IMH - 8

It was the time when the shooting in Area A of the photography base wrapped up, and there were quite a few people waiting for the elevator to go down. Yu Qian didn’t take the elevator but instead carried her “lung” ashtray to the stairwell and began descending.

The stairwell was eerily silent. Her entrance shattered the quiet as her high heels struck the tiled floor with crisp, echoing sounds.

Outside, the sun blazed, radiating heat and brightness.

This small space was cool and serene, which should have been soothing.

But Yu Qian felt restless—restless for no apparent reason.

Actually, it wasn’t entirely without cause.

Yu Qian paused at a landing on one of the floors and closed her eyes briefly.

Upon realizing why she felt restless, she found her frustration had increased.

Unexpectedly, by the time she reached the second floor, she already heard a voice from not far away—it was her work assistant on the phone.

The voice was cautious, respectful, and even lowered in the corridor as if afraid of disturbing someone.

When she walked closer, she indeed saw the assistant’s figure. The assistant had just turned off the call and placed the phone back in her backpack. Hearing footsteps, she turned around and saw Yu Qian coming down the stairs. Surprised, she asked: “Are you done talking with President Cheng? Did you get some big advertising offer?”

“No.” Yu Qian held the ashtray, looking weary.

“Oh…”

Yu Qian passed by her without stopping: “Let’s go back to the hotel.”

The assistant was momentarily stunned, thinking that perhaps the ashtray she gave caused Yu Qian’s low mood and irritability.

She felt somewhat at a loss, following Yu Qian’s steps down the stairs. Unable to help herself, she whispered: “I’m sorry, should I not have given you such an ashtray...”

Yu Qian paused, turning back: “What?”

“I didn’t know you didn’t like this ashtray. There’s a sister in the office who also got one. She said her husband smokes too much, and bringing this ashtray home might make him smoke less.”

The assistant studied Yu Qian’s expression, her gaze and voice becoming more timid. “I did have some selfish motives. I wanted you to smoke less…”

In fact, by the time the assistant said this, Yu Qian had just begun to understand why she suddenly became more timid than usual.

Perhaps because she looked so upset, it made the assistant misunderstand?

“My grandmother told me that my grandfather was a heavy smoker when he was young, always with a cigarette in hand. Later, he got lung cancer and died when I was very young. I’ve always thought smoking is bad for health. As your assistant, I want to take good care of you…”

At this point, the assistant suddenly widened her eyes, bowed deeply, and apologized: “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say you’d get sick like my grandfather…”

Yu Qian actually wasn’t good at interacting with girls.

She originally thought that after the assistant finished speaking, she could patiently explain that her bad mood wasn’t because of the ashtray, and the matter would be over.

She never expected that the assistant would scare herself into tears while talking.

In fact, since the first day this girl became her assistant, Yu Qian could sense her tension.

Having dealt with models all her life, many work-related people came and went around her. Not everyone left an impression or a name in her mind, including makeup artists, photographers, and assistants.

This assistant, always flustered and worried about being insufficiently attentive, only now gained a name in Yu Qian’s mind.

Sun Yue.

A common girl’s name.

Yu Qian even thought that, upon reflection, maybe among the people she had encountered before, there were two or three girls with the same name.

Sun Yue’s eyes reddened, and she wiped her tears, slowly squatting down, still mumbling apologies.

She believed herself to be an ordinary girl in every aspect—grades, appearance, personality—all unremarkable.

To make friends in school, she learned to give unconditionally, fearing others might criticize her...

But today, she ruined everything.

Sun Yue closed her eyes, thinking that Yu Qian would probably change assistants.

Yu Qian put down the “lung” ashtray and squatted in front of the assistant.

Placing her hand on her head, she called out: “Sun Yue.”

This was the first time Yu Qian called the assistant by her name, and Sun Yue looked up blankly—

Yu Qian stared at her seriously and asked, “Did you misunderstand something?”

“I’m sorry, I was wrong…”

Yu Qian pinched her mouth shut, interrupting her apology. Then she rummaged through her bag, pulled out a tissue, and pressed it to her eyes: “An assistant isn’t here to please me blindly. You just need to do your job well.”

“But I haven’t…”

Yu Qian smiled: “You’re doing great. You’re the most comfortable work assistant I’ve ever met.”

Sun Yue abruptly raised her head, tears dripping down.

On the staircase they were on, each floor had doors connecting to the inner corridor.

Neither of the girls noticed that on this floor’s glass door, a shadow was cast.

That was Cheng Xiaonan.

Cheng Xiaonan had intended to find Yu Qian, but upon hearing their conversation, he stopped at the door and didn’t enter.

This sister was quite gentle when comforting others.

But what about herself?

When Cheng Xiaonan first met Yu Qian, she always wore a detached face, seemingly unfazed by anything.

Others might think she was cool, but Cheng Xiaonan didn’t think so. In his memory, she was just unhappy, though he didn’t know why.

Once, Cheng Xiaonan arranged to meet Yu Qian on a weekend.

It was winter, quite cold. Amidst the crowd dressed in dark-colored down jackets at the mall entrance, Cheng Xiaonan spotted Yu Qian at a glance.

It wasn’t that she stood out in her attire; like everyone else, she wore a black long down coat. Still, just by her back, he recognized her instantly.

She stood outside the mall by the dry fountain pool, talking to two young men.

Cheng Xiaonan grimaced.

Why were there so many opposite-sex conversations?

He harbored a mischievous thought, holding back a sarcastic remark to tease Yu Qian. He deliberately put on his down jacket hood, lowering the brim, hiding in the crowd and slowly walking over.

As he approached, the two men in front of Yu Qian had already left.

They happened to walk towards Cheng Xiaonan, exhaling steam as they conversed—

“The woman we just saw is damn beautiful. Where did you meet her? Does she have a boyfriend? If not, introduce her to me?”

“If I introduced her, you wouldn’t dare to ask her out.”

“What do you mean I wouldn’t dare? What, she’s not available anymore?”

“She hasn’t been for a long time. Back in high school, there was already a gap between her thighs, you know what I mean…”

“Was she forced? Hahaha.”

“She seems to be a model. Who knows how many men have been with her.”

“Hahaha, then forget it. Such a pity, she’s so beautiful!”

A gap between the thighs? Wasn’t that just due to being slim?

Such malicious speculation about a girl’s privacy, wasn’t that disgusting?

Cheng Xiaonan stopped, frowning.

Even in the cold weather, he felt anger rising to his head. After a couple of seconds, he managed to suppress his emotions.

By then, those two men had walked behind him. Cheng Xiaonan suddenly turned around, gripping one man’s shoulder: “Hey, man.”

The next moment, he threw a punch.

That day, he got into a fight and learned about Yu Qian’s profession.

Also, because he was late for the meeting and had a cut on his lip, it made Yu Qian unhappy.

He originally thought those vulgar words were only heard by him.

Later, after Yu Qian went abroad, she took a set of photos overseas.

Cheng Xiaonan remembered one of them:

Yu Qian wore tight jeans, showing off her beautiful leg curves, confidently displaying her thigh gap. In her hand, she held a piece of white paper with a bright red “X” drawn on it.

In the photo, Yu Qian had a confident and determined look.

Her beauty wasn’t just in her appearance but also in her spirit.

That set of photographs was for a women’s public welfare campaign, themed “Protect Young Girls Project.”

She was strong, living independently without relying on anyone.

Inside the stairwell, Assistant Sun Yue had started sniffing and asked Yu Qian: “So you actually don’t like this ashtray, right?”

“…Like it.”

Cheng Xiaonan leaned against the glass door, not looking inside, but he could already hear Yu Qian’s reluctant and patient tone of forced liking.

He could even imagine how numb her expression must be.

Cheng Xiaonan chuckled softly and took out his phone to send a message to the assistant.

He needed to find a way to assert his presence subtly.

The environment in the enclosed stairwell was very quiet. Sun Yue sniffed, stood up following Yu Qian’s lead, preparing to send Yu Qian back to the hotel.

Suddenly, the phone rang twice in the bag. Sun Yue hastily opened it and then looked up blankly at Yu Qian.

Yu Qian asked her: “Red-eyed rabbit, what are you looking at?”

Sun Yue exaggeratedly shook her head.

The message was from President Cheng, instructing her to arrange a suitable time for Yu Qian’s welcome event.

However…

Companies usually only had spontaneous welcome events organized by employees, and bosses never intervened. These events weren’t grand affairs, just a few colleagues from the department gathering at a restaurant after work to chat.

Sun Yue originally planned to arrange it after Yu Qian’s conceptual show in October.

After all, models had extremely strict requirements for their diet and schedule, especially before important work.

But President Cheng’s message…

Sun Yue had just cried, and her vision was blurry. She rubbed her eyes hard and read the message word by word to Yu Qian: “President Cheng sent me a message saying he wants to welcome you. You can choose any convenient time. Any day, lunch or dinner, is up to you. He said if Teacher Yu agrees, starting with breakfast works too…”

This younger brother is up to something again.

That was Yu Qian’s only thought.

She casually crossed her arms and leaned on the stair railing: “What else does it say?”

“Oh, there’s another friendly suggestion. After setting the time, it’s best to notify him a bit earlier so he can reserve a table for two at the Rust Hotel and roses.”

Sun Yue looked at Yu Qian with a puzzled gaze, “Only two participants for the welcome event, just you and President Cheng?”

Before Yu Qian could respond, the assistant muttered her strange feeling: “It feels more like a blind date.”