Chapter 65: The Strange Photographer
Her soft pink lips trembled slightly, as if she wanted to say something.
With her big, pretty almond-shaped eyes blinking up at Ye Ziming, she was clearly waiting for his opinion.
“You look really good.”
After being stunned for a moment, Ye Ziming quickly came back to his senses. He forced himself to stay calm and smiled as he spoke.
Without realizing it, he noticed that his breathing had gotten a bit heavier, and it was getting hard to keep his usual calm expression.
Maybe this feeling… is what they call liking someone, Ye Ziming thought.
“Oh, that’s good then.”
She had been a little nervous. This was her first time getting her makeup done by someone else, and it had made her a bit tense.
But hearing her buddy say that made her feel relieved. She figured everything should be fine now.
She had agreed to wear makeup so she could enjoy the comic convention without being recognized by people she knew, though she still felt a little awkward about it.
“Come on, I’ll take you out to have some fun.”
With a gentle smile, Ye Ziming pointed toward the exit and spoke softly to Lin Muqing.
“Okay!”
At that, Lin Muqing lit up with excitement. Her real reason for coming to the convention wasn’t to help out at work. It was to have fun!
Of course, the extra money Sister Yu had mentioned was part of her motivation too. Lin Muqing wanted everything!
“Do you know what your role is today?”
As they walked out of the tent, Ye Ziming reached out to pat Lin Muqing’s head, along with the fluffy cat ears on top.
At the same time, he asked softly.
“My role?”
Lin Muqing blinked in confusion, tilting her head and looking up at her buddy with wide eyes.
“Today, I’m the young master, and you’re my personal maid. Got it?”
He pointed at her and then at his own outfit, smiling as he explained.
Only then did Lin Muqing notice that her buddy wasn’t dressed as casually as usual today.
With just one glance, he totally looked like some rich young master.
Add that to his usual cold and handsome image, and his natural charisma, Lin Muqing thought, ‘Whoa, he really pulls it off.’
“Roleplay?”
She quickly caught on and asked, clearly a little excited.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Ye Ziming nodded with a light smile.
“Hehe~ Young master, where are we going to play today?”
Getting into the spirit of it, Lin Muqing acted playfully and asked Ye Ziming with a teasing smile, covering her mouth with one hand like a proper maid.
“I’ll take you around the convention for the day.”
Ye Ziming saw the teasing look in her eyes but didn’t mind at all. He simply smiled, reached out to pat her head again, fluffy cat ears and all, and then led her into the event.
As soon as they entered the convention hall, Lin Muqing noticed tons of people cosplaying. There were all kinds of characters everywhere.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t a hardcore otaku, so she could only recognize a few of them here and there.
“There are a lot of people here. Don’t get lost.”
Halfway through, Ye Ziming suddenly reached out and gently grabbed her small hand, holding it in his.
When Lin Muqing turned to him in confusion, he quickly gave her an explanation (well, more like an excuse).
“Just being careful.”
“Mm-hmm.”
The joy of the comic convention kept Lin Muqing from overthinking things, so she just kept walking around with her good buddy, hand in hand.
To her, everything at the convention felt fresh and interesting. She wanted to check out every booth.
So the scene looked like this: a cute cat-eared maid girl happily dragging around a rich young master as they wandered aimlessly.
The maid girl was super adorable, and the young master was seriously handsome. If there was ever a real-life example of a perfect couple, it might be them.
With such a noticeable pair, of course people started snapping photos or asking for pictures together.
“Take a picture with me? That might not be a good idea…”
When someone made that request, Lin Muqing looked at the female photographer in front of her, who was smiling with a slightly creepy grin.
It gave her the chills, and her eyelid twitched a little. She just wanted to keep her distance.
So after saying that, she quickly hid behind her good buddy and cautiously peeked out at the photographer.
“She’s my maid.”
Right then, Ye Ziming stepped forward, clearly acting protective, and stared at the photographer with a blank face.
At least, that’s what he thought was a blank face.
To everyone else, it just made him look tall, cold, and even more handsome, and people couldn’t help but glance at him more.
“Wow~ Forget the selfie, just let me take a few photos of you two! Too good to pass up!”
By the time she said the last part, the photographer was nearly shouting with excitement, her grin growing even wider.
A cold, rich young master protecting his shy, cute maid? It wasn’t just her, everyone nearby wanted to snap pictures.
“……”
Ye Ziming frowned slightly but didn’t stop them. He just thought this photographer was kind of… weird.
That weird smile of hers even made his eyelid twitch.
Thankfully, the woman didn’t do anything strange. She just took a few shots and then went off to photograph someone else.
“Emmm, I think… we know her.”
Stepping out from behind Ye Ziming, Lin Muqing stared at the female photographer now pestering someone else, unsure how to describe what she was feeling.
After watching for a bit, she suddenly thought the girl looked familiar.
“She’s in the class next to ours.”
Glancing at the photographer, then at Lin Muqing, Ye Ziming gave her a reminder.
“I remember someone saying there’s a girl in that class who’s always doing photography or writing novels. But she usually doesn’t wear glasses.”
Hearing that, Lin Muqing’s face lit up in realization. She remembered some rumors.
Apparently, the stories that girl wrote were the kind that couldn’t be published publicly… the type that would probably get flagged for being too much.
“Mm, you can ask her for the photos later.”
“Ah… let’s not.”
As they chatted, the two didn’t just stand around. They kept walking through the convention.
As for asking for the photos, Lin Muqing felt like she still wanted to live. No way she was risking social death like that.
“Want me to get them for you?”
Ye Ziming gently squeezed her hand, his usual faint smile returning to his face as he spoke casually.
He was actually pretty interested in those photos.
Just one glance at the camera told him it was expensive, meaning the photo quality was probably great. He figured it might be worth checking out.
“I’m not that interested.”
Raising an eyebrow, Lin Muqing thought for a moment, then shook her head.
What neither of them knew was, there would be no need to go ask for those photos. They’d come to them, thanks to the internet.
Around noon, while taking a break, the female photographer sent a few of her favorite shots to a friend to help with editing.
That friend happened to be her classmate.
And when this classmate saw Ye Ziming in the photos, standing beside an adorable cat-eared girl, she was shocked.
“Holy crap! That’s Ye Ziming’s rumored girlfriend?! Breaking news! If this doesn’t go viral, there’s no justice in the world!”