EAY Chapter 59

New Part-time Job

New Part-time Job

59

Not long after the New Year, waking up in the morning was still freezing cold. The dormitory was still pitch black, silent. Qi Ye pressed the light on his phone screen and gently patted Shi Ran’s head, “Get up, Shi Ran, wake up.”

Shi Ran stirred a little, mumbled a couple of times, and turned over to sleep again. Qi Ye had no choice but to call out softly again, “We’ll be late if we don’t get up soon.”

The word “late” seemed to hit the right switch, and Shi Ran woke up instantly. He sat up quickly, his eyes not fully open yet, his hand already automatically reaching for the clothes folded and placed by the bed.

He tiptoed to the bathroom to wash up. When he was ready to leave, it was still dark. Meng Nan also happened to be coming down from the top bunk, “Going to work?”

Shi Ran patted the tuft of hair sticking up at the back of his head, “Yeah, what are you doing up so early?” Although Meng Nan was always the early bird in the dorm, it was still too early now, not even five o’clock.

“Going to the toilet.” Meng Nan waved at them, “Take it easy, you guys.”

“Okay.” Qi Ye and Shi Ran quietly closed the dorm door. It was still dim outside, and the entire campus was still asleep. Just then, the streetlights went out one by one.

It was very cold. Shi Ran breathed on his hands and looked at the boyfriend next to him, feeling he was silly, “I told you, just call me to get up, you don’t need to come with me.”

“It’s good to wake up early,” Qi Ye said, taking Shi Ran’s hand and putting it in his own coat pocket, raising his eyebrows at him.

Shi Ran was a little shy. Seriously, he had always thought his boyfriend was the kind of person who was dull and very honest. Only after they started dating did he realize that he always flirted with him unexpectedly, with very natural movements, and actually had a kind of roguish handsomeness. Clearly, he used to be that kind of delinquent youth.

“I thought you were going to say waking up early is good for your health.” Shi Ran snuggled closer to him, and indeed, it felt less cold. Also, usually, they wouldn’t dare walk hand in hand on campus like this. He wouldn’t dare even if he had a hundred times the courage.

After leaving the campus, they walked ten minutes along the main road to a nearby shopping street, then turned into an alley from a shoe store, winding around until they finally reached their destination.

Shi Ran’s part-time job was here. Even he himself hadn’t expected that one day he would be a model, or to be more precise, a Taobao online store model.

It was Meng Nan who told them that a senior he knew was looking for models for his store and that the pay was pretty good, asking them if they wanted to give it a try.

Li Tianyi wasn’t very interested. He felt that Taobao models weren’t challenging enough. If he were to do it, he would do cover models.

Shi Ran didn’t think about himself. He thought Qi Ye could try it because he was tall and had good body proportions, and when he had a cold face, he could completely compare with male models.

“I think Shi Ran is more suitable, because the clothes in their store are all the small and fresh type, with a bit of a first love feel. You should try it. Anyway, their store isn’t far, and I’ll have time in the afternoon. I’ll take you to see it,” Meng Nan said.

Then they went to see it. The store wasn’t far, but the route was very winding. However, although it was called a store, it definitely wasn’t the same as a brick-and-mortar clothing store. It was more like a warehouse plus a photo studio, with a few decent-looking desks.

If Meng Nan hadn’t led the way, Shi Ran felt like even the GPS would get confused. And if it weren’t for someone they knew, they would really feel like they were being scammed, because it didn’t seem credible at all.

After taking a few photos, Shi Ran was hired. They also wanted Qi Ye’s contact information, saying that they would look for him if the style changed in the future, but Qi Ye waved his hand and refused.

The recent photo shoots have been very early. Besides the difficulty of getting up, Shi Ran felt that it was pretty good because he could still go back to class after shooting for about two hours, so it didn’t delay him much.

He could go to bed earlier at night, get more sleep, and then have a cup of coffee in class, so he wouldn’t be sleepy.

