LWDC Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – Photoshoot

Chapter 33 – Photoshoot

Chapter 33 – Photoshoot

Ning Fei guessed correctly. He was the one who got egged by angry fans, but the most discussed part online later was Duan Yunhong’s “heroic rescue.”

There’s no other way; these kinds of plots are common in TV dramas but very unlikely to happen in reality. Moreover, Duan Yunhong was actually able to show such agile skills. This feeling of fantasy becoming reality is hard for people to ignore.

However, because of this, voices of doubt quickly emerged online, saying it was a staged act. These comments suggested that the person throwing eggs, Ning Fei, and Duan Yunhong’s movements were all pre-arranged. Otherwise, how could Duan Yunhong have reacted so quickly and managed to block the egg? Also, since the person in front was an agent from another company, it would have been impossible to discern what was being thrown in such a short time. How could Duan Yunhong have selflessly stepped forward to block it?

As for why they didn’t use a contestant or ST’s own model for the staged act, the doubters believed it was because using either of those options would be more easily questioned. Using an agent from another company made it seem more like an accident. Besides, Ning Fei was currently at the center of public opinion; wouldn’t it be normal for a fanatic fan to throw something at him?

With this egg throw, the competition gained more attention, and Ning Fei went from being the “perpetrator” to the “victim.” A win-win staged act sounded logical.

Anyway, the doubters had already said everything. The production team and ST neither admitted nor denied it, letting them argue. Duan Yunhong did give Ning Fei an explanation: the production team had indeed called the police and found the girl who threw the eggs. But as Ning Fei expected, such a small matter couldn’t do much to her. In the end, under the witness of the police, the girl wrote a letter of guarantee and apology, which was handed over to the N family’s streaming media’s agent lawyer, and the case was closed.

Later, the official account of the program team posted the police receipt and apology letter, which finally suppressed the voices of doubt.

Ning Fei used Chen Xi Studio’s official account to forward this conclusion, thanking the program team for their efforts and Duan Yunhong’s “heroic rescue,” and hypocritically asked everyone not to spread the girl’s videos and photos. But stopping the spread of information on the internet is impossible with just a few words, so people who wanted to spread and gossip still did so. As for what impact it would have on the girl, that was beyond Ning Fei’s control.

“But, why would Duan Yunhong save you?”

While people online were making all sorts of guesses, the most confused person was actually Su Cenxi. Taking advantage of the fact that everyone else was standing far away while waiting for work, Su Cenxi couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “Are you and him very close? I saw you go out for a smoke together last time.”

“It’s alright, how else would I get you this guest spot if we weren’t close? You think I paid him off?” Ning Fei didn’t deny it. “It’s fine as long as the matter is resolved. It’s not your concern, so don’t worry about it. Just take care of your own work.”

“Ever since you got egged that day, I’ve been confused. You’re my agent, but you didn’t tell me anything when something happened. I only found out when other people saw the news online and told me,” Su Cenxi frowned. “And how is this not my concern? You got hit because of me. I can’t control this matter, but don’t I even have the right to know?”

Ning Fei glanced at him: “What could you do if you knew?”

“I couldn’t do anything, but what am I supposed to say when someone suddenly asks me if my agent is very close to the director of ST?” Su Cenxi had always hated Ning Fei’s behavior the most – only giving orders and not explaining, which made Su Cenxi feel like he was being treated like an idiot. But now he didn’t dare to openly argue with Ning Fei, so he could only try to suppress his temper and explain his thoughts: “Since you’re not hiding this matter, what’s wrong with telling me? When did you guys meet? And if you’re on good terms, why is he targeting me?”

“I don’t need to report everything to you, especially my personal relationships,” Ning Fei replied. “If someone asks you, just say, ‘I’m not very clear about his personal relationships. Our studio doesn’t interfere with employees’ friendships.’ Don’t you remember all the ways I taught you to refuse to answer questions before?”

Su Cenxi couldn’t help but say, “What’s wrong with revealing a little bit? Putting aside our work relationship, if you talk to me about your personal matters, would I go out and publicize them? Besides, there are tons of people online guessing about your relationship, making it sound like you two have… uh, that kind of relationship. Can’t you give me a definitive answer?”

