The Fallen Lens Cap and the Words "Senior Shen"
Under a tree at the edge of the sports field.
Click.
The faint sound of the shutter was drowned out by the groans and commotion of the freshmen around her.
Shen Zhiyi did not lower her camera.
She watched the scene in the distance quietly through the DSLR's viewfinder.
The compression of the telephoto lens blurred out all the camouflage-clad figures sprawled every which way across the ground, leaving only the figure deep in the shade.
It was so natural.
The laziness and detachment that seemed to seep out of his very bones gave the close-up of his profile a tension that did not belong to someone his age.
Shen Zhiyi slowly lowered the camera.
It was the only photograph she had been satisfied with all afternoon on this restless military-training field.
She let out a soft breath, then casually raised the camera again. As if going through the motions, she took several shots of the other formations, rounding out the wide shots needed for the welcome issue of the campus magazine.
Her assignment to gather material was done.
The September sun in Jiangcheng was fierce. Even at the edge of the shade, the air was thick with the smell of scorching rubber.
Shen Zhiyi felt sweat on the palm of the hand holding her camera, leaving it a little sticky.
She hung the DSLR strap around her neck, shielded the lens, and turned toward the washbasins in the corner of the field.
During the break, the washbasins were crowded.
A dozen or so male freshmen were gathered around the taps, pouring cold water over their heads while shoving and roughhousing with one another, their movements wildly unrestrained.
Shen Zhiyi did not squeeze in. She simply stood at the outer edge, waiting for the others to finish.
Just then, a few freshmen in a hurry to grab a spot came running up behind her.
They were moving so fast that they could not stop in time.
One of the boys tripped, lurched sharply to one side, and slammed his shoulder into Shen Zhiyi's arm.
"Whoa!"
The boy cried out.
Caught completely off guard, Shen Zhiyi staggered violently from the impact and had to take half a step back before she barely managed to steady herself.
But the DSLR hanging against her chest swung violently with her.
The black lens cap had only been loosely fastened to begin with, and the force of the swing sent it flying off.
Clack.
The lens cap landed on the hard concrete and rolled down the slope along the edge of the washbasins.
It kept rolling until it reached the very end of the washbasins.
There, it came to a stop beside a pair of somewhat faded rubber military-training shoes.
Lu Chuan had just finished washing his face.
He reached out to turn off the tap and casually flicked the water from his hands.
Lowering his eyes, he spotted the black lens cap at his feet.
He bent down unhurriedly and picked it up.
A short distance away, Shen Zhiyi had just steadied herself and was about to go pick it up. When she looked up, she saw the boy whose close-up she had captured under the tree straightening up.
Two or three steps apart, their eyes met.
Shen Zhiyi had assumed he would be like the other boys at school, seizing this perfect opportunity to come over and talk to her, unable to hide his excitement or his desire to show off.
But Lu Chuan did not.
He stayed where he was, in no hurry to hand it over, much less taking the opportunity to sneak a few extra looks at her.
Lu Chuan freed one hand and pulled a clean tissue from his pants pocket.
Head lowered, he used the tissue to carefully wipe away the bit of dust the lens cap's edge had picked up from the ground.
His movements were methodical, displaying a meticulousness he seemed to take for granted.
When he was done, he held the crumpled tissue in his palm. Only then did he turn and offer her the spotless lens cap.
Shen Zhiyi stepped forward and took it.
"Thank you."
Her voice was as cool as ever, carrying just the right amount of courtesy.
She was just about to nod politely and leave.
Lu Chuan looked at her and casually tossed out a remark, his tone even, without the slightest inflection of someone deliberately trying to strike up a conversation.
"Be careful, Senior Shen."
"It'd be hard to find a replacement if the original broke."
Senior Shen.
The words landed lightly, but they made Shen Zhiyi's hand pause noticeably as she reached for the lens cap.
She raised her eyes, her clear gaze fixed directly on Lu Chuan.
Today she was wearing her own white shirt, and the only thing around her neck was her campus media ID. It had only the words "Jiang University Campus Media News Department" printed on it, with no name at all.
She was absolutely certain this was the first time she had ever met the junior standing before her in his freshman camouflage uniform.
How did he know her surname was Shen?
Looking into those unruffled eyes, Shen Zhiyi felt the inexpressible curiosity in her heart thoroughly stirred at that moment.
