"Have you arrived?" Jiang Cheng asked as he dialled, snatching the folding fan from Zhao Ke's hand and fanning himself vigorously. "We're about to take photos now, but this robe is suffocating."

"About five minutes until I enter the gate," Gu Fei said with a smile. "I just saw the selfie you posted; it looked fine, not uncomfortable at all."

"It's not as it seems," Jiang Cheng tugged at his graduation gown. "It's too tight around the legs; Zhao Ke fell when he came downstairs."

"I almost fell," Zhao Ke corrected him.

"Almost," Jiang Cheng added.

"Just wait for me downstairs; I'll be there soon," Gu Fei said.

"Alright," Jiang Cheng replied.

"Are you hungry?" Gu Fei asked again. "Should I bring some snacks for you?"

"Not hungry. We can grab something after we finish taking photos," Jiang Cheng proposed.

"Okay," Gu Fei said.

Today marks the complete end of our graduation journey, Jiang Cheng thought, looking at his classmates dressed identically to him, with many of their parents and family members present, all smiling brightly.

Nobody from Zhao Ke's family came; only Zhang Dantong came over, not even Zhao Jin showed up. His family was a bunch of academic achievers, probably not feeling anything about Zhao Ke's master's degree.

Jiang Cheng didn't really have strong feelings about graduation; he just felt like he had finally completed a stage, and his student life had come to an end.

Now he could fully dedicate himself to making money.

In comparison, that's what excited him more.

"Is that Gu Fei?" Zhao Ke asked, looking at the road near the school gate.

"Yeah," Jiang Cheng replied even before turning his head to look, feeling that he could now fully sense Gu Fei's presence.

Gu Fei was carrying a camera bag, wearing a baseball cap that shadowed half his face. He was dressed in casual sportswear, which didn't really give off the vibe of a photographer.

But he still looked handsome.

Jiang Cheng always thought that Gu Fei's way of walking was very attractive—relaxed and casual, yet not slouchy.

When Gu Fei came over, he smiled at him. "Looking good."

"They plan to leave their mark in every corner of the campus," Jiang Cheng said. "I'm not sure exactly what they have in mind, so just capture whatever you see."

"Got it," Gu Fei smiled, looking at the group of people lined up neatly at the library entrance. "Congratulations on your graduation."

"Don't be so polite with us," Zhang Qiqi retorted. "We'll feel bad about bossing you around for photos later."

"Feel free to boss me around," Gu Fei said. "After all, it's not easy for you guys to have been together from undergraduate to graduate school."

There were many people taking photos around the campus, and all the iconic spots were crowded. Even places with distinctive features had their fair share of people. They walked around the campus, capturing moments as they went.

First was the library, which had been one of the most important places for Jiang Cheng during his campus life. Windy or rainy, as long as there was a seat, he was usually there.

"You guys," Gu Fei looked at the group of people lined up neatly at the library entrance with his camera, "are you here for a seminar? Not only are you standing so neatly, but your expressions are also so uniform…"

Several of them looked back and forth at each other, suddenly bursting into laughter. Perhaps it was because the library was too solemn; they all had serious expressions, as if they were about to take an important exam.

Gu Fei took advantage of their laughter to snap a few photos.

After another round of individual photos, Jiang Cheng stepped forward.

"Are you sure?" Gu Fei looked at him.

"Yeah," Jiang Cheng nodded back at him. "This pose really expresses my emotions."

"Alright then," Gu Fei kneeled on one leg, camera in hand, and lowered the camera, looking at the screen. Jiang Cheng stood with his back to the camera, hands on hips, looking up at the three characters of the library.

No matter how you photographed it, this pose exuded a kind of goofiness. Even with Jiang Cheng's good looks and charm, it was difficult to elevate it.

It was like trying to take a photo of long legs but being hindered by the graduation gown.

Gu Fei could only try to make the scene more imposing, making Jiang Cheng appear as if he were standing between heaven and earth, ready to conquer the library.

"Wow," Jiang Cheng looked at the photos afterward. "You should edit this one a bit. I feel like I could soar like a dragon in a second."

"Sure, I'll touch it up for you," Gu Fei glanced at him. "Honestly, Cheng-ge."

"Yeah?" Jiang Cheng responded.

"That cap you're wearing," Gu Fei continued, "looks terrible."

"Get lost!" Jiang Cheng glared at him, then chuckled. "Really? Well, can't blame me."

