The Entire Entertainment Industry Knows the Best Actor Has a Crush on Me - Chapter 29

After Pei Yuan joined the group, he didn’t say much. He simply sent a 1,000-yuan red envelope and disappeared, leaving Qi Le’an and Yu Yuan in the group expressing their eternal gratitude.

“…”

At 8:00 AM sharp, Gu Jiao appeared at the apartment door.

“So early…” Qiao Zhiyu stepped aside to let her in, poured her a glass of water, and turned to head into the bathroom.

Gu Jiao’s voice drifted in from the living room: “The appointment is for 11:00 AM, but this is your first endorsement. We must be fully prepared. We’re taking them down today!”

True to her word, the moment Qiao Zhiyu stepped out of the bathroom, he was dragged away to pick out an outfit. Everything was ready by 9:30 AM. Gu Jiao stared at him, looking him up and down, and nodded with immense satisfaction.

Face: Perfect. Hair: On point. Height and posture: Perfect. Outfit: Flawless.

The two didn’t linger and headed straight out. Because they weren’t in the same district as the contact person and ran into some traffic, they arrived at the designated cafe with only ten minutes to spare. To make matters worse, there were no parking spots nearby, so Gu Jiao had to let Qiao Zhiyu out early to rush there on foot.

Inside the cafe, a young man dressed in a very “beautifully freezing” (fashionable but impractical for the weather) outfit was looking at the time with growing impatience.

Since the brand’s headquarters were in another city, he, the branch manager, had been temporarily assigned to handle this negotiation. There were only a few minutes left, yet the other party was nowhere to be seen.

How annoying. Wasting my beauty sleep.

He had seen photos of the artist; he was exceptionally outstanding. If it weren’t for that face, he would have left ages ago! But nowadays, “heavy photoshopping” was too common; often the real person and the picture were two completely different entities. His team had signed someone like that before—damn it, a single photo took hours to edit! Not only was there no overtime pay, but his eyes also suffered occupational injuries just looking at the screen!

If the person who arrived turned out to be eyesore-material, he would dump his coffee right in their face!

The seconds ticked by, hitting the number 11 exactly. The young man was fuming. He set down his coffee and stood up to leave. Upon turning around, his gaze landed right on the hurriedly arriving Qiao Zhiyu.

The man froze. In an instant, even the anger in his heart was purified.

My goodness… a god of aesthetic vibes…

Qiao Zhiyu had run over following the GPS. He stood at the door, panting and slightly dazed. He didn’t know which of these heads belonged to the brand representative… He scanned the room and finally settled on a “magnificently” dressed man. The man was wearing a bracelet from last season’s new collection.

As luck would have it, the man was also looking at him.

Qiao Zhiyu adjusted his breathing and walked toward the young man. “Hello, are you from the Iw brand team?” He didn’t know the man’s name, so this was a bit stiff, but it was safe.

That voice is so refreshing, and that slight breathlessness… Heavens, is he a ‘Super Heavenly Choice’ hottie?

The man took back everything he had just thought. This face didn’t need any Photoshop, and it certainly didn’t need overtime…

“Ah… I am.” Despite his inner thoughts, he maintained a calm exterior. “My name is Yue Yan. You can just call me by my name, Mr. Qiao.”

After they sat down, the waiter thoughtfully came over to ask Qiao Zhiyu for his order. “A cup of hot tea, and one of each of these desserts, thank you.”

His chest was still full of cold air from the run. Qiao Zhiyu looked at the young and flashy Yue Yan with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry. The traffic was bad; I didn’t mean to be late.”

“Ah! It’s okay, it’s okay! Morning rush hour traffic is normal. I only just arrived myself.”

Liar, Yue Yan scolded himself internally. When will I ever fix this habit of telling ghost stories the moment I see a handsome guy!

The hot tea arrived quickly. Qiao Zhiyu took off his mask and hat and took a light sip. The warmth slid down his esophagus like an electric current. The gaze coming from across the table was intense. It seemed Gu Jiao’s morning of hard work had been very effective.

Qiao Zhiyu set down the teacup, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly with a warm, friendly vibe. “This time is on me, Mr. Yue, as an apology for being late. Please, give me this face.”

“My manager might be a bit late, so shall we begin?”

Yue Yan’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly tucked away his stray thoughts and nodded in agreement.

By the time Gu Jiao finally found a parking spot and made it inside, the two had already finished most of the discussion.

“Is this Mr. Qiao’s manager?”

Gu Jiao proactively introduced herself: “I am so sorry, the traffic was truly terrible. I am Qiao Zhiyu’s manager, Gu Jiao.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Yue Yan waved casually. “Mr. Qiao already explained everything; it’s perfectly understandable.” He turned back to Qiao Zhiyu. “Regarding the conditions you mentioned, the brand will negotiate them properly. We’ll contact you both as soon as there’s a result.”

He pulled a custard-yellow business card from his bag and pushed it toward Qiao Zhiyu, his eyes darting away shyly. “This is my card. If it’s convenient, you can add me… if there are any issues later, you can ask me…”

Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow at Qiao Zhiyu, then smiled and took the card herself, stating she would definitely add him. Yue Yan seemed a bit dejected but said nothing. “Then I’ll be going now. Hope to see you again soon…”

That little expression was full of reluctance. Qiao Zhiyu felt a surge of pity and fondness for him.

On the table sat an untouched piece of cake, which Gu Jiao sat down to eat. “How did the talk go?”

He thought about it; there wasn’t anything special. Everything that needed to be said had been discussed. Whether the brand actually used him wasn’t something he could control. However, Yue Yan was a responsible person; anyone else would have left long ago. Who would wait for you for even a second to hear your reasons for being late?

After returning, Gu Jiao added Yue Yan on WeChat, and that very night, they received the electronic contract.

Everything followed smoothly. Yue Yan was also in charge of the styling for the shoot; his taste was bold and somewhat flamboyant, with elements of subculture.

The First Look:

• Top: A backless black tank top with a loose black lace “spiderweb” detail on the back and pleated draping on the chest.
• Headwear: A pure black “cat-ear” beanie adorned with small skull and bone accessories.
• Bottoms: Wide-leg cargo pants with leather patchwork. The fit was very loose and oversized.
• Accessories: A black leather belt paired with a long white pearl chain wrapped twice around the waist, plus two additional silver waist chains.
• Jewelry: Four or five black, white, and grey beaded bracelets on his wrists, with matching necklaces. The color palette was predominantly black.

Qiao Zhiyu was officially endorsing the clothing line, but Iw also had a jewelry line, which was how he had recognized Yue Yan. Today, every piece on him was from Iw. And this was only one of the sets for the day…

“My god, Zhiyu, you look so cool!”

Faced with Yue Yan’s unreserved praise, the tips of Qiao Zhiyu’s ears turned a visible shade of red. He looked at himself in the mirror, a bit shy about the transformation. To match the outfit, he had applied a specific style of makeup heavy but beautiful. It was a style he had never tried before…

He felt a mix of novelty and trepidation. If melancholy were a talent, that phrase might actually suit this look quite well.