IMH - 15

Collaborating with An Gu’s team was a very smooth experience.

In fact, upon reflection, every job arranged by “Eleven” after returning to the country seemed to go smoothly. She had never encountered any disrespectful requests toward women.

In Yu Qian’s view, the world seemed to inherently harbor a certain hostility toward beautiful women. Even without doing anything, they could provoke discontent in some people.

There were always those who, when mentioning beautiful women, would first skip over their achievements and instead focus on uncovering some scandalous stories.

If none existed, they would fabricate them to fill the void.

Yu Qian had experienced this plenty of times.

Years ago, she had filmed an advertisement.

Many foreign ads were highly narrative, so much so that you wouldn’t realize it was an ad until the very end.

It was quite artistic, and Yu Qian herself was fairly satisfied with it.

The ad was for a condom brand endorsement. Yu Qian didn’t see any issue with this type of advertisement.

To her, using such products was simply a safety precaution.

At the time, foreign media came to interview the production team. The official interview focused on the ad’s producer.

But since Yu Qian and the other models were present, someone shoved a microphone in front of her and asked, “Your figure is stunning. If given the opportunity, would you consider filming something more risqué?”

Back then, there were many films labeled as adult movies, but watching them, they felt like they were made purely for male audiences.

So Yu Qian frankly replied, “If it’s a storyline that makes female viewers happy, I’d be very willing to participate.”

But for reasons unknown, this statement slowly fermented and spread into:

“A certain Yu-surname model is naturally uninhibited and hopes to film nude scenes.”

However, at that time, she was still at the peak of her career. With years of experience as a child model, she had become an industry veteran, and her savings far exceeded those of most of her peers.

Yet no one ever discussed these aspects during their idle chatter.

The backstage area grew increasingly noisy. An Gu, wearing his work badge, hurriedly walked over from the other side of the venue, stopping at every department to give instructions.

Finally, he stopped in front of Yu Qian, cupping his chin as he appraised her.

He was a fastidious artist. After waiting a few seconds, Yu Qian heard exactly what she expected: “Qian, I feel the color of this eyeshadow is slightly off. Could you sit down again so the makeup artist can try a new look? Let’s see how it turns out?”

“Okay.”

By now, the temporary makeup area was no longer as tidy as it had been in the morning. Props were scattered haphazardly across the tables and floor.

Yu Qian lifted her skirt, allowing the makeup artist to guide her over the clutter on the ground to an empty chair.

The makeup artist apologized hesitantly: “Here… is this okay?”

Yu Qian sat down: “Of course.”

Even with her eyes closed as she retouched her eye makeup, she could sense a gaze fixed on her.

It was Cheng Xiaonan.

In fact, Yu Qian had noticed him shortly after he arrived.

At the time, she was getting her makeup done, and from the corner of her eye in the mirror, she saw Cheng Xiaonan standing outside, hands casually tucked into his pants pockets, staring at her.

It had been a long time since anyone had watched her so intently while she worked.

The last person to do so was her mother, Qu Liwen.

Since Yu Qian began working as a child model, Qu Liwen had been her manager.

At the time, Yu Qian was still in school. Sometimes, Qu Liwen would directly ask her teachers for leave to take Yu Qian away. Other times, she would schedule shoots during after-school hours or weekends. Yu Qian missed nearly all school events—sports meets, spring outings—all for filming.

Qu Liwen would always keep a close watch on set. If Yu Qian’s performance was even slightly unsatisfactory, Qu Liwen would pull her into an empty room to scold her.

Qu Liwen often said, “Look how lucky you are. Your parents gave you a good appearance that will sustain you for life.”

Many of Yu Qian’s childhood nightmares featured Qu Liwen’s eyes—full of surveillance, criticism, and harshness.

But Cheng Xiaonan’s gaze was different.

From morning till afternoon, Yu Qian had been busy at this location. It seemed Cheng Xiaonan only briefly left during the employee lunch break, then had another staff member deliver a coffee to her.

In the afternoon, this boss simply pulled up a chair and sat outside, keeping an even closer eye on her than Sun Yue would.

During this time, Yu Qian deliberately looked twice—

Once, Cheng Xiaonan was sitting in his chair, with An Gu standing beside him. They were talking about something.

The second time, Cheng Xiaonan happened to look over just as she glanced at him.

Through the gleaming glass window and layers of people, Cheng Xiaonan’s figure was bathed in a soft glow from the outdoor lights. His gaze was intense, creating the illusion of deep affection.

When their eyes met, he smiled faintly from afar, revealing dimples.

He reminded her of the young leopard cub she had fed during a volunteer trip to a wildlife conservation base.

That trip occurred after she moved abroad, for an invited shoot.

Few models were willing to take on public service photo projects—they offered no pay and were extremely exhausting.

Especially for wildlife conservation campaigns, they often required traveling to remote areas. Long journeys and harsh conditions meant poor skincare; returning home, your skin would practically peel off.

Yet Yu Qian enjoyed this kind of work.

After that trip to the wildlife conservation base, sunburn on her neck began to peel when she returned to her lodging. Peter couldn’t bear to look.

During those two weeks, she spent a lot of time interacting with a young cheetah less than a year old.

