Before they called Liu Man, Zhong Jiangnan first made one of his subordinates collect her information from the internet. This dig into her background surprised him.
This girl’s resume was too extraordinary!
From playing the piano to playing the Guqin.
From Capital Music University to Capital Uniersity.
She completely overturned everyone’s general knowledge of a cyber star. Now wonder her temperament was so fitting for “Autumn Moon over the Han Palace”; she, herself, was a super outstanding girl.
Zhong Jiangnan became more and more thirsty after this talented human being.
Like Tao Zhiyao, Liu Man was very shocked when she received the call from Zhong Jiangnan.
She had only knew Zhong Jiangnan’s full name from Tao Zhiyao and from netizens’ comments. When they introduced him, they usually referred to him using the “master” title. She had always thought Zhong Jiangnan was a character too far away from her.
But he lowered his posture and called her in person, inviting her to become his model.
Just another part-time job, coming at her unexpectedly.
In the past Liu Man’s memory, back in twelfth grade, Liu Man had considered choosing a major related to being a model, too. Her grades were barely enough to get into Capital Music University, so she was worried that she wouldn’t get in, and she must find a backup major.
At that time, she searched online the keywords: How to become a model.
As a result, she discovered that when people choose models, there was a hard requirement: One must be over 170 centimeters tall without wearing shoes.
If their stature didn’t satisfy this requirement, nobody would even look at their resume.
Liu Man was exactly 2 centimeters shorter than 170. Among the normal people, she counted as a tall one, but if she stood among professional models, she would still be a huge chunk shorter.
She immediately gave up on being a model.
Liu Man said honestly, “But I’m only 168 centimeters tall.”
Zhong Jiangnan, at the other end of the call, laughed, “You only need to wear my hanfus and take a set of photos, so you won’t need to be on the runway. There will not be any other models comparing statures with you, so 168 is enough.”
“May I ask how much the payment will be?”
“25k in one day. I think one day is enough. If you are not satisfied, we can still discuss about it.”
Liu Man felt that this price was very reasonable. After all, she only needed to take some photos. She said, “I am qualified for this job.”
Zhong Jiangnan loved Liu Man’s straightforwardness!
Sure enough, his foresight was accurate as always. Liu Man, unlike some young and charming girls, did not lift the price she was worth only because he needed something from her.
He, himself, was also a straightforward person, and he didn’t want to waste anytime on entangling about the price. He disdained these tricks and schemes, so naturally, he hoped the other side wouldn’t try tricking him, either.
“If you have anytime today, come to my workshop. We will sign the contract,” Zhong Jiangnan said.
Liu Man was just about to say yes before she thought of another point, and she asked, “May I ask, when will the photo-shooting time be?”
“The sample is still being produced. It will probably have to be next week.”
Liu Man immediately thought that it was unfortunate. Her regular script work had already successfully passed the second round, and she was about to enter the face-to-face testing phrase. Professor Su had already helped her buy the plane tickets so they could fly to Gudu next Monday.
She said apologetically, “Sorry, Mister Zhong. There is no way for me to be your model. I have something that directly collides with this job of yours.”
It was a bowl of cold water, pouring suddenly onto Zhong Jiangnan’s head. Just now, they were about to come to an agreement, and they were about to sign the contract. Why was there suddenly another thing happening?
Zhong Jiangnan didn’t want to give up on inviting such a good model. He used a negotiating tone, “We can change the time. You can take the photos after two weeks or even in the evening. We will do this quickly. Do you think that will work?”
Zhong Jiangnan was already fifty-years-old and was an elder, but he was begging her right now. Liu Man could not bear this scene and said honestly, “Next Monday, I will be at Gudu, participating in a calligraphy exhibition. I do not know either how long I will be staying in Gudu, and I’m afraid I will postpone your work.”
Zhong Jiangnan had just returned to the capital from Gudu, so he naturally knew that the National Calligraphy and Seal Cutting Exhibition was about to get hosted in Gudu. He also knew Liu Man was the famous calligraphist, Su Yi’s last apprentice.
Although costume designing was not industry-related to the calligraphy circle, Zhong Jiangnan still knew a little about calligraphy. At least he knew how much quality was in this exhibition. If she was able to get into the exhibition, it meant that her calligraphy level was almost professional. No wonder Su Yi would publicly support her and care for her on the internet, and he even transferred her to Capital University.
This girl was an angel descended from heaven.
Zhong Jiangnan originally thought letting her wear “Autumn Moon over the Han Palace” was glorifying her. Now, he realized that the truth was completely the opposite. She did not need to make herself seem more worthy with his expensive clothes at all. She could make any mediocre clothes on her body feel expensive, for she, herself, was unspeakably expensive and unique.
It was the hanfu and his honor if she was willing to wear “Autumn Moon over the Han Palace”.
Zhong Jiangnan believed she would definitely increase the value of “Autumn Moon over the Han Palace”, and so he said, “When the sample comes out, I will come over to Gudu with the clothes. We can tkae the pictures in Gudu. Luckily, the buildings in Gudu are very fitting to be the background.”
Liu Man didn’t expect that the other side was willing to step back so much for her. Where could she find some other reason to decline this offer?
On that afternoon, she came to Zhong Jiangnan’s personal workshop as promised.
His workshop was located in the artistic area of the capital. There was a gathering of large numbers of artistic workers in this place, mostly including painters and other types of professional designers. The entire environment was full of an atmosphere of literature, art, and petty bourgeoisie.
Zhong Jiangnan owned a two-floor redbrick mansion here with a super large yard. His assistant stood outside the building and had been waiting for her since a long time ago.
As soon as she entered the yard, Liu Man’s sight got stuck on the bouquets of flowers and piles of brocades here.
The assistant said, “These roses and hydrangeas have all been planted by Mister Zhong himself.”
“Are the petals on ‘Kuian’s’ hem from this pagoda tree?” Liu Man pointed at the huge pagoda tree in front of her.
The assistant was just about to answer when Zhong Jiangnan’s voice came from behind them, “You guessed right. Every ethnic group, no matter which kind, have always been decorating their costumes with flowers since ancient times. When I design clothes, I’ve always been used to drawing the shapes of the flowers by observing and taking ideas from real flowers. Excluding pagoda trees, I also have peach trees, pear trees, and cherry trees here. They look prettier in the spring.”
Liu Man turned around and saw a middle-aged man full of an artistic temperament. What attracted her attention the most was the ponytail he had put up on the back of his head. He surely was no longer young, and the black ponytail was mixed with some white strands, but his hair was put up very meticulously, like his designs; they were both constantly being optimized.
Zhong Jiangnan, smiling, reached out a hand towards her, “Hello, Miss Liu. I’m Zhong Jiangnan, and I’m very glad to meet you.”
Liu Man shook hands with him, “Greetings, Mister Zhong.”
After meeting Liu Man in person, Zhong Jiangnan was more than ever sure that she was the very incarnation of “Autumn Moon over the Han Palace”. Standing beside the flower bushes, her soft and charming posture looked exactly the same as the ancient beauties in cave paintings.
It was really unbelievable that a modern girl could have this temperament.
The only thing was, the clothes she was wearing were too cheap…
In Zhong Jiangnan’s entire life, he had been studying clothes. Out of his instinct that he developed because of his job, he would first study a person’s clothes when he met them first. Naturally, this was already not an era when one judged another based on their appearance. A piece of clothing’s value would never decide a person’s value. Some of the noveau riches with hundreds of millions of RMB would still wear sleeveless garments and slippers while walking on the streets.
Translated by: Sydney
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