11: The power of a few photos

In the evening, at the budget hotel, Liu Xinyao was looking at the photos taken today, selected a few, edited them, and posted them to her Moments.

Suddenly, she thought of what Shen Qian had said before leaving. She had a good impression of this boy who had suddenly appeared; he was good-looking, tall, and clearly had well-defined muscle lines from exercising.

Moreover, they were from the same school. She had been longing for a college romance since high school, and wasn't someone like Shen Qian exactly her ideal type?

"He's tall and handsome, that's for sure. If he had some money too, he'd be perfect."

As she thought this, she slowly scrolled through her Moments. After graduating high school, everyone's Moments had sprouted like bamboo shoots after a rain. Boys' Moments were very abstract, like game screenshots or whatever they felt like posting.

Girls' Moments were different—a uniform array of beautiful scenery, beautiful people, and delicious food, as if engaged in a silent competition.

Finally, she scrolled to Shen Qian's Moments. A simple photo of the two of them, accompanied by a line of text: "Made a new friend on my first day in Shanghai."

"Looking at it this way, he's actually quite handsome."

On the other side, Shen Qian saw his Moments post being liked. He picked up the red wine glass in front of him and drained the liquid inside.

He silenced his phone and fell asleep immediately.

Liu Xinyao wondered if she had misread something, but this was indeed Shen Qian's Moments. His Moments were set to be visible for only one month, so she could only see three posts.

The first one: one hand on a bmw.

The second one, posted just a few hours ago: a photo showing a night view overlooking the Huangpu River from a great height.

The third one: the photo with her, the only image with a caption.

She downloaded the image from the second post and asked about it on the Little Pink Book. Someone commented immediately.

"J Hotel at the Center, the tallest hotel in Shanghai. It's five-star, and a night usually costs four to five thousand. Since it's the holidays, the price is probably around six or seven thousand."

She searched the app again, and a few photos indeed looked similar to Shen Qian's perspective.

After seeing all this, her face flushed slightly, and her heart beat a bit faster.

He had appeared—her Prince Charming. This was exactly the kind of boy she was looking for.

Sunny, handsome, low-key, reserved, and a polite gentleman.

He clearly could have shown off, but he didn't. He clearly had a bmw and stayed in such a nice hotel, yet he acted very humble.

He was the one who took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her. Did that mean he liked her too?

As soon as this thought emerged, she found her heart beating even faster.

"This is an opportunity. A good boy like him will definitely be pursued by many people once we get to school. Only by being proactive will there be a story between us."

Thinking of it, she acted.

"Do you want to go out and have fun together tomorrow?"

The message was sent. One minute, no reply. Two minutes, no reply. Half an hour passed, and still no reply.

"What's wrong? Is he taking a shower?"

"No, boys shower very quickly. Is he playing games then? If he's playing games, it's normal not to want to reply to messages."

"What should I do? Did I disturb his gaming? He won't hate me, will he?"

"Calm down, calm down. It might not be gaming. After all, looking at him, he doesn't seem like a loser who would be addicted to games. Right, maybe he fell asleep. People like him are usually very self-disciplined."

Another half hour passed. The girl would pick up her phone to check every now and then. Although she had told herself he was asleep, she still hoped Shen Qian would reply.

Suddenly, the sound of a message arriving rang out. The girl hurriedly picked up her phone.

"Xin Yao, where do you want to go tomorrow? I'll help you plan the route in advance."

Liu Xinyao frowned. She had never hated receiving a message from Wu Gao as much as she did now. It was true they grew up together, but ever since they became adults, Wu Gao always tried to get close to her, even though she didn't like this closeness.

Moreover, she had expressed many times that she didn't want to date right now and told Wu Gao to stop thinking about it. But he still did many things for her, which made Liu Xinyao very uncomfortable, feeling as if she would owe him a lot if she didn't end up with him.

"Let's talk tomorrow. I'm going to sleep."

In the internet cafe, Wu Gao looked at the message on his phone, feeling very unhappy. He had seen the way Liu Xinyao looked at Shen Qian today; she had never looked at him like that. He had felt very uneasy all the way back.

This guy named Shen Qian was even in the same school as Xin Yao. What if he tried to pursue Xin Yao later?

"Hmph, I've done so much for Xin Yao. If she wanted it, I'd even give my life for her. As long as I work a little harder, Xin Yao will fall in love with me. Shen Qian, if you want to butt in, keep dreaming!"

Thinking of Xin Yao, he became happy again. High school was strict and cracked down on puppy love, but it was different now. Both he and Xin Yao were in college, and both sets of parents were supportive. Maybe he would soon be dating her, then getting married, having children, and living a peaceful and happy life.

The images in his mind became more and more beautiful. Even sleeping on the internet cafe sofa became a happy thing.

Early the next morning, Shen Qian woke up and saw Liu Xinyao's message as soon as he picked up his phone.

"I usually sleep quite early, so I didn't see your message."

"Going out to play is fine, but I want to spend time with my parents for the next two days. They've worked hard for a long time and haven't visited many attractions."

As soon as Shen Qian sent the message, the other side replied.

He checked the time; it was 6 AM. To reply in seconds at this hour—this girl couldn't have stayed up all night, could she?

The reality was much as Shen Qian expected. Liu Xinyao had suffered from insomnia after sending that message, so she had been watching shows to pass the time until it was 6 AM.

"Mhm, spending time with your parents is more important. Anyway, we're alumni and have each other's contact info. We can make plans when you're free."

"Okay."

After replying with those last two words, Shen Qian changed into sportswear. He had learned yesterday that the hotel had its own gym and pool.

Unlike yesterday, today's Shen Qian would not be shocked even when facing a luxurious swimming pool and a huge gym area. He finally understood where the composure of wealthy people came from. Wealth truly nurtures a person; this was indeed true.

Actually, he originally wanted to take photos to check in and post them on his Moments.

But after thinking about it, he stopped. With Moments, it's best to post things occasionally for others to discover. If you post too much at once, it's like telling others: \"I rarely get to stay here, look at me, I'm showing off.\"

One's reputation might not be great, but one must master the rhythm.

[To build a persona and design his Moments, the behavior matches the scumbag standard. Reward is being distributed...]