Chapter 67: Signing the Contract

Jiang Shi went over to take a look and it took him a while to remember what it was.

“I think it’s a business card from a scammer. Throw it away.”

Watching Cheng Ye turn to look for a trash can, he added, “Wait, let me see it.”

Cheng Ye handed him the business card.

Jiang Shi took it and flipped it over. The information on the card was very professional, and he didn’t look like a liar. He paused, “Do you think this is real or fake?”

Cheng Ye lowered his eyes to read the words on it. “Magazine editor-in-chief? Why did he give you a business card?”

Jiang Shi said, “He said I fit their theme very well and asked me to be a model for him. He also said their magazine is called ‘New Trend’. Have you heard of it?”

“Never heard of it.” Cheng Ye took the business card from his hand. “It’s not important. Don’t go. It’s a scammer.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

He pulled at Cheng Ye. “Look it up for me.”

“No.”

“…”

“Forget it, I’ll do it myself.”

Cheng Ye followed behind Jiang Shi, watching him open his laptop. “If you’re short on money, I’ll give you some. Why would you want to go shoot that kind of thing?”

The young man was wearing a loose T-shirt with a wide collar. From Cheng Ye’s angle, the scenery on his chest was faintly visible. But before he could get a good look, a book was slapped on his face.

“What do you mean ‘that kind of thing’? What kind of indecent thing am I going to shoot?”

Cheng Ye took the book down. “Anyway, you can’t go.”

“Why?”

He was quiet for a few seconds, then spoke reluctantly, “I’ve seen the magazines Gao Xinhe bought. The clothes those models wear are smaller than a palm. They show everything, what should be shown and what shouldn’t.”

Jiang Shi knew what kind of stuff Gao Xinhe bought with his toes.

“How can that be the same?” He turned his body slightly, showing the search results to Cheng Ye. “See for yourself, it’s a legitimate company. Besides, do you know how much he’s offering me? Two thousand. Do you make two thousand a month?”

Cheng Ye: “…”

Jiang Shi was actually very lazy. Most of the time, he was the type who would lie down if he could, and never sit. But when everyone around him became busy, he couldn’t lie down with a clear conscience.

He couldn’t move bricks at a construction site. Shooting for a magazine sounded simple enough. Maybe he could give it a try.

When Cheng Ye returned to Jiangcheng, he found the number on the business card and called. He didn’t have much hope when he called. After all, it had been so many days, and they had probably already found a suitable person.

The other end rang for a long time before someone answered. It was a girl, and the background was very noisy. “Hello, may I ask who this is?”

Jiang Shi paused. “Hello, my name is Jiang Shi. Someone named Sun Tianyu contacted me and gave me this business card.”

The girl was stunned for a moment. “Director Sun, right? Please wait a moment.”

Jiang Shi waited for almost two minutes before Sun Tianyu’s voice came through. “Hello.”

“You…”

“I remember you, the handsome young man from the other day, right? Have you thought it over? Are you coming?”

Jiang Shi didn’t give a definite answer. “I want to come and see first.”

Hearing this, Sun Tianyu let out a sigh of relief and then smiled. “I understand. Although I’m very fond of you, you still have to pass Li Na’s test.”

He explained, “Li Na is the designer we’re collaborating with. The clothes you’ll be wearing were designed by her. She has a very strange temper. Only with her approval can a model wear her clothes. We’ve already interviewed more than ten models, and none of them have caught her eye.”

“I thought you were suitable at first glance, but just because I think so doesn’t mean she’ll like you. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have offered such a high salary. The salary is high, but whether you can get it depends on your own ability.”

“She has an exhibition to attend tomorrow. Are you free the day after tomorrow? If so, I’ll arrange for you to meet.”

…

Jiang Shi got up early the day after tomorrow and even spruced himself up a bit.

He fixed his hair in the mirror and tilted his head to ask the tall boy standing behind him, “What do you think of me going dressed like this?”

The tall boy’s face had been sour for two days. Hearing this, his gaze fell downwards. “No good. It makes your butt look perky.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Is that the pants’ fault? It’s clearly… clearly natural.

