LWDC Chapter 35

Chapter 35 – Water That’s Been Drunk

Chapter 35 – Water That’s Been Drunk

Chapter 35 – Water That’s Been Drunk

Throughout the entire photoshoot, Ning Fei stood at the forefront, just outside the camera’s view.

He barely glanced at his phone during the process, his gaze almost constantly shifting between Su Cenxi, Albert, and Gu Hechen. Even small tasks that an assistant would normally handle, like fetching water, were done personally by Ning Fei, just to keep a close watch on Gu Hechen and Su Cenxi’s states.

Whenever Gu Hechen’s expression turned icy, as if he were about to erupt, Ning Fei would grab a bottle of water, walk over, and shove it into his hand, forcibly interrupting his excessive focus on the shoot. If Gu Hechen continued to stare intently at Albert, not even sparing Ning Fei a glance, Ning Fei would casually place his hand on Gu Hechen’s shoulder, using a bit of force to hold him down, and lean close to his ear to whisper, “Calm down, it’ll be over soon.”

Gu Hechen glanced at him, remembering to keep his voice down as he retorted, “The things that guy is saying are enough to sue him for sexual harassment! Are you just going to stand there and do nothing?!”

He was obviously referring to Albert’s frivolous remarks during the photoshoot, spouting terms of endearment like “baby,” “darling,” and “I love you so much” as if they cost nothing. Ning Fei smiled and whispered back, “He says that to everyone. He’d praise you as an ‘angel’ if he were photographing you.”

Gu Hechen shuddered, his face darkening as he remained silent.

Sitting on the other side, Duan Yunhong suddenly turned his head, “What are you two chatting about? Does CEO Gu have any suggestions or opinions on Su Cenxi’s photos?”

“No. CEO Gu’s assistant didn’t come in, so I’m just helping him pass on a message,” Ning Fei interjected before Gu Hechen could answer, even standing up and walking a couple of steps towards Duan Yunhong. “Why hasn’t anyone brought Director Duan any water? Have some water, Director Duan, you’ll have even more comments to make tonight.”

This was an almost blatant accusation that Duan Yunhong was being nosy. As he spoke, Ning Fei pulled a small bottle of water from his pocket and semi-forcibly handed it to Duan Yunhong.

Duan Yunhong actually took it, twisted the cap open, and then gave Ning Fei a meaningful look.

This water was the one Ning Fei had drunk from.

However, he’d only taken a small sip and then casually put it in his pocket, so it might not be obvious to the naked eye that it was water that had already been opened. But when Duan Yunhong twisted the cap, he could tell from the feel that the bottle had been opened.

Ning Fei’s expression was calm, without a hint of guilt for having done something bad.

Duan Yunhong met his gaze, but didn’t point out that there was a problem with the water. Instead, he opened the bottle and took a sip in front of him. Ning Fei watched him drink, silently chuckled, and finally turned and walked away.

*

Ning Fei continued to keep a close eye on the scene. As soon as Su Cenxi finished shooting, he took another assistant straight to the set, picked up Su Cenxi, and walked out.

As he passed Gu Hechen, Ning Fei reminded him, seemingly naturally, to come along. Gu Hechen obliged, getting up and following, and two-thirds of the troublemakers were taken away by Ning Fei. Later, when Albert came over to look at the photos with Duan Yunhong, he asked, a bit deliberately, “Why isn’t Su Cenxi looking at the photos? Did he leave with his boyfriend?”

Garsiline, who was staying behind, had been listening with her ears perked up. Hearing this, she rushed forward to explain, “Xi Xi’s feet are uncomfortable, he’s gone to the makeup artist to change shoes and check on his feet. He’ll be back soon if there are no major issues. CEO Gu just went to say hello and then left, he’ll be back to see the show tonight.”

As soon as she said this, Duan Yunhong and Albert both turned to look at her, said nothing, and turned back.

Garsiline felt like she had survived a crisis, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and retreated.

–Ning Fei had really guessed that someone would talk nonsense on the spot. This show is so messed up!

*

Later, when Su Cenxi came back after changing shoes, Gu Hechen had already left.

But Su Cenxi still skillfully squeezed into the group of guests, with people on both sides, so Albert couldn’t easily find a chance to talk to him alone. After the photoshoot, Su Cenxi was also the first to leave. The degree of urgency made it seem as if he was rushing to another job.

In fact, he still had to walk the runway that night, so he wouldn’t leave the broadcasting center at all.

Ning Fei naturally stayed with Su Cenxi in the lounge. He’d been tense all afternoon and was finally relaxing when he received a message from Duan Yunhong: 【Come smoke.】

Ning Fei raised an eyebrow and replied: 【No.】

Duan Yunhong: 【I’m the only one in my lounge.】

Ning Fei: 【I don’t give a damn.】

Duan Yunhong: 【Want to discuss work with you.】

Ning Fei: 【Trying to lure me away?】

Duan Yunhong didn’t reply, but sent a photo. It was a photo of a business card, no name, but a large brand LOGO – this was indeed a jewelry and luxury brand. It was an old brand in U Continent, and had stubbornly refused to come to the Greater China region. Ning Fei knew he couldn’t compete with those U Continent supermodels, so he naturally hadn’t tried to court them.

But now, Duan Yunhong was actually willing to build a bridge between this brand and Su Cenxi? Really?

Whatever the truth was, this hook had really snagged Ning Fei. He stood up and said, “I’m going to have a cigarette, and I might as well grab dinner outside. Xi Xi, don’t wander around, call me anytime if anything happens.”

