Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Perfect Match (Part Eight)

When Yu Manyi said she wanted to take a photo with Song Qi, Huo Shiwen didn’t show any surprise. She merely examined the background she had chosen earlier and then said, “Alright, I’ll take a solo photo of you first. Oh right, is that portrait here? I’d like to include it in the shot.”

“It’s in my room,” Song Qi said.

Huo Shiwen nodded and signaled for Song Qi to go retrieve the portrait. Then she began arranging Yu Manyi’s pose for the photo. She hung the camera from her wrist and helped Yu Manyi tidy her hair.

When she tucked Yu Manyi’s long hair behind her ear, she was very close to her. Yu Manyi widened her eyes and observed her. The gold-rimmed glasses had extremely fine frames, and behind the lenses were a pair of calm, steady eyes. Unlike Fang Qian’s extremely short hair, Huo Shiwen’s hair was fine, thick, and neatly tucked behind her ears, hanging straight down to her waist.

This was the first time Yu Manyi had seen a woman with such long hair left untied. For most people, it would easily look messy, like unkempt hair let loose—but that word didn’t apply to Huo Shiwen at all. Every strand of her hair seemed to be under perfect control.

“Jiejie,” Yu Manyi asked while Huo Shiwen helped with her hair, “are you a reporter from Shanghai?”

“I am,” Huo Shiwen replied.

“What newspaper are you with?” she asked again. “Is it much bigger than Song Qi’s paper?”

“It’s Shenbao,” Huo Shiwen said. “It’s a bit bigger, but his paper is also very well done.”

After the hair was tidied, she stepped back a couple of paces and began adjusting the camera. Yu Manyi had only been to the town’s photography studio once before and had seen a very old camera there. When the shutter was pressed, it made a loud “ka-cha” sound, and the flash was so bright it felt like an explosion.

Huo Shiwen’s camera was very small and didn’t require a tripod. It suited her build and could be carried easily.

“Do you write articles and take photos too?” Yu Manyi asked again. She was full of curiosity about Huo Shiwen.

“I started as a photojournalist,” Huo Shiwen said, smiling at her. “I used to work in a photography studio.”Yu Manyi was very surprised.

“Women can work in photo studios? There are women working in photo studios too?”

“They can, but you have to take much better pictures than men,” Huo Shiwen said.

“You’re amazing,” Yu Manyi said sincerely. “Then you must be able to earn a lot of money, enough to support yourself completely.”

Huo Shiwen, calm as ever, couldn’t help but chuckle a little. She said, “Not much. Just enough to rent an apartment and eat. Shanghai is too expensive.”

“That’s already a lot,” Yu Manyi said. “No woman in the Yu family earns money. I’ve only seen the lady bosses of the rouge shop and the fabric store going out to earn a living. Our local post office, bank, and even the photo studio you mentioned—all of them don’t hire women.”

“Post offices, banks, and photo studios in Shanghai all hire women,” Huo Shiwen said. “Newspapers do too. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t have had to leave home and go all the way to Shanghai, where everything is so expensive.”

She looked very composed, but since she mentioned “expensive” twice, Yu Manyi believed her—Shanghai must truly be expensive. Even a woman like Huo Shiwen could only earn just enough to rent a place and eat. If she went there, she’d probably end up sleeping on the streets.

Huo Shiwen found a step for Yu Manyi to stand on. Beside it was a piece of Taihu stone, and from above a tree branch stretched out with flowers. Yu Manyi stood beneath the branch, and Song Qi had also brought the painting over.

Huo Shiwen unrolled the scroll and examined it, smiled and said, “It really looks like her,” then had Yu Manyi hold the painting and posed her under the tree for a few shots. Yu Manyi’s body was a little stiff. She asked, “Jiejie, is this going to be published in the newspaper?”

“It’ll take up a full page,” Huo Shiwen said.

Yu Manyi stiffened even more.

The film roll was limited, and Huo Shiwen saved the last shot for a photo of Song Qi and Yu Manyi together.But just as Song Qi walked over to her, Director He, who had been chatting with Master Yu, suddenly seemed to notice something and loudly walked over: “Reporter Huo, you’ve already started taking photos? Ah—why didn’t you let me know—come, come, let’s take a group photo with Second Miss Yu, it’ll be in the paper!”

Director He guided his actions by how well they could promote his political achievements, so of course, a photo appearing in the newspaper was better than one that didn’t. He had originally thought that Huo Shiwen would suggest it herself, but it turned out she was really here for Miss Yu in Shaoxing and had little interest in photographing an old man like him.

Still, he seized the opportunity at this moment—not only did he walk over himself, but also called over Master Yu, the entire Yu family, a group of students, and his own secretary.

The space beside the Taihu stone suddenly felt cramped. Director He even deliberately invited Yu Manyi to stand between himself and Master Yu, to show that he wasn’t trying to steal the spotlight. But he didn’t realize that Yu Manyi’s expression had already dimmed.

Song Qi was completely pushed out of sight. Yu Manyi wanted to call him back, but she also knew that by any standard of hierarchy or seniority, Song Qi had no reason to stand between Master Yu and Director He. Once again, Yu Manyi felt a strong dislike for “rules.”

Huo Shiwen had just said the film had only one shot left. Once this big group photo was taken, she wouldn’t have another chance. Yu Manyi felt deeply disappointed, and when she heard Huo Shiwen counting “One—two,” she couldn’t even muster a smile.

But suddenly, Huo Shiwen lowered her camera.

“Reporter Huo, what’s wrong?” Director He asked.

“The composition isn’t quite right,” Huo Shiwen replied.

“This composition…”

“The people in the center are all different heights, it’s too uneven,” Huo Shiwen explained logically. “If we take it like this, it’ll look messy. Director He, do you mind if I bring over two chairs? You and Master Yu can sit in front and hold the little miss. The literacy class students and Second Miss Yu can stand in two rows by height, front and back. The Yu family’s relatives can spread out on the sides of those rows—this way, it’ll look much better.”

Huo Shiwen made the arrangements with great experience. No one found anything wrong, and they quickly changed positions as she said. Once everyone was in place again, Yu Manyi sensed a figure behind her, much taller than herself. She didn’t even need to look back to know—it was Song Qi.

Fang Qian also stood next to her now. With the students, who had been scattered earlier, now grouped together, the atmosphere suddenly became much more relaxed. The members of the Yu family stood rigid and proper, but the students didn’t care for those rules. Fang Qian held Yu Manyi’s arm and leaned her head slightly toward her ear. Another female student got close to Yu Manyi and also held her hand. Halfway through, she looked back and scolded with a laugh: “Don’t go putting bunny ears over my head again this time!”

The classmate doing that immediately withdrew her hand.Their playful commotion made the Yu family members seem all the more lifeless. Huo Shiwen smiled at them, and finally raised the camera.

“One—two—”

Just before she called out “three,” Yu Manyi suddenly felt something flash in the corner of her eye, as if a Chinese trumpet creeper flower had fallen from above. The petal landed on her shoulder with a soft pat. Yu Manyi turned her gaze slightly, intending to reach out and brush the petal away. But just as her hand moved toward it, another hand landed on her shoulder and picked up that reddish flower.

She felt as if her fingertips lightly brushed against the back of Song Qi’s hand for a fleeting moment—and then, with a click, the camera shutter snapped. The last frame of the roll had been used.