He reached out to push Cheng Ye. “Get out.”

Cheng Ye clung to the door and messed up the hair Jiang Shi had spent half a day styling. “You’re going to work, not a beauty pageant. Why are you dressing up so nicely? You’ve never dressed up for me.”

His hair was tousled and hung down at the corner of his eyes. Jiang Shi was so angry he picked up a towel and whipped Cheng Ye’s face. “Are your hands itchy? If you keep nagging, you can stay home alone.”

Cheng Ye: “…”

Because of his interruption, it was already noon by the time Jiang Shi finished getting ready and arrived at the place Sun Tianyu had mentioned.

The office of ‘New Trend’ was in an office building. Sun Tianyu was very busy. When they arrived, only the receptionist was there.

The receptionist knew he was coming and led him and Cheng Ye to the rest area. “Please wait a moment, our director is in a meeting. It will be about another ten minutes.”

On the coffee table in the rest area were back issues of the magazine. Jiang Shi flipped through them and found that they were actually quite well-shot. No wonder Sun Tianyu had said their magazine was quite famous.

He hadn’t finished flipping through one issue when footsteps sounded in the corridor. Sun Tianyu pushed the door open and came in. Seeing Jiang Shi, his eyes lit up. “Come with me. Sister Li has something urgent and has a flight this afternoon. You only have twenty minutes.”

Jiang Shi hadn’t even reacted before he was dragged away by Sun Tianyu. He was walking in a hurry, pulling him into the office next door. Then, saying “the assistant is waiting outside,” he pushed Cheng Ye out with his hand and slammed the door shut.

A woman was sitting inside, with a high nose bridge, single eyelids, thin lips, and gold-rimmed glasses. The light that shone through the lenses was very sharp.

Li Na scanned Jiang Shi up and down. “Is this the person you were talking about?”

Sun Tianyu pushed Jiang Shi forward. “Although he’s not old, he has a very unique temperament that matches your clothes very well.”

The young man standing in front seemed a little dazed, his eyes filled with a confused light. His features were exquisite, but he still had a touch of youthful immaturity. He was dressed very simply, with no sense of fashion at all.

Li Na sneered and threw the pen in her hand onto the desk. “You’re really bringing any Tom, Dick, or Harry to me.”

This time, Jiang Shi understood. He had never been treated with such disrespect. He immediately frowned unhappily, his face turning cold.

It was just a job. Whether he did it or not didn’t matter to him. Since the other party didn’t welcome him, there was no need for him to stay. He was about to turn and leave.

Seeing his cold face, Li Na suddenly became interested. “Wait… what’s your name?”

“Jiang Shi.”

“How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“Just finished the college entrance exam?”

Jiang Shi had always been impatient with people with bad attitudes. He retorted sarcastically, “What does it have to do with you? Since you don’t want me, why ask so many questions?”

But Li Na laughed. “Yes! That’s it! Arrogant, cold-faced, doesn’t care about anyone…”

She stood up abruptly. “It’s you. Director Sun, take him down to sign the contract.”

After saying that, she walked up to Jiang Shi in her high heels, her expression somewhat obsessed as she stared at his face. “Such a beautiful face. Your temper should be a little worse. Don’t smile at everyone. If a smile comes too easily, no one will cherish it…”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Jiang Shi silently took a step back.

Sun Tianyu led him out of the office. Having finally solved a major problem, the smile on his face was hard to hide. “Sister Li is obsessed with design. Sometimes she gets carried away and acts a little strange, but she won’t do anything to you. Don’t be afraid.”

Afraid that Jiang Shi would run away, he didn’t give him any time to think and took him to sign the contract as soon as they came out.

Learning that Jiang Shi had just finished the college entrance exam, he said, “If you’re not at ease, you can show it to an adult in your family. Since this is your first time and you have no experience, feel free to ask me if you don’t understand anything.”

Cheng Ye, sitting next to him, was already flipping through the contract.