"Yeah, blame the hat. It's the first time I've seen something that even your good looks can't save," Gu Fei stepped back with his camera. "Let's get a close-up."

"You two," Lu Shi sighed on the side, "are the most sickening couple I've ever seen."

"Here," Jiang Cheng smiled, patting Lu Shi's shoulder. Lu Shi had been heartbroken for half a year and still couldn't quite get over it. "Let's go. Where to next?"

"The cafeteria?" Zhao Ke suggested.

Everyone agreed, and they quickly changed locations.

"We're not very creative," Zhang Qiqi noted as they walked. "Should we go back to the dorms later and take another round of photos, then the classrooms? Over these years, we've grown tired of these places."

"Even though we're tired of them," Zhao Ke remarked, "we won't have the chance to come back again. And even if we do, the feelings won't be the same anymore."

Yes, Jiang Cheng stretched lazily, arms wide open.

When he graduated from undergraduate school, this feeling wasn't very strong. After all, they were still in the same environment, attending classes, eating, studying, and sleeping, surrounded by familiar faces.

Whether it was high school graduation or undergraduate graduation, the next environment was still a campus, large or small.

But now, they were ending their campus life, about to face a completely new stage in life, experiencing various changes and adapting bit by bit.

One day when they would look back, all those things they were "tired of" would have become nostalgic.

Gu Fei followed behind the group with his camera, occasionally snapping a few shots. This natural state looked very beautiful in photos.

The bright sunlight, the fresh and clean campus, and a group of top students chatting, laughing, and walking.

Gu Fei didn't know what Jiang Cheng was thinking at the moment, but he had many thoughts himself, some of which he couldn't sort out for a while.

The fact that he accompanied Jiang Cheng to this school years ago was something he had never expected. Even more unexpected was that one day he would hold a camera and capture Jiang Cheng's graduation moments at this school.

When he first saw Jiang Cheng, he could never have imagined that his life would change so drastically because of this somewhat impulsive and naive boy.

He went to college, became a teacher for a few years, and came to Jiang Cheng's side with Gu Miao, carrying his camera, possessing his own hope in a city he had never anticipated or longed for.

And after experiencing so many unexpected events, they were still together.

It took over three hours to take the photos, which was quite fast considering the large group.

After changing clothes and tidying up, as they walked out of the school, Jiang Cheng sighed, "It's a good thing we're all guys. If we were girls, we might still be taking photos of the night scenery."

"Isn't that a bit much?" Gu Fei said.

"Look at those girls," Jiang Cheng gestured with his eyes. "When we went to the library, I saw them taking photos by the rocks."

"Oh," Gu Fei looked over. Several girls were taking pictures, and in the short time they watched, they changed poses and expressions multiple times with great coordination.

"It's been three hours," Jiang Cheng said. "And they're still here."

"Maybe they've circled back around," Gu Fei suggested.

"Maybe," Jiang Cheng looked at the nearby building and stopped in his tracks. "I'll take a couple more shots. These classrooms... they're my youth."

This time, Jiang Cheng didn't choose any specific pose, he just casually stood in front of the building.

After Gu Fei finished taking the photos, he continued to hold the camera and looked at Jiang Cheng.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Cheng walked over to him.

"Do you know," Gu Fei finally put down the camera after a while, lowering his head to look through the photos one by one, "I have a habit of looking at photos. You, or Gu Miao, the photos I've taken over these years, I often look at them."

"Yeah, I know," Jiang Cheng smiled. "Sometimes I spend a whole night just looking at them."

"Sometimes it's not very noticeable when we're face to face," Gu Fei turned off the camera, putting it away in his bag while glancing up at Jiang Cheng, "but when looking at photos, you can see it. A person's changes, from the first photo to the last, every day, every stage, there's change, and the eyes show it the most."

"Ah," Jiang Cheng blinked and adopted an old man's tone, "my, my gaze... is it slowly becoming... chaotic?"

"Yeah," Gu Fei casually flicked his forehead.

Jiang Cheng rubbed his forehead, "I've been putting up with you for so many years, and you still do this with just a flick of your hand. Can't you change?"

"If I don't change, what can you do about it?" Gu Fei turned and walked towards the school gate.

Jiang Cheng followed, rubbing his forehead, "Well, I can't do anything to you either..."

"Then why bother changing," Gu Fei said.

"...Your changes, I can actually feel them even without looking at photos," Jiang Cheng mentioned, "Arrogance, day by day, becoming more and more arrogant."

