CH 22

Ye Li’s indifference didn’t affect the baseball cap guy at all.

The baseball cap guy spread his legs and put a hand on his knee for a savvy and mature look. 

“Are you here to take photos for Taobao or for a magazine?”

Ye Li looked at his watch and spoke perfunctorily.

“Neither.”

The baseball cap guy went ahead and jumped to his own conclusions. 

“Then, did you hire a photography agency to rent the place and take your pictures? Actually, those agencies aren’t very professional. They’ll shoot photos with just a single camera and edit the photos so much you won’t even be able to recognize yourself. Plus, they’ll charge you a ton of money and the photo won’t even turn out good.”

The baseball cap guy thought that he had figured Ye Li out, so he suddenly started chattering non-stop. To think he had almost been fooled by Ye Li’s suit and tie.

Ye Li tried to interrupt him but couldn’t find a chance to cut him off.

The baseball cap guy carried the entire conversation on his own.

“It’s just taking a photo. A regular photography studio is more than enough. Ordinary people like you guys don’t really need to rent a place like this. It’s too expensive and too professional. Ordinary photographers probably can’t even name these lights and light reflectors.”

“It’s more cost-effective for people like us to use this studio. We know how to make use of the equipment.”

The studio wasn’t ready yet, and his own artist was being gloomy and silent in a corner by himself. Ye Li was very idle. The only thing he could do was sit and wait.

But Ye Li still didn’t want to waste his time listening to this guy toot his own horn. 

Initially, Ye Li thought that the baseball cap guy might be a paparazzi, or he might’ve been someone passing by who wanted to make conversation.

However, he never imagined that the other party was here to brag about himself.

Although, he didn’t understand how this kind of thing was worth getting a sense of superiority over. Whatever, they ran with different circles, no point in minding it.

“It’s better for us because we actually have some experience. Although, we typically shoot finished products, then sell the photos to magazines. We usually make just enough to break even. Occasionally, we’ll take commission work.” 

The baseball cap guy pointed to a couple of young people in the middle of shooting.

“If only you guys had met me earlier. We have a professional team. Although, we usually don’t take personal orders. We only take orders from professional models. Pretty much all of our photos are of models.”

He rested a hand on the back of the sofa.

“It’s hard to take photos for your average person, takes a lot of time. Professional models can strike a ton of poses in a matter of seconds. Even if you take the photo with your cell phone camera, it’ll still look good, and they won’t have any stiff or awkward expressions.” 

The baseball cap guy pointed to the female model that they were currently shooting.

“That model over there, she’s a trainee from Starlight Entertainment. She’s my classmate.”

Ye Li looked up when he heard the word Starlight.

Tripods, cameras, light reflectors, it actually looked somewhat professional. 

All of the people over there, including baseball cap guy, looked rather young.

The female model who was being photographed stepped down. Then, she switched places with the boy who was holding up the light reflector.

Ye Li’s eyebrows jumped.

Xiao Ke, who was standing behind Ye Li, struggled to suppress her smile. She could barely hold it in anymore. 

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The female model had finished her work, so she also walked over. She picked up a bottle of water nearby.

She glanced at Ye Li.

Although Ye Li was an agent, he was still pretty good-looking. Plus, he was also fairly tall, almost as tall as Gu Qingchi, and his clothes were high quality.

When he had just entered this industry, there had always been people mistaking him to be an artist. 

He wore gold-rimmed glasses and a suit. He looked very much like an elite. Wherever he stood, he would draw attention.

The female model nudged the baseball cap guy who wouldn’t stop chattering and whispered.

“Do you know this guy?”

“Just met him.” 

After the baseball cap guy finished speaking, he turned to talk to Xiao Ke again.

“She’s a trainee at Starlight. It’s the company Xie Luyu is from. She runs into Xie Luyu at the company all the time.”

The female model lightly slapped the baseball cap guy on his arm. However, she didn’t actually look angry at him, but rather she was just playfully scolding him.

