Free Web NovelChapter 187: Chapter 187: Scheming Boy
"Hey, why did you start taking pictures?"
Su Li quickly turned to ask the student, but her question was met with another CLICK of the shutter.
Su Li froze. Just as she was about to speak, Wu Sheng tugged on her two braided pigtails from behind.
"Keep shooting, keep shooting!" he yelled.
Su Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
"Smile, quick. If you don’t, I’m going to put my arm around your shoulder. Time to exercise my rights."
She had just rescued her braids when she heard Wu Sheng’s threat.
"I’m smiling, I’m smiling! Let’s just stand a little farther apart." Knowing Wu Sheng was a man of his word, Su Li could only compromise.
"Mm-hmm." A cunning glint flashed in Wu Sheng’s eyes. He turned around, grabbed the wooden board hanging from the nearby bicycle, and balanced it on Su Li’s head. "There now, be good."
Su Li looked up at the character for "Obedient" on the board and felt mortified.
"That’s more like it. Photos should be fun." Wu Sheng nodded in satisfaction. "Here, come sit over here."
He pointed at a bench by the road, and Su Li walked over and sat down.
As for her posture, it could be described in three words: Sit like a pine.
Wu Sheng looked at her posture and stifled a laugh. He placed the wooden board on the ground, sat on it, and held his hands out toward Su Li as if presenting a masterpiece.
Su Li: "..."
After two minutes of fooling around, Su Li saw the student was still snapping away and hurriedly called for a stop.
"Okay, okay, no more pictures. That’s enough."
’This isn’t a digital camera where you can just delete the bad shots. With a film camera, every picture is permanent.’
The student chuckled, handed the camera back to Wu Sheng, and after Wu Sheng thanked him, he made an honest confession to Su Li before he left.
"He just told me to keep on clicking."
Su Li: "..."
She glanced at the time. "Thanks for coming all this way to take my picture. I have to go line up for assembly now."
"Go on," Wu Sheng nodded.
After Su Li hurried off to assemble, he hung the wooden board back up, got on his bicycle, and leisurely went to find the best spot.
Eventually, Wu Sheng slipped into the crowd from the school’s journalism club, blending in perfectly.
Huaguo Communication University had a journalism club that was responsible for the weekly school paper. As it was a Communication University, things like the school newspaper and broadcasting were taken very seriously.
The freshman military training had been reported on in the last issue of the school paper, so this performance would naturally be covered as well.
The official photographer was struggling to find a good angle, but Wu Sheng, standing right beside him, managed to find a perfect one.
The performance began on time.
The school leaders, drill instructors, and others sat on the stage. After the performance was announced to have started, the first item was naturally a speech from the leadership.
When it came to speeches from the leadership, students’ biggest fear was that they would be long-winded and boring, dragging on forever.
Fortunately, they were in luck this time. The leader’s speech was concise and over in three minutes, saving Su Li and the others from baking in the sun for too long.
Next, the performance officially began.
Su Li’s class’s turn was not at the beginning nor at the end, but right in the middle.
Su Li gathered her focus, concentrating on the task at hand.
Tang Yuanxiao’s sharp gaze found Su Li in the crowd. As luck would have it, she was positioned close to the main stage.
From the moment Su Li began her drill until she left the field, Tang Yuanxiao’s eyes followed her like a shadow.
A faint sense of surprise and pride was visible in his eyes.
’Su Li marches really well.’ freeweɓnovel.cøm
Once their part was over, Su Li, like everyone else, smiled and let out a sigh of relief.
The smile had barely faded from her lips when she spotted Wu Sheng in a nearby corner, beaming at her.
Wu Sheng lowered his camera and silently mouthed three words to her.
"Got ’em all."
’He had captured every bit of Su Li’s valiant, cool, and cute side.’
The performance was over soon, and Su Li celebrated with Chang E and the others, clapping their hands.
After leaving the drill field, Su Li saw Wu Sheng waiting in their usual spot, with the same bicycle and the same wooden board.
"Be a good girl and follow along."
Su Li sighed and said to Chang E.
