CH 5

CHAPTER 5—Dress Fitting

Their group flew out of the airport on the prepared aircraft and turned onto a translucent light track in the upper airspace.

At the beginning of their journey, there were one or two private aircrafts tracking them. But later, they found that their aircraft was shielded, and it was impossible to see who was inside, so they all diverted and disappeared.

Zhou Cheng looked at the screen in front of his eyes and found that they were already halfway to their destination, and were about to arrive at their hotel.

So, he turned around and spoke to Xie Yu who was sitting in the back row, “Check-in to the hotel first, and then we will go to get the clothing sponsorship together.”

Over the years, although Xie Yu as an artist under him has never won an award, he has walked on the red carpet of film festivals many times with brand endorsements, and his clothes matching has often become the focus of media attention every year.

Many brands have set up studios on this tourist star, providing clothing loan services for artists who come to participate in the film festival every year.

This way artists don’t need to pay a high price to make a special trip, and the brands are also happy to have multiple promotion opportunities—this is a mutually beneficial cooperation, known as clothing sponsorship.

And Xie Yu has been the darling of major brands all these past years.

While Zhou Cheng was talking about work, Xie Yu was chatting with his family.

[Is everything better? If you are under a lot of pressure, you can take a break… Or we can come to the Capital Star to see you? It happens to be that we’re not too busy in the noodle shop right now.]

Remembering that the original body had a younger sister who was studying in the Capital Star, Xie Yu thought about what to say and prepared to reply.

Hearing Zhou Cheng’s explanation about their schedule, he raised his head hastily as he continued typing a reply, “Huh? Sponsorship?”

[It’s okay, you don’t need to make a special trip. I am also on a business trip right now, and I will not return to the Capital Star for a while. Everything is already much better. After finishing the work at hand, I should be able to take Xiao Chan back home.]

Xie Yu just finished sending his message and received a quick reply.

[Okay, we’ll wait for you. Pay attention to rest.]

The worried tone of the original’s parents was very moving, and a smile appeared on his lips.

“…It’s a pity.” Zhou Cheng leaned back and shrugged his shoulders, “We came too late, all the suitable brands have been reserved, and the rest are either unattractive or not in line with your worth.”

“Is our company’s clothing department still able to make formal wear in a hurry?” Fei Chen, who was sitting on the side, remembered that there seemed to be a department in their company that specially made clothes for celebrities.

This department more often served newcomers, and the seniors who were capable of getting sponsors no longer considered such department services.

“No way. Don’t think about it.” Zhou Cheng refused directly, “Do you want Xie Yu to be laughed at by those younger generations?”

Fei Chen knew he said something wrong, so he just nodded in response.

Anna patted Fei Chen on the shoulder, expressing comfort.

“The replies from other brands are useless, only Jiafan said that they can let you go and have a look.”

Zhou Cheng obviously also understood that on other occasions, they could solve the styling by themselves, but at film festivals, clothing sponsorships are like golden admission tickets, and it was necessary to seek external cooperation.

High-end brand authorization to use their clothes has always been strict, and so if a sponsor endorses an artists, they will have more confidence when walking on the red carpet.

Zhou Cheng looked back at Xie Yu, who was still typing on the light screen, and looked away thoughtfully.

In fact, Xie Yu has passed the stage of needing sponsors to endorse him.

If everything went well enough, he should have been able to carry the banner of a trendsetter this time again.

No matter which studio was chosen, they could promote it and attract countless amounts of attention.

But this time, I don’t know if it’s because it was urgent, or if those high-end brands have long intended to alienate Xie Yu—none of them have left clothes for Xie Yu…

Zhou Cheng was actually a little annoyed, but he couldn’t be angry with Xie Yu, he only blamed himself for not fulfilling his duties as a manager.

During Xie Yu’s ups and downs, he failed to keep Xie Yu’s prestige and face as a first-line artist in the Interstellar.

Fans may not understand it, but this kind of behavior was too common in the circle.

High-end resources have a sort of cluster effect.

Once one of them closes the channel to Xie Yu, opportunities in many other fields will gradually break down.

And now there were signs of this predicament.

After Xie Yu replied to the messages sent by his mother, promising to go home after the festival, he put away his light brain and stopped surfing the Internet.

He then pulled open the isolation panel on the aircraft and looked at the huge electronic posters hanging on the buildings.

There were high-end luxury advertisements that sponsored the film festivals, and there were also promotional posters for the Golden Laurel movies…

As the aircraft continued on according to the navigation, Xie Yu moved his gaze, and saw his face at a close distance.

The picture was in the style of a painting. A huge golden toilet was held in his hands.

There was no flaw on the handsome face, with a gentle and reserved smile.

But there was a bright red slogan on the top of his head, and the wording was particularly explicit.

[The Golden Toilet is in your arms, if you don’t bet, you will miss the opportunity!]

This huge poster was not an official promotion of the Golden Toilet, but an advertisement for an unknown gaming platform.

For a brief minute, Xie Yu couldn’t remember where this photo was taken.

He only remembered that he did not cooperate with the film festival to do any promotion this year, and it was clear that the Golden Toilet Award list had not yet been finalized.

This promotional picture was understandably a gimmick, and it was really overdone.

Zhou Cheng also saw the picture, gritted his teeth, and remained silent.

He only took out his light brain quickly, obviously preparing to do something about this platform.

Xie Yu didn’t say a word, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

He still underestimated the impact of the Golden Toilet Award on the original.

