CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 50: SO WHAT IF YOU CLIMB THE WALL?

"Not going to say anything?" He was very patient, his slender, strong hand slowly moving up along her forearm until he grasped her wrist, or rather, clamped it like iron, mercilessly pulling it back. "Do you want a more thorough house arrest, not seeing sunlight or flowers, or any living person?"

"Lu Shifeng!" She finally couldn’t hold back, speaking with humiliation and anger, "To what extent are you going to push me? I will not change my mind, photography is my life! Why can Xia Ling do what she likes, but I can’t? Don’t impose your feudal and stubborn male chauvinism on others!"

Her chest heaved with anger, and she turned her head to look at him resentfully.

Lu Shifeng’s expression was unruffled: "Finished?"

With just one sentence, she felt all her strength hit a wall of cotton.

She looked at him, the man’s cold face as calm as an icy wasteland. Her expression turned a bit desolate, and she laughed at herself, "Yes, I’m finished. What else is there to say to you?"

"It seems you haven’t realized your mistake." Her desolation stung him, making his heart ache faintly. He disliked this feeling, frowning, wondering why he felt this reluctance in the face of her, even though he was right. His voice grew colder and heavier, "Xia Ling sings, and although singing is useless, it can still be a beautiful profession. Photography? Photography is not only useless but is also the most lowly, cruel, and inhumane job in the world. What else can you do besides magnifying this world’s ugliness? Su Xingyu, let me tell you, if you want to learn to sing, dance, or climb walls, that’s fine, but photography is out of the question!"

A long silence.

His voice echoed in the air, sinking people’s hearts bit by bit.

After a moment, she spoke softly, "That’s your prejudice against photographers..."

"Prejudice?" Lu Shifeng sneered, "There’s a very famous master in your photography world, that Kevin Carter who won the Pulitzer Prize, who didn’t care about a child’s life just to take a photo! And you, how are you any better? When my sister died in so much pain, what were you doing? Do you understand that photographic technology wasn’t invented for you to abuse?"

She shook her head, wanting to say something, but she couldn’t refute.

She knew the Kevin Carter he was talking about, the one who took a photo of a vulture preparing to eat a dying child. He won an award, but also received a flood of criticism, and ultimately couldn’t withstand the pressure and committed suicide. The general public has always had prejudices against photographers, but she didn’t expect that Lu Shifeng, the world’s top camera manufacturer, had such prejudice too.

Is it really because his sister’s death left such a deep shadow on him?

"Lu Shifeng..." she murmured, her delicate fingers powerlessly clutching his sleeve, "Lu Shifeng, I’ll do anything to make it up to you, but please, let me continue photographing, I beg you..."

And he, inch by inch, pried her hand open, like prying open a shattered dream.

She grew more and more despondent, often staying motionless for long periods in the backyard, gazing at a corner of the low wall to the east. The place where Xia Ling had fallen had already been repaired by the housekeeper, with new roses planted, lush and beautiful. She tried climbing up like Xia Ling, but she fell after just a few steps, her hands and feet scraped and bleeding, painful enough to make her want to cry.

"Hey, what are you doing?" From the top of the wall, came a girl’s clear, crisp voice.

Su Xingyu looked up in embarrassment and saw a girl as stunning as a city flower, her head poking out lightly amidst the snow-white roses, looking at her curiously.

Su Xingyu didn’t speak, shakily getting to her feet.

"You’re climbing the wall!" Xia Ling understood, laughing brightly, "You’re so clumsy, you can’t climb up like that, let me teach you!"

With a nimble flip, she quickly climbed over the wall from the outside, stepping on the branches and roses inside and landing steadily on the ground.

She took Su Xingyu’s hand and led her to the wall, demonstrating, "You have to climb like this, first grab this branch and then step up, be steady, then this, this..." In a few words, the girl returned to the high wall, smiling brightly at her through the cascading roses.

Su Xingyu was envious, "You seem to climb so easily."

Xia Ling sat lightly, her calves dangling among the flowers, swinging, "Of course, I’m good at climbing walls, last time was just an accident to fall."

Su Xingyu tried as she taught, clumsily climbing up, but only managed to slide down after a few steps, trying again, still sliding down.

Xia Ling couldn’t stand it, jumping down from the wall to teach her hand in hand, after much effort, finally gave up, "You’re really hopelessly clumsy."

Su Xingyu was also frustrated, "Yeah." She couldn’t even do such a simple thing.

Looking up at that wall, not very high, yet it blocked her freedom. How wonderful it would be if she could get out, never having to face Lu Shifeng’s attitude again, doing whatever she wanted.

Xia Ling seemed to love the vine chair in the yard, bouncing over to sit down, tilting her head and asking, "Why do you want to learn to climb walls like me? It’s actually normal that you can’t learn, after all, I’ve been climbing since I was young, also fighting and dancing, ordinary girls can’t coordinate their bodies like I can." She said, proudly puffing up her chest.

Su Xingyu smiled bitterly, "You’re right, why should I learn to climb?"

Even if she climbed out, it would be useless. With Lu Shifeng’s wealth and power, it would be easy to take her back.

She sighed forlornly and leaned down to sit beside Xia Ling.

"Aren’t you going to ask why I came?" Xia Ling was full of interest.

"Why did you come?" Su Xingyu sighed. She felt a bit of a headache facing this girl, brimming with energy and vitality, the brightness at the corners of her eyes and brows could pierce one’s eyes.

Xia Ling announced proudly, like a little proud cat, "I know your name!"

Su Xingyu: "...So, you came specifically to tell me this?"

Xia Ling blinked her eyes, "Why, aren’t you surprised, don’t you think I’m smart and amazing?"

This is something anyone could find out at random, isn’t it?

Su Xingyu was too weak to complain, not to mention the fact that the servants in the district usually have interactions, they wouldn’t divulge the master’s privacy, but the names of the male and female masters are no secret. Even this innocent and naive girl could ask any servant in her house, and that servant could tell her.

Xia Ling saw she didn’t react and her small shoulders slumped, "Not fun at all."

Su Xingyu suddenly didn’t want to see this bright little face show any disappointed expression. Her own life was already gray enough, what a great sin it would be to make such a beautiful girl turn gray too. She looked at Xia Ling and smiled, "Was the flower tea you brought back last time good? And the roses, did your family like them?"