Riding bicycles from the machinery factory to the Hongmeng Photo Studio took twenty minutes. Both of them were somewhat hot upon arrival. After finding a shady spot to park their bicycles, Cheng Fangqiu quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off herself and Zhou Yinghuai. Once they had somewhat recovered, they finally had the leisure to take a look at the renowned Hongmeng Photo Studio.
The studio was a two-story red brick building. Above the entrance hung an exquisite wooden signboard with the words “Hongmeng Photo Studio” neatly written, giving off an imposing air. On both sides of the entrance were large glass display windows showcasing black-and-white photographs of various sizes.
The second floor was obscured by curtains, making it impossible to see what was inside.
Cheng Fangqiu curiously glanced around a few times. Once Zhou Yinghuai had locked their bicycles, the two walked inside side by side. Directly facing the entrance was a long counter, with various certificates and awards hanging on the wall behind it, showcasing the Hongmeng Photo Studio’s many years of honors and expertise.
To the left, there was a set of gray sofas along with several wooden chairs. A few young men and women were sitting there, chatting and drinking water.
On the right side was presumably the photography area, but a wooden bogu shelf served as a partition, preventing a clear view of the scene inside. Only faint voices could be heard from beyond.
“Comrades, hello! Are you here to take photos?” A female staff member behind the counter, dressed in a white blouse, greeted them warmly upon seeing them enter.
“Yes, we need both individual and group photos.” Zhou Yinghuai nodded slightly, stating their request.
“Please fill out this form first. Once you’re done, you can sit over there and wait for a bit.”
The female staff member had a round face and large, lively eyes. Her voice was polite and gentle, making people feel an immediate sense of goodwill.
After she finished speaking, she handed over two forms and some pens.
“Excuse me, how many people are ahead of us?” Cheng Fangqiu casually asked while filling out the form.
“Four. Once they’re done, I’ll call you.”
After completing their forms, Cheng Fangqiu and Zhou Yinghuai walked toward the waiting area. Since all the sofas were occupied, they moved two wooden chairs together and sat down.
Not only were photographs displayed in the windows, but even the walls of the waiting area were densely covered with neatly arranged photos. Each photo carried a story, an emotion.
As a photographer—more precisely, a globally renowned genius photographer—Cheng Fangqiu’s perspective on photographs was quite different from that of ordinary people.
For most people, when judging a photo, they might only care about whether it looked good or was clear enough. But she paid attention to far more than that: composition, technical parameters, color, lighting, background…
From her perspective, these photos were merely passable at best.
Just as she was staring at the photos in a daze, a sudden commotion erupted in the distance. Everyone turned toward the source of the noise, only to see a man hurriedly step out from behind the bogu shelf and walk briskly to the counter, anxiously instructing the female staff member behind it:
“Hongyan, quickly call Master Zhang and ask if he can come over right away.”
“What’s wrong?” Sun Hongyan felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the man’s urgency. She immediately dialed the number and, while waiting for the call to connect, couldn’t help but ask, “Did something go wrong again?”
“Mm.” Li Zhiliang was sweating profusely, responding absentmindedly while staring intently at the phone in Sun Hongyan’s hand. Fortunately, the call was answered quickly. Master Zhang said he would come over soon, allowing the two to breathe a sigh of relief.
Upon hearing Master Zhang’s response, Li Zhiliang immediately returned to the photography area.
The commotion at the counter had been quite noticeable. Cheng Fangqiu and Zhou Yinghuai exchanged glances. Lowering her voice, she asked,
“Could it be that the camera is malfunctioning?”
Riding such a long distance under the scorching sun—if they couldn’t get their photos taken, wouldn’t that be incredibly unlucky?
Moreover, they had planned to visit the department store after taking the photos to see if there were any ready-made clothes suitable for wedding attire. If not, they would have to select fabric and hire a tailor to make the outfits.
