The Invisible Baa-Baa

Liu Chang'an actually has a certain interest in photography, after all, it is an art form that has only recently emerged.

Liu Chang'an doesn't care whether the development of photographic art can replace certain categories of painting, or about certain controversial views in the process of its development. As long as it's fun, that's all that matters to him.

Opportunities for photographers to model "beautiful girls" like Liu Yuewang are actually quite rare. Many photographers like to photograph "beautiful girls." Aside from men's preferences, one important reason is that many scenes and imagined atmospheres require such beautiful girls to be perfectly expressed.

Simply put, it makes creating beautiful works much easier, and even post-production can save a lot of time and steps.

As Liu Chang'an walked out the door, he thought he could buy a camera to play with, since he had a girlfriend like An Nuan.

Such a perfect subject shouldn't be wasted, and most girls actually enjoy having the camera pointed at them.

What's more, we can take private photos of An Nuan in the future.

Private photos don't necessarily mean anything erotic; they simply showcase intimate aspects of life, such as how one looks when alone, a style completely different from their everyday appearance.

Real.

Liu Chang'an opened the door and went out, only to see Zhu Juntang sneaking around in the elevator area, looking this way.

Seeing Liu Chang'an's gaze fixed on her, Zhu Juntang nervously walked past him, muttering, "I'm just a quiet, invisible Mie Mie passing by. No one will notice me, no one..."

"The Immortal Sheep."

Liu Chang'an reached out and grabbed her head.

Zhu Juntang stopped in her tracks, looking distressed. She felt particularly unlucky lately, as if Liu Chang'an could easily catch her if she did anything wrong.

"What are you doing here?" Liu Chang'an asked.

"I'm grounded!" Zhu Juntang stared ahead in frustration, because Liu Chang'an had grabbed her head from behind, so Zhu Juntang couldn't turn around.

"You're under house arrest and you're still wandering around here?" Liu Chang'an's understanding of house arrest was not like this. Besides, this wasn't the first time Zhu Juntang had been under house arrest. In the past, when she was under house arrest, he often couldn't see her at all.

"I'm under house arrest, which generally means I can only move around within the four floors of this building that are my residence. Part of the fourth floor actually belongs to the hotel area, and I can get here through the elevator used by the maids. It doesn't count as leaving the fourth floor, so Zhong Qing won't report me," Zhu Juntang explained sullenly. "So don't think I'm doing anything bad; this is just my normal life... taking a walk."

"Looks like I misunderstood you!" Liu Chang'an nodded confidently, then let go of her hand and released her head. He was too lazy to argue with her anymore; after all, she was grounded anyway, poor thing.

Zhu Juntang was short, so the easiest thing for him to do was to grab her head.

"Of course." Zhu Juntang nodded in deep agreement. "All your negative impressions of me and the terrible things you've done to me are due to a misunderstanding."

Liu Chang'an nodded again, indicating his agreement, but he added that misunderstandings were just that—misunderstandings—and that they would likely continue to occur in the future.

"You live alone on the fourth floor; this kind of confinement doesn't seem very effective. You're too free. You should be restricted to the floor where your bedroom is," Liu Chang'an said regretfully. "I'll have to suggest it to your mother."

"Four floors is too much freedom? Actually, the fourth floor is basically the servants' quarters, and there are many places on the upper three floors that are not suitable for playing. I didn't even build a go-kart track! I love playing go-karts!"

"I originally wanted to design the third floor as a fairytale-themed forest park, but my mom thought it was bad feng shui and went ahead with an aquarium! When I first arrived, I was so angry that I called to complain when I realized there wasn't a forest park in the house!" Zhu Juntang said indignantly. "Fairies are meant to frequent forests!"

"Aren't you Immortal Sheep? Giving you a whole lawn to graze on would be more in line with your status," Liu Chang'an suggested.

Zhu Juntang rolled her eyes at Liu Chang'an. She was an adorable Mie Mie, but she didn't like eating grass.

"You took two women to the rooftop for a naked pool party yesterday. Who were those two women?" Zhu Juntang pointed to the ceiling and asked curiously.

What is a "no-clothes pool party"?

"Would you go to the pool dressed like this?" Zhu Juntang thought she was very clever, both teasing Liu Chang'an and preventing him from taking the opportunity to bully her.

"Children shouldn't ask about adult matters." Liu Chang'an waved his hand. "You continue your walk, I'm leaving now."

The photographers Liu Yuewang and her friends had arranged hadn't arrived yet, and Liu Chang'an couldn't possibly wait outside indefinitely. Women, especially when it comes to entertainment events meant to please themselves, tend to be very slow and Chirp.

"Where are you going?" Zhu Juntang asked eagerly.

"I want to buy a camera." Liu Chang'an checked the time. The best place to browse and choose is when the equipment malls, with their wide variety of products and varying quality, including refurbished, second-hand, and counterfeit goods, are closed down. However, the digital product counters in electronics malls are also an option, though they are a bit more expensive. They are generally genuine products, and there are often promotional offers with gifts, which is quite reasonable.

"I want to go!" Zhu Juntang raised her hand high.

"You're grounded." Liu Chang'an reminded her to realize that she was an Immortal Sheep confined in a sheepfold, not a bamboo sheep running freely on the green grassland.

"When I'm grounded, if I have a valid reason, I can ask my mother for a temporary lifting of the grounding order," Zhu Juntang said confidently. "I've thought of many reasons before, but none of them were acceptable to her. However, I think this time it's possible."

"Why? What reason did you give this time?"

Zhu Juntang lowered her voice, "Seeing how clever I am, you should realize that my mother must be an angelic figure. If I can think of something, how could she not? She's very interested in you. As long as I accompany you on whatever you do, she'll agree."

