If The Moon Won’t Hold You - Chapter 24

The bathroom door opened, and Yan Xingzhi had finished changing his clothes.

His first glance after stepping outside was seeing Tang Zheng leaning on Cen Ning and talking sparsely. He laughed while talking, making the girl next to him flush red.

Yan Xingzhi stepped forward and kicked Tang Zheng’s calf casually. “What are you talking about so happily?”

Tang Zheng turned to look at him and was trying to contain his smirk. “Nothing, j-just talking about studying.”

Yan Xingzhi didn’t believe him, but he didn’t bother to pay attention to him either.

Advertisements

He looked at Cen Ning and commented lightly, “Going back to school? I’ll give you a ride.”

Cen Ning didn’t move with a panicked expression. “I-I’ve caused you trouble yesterday…”

Yan Xingzhi paused, thinking of Cen Ning, who was crying on his neck last night and was clinging onto his neck like crazy. “Good that you know, don’t drink like this next time.”

Uld Lkdt’p qynl ryzle. “R’x psaau…”

Zyd Dkdtgbk tzydnle yv bla. Tl eked’v pyu vbspl osaep vs byhl bla alynv zkjl vbkp. Tl psqvldle bkp vsdl. “Rv’p dsvbkdt ckt, fwpv ryu yvvldvksd vs pyqlvu.”

“Xb…” Uld Lkdt xwvvlale, “R eked’v jdso R oswze cl zkjl vbyv obld R oyp eawdj. R wpwyzzu… esd’v pkdt.”

Zyd Dkdtgbk qasodle. “Ebyv?”

“Ob, kv’p dsvbkdt, zlv’p ts!” Mydt Hbldt tsv wr iwknjzu. “Jasvbla Zyd, kq usw esd’v zlyhl, ol okzz cl zyvl. R esd’v oydv vs cl rwdkpble.”

“…”

Mbl vball-blyele esodpvykap. Zyd Dkdtgbk yde Mydt Hbldt pldv Uld Lkdt cynj vs bla pnbssz qkapv yde vbld eashl vs vbl nyxr.

Gqvla alvwadkdt vs pnbssz, Uld Lkdt oldv cynj vs vbl esaxkvsau qkapv.

In the evening, she walked to the photography club with her camera.

Advertisements

As soon as she entered the door, Cen Ning sensed a strange atmosphere. Everyone seemed to stare at her, but when their eyes met, they turned away. Cen Ning sat in her seat with suspicion, and just as she was about to ask, a senior sister from the photography club came over.

“Cen Ning.”

“Yes?”

“Good news.” The senior sister sat down beside her. “Didn’t I send your photographic work to Tianying Company last time? There was a team that lacked a photography assistant. They needed someone who knew how to shoot, and you were selected!”

Cen Ning couldn’t believe it. “Really?”

“Although it’s just an assistant, it’s Tianying, a large company. You can learn a lot from it.”

“Senior sister!” Cen Ning was overjoyed. “Thank you so much!”

“Don’t thank me. I just sent some information and didn’t help you a lot. It’s your skill that made them choose you.”

Cen Ning was very excited. She had long wanted to find a part-time job, but it was unexpected that she could find a photographer job. In a company like Tianying, she couldn’t be more fortunate to learn from others’ experiences.

“Cough… After the good news, I want to ask you about a private matter.”

Cen Ning: “Sure?”

“Just, just last night. Um… Who the h*ll was the handsome guy who picked you up?”

Advertisements

Cen Ning was stunned for a moment. “Picked me up?”

“Mhm. The one who is tall and handsome, wearing a suit… Yan Xingzhi, yes, his name is Yan Xingzhi.”

Cen Ning suddenly realized. “Ah, he is an older brother in my family.”

“It’s an older brother.” The senior sister seemed to be relieved. “I was terrified to death. I thought it was your boyfriend when you called him your husband yesterday.”