"Chang E, the dorm is crowded, and everyone needs to shower. I’m going to go home to wash up. I’ll wait for you guys at the back gate at six."
"Okay, go ahead."
Chang E nodded.
Wu Sheng rode leisurely ahead while Su Li followed behind. He didn’t stop until they reached the gate.
"Aren’t I considerate? I always wait until we’re at the school gate to talk to you, to save you the embarrassment of your classmates asking about our relationship."
Wu Sheng said, fishing for praise.
Su Li replied with resignation, "Yes, thank you for being so considerate."
"Hop on. Let’s go get these photos developed together. Afterward, I’ll treat you to a nice meal."
Wu Sheng said, lifting his camera. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Su Li shook her head. "I can’t go eat with you today. I already made plans with my classmates. We decided to celebrate the end of military training."
Wu Sheng scratched his head. "I cannot accept this. Are you really abandoning me just like that?"
Su Li: "..."
"Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Go on then." Wu Sheng glanced at the time.
"It’s still early for dinner. What are you going to do?"
"I’m going home to rest for a bit first."
"Let’s go, I’ll take you home." Wu Sheng patted the back seat. "Hop on."
This time, Su Li didn’t hesitate and got on directly.
Wu Sheng took Su Li all the way to her apartment building.
"Thank you. I’m heading up now. You should go home and rest too." Su Li got off the bike.
"Wait." Wu Sheng got off the bike, pulled a watch he had prepared earlier from his pocket, took Su Li’s hand, and fastened it onto her wrist himself.
"Don’t..." Su Li tried to pull away, but Wu Sheng didn’t let go.
"This is my confession gift. You can’t refuse it this time. I’ve already tried to give it to you twice."
Wu Sheng took the watch Su Li had been wearing off her wrist and, in one smooth motion, put it on his own. "I’m confiscating your watch. We’ll just say it’s a gift from you to me. A trade."
Su Li looked at the new watch on her wrist, then at her old one on Wu Sheng’s, completely exasperated.
"This isn’t appropriate. My watch is just a regular watch."
Wu Sheng shook his head. "And mine isn’t? They’re both just watches. I want yours. If you refuse me again, I’ll start crying right here in front of you."
’Crying right here in front of me, really!’
"That’s something a girl would say." Su Li herself felt like crying. "You stole my line."
"I had to steal it, so you’d have nothing left to say," Wu Sheng grinned.
"Don’t you dare take it off. You have to wear it. Otherwise, it means you don’t like this watch. And if you don’t like it, I’ll just keep buying you new ones until I find one you do like."
Su Li: "That’s absurd!"
"That’s just how it is. I do what I say. If you take it off today, I’ll go buy a new one tonight. There are plenty of watches, domestic and foreign. I refuse to believe I can’t find one you’ll like!"
Wu Sheng retorted instantly, his eyes fixed on her.
Su Li, who was halfway through taking off the watch, froze. She couldn’t bring herself to remove it completely.
"You’re such a scoundrel." ’So shameless and overbearing.’
"How else am I supposed to deal with your heartlessness if not by being a scoundrel?" Wu Sheng said, feigning grievance.
After a long moment of indecision, Su Li could only fasten the watch back onto her wrist.
She looked at her familiar old watch on his wrist, laughed in resignation, and asked.
"Why are you so insistent on giving me a watch?"
Wu Sheng’s eyes darted around mischievously. "Naturally, I want you to think of me every time you check the time. If you check it a few times a day, you’ll think of me a few times a day. Day after day, you’ll think of me, and eventually, love will blossom. Then, you’ll be hopelessly in love with me."
Su Li: "...In plain English."
Wu Sheng pursed his lips. "Fine. It’s to make you get into the habit of thinking about me every day. From now on, I’ll be in charge of your watches."
He pointed to the watch on his own wrist. "I’ll think of you too, and I’ll definitely think of you more times than you think of me. Hmm, to be fair, you’ll be in charge of my watches from now on too."
Su Li: "..."
’She desperately wanted to retort, ’You really are a scheming boy!’’
