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

Ding Heng, who was yawning in the audience, immediately sat up straight upon hearing this.

“When my son was little, his mother took care of him most of the time. I was out there covering the news, and I probably spent less than two months at home in a year. Later, his mother was diagnosed with ALS, and I quit my job to take care of her for two years, but during that time... I was focused on how to treat her illness and didn't pay much attention to him.”

He sighed softly and continued muttering.

“After his mother passed away, I felt empty inside. I didn’t know how to face the empty house or how to face him. Just then, a project to shoot in the wild came up to me, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to get some fresh air. I ended up shooting for many years. Looking back now, my son was just starting high school at that time, which was the time when he needed someone to take care of him the most.”

He chuckled to himself and took a deep breath.

"As a father, I was absent during the years he grew up. As a photographer, I took so many photos of so many people and landscapes, but I never properly documented my son even once. By the time I realized it, he had already grown up."

If I could take a good set of photos of him, that would be what I want to do most right now. Of course, he probably wouldn't be too keen on it!

After a few seconds of silence in the classroom, applause erupted.

Ding Heng sat in the back row, his eyes feeling slightly sore.

He raised his hand to rub his nose, silently complaining to himself.

Old man, you're already in your forties, why are you suddenly being so dramatic?

The final segment of the lecture was Ding Wenjie presenting awards to the winning entries of the Peking University Photography Society's semester exhibition.

The award itself wasn't very prestigious; it was just a small competition within the school. Ding Wenjie happened to be there, so he served as an honorary judge.

The first prize winner was actually the boy who had tried to sit next to Wen Shu earlier.

Upon hearing his name called, the boy stood up proudly, strode to the podium, and received the certificate and small trophy from Ding Wenjie.

Ding Wenjie politely shook hands with him, glanced down at the pictures of his artwork, nodded, and said a few words of affirmation.

The boy walked down from the podium excitedly, his gaze once again falling on the empty seat next to Wen Shu.

He composed himself and walked over, but someone suddenly beat him to it.

"Brother-in-law?"

Wen Shu was equally surprised: "What are you doing here?"

Ding Heng joked, "Isn't it normal for me to come to listen to my own father's lecture?"

"That's true..."

Wen Shu smiled awkwardly and turned her gaze to the boy.

The other person, holding certificates and trophies, stood two steps away, caught in a dilemma. In the end, they chose to go around to the other side and return to their seat.

Seeing the boy's discomfitured expression, Wen Shu suddenly felt a strange sense of satisfaction and pleasure.

Was her brother-in-law standing up for her?

Once again, Wen Shu couldn't help but start overthinking...

On the podium, Ding Wenjie also noticed the commotion in the front row.

He didn't react much when he saw his son, but you could tell he was quite happy.

The lecture was coming to a close.

As Ding Wenjie was giving his closing remarks on stage, a boy walked past the girl in the middle and quietly called out to Wen Shu.

"Wenshu, don't rush to leave yet. I can arrange for you to have a more conversation with Teacher Ding and let him see your work."

"Teacher Ding hasn't finished speaking yet, let's finish this first."

Wen Shu didn't turn her head; her gaze remained fixed on the podium.

The boy's name is Chen Jue. He is the vice president of the photography club and the chief planner of this event.

He had been pursuing Wen Shu for some time now, ever since she joined the photography club, and everyone had noticed.

Logically speaking, Chen Jue's conditions are not too bad, and everyone thinks he will win the heart of the beauty sooner or later, but unfortunately, there is still no progress.

Whether Chen Jue genuinely didn't understand Wen Shu's meaning or was pretending to be clueless, he continued muttering.

"I saw your last set of humanistic assignments; the style was quite good, but the composition could have been improved. It just so happens that Professor Ding's style aligns well with your area of ​​expertise. If you could get some guidance from him, it would definitely help you improve..."

Wen Shu did not respond further, and did not even want to waste her expression.

The lecture ended, and the audience began to disperse.

Chen Jue acted swiftly, rushing to the podium first and getting ahead of everyone else to stand before Ding Wenjie. He handed over his camera and eagerly asked questions.

Ding Wenjie was quite serious, picking up Chen Jue's camera and looking through it.

Because this was a private consultation, Ding Wenjie didn't use any nice words. He directly pointed out the problems with Chen Jue's composition and lighting, but his words were still relatively mild.

