CH 30

April 2, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 30: Shooting an Advertisement

Translated and Edited by KChandra

The weather the next day was just like Xi Qing said in his text message. It was raining lightly and it was a cold spring day, so Gongxi Qiao shivered as soon as he stepped out of the house.

He Peng opened the car door for him and said after he got into the car, “Qiao Shao, Brother Chen has already gone to the shooting site to familiarize himself with the process with the person in charge, shall we go there now?”

Gongxi Qiao nodded and took off his jacket, “It’s good to go early. I can still have more time to communicate with the cameraman.” Since he signed with Senhe, he had learned some techniques of shooting print ads from professional teachers, but he had no actual experience of shooting print ads except for shooting magazine covers. But since he had taken the endorsement fee from them, he still wanted to do his best.

When he arrived at the shooting location, Gongxi Qiao was taken away by the costume designer after he greeted the shooting team one by one under the leadership of Chen Ke.

This time Ya De launched four new items: a formal outfit, a casual outfit, a home outfit, and a retro outfit. Gongxi Qiao had to shoot the formal outfit and the casual outfit in the morning.

After makeup, the fashion designer was satisfied with Gongxi Qiao from head to toe. Then he said, “It’s simply perfect, Qiao Shao. You stand out like this. You’re a living billboard for my clothing, ah.”

Several other staff members let out good-natured laughter. Gongxi Qiao followed and laughed, “Thank you, teacher, for building up my cheekiness. I definitely won’t be nervous when I’m on camera later.”

“Eh, I would like to have a face like yours. I wouldn’t be nervous to be on camera,” the designer gently tapped his shoulder and then smiled, “Your face is really pleasing to the eye.”

Gongxi Qiao skillfully avoided the other party’s hand that was trying to touch his chin and smiled, “Teacher is too kind.”

The designer saw the situation and drew back his hand. His smile became more formal. “I’m just telling the truth.”

“Qiao Shao, the set is ready.” A staff member walked into the dressing room. “Are you done with your makeup?” As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Gongxi Qiao’s tall and elegant figure standing in the middle of the room. He made the other male colleagues look like crooked melons and cracked dates.

“The make-up is ready.” Gongxi Qiao walked up to the staff member and smiled at him, “Please lead the way.”

The designer looked at his hand with some regret, shrugged and turned his head to the makeup artist who was packing his makeup box, “Where is this little fresh meat from? He looks really pleasing to the eye.”

The makeup artist didn’t even raise his head and said, “Don’t get any ideas, he’s a second generation rich kid.”

The designer hummed and then, although he didn’t say anything more, he restrained himself a lot and never asked anyone about Gongxi Qiao again.

“Very good.” Wu Qi was Ya De’s superstar cameraman and also a famous cameraman in the circle. He had won many medals in photography competitions, and most of Ya De’s print ads were personally photographed by him. When he heard that the spokesperson was a newcomer, he was a bit worried about the results of the photo shoot. However, when Gongxi Qiao came out after changing his outfit, he found that the other party’s appearance was more in line with his camera requirements than he thought, so the little worry he had was thrown away to the clouds.

After the official start of the shoot, he found that Gongxi Qiao’s temperament was really good. His poses weren’t quite up to standard, but after some communication, the other party’s performance made him feel more and more comfortable with his shots.

He found Gongxi Qiao to be a very good collaborator who not only understood what he was saying, but also didn’t think he was being presumptuous, which made him feel very happy about the shoot.

“Perfect, too perfect.” Wu Qi excitedly pressed the shutter and gave a thumbs up to Gongxi Qiao, “If you go into modeling, you will definitely become a world famous gold supermodel. These body proportions can only be described as perfect. The only thing worth regretting is that you’re too handsome. I think many fashion designers would worry about your face stealing the limelight from the clothes.”

Having said that, Wu Qi put down his camera and unscrewed a bottle of water in front of Gongxi Qiao and handed it to him, “Take a break, we’ll shoot the next set in half an hour.”

“Thank you,” Gongxi Qiao took a sip from the bottle and leaned against the luxurious sofa beneath him to stretch out.

“To be honest, your temperament and figure do belong to a rare and superb category. Have you ever thought of entering the fashion industry?” Wu Qi dragged a stool and sat down next to him. “I don’t believe that circle would reject a good candidate like you.”

