[Picking Boat and Accompanying the Moon] We Will Meet Again Later - Chapter 24

Jiang Feng was shooting on location this time at an ancient castle-themed amusement park, complete with a storyline.

This castle was under a curse—all living things within had died. Only one young prince remained alive, for whom this was both immortality and eternal torment.

Confined here year after year, he developed a fractured psyche and a distorted sense of time, only able to distinguish between day and night.

During the day, a monster would appear. His left eye was a bloody crimson, dressed entirely in black, his expression sinister and arrogant. He was always searching around, seemingly trying to capture the young prince and kill him.

At night, the young prince would flee to the Lost Garden—a maze made of greenery. Inside, he would run in panic, hiding everywhere, attempting to evade the monster’s pursuit.

But in reality, the monster and the young prince would never meet each other, because they were the same person.

Jiang Feng had already finished shooting the daytime footage and photo set. After reapplying makeup and changing costumes, he was now shooting the nighttime scenes as the young prince.

The crew had set up the lighting and cameras from various angles, with one person assigned to follow and shoot.

Because Jiang Feng had difficulty moving quickly, he didn’t need to walk fast. Post-production would add special effects and sound design to create a tense, horror atmosphere. He only needed to convey a panicked, fearful expression.

By the time Ning Xu arrived, Jiang Feng had already finished shooting the scenes of frantic escape through the Lost Garden. Even the photo set at specific locations was complete.

“Where is he?” Ning Xu asked Gao Jinfei.

Gao Jinfei hadn’t expected her to actually come. Considering Jiang Feng’s unusually different attitude toward her, he had given her the shooting address.

“Resting inside this maze garden,” Gao Jinfei pointed. “It should be almost done. We’re waiting for the director and cinematographer to review the footage and photos to see if any reshoots or additional recordings are needed.”

This job was actually an advertisement, promoting a newly launched game by a major company.

Jiang Feng had received many offers from talent agencies and studios, including those from the entertainment industry, but he wasn’t interested. He hadn’t signed with anyone, remaining independent. Yet resources kept flowing in because many of his works had gained significant attention—they were popular and distinctive. Some companies were already training newcomers modeled after Jiang Feng’s persona.

The Lost Garden wasn’t very large. Although it was a maze, it wasn’t easy to get truly lost. However, it had been booked by the team for the shoot, so passersby couldn’t enter easily.

Ning Xu asked Gao Jinfei for a staff pass and walked inward.

She passed many crew members. The equipment hadn’t been packed up yet; the director and cinematographer were still reviewing the photos.

She still hadn’t seen Jiang Feng. The deeper she went, the fewer people there were. Finally, she found him deep within the Lost Garden.

Jiang Feng was wearing a golden curly wig that reached his waist. Dressed in pristine white foreign-style clothing with intricate patterns, he held a scepter adorned with a sapphire.

He was sitting quietly on a swing made of branches and vines.

Light snow drifted and danced in the air before gently settling on the ground. The greenery dividing the paths looked like cakes topped with a layer of snowy white frosting.

Snow also fell on him. Under the clear moonlight, the snow resembled fine salt or silver sand, like scattered fragments of light.

Here, he was so beautifully ethereal, almost merging with the night and the tranquility.

Ning Xu approached slowly. The sound of accumulated snow and rustling branches underfoot made noise, but Jiang Feng remained with his head lowered, lost in thought—or perhaps he assumed it was just a crew member moving about, so he didn’t pay much attention.

Ning Xu crouched down in front of him, looked up at him, and said with a smile, “Whose little prince is this, lost here in the maze?”

Hearing this, Jiang Feng started, then suddenly raised his head, his tone full of surprise. “You’re here?”

He even found it a bit unreal. The person he was just thinking about had suddenly appeared. Was it because this maze easily caused hallucinations, or was he himself delusional again?

Ning Xu looked at him. His left eye wore a light blue prosthetic with tiny glittering specks. Even without strong lighting, it sparkled like stars contained within his eye.

