LWDC Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – The Missing Him

Chapter 10 – The Missing Him

Chapter 10 – The Missing Him

Ning Fei’s “disappearance” lasted for over a week.

His phone remained switched off, messages on the app went unanswered, and even work invitations received no response. People from the Chen Xi Studio knocked on his door several times, but no one answered. Su Cenxi initially secretly breathed a sigh of relief, glad not to have Ning Fei breathing down his neck at work. However, after several days of not seeing Ning Fei, a sense of uncontrollable anxiety began to creep into his heart.

Although Su Cenxi was still going to work as usual, his schedule was filled with “tentative” and “time to be confirmed” markings. All this work was originally handled and arranged by Ning Fei. Without him, the remaining assistants at the studio didn’t even know who to contact. Occasionally, some kind clients, unable to reach Ning Fei, would call the studio or Gu Hechen’s company, but more often than not, they simply vanished without a trace. Not to mention the work that wasn’t even on the schedule yet – that was all waiting for Ning Fei to negotiate. Su Cenxi had only ever heard snippets of it and never paid attention. Now, without Ning Fei’s constant reminders and instructions, Su Cenxi didn’t even know how many times he’d messed up!

Just as the entire studio was in chaos, the peak season for fashion week auditions arrived.

The good news was that Ning Fei had said he could fill Su Cenxi’s schedule with auditions. The bad news was that Ning Fei hadn’t even shown up for the fashion week auditions, and the studio had no idea when and where they were supposed to go!

Su Cenxi was truly on the verge of collapse. He didn’t like Ning Fei constantly watching him, but he had also suffered before and knew full well that if he missed this wave of fashion weeks, something big was bound to happen. He finally cornered Gu Hechen one day after he finished work and once again pressed him for Ning Fei’s whereabouts, only to receive Gu Hechen’s irrelevant reply: “If he doesn’t come, he doesn’t come. I’ve arranged a new manager for you, who will be in place in the next couple of days. Your work isn’t impossible without Ning Fei.”

This time, Su Cenxi was determined to know the truth, pressing him, “What exactly did you do to him? What’s wrong with him? You… didn’t do anything illegal, did you?!”

“Illegal? Hah, when it comes down to it, it’s hard to say who’s breaking the law…” Gu Hechen replied with an ambiguous remark, then affectionately kissed Su Cenxi’s cheek as if to reassure him, “Alright, I have an online meeting to attend, you rest first. I’m a bit busy these days, I’ll take you out to play in a while, okay?”

Su Cenxi’s attention was diverted, or rather, the matter Gu Hechen raised was exactly what he was worried about. So he asked, “Busy lately? Are you okay?”

“What could be wrong with me?” Gu Hechen still maintained his usual air of complete control in front of Su Cenxi, calmly replying, “I’m busy from time to time, you’ve experienced it before, why are you suddenly so sensitive?”

“Because Ning Fei has been missing for several days, it’s not normal, where did he go? Do you know something?” Su Cenxi brought the topic back, “The people at the studio have asked me several times whether to call the police, but I’ve held them back. I’m afraid that once they call the police, if it really has something to do with you…”

“Okay, I admit, it has something to do with me.” Seeing that Su Cenxi seemed stuck in the problem, Gu Hechen finally gave a direct response, “But I only wanted to teach him a little lesson, and in fact, my starting point was for his ‘own’ good. Who knew he’d be such a madman… Anyway, he’s fine, completely intact and walked away on his own. The reason he hasn’t shown up is also deliberate, trying to threaten me. What does he think he is? Claiming he can get you work, but isn’t he just using you to control me, using me as a bargaining chip? Anyway, he’s using my resources, anyone could do what he does!”

It was a classic boss’s speech.

But Su Cenxi didn’t notice that point; he simply felt that Ning Fei was different. However, the main “special thing,” Su Cenxi couldn’t truthfully tell Gu Hechen, so at this moment, he was anxious because he had something he couldn’t say.

Gu Hechen didn’t wait for his further explanation, kissed him again, and this time truly went into the study.

Su Cenxi couldn’t find a new topic to keep him, so he could only watch him leave.

*

The next day, the “new manager” Gu Hechen mentioned did indeed arrive.

However, he didn’t just randomly find someone to replace him. The new manager was still very experienced in the industry. At least, as soon as she arrived, she knew who to contact about the paralyzed work schedule, and which places to contact for those auditions, re-confirmations, and talks. The new manager tried her best to pull back whatever could be salvaged and catch up with whatever could be caught up with. She would also ask for Su Cenxi’s opinion, confirming whether he felt too busy and whether he wanted to reduce some of the workload. Su Cenxi was preoccupied with Ning Fei’s disappearance and didn’t dare to add any more variables, so he accepted all arrangements without exception. Even when Gu Hechen told him to “rest for a few days if you’re too tired,” he couldn’t listen at all.

Gu Hechen was actually a bit dissatisfied. Now that Ning Fei had “consciously disappeared,” Su Cenxi was still so busy. Wasn’t Ning Fei’s disappearance pointless then? But he was truly overwhelmed with troubles lately and didn’t have the time, otherwise he would have “relapsed” and forcibly taken Su Cenxi away on a trip.

