This Mind-Reading Technique Is Useless. - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Soft as expected. Honey, my fists can be very hard. …

Gu Shiying chose the liberal arts major in high school. As a boy, there weren’t many majors to choose from after the college entrance exam, so he chose New Media.

Half of his freshman year was theoretical, but after his sophomore year, he added many practical technical skills courses.

This week, the teacher assigned them homework in groups. They could choose their own topics, from writing scripts to shooting videos or photos, posting them to a simulation platform, and then monitoring and analyzing the data to complete the entire simulation process.

Gu Shiying never shirked his homework, and because of his major, he had a relatively clear direction in helping with Yang Shuheng’s band.

He usually worked in a group with Zhang Zhi, but this time, their group consisted of about five people, and they needed to recruit three more students. The girl who had taken swimming lessons with him that day volunteered to join them, and Zhang Zhi also invited another girl and a boy.

There were many topics to choose from this time, including agricultural assistance, entertainment-related topics, and many other topics. You could also choose your own, just report to the teacher. During a discussion with the team, Gu Shiying suggested writing a script and producing a video about food from around campus. The initial script and materials were basically finalized through discussion.

Du Zhihan said, “Is that it? Who’s going to be in charge of filming? First of all, I haven’t mastered my skills yet, and my friends all dislike my photography.”

Zhang Zhi: “Then Ying’er will be in charge. He takes great videos and photos, and I can handle the post-production editing.”

Gu Shiying nodded: “Okay.”

Luo Siwei: “I’ll contact reputable restaurants for filming.”

Du Zhihan: “Then I’ll go to the forum to solicit opinions from alumni and see which restaurants are the best.”

Gu Shiying: “Okay, but I think we can expand the selection process beyond just me.” Our school, nearby schools, or other schools in the same city are all fine.”

Zhang Zhi: “That’s perfectly feasible. This way, I’ll have a wider range of material to choose from.”

Gu Shiying: “Then let’s set a time to shoot the footage. Are the five of us going together?”

Du Zhihan: “Of course. Five pairs of eyes are better than one; we can capture more interesting scenes.”

Of the five people in their group, Zhang Zhi, Du Zhihan, and Luo Siwei are the more lively ones. There’s also a more charming girl, but she has her own ideas and strong writing skills, and she diligently records everyone’s opinions.

Gu Shiying tends to be more reserved when he’s around people he doesn’t know well.

For this new project, they spent two nights preparing, finding a free classroom each evening to discuss.

Because of the mind-reading incident, Gu Shiying hadn’t picked up his phone to record his life in a while. His last video was of the cat named Youtiao.

He’d been trying to get into the swing of things these past few days by shooting some test videos.

Luo Siwei had already arranged with the store, and they were officially going out to film the video tomorrow night. Having spent the past two nights in the dorm, he couldn’t resist the urge to try filming some more videos when he returned. He happened to see the pink bow box that hadn’t been delivered yet.

Gu Shiying lit it, adjusted the angle, and even created a small scene for close-ups from various angles. However, perhaps because the box was too pink, and the items on his desk looked too hard without any softer contrast, no matter how he filmed it, he wasn’t satisfied.

He muttered to himself, “How can I make this look better?”

When Fu Huan returned from outside, he saw Gu Shiying struggling with the pink gift box.

He pursed his lips, wondering if this gift hadn’t been delivered yet. Was he planning to surprise her on her birthday?

As Gu Shiying held up the gift, Fu Huan walked right past him, his aura stirring with a gust of wind. Did someone anger him?

He glanced at the gift box in his hand. This pink box didn’t seem appropriate for Fu Huan. Besides, Fu Huan had those feelings for him, so giving him a gift like that would definitely lead to some erroneous thoughts.

But he didn’t want to eat alone with Fu Huan.

Ever since he knew Fu Huan had those strange feelings for him, he’d sometimes noticed Fu Huan secretly observing him. His gaze was a bit scary, as if he wanted to eat him up. However, he only bumped into him occasionally; most of the time, Fu Huan would keep a blank expression to hide it.

Gu Shiying: “Are you back?”

The others hadn’t returned yet, so why not give Fu Huan the gift first?

“Yeah,” Fu Huan nodded, then lowered his head to change his shoes without even glancing at Gu Shiying.

“Fu…” Gu Shiying was about to call him back when he saw him push open the balcony door and walk out. “In such a hurry to use the restroom?”

Okay, then I’ll give it to him when he comes out.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Fu Huan still hadn’t emerged from the restroom.

“No, why would it take so long to go to the bathroom?”

The balcony curtains were drawn, so Gu Shiying couldn’t see what Fu Huan was doing. He was a heavy smoker, so he might be smoking.

Gu Shiying was just about to remove the knee pads from the box when he heard Yang Shuheng and Guan Yu talking outside. He quickly stuffed them back into the box.

Forget it, I’ll give them to him another time.

Fu Huan had just returned to the room. Seeing the others had returned, he sat down in a chair and opened his computer to study the data.

Yang Shuheng, with his sharp eyes, had spotted the box on Gu Shiying’s desk.

“Oh my, Ying’er, is something wrong? Which girl are you planning to give this to?”

“No, it’s not for a girl,” Gu Shiying’s explanation seemed like a cover-up. He put the box away and tucked it into a drawer.

Yang Shuheng’s eyes were filled with disbelief. He threw his arms around Gu Shiying’s neck and tried to grab the box: “I don’t believe it! Let me see what you’re giving me!”