Zhou Yinghuai had only taken a few days off. Wedding attire, the banquet, printing invitations, sending out invitations…
There was still a lot to be done.
“I don’t know.” Zhou Yinghuai shook his head, but his brows furrowed slightly, clearly having the same thought as Cheng Fangqiu.
They weren’t the only ones thinking this. The young men and women nearby also grew anxious and got up to ask Sun Hongyan about the situation at the counter.
“Comrade, can we still take photos or not? I specifically took leave today for this—my workplace needs the photo urgently!”
“Me too! I have to rush back for my shift later. If you guys can’t take photos, I’ll have to go somewhere else.”
“Our family has been regular customers here for years. Can you give us a definite answer?”
One person after another spoke up, pressing Sun Hongyan until her face turned red with distress. She quickly waved her hands to signal everyone to quiet down before explaining,
“The camera has some issues, but we’ve already called Master Zhang to come fix it. Based on past experience, it shouldn’t take too long. If you’re not in a hurry, you can wait a bit.”
“I’ve already waited an hour—I’m not waiting any longer.”
“A malfunction? Can the photos still turn out well? I don’t want to spend money only to end up with nothing.”
“People have been saying that Hongmeng’s photography skills have been getting worse and worse—I didn’t believe it. But now even the camera is acting up… sigh.”
Getting a photo taken wasn’t cheap, so naturally, everyone wanted a good-quality picture. Upon hearing Sun Hongyan’s response, one person after another started leaving.
Sun Hongyan opened her mouth, wanting to refute that last remark, but the words got stuck in her throat. After all, that person wasn’t wrong—ever since Master Zhang retired, the photos taken by his successor, Master Li, had indeed been rather mediocre.
She didn’t want to admit it, but the fact that Hongmeng Photo Studio had been declining over the past few years was undeniable.
In just a few minutes, only a few people remained inside: the two masters in the photography area, Sun Hongyan behind the counter, and Cheng Fangqiu and Zhou Yinghuai still seated in the waiting area.
“Let’s go too.” Zhou Yinghuai stood up and extended a hand to pull Cheng Fangqiu up. As she took his hand and stood, their hands briefly touched before separating.
Cheng Fangqiu didn’t want to waste time here either. However, out of curiosity, as she walked toward the door, she cast a glance at the photography area.
Through the gaps in the bogu shelf, she saw two men working on a vintage camera. One of them was holding a small brush soaked in lubricant and was just about to apply it to a certain part of the camera when Cheng Fangqiu’s eyes widened in alarm. She immediately shouted to stop him.
“Stop!”
Her sharp voice rang out abruptly in the quiet photo studio, startling everyone. All eyes turned toward the source of the shout.
“Qiuqiu?” Zhou Yinghuai, who had already reached the doorway, paused and looked at her in confusion. Cheng Fangqiu saw that the man holding the brush had been startled, causing his hand to waver and miss the camera part. Only then did she turn to Zhou Yinghuai, just about to explain—when a voice suddenly cut her off.
“What’s with all the shouting, comrade? Do you know that if my hand had slipped, the camera could’ve been ruined?!”
The speaker was a middle-aged man in a gray Zhongshan suit, who stormed out from behind the bogu shelf, puffing out his cheeks in anger.
Startled by his loud reprimand, Cheng Fangqiu instinctively took a step back to avoid the spit flying from his mouth. She frowned, not intimidated by his aggressive stance but rather irritated by it.
“Whether your hand slips or not, as long as you apply that lubricant, the camera is doomed.”
Upon hearing this, Li Taoyuan almost laughed out loud in disbelief. He gave the young woman before him a once-over—early twenties, undeniably pretty, but far too young and arrogant, acting as if she knew everything.
“What do you know, little girl? I’ve been in this trade for decades, and I’ve always applied lubricant this way.”
“Then those decades were wasted.” Cheng Fangqiu shot back without hesitation.
