Zhao Muqing stepped out of the fitting room and happened to notice the assistant was still around. He pulled up the overly long hem to show him, explaining that the garment’s oversized fit didn’t look right when worn and asking if there were any backup clothes available.
“That’s strange. Everything was communicated clearly, so how could they mess up the clothing sizes?” The assistant slapped his forehead in frustration. Dwelling on the cause now was clearly of no use, so he told Zhao Muqing to wait a moment while he stepped outside to question a young woman. After a good while, he returned to Zhao Muqing, looking thoroughly embarrassed as he explained, “The people on the ground might have accidentally mixed things up. I’ll contact the company right away and have them send the correct clothes over.”
The assistant looked visibly nervous. Zhao Muqing had no intention of blaming anyone; people were only human, and occasional mistakes were forgivable. He used to bring the wrong textbooks to class all the time himself. “It’s fine, I can wait.”
“The company isn’t very far from here, so it should arrive as quickly as possible. You know how it is, sponsor clothes can’t just be swapped out.” Seeming worried that Zhao Muqing might fly into a rage, the assistant quickly added a couple more lines.
“Really, it’s nothing. I’m not in a hurry.” Wanting to put the other person at ease, Zhao Muqing quickly flashed a friendly smile.
The assistant opposite him visibly blinked in surprise, expressing gratitude for Zhao Muqing’s understanding. “As long as it doesn’t inconvenience you, let me take you to get your makeup done first.”
The makeup artist politely led Zhao Muqing to a seat and settled him in, tidying up his makeup. By the time Zhao Muqing returned to the interior of the photo studio, the clothes still hadn’t arrived, so he casually found a corner to sit in and started playing Doudizhu on his phone.
“Mr. Zhao, traffic on the road might be heavy. Sorry to keep you waiting, it should be here right away.” The assistant looked like he was breaking into a sweat.
Zhao Muqing played a pair of Aces, not paying too much attention to the wardrobe issue. “Ah, sure.”
The assistant let out a breath of relief, exchanged pleasantries with Zhao Muqing, and went back to mingling with the others to coordinate other related matters. Zhao Muqing resumed his task on his phone until he lost all his beans, then got up and headed to the pantry to pour a glass of water to soothe his throat.
Before he even stepped through the door, he heard people whispering in the pantry, and his name was brought up in the middle of it.
“Didn’t they say Zhao Muqing used to have a terrible temper, that he’d throw a fit if his makeup didn’t quite meet his expectations, let alone having his clothes messed up?” A girl’s voice drifted out from inside. “Just now, I saw him looking very patient in the photo studio. Did he turn over a new leaf? Logically speaking, with our boss backing him, shouldn’t he be even more arrogant?”
“Who knows? Anyway, it’s none of our business. We’ll just see what his manager wants to do.” The person replying was a guy.
Zhao Muqing put on a show of coughing twice before pushing the door open. Both people in the pantry fell silent. Seeing that Zhao Muqing had no intention of making an issue of it, they feigned naturalness and slipped past him.
It seemed they were staffers from the photo studio earlier. Zhao Muqing didn’t dwell on it too much; careful not to smudge his lipstick, he specifically used a straw to drink his water.
By the time he returned to the photo studio, the assistant had finally delivered the correctly sized suit into his hands. Beyond that, lifting his gaze, he spotted Shen Guanzhi sitting off to the side, talking with the person in charge of overseeing the entire operation.
He accidentally caught Shen Guanzhi’s eye from a distance. The man wore no particular expression, merely giving a very slight nod.
Zhao Muqing changed into the clothes, put on the diamond jewelry sent by the exhibition organizers, and stepped into the studio to prepare for the shoot. Since this was his first time shooting commercial photos, he inevitably felt a bit nervous. At the very beginning, his poses were stiff and deliberate, but things gradually hit their stride later on, and the photographer’s expression slowly grew satisfied.
The wine-red suit gave off a solemn and elegant vibe, and paired with the exhibition organizer’s diamond bracelet, it further accentuated Zhao Muqing’s noble aura.
Once the shoot wrapped up, Zhao Muqing changed out of the clothes. Just as he stepped out of the fitting room, the tattoo assistant stopped him, stating that their person-in-charge wanted to invite him out to a bar to have some fun.
Since they were business partners, Zhao Muqing found it hard to refuse. The tattoo assistant’s spirits instantly perked up, and before leaving, he specifically remarked, “To be honest, I’d heard rumors about Mr. Zhao before and was a bit worried coming here, but in reality, you’re much more approachable than what people said.”
Zhao Muqing felt a bit sheepish, politely thanking him for the compliment before heading in Shen Guanzhi’s direction. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I finished my work and had free time.” Shen Guanzhi seemed to be evaluating Zhao Muqing’s makeup, which he hadn’t had time to take off yet. “There’s still plenty of room for improvement. Your performance is no different from a newcomer’s, though a few of the poses later on were decent.”
Zhao Muqing didn’t feel discouraged; he indeed lacked experience, and not getting torn to shreds in critiques was already pretty good.
“The styling suits you.” Shen Guanzhi walked out of the studio on his own. “For now, slowly salvage your public reputation in the industry. Once industry insiders change their views on you, more opportunities will follow.”
Zhao Muqing understood the logic. Making others change their perceptions of him wasn’t something that could happen overnight.
“I’宁 booking a restaurant table. Are you coming?” Shen Guanzhi suddenly invited him.
“Oh?” Zhao Muqing feigned curiosity as he looked Shen Guanzhi up and down. “What wind blew in this sudden favor?”
“Consider it a celebration for successfully completing your first job after signing.”
