Why did the system take my request to take photos with a cosplayer seriously?

Long He's smile faded, and he said seriously, "I was raised by Aunt Sun, so I'm practically her daughter. How could I not remember?"

Ding Heng stood aside, quietly watching Long He chat familiarly with the two old people, and suddenly felt a little uneasy.

It seems that only he almost forgot his mother's death anniversary...

He turned and walked to the shelf, took out a bundle of incense sticks, and then stepped forward to take Longhe's hand.

"Grandpa and Grandma, let's go offer incense to Mom first, and then come back for dinner later."

"Alright, alright, drive carefully... Old man, go buy a couple more groceries!"

The cemetery is not far away, just a few minutes' drive away.

Longhe bought a bunch of snow lilies along the way, wrapped in light green paper.

The cemetery was quiet, with lush pine and cypress trees, and the occasional chirping of birds.

The two walked up the stone steps and finally stopped in front of a tombstone.

"Mom, I almost forgot it was your birthday today, please don't be angry!"

Ding Heng squatted down, lit an incense stick, inserted it into the incense burner, knelt down and kowtowed three times, muttering incantations.

"Take care of yourself over there, don't worry about me. Your son is doing alright now, with someone to keep him company and someone to think of him. It's just that I miss you sometimes, Mom. If you miss me too, try to visit me in your dreams sometime..."

Long He knelt down and kowtowed, then casually placed the lily in front of the tombstone.

"Aunt Sun, please don't be upset that I haven't come back to see you for the past two years!"

Her voice choked with emotion as she gently stroked the petals of the lily: "The last time I came to see you was the year I first went to Shanghai. I've been thinking about you ever since, but I've always been held back by one thing or another..."

Ding Heng patted his trouser leg and stood up, only to find Long He still kneeling, his cries growing louder.

Suddenly, Ding Heng recalled that on the day his mother passed away, Long He was the one who cried the loudest in the hospital.

Not long after, she was taken to Shanghai.

As Long He cried, she seemed unable to stop. Ding Heng quickly reached out to help her up, took off her sunglasses, and gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips.

"Don't cry, you have to rehearse for the show tomorrow."

Longhe sniffed, his voice broken and intermittent.

"I...I just can't help feeling sad when I think about...the suffering Aunt Sun endured before she died..."

Ding Heng didn't say anything, but continued to wipe her tears.

But Longhe is still the same as when he was a child. He either doesn't cry at all, or when he does, he cries like a baby, and the more he wipes away his tears, the more tears he sheds.

Finally, Ding Heng simply pulled her into his arms and gently patted her to comfort her.

Long He buried her face in Ding Heng's chest and sobbed.

As Ding Heng listened to the girl's cries and gazed at his mother's tombstone, his eyes welled up with tears, yet he couldn't shed a single one...

A gentle breeze rustled through the pine branches.

On the way back, the two of them barely spoke.

Grandma had already prepared a table full of dishes at the supermarket.

"Come on, come on, sit down and eat!"

At the dinner table, Long He showed absolutely no airs of a celebrity.

While shoveling rice into her mouth, she complained to the elderly couple about the entertainment industry.

So-and-so are all lovey-dovey on stage but go their separate ways offstage; so-and-so acted like a diva and was scolded by the director until she cried; so-and-so are sisters on the surface but stab each other in the back behind the scenes.

"You wouldn't believe it, old man, that girl, the CCTV host, she looks so innocent, right? But in private, she smokes and drinks all the time. Last time backstage she was..."

She told the story vividly, making the two elderly people laugh.

Grandpa laughed and teased, "You little rascal, now that you're a star, you're still as mischievous as when you were a kid."

Long He replied confidently, "Of course! In front of you two, I'll always be a little kid."

After finishing his meal, Longhe, as usual, took a lot of snacks from the store.

Spicy strips, potato chips, chocolate, and a few bottles of soda—all stuffed into a big bag, which I carried out.

Grandma called from behind, "Come again next time!"

"okay!"

The two got back into the car.

Ding Heng didn't rush to start the car. He carefully examined Long He from top to bottom.

My brother's outfit today is clearly something he dressed up for.