Now that he’s faced such things and seen them up close, he could see that the original was indeed pulled out to become a target of public opinion.

No wonder the original body’s psychological pressure soared so much that he chose to give up on life.

The aircraft arrived at the hotel, and everyone checked in after confirming their room numbers.

Xie Yu simply tidied up quickly, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and followed his manager.

Instead of going to the hotel lobby, they chose to connect to the aircraft directly from the hotel room and headed straight to Jiafan’s studio.

“Ayu, there’s a new group of villas over there!” Anna leaned against the window of the aircraft, pointing curiously at the semi-suspended independent buildings in the distance, “An antique Earth style? It’s so beautiful…”

Xie Yu followed her gaze and saw the scene of a bright red sea at sunset.

The edge of the sea was connected to a gentle slope, and further up, there were really villas.

The architectural style was very similar to a romantic southern French village he had been to in the past.

Even the color of the vegetation hanging on and around the houses were similar to what was seen on Earth.

Only the suspension of the villas above the ground reminded him that the time and place he was in now was no longer the Earth era.

As Xie Yu let out a sound of agreement with a low voice, his eyes stayed on the buildings for a long time.

*****

Jiafan’s studio was set up at the corner of the Film Festival Park.

When Xie Yu and his party arrived, they saw several aircraft parked around the studio.

“Hurry up, we have to see if there is still a chance.” Zhou Cheng pushed Xie Yu forward, looking straight inside the studio.

The sensor door opened automatically, and Xie Yu stepped into the inner space of the studio.

A quiet atmosphere greeted him, and there was no one in the gray-white space he stepped into.

“Don’t wait here. I greeted them, so go in directly.” Seeing that Xie Yu was in a daze, Zhou Cheng patted Xie Yu’s arm as a reminder, and then led the way inside.

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The further the two walked in, the more they could sense and feel the busy working atmosphere.

Before entering the inner room, in the semi-open corridor, they could see various staff members hurrying past with various clothing parts, creating a gust of wind as they passed by.

In the inner room, several male and female artists, who were either fit or slender, were being manipulated by the staff, as they were adjusting their postures under bright lights in their dress-wear.

There are different kinds of beauty, but those clothes had an edge on the left and a ring on the right, which went completely beyond the acceptance range of Xie Yu, a native of the Earth.

He maintained a decent expression, but there was a gloomy look in his eyes.

Xie Yu’s entry attracted everyone’s attention, and the originally noisy atmosphere came to a halt.

Many artists actually stared at Xie Yu in a daze, and waited for a few seconds before greeting him politely.

There were also many staff members who were not clear about the situation, so they bit the bullet and stepped forward to ask Xie Yu and Zhou Cheng why they were here.

Obviously, it was completely unexpected that the big star who was nominated for the Golden Toilet Award would really come.

Zhou Cheng was in a hurry to confirm the clothes, and didn’t pay attention to those ambiguous looks.

He took Xie Yu further inside, and saw a thin man rushing towards them.

It was Xu Lei, the only human executive in the Jiafan Group, a senior fashion director, and the person who has led the five-year brand cooperation between Jiafan and Xie Yu.

He was also a smooth and suave gentleman.

“Are you here so soon? I thought you’d take a while.” After the man finished speaking, he raised his hand and led Xie Yu to his office, “Most of the clothes that suit Xie Yu have already been taken, and the rest are not sure to be available, so we have to try an figure things out. I’m really sorry. After all, it’s too sudden, so I was caught off guard…”

Zhou Cheng responded in a low voice, having no intention of fussing about anything right now.

Next, Xie Yu tried on several sets of clothes in a row.

Although each piece could be seen as design that might become the focus of the fashion media, no one was satisfied.

Even the assistants who helped Xie Yu try on the clothes stopped and stood aside.

“It doesn’t feel right.” Xu Lei looked at the tall and handsome young man, admiring him but with some regrets.

He shook his head and sighed helplessly.

Xu Lei had a dichotomous view regarding clothes and people.

For a fashion show, it is certainly a hope that the clothes will be highlighted, but the red carpet is dominated by people, and more attention will be paid to the people who wear the clothes themselves.

He has always felt that Xie Yu was a rare beauty among the human race, which should be set off by wearing a sufficiently delicate and suitable dress-wear on such big occasions.

However, the several sets of clothes he tried now not only couldn’t fully fit Xie Yu’s image, but also completely eliminated Xie Yu’s original temperament.

Like a bright diamond hastily wrapped in old newspapers, it was extremely abrupt.

Zhou Cheng was not good with fashion, so he didn’t see much difference.

Xie Yu didn’t ask for strange clothes, but after trying a few of them on, he was even more displeased.

At this moment, he could understand the ‘feeling of incompleteness’ from Xu Lei’s previous words.

Everyone started to feel embarrassed, and were thinking about more possibilities.

Xie Yu and Zhou Cheng looked at each other, exchanging opinions with their eyes.

They didn’t have much time, and Jiafan really couldn’t help them, so they immediately considered finding another way out.

Just as the two were about to speak, Xu Lei, who had been in deep thought, raised his eyebrows in surprise, “There is another way! I have a friend who is a collector… Earth-style retro suits, would it be okay?”

Zhou Cheng frowned, listening to Xu Lei’s suggestion.

He couldn’t recall what kind of clothes he was talking about.

On the other hand, Xie Yu’s eyes lit up beside him.