Right after getting dumped, He suddenly learned that his best buddy was the legendary cold-as-ice school beauty. - Chapter 79

With a shout, the little girl tossed the heavy camera into Li Si’s arms.

“Wai—tens of thousands of bucks—” Li Si exclaimed in shock.

Xia Li, in a blur, dashed straight toward Lu Yibei.

The next moment, she stopped about seven or eight meters in front of him.

One leg bent, the other straight, arms out like wings—she resembled a white crane.

“Crane form!!”

Lu Yibei: …

He stared blankly at Xia Li spreading her wings like a crane.

How old was she? Still acting like a child.

Crane form… seriously?

Childish!

He took a step forward, fingers curled into claws, stance firm.

“Tiger form!!”

Mature men practiced tiger form!

Xia Li inhaled sharply, preparing to counter with snake form.

Bang.

A backhand strike landed on the top of her head.

“Despicable villain! A sneak attack!” Xia Li snapped, glaring behind her.

Li Si sighed: “You’re a senior already. So many freshmen around—calm down a bit.”

“Tch.”

Xia Li clutched her head, clicking her tongue: “Boring men are like this.”

Li Si pushed up his glasses and glanced toward Ji Qingqing.

He hadn’t expected the two of them to come together this morning. And judging by the breakfast bags in their hands… they hadn’t even eaten on campus?

It was still early.

In other words, they’d have had to get up even earlier to eat outside.

But if they’d gotten up earlier, the dorm would have still been locked…

Li Si found the situation rather telling.

He didn’t intend to pry into personal matters.

But this junior, Ji Qingqing, should probably understand his current feelings…

He and Lu Yibei weren’t close, having met only once or twice.

His impression of Lu Yibei was mostly from Xia Li’s descriptions—and he hadn’t realized Lu Yibei could be so… lively.

Then he noticed a subtle sparkle in Ji Qingqing’s usually expressionless eyes.

Li Si couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his lips.

It was almost as if she wanted to show off some skills herself.

“Hello!”

Xia Li bounded over carelessly. “I’m Xia Li, second year. I went to middle school with Brother Yibei. Call me Xia Li, or Pear-ge, either works.”

Ji Qingqing silently nodded.

Li Si: “Li Si.”

Ji Qingqing nodded again.

“Ji Qingqing!”

Chu Chu, who had been waiting on her own turf, spotted Ji Qingqing standing out in the crowd and ran over.

Ji Qingqing turned toward her.

Last night, Ji Qingqing hadn’t returned by lights-out, which had worried Chu Chu.

Part of her thought Ji Qingqing and Lu Xuezhang seemed like a good match. It was their relationship; even if she stayed out, it wasn’t her business.

But another part thought—they’d only known each other for just over half a month since school started. That was… fast. Lu Xuezhang seemed nice, but appearances could be deceiving.

She hesitated again and again, still wanting to call Ji Qingqing.

Even if Ji Qingqing thought she was meddling and they became enemies, it was better than letting her be fooled.

In the end, Wang Jue stopped her:

“Lu Xuezhang and Qingqing must have known each other for a long time.”

Chu Chu and Ma Jiaojiao hurriedly asked, “You have intel?”

Wang Jue nodded:

“Yes, but just a little.”

Combined with Ji Qingqing’s later messages, Chu Chu finally felt a little relieved.

Chu Chu had worried herself sick and now wished she could check if Ji Qingqing was missing any flesh.

But facing the seniors, especially one who sounded like a capable student council president, the freshmen still politely greeted them:

“Senior…”

Li Si smiled at them.

Lu Yibei did the same, glancing at Ji Qingqing to signal her and her roommates to approach.

To ease the awkwardness, Ma Jiaojiao boldly chatted with Li Si:

“Senior, what brings you here today?”

Li Si answered warmly:

“Photography. Later, I’ll write an article about military training for the school’s official account—don’t forget to like it.”

“Student council handles that too?” Ma Jiaojiao asked.

“Many things. If you’re interested, you can apply to join later,” Li Si said with a smile.

Xia Li looked at Li Si skeptically; his tone seemed a bit… scammy.

Chu Chu was more interested in Li Si’s camera:

“Huh? Nike can take photos?”

Li Si’s student council companions couldn’t resist correcting her:

“What Nike! Nike? No! This is Nikon, understand? Nikon!!”

Chu Chu froze in shock.

Lu Yibei glanced at the boy, noting he also had a camera—but lighter than Li Si’s. Same brand, likely a recent mirrorless Z30.

Perhaps personal interest, perhaps a student council secondary shooter.

“This is called Nikon,” he explained to Ji Qingqing’s roommate. “One of the big three brands, known for stability and tolerance.”

The Nikon enthusiast immediately relaxed, showing a “you know your stuff” expression:

“Bro, you really know your cameras!”

“My dad used to have a Nikon. Played with it a lot.”

“So the son of the old master. Apologies. I see you have the master’s skills too—maybe we can shoot birds together.”

Lu Yibei bowed slightly: “Agreed.”

Ji Qingqing tugged his sleeve. He looked back.

“I’ll go now, senior,” she said softly.

“…Ah, yes. Do well,” Lu Yibei replied.

Ji Qingqing actually called him senior…

Everyone in the student council looked at Lu Yibei in shock.

At first, Xia Li had drawn their attention. They hadn’t noticed the two had come together—only that they stood side by side.

Then Xia Li greeted him, and they assumed the president was recruiting a senior and a campus beauty.

Now they understood—this campus beauty had come with him?

Not just any guy, but him, and she called him senior.

The Nikon enthusiast lost it:

“You get a girl and you’re not worthy of Nikon! Go use Canon! Damn it!!”

Photography masters say:

Nikon for landscapes, Canon for people.

While Canon users admired “the legs, the face, the waist,” Nikon users waited in the deep mountains for the rarest birds…

Lu Yibei broke a sweat.

He planned to leave.

Li Si called after him: “Got classes?”

“No,” Lu Yibei said.

“Stay and watch,” Li Si smiled. “Ji Qingqing’s in the formation too, right?”

“Can I?” Lu Yibei asked.

“Sure,” Li Si said. “Say I invited you as a temporary… uh, photographer. You know how, right?”

He handed Lu Yibei the hefty camera.

Lu Yibei flipped through the menu—it was a Nikon Z62.

Never used one, but similar enough.

“Steady. My dad taught me in Hawaii.”

He raised and lowered the camera like dumbbells: “Massive muscles, passionate shooting.”

…