Snap—

The notepad in Cen Ning’s hand fell vertically on the table. She turned her head stiffly, and her expression changed from ‘I’m happy’ to ‘I might die’. That speed could be called a face change.

“H-How is that possible?”

“You held onto him, and kept talking and talking.” The senior sister patted her on the shoulder, “Fortunately, Xia Yi was already drunk and unconscious, otherwise, this would be difficult to solve.”

It was already very difficult to solve!

Cen Ning remembered Yan Xingzhi’s light-hearted look this morning and then thought about the likely scene last night…

Husband? She wanted to stab herself to death!

After a while, Cen Ning didn’t dare to meet Yan Xingzhi at all. Fortunately, she was at school most of the time and didn’t go home often, so the chance of encountering him was almost zero.

Advertisements

A week later, on the weekend, Cen Ning called Wei Pinfang and lied that she had found a job as a tutor and would not be going home. After hanging up, she went to Tianying to report.

At noon that day, Yan Guofeng did not see Cen Ning come back, so he casually asked, and Wei Pinfang told the truth.

Yan Guofeng was a little surprised, but he didn’t say much. The only thing he mentioned was that it was okay for young people to gain experience.

Yan Xingzhi was sitting on the side with a raised eyebrow. Being a tutor?

**

As a large company, Tianying had many internal divisions.

For example, some teams specialized in shooting for entertainment, such as celebrities and fashion. Some teams were nature-based, travel frequently, and fly all around the world. And the lead photographer of the team that Cen Ning joined this time was called Hao Jie, who shot social documentaries in a more serious style.

Hao Jie was a well-known photographer. These kinds of photographers were often more arrogant, and he was no exception.

Leaving aside his professional level, his character was a bit poor.

There were seven people in their team. Both Cen Ning and another girl, Liu Xin, were assistants. Liu Xin arrived over three months earlier than her, so as a ‘senior’, she seemed to feel that she was one level above her. In the first few days, many miscellaneous little things were directed at her to do.

But Cen Ning didn’t care about these things. She came here with an obvious goal, and she didn’t want to cause trouble as soon as she came in.

Early this Saturday morning, Cen Ning arrived at the company, because today their team was going somewhere together. Yesterday, Hao Jie repeatedly told them not to be late.

Advertisements

“Cen Ning is here.” Hao Jie was adjusting the camera in the shooting room. “Then you and Liu Xin go to the restaurant and bring breakfast. After breakfast, we can leave.”

“Okay.” Cen Ning put down her bag and hurriedly followed Liu Xin’s footsteps.

When they were heading back, Liu Xin suddenly asked strangely, “I heard you are only a freshman in college.”

Cen Ning nodded. “Yes.”

“You were recruited in your freshman year? What’s your skill level?”

Cen Ning: “… I just submitted my resume and works.”

Liu Xin smiled strangely. “Oh really, if you didn’t say, I would’ve thought you were stuffed by someone.”

Cen Ning: “…”

Stuffed in as a little assistant? Who was so immoral?

After eating breakfast, the entire team set off in a mighty manner. This time, their filming would last for two days, and they will spend one night at that location.

“This time we’re going to shoot in a special place. Don’t run around and follow my orders.” Hao Jie explained on the way.

Liu Xin: “Mr Hao, where are we going today?”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday that today’s photoshoot is an army propaganda photo? This task is very important. The superiors are watching it. You all better be quick and neat.”

“Then are we going to sleep in the camp dormitory tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Ah… I can see a lot of army brothers.”

Hao Jie glanced at her: “You won’t be able to see much, just do your job well.”

Liu Xin sneered: “Okay.”

Cen Ning didn’t speak, she just looked out the window silently.

She also received the notification yesterday, so she knew what the task was for today. To be honest, when she heard it, her heart thumped, but after considering it, she felt it wouldn’t be so coincidental. Although Yan Xingzhi was also in the army, he couldn’t be in the same battalion.

Even if it was the same battalion… she may not even see him.

After driving for more than an hour, the car finally arrived at the troop grounds. After arriving at the gate, a special person came to greet them.