"Learned it from you," Gu Fei chuckled as he took out his phone, which was ringing. "Liu Fan... Maybe he's sending off a client and planning to meet up tomorrow."

"Tell him to go to the hotpot restaurant," Jiang Cheng said, "After buying so much meat, if no one helps eat it, I'm afraid it won't stay fresh."

"Yeah," Gu Fei answered the phone, "Hello."

Among Gu Fei's friends, Liu Fan was probably the closest to him. He visited at least once a month for business, and when he came, he had to have a meal before leaving.

Recently, he had also tried to persuade Li Yan to start his own business, but Li Yan wasn't very interested.

"He's complaining again about Li Yan not joining him," Gu Fei hung up the phone.

"Why does he insist on dragging Li Yan along," Jiang Cheng chuckled, "Li Yan just likes to... oh, now he's into styling pets. He doesn't seem interested in doing business."

"Yeah," Gu Fei nodded, "Now that I've brought Cheng ge here, there's no one to take care of it.

"...Gu Fei, I'm warning you for the last time," Jiang Cheng looked at him, "Your sister said that big fat cat's name is now Rourou."

"I got used to calling it that," Gu Fei nodded earnestly, "I'll definitely change it back."

"You got used to it?" Jiang Cheng said, "You've been calling it Rourou for a year now. And now your acting skills are improving day by day, almost no traces of performance left."

"I love you," Gu Fei whispered in his ear.

Jiang Cheng paused, not sure if it was because Gu Fei got too close, or because his voice sounded particularly magnetic at this close distance, or simply because they were on the street...

Actually, it was because they hardly ever said these three words to each other.

Although these three words were as deeply rooted in their hearts as the twisted roots of an old tree, neither of them were the kind of people who would easily say them.

Over the years, they probably hadn't said "I love you" together ten times. Every time he heard it, Jiang Cheng's heart would race.

He glanced at Gu Fei.

"You see," Gu Fei said, "Is there any trace of acting in this?"

"Get lost," Jiang Cheng laughed.

"From the heart," Gu Fei said, "No need for acting."

"How old are you?" Jiang Cheng said, "Gu Miao is more mature than you."

"I matured too early," Gu Fei chuckled, draping his arm over Jiang Cheng's shoulder. "Now I'm reverting to childhood."

"If you have the ability, show it to others," Jiang Cheng said. "You look like a mature and reliable young man outside. If I didn't watch you grow up, I'd believe it."

Gu Fei laughed for a while.

*

School hadn't been busy these days, but there was still plenty to do.

After dinner, they sat down on the sofa. Since Jiang Cheng wrote "The Awakening of Tyrant Gu," he had developed the habit of journaling every day.

"Is Er Miao's training starting on Tuesday, right?" He crossed his legs and opened his notebook.

"Yeah, I called Teacher Qin this morning. I'll go again tomorrow." Gu Fei also opened his notebook to transfer photos while looking at them. "You need a haircut. Your hair is covering your forehead and eyebrows."

"I was waiting for Li Yan to come," Jiang Cheng looked at his notebook. His hair had grown a bit long.

"The three of us, Gu Miao included, are probably the only ones he still cuts hair for," Gu Fei said. "But he's only available at the end of the month. He said he'll come after Pan Zhi's grand opening."

"No, can you stop talking like you're in a horror movie?" Jiang Cheng laughed. "It sends shivers down my spine."

"Does Feiyang need a haircut?" Gu Fei chuckled. "Xu Xingzhi said Li Yan is really good at grooming Feiyang. After grooming, Feiyang doesn't throw tantrums when looking in the mirror."

"Let's ask," Jiang Cheng said. "Oh, speaking of that, Xu Xingzhi also said Li Yan is willing to come over and do pet grooming. Can he help? He knows a bunch of pet owners."

"I don't know. Li Yan said he'll think about it. You see, he's always envying us for being out here. But if we really ask him to come..." Gu Fei leaned back against the sofa. "He might hesitate."

"His situation is different from ours," Jiang Cheng remarked. "He grew up there, and his family is quite well-off. He'd be reluctant to leave. Liu Fan runs around outside every day, but he never thought about leaving the steel mill."

"Yeah," Gu Fei turned his head to look at him. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably be the same. I wouldn't be able to go to school, just thinking about running my family's store."

Jiang Cheng smiled and kissed him on the lips.

"Are you going to Wang's company for onboarding next Monday?" Gu Fei asked.