He held the scepter in his left hand and a long-eared rabbit plush toy in his right. The golden curls were tucked behind his ears, giving him an androgynous, yet utterly pure and clean beauty.

Ning Xu reached out and touched his face, thinking the stylist deserved a bonus.

Jiang Feng was still a bit worried about his appearance. “Do you think it looks good? Or is it strange?”

“Very strange,” Ning Xu said.

“Ah…” Jiang Feng slowly lowered his eyes, pursing his lips.

Ning Xu added, “Strange…ly good-looking.” She never thought she’d use such a cheesy line one day.

“Really?” Jiang Feng was half-convinced, half-doubting.

Some fine snow landed on his long, delicate eyelashes, then melted and dampened them. He blinked, making his eyes appear moist.

His face was too cold, and his hands were red from the chill. When Ning Xu withdrew her hand, he seemed somewhat reluctant to let go of the warmth from her palm. He leaned forward slightly, tilting his face as if wanting to nuzzle against her hand.

Tonight, he looked so pure and flawless, his demeanor clean and untainted by dust, as if unaware of emotions and desires.

The more he was like this, the more it made one want to break that purity, draw him into the mundane world, and let him taste the joys of love and passion.

Sitting on the swing, Jiang Feng was much higher than Ning Xu, who was crouching on the ground.

Ning Xu said, “Jiang Feng, looking up at you like this is exhausting. Lower your head a bit.”

Hearing this, Jiang Feng bent forward further.

“Come a little closer.”

Under the moonlight, their shadows drew near, almost overlapping.

Ning Xu kept her head raised, motionless, guiding him to come closer.

The warmth of their breath was almost intertwining.

Jiang Feng couldn’t see, so he didn’t know what this scene looked like from afar.

Here, the wind and snow were silent, the moonlight like silver. One person was bending forward, as if lowering his head to kiss the person before him.

No matter how calmly Ning Xu pretended, as the distance between their lips shortened infinitely, her heart couldn’t help but pound violently.

She closed her eyes.

Just then, someone shouted, “Jiang Feng—”

“…”

The shout almost made Ning Xu’s soul leave her body. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked around, feeling the guilt of someone caught doing something sneaky.

The person hadn’t found them yet—they had just called out Jiang Feng’s name first.

Ning Xu, resilient, simply brushed it off as if nothing had happened. She quickly adjusted her mental state and expression, then led Jiang Feng to where the crew was.

Gao Jinfei brought a long black down jacket for him to wear and replenished his hot water bottle and hand warmers.

Jiang Feng opened the hand warmers and put them into both of Ning Xu’s pockets. Then he stuffed the hot water bottle into her hands. “Don’t get cold.”

Watching this, Gao Jinfei felt like rolling his eyes. So he didn’t need to find Ning Xu anymore? Was he using this live-streamer as a substitute?

Alright, whatever. Whoever Jiang Feng loved was his business; Gao Jinfei couldn’t be bothered to care so much.

The crew discovered a small fountain that had been abandoned for a long time. It was filled with dry branches and fallen leaves, no water, but the environment and background were quite good. So, they called Jiang Feng over to shoot a set of photos.

The camera was set in position. Gao Jinfei reminded him of the lens location, “Over here.”

The director signaled Jiang Feng to adjust his posture and expression, “You’re tired from running. You just found this fountain, so you sit leaning against it, looking exhausted, with your hand hanging over the edge of the pool.”

The photographer added, “Good, that’s right. The expression is right. Tilt your head slightly to the left, just a bit more.”

After taking a few shots, the director had someone add red dye to the edge of the pool.

The director continued, “You accidentally fell asleep and now suddenly wake up. Lift your right hand, which was hanging over the poolside, and discover it’s covered in blood. Your expression should be extremely terrified and fearful.”

After finishing this set of photos by the small fountain and shooting two additional scenes, the work was finally complete.

