Li Ting followed behind Xu Ji to visit the studio, which was divided into office and shooting areas.
The shooting area was a three-story building with a large distance between each level, each level was three stories tall. There was also no decoration, only the most primitive cement walls, giving the impression of a huge abandoned factory where raising even the slightest voice would echo.
The photography equipment and props were all huge, looking quite spectacular.
Li Ting felt like he had entered an ancient tomb, staring in amazement at a very large wall covered with a white cloth. On it were dried pigments of different colors splattered like they had been thrown from a bucket, with natural streaks intersecting in a grotesque and artistic way.
Xu Ji noticed his gaze and said, “That was from the last shoot, we haven’t had a chance to clean it up, which is today’s work.”
After the shock wore off, Li Ting realized something and said, “Wait… this isn’t Wanyue?”
Xu Ji turned around and said, “Wanyue is my dad’s company.”
Li Ting was dumbfounded, “But… as the only heir, shouldn’t you be…?”
“Why should I?” Xu Ji stood tall and upright, with an imposing demeanor as he looked at people.
Li Ting remained silent. Is this not what normal people would assume? With such a large family business, who would start another company on their own? Besides, real estate and media are two completely unrelated fields that have nothing to do with each other.
He looked at Xu Ji’s broad shoulders and seemed to be reassessing his legal husband.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Ji walked ahead with his hands in his pockets, smiling wryly. “Miscalculated?”
Li Ting originally had some improvement in his opinion of this young master, but as soon as he heard these prickly words, he was brought back to reality.
Well, it’s not surprising that the heir of Wanyue Group can open a company without any problems. They have abundant funds and resources, they can open as many companies as they want. He was still just a prince.
Li Ting smiled and said, “No way.”
After roughly going through the studio, Li Ting asked, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to people?”
Xu Ji said, “Your job doesn’t require you to meet anyone.”
Li Ting originally thought it might be a secretary or something, but when he heard this, a sense of ominous foreboding arose, he hesitantly asked, “What’s my job?”
Xu Ji grinned, “As an on-site worker, of course you’ll run errands, buy coffee, and do other small tasks.”
The previous shooting work had ended completely, and a new advertisement would begin shooting next Monday, so the work from today until next Friday would be cleaning up the venue from the previous project and preparing for the next one.
Chu Qi saw his boss from afar, accompanied by a tall figure behind him. His first thought was, such a tall woman! But as he approached, he realized it was a man.
And this man was in no way inferior to his boss.
As a gay man, Chu Qi had seen many many men, to the point where he classified them as follows: 80% of men, aren’t even worth a glance; 15% of men, far inferior when standing next to his boss; 3% of men, evenly matched when standing next to his boss; and the final 2%, may have a hidden potential of surpassing his boss when standing next to him.
Even among celebrities, there were many who couldn’t compare to his boss at all.
And that long-haired beauty was the cream of the crop among the top 2%, stunning at first sight, and so gorgeous that it was hard to tell whether he was a man or a woman.
Today, Li Ting wore a cotton white shirt with black casual pants, simple and without any accessories, which highlighted the advantage of his face.
“Wow, who’s this newly signed artist?” Chu Qi bounced over to Xu Ji’s side, covering his mouth and giggling coyly. He even gave a thumbs up and winked at Li Ting, “I have a good eye, you’re definitely going to be a big hit!”
Xu Ji snorted from his nose with a hint of meaning, then he moved aside and said, “Oh, introduce yourself.”
Li Ting raised a beautiful smile at Chu Yi.
“Our new on-site worker,” Xu Ji said.
It was very quiet for a moment. After a while, Chu Qi exclaimed in surprise, “What? New what?”
Chu Qi, “…” Are the requirements for on-site workers so high now?
Not only Chu Qi, but everyone was stunned when Li Ting helped set up the scene. The executive director, who was a typical straight male, almost trampled on the resin roses that the props designer had placed on the ground when he saw him.
Xu Ji noticed that everyone was becoming distracted and couldn’t focus on their work, they kept sneaking glances at Li Ting.
Chu Qi stood next to Xu Ji, his lecherous gaze even more unconcealed.
Xu Ji suddenly hit Chu Qi’s head with the script, “Seen enough yet? Can you focus on your work now?”
Chu Qi withdrew his gaze and angrily doodled on his sketchbook. As an art director, he was theoretically responsible for all aspects of production related to visual aesthetics, including coordinating the work of various teams such as lighting, photography, special effects, costumes, props, and editing to design the overall visual style.
Xu Ji knew Chu Qi well, whenever Chu Qi saw an attractive man, he would strike up a conversation. Xu Ji asked, “Aren’t you usually more straightforward?”
“Hey!” Chu Qi quietly covered his face and leaned toward his boss’s ear, whispering, “He looks like a bottom for sure! Our positions collided, what’s the point of being straightforward? Take off our clothes and be sisters?!”
Well, Xu Ji looked at the height difference between the two and suggested, “Maybe you can get him to top for love.”
After some time, everyone finally got over their initial shock of being dazzled by Li Ting’s beauty. Gradually, they discovered that although he was tall and beautiful, he was also weak and clumsy. To put it simply, he couldn’t get anything done properly.
He made a mess while scraping the paint off the walls. He mixed up the meal boxes when handing them out and gave someone two portions of plain rice. He even broke a specially crafted vase that the prop team had been working on for three days while moving the props.
