As far as Ji Zhaoxi was concerned, it made no difference whether she had an agency or not.
Almost all of her promotional photos lately had been taken by Lu Huainan, and he was the one who found the locations, too.
The two of them often lugged heavy equipment around. As soon as they set everything down, they would start taking cool-looking photos, then head back to school through the wind and snow once they were finished.
They sat in the car, constantly blowing warm air into their hands. Everyone on the road was bundled up in thick padded coats.
Lu Huainan handed Ji Zhaoxi a hot-water bottle, then took a thermos out of his bag.
“It’s so cold.” Ji Zhaoxi clutched the thermos and shivered.
But the outdoor shots had turned out beautifully.
Lu Huainan carefully brushed the snow from her hair. Looking at her flushed face, he said in a slightly hoarse voice, “How about we stop here for today?”
Ji Zhaoxi frowned and took a few sips of hot tea. “But all the other influencers have already taken this set.”
You had to fight for traffic.
Lu Huainan glanced at Ji Zhaoxi beside him and answered quietly, “All right. Drink a few more sips, then we’ll continue.”
After they were ready, the two of them got out of the car and resumed taking pictures. Ji Zhaoxi felt as if her face had frozen stiff.
She rubbed her cheeks and ran over to Lu Huainan. “Were those last few shots okay? My smile looked kind of weird.”
Lu Huainan showed her the finished photos. Standing in front of her, he shielded her from the wind and softened his voice. “It doesn’t look weird. You look great.”
Ji Zhaoxi inspected the pictures carefully. The more she looked, the more satisfied she became.
The two penguins retreated into the car again.
As Ji Zhaoxi looked through the photos on the camera, she smiled. “Lu Huainan, how about we work together? We can sign a contract. I’ll give you a share based on how well the posts perform. What do you think?”
She raised her eyebrows. “I’m not taking advantage of you!”
Although she had stopped livestreaming recently, the engagement on her promotional photos was excellent.
Lu Huainan drank his water without saying a word.
Ji Zhaoxi grabbed him by the clothes, full of righteous indignation. “Lu!”
Lu Huainan pretended not to hear her and lowered his head to look at his phone.
Lu didn’t want Ji’s money.
One hand pressed down on his phone. Lu Huainan turned his attention to the steering wheel, and when that same hand pressed down on the wheel, he closed his eyes.
“Even real brothers keep their accounts separate. Besides, we’re not even blood siblings.”
He heard her muttering beside him.
He didn’t want anything. He only wanted to stay by her side—to be her driver, her photographer, her errand boy, standing not far from her…
The light inside the car was extremely dim, and shadows occasionally swept past the windows from outside.
Lu Huainan leaned back against his seat, his eyes squeezed shut as though he were refusing to communicate. His lips were pressed tightly together, like a silent protest.
Seeing him like that, a mischievous glint flashed through Ji Zhaoxi’s eyes. With a click, she opened her lipstick.
The moment it touched his skin, Lu Huainan felt it.
A faint fragrance and warm breath washed over him, leaving him nowhere to hide. His eyelashes trembled, but he let her scribble all over his face.
“Lu Huainan, why won’t you open your eyes? Why are you even more high-maintenance than I am?” Ji Zhaoxi complained softly, though her hand never stopped moving.
Lu Huainan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His entire body was rigid. He instinctively lifted his hand and hovered it near her, afraid she might fall.
His ears were red enough to bleed. Their breaths mingled in the narrow space between them. When Ji Zhaoxi saw that he still wasn’t reacting, she drew with even greater enthusiasm.
“If you don’t open your eyes, I’m taking a picture of you!”
Lu Huainan’s face grew redder and redder. His usually cool eyes now burned with heat, and he caught her hand tightly.
The air inside the car suddenly grew warm. He stared at her, his voice unbearably hoarse. “Ji Zhaoxi… You know I like you, so are you deliberately bullying me?”
Ji Zhaoxi answered with perfect justification, “What if I am?”
It was his own fault for looking so easy to bully.
Lu Huainan looked at her bright eyes and lowered his head awkwardly. Stumbling over his words, he said, “You can.”
Ji Zhaoxi looked at him and said seriously, “The anti-fan walked right into the trap, so how could I possibly let you off that easily?”
Whenever the subject came up, Lu Huainan didn’t dare say a word.
By the time they returned to school, there were barely any people left on the road. Under the dim streetlights, the two of them carried huge bags back toward the dormitories, leaving one footprint after another in the snow.
“You can add this experience to your résumé when you go for your internship. It might even earn you extra points.”
“What?”
“Being the photographer for the famous influencer Ji Zhaoxi. Think how impressive that sounds.”
“…”
“Why are you laughing?! Don’t come looking for me anymore!”
“I’m sorry. I won’t laugh anymore…”
“Too late!”
Under the hazy streetlights, snow flew through the air as the two of them bickered and played in the snow, with soft bursts of laughter drifting through the night from time to time.
A fluffy owl stood quietly on the branch where the snow lay thickest. It shook its whiskers and gazed at the bright moon overhead.
The laboratory had grown busy again. During this period, almost no one ever left the lab on time.
Their senior stood rooted to the spot with a blank expression.
“Senior, is this right?”
“Senior, how do I adjust this?”
“Senior, come quick! Something seems to have gone wrong here!”
Their senior drifted from one station to another like a ghost.
“Coming, coming…”
Their supervisor really ought to pay him more. Half the time, he had no idea whether he was their senior or their supervisor.
After explaining everything, he drifted back to his own workstation.
Wen Shuning couldn’t help laughing. “You’re so busy, Senior.”
Their senior lay facedown on the table in agony. “I’m so tired. I just want to go back to the dorm and sleep.”
He never wanted to pursue a PhD again!
He didn’t even want to finish his master’s degree!
He looked at the two people across from him and poked Wen Shuning.
“Look at those two. Anyone who didn’t know better would think they were the only people in the entire lab.”
Ji Zhaoxi and Lu Huainan were clearly conducting an experiment, yet both of them wore smiles on their faces. Listening to Lu Huainan, Ji Zhaoxi laughed so hard she had to clutch her stomach.
A faint smile rested on Lu Huainan’s face, but he kept talking.
“Lu Huainan, that joke was so terrible.”
But Ji Zhaoxi thought cold jokes were only truly funny when they came from someone as cold as Lu Huainan.
Seeing how happily she laughed, Lu Huainan ransacked his mind for every cold joke he knew. In the end, the only sounds left in the laboratory were the two of them trying to hold back their laughter.
Everyone else: …
“Hey, the famous influencer and her famous influencer’s assistant—you two planning to study or not? Go laugh somewhere else!” one of their labmates shouted from behind them.
Were these two never going to stop?
Ji Zhaoxi and Lu Huainan immediately adopted serious expressions and forced themselves to stop laughing.
But not long afterward, a rustling sound, much like a mouse scurrying around, came from somewhere in the laboratory.
Their senior, who had been secretly napping, opened his eyes and silently stared at the two people across from him. Their faces were flushed from holding in their laughter, and neither dared make a sound.
What on earth were they laughing about? These two used to roll their eyes the moment they saw each other!