Jiang Feng went to ask the stylist about his look again, down to the specific colour combinations.

Ning Xu listened nearby and suddenly realized, “So this is how you learned about colour matching.”

Jiang Feng, “Not just from listening to people; I also pay attention to reviews online.” If everyone said it looked good, he would remember how it was paired. If some said it wasn’t good, he would note what the criticisms were.

After many times, he could understand from others’ words what was considered aesthetically pleasing.

He couldn’t see. All colors were more like concepts to him, something that could be calculated and compared with formulas. For example, blue, purple, and green belong to one color range; red, orange, and yellow belong to another. Other extended colors—dark jade purple, camellia red, turtledove gray, etc.—could all be broken down, combined, and reassembled, placed within the same color family or used as contrasting colors.

Shooting at night was even more exhausting than during the day. After this segment wrapped up, everyone had been working hard in the freezing cold all day and were starving. They suggested going to a hot pot restaurant nearby for a group meal.

Jiang Feng asked Ning Xu quietly, “Do you want to go? If not, we can eat somewhere else on our own?”

Ning Xu was in a mood to socialize and didn’t mind at all, “Let’s go.”

They took three crew vans. Ning Xu and Jiang Feng sat in the back seat of one.

Jiang Feng was listening to the sound of the vehicle moving over the thin snow when he suddenly felt his hand being grasped and tucked into a pocket. Inside was a hand warmer, making the pocket toasty warm. His cold hand, placed inside, was like an ice cube near a stove, instantly thawing.

His blood vessels and fingers seemed to expand with the heat, making him feel the vibrant flow of blood.

The people in front were chatting, discussing the day’s shoot and various gossip, no one paying attention to the small actions of the two in the back.

Ning Xu tucked Jiang Feng’s hand into her own down jacket pocket without saying a word.

Jiang Feng also didn’t speak, just leaned slightly closer to her.

After a while, he felt Ning Xu gently squeezing his knuckles, the pressure neither light nor heavy.

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked her.

Ning Xu exaggerated dramatically, “What do you think? My fingers are frozen stiff because of you.”

Jiang Feng’s eyes curved as he lowered his head toward her, revealing his long, pale neck.

The distance was so close that Ning Xu could clearly see a faint small mole on the back of his neck.

When they were children, she often shoved her cold hands against the back of his neck, making him shiver.

But the neck is always a sensitive and vulnerable spot. Offering it like this was like a small animal exposing its soft underbelly to a hunter.

How could Ning Xu play around like she did as a child? She only reached out a finger to poke the side of his neck teasingly, “What are you doing? Pull your neck back. Don’t stick it out like a turtle.”

Jiang Feng, “…”

The faint, almost imperceptible romantic tension snapped easily like a spider’s thread. Ning Xu touched her face; it was still a bit warm.

When they arrived, they had reserved a large table with two divided hot pots. Jiang Feng and Ning Xu still sat together. Several people’s gazes lingered between the two of them.

The director, Xiao Luyuan, was the first to ask with a smile, “So, what’s the story? Jiang Feng’s taken and you didn’t even introduce us?”

“She’s a friend. We’ve known each other since childhood,” Ning Xu explained. Just as she was about to introduce herself, a young woman suddenly exclaimed excitedly, “Lin Xu? Is that you? I watch your livestreams often!”

Ning Xu didn’t expect to meet a viewer here too. She smiled and chatted with her for a while.

The hot pot broth boiled, ingredients were brought out, and they also ordered quite a bit of alcohol.

Gao Jinfei and the photographer, A Zhuo, started drinking together.

Xiao Luyuan said to Ning Xu quite emotionally, “We’ve collaborated with Jiang Feng quite a few times now.”

It was very difficult at the beginning of their collaboration. How do you shoot with a blind person? Especially when that blind person came from the Jiang family—not someone you could afford to offend.

Models and photographers need time to adapt to each other to get a feel.