“This kind of thing can only be left to fate. It can’t be forced.” Gongxi Qiao didn’t care much and smiled. The domestic fashion circle wasn’t perfect, and foreign fashion brands rarely looked for Flower Country spokespeople, so it was much harder for domestic artists to really enter the foreign fashion circle over the years. And, he didn’t intend to casually find an invitation to walk the red carpet. This kind of thing was able to deceive amateurs, but who in the circle wasn’t familiar with this same old thing?

Wu Qi smiled and didn’t persuade. Although he was a bit delighted to find new prey, it was only that. It wasn’t worth his effort to help a newly popular artist enter the circle that many people wanted to squeeze into.

If you see this message this content has been stolen. Please read at KChandraTL [dot] wordpress [dot] com.

After the publicity photos of the two outfits were taken, it was already after noon. The person in charge of Ya De arranged a sumptuous box lunch for everyone. When the box lunch was sent to Gongxi Qiao, the person in charge made it a point to apologize for the poor hospitality.

“Everyone has worked hard,” Gongxi Qiao said with a smile as he opened the lid of the box, “and the food looks very appetizing.”

The person in charge breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. This time, the shooting was moved to after the Lantern Festival due to the New Year holidays. The company’s new products had to be launched in a hurry, so they had to step up their shooting schedule and condemn everyone to eat the boxed lunches together.

Fortunately, although Gongxi Qiao was a rich second generation and also popular, he was friendly and dedicated. Otherwise, if he had lost his temper over this matter today, the work progress would’ve been delayed until very late.

As soon as he had a few bites of rice, Gongxi Qiao heard a commotion coming from the doorway and looked up to see a group of people flanking Xi Qing walking in. The situation was like the son of heaven going on a tour.

At this time, regardless of whether it was playing with their phones or eating, everyone put down what they were holding and got up to welcome Xi Qing. Even Chen Ke was no exception.

Gongxi Qiao looked around and thought he should go with the flow, but he had just put down his lunchbox and didn’t have time to get up before Xi Qing had strode over to him.

Looking with some disgust at the lunch box Gongxi Qiao just put down, Xi Qing frowned and said, “Why are you eating this, are there not enough funds?”

The logistics staff wept silently in their hearts, this is already a luxury configuration for fast food, okay.

“Young people should eat less fast food, it’s not good for the body,” Xi Qing took the insulated box from the assistant’s hand and put it on the small table next to Gongxi Qiao.

“I just had dinner with some friends, and remembered that you’re shooting here, so I brought you one. These are newly made by the chef. No one has touched them, try the taste.”

Gongxi Qiao saw that the insulated box also had the logo of the famous 100-year-old gourmet restaurant, Ba Wei Xuan, so he smiled and opened the lid. “It smells good. Then, I won’t be polite.”

“No need to be polite with me,” Xi Qing sat down beside him and then said to the crowd, “Everyone has worked hard. Go eat, I’m just passing by to take a look, no need to be formal.”

Once everyone heard this, they scattered, then looked for a remote corner to continue eating, so as not to scare the boss by eating badly.

Xi Qing, who was sitting at the table with Gongxi Qiao, found that Gongxi Qiao was a person who could eat beautifully. Obviously, his movements weren’t particularly refined, but he had a special sense of sophistication.

Perhaps he still remembered his chance encounter with Gongxi Qiao after so many years not only because of his words, but also because of his ability to eat kebabs quickly and elegantly.

After drinking most of the pigeon stew, Gongxi Qiao looked down at his abdomen. Fortunately, it didn’t bulge out. Otherwise, it would’ve been embarrassing if word got out about the consequences of overeating and shooting pictures or something.

“It’s still raining outside. Remember to ask your assistant to give you a cup of cold medicine after you finish shooting on location this afternoon,” Xi Qing raised his wrist to look at his watch and got up. “I have a meeting this afternoon, so I’ll leave first.”

“That’s fine, I won’t keep you from your business.” Gongxi Qiao nodded and got up to see him off, but was pressed back by Xi Qing.

“You sit and rest for a while, don’t be too tired.”

Then Gongxi Qiao watched as Xi Qing walked out of the shoot with an empty lunch box in his hand, and was stunned that Xi Qing had come all this way just to bring him a meal.

In fact, the staff present were more surprised than Gongxi Qiao. Although they had heard that the big boss and Gongxi Qiao had some friendship, they only thought that it was a superficial friendship in the circle of rich people. However, today they saw that the big boss made this trip just to deliver a lunch box, which made their brains a bit confused.

So, the big boss and Qiao Shao are really good friends, it’s not just a rumor?