At first, the cub was wary of her. When she approached, it would bare its teeth and growl.

Later, it became comfortable enough to nap by her side, purring like a house cat.

And whenever Yu Qian appeared, it would stay nearby, fixating its gaze on her intently.

That gaze bore a striking resemblance to Cheng Xiaonan’s current expression as he stood outside.

This public service project took over a month to complete, with countless out-of-pocket expenses.

But in the end, the photography team informed Yu Qian with low spirits that no magazine was willing to publish the photos because they required too much space.

Half a year later, a few of the photos were used as accompanying illustrations for an article on wildlife protection in an airline magazine.

However, Yu Qian spotted a similar theme in the first issue of “Eleven” magazine.

Though not particularly exquisite, the layout occupied the best position, featuring a series of public service advertisements against the buying, selling, and killing of protected animals.

Yu Qian even thought that if “Eleven” had been established a few years earlier, that wildlife protection photo series would surely have been purchased and prominently featured in their magazine.

Perhaps even occupying the main section.

She hadn’t encountered such synergy in a long time.

For a fleeting moment, Yu Qian entertained a mischievous thought.

She wanted to flirt with Cheng Xiaonan.

But after thinking about it, she decided against it.

After all, flirting often led to complications. Back then, with so many issues intertwined, even discussing them felt troublesome. Now, as colleagues, mixing personal matters would only make things messier.

After finishing her eye makeup and waiting for An Gu’s final confirmation, Yu Qian opened her phone. There were several messages from Sun Yue.

This little girl chattered on, saying she had read reviews of this hotel online. Many mentioned poor soundproofing. If needed, she could courier noise-canceling earmuffs to her. She urged Yu Qian to rest well.

Cheng Xiaonan’s company was full of oddballs.

There were people who wouldn’t rest even on sick leave, always thinking about work.

Yu Qian replied briefly, saying there was no need to worry.

There were also a few unread messages from Peter:

[When are you finishing work? I have something important to ask you!]

[What time are you done?]

[I can’t hold it in anymore!]

[I met your company’s President Cheng during breakfast. He said there was a selfish reason for letting me stay at another hotel yesterday. Selfish!

[Guess what his selfish reason was?]

[He didn’t want to disturb you!]

[What do you think after reading this~~~]

Yu Qian stared at the three “~” at the end of Peter’s last message for a while. She felt that she and Cheng Xiaonan were already strangers enough. Otherwise, faced with such a likable younger guy, wouldn’t she tease him a bit?

Where did Peter sniff out this gossip?

Yu Qian replied succinctly:

[Sun Yue isn’t here. He’s acting as my assistant.]

Though she said that, this newly appointed assistant of hers was indeed excessively meticulous.

The entire room buzzed with busy staff. Many of the backdrop materials were very light, and to avoid errors, windows couldn’t be opened.

Perhaps due to the stuffiness, the air conditioning kept lowering the temperature.

Others didn’t seem to mind, but Yu Qian, as the main model, had been wearing a silk slip dress with thin straps.

Initially, she had draped a silk scarf around her shoulders, but as props piled up, she lost track of it and decided not to wear it anymore.

Being busy, she didn’t notice the cold much, though she had some instinctive reactions.

When Yu Qian realized she was lightly rubbing her arms, a jacket suddenly fell onto her.

She glanced down at the casual jacket on her and asked, “Where did this come from?”

When Cheng Xiaonan arrived earlier, she saw him—he had been wearing only a shirt, with no jacket.

All around, staff bustled about, creating constant noise.

Just as she finished asking, someone carrying a scenic frame passed by, shouting, “Excuse me, please step aside a little. Thank you!”

The frame was irregularly shaped with sharp edges. Behind Yu Qian and Cheng Xiaonan was a wall. Cheng Xiaonan protectively stepped back half a step, seemingly casually remarking, “Specially fetched for you.”

After the staff carried the item away, he followed them out.

Yu Qian watched his retreating back, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Was this younger brother just flirting with her?

By the time they finally finished work, it was past dinner.

Standing for long periods and repeatedly walking the runway, Yu Qian felt her calves swell. She planned to join the “Eleven” team for dinner directly.

When she changed and came out, the temporary makeup area was deserted. Only the stage crew nearby were still busily setting up the backdrop.

Cheng Xiaonan leaned against a makeup table waiting for her.

Due to portability, the makeup table’s overall structure appeared very lightweight. Its surface wasn’t even as large as a single student desk in school.

Leaning against it, he seemed even taller and slimmer.

Only after finishing all work did the fatigue hit her belatedly. Yu Qian decided not to dwell on Cheng Xiaonan’s earlier flirtation, maintaining a calm mindset as she walked past him like she would with Sun Yue: “Let’s go.”

“Yu Qian.”

Yu Qian stopped, turning around.

Cheng Xiaonan picked up a pack of lip makeup remover wipes, pulling one out: “Remove your lipstick. We’ll head straight to dinner.”

Suddenly, Yu Qian turned around, striding back to stop very close to Cheng Xiaonan.

Instead of taking the wipe, she directly grasped his wrist with her hand, pressing her lips to the wipe and gently rubbing off her lipstick using his hand.

After finishing, she stepped back a little: “We can go now.”