"Here's my idea," Ying Chanxi whispered. "There's one final shot: I stand by the roadside, and you walk past me from among the crowd."

"When I see you, I'll follow your steps."

"Then you happen to take the wrong turn, turn around—and I accidentally fall into your arms."

"And then… um…"

"And then?" Li Luo's eyes flickered slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"J-just like that!" Ying Chanxi hurriedly said. "It's the last shot—please help me with this."

"Oh." Li Luo smiled, saying nothing more. "Let's go."

…

7:30 a. m.

Lin Yuan left home and arrived at the entrance of Yintai Department Store, leaning against the wall with one heel, scrolling through messages on his phone.

Soon, Fang Chen arrived and slapped Lin Yuan on the shoulder.

"You're here?" Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Where's Ren Zheng?"

"On the way," Fang Chen replied. "What about Hua Xiuxiu?"

"On the way."

"That's what I said," Fang Chen said, exasperated. "We agreed to meet at 7:30—we should've just shown up at 8."

Lin Yuan: "... Next time I'll listen to you."

The two boys found a step by the roadside, sat down, rested, and scrolled on their phones.

As it neared 8:00 a. m., Lin Yuan received a message and elbowed Fang Chen: "Xiuxiu says she's coming with Ren Zheng—they'll be here in a few minutes."

"Got it," Fang Chen nodded. "What are we doing again?"

"Just stroll around," Lin Yuan said. "The fourth floor has an arcade with claw machines and stuff, then we'll help them buy clothes. We've got a movie at 9:30."

"What are you looking at?"

"My Sensitive Youth." Lin Yuan chuckled lowly. "It's a movie about student romance."

Fang Chen raised an eyebrow at this. "Not bad, kid. You picked it on purpose?"

"Cough... not really. Just searched online."

As the two chatted idly, soon both their shoulders were tapped.

Turning their heads, they saw Hua Xiuxiu and Ren Zheng standing behind them, wearing particularly pretty little dresses, looking fresh and lively.

"Aren't you two sitting on the ground? Isn't that dirty?" Ren Zheng pulled Fang Chen up, patting his buttocks. "Why not just go inside and find a seat?"

"How long have you been here?" Hua Xiuxiu asked.

"Just arrived, just arrived." Lin Yuan chuckled. "Let's go."

"Wait." Fang Chen turned around, about to walk into the Yintai Department Store, when his peripheral vision caught two familiar figures—he pointed toward the street side. "Isn't that the class monitor over there? And the vice-monitor beside him?"

"Huh?" Ren Zheng turned to look, letting out a soft exclamation. "Looks like it really is."

Hua Xiuxiu also glanced over, then concluded: "It's definitely them. What are they doing?"

"Damn, they're hugging right on the street?" Lin Yuan looked over and widened his eyes—he saw Ying Chanxi throwing herself into Li Luo's arms. Instinctively, he glanced at Hua Xiuxiu beside him, feeling a pang of envy.

The other three also stared fixedly at the scene, forgetting all about shopping at Yintai Department Store, entirely absorbed in what was happening here.

"There seems to be a camera tripod set up beside them?" Hua Xiuxiu, more observant, quickly spotted the tripod.

Ren Zheng nodded. "Didn't they film a music video together before? Could this be another shoot?"

"But I remember that previous MV didn't have such an intimate embrace," Fang Chen muttered beside them. "Are you sure this isn't mixing business with pleasure?"

"Why care so much? Isn't it normal for the class monitor and vice-monitor to hug?" Lin Yuan said. "They even shared a room with Yan Zhusheng before."

"No way, I have to share this in the group." Ren Zheng grinned mischievously, pulled out her phone, opened the group chat 【Dongdong the Cutest in the World】, and started typing furiously.

But the next second, Hua Xiuxiu grabbed Ren Zheng's arm and squeezed hard, gasping: "Look! They..."

"Hiss..."

"Holy shit!"

"Huh?" Ren Zheng looked up blankly, then turned to see Li Luo lowering his head and Ying Chanxi slightly rising onto her toes.

From their side angle, the view was perfect—they clearly saw the two lips pressed together.

"Wow! Wow wow wow!" Ren Zheng, overwhelmed by this shocking, thrilling scene, couldn't help but jump up and down in excitement, shaking Fang Chen's arm violently. "Did you see it? Did you see it? Did you see it?"

"I saw it, I saw it." Fang Chen put a finger to his lips and shushed her. "Keep your voice down. Don't let the class monitor and vice-monitor notice."

"We're this far away—how could they notice?" Ren Zheng pouted, yet her eyes never left the scene, more excited than the two participants themselves. "Too sweet! They just kissed?"

"The class monitor is such a bastard," Lin Yuan muttered, shaking his head.

Fang Chen beside him nodded in agreement, unable to help sighing: "Yeah, the class monitor really is a bastard."

"How long are they going to keep kissing?" Hua Xiuxiu asked curiously, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Tsk tsk." Ren Zheng stared without blinking, thoroughly enjoying it. "Did they stick out their tongues? Can't tell. Should we get closer?"

"Don't act like paparazzi," Lin Yuan hurriedly said.

"But so many people walk past them, and they don't seem to care," Fang Chen remarked.

"Alright, they've broken apart," Hua Xiuxiu waved her hand. "They kissed for at least half a minute, right?"

"Eww~" Ren Zheng rubbed her arms, covered in goosebumps. Once she confirmed it was over, she resumed typing furiously in the group chat.

"Should we go say hello?" Hua Xiuxiu asked.