Xiao Ke’s smile deepened. 

“I heard you say that you guys are classmates. Are you both still students? That’s amazing.”

“We’re all students. We’re in our fourth year of college. We signed up for modeling and acting classes, and I’d say we’re pretty talented. She’s the best out of all of us, though. Her career developed the fastest, and she managed to get into Starlight Entertainment. Who knows, maybe you’ll see her on TV in a couple of years.”

Xiao Ke hummed in response. She was also in her fourth year of college.

“Then, are you guys majoring in film or theatre?” 

“No, we were actually just hobbyists, but we unexpectedly ended up entering the industry. Now, we’re able to make some money doing something we love. You know, the industry looks super glamourous from the outside, but it isn’t easy. For example, she often models for Taobao. One photoshoot can take a whole day. ”

“But I heard that Starlight doesn’t sign trainees that are older than fifteen. Plus, the trainees are required to be professionally trained. You said that you’re a trainee. You must be incredibly talented for Starlight to make an exception for you, right?”

Starlight invested a lot in its trainees, and their demands of them were also super high. The typical trainee would’ve joined the company at around ten years old or even younger.

During this time, they’re not actually official trainees. There weren’t very many practice sessions per day. After all, their education still came first. The practice sessions were essentially a free hobby class. 

Besides, anything could happen during a child’s growth and development.

Starlight had high requirements regarding height and figure. If a trainee’s measurements exceeded a certain range, they would be eliminated.

At the beginning, the amount of practice sessions was very little. As the trainees grew older, the company would gradually increase the hours of practice while eliminating those that didn’t make the cut. In the end, the trainees that remained were sent to specialized schools for acting and modeling.

This girl’s height and figure alone was enough to disqualify her. Although she could be considered a good-looking girl, in the entertainment circle, she wasn’t anything special. 

Any one of Starlight’s trainees could run circles around her.

Xiao Ke could tell at a glance that it was impossible. She was far too lacking. It was much more likely that she was originally a trainee but was later eliminated.

Xiao Ke was also a fourth-year college student. She understood the attitude of people her age, a little arrogant, hadn’t experienced any real setbacks. In fact, a little bit of vanity wasn’t a big deal.

She could totally understand. 

When she first got this job, she was a student who had yet to graduate, yet she received a salary of nearly 10,000 yuan. Seeing all these famous celebrities, she had also flown straight into the stratosphere.

Although, it didn’t take long for Ye Li smack her back to earth. She had decided to properly do her job ever since then.

But the way these people were shooting off at the mouth was too much. They really dared to say anything.

She didn’t intend to make conversation with them, but Ye Li was already losing his patience.  If she didn’t stop things, this Great Demon King was going to start losing his temper. 

At this point, an ordinary person would at least feel a little bit uneasy. It was best to stop the conversation here, but things didn’t go the way she thought they would.

The female model got a little angry. She slammed the water bottle onto the ground, and the tone of her voice was a little hostile.

“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.”

She folded her arms and crossed her legs, rolling her eyes at Xiao Ke. 

“The most annoying thing is for industry outsiders to act like they know everything. They act like they’re so professional when they don’t know anything.”

At this time, the rest of her group wrapped up their photoshoot and came over as well.

When they saw that the female model was angry, they all came over to comfort her.

“All people are like this. They just think they’ll seem cooler if they act like that.” 

The female model was still a little unwilling to let things go. Now that her friends were here to back her up, her temper had gotten even worse.

“I signed the contract last month. What, do I need to take a photo of the contract and send it to you for you to believe me? You’re so shameless. Oh, you heard this, or you heard that, is Starlight’s internal affairs something someone like you can hear about?”

Not only was Xiao Ke part of Starlight’s internal staff, but she was also slated to become one of their agents in the future. She was a little flustered and responded with, “Oh.”

Unknowingly, Ye Li, who was resting, opened his eyes and swept a glance through the studio. 

