Why is the system taking my request to photograph a cosplayer seriously?

Chapter 31: Wenjing's Dark History

Ding Heng returned to the car, handed out bottled water to the two people in the back seat, and casually asked, "What are you chatting about? You seem to be having a lot of fun."

Wenjing immediately shook her head like a startled rabbit, "N-nothing!"

Ding Heng raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhao Yanxi again.

Zhao Yanxi turned on the tap, took a sip of water, glanced at her nervous best friend beside her, and felt both amused and helpless.

"Can I just tell you things that girls talk about?"

She spoke naturally, glossing over the topic.

On the way back, the car was much quieter than usual.

Wenjing kept her head down, her fingers unconsciously picking at the label on the mineral water bottle.

I've known Zhao Yanxi since kindergarten, for over ten years now.

They've shared the same bag of spicy snacks, drunk the same cup of milk tea, worn each other's clothes, and know almost all of each other's little secrets and embarrassing stories.

Whenever there's something good, the first person I think of is always the other person.

Wenjing never imagined that one day they would fall in love with the same boy, and even have to "fight" for him!

Zhao Yanxi said "fair competition," which sounds like a lot of sense.

But... if one day Ding Hengzhen chooses one of them, can they still be good friends without any resentment as before?

Zhao Yanxi was equally unsettled.

She gazed at the rapidly receding street scene outside the window, her eyes unfocused.

In her opinion, Ding Heng is currently more inclined towards being quiet and gentle.

That kind of natural care, teasing, and even indulgence is something she hasn't yet been able to obtain.

Therefore, I must first stabilize the situation and prevent Wenjing from taking advantage of her "innate advantages" to sneak away.

That's why the idea of ​​"shelving disputes and jointly developing" was proposed, in order to maintain a semblance of "fair competition".

Given enough time and opportunity, Zhao Yanxi was confident that she would not lose.

However... I can't help but feel guilty when facing my naive and silly best friend.

I feel like a scheming, wicked female supporting character who tries to steal the male lead from a naive and innocent girl.

Oh no, that's really bad!

The two girls each had their own thoughts on their own, and the atmosphere inside the car was subtly tense.

As Ding Heng drove, he felt that it was unusually quiet today...

Back at the hotel, Zhao Yanxi and Wen Jing got out of the car first.

Ding Heng didn't turn off the engine, but rolled down the window: "You guys go ahead, I have to go to my grandparents' house for dinner tonight."

Zhao Yanxi immediately smiled and waved enthusiastically, "Goodbye, Brother Ding Heng, take care on your journey!"

Wenjing followed up with a soft whisper, "Goodbye."

After watching the two girls enter the hotel, Ding Heng turned his car around and drove away.

Ding Heng's maternal grandparents lived in a remote suburb of Xingcheng, in an old urban area that had been gradually marginalized during the city's expansion.

My maternal grandfather was a junior cadre in a state-owned factory when he was young, and my maternal grandmother was a worker in the same factory.

After the reform and opening up, my grandfather resigned from his job and went into business. After many ups and downs, he got too old to continue, so he used his savings to open a small supermarket and has been living a peaceful life ever since.

After their mother passed away, the only remaining close descendant of the elderly couple was their grandson, Ding Heng.

Ding Heng parked his car in a cluttered empty space at the entrance of the old residential area, walked into the small supermarket next door as if he knew the way well, opened the freezer, took out a bottle of iced cola, and shouted it out in his local dialect.

"grandmother!"

Behind the counter, an elderly woman with gray hair was happily watching short videos on her phone.

Hearing this, he looked up and said, "Oh my! Hengya! Why did you come without even saying hello?"

"I miss you, dear old man!"

Ding Heng unscrewed the can of cola, took a swig, and grinned as he leaned closer: "Besides, there's no food to eat, so I had to come to your store to get some."

"You little devil!"

Where is Grandpa?

"He was just in the shop a moment ago, saying someone needed to talk to him, but I guess he's off fishing again. He won't listen to anything I say!"

"Fishing again? You're really addicted."

Ding Heng placed the cola on the counter: "Go back and cook, I'll watch the shop for a while."

"Okay, I'll cook a couple more dishes when I get back!"

Grandma happily took off her reading glasses and cell phone, got up and walked towards the residential building in the community.

Ding Heng sat down behind the counter in place of his grandmother and started scrolling through his phone listlessly.

Suddenly, my phone popped up with several message notifications from the university.

New students are notified to join the official QQ groups, including a large group for all new students and a group for their respective majors.

Ding Heng entered the large group chat, which was already quite lively, with messages scrolling by at lightning speed.

Senior students are trying to lock in "high-quality freshmen" in advance, constantly spamming social media with ads for selling campus phone cards, bedding, and second-hand textbooks.

And Jiahao and Jiaxin, who are refreshed every year.

Someone complained about being rejected by their preferred university.

The bubbly sound empowers the guy to find a senior to play mahjong.

The repressed guy confidently takes a selfie in an attempt to find a mate.

A female student from JK (high school) posted photos of herself preparing to raise fish in a pond.

……

While munching on potato chips he'd snatched from the shelf, Ding Heng was engrossed in scrolling through group messages, occasionally replying with a witty remark, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Just as I was enjoying myself, I suddenly saw a familiar ID pop up – [Good Luck Xiao Jing] had joined the group chat.

Ding Heng clicked on the familiar rabbit avatar and sent a friend request with the note: Ding Heng.

It was approved almost instantly.

【Good Luck Xiaojing】: [Little Rabbit tilts head in confusion.jpg] Didn't you add me on WeChat?

[Ding Heng]: So, I can't add you on QQ?

【Lucky Xiaojing】: Oh... [Little rabbit scratching its head, embarrassed.jpg]

Ding Heng couldn't help but smile when he saw the cute emojis the girl sent him. Suddenly, on a whim, he opened her QQ space and browsed through it with great interest.