Sun Tianyu paused. “Is this your assistant?”

Jiang Shi thought, How big of a star am I to have an assistant?

“A friend.”

Cheng Ye’s face was too aggressive. Sun Tianyu couldn’t help but take a few more glances. “Your friend is also very distinctive-looking. And he looks to be almost 1.9 meters tall. I wonder if he’s interested…”

Cheng Ye didn’t look up. “No. And…” he said, “I don’t think this price is reasonable.”

“How is it not reasonable?”

“It’s too low.”

Sun Tianyu: “…”

He forced a smile. “We’re just a small magazine, not some top-tier publication. If you don’t believe me, go ask around. Other models get this price too. I’m not trying to scam you.”

“You’re not,” Cheng Ye said. “But Jiang Shi is different from others.”

There was no emotion in his eyes, but Sun Tianyu knew that this one was even harder to talk to than Jiang Shi himself.

“But he’s a newcomer. We only made an exception to accept him because of his image and temperament. Otherwise, which famous magazine would accept a model with absolutely no experience? Giving him the pay of a regular model is already the biggest concession I can make.”

Cheng Ye closed the contract and pushed it towards Sun Tianyu. “I’ll say it again. The price is too low. Either raise it, or you can find someone else.”

Sun Tianyu gritted his teeth in anger and turned to look at Jiang Shi. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Jiang Shi blinked. “Oh, I’ll listen to him.”

“…”

No opinion of his own!

Cheng Ye picked up Jiang Shi’s backpack and casually put the snacks the receptionist had brought for them inside. “They’re not willing. Let’s go.”

Jiang Shi had just gotten up when Sun Tianyu said helplessly, “I’ve lived for thirty-odd years, and this is the first time I’ve been bested by two young brats. Wait, I need to ask for Sister Li’s opinion.”

Jiang Shi, who had just gotten up, sat back down.

He watched as Sun Tianyu walked out, then took the orange Cheng Ye had peeled for him. “How did you know he would agree?”

“While I was waiting for you, I flipped through all their magazines. Li Na is their chief designer. Her clothes all have a characteristic: the fabric is flowing and light. Such fabric can only be worn in the summer.”

“I guess they want to seize the summer market, but because Li Na is very picky, they haven’t been able to find a model she likes, so it’s been postponed again and again. It’s already August now. If they postpone it again, they’ll have to wait until next year. But by next year, these clothes might be outdated.”

He smiled. “We can wait, but they can’t.”

Jiang Shi was about to say that Cheng Ye had a dirty heart, but then he turned his head and saw him putting the fruit in the bag too.

“No way, you’re even taking the fruit?”

“Bring it back as a studio benefit.” He paused. “This one isn’t fresh. I’ll buy you a fresh one when we get back.”

Is this a question of freshness?

Jiang Shi gave Cheng Ye a slap. “Are you so poor you don’t even have money to buy fruit?”

Cheng Ye, who had just made a sum of money, said, “No. I asked the receptionist. She said we could eat as much as we wanted.”

“…”

Alright, alright.

When it came to being stingy, Cheng Ye was number two. No one dared to claim number one.

Sun Tianyu left quickly and came back quickly. He sat down and gulped down a glass of water. “Three thousand. No more. If that’s okay, we can shoot tomorrow.”

He felt a pang of pain as he said this, but he couldn’t help it. Cheng Ye had them by the throat.

The magazine’s sales were getting worse and worse. They didn’t even have the money to hire slightly famous models, let alone any popular celebrities. The times were different. Everyone looked at people; who looked at the clothes on the models anymore?

Although Li Na had a strange temper, she had the same persistence as him. And they were counting on this series to make a comeback.

Even if the price was a bit high, they couldn’t afford to wait, so they could only sign Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi looked at Cheng Ye.

“Sign it.”

After sending off the two living ancestors, Sun Tianyu leaned back on the sofa and let out a sigh of relief. He subconsciously reached for the coffee table and grabbed at empty air.

He looked down. The two plates were empty.

Wait, where did the stuff go?