"Yeah," Jiang Cheng nodded, poking at his notebook. "I realized I'm quite busy these days. I need to get familiar with the job, do handovers, and review a lot of materials. There's still a pile of translation work I haven't finished."

"If you're working, don't take on translation work," Gu Fei said. "It's too tiring, and you won't be able to keep up."

"Depends on the situation. I've been using it to improve my English," Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and clicked his tongue. "And the pay is pretty good. I'm a bit reluctant to let go."

"Hey!" Gu Fei lay back on the sofa with his notebook. "I've given you my card. Can you please not be so obsessed with money?"

Gu Miao, who had been sitting on the floor watching TV, turned her head: "Obsessed with money."

"Yes, that's right," Gu Fei immediately gave her a thumbs-up. Now Gu Miao was starting to pick up some new words she hadn't encountered before. Xu Xingzhi told Gu Fei to always encourage her to repeat them whenever she said something new. "Er Miao, that's great. Say it again. Obsessed with money."

"Obsessed with money," Gu Miao looked at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng stared at her for a few seconds and then chuckled, "I can't even praise her."

"Hurry up," Gu Fei kicked him.

"Great, Er Miao said it really well," Jiang Cheng said.

"Obsessed with money," Gu Miao repeated.

"Yes, I'm obsessed with money," Jiang Cheng nodded.

It had been less than a year since Gu Fei came here. He followed the previous photo editor to learn in his studio while independently taking photos. His income wasn't exceptionally good now, but every time Jiang Cheng checked his card, the numbers inside always seemed to change.

Life was much better than before. At least Gu Miao didn't need to spend a lot of money anymore, Gu Fei had a steady income, and his part-time job was more than just tutoring. Now he was about to start his formal job...

"Cheng Ge," Gu Fei yawned, "when are you going to treat me to that 800-yuan noodles and 200-yuan meat?"

"On my birthday this year," Jiang Cheng said. "I've already found a place."

"Where?" Gu Fei asked. "Is there really a shameless place like that?"

"The lamb noodle shop across the street from our community," Jiang Cheng said.

"...Across the street?" Gu Fei blinked. "Their big bowl of lamb noodles is only 23 yuan, and they even give side dishes. Adding meat is only 8 yuan."

"Yeah," Jiang Cheng nodded.

"I remember you said it was 800 yuan for noodles, and 200 yuan for meat," Gu Fei reminded him.

"Last time," Jiang Cheng turned to look at him, "when I went to eat noodles, I got a card and topped it up with 1,000 yuan. 800 yuan for noodles, 200 yuan for meat..."

"Oh," Gu Fei stared at him, then laughed after about ten seconds. "I'm impressed by you."

"What can I do? Their noodles are especially delicious," Jiang Cheng added. "By the way, the owner said I was the first one not afraid of him closing down and running away with the money, so he gave me a free soy milk with every bowl of noodles. How about that?"

"Cheng Ge is the best," Gu Fei applauded him while laughing.

"Good to know," Jiang Cheng nodded satisfactorily, continuing to look at his notebook. "Oh, when you have time, think about what to give Pan Zhi for his grand opening. You're good at giving gifts."

"I'll think about it," Gu Fei said. "Is Boss Xiao really going to give Pan Zhi a bronze sculpture? When she mentioned it that day, it didn't seem like a joke."

Miss Xiao was the boss of "Unexpected," with a sideline in coffee shops and a main business in bronze sculptures. Pan Zhi had been pursuing her for a year and a half, losing weight but still not successful.

"It feels real," Jiang Cheng said. "I think she's going to agree to Pan Zhi."

"Then should we prepare a banner first?" Gu Fei sat up seriously. "Thanking Beautiful Miss Xiao for eliminating evil for the people."

"Yeah, we should prepare. The day is finally coming!" Jiang Cheng also had a serious expression, then he thought for a moment and clicked his tongue. "Putting so much effort into other people's things, can't my birthday gift be a bit more thoughtful? Last year, the birthday cake was decorated with big slices of pork belly. I didn't argue with you about it because it looked like meat..."

"Come with me to the steel factory on your birthday," Gu Fei proposed.

"Huh?" Jiang Cheng was surprised. "Go back? Have you been back?"

"Is that okay?" Gu Fei asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," Jiang Cheng said. "Just pick a weekend to go back... The gift is at the steel factory?"

"Yeah," Gu Fei smiled.

 

Translator : DarNan