“You—!” Li Taoyuan took a step forward, but before he could move more than half an inch, a tall figure stepped in front of him—no, more accurately, shielded the young woman behind him.
The man’s dark eyes were deep and unfathomable.
Li Taoyuan suddenly felt as though an invisible hand was gripping his throat, making it hard to breathe.
Having worked in this field for years and taken photos for many important figures, he had developed a certain knack for reading people.
The man before him was not someone to be trifled with.
Reaching this conclusion, Li Taoyuan decided not to push further and was about to turn back—when the next words he heard made him freeze in place.
“This camera is a Chinese replica of a German model. If you apply too much lubricant, it could clog the camera’s oil channels and internal micro-holes. Not only will it fail to improve lubrication, but in serious cases, it could even damage the camera.”
Cheng Fangqiu’s eyes shone as she looked at the vintage camera in the photography area. She truly hadn’t expected to see such a rare model in a photo studio in Rongzhou.
In later generations, even a single unit of this camera would cost at least 50,000 yuan, and with a complete set of matching lenses, the price would double.
Even she—an avid camera collector—had never been able to acquire a fully complete set of this model.
Because its production numbers were extremely limited—with a total of fewer than 200 units ever made.
Although this camera was a replica, it had still left a profound mark in the history of Chinese photography.
“How do you know that?” Li Taoyuan turned around, his anger completely replaced by astonishment.
Setting aside whether her words were true or not, and disregarding how she knew about cameras in the first place—
Just the fact that she could immediately recognize that this camera was a German replica…
No one was supposed to know about this except for him and Master Zhang.
Upon hearing his question, Cheng Fangqiu froze.
Shit. She showed too much knowledge.
She swallowed nervously, not daring to glance at Zhou Yinghuai. Her mind spun rapidly—how was she supposed to explain how a rural girl, who had grown up in the countryside and had barely taken a few photos in her life, knew all this?
Before she could come up with a proper excuse, a loud commotion suddenly erupted from behind.
Turning her head, she saw an old man with a head full of white hair jumping off a bicycle and rushing toward the photo studio.
“Hurry! Let me see what’s gone wrong this time!”
The moment Li Taoyuan saw him, his face lit up like he had just found his savior. He hurriedly welcomed the man inside.
This unexpected interruption gave Cheng Fangqiu a much-needed breather.
But just as she relaxed, her nerves tightened up again in the next instant.
Because—
Zhou Yinghuai tilted his head and looked at her curiously.
“Qiuqiu, you—”
“Shhh.”
Cheng Fangqiu quickly raised a finger to her lips, making a mysterious expression. She motioned for Zhou Yinghuai to stay silent.
He obediently pressed his lips together.
Then—
He heard her lower her voice and say slowly,
“It’s a long story… but back in high school, there was this boy who liked me.”
“…His father was a veteran photographer, so he knew a lot about cameras. Back then, I thought people who understood cameras were really impressive, so he would pester me all the time, talking about this stuff. He even took me to visit the photo studio, and over time, I just picked up some knowledge.”
After she finished, she inwardly praised her own genius.
The original host of this body had indeed studied in the county’s high school and had only associated with city kids, many of whom had lost contact after graduation. Some had even moved to other cities or been sent to the countryside as educated youth.
Even if Zhou Yinghuai wanted to investigate, it would be difficult.
Besides, the original host had been a rebellious teenager, rarely telling her parents anything about school life.
So, Cheng Baokuan and Ding Ximei wouldn’t know enough to expose her lie.
This was a flawless excuse.
And even if someone managed to investigate and expose her, who on earth would believe that she had switched souls?
Just as the little figure in her mind was about to start dancing in triumph, a low, ominous voice suddenly split it in half—
“A boy who liked you?”
“You thought he was impressive?”
“He pestered you all the time?”
“And even took you out to play?”
With each sentence Zhou Yinghuai uttered, Cheng Fangqiu’s body trembled slightly.