"It can act cute, take care of itself, come and go as it pleases, and be happy with some good food." Su Lanqiao was still squatting on the floor, listing the benefits.
"Raise a cat?" Chu Cheng put down the iPad and looked around the room, then asked casually, "Where would the cat come from?"
Su Lanqiao poked her chest with her fingertips, shamelessly shook her head, and forced a smile, "Here."
Chu Cheng laughed and processed the information, "You mean me taking care of it? I've never heard anyone talk about fostering so sensibly."
He had previously been disdainful of keeping someone like a canary locked up at home, the relationship between a benefactor and a lover appears to be easily resolved with a credit card, but in reality it's troublesome, and likely to stir up trouble.
To some extent, he was very strict with himself. If he didn't meet someone he liked, he would remain single for life.
But Su Lanqiao's appearance softened his inner determination, and he carefully considered the possibility. This kid is very obedient, so it's not impossible.
Seeing that Chu Cheng had misunderstood, Su Lanqiao blushed and explained earnestly, "I'm not asking you to keep me, just like keeping a pet. When it's boring, you can have some fun, and when you need it, it can be a companion. After all, you... you are also... " lively.
He omitted these two words. Is "companion" better to hear than "friends with benefits"? At least it implies some companionship.
He didn't have the courage to confess directly to Chu Cheng. The two of them had some vague feelings, but obviously Chu Cheng didn't intend to start a relationship. For a workaholic, dating was a waste of time, unless he was extremely fond of someone.
Chu Cheng did not reject him physically, so he decided to slowly progress from there.
"Companion..." Chu Cheng repeated the key point in a slow and deliberate manner, his eyes looking significantly at Su Lanqiao, "The scope of your pet business is quite broad."
Su Lanqiao, frustrated, stood up abruptly, hummed softly, "Forget it, your medicine's almost finished. I'll go downstairs and call the doctor."
"Are you angry? Come over here." Chu Cheng looked up at Su Lanqiao, who had a petulant look on her face, and was a bit interested. This guy never followed the conventional approach, with a unique approach.
Raising him as a pet, occasionally sleeping, what's the point? Getting him to be more lively?
Su Lanqiao, with a reluctant look, asked unwillingly, "What for?"
"If you're going to be a pet, right?" Chu Cheng raised his hand and rubbed his bound little friend, "Call out a few times?"
Call out a few times? Call what? Su Lanqiao's cheeks turned red. I just said that, and you took it seriously. How do I play this role?
After hesitating for a few seconds, Su Lanqiao decided to abandon the sense of shame.
"Meow~~~" A cat's sound came out from his low throat. He quickly turned and put on his coat, "Damn, it's too embarrassing. It's time. I'll go first."
Chu Cheng watched as he quickly disappeared outside the door, unable to control his laughter.
This pet is indeed very entertaining.
He took out his phone and found Su Lanqiao's WeChat, changed the nickname to "Little Cat," and sent a message to Ling Feng, "Send me the information on 'The Summit of the Sky Bridge' that you recommended last time."
-
Su Lanqiao took a taxi back to pack a small suitcase of luggage before going to the recording scene. Yue Xi arrived early and was waiting for him at the gate, smoking a cigarette.
The sponsor of "The Summit of the Sky Bridge" was quite generous, providing a whole building for the program team to use. Upstairs was the models' dormitory, and downstairs was a more than ten-meter-high catwalk, with a high level of quality.
"Hey, Little Qiao, over here." From afar, Yue Xi saw Su Lanqiao and quickly approached, taking the box from his hand. "I just found out that you'll be moving into the dormitory soon. The room you'll be in is really a battlefield, you're in for a tough time."
Su Lanqiao turned to look at him, puzzled, and asked, "What's going on?"
Yue Xi lowered his voice and began to count on his fingers. "There are four people in a dormitory. Xia Ran, who the program team blatantly wants to stir up conflict with you. Jing He, a model who has walked in dozens of major shows, publicly came out on Weibo a few years ago and has a very sharp tongue, don't provoke him. The last one is Xue Zhili, the son of a real estate tycoon, without any modeling experience. Looks like he's just here for fun, with a very strong background. Poor Little Qiao, good luck."
"Meet the challenge, how come Xia Ran is everywhere? The lingering ghost." Su Lanqiao pressed his forehead, feeling a throbbing pain in his temples. After hearing Yue Xi's introduction, he was puzzled by the mix of people.
Yue Xi clicked his tongue and put out the cigarette. "You two are from the same company, if you come, he'll definitely come. Besides, enemies meeting on screen always boosts the ratings, and the program team is not stupid."
"Will I be eliminated in the first two episodes with some backstage manipulation? After all, what I'm showing here is just the look of an unknown 18th-line model, without money or background."
Yue Xi waved his finger. "Even if there's some manipulation, they'll keep you until the end to have a showdown with Xia Ran, it'll definitely explode in attention, what are you thinking."
