It wasn't until she reached a particularly lush hundred-year-old tree that Jiang Lingxi finally stopped in her tracks.
She looked ahead at the silhouette of an old man and a child under the old tree.
Both of them were wearing loose white practice clothes, performing Tai Chi movements.
In the distance, there were white walls and black tiles, while up close, there was the lush old tree. The dynamic scene captured the synchronized movements of the two figures under the tree.
She took out her phone and earnestly took a picture, no longer just practicing but capturing her first real work.
The scene froze.
However, what Jiang Lingxi didn't expect was that the elderly man with snow-white hair had very good hearing. Just as she clicked the camera, the next second, he stopped exercising and turned his head to look over.
The elderly man had a youthful appearance despite his white hair. His eyes beneath the white eyebrows were clear and sharp when he looked over.
The accompanying filming crew was only glanced at by the old man, but they subconsciously trembled, almost dropping the camera in their hands.
They had never seen such an imposing old man in this small village before!
What kind of luck was this?
Jiang Lingxi couldn't help but feel the intensity of the elderly man's gaze, clearly indicating his displeasure at being disturbed.
Realizing her fault, she put down her phone and bowed with Tai Chi etiquette, "I offended the elder just now, please forgive me."
Seeing her bowing properly, the old man's expression softened slightly, but his tone was still cold, "What did you just take a picture of?"
Jiang Lingxi retrieved the photo she had just taken, walked a few steps closer, and handed it over, briefly explaining her identity and today's task. Although she felt a bit regretful that this was her most satisfying photo so far, she still said, "If you don't want to be in the picture, I'll delete it."
"The photo... It's fine, it's just a silhouette, as long as you didn't capture the face. But that young man's camera..."
The accompanying filming crew quickly moved their camera to the side. "Sir, rest assured, without your consent, we guarantee that there will be no shots of you."
"Alright, you can go now, don't disturb us again."
After receiving her phone back and bowing again, Jiang Lingxi gestured for the accompanying filming crew to leave with her as soon as possible.
After the two of them walked a distance away,
"Grandpa, that sister just now was so pretty!"
The old man lightly patted the boy's head, "Pretty she may be, but she's very weak. If she doesn't take care of herself and rest properly, she won't live long."
"Really? That's a shame!"
"Of course, didn't I tell you to study medicine properly? Now you can't even see through this! Forget about her, come practice Tai Chi with me."
Before the sun set, the five of them hurried back.
The yard of the villa was lit up, and all the staff were gathered, ready to start voting.
Jiang Lingxi uploaded the photo she took to the director Zhao Hengsheng's phone, then sat in the contestant seat and quietly waited for the voting to end.
The LCD TV sponsored by the advertisers was also moved to the yard at this moment. After some tinkering by the technical staff, the five works appeared on the TV screen one by one.
The photos were not labeled with who took them, so the voting could only be based on the works themselves.
Lin Xuefei was initially confident in her work. She had taken nearly a hundred photos today, and it took quite some effort to pick out the most satisfying one from among them.
But now, looking at the other works on the TV screen, it seemed that none of them were lacking.
The problem was, she couldn't figure out which one was taken by Jiang Lingxi among the other four.
Since when did this person's photography skills improve so much?
She Man and Xu Yin were okay. They certainly hoped to win, but they could accept losing as well. They didn't necessarily have to vie for the position of public welfare ambassador.
Jiang Kaiyuan didn't care about the voting results; he only cared about dinner. He was hungry after wandering around all day and had no snacks to fill his stomach.
Apart from the five guests and the director Zhao Hengsheng, who received the photos, the others didn't know who took which photo.
"Now the photos are numbered from one to five, corresponding to five boxes. You can take your voting slip and put it into the corresponding box."
After carefully looking at the five photos, someone finally took their voting slip and walked towards the voting box.
Lin Xuefei couldn't help but lean forward slightly, watching as the vote fell into the box labeled number five. She couldn't help pursing her lips and looking again at the number five work displayed on the TV screen.
It was the most special of the five, with the others being simple landscapes—waterfalls, distant mountains, streams with swimming fish, and falling petals. Only this one featured people.
Not handsome or beautiful individuals, but several elderly people sitting on small stools chatting and laughing, with wrinkles on their faces.
Behind the elderly people was a winding path, with the setting sun at the end. The rising smoke from the houses on both sides was also dyed a warm orange by the sunset.
Just looking at it made one feel warm, with a touch of melancholy and relief.
But to be able to take such a photo, it was clear that it couldn't be Jiang Lingxi or Jiang Kaiyuan. As for She Man and Xu Yin, losing to one of them wouldn't be too difficult.
Quietly consoling herself, Lin Xuefei glanced sideways at Jiang Lingxi, who was sitting next to her.
In the dim light, she couldn't clearly see her expression, and she didn't sense Jiang Lingxi's excitement. It seemed her guess was probably right.
With the voting process completed quickly, and each person taking their turn to tally the votes, it was soon time to announce the winner.
Standing behind the camera, even though the vote hadn't officially begun yet, Zhao Hengsheng could already be reasonably sure who the winner would be tonight.
Under the flickering lights due to unstable voltage, he couldn't help but glance more at the figure sitting in the guest seat.
After receiving the photos, he had double-checked several times, only finally convincing himself that it was impossible for the person who took the number five work to be the one he thought was the least likely.
The vote tallying process was also quick, with one person responsible for announcing and another for recording. The voting results were quickly revealed.
The number five work received sixteen votes, seven more than the second place, achieving an overwhelming victory.
Perhaps already guessing the result, Lin Xuefei was still able to accept it. She was about to congratulate She Man or Xu Yin.
However, as she turned her head to look at them, she saw the two of them looking back at her and Jiang Lingxi.
Lin Xuefei's heart skipped a beat, and an incredible guess flashed through her mind.
Soon, her guess became reality.
"Let's congratulate the photographer of the number five work, Jiang Lingxi. The works of the other teachers were also excellent!"
A blunt hammer hit her head, not only hitting Lin Xuefei but also hitting many staff members.
When they were voting, none of them had thought that Jiang Lingxi had taken the number five work.
But it turned out to be her!
She Man's applause paused as she looked at Jiang Lingxi standing up to accept congratulations. She took a deep breath.
After confirming that the number five work wasn't taken by Xu Yin, and it was impossible for Jiang Kaiyuan to produce such a delicate work, she thought it was Lin Xuefei's. She never expected it to be Jiang Lingxi.
Once again, reality slapped her in the face.
At no moment before had she been so sure that Jiang Lingxi was truly different from before!