"Is your mother also a fairy-like figure?" Liu Chang'an glanced at Zhu Juntang, then realized that in Zhu Juntang's eyes, "fairy" was a compliment, the highest praise.

"You are indeed clever. Zhou Dongdong often says that she is a clever and brave child. You are on the same level." Liu Chang'an sincerely agreed.

Zhu Juntang glanced at Liu Chang'an, her eyes smiling. He had finally praised her!

Zhu Juntang proudly took out her phone and sent a message to her mother. "My dear fairy-like mother, Liu Chang'an wants to buy a camera, but he doesn't know much about cameras. I'll go and take a look for him. I'll go to the mall downstairs!"

Liu Chang'an glanced at it, too lazy to pay attention to Zhu Juntang's arrangement. He didn't know much about modern digital SLRs and mirrorless cameras, but he didn't need to know much about them to buy a camera.

To do something well, you must first have the right tools. Good tools are the foundation of creation, but in reality, just like painting and writing, the most important thing in photography is never the equipment.

The upgrading of equipment, incorporating more advanced technologies, not only brings convenience and progress, but for many people, the pleasure of tactilely handling advanced equipment is also important. Therefore, there exists a group in the photography community known as the "tactile party."

These kinds of people buy equipment not necessarily to take pictures, but because they like the cold, industrial aesthetic of such precise, high-end equipment.

As long as you like it.

When Liu Chang'an wanted to buy equipment, he wouldn't pay much attention to other people's analyses, suggestions, or comments about cost-effectiveness. He would buy whatever he liked and had no intention of listening to Zhu Juntang's advice.

Zhu Juntang tugged at Liu Chang'an's sleeve, waiting for a reply. A minute later, the reply came back; the Third Mistress had indeed agreed.

"My mother is a very formidable person." Zhu Juntang showed Liu Chang'an the message and loosened Liu Chang'an grip on his sleeve, as if to offer a subtle reminder, "I'm not sure whether she's friend or foe to you right now."

"Um."

"Don't take this lightly... My mom is very powerful. Do you think she'd be your mount, bleating Mie Mie a bleater?" Zhu Juntang said somewhat dejectedly. "Don't think that just because you can bully me, you can do the same to my mom."

Liu Chang'an patted Zhu Juntang's head. "Let's go."

Zhu Juntang didn't say much. Although she meant to remind Liu Chang'an, she didn't think the Third Mistress of the Zhu Family could do anything to Liu Chang'an. This old man had lived peacefully for so many years; countless people probably wanted to get rid of him, and he was still doing just fine.

His nonchalant attitude probably wasn't due to stupidity, but rather stemmed from a strong sense of confidence; after all, he was the man who could make Zhu Juntang Mie Mie.

Zhu Juntang was unwilling to elevate Liu Chang'an's image, but elevating Liu Chang'an's image would help Zhu Juntang regain her confidence. If he was powerful, then she would not appear so aggrieved and pitiful.

"Call me." While waiting for the elevator, Liu Chang'an teased the fairy as usual.

"Grandfather!"

"The Immortal Sheep."

"Meow!"

The elevator doors opened, Liu Chang'an stopped teasing Zhu Juntang. He went downstairs with her and walked towards the mall.

"By the way, Zhong Qing told me some gossip today." Zhu Juntang spread the gossip as she followed behind Liu Chang'an.

"Speak."

"Dongdong's mom was wearing a red dress that really accentuated her figure. When Zhong Qing went to eat rice noodles, she saw All-Star there, along with another man. These two were staring at Dongdong's mom with their eyes glued to her, drooling like their rice noodles. Zhong Qing felt disgusted and stopped eating. She chatted with Dongdong's mom for a bit and learned that the other man was her former classmate named Mi Gaoming." Zhu Juntang said with some admiration, "It seems they truly love Dongdong's mom. Zhong Qing has such a great figure, such outstanding temperament and looks, only slightly less attractive than me, yet she can't even attract their attention."

"Just state the facts, don't embellish them, and don't always end by praising yourself." Liu Chang'an had already grasped Zhu Juntang's narrative style.

It's certain that he embellished the story. All-Star is a mature professional man, and Mi Gaoming is considered an elite. These people have knowledge and shrewdness. How could they be like a minor character in Little White online novel, drooling over every beautiful woman they see? Especially not drooling like rice noodles.

Of course, it's also possible that Zhong Qing exaggerated... Zhong Qing also has a history of exaggerating, but Zhong Qing would never say that someone's "saliva is flowing like rice noodles." This is a phrase that gossipy women use to attract more attention and add strong emotional color.

Zhu Juntang is the real gossip.

As for praising herself at the end, that's Zhu Juntang's consistent style. If she's praising someone else, it's because that person is only slightly inferior to her. If she's criticizing someone else, it's because she's the only perfect fairy.

Are they still at the restaurant?

"They should be gone by now, it happened this afternoon."

"That red dress is indeed quite beautiful. It's not their fault. As long as it doesn't affect the restaurant's business, there's no problem." Liu Chang'an was used to it. After all, the dress was his work, and it was to be expected that it would enhance Zhou Shuling's charm, considering that Zhou Shuling's figure and appearance were originally average.

"Should I send a few people to protect Dongdong's mother?" Zhu Juntang asked enthusiastically. "After all, I am also a protector of the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect, and protecting the Saintess's mother is my duty."

"You even used an idiom correctly," Liu Chang'an said approvingly, "But your secret promotion from protector under the Saintess to protector of the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect is invalid."

Zhu Juntang tugged at Liu Chang'an's sleeve, feeling sullen. What a cunning man, he managed to discover this.