However, Gu Hechen hadn’t yet realized – or rather, he was too busy to pay attention to Su Cenxi’s career – that even if Su Cenxi was willing to go, changes had already occurred in some jobs.

“What? This job has already been given to another model?”

The new manager, Katelyn, looked at the fashion week casting director in front of her, shocked. “But didn’t you already schedule an audition for Cenxi? How could you decide without even an audition? And we even received a notice to come here for an audition today!”

“You contacted the assistant, right? The audition is indeed today, but that’s a different audition. The assistant probably misunderstood your question. The position Su Cenxi was supposed to audition for has already been decided.” The casting director paused, kindly adding a few words, “This message should have already been sent to Ning Fei, I sent it myself, because it’s quite regrettable that we can’t work together this time. Didn’t you receive it? How did it become you who’s handling his work?”

Katelyn and Su Cenxi, who was standing behind her, couldn’t truthfully answer this question.

“Uh, I’m in charge of Cenxi’s work now. I’m Katelyn, formerly a manager at A+ Studio.” Katelyn took out a business card and looked around the inner area. “Can I ask what the audition is for today? Since we’re already here, and since the previous job is regrettably not possible, how about adding Cenxi to this audition? Cenxi’s conditions are also good, he was originally qualified to enter the audition, let’s continue auditioning.”

“Then we can only continue to regret it.” The casting director took the business card and casually gave it to the assistant next to him. “Let me tell you the truth, those handsome young men you see now aren’t the only ones auditioning today. Later, several of ST’s top supermodels will also come. Today is almost like an ST special, their director even came to oversee things personally. Cenxi is good, but compared to ST’s lineup… you understand, right?”

Katelyn was stunned: “ST’s top models are coming too? Then what are we even auditioning for?”

The casting director smiled. “See, aren’t you very clear? Since their top models are coming, then why would you keep Su Cenxi here for the audition?”

These words were too blunt, and both Katelyn and Su Cenxi looked ugly.

Just then, a commotion came from the doorway, and soon a series of people filed in. Among them were several tall men who, even dressed casually, were still very conspicuous in the crowd, their temperament unlike anyone else’s. The last person to enter was also tall, but his expression looked very relaxed, his designer clothes casual but not careless. The casting director looked over and raised his chin slightly: “Look, speak of the devil, Andrew and his walking money trees are here.”

Of course, Katelyn also knew the name “Andrew” and looked at the man. “He’s actually so young…”

And this new ST director, younger than she imagined, actually walked straight towards them.

“Hey, Mitty, long time no see.” Duan Yunhong greeted the casting director, shaking hands. “We have everyone, is there anything else we need to prepare?”

“There’s nothing else to prepare. Just have the girls stand ready and we can start.” The casting director’s tone was quite relaxed, obviously quite familiar with Duan Yunhong. “Are your handsome guys busy? Do they need to leave early?”

Duan Yunhong replied casually, “Whatever, it’s up to you. This job is very important, they’re not rushing to other gigs.”

Casting Director: “Then why not let them walk a few more steps, to show others. The pace of the young people on stage now gives me a headache…”

After a few pleasantries, Duan Yunhong then looked at Su Cenxi and his agent who were standing next to him. The man’s scrutinizing gaze turned around Su Cenxi, as if evaluating some commodity, before opening his mouth in a faint tone: “Su Cenxi?”

“… That’s me.” Su Cenxi felt that his attitude towards him seemed not very good, thinking it was because he had snatched the Y brand promotional photos from ST models last time. But Su Cenxi still tried his best to hold on to his state, and greeted calmly: “Mr. Andrew, hello.”

Duan Yunhong then came up with that sentence again: “My surname is Duan.”

“Director Duan.” Su Cenxi was not very good at dealing with this situation, giving birth to the intention to retreat, “I will not disturb you and Director Mitty, we will leave first.”

Duan Yunhong seemed not to have heard, and glanced at the few people behind Su Cenxi, as if asking casually: “Your manager didn’t come?”

“I’m here, that’s me.” Katelyn also realized that this director was “not kind,” but after all, she was an agent, and she still had the ability to take out a business card and exchange pleasantries. “Director Duan, hello, I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Su Cenxi’s agent, Katelyn, formerly from A+ Agency. I also know some agents from ST…”

Duan Yunhong took her business card and glanced at it: “Is this your studio’s business card template?”

Katelyn thought he thought her business card was good-looking, smiled and said, “No, our studio’s business cards don’t have a unified template, this is my personal design…”

Duan Yunhong returned the business card to her: “Where’s that Ning Fei?”

Katelyn was choked by his blatant “don’t want to know you” behavior, and couldn’t think of a perfect excuse for a while, reluctantly blurred and replied: “Uh, I’m responsible for Su Cenxi’s work now…”

The more Su Cenxi listened, the more he felt that this Duan Yunhong was here to find fault, and might want to take revenge for taking the job last time, so he said goodbye again decisively: “We have other things to do, so we’ll leave first, Mitty, Director Duan, goodbye.”

After saying that, he signaled Katelyn to leave quickly. Katelyn also understood that it was not appropriate to stay here for a long time, bid farewell in the same way, and then left with Su Cenxi.

Duan Yunhong looked at the leaving backs of this group of people, with a cold expression on his face.

— Ning Fei, has been replaced?