Su Lanqiao nodded and took the handle of the luggage. "Okay, I'll do my best. I'll treat you to dinner when I come out of the 'little black room' in a few days."
The 'little black room' is the dormitory arranged by the program team, a dark and gloomy battlefield.
As the program staff saw Su Lanqiao approaching, they gave him a microphone to wear on his collar and handed him a key. "Qiǎo, your room is 301. Go two steps back from the entrance, and we're ready to start recording. Oh, and when you go in, remember to greet the camera."
Su Lanqiao obediently smiled at the camera, then strode towards the elevator with his suitcase. "Hello everyone, I'm Su Lanqiao, blood type O, a Sagittarius, I like hot pot and meat, and I don't like blanched vegetables. Thank you."
"How can a model say they like to eat meat?" the cameraman murmured behind. "Should we cut this part and record it again?"
"Be yourself," Su Lanqiao flashed a neat set of teeth and two dimples, smiling harmlessly. "That's good."
When the elevator reached the third floor, he found room 301, pushed the door open, and three people inside all turned to look at him. Wow, what a grand reception.
"Xia Ran, your nemesis has arrived," the man with long hair shoulder to shoulder straightened up, and upon seeing Su Lanqiao, opened his mouth first, his tone carrying the excitement of watching a good show.
Su Lanqiao glanced for two seconds. He wasn't that familiar with the model circle, but this matched with the information from Yue Xi. This should be the sharp-tongued senior, Jing He.
The man quietly organizing his things next to the innermost bed also raised his head. "Hello, I'm Xue Zhili."
Simple, aloof, worthy of the rich second generation.
Su Lanqiao put on a smile and bowed slightly. "I'm Su Lanqiao, nice to meet you all."
"Tch, such a narrow path for archenemies." Xia Ran rolled his eyes and turned his back to Su Lanqiao, muttering something quietly to Jing He. If he didn't have the mic on, he probably would have let out another wave of sneers.
Su Lanqiao couldn't be bothered to argue with him. The last round of hot searches had been back and forth, causing damage on both sides and gaining a fair amount of anti-fans. Now that he was on the show, he didn't want to provide material to the program team right from the start.
He quietly pushed the suitcase in front of his locker with his name on it and began to unpack his things one by one. He had brought few items, just a few pieces of daily clothing and personal necessities.
The loudspeaker above head played a public announcement. "All members, please pack up your luggage and gather in the backstage lounge within a minute, the official recording will start in ten minutes." When they heard this, everyone's movements became swift and chaotic, stuffing their things into the lockers in disarray, then heading out towards the direction of the lounge.
It seemed like Jing He had some inexplicable animosity towards Su Lanqiao. He pulled Xia Ran's sleeve and nudged him to the side. "You'd better hurry up if you don't want to become gossip fodder."
Su Lanqiao knew he was making insinuations about the two of them. He didn't show any expression, as Jing He didn't know him, and hearsay was just hearsay, misunderstandings were normal.
Besides, Xia Ran was unpredictable and had probably added plenty of fuel to the fire in the middle, likely throwing all the blame on him.
Xue Zhili glanced at Su Lanqiao indifferently. "Shall we go together?"
"Sure, let's go." Su Lanqiao didn't refuse the olive branch extended by the aloof rich second generation. From the beginning, this program was set up with the groundwork for intrigue, more friends meant less loss.
The entire path was filled with male models with long legs, and their tall and long legs passing by the queue in the audience area caused a burst of screams.
"Why did you come to participate in the program?" Su Lanqiao pushed back his hair and casually asked.
Xue Zhili shrugged. "Like being a model. Those real estate folks, what do they know about humanities and arts, only know how to make money."
Understood, his starting point was the same as his, not wanting to inherit the company.
Thinking about it, the backgrounds of the two of them were quite similar, both rebellious rich second generations.
When they reached the lounge, most of the people were already there. The two found an inconspicuous corner and sat down casually, waiting for the program team's arrangements.
The background music suddenly played through the large speakers in front, and a blonde female host walked to the center on high heels. "Good evening, 30 super male models. We warmly welcome you to our 'Summit of the Sky Bridge' according to our schedule. The entire program will be divided into six knockout rounds, and during each recording period, you'll need to strictly follow our dormitory arrangements. We'll be recording your status 24/7, so please be cautious."
"Do we need to be recorded even when we go to the toilet?"
"Isn't this too devilish? I can't... Oh, sorry, I almost cursed, please censor that."
"This isn't a live broadcast, do they have to record everything? Killing us alive."
"I don't want my fans to know I snore in my sleep..."
"If you're here for the program, stop whining. If you don't follow the rules, you can give up your spot and go home."
...
As soon as the host finished speaking, the models in their seats started to make various complaints. There weren't many seasoned models present, most of them were new talents launched by various companies, not yet polished in the entertainment industry and even more unguarded with their words.
Su Lanqiao leaned against the wall, not saying anything, with no expression on his face. At a time like this, anyone who said something foolish would definitely have their words edited and prominently featured, that was common sense.
