As expected, by the day before Qiu Xi and the others prepared to leave, all three of them received messages from their teachers.
"I say... if I hadn't sent anything, I would feel like the teachers were monitoring my life and specifically chose such a great day to send these messages," Song Daiyao was the last to receive the text. She thought she wouldn't get one, but she still ended up being the last one...
"Forget it, I've already accepted it," Shen Yan shook her head indifferently.
Over the past two days, she had already processed the news.
No matter what happened, they would have to go early in the end. She had come to terms with it now.
Among them, Qiu Xi was the most relaxed because she had already experienced this kind of life.
As for Liang Yunfei, she was the most distressed because for the next three years, she had to manage both her company and her studies, which was no small feat!
She wasn't like Xiao Xi. Xiao Xi had the ability to manage many things, and it seemed like she could handle everything perfectly.
She herself couldn't do that. Although she had learned a lot, there were still many things waiting for her to encounter and learn.
"Alright, we already knew this would happen. Is it really fair to our graduation trip to whine about it here?"
"Yan Yan, you're right!"
"We're leaving tomorrow, we can't let these things hold us back!"
"Pack light. We still have time, so let's deal with these things after we finish our graduation ceremony."
"Indeed..."
According to the teachers' timeline, it would be July or August. It's better not to rush too much.
"Okay, then let's pack our luggage," Qiu Xi urged, trying to divert their attention.
Play when it's time to play, and study with all your might when it's time to study, so you can play happily and learn effectively.
"Mhm, let's not mention it anymore..."
"Okay."
After agreeing, the four of them began to prepare for their departure the next day.
...
On May 6th, Qiu Xi and the other three began their graduation trip.
Lasting seventeen days, they traveled from Chongxi City to the southernmost Hai City and then inland. The four of them basically traveled along the coast and circled a large part of the inland.
On the last day, they rested for one night in their final location and returned to Chongxi City by car the next day.
"Whew~"
"After visiting so many cities, I feel like I've aged quite a bit..."
Seeing the familiar surroundings again, Shen Yan felt a bit emotional.
During the more than ten days of traveling, they had seen too much scenery and experienced too much of the world. It would be a lie to say they had no thoughts.
Perhaps it was because it was graduation season. This trip was different from all the previous ones.
They were happy, but they also thought a lot more.
"Thinking about it, perhaps we'll never have days like this again. It's truly a bit emotional..."
"Mhm."
At each age, they would take different steps. In the future, if they wanted to have such experiences, opportunities might be fewer.
Moreover, the future would not be like the present. They would be in a new age phase, and the decisions they made would naturally be different from now...
"Alright!"
"If you keep being sentimental, the sky will be dark. Qiu Xi watched them murmuring and had to step in to break the atmosphere.
Although she also thought a lot, those were unavoidable mental processes.
But for her, putting aside long-term concerns, the most important things in the present were money and studies.
If she had no regrets in these two aspects of her life, she would be content.
"Okay, you're all getting sentimental all of a sudden."
"Let's go, we're going back."
"Ah~"
With Song Daiyao's exclamation, the mood suddenly shifted, transforming from literary young women to silly simpletons.
"My school, I'm back~"
Qiu Xi, "..."
It seemed she had overthought things. Perhaps the four of them didn't have any long-term worries.
...
"Sister Xi, you're back?"
As Qiu Xi and the other three arrived at the dormitory building with their luggage, they were called out to.
"Yes, we just got back."
The fact that the four of them were going out had long been discussed by Song Daiyao in the group chat.
When they were leaving, they were teased and envied by others, who also wanted to go.
"Then, our class's graduation photo plan can finally be put into action?"
"Hmm? Has it already been planned?" The four of them asked softly.
"Yes, the class monitor and a few others discussed it yesterday. The defenses are coming up soon, and since we have time, they discussed with us about taking our class's graduation photos first. That way, by the end of the month, we won't have clashes with everyone else. Moreover, it will be required for all departments to take unified photos..."
"So, after much discussion, we decided to just take them in the next few days."
"Look, as soon as we finished talking, you returned. It's quite a coincidence."
After a long explanation, Qiu Xi and the others understood.
"That's fine. After we go back, we'll check the group chat messages and inform the class monitor and the others."
"Okay. Then Sister Xi, you guys should go and unpack first. I'll be going now."
"Okay, bye~"
"Bye~"
...
"I think the class monitor and the others have planned it very well. We just need to cooperate and take the photos."
Due to graduation season, the school had special photography services, which were very popular now.
To secure suitable times, the messages indicated that the class monitor and the other committee members had already made arrangements in advance. Now they were just waiting for enough people willing to take class graduation photos together.
As for the others who had gone out to travel, they had returned early. The four of them were the last to return, arriving today.
"Then I'll reply in the group chat and communicate the news to them?"
"Mhm, go ahead and reply."
It would be better to get this matter settled sooner.
Otherwise, if too many things clashed later, it would be rather inconvenient.
"Okay, I'll go reply."
"I also had a private chat with the class monitor. He said he'll tell everyone tomorrow."
"That's fine then. We'll wait for the notification."
"Mhm."
The next day, Qiu Xi and the others saw the news in the class group chat.
Ultimately, the time was confirmed. They decided to take the photos sooner.
So, after negotiating with the school's studio, the time was set for one day later.
...
For the class group photo, everyone collectively voted for about ten scene designs and changed three to four outfits.
Therefore, just the graduation photo shoot took them a full day.
This entire day was truly exhausting.
They started shooting at 7 AM, had lunch at noon, and immediately resumed the next session, continuing until 8 PM. For this, they even took several special effect night scene photos at the end.
Actually, for just a single class, it shouldn't have taken that long. However, during the process, everyone wanted some group photos, which naturally took up more time.
"Let's go, let's go. I just want to hug my bed right now~"
Song Daiyao, who was almost exhausted, walked slowly back to the dormitory with her body slightly hunched.
If she were to sit down now, she probably wouldn't want to get up tonight...
"For the first time, I feel like taking photos can be deadly!" Shen Yan, who generally didn't like taking photos, had to take photos for a whole day for the first time and now didn't know what to say.
"..."
Even Qiu Xi, who exercised regularly, was speechless now.
After the whole day, apart from the photography team, she was the busiest.
Every now and then, two people would come up wanting to take a photo together. By the end of the day, her face was almost stiff from smiling. In the end, she simply stopped smiling. A cold expression was also quite good; it looked nice.
What usually took five minutes to walk to the dormitory took them twenty minutes today.
"Finally..."
The moment they entered the door, all four of them collapsed onto their chairs in unison.
After finally catching their breath, they went to take a shower. After showering, they didn't chat any further and lay down to sleep immediately.
And so, after a tiring day, their class photos were finally taken.
...