She still had makeup on, and although it had been smudged quite a bit from crying, you could still see her delicate eyeliner and light blush.

In addition, two long braids hung down in front of her chest, which made her look even cuter.

Long He looked slightly uncomfortable: "What are you looking at? Is there something wrong with me?"

Ding Heng shook his head: "No, it's just that you seem quite unfamiliar, Sister Long."

When they met at the hotel that night, Long He was at least without makeup, and you could still see some resemblance to her former self. But today, she completely gave Ding Heng the feeling of "a girl changing drastically at eighteen".

After all, seeing someone in person is completely different from seeing photos or videos.

"Of course!"

Long He puffed out his chest, looking smug: "I dress up occasionally so you can see my high frame rate footage firsthand, not bad, right?"

"That's true, after all, my brother is a big star now!"

"Go away, who wants to be a star?"

Longhe waved his hand and chuckled foolishly.

Ding Heng continued, "What do you want to do next? Take me back to the hotel?"

Long He thought for a moment, then asked tentatively in a low voice, "Could you come with me... to walk around your school?"

Ding Heng was stunned, never expecting Long He to make such a bold request.

Longhe probably realized that his demands were a bit excessive.

After all, if a big star like her were recognized at a university, it would definitely attract a lot of attention and become a trending topic that very night.

"Fine, then forget it. Just take me home..."

Before Long He could finish speaking, Ding Heng began to mutter softly.

"Okay, I'll go with you!"

Chapter 107: Brotherhood (Part Two)

By the time the two returned to the university town, it was nearly 7 p.m.

"Ding Heng, does wearing this really work?"

"Sister Long, you can rest assured, would your brother ever harm you!?"

Long He pursed his lips, took off his mask and sunglasses, took a pair of black-rimmed glasses from Ding Heng, put them on his nose, and got out of the car.

This is the busiest time of day in the university town.

Students walked in twos and threes after class, and the aroma of food from roadside food stalls wafted everywhere.

Longhe stood beside the car, so nervous that he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet.

A slightly chubby boy hurried past her without even glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

Long He breathed a sigh of relief.

Then a couple walking by hand in hand chatted away, still completely unaware of what was happening.

Gradually, Long He began to get excited and turned to look at Ding Heng.

"Ding Heng! This thing of yours is really useful! Nobody recognized me!"

She asked impatiently, "How much is one? Where can I buy it? Tell me quickly!"

Ding Heng smiled calmly and began to ramble on in a serious manner.

"These are the latest optical glasses developed by our university. They use multi-layer nano-coating technology and a special optical refraction principle to effectively conceal most facial features. Have you seen Superman?"

Long He nodded, somewhat bewildered.

"The inspiration for Superman's glasses came from the fact that when Clark Kent wore them, no one could recognize him as Superman."

Ding Heng, without batting an eye, continued his nonsense: "I got it from the professor through connections, and I'm not selling it to anyone for now, so you'd better keep it a secret too."

Long He was completely confused, scratching his head with a bewildered expression.

Nanofilm coating and optical refraction were completely outside her knowledge base, given that she had never scored above double digits in junior high school physics.

But Ding Heng's words can't be wrong, right?

"Oh...that's pretty impressive!"

"Definitely!"

Ding Heng couldn't help but feel happy inside.

This is how a brother should behave, just like her baby head statue—simple, honest, with a kind of beauty untouched by excessive knowledge.

As for these glasses, they were the [Holy Radiance Disguise Mask] that he exchanged for with 300 Holy Merit Points. Wearing them can disguise a person's appearance and greatly reduce their presence.

Although it's called a mask, it can also change its form depending on the needs; it can be glasses, face mask, hair clip, etc.

In short—anything produced by our system is guaranteed to be of high quality!

Ding Heng raised his chin: "Let's go, I'll show you around the university."

The two walked into the crowd side by side, and Long He began to look around curiously.

For her, who didn't go to high school and was arranged to train and debut at the age of 16, university was a completely different world.

Although I've done campus tours before, those were under the spotlight of being surrounded by celebrities; this is the first time I've strolled around so leisurely.

The two strolled slowly along the main road. Although they had just eaten dinner, Long He's appetite seemed insatiable.