Jiang Feng wasn’t as smooth and fluid as he is now initially. Back then, he didn’t understand camera angles, didn’t know directions, his movements were stiff, and he couldn’t control his expressions well.

A Zhuo had a hot temper and often felt like throwing his camera down and walking out, saying bluntly, “Can’t shoot this.”

Gao Jinfei had an even worse temper, “If you can’t shoot it, that’s because your skills are lousy.”

“What did you say?”

“Didn’t expect you to be bad at your job and deaf too.”

The two almost came to blows, but Jiang Feng could still calm down and quietly ponder off to the side what expression, emotion, movement, and angle were needed.

Xiao Luyuan knew then that things could work out.

He was a rough gem that could be polished.

The hardest part was expression control. Jiang Feng couldn’t see others’ expressions, nor could he see his own. So, a single expression often needed to be attempted hundreds or thousands of times before he knew which one was right. Then he had to repeat it constantly until it became muscle memory, resulting in the precise control over every slight curve of his eyes and brows he has today.

Back then, Xiao Luyuan asked him, “This line of work is so difficult for you. If not for passion, how do you persist?”

Jiang Feng touched his four-leaf clover bracelet at the time and didn’t answer.

Objects depend on people. If the person is valued, the object also appears valuable. Plus, nothing Jiang Feng wore was cheap.

Many people saw how dearly Jiang Feng cherished this bracelet and assumed it must be extremely precious, so they complimented it to curry favor, “That bracelet of yours is really nice. Limited edition, right? Must have cost at least tens of thousands?”

Jiang Feng thought of something and said with a smile, “Three dollars.”

“?”

“Wait, no, we haggled.” Jiang Feng said, “It was two dollars and fifty cents.”

“…”

Gao Jinfei and A Zhuo, who had almost fought before, were now drinking like brothers who had been through life and death together.

Now, A Zhuo was extremely satisfied with Jiang Feng. Every time a job involving Jiang Feng came up, he would turn down other work to take it because Jiang Feng had temperament and soul in front of the camera. A single frame from him could give people a sense of unspoken meaning.

Works related to Jiang Feng often gained widespread popularity, which also boosted the photographer’s fame.

A Zhuo, who once glared angrily, now almost regarded Jiang Feng like a god.

The hot pot meal had many dishes on a large table, so everyone had to reach out to pick up food to cook. Jiang Feng couldn’t see and it was inconvenient, so Ning Xu helped him by picking up food and fishing out cooked items for him.

“I’m secretly giving you the vegetables I don’t like,” Ning Xu said jokingly. “You won’t notice, right?”

Jiang Feng smiled along, “Then I’ll pretend I didn’t notice?”

As he said this, he actually ate that piece of blood pudding.

Everyone enjoyed the meal thoroughly, feeling warm all over.

Ning Xu couldn’t have come empty-handed. Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, she distributed various snacks she had brought.

Everyone thanked her happily, accepting the small gifts, and then returned to the hotel.

Ning Xu and Jiang Feng lagged behind. Before entering the hotel, Jiang Feng stopped her.

“What’s wrong?” Ning Xu halted.

“What about my gift?” Jiang Feng asked.

She had given small gifts to everyone else.

“You’re not just ‘everyone else’…” Ning Xu explained. “We’re considered acquaintances, right? Probably don’t need small gifts to be polite and familiar.”

The snow had long stopped. The whiteness of the moonlight and the dim yellow of the streetlights intertwined, stretching their shadows long.

Perhaps because he had drunk some alcohol, color had returned to Jiang Feng’s face, and his eyes were especially bright.

“But I have a gift for you,” he said, taking a gift box out of his backpack.

Ning Xu opened it and found inside a long-eared rabbit doll—the one he had been holding all during the shoot tonight. She didn’t know when he had prepared the gift box.

It was very cute. She had quite liked it the first time she saw it.

Jiang Feng said softly, “I bought it.”

Just for you.