She neither beat around the bush nor put on airs, asking him directly.
"Do you know me?"
"How do you know my surname is Shen?"
Lu Chuan looked at her slightly inquisitive expression.
He was just about to make up an excuse to brush it off, saying he had seen her in the campus magazine or heard someone mention her.
Just then.
"Beep-!"
In the middle of the field, the instructor's piercing assembly whistle suddenly sounded, breaking into a shrill note.
Break time was over.
Freshmen from every direction began groaning as they ran back to their respective formations on weary legs.
Lu Chuan did not linger.
He did not use the perfect opening this mystery presented to press his advantage, nor did he take out his phone to ask for her WeChat.
He tossed the crumpled tissue in his hand accurately into the nearby trash can, turned, and walked briskly toward the formation where the residents of dorm 504 were gathered.
With his back to Shen Zhiyi, he casually raised a hand and waved twice.
A few matter-of-fact words drifted over on the hot, dry wind.
"I'll tell you if fate brings us together again."
Evening.
The Jiang University Campus Media News Department office.
It was already dark outside. Several incandescent lights were on in the office, and the clatter of keyboards sounded intermittently.
Shen Zhiyi sat at her desk, the computer screen casting a faint blue glow over her cool, clear features.
Her right hand on the mouse, she rapidly sorted through the material she had shot that afternoon.
Double-click, zoom in, take a glance.
Then press delete without hesitation.
Faces of freshmen slid across the screen one after another. Whenever those boys faced the camera, their deliberately tensed muscles, overdone poses, and fixed stares all ended up dragged into Shen Zhiyi's folder of rejected shots.
Then the mouse brought her to the last few photos.
She opened one and stopped, her finger resting on the mouse wheel.
The close-up filled the entire screen.
There was no face looking into the camera in the shot. The boy in the cheap camouflage uniform leaned against the rough trunk of a camphor tree, his head slightly lowered, his jawline outlined with unusual clarity by the light and shadow filtered through the leaves.
That absolute ease, that sense of calm utterly removed from the noisy sports field, came straight through the screen.
Shen Zhiyi let go of the mouse.
Propping her chin on one hand, she gazed absentmindedly at the profile on the screen.
Her mind was full of the scene by the washbasins that afternoon.
The tissue he had used to wipe away the dust before handing back the lens cap.
The casual "Senior Shen" that had revealed he knew her surname.
And the sight of his retreating back as he left without lingering even a second after the whistle sounded.
Who exactly is he?
Why does he know me?
Shen Zhiyi had met too many outstanding people her own age, and had encountered countless attempts to get close to her using all sorts of tricks. But she had never seen a freshman with such composure and such a sense of boundaries, qualities that did not belong to someone his age at all.
Creak.
Someone pushed the office door open from outside.
Lin Leyao, her junior-year senior and close friend in the news department, walked in carrying two cups of iced milk tea.
"Zhiyi, have you finished the layout for the welcome issue... huh?"
Lin Leyao set the milk tea on the desk, and a sweep of her gaze landed right on Shen Zhiyi's computer screen.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she immediately leaned closer.
She knew Shen Zhiyi too well.
This campus belle, Jiang University's "air conditioner," usually could not even be bothered to take close-ups of department leaders.
And now she had spent all this time looking at a solo close-up of a freshman boy.
Her best friend's gossip radar went wild in an instant. She nudged Shen Zhiyi's shoulder with her elbow and grinned, waggling her eyebrows.
"Well, you've been staring for quite a while."
"Has our campus belle finally seen the light? Thinking of falling in love?"
An ordinary girl faced with such a teasing remark that hit the nail on the head would most likely have blushed and hurriedly closed the window, or come up with some awkward excuse to cover it up.
But Shen Zhiyi did not.
She did not protest coquettishly or panic, and she did not even move the mouse to close the picture.
She picked up the iced milk tea on the desk and took a sip through the straw.
Her gaze remained calmly on the screen.
"I wouldn't say I want to fall in love."
Shen Zhiyi's tone was objective and rational, carrying a distinctive air of sophistication all her own.
"I just think this person is rather special."
She tapped her fingers lightly twice against the edge of the mouse, looking at the boy in the photo who was completely unaware of her gaze.
The curiosity stirred in her eyes grew stronger.