Gu Shiying quickly pushed the drawer inside: “Nothing! It’s really not for a girl. The store sent it by mistake.”

The more he explained, the more it seemed like he was actually going to give it to a girl. Even Guan Yu joined in on the fun.

Guan Yu: “Yang Shuheng, stop teasing him. He’s shy.”

Gu Shiying: “I’m not shy.”

Yang Shuheng: “I don’t believe it. You look like a virgin.”

Gu Shiying: “What? You’re not a virgin anymore?”

Yang Shuheng: “I’m not.”

Gu Shiying gave him a thumbs-up: “Awesome!”

Yang Shuheng threw his arms around his neck and laughed: “Do you want me to tell you about the whole process?”

Gu Shiying pushed him away: “I don’t want to hear you brag. Thank you.”

Yang Shuheng and Guan Yu, assuming he was genuinely shy, burst into laughter.

Pa!

The three people playing around heard a crisp sound.

They all looked in Fu Huan’s direction. His was the only one whose phone could make such a loud noise when dropped; their phones were all in cases.

Gu Shiying and Guan Yu were both doing it to protect their phones, while Yang Shuheng wanted a nice case. Only Fu Huan’s black phone was uncased. The sound of it falling was real and heartbreaking, like the sound of money shattering.

Yang Shuheng: “Brother Huan, why don’t you have a case on your phone? It breaks easily.”

Fu Huan calmly picked up his phone: “I’m not used to cases.”

Gu Shiying didn’t join in the conversation. He hadn’t sensed Fu Huan’s secret crush on him before, not because he was insensitive, but because Fu Huan had hidden it well. He hadn’t thought about it that way. Now that he had the premise, he just thought Fu Huan’s phone had “dropped” on the ground. Could it be that Fu Huan was jealous?

He rubbed the back of his hand. He had to stop thinking. He was overthinking, overthinking!

No, letting Fu Huan know he was pursuing a girl should be a good thing. How did he almost get led astray? He shouldn’t have been so honest with Yang Shuheng just now. Shouldn’t he have just admitted it? Why couldn’t he learn Zhang Zhixin’s quick-witted rhetoric?

He was too honest. He needed to change.

The next evening, Gu Shiying and his team began filming on location.

The shops they chose today weren’t the big ones with traffic and rankings on food recommendation platforms, but most of those were paid to have their rankings boosted by people. They were looking for small shops or street vendors, places only students would visit.

The first shop they visited was a mobile fried rice stall near the east gate of the school.

It was a husband-and-wife stall, and every day, many of their students lined up to buy fried rice. While the owner cooked, his wife would accompany him, smiling and enthusiastically offering customers stools to sit and wait.

Gu Shiying had five people with him, but only three showed up. One of the girls was unwell, and Luo Siwei, who was in the student union, had been called to a meeting. This left Gu Shiying, Zhang Zhi, and Du Zhihan alone.

With the others absent, Gu Shiying felt quite at ease.

The boss had set up his stall late, and the streets were packed. Gu Shiying couldn’t even get a single shot of the space, but he could capture the bustling crowd, the surrounding shops, and the surrounding stalls also serving students.

The increasingly hot weather and the vibrant atmosphere of summer nights made the city feel more welcoming, less cold.

Gu Shiying captured the boss and his wife riding their electric stall to their location.

The boss was a shy man, not very good at conversation, and Zhang Zhi was the one guiding them.

Zhang Zhi’s family also owned a supermarket, and they were always good at chatting with their customers, so the boss gradually relaxed.

However, halfway through the photoshoot, Gu Shiying noticed his phone was low on memory.

Gu Shiying: “Old Zhang, you’ll have to use your phone to shoot the rest. I haven’t cleared my phone’s old videos, and I don’t have enough memory.”

Zhang Zhi: “The resolution of my phone isn’t good enough. It even has a built-in beauty function. I tried it, but it doesn’t look realistic.”

Gu Shiying asked Du Zhihan: “Zhihan, what about yours?”

Du Zhihan shook her head: “Mine isn’t good either. I dropped the camera the other day and it broke.”

Gu Shiying tried to shoot two videos with Zhang Zhi, but they weren’t as good as his phone. He had no choice but to delete the videos he didn’t need.

Zhang Zhi suddenly waved off into the distance: “Ying’er, we’re saved! I see Fu Huan and Liang Qi!”

Gu Shiying’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of Fu Huan: “…”

Zhang Zhi, however, remained oblivious: “Brother Huan! Brother Huan! Ying’er has something to ask of you!”

Fu Huan and Liang Qi approached at the sound.

Gu Shiying, completely unimpressed, lowered his head and continued deleting videos.

As Fu Huan approached them, a middle-aged man suddenly bumped into Gu Shiying’s right arm.

At the same time, a strange voice, long absent, suddenly entered Gu Shiying’s mind.

[I drugged Wang’s fried rice. Those college students will definitely be in the hospital after eating it. He’s doomed!]

Gu Shiying stumbled and fell onto the scalding soup stove. While he was stunned, Fu Huan protectively pulled him into his arms, pulling him out of harm’s way.

Fu Huan’s voice domineeringly drowned out the stranger’s.

[I got a hug. Gu Shiying is indeed very soft.]

Gu Shiying felt Fu Huan take the opportunity to pinch his arm: “…”

Honey, my fists can be very hard.

Author’s Note:

———————-

Fu Huan: [Throwing flowers] I got my wife. [Qixi Festival Benefits.jpg]

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Yingying and classmate Fu wish everyone a happy Qixi Festival~