Chen Jue listened and nodded, but his expression was not very good.

He thought Ding Wenjie would praise him, but instead he criticized him in many ways.

Unfortunately, given Ding Wenjie's reputation, he couldn't refute it and could only force a smile and act submissive in response.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Chen Jue was about to call Wen Shu up to discuss it together when he suddenly heard a shout.

"dad."

It wasn't very loud, but it was clear enough.

Ding Wenjie looked up and met his son's gaze, grinned, and walked off the podium.

He first looked at Wen Shu beside him, and asked curiously, "And who is this?"

Ding Heng explained, "My girlfriend's younger sister, Wen Shu, studies at Peking University and also enjoys photography."

Wen Shu bowed slightly: "Hello, Teacher Ding."

"Wen Shu..."

Ding Wenjie clicked his tongue, as if suddenly remembering something: "I think I just saw your work, wasn't it that series of humanistic documentary about the alley entrance?"

Wen Shu was slightly surprised: "Yes, Teacher Ding remembers you?"

"Well done."

Ding Wenjie sincerely praised, "The composition is very bold. Although the lighting and shadows in a few photos are flawed, they have their own unique ideas. They have more spirit than most of the works I've seen today. However, the noise control could be further optimized... Did you use high ISO and hard-grind?"

"Yes, the sun was setting, the light was dim, and I didn't bring a tripod..."

……

The two began to talk, and Wen Shu was respectful and eager to learn.

On stage, Chen Jue held his award certificate in his hand, his expression already betraying his embarrassment.

He was just saying he wanted to "arrange" for Wen Shu to have a conversation with Teacher Ding, but it turns out that they already knew each other and had even paid close attention to each other's works.

His self-important "connections" are nothing but a joke.

How about we have dinner together tonight?

Ding Heng seized the opportunity to interject: "I'm bringing my girlfriend along?"

Ding Wenjie said with difficulty, "Tonight might not be possible. I have a gathering with an old classmate, which was arranged more than half a month in advance, and it's hard to cancel."

Ding Heng said irritably, "Good heavens, you were just apologizing to your son on stage, and now it's so hard for your son to even have a meal with you?"

Ding Wenjie touched his nose and could only laugh awkwardly.

In fact, he hasn't had a proper meal with his son in over a year.

"What about tomorrow?"

"alright."

Ding Heng sighed, his tone helpless.

"Fine, what can I do? I'm the son."

After saying goodbye to his father, Ding Heng did not have much conversation with Wen Shu and left Peking University directly.

Wen Shu didn't actively pursue the matter, treating today's events as an accident.

At 3:30 p.m., Ding Heng picked up Hua Qing after rehearsal.

On the way back, Ding Heng casually mentioned what happened that morning.

Hua Qing, in the passenger seat, exclaimed in surprise, "Uncle's come to the capital?"

"Yes, I heard he won another award."

"Wow! Uncle is really amazing."

Why are you flattering him? I'm not going to relay your words to him.

"Who asked you to relay this!"

Hua Qing raised her hand and lightly punched the man's arm, teasingly saying, "Uncle has his own artistic pursuits, unlike some people who only shoot indecent things!"

Ding Heng was amused and didn't refute it.

"I have dinner with him tomorrow, so you should praise him a lot then."

Should I go too?

"Definitely."

Ding Heng said matter-of-factly, "Anyway, you've met my dad before, and you were the first one to meet him."

"What's the use of being the first one? You have so many women around you..."

Hua Qing complained softly, yet a hint of joy was also revealed in her voice.

From another perspective, she was also the first girlfriend recognized by Ding Heng's family!

After a quick wash after dinner, the two of them stayed home and watched a movie on the sofa in the living room.

The film Hua Qing chose was a slow-paced European musical drama.

She was watching intently, while Ding Heng was yawning incessantly.

With his left arm draped over Hua Qing's shoulder, his fingers unconsciously played with the ends of Hua Qing's hair, while his right hand picked up his phone and occasionally replied to messages from other girls.

As the girls sent him all sorts of photos, Ding Heng couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. His left hand began to wander, slowly slipping inside Hua Qing's pajamas neckline.

Hua Qing watched intently, her eyes glued to the screen, offering only token resistance.

"Stop fooling around, we're watching a movie."