“You’re here.” The Senior was discussing the photos taken yesterday with the photographer, and waved at them. “It’s about to start. Shi Ran, you go get your makeup done first. There are fewer outfits today, so it’ll be over quickly.”

“Okay.” Shi Ran gave his bag to Qi Ye, “I’ll go first.”

“Okay.” Qi Ye waited for him in the nearby seat as usual. In the beginning, Shi Ran was very nervous when taking pictures and needed Qi Ye to be with him, but now Shi Ran was very skilled. Instead, he told Qi Ye not to worry about him and do his own things, so Qi Ye brought his drawing tablet.

The Senior walked over and handed him a coffee, “It hasn’t been as difficult to get up early lately, has it? Have you started to get used to it?”

“Not yet.” Qi Ye shook his head with a faint smile, “Senior, how long did it take you to get used to it?”

“I’m not sure, I’ve always slept very little, I feel like four or five hours is enough, sleeping too much makes me uncomfortable.” The Senior said.

This should also be considered a special ability. He sleeps so little and still has so much energy. Meng Nan said that this Senior is particularly awesome. Other college students might just open stores to sell things to earn some pocket money, but this one is already close to achieving financial freedom by opening a store, and he only plans to do it as a side job. He is also the top student in academics every year.

“That’s amazing.” Qi Ye said sincerely, “Because you need less sleep, you have more time to do things.”

“Maybe, but focus is also important. I value efficiency. I don’t like to work overtime. I’d rather use overtime time to drink with friends.” The Senior looked at Qi Ye, “You and Shi Ran have been here for a long time, when will you have time to have a drink with us?”

“I’m not really one of you,” Qi Ye said, actually not wanting Shi Ran to go in his heart.

“Once we’ve met, we’re friends. It’s okay for friends to hang out together.” The Senior looked at Qi Ye and said, “Are you not interested in being a model? If you don’t want to shoot this, I have friends I know at magazines. Should I ask them for you?”

Qi Ye shook his head, “No, I don’t like being in front of the camera.”

The Senior raised his eyebrows, “I heard from Meng Nan that you’re very good at taking pictures.”

Qi Ye said, “Taking pictures and being photographed are completely different.”

“That’s true too.” The Senior glanced over there, “Well, if my photographer wants to leave, I can ask you to fill in.”

“Aren’t you worried that the clothes won’t sell in the end?”

The Senior laughed heartily, “I’ve always liked to gamble, maybe there will be unexpected surprises.”

Shi Ran, who was getting his makeup done, heard the laughter over there and glanced over. He suddenly felt a little unhappy. The Senior was indeed a very sociable person, but he usually didn’t see him chatting with Qi Ye so much. Only a sentence or two. What’s going on today?

“The Senior is quite chatty today.” Shi Ran couldn’t help but say.

The makeup artist smiled and said, “Senior Zhou likes to joke around the most, he’s probably in a good mood lately, the store’s business is very good.”

“Is that so.” Shi Ran felt a little more relieved.

After changing clothes, they started shooting. Qi Ye still subconsciously looked over to check. Senior Zhou followed next to him, looking at Shi Ran and saying, “His baby face is indeed very suitable for the style of our clothes. Starting tomorrow, we have to find him a partner.”

“A girl?” Qi Ye asked.

“Of course, a very cute girl.” Senior Zhou said, “Don’t worry, that girl is very experienced and will help guide Shi Ran.”

“Oh.” Qi Ye’s mood dropped all of a sudden. He hadn’t thought at all that Shi Ran would have to partner with someone, but now that he thought about it, he was too negligent. It was normal to find a partner to shoot together.

“What’s wrong?” Senior Zhou noticed his emotions and said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “Hearing that your friend is partnering with someone else, are you this unhappy?”

“No, I’m not.”

Senior Zhou chuckled and shook his head, “You kids.”

Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was very old. Qi Ye had a feeling of being looked down upon and turned to leave. Senior Zhou immediately put his hand on his shoulder and leaned into his ear, saying, “You and that junior, your relationship is not as simple as friends, is it?”