In that moment, all of them began to secretly thank themselves that they were very polite to Qiao Shao from the beginning to the end and didn’t neglect the other party just because he wasn’t famous enough.

On second thought, Qiao Shao and the big boss had such a good relationship, but during the photo shoot, he was so serious and hardworking. He didn’t show off, and he was really much more low-key than some artists in the circle.

The human psyche was strange. When a person with a much higher status made a kind gesture, it tended to be easier to make people feel good than when an ordinary person made a kind gesture. Probably because the former was difficult for them to do, and the latter was easier to get.

After a half hour break from the meal, Gongxi Qiao went to do his makeup and change his clothes before going outdoors to shoot the vintage style menswear.

This retro outfit was actually a combination of traditional clothing and modern fashion. The fabric chosen was the color of basalt, which was considered a noble color in ancient times, and the cufflinks and collar buttons were all made of jade-like material. If you looked closely, you could also see the cuffs and lapels had intricate dark patterns.

A tree, a wooden table, a glass of wine – these were all the props for the shoot. The cameraman wanted Gongxi Qiao to show the backbone and arrogance of the ancient aristocracy, and it was up to Gongxi Qiao to figure out how to play it.

In everyone’s mind, in order to show this impression, he must use his sitting posture and hand gestures to convey it. However, to everyone’s surprise, Gongxi Qiao’s sitting posture was very standard, and he didn’t even pose deliberately.

But when his hand touched the wine glass and he slightly bowed his head, it gave people the impression of a nobleman in a high position. The cameraman was so excited that he kept pressing the shutter, wishing he could grow a few more fingers.

“A gentleman may have his head severed, but his backbone must not be bent,” the designer sighed as he looked at Gongxi Qiao, who was being photographed, “In my lifetime, I have finally seen with my own eyes what it means to be a bandit king, like gold, like tin, like Gui, like Bi, the ‘Book of Songs’ did not deceive me.”[1]

After lamenting this sentence, he felt a little regret. It was a pity that such a person was not destined for people like them to wish for.

In order to shoot the effect, when Gongxi Qiao shot these outdoor photos, he was going to get wet in the rain directly. So once the shooting was over, everyone gathered around, bringing tea and water and clothes to wear. Because they were so active, even Gongxi Qiao’s two assistants were squeezed out.

“Brother Chen, they seem to be extra enthusiastic this afternoon,” Xiao Yao brushed up against Chen Ke and whispered, “They didn’t seem to be like this when they came in the morning.”

Chen smiled, “This circle is like that, just get used to it.”

In order to avoid any bathroom sneak shots, Gongxi Qiao didn’t use the temporary bathroom arranged by the collaborator after the shoot. After changing into his own clothes, he said goodbye to everyone and left.

“Qiao Shao, the way you tilted your head and drank just now was really good-looking,” Xiao Yao said with excitement on her face, “I’m sure that when your poster is put up, it’ll be secretly stolen by people, and then a lot of your pirated posters will appear in those small roadside stationery stores.”

Xiao Yao didn’t know how to describe her feelings at that time. It was like being electrocuted, her whole body was tingling and she wanted to jump on Gongxi Qiao. Fortunately, she still held on to her modesty and looked much more calm than several other female staff members on the scene.

“Isn’t that an exaggeration?” Gongxi Qiao put away his phone and laughed, “I see that your mouth is getting sweeter and sweeter now.”

“Ever since I was little, people have praised me for being honest, I never lie to people.” Xiao Yao noticed that Gongxi Qiao seemed to be texting, so after she said this, she said no more so as not to disturb the other party.

She usually interacted with other celebrity assistants in the company when she had nothing to do, and realized that not every assistant was as stress-free and well-paid as she was.

While the salaries paid to assistants in the company were similar, most artists would give bonuses to their assistants every month. The amount of the bonus would depend on the generosity of the artist.

Anyway, after some secret comparisons, her total salary was definitely one of the best. So, whenever she heard other assistants complaining privately about the artists they were working with, she felt a weird sense of pride and satisfaction.

“The soup was delicious, thanks.

Sender: Gongxi Qiao.”

Xi Qing put down his phone, looked at the people in the room, and spoke, “Everyone’s work went well this month, I hope you can keep it up next month.”

The executives who had three proposals rejected in a row breathed a sigh of relief, but there was still a faint doubt in their hearts.

The boss, who always strived for excellence, let them off so easily today? This was not scientific, ah.

T/N: