<aside> 🔑 Key: 🦌: Lu Chen/Alkaid 🖌️: MC 🧑🏫: Teacher Qin 👷♂️: Uncle Guo 😺: Cat
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But no wonder Alkaid is surprised, he is acquainted with these two people, that are not related in any way. The slightly older man, Teacher Qin, is a researcher of the provincial capital research intuition of cultural relics, and Uncle Guo is Alkaid father’s subordinate who is a construction supervisor.
Alkaid’s jade eyes moved between the two of them, a smile appeared on his lips.
🦌: Teacher Qin, I haven’t seen you for many years. It looks like Enci temple’s cultural relic protection fund has already been allocated, I’m glad that all your effort in running about and convincing comes into fruition. 🧑🏫: But if it weren’t for Mr. Lu willing to help with the production cost, this still wouldn’t have happened… Alkaid could you thank your father on my behalf.
While they were talking, I got the clear picture. Five years ago Alkaid already passed through here, he took a series of photos and published it on <Huan Cai> Later during the provincial capital cultural relic preservation project, Teacher Qin got in touch with Alkaid though his editor to ask about some details on the constructions. Teacher Qin wants this old temple with not many people set foot in it to be included into cultural relic preservation, and through that, it will receive the government’s funding and the ancient building will also be maintained. Who would have thought, finally the Enci temple cultural relic preservation was worked on by Alkaid father’s company construction team. 👷♂️: It can be meticulous to restore it to how it was before… Hey, Teacher Qin is also seriously insisted on using the original stone for the reconstruction. 🧑🏫: Restoring the whole thing as close to the original — the parts needs to fill in with the original structure, using as much old material as possible. Teacher Qin didn’t let any layman theory of ancient construction slip by, and Uncle Guo’s kept nodding. 👷♂️: The first phase of work is done, me and Teacher Qin was making our way down the mountain just now. 👷♂️: This mountain road is not easy to traverse, Alkaid you need to be careful, you are always walking carelessly alone making Brother Ming* worried — Uncle Guo may be big and strong, but I’ll still have Teacher Qin to walk down together with me. At the right moment I raised my gloved hands behind Alkaid. 🖌️: Uncle Guo, there is another person here. Alkaid walked to my side, gently pulling my fluffy hood over my head, making my ears totally inside the hood. 🦌: Mn, I stopped going around by myself long ago. Uncle Guo eyes fell on me, like every elder, happiness bloomed on his face. 👷♂️: Oh that’s right, Brother Ming said Alkaid has a girlfriend… Hey Miss, next year come to Shanghai, Uncle Guo will give you a big red packet! 👷♂️: Okay, okay, then I also won’t be worried Alkaid being alone on the mountain road. Uncle Guo and Teacher Qin made their way down the mountain, we quickly part ways.
After the bend, its a precipitous road, Alkaid walked around two steps ahead of me, carefully telling me where I will slip, and where there is broken ice. 🖌️: Even Uncle Guo knew Alkaid likes to hike alone… Why didn’t you go with your friends before? Anyway it would be a bit better to have one more person looking out for you. 🖌️: The youth tour, a base camp at the foot of the mountain… all are places you could’ve known some travelling companions. Alkaid shook his head. 🦌: Sometimes, I would walk with others for a short distance, but it’s very rare. 🖌️: Is there a special reason? 🦌: There is no special reason. 🦌: Everyone has their own destination. Like if I met a photographer at the foot of the mountains , I’ve might wanted to take pictures of the auroras, but he wanted to take pictures of the sunrise. 🦌: Supposing the place you want to go isn’t the same, there always no way to keep going the same way. I couldn’t help but to grab Alkaid’s hand, he obediently let me hold onto his hand through the thick glove. 🖌️: Wherever you want to go, I also want to go. We can stay in a tent together, cook in the open air, and when you take pictures of the auroras, I could be next to you drawing. 🦌: Drawing under the auroras are not good for your eyes, I suggest to return to tent to draw. He laughed. 🖌️: Alkaid where do you want to go, what do you want to do, I’ll follow you. I seriously meant each word in what I said. The sleet fell from the rustling pine branch, Alkaid’s pupil under the sunlight reflected the pine tree on snow, and me who is smiling brightly.
When we arrived at the summit, we entered a red walled temple. The golden sunlight is like satin sprinkling the eaves of the mountain summit, photographing the starting to bloom plum branches in the mountains. If its a common scene, right now I should have a tanghulu to use as a prop to take photos. 🦌: There are very few worshippers here, and there aren’t many shops. Before the Buddhist monks will make their own tanghulu and sell it… I reckon that it's the best-selling snack here. Alkaid seems like he read my mind, he took our backpacks and entered the temple hall to check in, and returned with two sticks of tanghulu. I gently took a bite, the fragile rock candy went crunch, the hawthorn is sweet and sour. 🖌️: Purely natural food! I praised it while eating, around the corner I just saw a small figure going inside. 🖌️: Alkaid, lend me your camera! I received the camera, and quickly turned my head and ran.
I took two to three steps towards the corner of the building and turned the camera on. With two clicks, the camera lens focused on the edge of the vermillion wall, to a fluffy creature.
The cat’s light coloured fur is covered with snow, and now is narrowing its eyes at me.
🦌: Icing dipped cat….
Alkaid voice was soft, in order to not scare the small cat away, he nimbly went behind me.
🦌: … Eh, it looks like my speech pattern is also echoing a certain someone.
😺: MREOW!
But the small creature in the snow wasn’t willing to cooperate, while the camera was pointed at it, it ran away.
🦌: Be careful!
Alkaid put me behind him, but the cat’s target isn’t me, but…
🖌️: Wait! My tanghulu!
The perpetrator immediately went into the snow firmly holding the tanghulu, its tail going back and forth, a few steps more and it fled.
Leaving only a quincunx shape pawprints that belongs to the criminal suspect.
🦌: We can buy another tanghulu… Did you take the picture, MC?
🖌️: Ugh... I wasn't able to get a good one...
In the picture, only caught the ball of fur in the snow. Faintly I could see the red incomplete shadow of the captured tanghulu, and the cat’s tail was straight like a banner as if it was flaunting its strength.
🦌: It’s cute, capturing the liveliness of the cat.
🦌: The nervous mood of the scene was conveyed really well in the picture.
🖌️: Thanks for the consoling words...
🖌️: I never thought taking pictures of cats was this hard… Before, in the school forum I saw someone posted a really pretty picture, a photo of the flying snow, red walls and a cat.
🖌️: And I thought this was a good opportunity to take a similar photo.
🦌: To tell you the truth, that was a photo I took here five years ago. Thank you for the high praise, the photographer is very happy.
🖌️: Ah?
🖌️: Of course its Alkaid, you went on a trip with Zaph to the old temple, so you can take many pictures…
🦌: Thinking about it now, those photos of mine might’ve been one in a million.
🦌: For example, everyone can take a picture at the Forbidden City during the first snowfall, in reality a group of photographers waited all night till morning to let loose, like going out to a 100m sprint.
🖌️: Hmm… I see…
🦌: After the snow is trampled over by the photographers, the photos taken will lose some of their impact, so sometimes photographers also works part time in… special forces.
🖌️: Master photographer Alkaid , were you also part of the special forces?
I laughed in a teasing way.
🦌: When I occasionally take commercial commissions, but I won't force myself to if it's just a normal photoshoot.
🦌: The meaning of photography is to record things naturally, and not “I need to take a picture of something”.
🦌: I also think, seeing it with your own eyes, are more significant than a camera’s freeze frame.
Alkaid hold onto my hand, his line of sight is directed at the cat disappearing into the nook.
🦌: Thinking back, the cat just now… By the looks of it, it probably have someone to feed it often.
🖌️: We can find someone in the temple hall to ask.
Brother Ming Its Alkaid’s father, Alkaid father’s name is Lu Ming. Uncle Guo refers him by his name to suggest their relationship is much closer than boss and employee.