Rejected by the Campus Belle, I Find My True Love-Chapter 28 Without you, even the most beautiful scenery becomes less beautiful.

Chapter 28: Chapter 28 Without you, even the most beautiful scenery becomes less beautiful.

While Lin Xi studied, Xue Yang took out his phone to check the photos he had taken during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Outside, the north wind howled, but the room was as warm as spring. Xue Yang’s photography skills were excellent; each photo possessed its own unique atmosphere. Under a super blue moon, a stunningly beautiful girl with a high ponytail made a wish, her hands clasped before a sky full of shooting stars. In that moment, all the surrounding beauty served merely as her backdrop. The scenery was beautiful, but she was even more so.

After a brief review of the photos, Xue Yang took out a laptop. It was a college acceptance gift from his parents. Since there was no internet in the room, he had always kept it in the cupboard. Today, however, he had made a special trip to buy a wireless data card. After connecting to the internet, Xue Yang transferred all the photos from his phone to the computer and began editing. He worked with exceptional attention to detail, meticulously fixing every little flaw, especially in the shots featuring Lin Xi.

Sometimes, when Lin Xi grew tired of studying, she would lift her head and roll her shoulders, just in time to see Xue Yang intently fiddling with something on the computer.

They say a man looks his most handsome when he’s focused. Right now, Xue Yang seems to be coated in a surreal glow, making my heart skip a few beats.

"Xue Yang, what are you working on?" she asked.

Xue Yang looked up. "I’m preparing a surprise for you, for when you finish today’s studies."

"Let me see." Lin Xi put down her pen, about to walk over.

Xue Yang quickly moved the laptop back. "It’s not ready yet. I’ll show you once it’s done."

"Just let me have a peek."

"If you see it now, it won’t be a surprise anymore."

"Since it’s a surprise for me anyway, what does it matter if I see it a little early?"

Seizing her chance, Lin Xi pounced. But as fast as she was, Xue Yang was faster. He snapped the laptop shut with one hand and caught her by her slender waist with the other, causing them both to tumble backward. Xue Yang ended up on top, with Lin Xi beneath him.

Lin Xi’s cheek crashed against his chest. A sharp, tingling sensation shot through her nose, and her eyes welled with tears as she looked up at him with an aggrieved pout. "Your chest is so hard! My nose almost broke."

"Mm, my fault, my fault," he admitted softly.

"It is your fault! Hmph!"

From the tumble, the strap of Lin Xi’s blouse had slipped off her rounded shoulder, revealing her pale skin and delicate collarbone. From Xue Yang’s angle, he could even see the faint, alluring line of her cleavage, which was currently pressed against his chest.

Soft, warm, pale... So tempting...

Their eyes met, and both of them froze.

Lin Xi quickly scrambled up from under him. "Fine, I won’t look! So stingy. Even when you’re done, I’m not looking."

She picked up her pen and returned to the problems she hadn’t finished, yet her thoughts had already drifted far away. Xue Yang, in contrast, seemed completely unaffected. He continued to rapidly edit the photos on his computer, and the room returned to its previous cozy atmosphere.

By 11 p.m., Xue Yang had finally finished the last photo. He reviewed each one again to ensure there were no issues, then looked up. Lin Xi was still diligently working on her college entrance exam practice questions. Her long hair was simply tied up with a single hair tie, but a few playful strands had escaped, falling across her workbook and dancing with every stroke of her pen as if in defiance.

While Lin Xi was concentrating, she suddenly felt a warm hand gently tuck those stray hairs behind her ear. The moment his fingers brushed against the base of her ear, it felt as if his touch had a magical quality, instantly painting her earlobes a soft pink.

"The surprise is ready. Do you want to see it?"

Although she was dying to see, she remembered how he had refused her earlier and said petulantly, "I said I wouldn’t look, so I won’t!"

"Is that so? Well, I guess I’ll just have to delete all these photos of us watching the stars and the moon that day."

"Xue Yang, you dare!"

Lin Xi launched herself onto his back, only to see that the photos on the computer were perfectly safe. She instantly realized she had fallen for his trick.

"Xue Yang, you lied to me! You’re the worst!" she grumbled, her little fists drumming against his back like a playful tickle.

Xue Yang caught her mischievous hands and gave a gentle pull, making her tumble from his back right into his lap. "Stop fooling around! Come and see if I did a good job with the pictures."

Lin Xi’s attention was immediately captivated by the images on the screen. In one photo, she appeared to be holding up a giant blue moon against the backdrop of a meteor shower. Her high ponytail fluttered in the wind, and with Xue Yang’s ethereal editing, the scene looked as dreamy and fantastical as something from a Hayao Miyazaki film.

"They’re so beautiful," she whispered. "Xue Yang, how are you so amazing?"

Xue Yang smiled. "Of course. Who do you think I am?"

Ignoring how intimate their position was, Lin Xi used the mouse to click through the photos one by one. The next was taken just as the meteor shower began; her eyes were wide with wonder as she gazed at the sky, looking like a celestial fairy about to be swept away by the wind. Then there was another one of her holding up the super blue moon, another of her "plucking" it from the sky, and another of her making a wish. Xue Yang had captured every single beautiful moment.

"Are they nice?" he asked. Unconsciously, he had rested his chin on her rounded shoulder, admiring the photos with her.

"They’re more than nice, but it’s a pity."

"A pity? You don’t like them?"

"I love them! I love them a lot. It’s just a pity that in all these photos, there isn’t a single one of you."

Xue Yang chuckled. "I don’t like having my picture taken."

"You don’t get it. We’re in the prime of our lives right now. We should preserve more of these memories. Imagine when we’re old and gray, sitting under the cherry blossom trees and looking at these photos. It would be such a wonderful memory."

"You’re right. I’ll keep working hard to take even more beautiful photos of you in the future."

Lin Xi grew anxious. "That’s not what I mean! I mean you should be in the photos, too."

"Why?"

Lin Xi was stumped.

Why? Why am I insisting that he be in the photos with me? We don’t really have any kind of special relationship, do we?

"I don’t care. You have to be in the pictures next time," she declared. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"As you wish."

Satisfied, Lin Xi went back to looking at the photos. "It’s a shame I don’t have a phone, otherwise I’d make this my wallpaper," she said, pointing at the picture of her holding up the super blue moon. "But it doesn’t matter. It can still be a screensaver."

She navigated the settings and set the photo as the computer’s screensaver. Xue Yang watched her, letting her do as she pleased without a word.

"Xue Yang, your photo editing skills are on a professional level. No, wait, even the professionals aren’t this good."

Lin Xi’s words sparked an idea in Xue Yang’s mind.

That’s right. I was just thinking about how to make money. This might be a way.