“Give you what definitive answer?” Ning Fei scoffed, “No matter whether I answer yes or no to this kind of question, you’re going to deny it, so what’s the point of answering?”

Su Cenxi: …That’s true.

Su Cenxi: Wait, what?!

“Hold on, if there’s really nothing going on, you could just deny it directly.” Su Cenxi turned his head in shock and glared at Ning Fei, “Why are you being so ambiguous?”

Ning Fei was a little surprised by his rare moment of clarity. But Ning Fei’s expression didn’t change at all; he still replied calmly, “I’m telling you how to answer these kinds of questions, not telling you about specific events.”

Su Cenxi: “…Oh.”

Ning Fei’s words were correct, but Su Cenxi still felt like something was wrong somewhere. But before he could continue to find the flaw, Ning Fei pushed him, signaling that it was his turn to enter.

Su Cenxi entered the arena in a daze.

Only then did Ning Fei take out his mobile phone and send a message to Duan Yunhong: [Director Duan, even Su Cenxi has seen our scandal. Are you sure you didn’t hype it up?]

Duan Yunhong replied after a while: [Weren’t the secretly taken photos already bought?]

Ning Fei: [??? What secretly taken photos?]

Ning Fei: [Explain yourself!]

Before long, Duan Yunhong sent a bunch of classic secretly taken-style photos and videos. Such as Ning Fei standing downstairs at Duan Yunhong’s place, Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong coming out of the main building of the spa center one after another. It seemed like they’d been secretly photographed more than once. Ning Fei expressionlessly scrolled through them quickly, and sharply commented: [That’s it? You took such terrible photos. I thought you could take some photos inside the spa center.]

Then he asked: [Someone actually sold this to you? It wasn’t expensive, was it? If it was too expensive, you might as well have let them release it.]

Duan Yunhong: [What do you think is expensive?]

Ning Fei: [This didn’t capture anything. The ones where you saved me taken by passers-by were more ambiguous. If the photos only show my face, they’re worth at most 500 yuan. I wouldn’t dare say for Director Duan, your face must be worth more than mine.]

Duan Yunhong: [How much would you be willing to spend if I gave them to you?]

Ning Fei: [500]

This was equivalent to saying that “Duan Yunhong’s face is worthless”, which made Duan Yunhong stop replying. Ning Fei laughed at his sour face for a while, and just when he was about to send another message, Duan Yunhong’s new message came: [Only cost 200.]

Ning Fei: [???]

Duan Yunhong: [I said 200 at most, if you don’t agree, then thank you for helping me to hype it up, it just so happens the final is approaching and needs some buzz.]

Ning Fei: [Awesome (thumbs up)]

Ning Fei: [What if they say 200 isn’t even enough for gas money, aren’t you afraid they’ll really release our gossip?]

Duan Yunhong: [Are you afraid?]

Ning Fei: [I’m not afraid. It’s just that we were originally doing it for fun, and now we have to act like lovers, it’s kind of funny.]

After sending this message, Garcinia came to talk to Ning Fei. After Ning Fei chatted with her for a few minutes, when he looked at his phone again, he found that Duan Yunhong had withdrawn a message.

Ning Fei: [What did you withdraw?]

Duan Yunhong: [Nothing, sent it to the wrong person.]

Ning Fei didn’t think much about it, casually replying: [It’s rare for you to make this kind of mistake.]

Duan Yunhong didn’t reply for more than ten minutes this time. Ning Fei just assumed he was busy, and downloaded a photo from the internet of Duan Yunhong holding his shoulder while speaking – the version with the eggs photoshopped out – and sent it to Duan Yunhong.

[Tell those paparazzi in the future to at least come up with photos of this quality before trying to break our gossip, okay?]

*

The day of the final quickly arrived.

This time, the photo shoot and runway segments were not held separately. It was all D brand haute couture, starting with setting the makeup and taking photos, then walking the runway in the same makeup and clothing. And not only the contestants had to shoot and walk, but the supermodels who participated also had to go through the same process. The contestants were able to watch the supermodels’ photo shoots and rehearsals, which was also a very good learning opportunity.