"Not really appropriate," Lin Yuan whispered. "We already saw everything—going over now would just tell them we were spying."

"No problem—we just pretend we just saw them," Ren Zheng said enthusiastically, stepping forward toward them.

The others, seeing this, quickly followed.

Soon, the four arrived at Li Luo and Ying Chanxi's side.

At that moment, they were watching the footage just recorded on the camera.

Due to the angle, the camera couldn't capture the actual kiss—only Ying Chanxi's back, just like last night by the river.

This way, they could publicly claim it was a misalignment technique.

But as Ying Chanxi stood blushing beside Li Luo, watching the footage, a familiar voice suddenly came from beside them.

"Class monitor, vice-monitor~ Hello!" Ren Zheng's sweet voice rang out, startling both of them.

Turning their heads, Li Luo saw Ren Zheng and the other three, his expression instantly surprised.

Ying Chanxi, meanwhile, reacted instantly—her face flushed crimson, and she ducked behind Li Luo, refusing to look at them at all.

"What are you guys doing?" Ren Zheng asked curiously.

"Oh, filming a music video," Li Luo said calmly. He glanced at the expressions of Ren Zheng and the others—they clearly hadn't seen the kiss. He stayed composed, then reached behind his back and gently squeezed Ying Chanxi's hand, calming her.

Fortunately, Ying Chanxi quickly recovered, cautiously peeking out from behind Li Luo, asking worriedly: "Did you... see us filming?"

"Nope," Ren Zheng shook her head, her face showing no sign of suspicion. Instead, she asked curiously, "We just saw you two near the camera, so we came over to check—didn't expect you were really filming a music video. Which song is this?"

"It's 'Chasing the Light,'" Ying Chanxi replied softly, her cheeks still flushed. "After filming, there'll be a version with Li Luo singing alone—be sure to listen when it comes out."

Ying Chanxi skillfully shifted the topic, and Ren Zheng and the others followed along.

The two girls chatted with Ying Chanxi, while Li Luo joined Lin Yuan and Fang Chen.

"Are you two going on a date this weekend?" Li Luo glanced between them and the two girls, teasing.

"Class monitor, don't say nonsense—we're just classmates hanging out normally," Fang Chen said seriously.

"Exactly," Lin Yuan nodded vigorously. "Only you and the vice-monitor going out counts as a date."

"This is work," Li Luo declared firmly. "Don't say nonsense—filming a music video is part of our job. Don't confuse it with dating."

"Alright, alright, it's work, it's work." Lin Yuan clicked his tongue, exchanged a glance with Fang Chen beside him, barely holding back a laugh.

Although the class monitor wrote songs well, and "Chasing the Light" was popular, filming the music video was indeed necessary.

But you could just hire a professional team to film it.

Who ever has a songwriter privately filming themselves with their childhood sweetheart?

And then, halfway through filming, you end up doing a kiss scene?

Lin Yuan and Fang Chen couldn't help but suppress their laughter, but they said nothing more to Li Luo, lest he sense anything amiss.

After chatting for a while, Li Luo and Ying Chanxi watched them four depart.

Watching Lin Yuan and the others disappear into the entrance of Yintai Department Store, Li Luo pressed his lips together, still savoring that soft, faintly sweet taste, and asked: "Is the filming done now? Where do we go next?"

"Hmm…" Ying Chanxi also pressed her lips together, wanting to say the previous scene hadn't been quite right—better to do it a few more times.

But after nearly being caught by Hua Xiuxiu and the others, Ying Chanxi felt too embarrassed to continue kissing Li Luo in such a public place.

In truth, she was already very happy.

After all, she'd gotten to kiss Li Luo again under the pretense of filming the MV.

And this time, it had lasted slightly longer than last night's.

The kiss had left Ying Chanxi's head spinning, her whole body light and floaty, as if she were about to soar into the sky, her skin burning hot.

Though it was already mid-December, the cold wind howled, yet Ying Chanxi, standing on the street, felt her body unusually fiery, her ears blazing red.

But Ying Chanxi wasn't in much of a rush.

Li Luo had written so many songs, and plenty of them dealt with romantic feelings between men and women.

Now that they'd had the first time, and then the second, why not a third, a fourth?

Thinking this, Ying Chanxi simply packed away the camera, then said to Li Luo: "It's only eight-something. Why don't we go inside Yintai and browse? It's your birthday—I'll buy you some new clothes?"

"Alright."

Li Luo nodded, helped pack up the camera and tripod, then walked with Ying Chanxi toward Yintai Department Store.

As they walked, Ying Chanxi kept glancing at Li Luo's hand, her own knuckles occasionally brushing against his.

But without the excuse of filming the MV, she dared not do anything beyond friendship.

Yet the next second, she suddenly felt her small hand taken in his.

"Cough… I'm about to write a scene where the protagonist goes on a date with Shen Dongdong," Li Luo coughed softly, "Help me gather some material?"

Feeling Li Luo's warm, large hand, Ying Chanxi's face flushed faintly; she offered no resistance, letting him hold her hand.

After hearing him, she immediately nodded lightly and whispered: "If you want material, then… does this count as a date now?"

"Of course."

"Then… what are we now?"

"Whatever relationship we have in the book—that's what we are now."

"But you haven't written the protagonist confirming his relationship with any other girl yet," Ying Chanxi pouted, giving her hand a little tug.

"Then please help me out, sweet little Xi Xi," Li Luo smiled, gripping her hand firmly to stop her from pulling away, "How about a three-hour couple's experience?"