Everyone nodded, and Ning Fei left Su Cenxi’s lounge and went to another floor. He knew where Duan Yunhong’s lounge was, but this was his first time there. On the way, he ran into two ST female models – one of whom was Annie – and they nodded and greeted each other in a friendly manner. Annie even asked him what he was doing here.

Ning Fei smiled, “Andrew called me over to give me a scolding.”

When dealing with foreign supermodels, you have to speak a foreign language, so Ning Fei smoothly switched Duan Yunhong’s name to its foreign equivalent.

Annie was a little surprised, “Really? Andrew’s very gentlemanly.”

Ning Fei replied in a serious tone, “He’s very gentlemanly to his precious models, but not so polite to other people’s managers.”

Annie blinked, and smiled, “But he saved you, I think he likes you, why would he scold you?”

Ning Fei started making up lies without hesitation, “There are a lot of things you don’t know, madam. Excuse me, if I delay any longer, he’ll have another reason to lecture me.”

Annie let him pass with a giggle. After Ning Fei walked away, another ST supermodel next to Annie whispered, “Is Andrew really going to scold him? Because he disrupted the shot earlier by getting in the frame?”

Annie raised her eyebrows, “Do you really believe he’ll be scolded? Andrew wouldn’t even look at someone he really hates, would he call them over to scold them? Think about those disobedient little models, does he kick them out directly, or educate them privately?”

The girl next to her nodded thoughtfully.

On the other side, Ning Fei entered Duan Yunhong’s lounge, and sure enough, he was the only one there.

Ning Fei wasn’t polite with him. When he saw the business card still on the table, he walked straight over and reached out to take it. “Thanks.”

Duan Yunhong was sitting next to him, pressing down on his hand. “You want to take it just like that?”

Ning Fei: “Didn’t I say ‘thank you’?”

“Just like that?” Duan Yunhong looked up at him, “You can’t not know the value of this business card.”

“Director Duan, can you not pretend to be such a good person?” Ning Fei raised an eyebrow, “If the brand hadn’t specifically asked for Su Cenxi, would you have been willing to give up this opportunity? You’d rather give it to a stray cat or dog on the street than to Su Cenxi, so don’t use this to try to curry favor with me.”

His tone sounded genuinely unhappy, and Duan Yunhong released his hand, “Still angry?”

“Shouldn’t I be angry?” Ning Fei picked up the business card, flipped it over, scanned it, and then put it in his inside pocket, “Coming over with a camera to stir up trouble, I’m already well-mannered for not lashing out on the spot, right?”

“You seem to have misunderstood. Gu Hechen is, after all, the actual controller of the Gu Corporation. It would have been impolite if none of the senior executives of the show had greeted him after his sudden visit,” Duan Yunhong explained calmly, “I just invited him to get a closer look at the shoot. Albert’s behavior was a bit impulsive, and I’ve already reminded him about it privately. This isn’t his personal studio, there are many cameras filming, he shouldn’t have been so reckless with his words.”

Ning Fei thought to himself, you’re really good at shifting the blame.

But what he said was, “Oh, I see. Well, I’m leaving.”

As he said this, he actually turned around. Duan Yunhong glanced at his hand, held back, and instead said, “Then let’s talk about you getting into the shot this afternoon?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Ning Fei stopped and turned back to look at him, “Even if I said I wanted all the shots with me in them deleted, would you, oh no, I should say the show, would the show be willing to give up this good opportunity for hype?”

“This is a good opportunity for hype in the first place,” Duan Yunhong replied, “I don’t think Gu Hechen cared that much. He just said a few words to Albert, isn’t that a great point for hype? In U Continent, artists love to use this kind of topic to maintain their popularity. There are no legal issues, and morally, you can argue it either way. And the audience just loves to watch this kind of gossip.”

“I know what you’re trying to say, but you don’t need to persuade me, I’m not one of your subordinates,” Ning Fei couldn’t explain to him what Gu Hechen had done, so he simply avoided the topic, “In short, I can’t stop you from making a fuss about this, I just hope you reduce my screen time. I know it was wrong of me to get in the shot without permission, so please try to downplay my appearance as much as possible. I’m just a manager, I already have enough attention on me, I don’t need you to create more topics for me.”

Duan Yunhong replied, “So, it’s okay to create a scandal, but not with you?”

Ning Fei: “…”

Ning Fei: “You’re phrasing that in a very ambiguous way, Director Duan.”

Duan Yunhong paused for a moment before realizing, “I’m talking to you about serious matters, what kind of dirty thoughts are you having in your head!”

“It was clearly you…” Tsk, alright, my bad.” Ning Fei didn’t want to argue with him here, so he said, “In short, I don’t dare to make any other requests. Just don’t drag the topic onto me. As for this–”

He tapped the business card through his jacket, “If it really works out, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“Who cares about a meal from you?” Duan Yunhong took a bottle of water from the table, “Drink this, and that’ll be enough to thank me.”

Ning Fei immediately guessed, “This is the water I gave you? You couldn’t bear to finish it, so you brought it back specifically?”

Duan Yunhong picked up the water and handed it to him, not answering, but asking, “I drank it, aren’t you going to drink it?”

Ning Fei had previously used the water to shut him up, and now Duan Yunhong was returning the water, although not to shut him up, but to regain some ground.

But Ning Fei could easily change the meaning.

He smiled, took the water, and placed it on the table next to him. Then, he grabbed the armrests of Duan Yunhong’s chair and leaned down.

“Director Duan, if you want to kiss me, you can just say so directly, why be so indirect?”

After saying that, Ning Fei kissed him directly.