After all, it was a grand final, so the production team invited a bunch of artists, guests, and celebrities to watch the show, basically replicating the form of the press conference. It is worth mentioning that even Gu Hechen received an invitation this time. Of course, he was arranged in the first row, just like when he went to watch Su Cenxi’s runway show.

However, Gu Hechen was always unconventional, or rather, prone to “overbearing CEO” syndrome. He didn’t come to watch the show in the evening as written on the invitation letter, but came in the afternoon during the hard photo shoot. Moreover, he came very suddenly. When Ning Fei was busy, he turned his head and found that Gu Hechen had actually entered the venue with the studio assistant!

“…What’s the situation?” Ning Fei frowned, and immediately turned around to meet him, stopping Gu Hechen in the back row, “Director Gu, it doesn’t seem like it’s your time to appear yet, right? What are you doing here now?”

Gu Hechen replied with confidence: “I’m here to visit my boyfriend, is there a problem?”

Ning Fei didn’t even want to bother with him, and just looked at the studio assistant next to him: “Why did you bring him in here? Does the production team know?”

The assistant was a little embarrassed: “I only said that he was also from the studio, and the production team didn’t stop me…”

Ning Fei was speechless: “And then you didn’t even say hello to me and directly brought him in?”

The assistant didn’t dare to answer, and Gu Hechen said coldly: “I told him to bring me in, you don’t need to talk nonsense here. Where is Cenxi?”

“He’s still in the makeup room touching up his makeup, and he’s going to take photos soon. Director Gu, this is not Su Cenxi’s solo work, and his photo shoot time is not long. The rest of the time he will be next to him as a guest commenting. There’s nothing to visit,” Ning Fei said, “And today’s work is very busy. The production team doesn’t have time to receive Director Gu’s extra visit, and I don’t know when Su Cenxi will be able to free up a lot of time to accompany you. Director Gu, please go back.”

“‘Please go back’?” Gu Hechen scoffed, looking at the studio with the lights flashing, “If I leave, wouldn’t I miss the scene of the famous photographer Albert photographing my boyfriend?”

Albert was precisely the photographer who used to pursue Su Cenxi. Gu Hechen therefore didn’t like Albert, and Su Cenxi was forced to promise him that he would no longer work as a model for Albert to take photos. However, this broken agreement was forcefully broken by Ning Fei long ago.

“I already warned you last time when Cenxi took photos for him behind my back,” Gu Hechen said coldly, “You’re playing these tricks again, aren’t you? Acting first and reporting later, being compliant on the surface but defiant in secret? If I hadn’t seen the photographer’s name written in the promotion of this show, would you all have directly concealed this matter?”

Ning Fei thought, I never agreed that I would never let Albert photograph Su Cenxi again, at most I just concealed it from you a little bit. Who would have expected the dignified CEO to actually read the show’s promotional text himself? Moreover, no wonder he had to bypass me and sneak into the production team; it turned out he knew that if he came to ask me, I definitely wouldn’t let him in.

— Director Gu’s “true love” for Su Cenxi can be described as the biggest obstacle to Ning Fei’s debt collection journey.

“Director Gu, the photographer was invited by the production team, and the process was set by the production team. If Su Cenxi refuses to take photos because of personal reasons, or requests to change a photographer, is he prepared to directly confirm the reputation of playing big and being disrespectful?” Seeing that it was almost Su Cenxi’s turn to take photos, Ning Fei was afraid that Gu Hechen would explode and go crazy, so he wanted to take him outside, “With so many people’s eyes here, what could happen? It makes no difference whether you are here or not, so hurry up and leave, lest you get more angry as you watch.”

“Afraid of me seeing if you have a guilty conscience?” Gu Hechen certainly didn’t want to leave, “I want to see if that Albert is really professional, and whether he will use his position to make Cenxi…”

“Director Gu came so early?”

A familiar male voice came from behind Ning Fei. He thought something bad was about to happen. When he turned his head, it was indeed Duan Yunhong walking over from the photo shoot front line.

The fatal thing was that the show’s filming camera followed over too!

——————–

Start of the March 3rd holiday, hahaha! Today is also my birthday! Going on a beautiful trip!!!