“Hello, the people above sent me to receive comrades. Shall I take you to the dormitory first?”

Hao Jie: “That’s fine, sorry to trouble you.”

“No trouble, no trouble.”

The group of people first went to the dormitory to put down their luggage and then changed into the camouflage uniforms brought by the team according to the regulations.

Cen Ning only wore these kinds of clothes during the school’s military training: a camouflage shirt, camouflage pants, and a pair of black combat boots. When ordinary people wore it, it seemed like they were soldiers. However, Cen Ning was skinny, and when she wore it, it just seemed empty, and she did not look like a soldier.

“The next thing is mealtime. We will put all the equipment in the cafeteria and take pictures.” The camera team assembled downstairs, and Hao Jie assigned tasks to everyone one by one.

After everything was ready, everyone went to the cafeteria with their equipment.

At twelve noon, the soldiers gathered outside and walked into the cafeteria in an orderly manner.

Step neatly, salute, take off your hat, and sit down. Every step was like a depiction and reproduction, and it was exactly the same.

Cen Ning has seen soldiers training since she was a child, so she wasn’t too surprised by this. But Liu Xin and others were shocked when they saw this scene up close.

At the beginning of the lunch, the quiet cafeteria finally became lively, but probably because their cameras were on, the soldiers who were closer were a little cautious. Hao Jie frowned after taking a few shots.

“Cen Ning, talk to those guys in the front row, take it easy, and act like we don’t exist.”

Cen Ning secretly slandered. How could it be said that they don’t exist?

But she still went over obediently.

“Hello.” Cen Ning didn’t know what to call them, so she just skipped it, “Everyone, relax, just…don’t care about the camera.”

There were only a minority of such soft and white girls in the army, and a few young soldiers couldn’t help but secretly glance at her.

One more lively person joked, “It’s the first time someone is taking pictures of us. We are quite embarrassed. If we are on camera, do we need to put on makeup or something?”

Cen Ning waved her hand quickly. “No, no, we want to shoot the originality, um… If there is a problem, it will be edited later.”

“Oh, so that’s the case. Hey female comrade, are you a photographer too?”

“Me? I’m not one yet. I’m an assistant.”

“Oh, then—” The soldier was about to say something, but suddenly stopped and stood up quickly.

The soldiers that Cen Ning was speaking to at the table all suddenly stood up and saluted.

Cen Ning: “???”

At this time, Hao Jie, who was not far away, also called for her, “Cen Ning, you can come back.”

Cen Ning regained her senses and was about to trot back. However, when she turned around, she slammed into a wall of flesh, and her forehead hit some part of their clothes. Cen Ning took a step back and almost fell.

But fortunately, the person in front of her stretched out his hand to grab her arm…

Everything was between lightning and flint. Cen Ning raised her eyes in amazement, only to see a pair of cold and sharp eyes staring at her under the brim of his cap. Cen Ning was slightly stunned. She was about to open her mouth to call out Xingzhi Gege, but then realized it would not be suitable in the place, so she swallowed her words.

In the end, she could only say two words after opening her mouth: “… Thank you.”

“Pay attention to safety.” Yan Xingzhi quickly released her arm, and he took a step back. Then glanced at the person next to him, who immediately said, “Report to the deputy battalion. These people are the ones I mentioned before, comrades coming to shoot army propaganda photos.”

Yan Xingzhi nodded, with a standard and serious “inspection” expression on his face. He looked at Cen Ning, raised his hand and saluted. “Hard work.”

It was as if he didn’t know her at all. Cen Ning hesitated for a while, and she followed his example, raised her left hand, and gestured. “No, it’s easy work.”

Yan Xingzhi had a solemn expression on his face. He nodded slightly and walked past her.

Cen Ning straightened her back and breathed a sigh of relief.

But she heard a smile in the words of the person who brushed past her, in a very shallow and light voice that only she could hear. “Ningning, it’s the right hand.”

Cen Ning: “…”