This location was rather unique. The entire space was one single building, but there were several individual sectors of the building sectioned out. These sectors were rented out separately. All of the different clients worked within the same area.

They needed a lot of space, so they had rented out the entire studio. After waiting for a long time, most of the other clients had already left.

That group of young people were the last remaining group. They had dawdled until the very last minute. It was only after they had urged them to speed things up that this group finally started packing their things.

Ye Li had originally wanted to wait for them to clean up and leave before starting the photoshoot, but now he was out of patience. 

“Xiao Ke, inform everyone that we’re starting.”

Xiao Ke nodded. She walked to the middle of the studio and picked up a loudspeaker.

“Everyone, it’s time to get started. If everyone could please get to their places.”

As she was speaking, she gave a bow. 

Then, a dozen or so people in uniforms suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

They had been ready ages ago. At this time, they carefully pushed in a flatbed cart carrying very expensive-looking camera equipment.

The other scattered props and miscellaneous items were also moved out of the way.

The photographer had a head of curly hair, a short goatee, and wore a black vest. 

He spoke loudly from the middle of the studio.

“Get rid of it, get rid of it! Don’t ask me if these things can be used, the answer is no! How can anything from this crappy place be worth using.”

The photographer hadn’t been happy with this location from the very start.

The group of students froze while they were packing up. They looked around, both astonished and at a loss. The really only needed to pack up a tripod and some clothes. 

Ye Li watched as everyone moved into place. Then, he spoke without moving his gaze.

“Don’t be lazy, get to work.”

Gu Qingchi, who was wrapped in the military coat, moved.

When Gu Qingchi was sitting in the corner wearing the big military coat, he didn’t really attract a lot of attention. 

Now, he was in full view.

He slowly stood up and took off the coat. Like a butterfly shedding its cocoon, he revealed the handsome and tall body hidden underneath the jacket.

Gu Qingchi ignored the stunned gazes thrown towards him. He had never paid much attention to such superfluous things.

He had been slouching in a corner for a while, so his limbs were a little stiff. He stretched his waist before he walking towards Xiao Ke. 

Gu Qingchi’s proportions really were incredibly good. What’s more, he also had this indescribable kind of temperament. Even if you didn’t look at his face, the way that he moved alone was enough to hold your gaze.

A good-looking person would always look good, no matter what part of them you were looking at.

Ye Li spoke slowly.

“It’s true that our photographer isn’t very professional. You’ll have to excuse him. Xiao Ke is indeed a bit of an amateur. She’s still undergoing on-the-job training. She’s still young, so she’ll only be able allowed to become an agent after she graduates this year. 

He paused for a moment. Then, he continued speaking.

“Our model also isn’t very professional. He probably won’t be able to help out much with lighting. He’s rather troublesome. Every time he goes out, he has to bring an assistant and driver with him.”

After speaking, Ye Li also stood up.

“You just said that you signed a contract with Starlight last month. I suggest you take a closer look at your contract, make sure that you didn’t get scammed. In the twelve years since Starlight’s trainee system was established, they’ve only made an exception one time.” 

He gestured in Gu Qingchi’s direction.

Gu Qingchi had changed into a different outfit. When he stood on the platform in punk clothing, he seemed even more wanton and unrestrained than he did in the variety show.

There were a bunch of shiny metal accessories hanging from the clothes. It clearly wasn’t for everyday wear.

Even so, his beauty still hadn’t been suppressed in the slightest. Rather, it had become even sharper. 

He raised his chin slightly. He had one leg swung across a motorcycle, appearing very arrogant.

It was as if he had become a different person. His aura had even become a lot stronger. He expressed himself completely and began to shine before the lens.

“Starlight only makes exceptions for the sun.”

Translator’s Note: 

I’ve decided to change the company name from Xingyao Entertainment to Starlight Entertainment. This way, the last line makes a lot more sense. I’ll be going back and changing previous chapters.