It was a rare opportunity, and Zhao Muqing would have liked to accept, but since he had already agreed to go to the bar with the tattoo assistant tonight, he had no choice but to ask Shen Guanzhi if they could reschedule.
“Very well. Have plans tonight?”
“Their person-in-charge invited me out for a drink.” Zhao Muqing sighed involuntarily. “You know how interpersonal relationships are in this line of work; refusing is always a bit awkward, plus getting chummy with others benefits me.”
“You are my lover, so you can refuse anyone.” Shen Guanzhi frowned imperceptibly. “I will accompany you.”
Zhao Muqing hadn’t expected Shen Guanzhi to drive him to the bar and walk through the door with him. The bar was noisy and crowded, with rock music playing over the speakers.
Unlike his usual formal suits, Shen Guanzhi had changed into a black jacket. Zhao Muqing rarely saw him dressed like this, and his peripheral vision couldn’t help lingering a moment longer.
The booth reserved by the person-in-charge was right in the innermost corner. The tattoo assistant specifically came over to guide them to their seats, looking quite surprised the first time he laid eyes on Shen Guanzhi. “Why is Mr. Shen here too?”
“To keep an eye on him.” Shen Guanzhi clearly didn’t care to chat much with the tattoo assistant, who was tactful enough to say no more and quietly led the way.
When the person-in-charge saw Shen Guanzhi, he was clearly caught off guard as well, but he maintained a calm facade, clearing a space for the two of them to sit down.
Sitting beside Shen Guanzhi, Zhao Muqing felt a sense of relief for no good reason. Aside from the tattoo assistant, he couldn’t read the backgrounds of anyone else in the booth. With Shen Guanzhi present, he at least gained an extra layer of confidence.
The person-in-charge opened an expensive bottle of liquor and poured a glass each for Shen Guanzhi and Zhao Muqing, taking the opportunity while pouring to shower Zhao Muqing with compliments and praise the collaboration as an absolute success.
Zhao Muqing’s alcohol tolerance wasn’t great. He couldn’t gauge the alcohol content of this drink, and coupled with having been drugged at Xu Yintang’s villa, he had a natural phobia of party beverages.
“Thank you for looking out for him.” Shen Guanzhi downed his glass of liquor in one go, then promptly picked up Zhao Muqing’s glass and poured it down his throat without a second thought. “He still has a lot to learn.”
The person-in-charge let out a light laugh and resumed discussing other topics with Shen Guanzhi. Zhao Muqing sat on the sidelines, spacing out as he looked at the two empty glasses Shen Guanzhi had left on the table. Everything seemed normal for now; either Shen Guanzhi had a decent alcohol tolerance or the drink had a low proof, meaning he probably didn’t need to worry.
Halfway through the conversation, Shen Guanzhi seemed to spot an acquaintance and had to temporarily excuse himself from the booth to say hello. Before leaving, he specifically whispered instructions in Zhao Muqing’s ear not to wander off from his seat and that he would be right back.
The area around the sofa was soon left with only Zhao Muqing. The person-in-charge naturally cast his gaze toward Zhao Muqing, then promptly filled one of the glasses on the table with alcohol. “Mr. Zhao, you haven’t had your glass of wine yet.”
Zhao Muqing paused. Shen Guanzhi had drunk one on his behalf, but clearly the other party wasn’t going to let it slide. Right when Shen Guanzhi was away, the man was inexplicably coming to pick a bone with him.
“If you don’t drink it, you’re not giving me face.” The person-in-charge laughed with a pretentious air.
Drinking culture shouldn’t even exist, Zhao Muqing thought as he took the glass from the person-in-charge and downed it in a single breath.
The people around cheered at the sight. Zhao Muqing had no time to care; he only felt a rush of heat surging through his body. While he couldn’t hold his liquor, his tolerance wasn’t that terrible, but this stuff was simply way too fierce.
He really ought to properly thank Shen Guanzhi, Zhao Muqing suddenly thought.
He forced himself to stay conscious until Shen Guanzhi returned, at which point he lost control and slumped directly against the other man’s side. The person-in-charge clearly didn’t take his state seriously, even joking that Zhao Muqing needed to learn how to drink more.
“Excuse us, I’ll take him back first.” Shen Guanzhi wrapped an arm around Zhao Muqing’s waist, hoisted him up, and headed straight for the exit.
With Shen Guanzhi leaving, naturally no one dared to stop him. He supported Zhao Muqing straight into the back seat of the car and contacted a designated driver service at top speed. “Zhao Muqing, how are you holding up?”
“Me? I’m fine, my head just hurts a bit.” Zhao Muqing slumped like a boneless creature. “That liquor was so strong, how could you choke it down? You even drank mine.”
“I’ve drank plenty in the past.” Shen Guanzhi raised a hand to touch Zhao Muqing’s face. The alcohol had clearly rushed to his head, leaving his originally fair cheeks flushed and burning hot. “Did you forget what I told you? You can refuse.”
“He said not drinking it means not giving him face. I’m just a small fry, so I just did.” Zhao Muqing spoke with increasing exhaustion, leaving the second half of his sentence unfinished for a long time.
“Him making you drink means he’s not giving me face.” Shen Guanzhi took off his own jacket and draped it over Zhao Muqing. “I’ll make him regret it.”
Zhao Muqing’s head pounded more and more, the pain stripping away his rationality. Unconscious of what he was doing, he leaned into Shen Guanzhi’s arms. “Are you going to do bad things? For my sake?”
“Yes.” Shen Guanzhi gently stroked Zhao Muqing’s warm earlobe. “For your sake.”