Wenjing doesn't post much, but the content... has a distinctly "retro" feel to it.

Especially three or four years ago, most of them were reprinted "aesthetic" sentences or original works with a touch of youthful angst.

Phrases like "The sun is warm, life is peaceful, but you haven't come yet, how dare I grow old," and "Promises shattered on the ground, yesterday can never be pieced back together."

……

Ding Heng laughed out loud. If this were read aloud to his face, Wen Jing would probably dig out a three-bedroom apartment with her toes on the spot.

What interested Ding Heng even more was that Wen Jing had set up a photo album called "Growth Commemoration".

The photos are categorized by year, and Wenjing posts a photo every May to commemorate her birthday.

Zhao Yanxi appears in every single birthday photo.

The two girls went from being naive children with braids and missing front teeth to shy and bashful teenage girls in school uniforms, accompanying each other all the way.

Ding Heng clicked on each one to look at it, as if he were watching a silent coming-of-age movie.

Zhao Yanxi's transformation is very clear. She was a beauty from a young age. As her eyebrows and eyes gradually matured, she became more and more delicate and beautiful. Her temperament also gradually changed from being mischievous and naughty as a child to becoming a bright and lively young girl.

Wenjing's transformation can be described as a "comeback".

In her junior high school photos, she had a slightly unfashionable short haircut, a chubby face, and a slightly plump figure.

Standing next to the stunningly beautiful Zhao Yanxi, he looked like an insignificant little follower, even a bit... drab.

In her first and second years of high school, she started to grow taller and thinner in the photos, but her hairstyle remained ordinary, with thick bangs covering her forehead. She always habitually looked down, and her presence was still not strong.

There are no photos from her senior year of high school, but thinking about how pure yet alluring Wenjing is now, it's true that girls change a lot as they grow up!

Ding Heng clicked save and returned to the chat window to send the message.

Ding Heng: [Images][Images][Images]

【Good Luck Xiao Jing】: ? ? ? [Shocked Rabbit.jpg]

【Good Luck Xiaojing】: Why did you post my old photos...? [Little rabbit covering face and running away.jpg]

Ding Heng pressed the voice button and began reading aloud a post from her social media profile.

[Ding Heng]: "Memories flood back like a tide; we laughed so foolishly, yet so purely. Perhaps beautiful memories are only meant to be cherished, not to be revisited?"

Ding Heng: [doge emoji]

A few seconds later, Wenjing replied with a voice message.

When I clicked on it, I heard her voice, a mixture of embarrassment, anxiety, and even frustration.

"Ahhh! That...that was all just something I wrote randomly before! Please don't read it aloud!"

Ding Heng was overjoyed and pressed the voice button again.

[Ding Heng]: "Everything is destined to be just a passerby in your life, like sand slipping through your fingers. No matter how tightly you hold it, it will still flow away. There's no need to care."

【Good Luck Xiaojing】: "Stop reading it...can you just forget about it!"

Her voice was quiet, almost tearful, as she made a humble plea.

Even through the screen, Ding Heng could imagine the little white rabbit blushing and wishing it could disappear into the ground.

He knew when to stop and did not continue the "persecution".

[Ding Heng]: Why aren't there any photos of the senior year of high school?

【Good Luck Xiao Jing】: At that time, I was fully focused on preparing for the college entrance examination and didn't have much time to take pictures.

Starting from her senior year of high school, especially the second half of that year, despite the continued ups and downs in life, Wenjing could still clearly feel some changes.

In the past, she was just a nobody in the class with decent grades and little presence, except for her exaggerated figure, which was used by boys to tease her.

But I don't know when it started, my classmates, especially the boys, began to look at me more often, and they would come over during breaks to say hello, borrow my notes or discuss problems.

At first, Wenjing didn't pay attention, as she was completely absorbed in the tense atmosphere of defeating an entire playground in one point, and had no time to think about anything else.

Until the college entrance examination was over, those gazes and advances culminated in more direct actions—some people confessed their feelings to her, and more than one.

This left Wenjing at a loss, after all, she was someone who didn't know how to refuse.

So every time she rejected a boy, she felt guilty, as if she had done something wrong.

Fortunately, she has a close friend with high emotional intelligence, Zhao Yanxi, who can help her easily resolve a lot of harassment.

[Ding Heng]: Do you want to reshoot now? I can help you.

[Ding Heng]: Turning eighteen is an adult, and there should be some memorable photos.

[Good Luck Xiao Jing]: Like... the kind of photos you're going to take for Yan hope?

Ding Heng: They are different.

【Good Luck Xiao Jing】: Why is it different?

Ding Heng: You are different.

The "The other party is typing..." message at the top of the chat box appeared and disappeared repeatedly for a full seven or eight minutes.

Ding Heng simply asked directly.

[Ding Heng]: What style do you want to shoot? Or, are there any clothes you want to wear?

【Lucky Xiaojing】: I don't know... [Little rabbit fiddles with its fingers.jpg]

Ding Heng smiled as he read the expected answer.

Ding Heng: Then let me arrange things?

This time, the reply came very quickly.

【Good Luck Xiaojing】: Okay. [Little rabbit nodding obediently.jpg]

As soon as the message arrived, a system notification clearly appeared in Ding Heng's mind:

[The Record of Redemption: Wenjing]

[Current Status: The Corrupted Nun]

Purification level: 52%

[Ding! Purification value exceeds 50%, milestone achieved!]

[Rewards: 500 Divine Merit Points, +3 Perception Attribute, and an upgrade to the skill "True Sight"!]

Congratulations! You've completed 50% of the newbie quests! The quest log is now unlocked; please check your quest log regularly.