A bald man walked up and took the microphone. "I am the director of the show. Everyone, be quiet, the rules are not going to change, you can only comply. If you find the rules too strict, you can leave the competition now. Any more questions?"
The bald guy is really tough, his harsh words silenced the audience instantly.
The chief director continued, "Very good. Today, we have complete newcomers sitting here, as well as senior models who have been doing runway shows for years. But what we hope to select in the end is a top male model who excels in all aspects, both professionally and personally. We can't afford to compromise on either. Alright, before heading to the runway, everyone hand over your phones and wallets to the assistants. Before you do that, each of you has one minute to make a phone call. The countdown starts now."
The venue immediately erupted into noise again, with intermittent phone calls. Some people even started crying while talking, like children.
Sulanqiao gripped his phone tightly, opened his contacts, but there were only a few dozen people and he didn't know who to call.
No family, and the only friend he had just met, he felt quite miserable when he thought about it.
His fingertips slid through the contacts and stopped at Chu Zong's name, and the screen showed that there was only half a minute left.
Sulanqiao took a deep breath and pressed the call button.
Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds... The call was disconnected.
He looked at the countdown and saw that there were only a few seconds left. It seemed like the call couldn't be made.
Oh well, he didn't really have the right to demand someone to answer his call.
Sulanqiao put away his phone. Ding! Chu Cheng sent a WeChat message: [I can't answer the phone, see you tonight.]
What the heck, Boss, we'd get locked in the dorms at night.
He opened the message box and was about to reply when the assistant walked over to him and coldly said, "Hand over your phone and wallet."
Sulanqiao reluctantly handed over his phone, feeling a tinge of regret that he hadn't sent the reply.
The chief director began speaking again, "Have you all handed in your belongings? Then go to the dressing room and change into tonight's show attire. You have twenty minutes to get ready, as you will be heading to the square in the Forbidden City for your first show."
"Wow, walking the runway in the Forbidden City, that's a grand entrance!"
"Is the production team so awesome? Suddenly feeling like I'm in the right place."
"This is getting interesting. I'm going to rock the show tonight!"
"Sure, sure, let's go get changed."
"Even if I get eliminated tonight, it will be worth it. This is so cool."
......
These male models, who appeared aloof, exploded with discussions over every little thing. Xu Zhili nudged Sulanqiao's arm, "Hurry up and pick your clothes, first come first served."
"You're quick to react," Sulanqiao immediately realized this as well, and watching the others still chatting away, the two quickly got up and turned into the adjacent dressing room, each picking a show outfit they liked.
The others also gradually realized and started rushing into the dressing room, scrambling for clothes like aunties at a market, losing their composure entirely.
Meanwhile, Sulanqiao and Xu Zhili had already changed into their clothes and started a simple styling. Male model make-up and styling were simple, with minimal adjustments looking good enough.
"Once you're ready, get on the bus outside," the assistant stood at the door urging them on.
Thirty of them filed out and boarded the bus. It was a thirty-minute drive from the Forbidden City, and when they arrived, the lighting, sound system, and runway were all set up, with the T-shaped platform built on the large square, surrounded by exquisite ancient buildings behind and avant-garde modern decorations in front, creating an intriguing clash of beauty.
The production crew recruited two hundred audience members to sit on either side of the T-shaped platform, adding to the atmosphere. From a distance, the group of female fans holding glow sticks were already screaming.
The thirty models had changed into their outfits and were standing in the backstage in order, with Sulanqiao being the first.
The host stepped onto the stage to begin the introduction, "Today's show is very interesting. We will be presenting a new style of eastern fashion in front of our majestic Forbidden City. Firstly, we would like to thank the designer Yang Zhen for this show."
The audience enthusiastically applauded.
"Next, I want to introduce the most significant guests who have been pivotal to the entire production team: the Fashion Week general director David, supermodel's exclusive stylist Edward, top photographer Li Xiang, and the two most important sponsors of this event, as well as the owners of the voting rights, Weibo's CEO Chang Zhao, and Chu's Group CEO Chu Cheng."
"These are truly the bigwigs."
"Oh my, Chu Cheng himself looks so handsome! Shouldn't he consider joining us for a runway show?"
"Now I understand why the production team is so wealthy. With these two big shots sponsoring, it's a piece of cake for them."
"It seems like the production team is determined to make a hit, and all the judges can hold the fort."
......
"Hey, Sulanqiao, you're on good terms with General Chu, right? Don't you know he's coming?" Xia Ran shouted at Sulanqiao from a distance.
Sulanqiao lightly replied, "I don't know."
Chu Cheng, in his usual black suit, strode to the judges' seating area opposite the T-stage. He had deliberately worn a wine-red tie today, exuding a subtle charm.
Xia Ran was still sneering from behind, but Sulanqiao couldn't be bothered to listen. He was looking directly at the stage below, and their gazes met. He couldn't help but smile, revealing his dimples.
He said see you tonight, and he did.