Chapter 41: Photography White Silver Card

Chapter 41

Su Xiaoqi woke up at three o'clock after a long sleep. It felt as if she had passed out. She had been physically active lately.

Upon waking up, her whole body was sore and she felt lazy, not wanting to get out of bed. However, going back to sleep didn't feel comfortable either. She was drenched in sweat, even the back of her head was damp.

She got up and went outside to the water basin to wash her face, which helped her fully wake up.

Since she didn't feel like going to the bookstore or the library in the afternoon, and it was neither early nor late, she decided to tidy up her aunt's dormitory. The walls were dark and greasy. Usually, she was the one sleeping there, while her aunt mostly stayed in the hospital ward, only coming back for a nap occasionally.

Su Xiaoqi was an impulsive person. Once she thought of doing something, she wanted to do it right away.

After washing her face, without applying any sunscreen or anything like that—summer and putting stuff on her face made it greasy, and it would smudge once she started sweating—she simply put on a duckbill cap. It was given to her during her sophomore year, on the school's centennial anniversary. The cap had the school's name, "Yizhong," written in red.

With the cap on, Su Xiaoqi went to the three stationery stores near the school gate. She remembered that they had special paper for sticking on walls, and many boarding students used posters or other things to decorate their walls.

But when she arrived, only one of the stores was open. It had a small door, and there were no lights inside.

The other two stores were closed. Probably not much business during the summer vacation.

Su Xiaoqi knocked on the door, and a young man with sleepy eyes poked his head out.

"Do you have any wallpaper for sale?" she asked.

The young man rubbed his eyes and saw that it was a little girl wearing a particularly silly little red cap, but she looked delicate. He quickly nodded and said yes.

While on the phone, he said, "Hello, Mom, Mom, where did you put that stack of wallpaper for sticking on walls? What? The one Dad said nobody wanted to burn? The attic? Oh, got it."

Su Xiaoqi: ...

The young man hung up the phone and smiled kindly at Su Xiaoqi.

"Just wait a moment, I'll get it for you right away."

Then he climbed up a small ladder and came down with a big pile of wallpaper.

The outer layer was gray and yellowed, and the corners were curling up. But after removing the outermost sheet, a creamy white wallpaper with some dark patterns showed, it looked quite textured. Su Xiaoqi estimated the size of her aunt's dormitory and the size of the wallpaper. Each sheet seemed to be about one square meter. She roughly calculated that she would probably need the whole stack to cover it completely.

"How much are these?" she asked.

"How many sheets do you want?"

They almost spoke at the same time. The young man looked surprised and said, "You want all of them? Let me ask."

The room suddenly became bright, like a newly decorated one. She even pasted the ceiling. The basement room wasn't tall, so she could step on the table to do it. The whole room was covered in creamy white wallpaper with a gentle tone. The old wardrobe appeared gentle as well.

Su Xiaoqi also lifted the glass on the table and padded it with wallpaper, making it look brighter and fresher.

After finishing everything, Su Xiaoqi lay on the bed, too tired to move. She took deep breaths, feeling exhausted but still happy.

For less than two hundred yuan, she was able to transform the dark basement into something like this, and she felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Auntie would definitely love it.

The door curtain was a fiery phoenix red, made of the kind of fabric popular in the 1980s for wedding decorations. She didn't know where Auntie had gotten it from.

Xiao Qi had just taken it down and washed it. It should be dry by now. She got up again and went outside to collect the curtain fabric hanging under the tree. After washing it once, it wasn't as bright red, but it also didn't have any dark stains. It looked fresh and clean. Once she hung it back up and opened the window, there would be a bit of airflow between the door and the window.

Xiao Qi also cleaned the small jar that Dad had taken down, which was originally used to ferment pickled vegetables. The pickled vegetables had long been eaten, and the empty jar was placed under the table.

She didn't go out to buy flowers this time, so she casually broke off two branches from the dense trees in the yard.

She filled the jar with water, inserted the branches, and placed it on the table. The creamy white walls, the creamy white table, and the old black clay jar with two lush green branches sticking out of it.

The wind blew in through the window with the red window sill, causing the leaves to tremble slightly.

The branches cast shadows, imprinting them on the table and the wall.

In this moment, Xiao Qi felt that everything in front of her looked amazing. The whole room seemed grand and stylish.

Unable to resist, she took out her phone and snapped a photo.

The phone displayed a picture-like image.

White walls, black jar, green trees, and shadows.

Xiao Qi, who was not accustomed to posting on social media, shared this picture for the first time.

Not knowing how to caption it, she only posted the image alone.

It was a bit sentimental, but also beautiful.

"The host independently completed the renovation of the living space, improving her living environment, which is beneficial for enhancing study efficiency. As a reward, the host is granted a Silver Photography Card. The host's current photography skill level is basic, but with the card, it will be elevated to entry-level. Would you like to use it?"

Hearing the familiar mechanical voice, although she didn't know what it was for, Xiao Qi calmly nodded, "Yes, I would like to use it."