Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Xuxu continued walking forward while Su Yan followed behind, snapping away on his camera as he walked.

  His camera snapped away non-stop.

  After taking a number of photos of the streetscape and local culture, Su Yan aimed his camera at Xuxu again and zoomed in on her. He didn’t press on the shutter and merely looked at her through the camera lens.

  He said, “Let’s go on a trip together. I’m serious about this. As I’m not familiar with this place, you can be my tour guide.”


  “I’m not familiar either because I’ve not been back for many years.” Xuxu finished the food in her hands. She hung her bag over her wrist before shoving both hands into the pockets of her down-filled jacket. She then tilted her head up at the sky.

  A deep blue sky on a clear day.

  It was a sight hardly seen in the capital city. Her eyes brilliantly sparkled like the dazzling stars. She pursed her lips.

  She seemed to be enjoying every moment in this place.

  Su Yan momentarily paused before clicking away on the shutter. He captured a shot of Xuxu.

  Xuxu continued to walk on while Su Yan quietly followed behind.

  The two of them walked away from the bustling town and set foot onto a stone bridge. The first thing that greeted their eyes was an emerald green lake surrounded by the mountains.

  Xuxu stood still. She gazed at the center of the lake with a look of dismal. She frowned.

  Su Yan had no idea why she was ladened with grief.

  The front and back of the place were unblocked. The rustling cold wind ruffled her silky short hair. Her face and nose turned red.

  Su Yan extended his hand. He wanted to smoothen out her frown and remove the heavy burden in her heart.

  But his hand abruptly stopped in mid-air.

  He thought to himself, some beautiful things are best just admired—capture the moment and bury it in the heart.

  “Let’s go to Donghai in the afternoon.” All of a sudden, Xuxu turned her head. As she brushed off her messy hair from her eyes, she looked at Su Yan as if she had made an important decision.

  Having a free photographer on the trip didn’t seem like a bad deal after all.

  Su Yan deliberated for a moment before nodding his head with a smile. “Okay.”


  He would definitely jump at the chance to capture captivating landscapes with his camera.

  Xuxu didn’t utter a word and continued walking forward by herself. When they got down the bridge, Su Yan caught up with her. “Why didn’t you ask me about the purpose of my trip here?”


  Xuxu asked in a calm and collected manner, “Why?”


  Su Yan stood silent.

  He said, “Xuxu, your life must be very dull.”


  Xuxu laughed. “Yes, you’re right.”


  She didn’t have any focus in her life and had no special interests. Come to think of it, her life was indeed dull.

  They passed through a winding path on a mountain and climbed up the mountain.

  Su Yan quipped, “Your hometown is beautiful.”


  Xuxu proudly nodded her head.”Yes, it’s a beautiful place.”


  “You are even more beautiful.” Again, Su Yan’s camera zoomed in on Xuxu.

  Xuxu rolled her eyes at him being annoying. The latter grinned before moving his camera away to another direction.

  There was a big cemetery above with thousands of tombs. Each tombstone looked identical.

  Su Yan put down his camera. His expression turned solemn and his heart felt heavy, befitting the scene.

  Xuxu walked towards her parents’ tombstones and kneeled down. She reached out to touch the rough tombstone. Only her parents’ names were inscribed on it. There weren’t any names of their children.

  “Dad and Mom, I’m leaving. I’m not sure when I’ll be back again to visit you.”


  From the bag on her wrist, she took out some snacks that she had bought earlier and placed them before the tombstone, item by item. “These are the popular snacks from our town. I’ve tried them and they’re delicious.”


  “I’ll definitely take good care of grandfather.”