Xu Ji quickly realized that Li Ting was doing all of this on purpose, trying to make trouble so that he could be fired.
Xu Ji looked at the prop girl who was almost in tears, he didn’t blame Li Ting but scolded the prop team instead. “Why would you let a new employee handle something so important on their first day?”
He scolded the girl who was in charge of making the prop all the way to the leader of the props team, he used a stern tone and no one dared to speak up on the scene.
Li Ting expressionlessly watched as Xu Ji scolded the others.
How mean, he thought.
The girl was very aggrieved and held back her tears from falling, “I’m sorry, I didn’t put it in the right place.”
Xu Ji, “I remember this isn’t the first time this has happened? We still have time to remake it this time, but last time it directly delayed the shooting progress. Am I remembering correctly? Team leader?”
The leader of the props team hurriedly promised that he would bring this problem up during the meeting.
Xu Ji remained composed, he turned his head slightly and spoke to the prop team, but his eyes were on Li Ting, “I don’t want there to be a next time, after all, other people don’t know that this vase took three days to make.”
Li Ting suddenly turned stiff. He saw the vase casually placed in a cardboard box and thought it was bought from somewhere, which was why he didn’t take it to heart.
“Alright,” Xu Ji concluded, “since I’ve delayed everyone’s time, let me treat you all to some drinks. Go tell the new on-site worker what you guys want.”
Great, giving a reward after chewing them out, Li Ting thought. He realized that Xu Ji was using this as an opportunity to resolve a long-standing issue, gain favor, and make him feel guilty all at once. Killing three birds with one stone.
His heart was suddenly filled with gloom. Indeed, as expected of a capitalist, so good with his calculations.
Xu Ji called out his name, “Li Ting, you go buy it.”
Li Ting didn’t move and said politely, “Can’t we order delivery?”
Xu Ji chuckled, “Our location is quite remote, delivery drivers are often unwilling to come. Besides, don’t you think you should apologize for breaking the girl’s vase?”
Li Ting really did feel sorry about that.
He first apologized to the girl and then raised a faint smile, “I understand, I’ll go buy it.”
“I want a coconut latte, 30 percent sugar, and less ice.” Xu Ji said first.
Li Ting took the cash. At least Xu Ji was considerate enough to know to reimburse him.
The nearest beverage shop from here was about 7-8 kilometers away, in addition to the large number of orders and long preparation time, the round trip took nearly an hour.
Although he wasn’t prone to sweating, he did sweat a little after running around, which made his skin slightly pink. His hair was tied behind his back, some sticking to the sweaty nape of his neck.
When he returned, he heard deafening instrumental music before even entering. The studio was dark, and the lighting technicians were testing the effects, only the set was illuminated.
The environment was dark, the music was loud, and everyone was very concentrated. No one noticed his return, including Xu Ji.
Li Ting put two full bags of drinks on the table. He sought out Xu Ji’s cup and walked over.
“Boss,” he called out.
Xu Ji had good hearing and turned his head when he heard this.
They were about the same height, and it was difficult to tell who was taller if they didn’t stand directly back to back and accurately measure.
Li Ting returned the remaining money to Xu Ji and suddenly became serious, “Boss, here’s your change.”
Xu Ji raised an eyebrow and, with two fingers, accurately stuffed the money into the pocket on Li Ting’s left chest, succinctly saying, “Your labor fees.”
Li Ting looked quite happy to receive it, and immediately offered to provide service to Xu Ji, “Thank you boss~ Let me insert the straw for you.”
Xu Ji was a bit germaphobic, he frowned and was about to decline when the “accident” happened.
Li Ting took the straw and pushed it into the cup. However, the brown liquid exploded from some kind of pressure, some of which sprayed onto Xu Ji’s clothes.
Li Ting seemed very startled and said, “S-sorry!”
Xu Ji pinched that area of his clothes, he was really angry this time. He had a bad look on his face and his clothes were wet and sticky. There was even a faint sweet smell emanating from him.
Just then, someone called out to Xu Ji, “Director Xu! Come and take a look, something seems wrong!”
Everyone’s attention suddenly focused on Xu Ji.
The studio was dimly lit, and everyone’s face was dark, but it wasn’t the same for the son of heaven. A bit of light happened to fall on the bridge of Xu Ji’s nose, making his black mole stand out more clearly and adding sharpness to his already fierce and angry face. His eyes looked like he wanted to kill him.
This is a bit scary… Li Ting thought.
Suddenly, Xu Ji leaned forward aggressively and grabbed Li Ting’s collar.
The distance between them quickly closed, and Li Ting saw Xu Ji’s sharp jawline right next to his chin. He instinctively wanted to step back.
But Xu Ji was so strong that he couldn’t move.
With a low and deep voice, he squeezed out of his throat word by word in a volume only the two of them could hear, “It’s fine, you’ll be the one washing it anyway. I’ll watch you wash it when we go home tonight.”
“Director Xu!” the lighting technician urged.
Xu Ji grabbed several tissues and stuffed them into his clothes before walking away.
Chu Qi didn’t know what had happened, but from his perspective, the two of them were almost nose to nose.
He covered his mouth, feeling like there was a lot of tension and chemistry between his boss and the new on-site worker.
It just so happened that his boss is a top, and the new on-site worker is a bottom, they’re such a good match!
The author has something to say:
Chu Qi: I really regret it after knowing the truth.