CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 62: HER STREET PHOTOGRAPHY WORK

Su Xingyu thought of Lu Shifeng’s prohibition, forbidding her to borrow money or equipment. Where could she get a camera?

She shook her phone: "With this."

"Wow, with this? Xingyu, you’re amazing!" Xia Ling’s beautiful eyes shone, "A true master indeed; while others are eager to use the best equipment, here you are, daring to compete with just a phone!"

Su Xingyu smiled wryly, she really didn’t want to.

After saying goodbye to that lively and bright girl, she made her way into the bustling downtown streets. Honestly, she’d done street photography so many times; back when she was with the Su Family, Mr. Su and her stepmother didn’t allow her to take photos. She could only sneak out to take pictures, without money for models or a studio, and even couldn’t afford decent scenic spots, making street snaps the most frequent.

She expertly took a stroll along the street.

Recently, Blade Group’s photography contest has been causing quite a stir; you could often see crowds with their cameras taking photos at the street corners. Those people were eagerly capturing the cute kids by the street, couples holding hands, or adorable cats and dogs, but Su Xingyu found these too ordinary. An hour passed, she hadn’t even taken out her phone.

"Hi, my beautiful Xingyu." Suddenly, she heard a voice with a smile.

Su Xingyu turned her head, seeing a tall man standing handsomely in the sunlight, his mixed-heritage features looking both charming and radiant, with a pair of flirtatiously enchanting eyes that could send people into screams.

Ouyang Yi looked at her with electrifying charm: "Don’t recognize me? Xingyu, it’s only been a few days. That would really hurt me."

She rubbed her forehead, trying to ignore the pedestrians frequently turning back to sneak glances at the handsome man, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Today’s weather is so nice, I just came out for a casual stroll, didn’t expect to bump into you." Ouyang Yi smiled brightly, "Has no one told you I’m developing my career in China now? Oh, you actually don’t follow my updates. I’m truly heartbroken."

Su Xingyu remembered it now, Ling Weilong had mentioned it before.

Ouyang Yi looked at her with a smiling face: "What are you up to?"

"Street photography." She shook her phone, "I’m busy, joining Blade Group’s contest."

"Entering a contest?" Ouyang Yi was surprised, "I’ve heard about Blade Group’s contest, several photographers from Cloud are participating, even upgrading their street photography equipment. And you, you are using just... a phone?"

Su Xingyu wore a hopeless expression, why did everyone ask her this question?

Unwilling to talk more, she circumvented him in a few steps and continued her street photography journey.

However, Ouyang Yi naturally followed along: "Alright, alright, taking photos with a phone seems interesting, I’ll join you. By the way, why did you suddenly resign from Cloud? Without seeing you, I couldn’t even concentrate on work."

"I’m not an aphrodisiac."

Su Xingyu said while scanning the surroundings, searching for the right moment to snap.

Ouyang Yi kept pace with her persistently, flashing his most enchanting smile: "You know I like you, Xingyu. Chance encounters aren’t as good as invitations, how about grabbing a coffee together later? Want to take pictures? No worries, you can photograph me, this handsome guy is a billionaire model, usually, those who book me are queued to the other side of the Pacific. How about it, this time I’m helping you for free."

Su Xingyu nudged him aside with one hand: "Step aside, don’t block my view."

Ouyang Yi: "..."

He wasn’t disheartened, continued pestering Su Xingyu with a smiling face: "Really don’t want? Not to boast, but this handsome guy is extremely expressive in front of the camera. Once my photos are out, those amateur photographers and professional photography masters are instantly outmatched! Dear Xingyu, all you need to do is blindly press the shutter, and I guarantee you’ll be famous!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Su Xingyu’s eyes light up, looking over in his direction.

Her fingers gracefully adjusted the camera focus as she raised her phone, and he quickly struck what he believed to be his most charming pose, flicking his hair with a smile flashing ten thousand volts of impact.

"Click, click, click."

Shutters flashed around.

More than just Su Xingyu, several other street photographers pointed their lenses at him, and one of them exclaimed upon recognition: "Ouyang Yi! It’s that international supermodel Ouyang Yi!"

Ouyang Yi threw an electrifying glance and said with a smile: "Miss, you’ve mistaken me."

The excited young female photographer blushed, upon reflection realizing that a supermodel of his caliber wouldn’t idly dabble in street photography; she probably had it wrong. She mumbled an apology and awkwardly walked away.

In high spirits, Ouyang Yi whistled, approaching Su Xingyu: "See, this handsome guy is so charismatic. Dear Xingyu, show me the photos you took, did you capture my most charming moments?"

Su Xingyu looked down expressionlessly, opened her phone album, and checked the photo she just snapped.

As Ouyang Yi looked, his face, still glowing with confidence moments ago, transformed into a spectacle: "This—you, you didn’t even take my picture!"

Su Xingyu glanced at him like he was an idiot: "When did I say I was going to photograph you?"

The photo showed a beggar dressed in rags, his body and face covered in grime, obscuring his original complexion. He sat at the corner of a sleek, mirrored commercial wall, surrounded by elegantly dressed people passing by, none giving him even a glance. The beggar raised a hand, a butterfly perched on his thick, black-gray finger; he looked up, seeming both poised to wave away and kiss it, and fearful of startling it... His muddy eyes revealed a subtle emotion, cautious yet joyful, akin to empathy or yearning.

Ouyang Yi was silent.

He was stunned by the photo; the extraordinary skill displayed by the photographer at that moment was awe-inspiring.

It was so beautiful.

This kind of beauty wasn’t the usual superficiality, nor the so-called kindness or sympathy, not the poetic beauty like flowers blooming in the dirt. Having been a supermodel for many years, Ouyang Yi deep down understood what kind of beauty it was—like the Mona Lisa’s smile, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a truly classic work always allows different people to interpret different meanings, and that beggar’s expression was just like that.

Ouyang Yi was left speechless, and he even looked incredulously at Su Xingyu several times—

Could this girl capture such a photo due to profound skill or sheer chance? You know, even professional models have a difficult time conveying such complex emotions with photographers after much communication, but she just casually raised her phone, capturing a moment of a marginal figure that achieved it. You know, faces of people crushed by life’s hardships often show blunt expressions, far less rich in expressive power than models!