Lu Zhen took a deep breath and walked onto the catwalk. He was not a professional catwalk model, he was not tall enough and he lacked experience. Fortunately, the employer did not care, as long as he looked good and matched the items on display.
After all, the main reason is that small models like Lu Zhen are cheap.
It was just a rehearsal, but Lu Zhen was extremely nervous. The second to last model had already stepped out from behind the scenes into the spotlight, and when he turned around at the end of the catwalk, Lu Zhen took his first step.
As the last model to appear on stage, he wore the only collector's edition men's crown on his head. Different from the accessories displayed before, the significance of this crown was only to enhance the brand value and the designer's showmanship.
Because it was a rehearsal, there were only a few spectators around the T-stage, mostly staff from the organizers and brand companies.
There are also some special ones, like the man sitting at the end of the catwalk. He is wearing a straight dark suit, paired with a vintage shirt of the same color, buttoned up neatly all the way to his chin, very bright, half abstinence and half dignity.
His long legs were casually crossed, showing his strength and vigor under his haute couture suit. He became another focus just by sitting casually.
The man looked at the T-stage in front of him with calm eyes. After experiencing many intentional and unintentional gazes, he finally revealed an extremely handsome smile.
Lu Zhen came towards him slowly. All the mental preparation he had put in over and over again collapsed at the sight of that sudden smile. He panicked and twisted his foot, almost falling down.
The man off the court frowned and lowered his crossed legs, but did not show any shock.
Lu Zhen quickly adjusted his state, stood up straight, turned around and went back, completing an unsatisfactory finale.
"Mr. Fan." Lu Zhen was still wearing makeup when she arrived at the rest area. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
"It didn't take long. It was fun to watch the show." Without any false politeness, Fan Xiao's tone sounded very sincere.
"You like watching fashion shows?" Lu Zhen was a little surprised. Fan Xiao sometimes gave people the same feeling as You Shulang, gentle, decent, and tactful. So he naturally thought that Fan Xiao would have little interest in such fashion events like You Shulang.
Fan Xiao gently played with Lu Zhen's hair, and the shiny pieces used for decoration fell down, while some stubbornly stuck to the hair. He picked up the pieces in his hair with his fingertips and casually replied, "It's fun because of you."
Boom! Lu Zhen felt like he had fallen into a pool of boiling water, like a shrimp with no idea where to go, being slowly steamed into an intoxicating color.
He scratched his trousers with his hands, and after a while he steadied his breath before asking, "Mr. Fan, are you still going to ask me to be a model this time?"
The fragments in the hair were swept away, and Fan Xiao's hand slid gently along the hair, hanging down by Lu Zhen's shoulder.
"Not this time. This time I came here specifically to ask for your help."
Lu Zhen showed a puzzled expression: "Help? What help? Is there anything I can do to help Mr. Fan?"
Fan Xiao smiled dotingly: "Of course, let's be more confident, okay?"
"I have an important banquet tomorrow night, but you know I'm new here and I don't have many friends around me to entertain. There are three people on the other side, and it's not easy for me to go alone, so could you please come with me and help me entertain the guests?"
"Entertain guests?" There are a lot of dirty things in Lu Zhen's circle, and the word "entertain" can be interpreted in many ways.
Fan Xiao immediately understood and smiled: "Let's just have a drink and chat together. I promise to send you home safely before 12 o'clock at night."
"I don't have any other intentions." Lu Zhen was a little embarrassed, but then he became a little happy. "Mr. Fan helped me so much last time, I will definitely do my best this time."
Just as Fan Xiao was about to say thank you, he saw a man wearing a beret walking towards him. He looked a little troubled, but he quickly explained his purpose.
"Lu Zhen, the brand asked me to inform you that you will not be needed to display the crown at the end. Someone else will be replaced. You should still display the previous sets of accessories."
Lu Zhen was a little surprised, and felt embarrassed because Fan Xiao was there. He asked anxiously, "Why did you replace me? Was it because I didn't perform well on the stage just now?"
It is common to have imperfect performances during rehearsals, after all, no one has fully exerted their energy. The beret was silent for a moment, then said with a flat mouth: "That's how it is in our circle. Whoever gets paid more has the final say. You know that. Okay, it's a niche brand. If we lose the finale, we lose it. There will be another time."
"Next time..." Lu Zhen swallowed the rest of the words and fell silent with a look of disappointment on his face.
"Is there anything I can help with?" Fan Xiao asked after the man in beret left.
Lu Zhen smiled bitterly and shook his head, then said with all his strength: "I will be there on time tomorrow night."
The "Airbus" bar is very famous in this city.
Pushing open the water-corroded and worm-eaten wooden door, you will see the vast and boundless starry sky, deep and mysterious, vast and boundless. As you look out, you can see the star clusters in the abyss, the flares as flat as the bottom of a mirror, and the different kinds of ethereality all around.
The creaking wooden door slowly closed, as if a knife severed all connections between the entrant and the mundane world. Everything that was once believed to be eternal, infinite, and limitless became a waste of space.
