NOVEL NEXT 87. Cross-Dressing World
Night.
Shen Shi quietly turned on his computer. He had spent the entire day singing at a karaoke bar with Bai Xuejia, venting his recent frustrations. Sure, two guys going to a karaoke bar together might seem a bit, well, “suggestive,” but with a clear conscience, Shen Shi had nothing to fear.
After a whole day of singing, his voice was completely shot, but that was fine—he was the only one at home anyway.
Shen Shi’s computer was already outdated, having been bought a few years ago. It could no longer handle the latest large-scale single-player or online games, but that didn’t bother him; he enjoyed playing galgames, and his computer was still up to the task for those.
He had another hobby as well—photography. To pursue it, he advertised online through videos every day, and after a year of scrimping, he managed to buy a halfway decent camera. His goal was to take photos of beautiful girls to keep as a collection. At this point, he had collected photos of all the pretty girls at school—though most of them were taken secretly.
After a while, the computer finally booted up. The desktop background was a picture of Ling Ning asleep in class. It was likely Ling Ning would never know how she had been photographed.
Shen Shi stared at the photo, sighing deeply. No matter what, as long as his goddess was happy, that was enough for him.
He opened a forum—it was a place created by a group of photography enthusiasts. Shen Shi liked to visit this forum frequently to learn new things. For instance, his skill in taking secret photos had been learned from one of the forum’s veterans.
After casually browsing for a bit, he was about to close the webpage and play yet another installment of “Cross-Dressing World” when suddenly a notification popped up. Someone he followed had posted something new.
It was a post by a user named “Black and White.” This “Black and White” was one of the forum’s founders. He didn’t take pictures of landscapes or animals; he only photographed maids. He had traveled to many countries just to experience different types of maids, posting the photos to the forum for others to enjoy.
Shen Shi admired “Black and White” greatly. After all, it was “Black and White” who had taught him his stealth photography skills. In a way, “Black and White” was like a mentor to him, which was why Shen Shi always paid attention to his posts.
“Aren’t Maids in Tianchao Beautiful Too~”
As soon as Shen Shi saw the title, he was intrigued. “Black and White” had a notoriously discerning eye, so if he was impressed, Shen Shi was curious to see who this maid was. Like many other forum users, he clicked on the post with this in mind.
The moment he saw the first picture, Shen Shi was stunned. Wasn’t this his goddess, Ling Ning? How had she ended up as a maid?
Shen Shi got up, went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, and then refreshed the page multiple times, just to make sure. Indeed, it was Ling Ning. But when had his goddess started working as a maid?
The post didn’t contain many photos, but each one was a masterpiece. The quality of the photos and the angle of the shots indicated the high-end equipment and exceptional skills of the photographer.
One of the photos showed Ling Ning handing out flyers. Shen Shi looked closely at the location noted in the caption and realized it wasn’t far from his home. He immediately decided that he would go there the next day.
He wasn’t alone in this thought. Other forum users also noticed the location. Many local users recognized it and were already discussing forming a group to visit the next day. And there were quite a few who were eager to check it out.
As for the star of the photos, she was already asleep in her bed, completely unaware.
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The next day.
When Ling Ning arrived at the café, she found someone had arrived before her. Aside from Chu Mengyao, who was an early riser, she couldn’t think of anyone who would come in earlier than her.
As she got closer, she realized it was Zhou Xiaoxiao. She hadn’t been around the day before, but today she was here, and so early too. Ling Ning didn’t understand—Zhou Xiaoxiao was usually so lazy; why the sudden change?
When Zhou Xiaoxiao looked up and saw Ling Ning coming in, her tired face and heavy dark circles startled Ling Ning.
“What happened to you?” Ling Ning asked cautiously.
“Yesterday, my parents forced me to go on a date with Qian Xu—oh, he’s supposed to be my fiancé. If that wasn’t bad enough, my mom kept me up until midnight lecturing me! Ugh! I’m losing my mind.” Zhou Xiaoxiao grabbed Ling Ning’s hand, her face full of frustration.
“…” Ling Ning was at a loss for how to comfort her.
Suddenly, Zhou Xiaoxiao lifted her head, her eyes burning with determination. “Ling Ning, I think it’s time we put our plan into action!”
“What? So soon?” Ling Ning looked at Zhou Xiaoxiao in surprise.
“I can’t wait anymore. If things keep going like this, I’m going to go crazy. Let’s do it this month.”
“…Fine.” Ling Ning nodded reluctantly. After all, she was living in a place Zhou Xiaoxiao had helped her get, so she owed her.
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For some reason, maybe because of the flyers Ling Ning handed out yesterday, the café was even busier today than it had been the day before.
But for Ling Ning, this was anything but good news. She couldn’t shake the feeling that many of today’s customers were giving her strange looks. She wasn’t wearing anything unusual, was she? Moreover, she was being asked for photos far more often than usual, and most of these customers had brought their own cameras.
“So this is the place, huh? I never knew there was a maid café here.”
“Look at her! Just as beautiful as in the photos. Man, I’d love to take her home for a private photoshoot.”
“The others aren’t bad either, like that flat-chested one over there.” The customer pointed at Chu Feng.
“…”
Ling Ning had no idea what they were talking about.
Chu Mengyao looked at the lively scene before her, almost grinning from ear to ear. Each photo taken cost money, and seeing those people happily clicking away made her even happier.
Shen Shi sat in a corner, his eyes glued to Ling Ning. This was his goddess in a maid outfit; he couldn’t miss a moment. As for taking photos, he planned to wait until things quieted down before approaching.
He could, of course, just take pictures in secret. His position in the corner was discreet, and with his skills, no one would notice. But he didn’t want to do it that way. He wanted to take a proper photo of his goddess, standing right in front of her.
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Author’s Note:
Anyway, Salty Fish thinks there’s no saving himself~~~