Leaning on the sofa, Fan Xiao slowly sipped the wine in his hand. He looked at the starry sky and suddenly felt that his game was very boring.
Over the years, he had always been looking for fun in his boring life, and You Shulang was the one that kept him interested the longest and took the most time. But at this moment, surrounded by the false stars, he felt tired again, and once again felt like he had given up hope.
The cold sea water seemed to slowly surge up from under his feet, and he seemed to be in that world of horror and sorrow again. The raging waves, the screaming crowd, the instinctive escape, people were constantly swept away by the sea, and only the pair of soft hands were firmly pulling him, telling him "Fan Xiao, run!"
I don't want to run anymore. I can't run anymore.
If you are scared, strike a match.
The matches are wet too, take me away.
"Mr. Fan!" The sea water slowly receded, revealing Lu Zhen's smiling face, "Let's have a drink together."
"Okay." Fan Xiao responded calmly, "But I want to hear you sing a song first."
"Me? Sing?" Lu Zhen glanced at the microphone standing in the middle of the bar stage, "I can't do that. I don't sing well."
Fan Xiao took an exquisite gift box from his assistant, untied the ribbon with his fingers, and opened the dark blue velvet wrapping. A crown inlaid with colorful crystals sparkled under the refraction of the vast starry sky.
Lu Zhen was stunned: "Is this... the crown at the end of the show?"
"Yes, it belongs to you now." Fan Xiao said lightly, "Since it is yours, it is not suitable for others to wear it."
Seeing that Lu Zhen was still a little confused, Fan Xiao's Chinese assistant said at the right time: "Mr. Lu, Mr. Fan has become the first major customer of the 'Xinni' jewelry autumn and winter show. He bought this crown for you. In addition, the brand said that as the owner of this crown, you should show it on the catwalk."
Before Lu Zhen could digest this information, Fan Xiao took the crown out of the gift box and put it on his head. He whispered softly in his ear, "Your Highness, may I have the honor of asking you to sing a song for me?"
"Where is this song coming from?"
Fan Xiao's friends came over to make a scene, and Lu Zhen quickly stood up and said with a red face, "If Mr. Fan doesn't mind, I will..."
Fan Xiao slowly leaned back, put one hand on the back of the sofa, stretched his body, crossed his legs, and the light in his eyes was brighter than the stars.
"Go ahead," he said.
As the music started, the originally dim lights in the bar dimmed again, and the only light gathered in the middle of the stage. A slow song came slowly, and Lu Zhen's voice was good and full of affection.
He looked over from the stage wearing a crown, and Fan Xiao raised his glass.
"Who is this?" Shi Lihua said, holding a glass of wine, "Why do you hire so many men recently?"
Fan Xiao said nothing, raised his hand and pushed him away. It was time to finish the game quickly, so he took out his cell phone and dialed a number to speed up the game.
The phone was connected after a few rings, and in the noisy environment, Fan Xiao heard a mellow voice "Mr. Fan".
Mr. Fan.
These two simple words suddenly pulled him back into the dark carriage. He pressed the hot man and asked for a punishment. The man's eyes, full of hope and greed, lingered on his hand and asked softly, "How is the punishment?"
How to punish?! Fan Xiao, who didn't get relief yesterday, is ready to make a move again!
This…isn't normal.
"Fan Xiao?" You Shulang's voice came from the phone again, this time using a different name.
"Shu Lang." Fan Xiao's voice was a little low. He asked him in the noise, "What are you doing?"
"Me? I didn't do anything. I was just watching the game at home."
Fan Xiao cast his gaze towards Lu Zhen on the stage, and said, "Having a girlfriend to accompany you? That's great."
The other party paused, then said, "It's just me."
"Oh? Director You has no beauty to accompany you during the long night?"
"He has an appointment tonight."
"It's a pity for Liang Ye."
Fan Xiao's words were a little out of place, and the other end's tone was helpless: "Are you calling me for something?"
"Nothing much," Fan Xiao said with a smile, "I heard someone singing beautifully in the bar, so I wanted to invite you to listen with me. After all, you are my only friend in this city."
He raised his phone, the heat in his eyes slowly decreasing: "Did you hear it? Does it sound good?"
The singing voice was empty and far away, and was wrapped in a chaotic sound. The other party was silent for a while and gave a perfunctory answer: "Not bad."
"Shulang, come and play for a while, Kongke, we just have a few friends who we can play with."
"I'm your only friend in this city, right?" The person on the phone laughed softly, "Mr. Fan has no shortage of friends wherever he goes. Don't flatter me in the future."
"Anything else? I'm hanging up now. I'm watching the game."
The rather impolite tone actually made Fan Xiao laugh. He said in a good-natured manner, "Director You is becoming more and more impolite to me. Where is the politeness you showed me when we first met?"
The other person also laughed: "Courtesy is for outsiders, you don't deserve it."
My heart suddenly became confused and the singing on the stage stopped.
After a long while, Fan Xiao held up his phone and thought that the game was actually quite interesting.