Exclusive Model for the Top Painter Chapter 19

Deep Affection for Each Other

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The prop team was still doing the final set-up while Liang Jin and Ji Xiuyuan were standing side by side.

One is a rich and noble young man, the other is a young man with a strong and restrained temperament; together, they really are a delight to the eyes.

Liang Jin said, "I feel like I'm filming a costume drama, in fact, I've always had a dream of doing a costume drama."

Ji Xiuyuan looked at him from the side: "What kind of drama, tell me about it."

The bottom of Liang Jin's eyes lit up: "The kind where the righteous senior brother fights with a sword to the end of the world!"

Ji Xiuyuan commented, "The role of a senior brother doesn't suit you very well, a junior brother is more like it."

Liang Jin retorted, "No, I can only be the senior brother!"

"Okay," Ji Xiuyuan smiled gently, "Senior Brother, if I were to act in this drama too, what role would you give me?"

Liang Jin pondered seriously for a while, "For you, Ji Shen, you would either be the light of the righteous path or the villainous big boss!"

"Why?"

"Because no other role is worthy of your domineering aura."

"What if I want to play your junior brother?" Ji Xiuyuan had a smile in his eyes, "Would you agree, Senior Brother?"

Liang Jin's heart trembled at this term, senior brother: "Give me a break, Ji Shen, I'll even let you be my senior brother."

Xu Xin was silent on the sidelines, feeling like she had eaten a mouth full of dog food.

Fang Xingye notified, "The scene has been set up."

Ji Xiuyuan nodded: "You've worked hard. Apart from the photographer, please ask everyone else to leave the scene, I need an absolutely quiet environment."

Liang Jin asked, "Why do you need a photographer?"

"Because a painting like this cannot usually be completed in one day." Fang Xingye helpfully explained, "The photographer can record some visual information to facilitate the perfection of the painting later."

Liang Jin suddenly remembered the photos stored in Ji Xiuyuan's phone, and wondered if he had deleted them. Thinking about the exact contents of those photos, he once again felt extremely ashamed, and would definitely find a chance to ask for clarification next time.

The people in the studio gradually dispersed, leaving only the two of them and the photographer.

Ji Xiuyuan had Liang Jin lie on his side on the bed, while he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down to fix his hair and lapel: "For this painting, you need absolute immersion. Close your eyes and imagine that you are spending the night entwined with your lover, going through the clouds and rain together."

Liang Jin's eyes closed lightly and began to brew emotions.

Ji Xiuyuan lit the incense burner on the side, and a wisp of green smoke curled up before the bed.

He also messed up Liang Jin's white robe a little, leaving the lapels slightly open, revealing his beautiful collarbones. With one hand on the side of his waist, he lowered his head and whispered in his ear: "You love this fox very much, so much so that you will never stop loving it and would rather die than regret it. But there is nothing you can do about it, because humans and demons are different, and there is nowhere to go. You can only immerse yourself in the illusionary dream you have created, remembering your past with her over and over again, day after day, year after year. Day and night, it is a poisonous wine to drink, but also a comfort to love."

Liang Jin closed his eyes and listened attentively, but his heart was filled with infinite sorrow. It was as if he had already merged his emotions into the scene and empathised with the scholar he was playing.

Ji Xiuyuan placed a portion of the fox's tail, which he had prepared long ago, around his neck quietly.

At this moment, the corners of Liang Jin's eyes were red, and his expression was immersed in emotion. With the fox tail between his neck, it seemed as if a fox had actually entered his arms, yet it seemed to be a vague fantasy.

The whole scene, in its fiction and reality, perfectly matched the main theme of 'a night of lingering dreams'.

Ji Xiuyuan instructed the photographer to capture the scene, while he went to his easel and began to work on it.

———

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the day's exhausting work was done. Liang Jin packed up his things and prepared to leave work, but Ji Xiuyuan had to stay at the Academy of Fine Arts to continue discussing the details of the painting.

Liang Jin had planned to take the subway back on his own, but was overruled by Ji Xiuyuan:

"I've asked Wen Di to arrange for someone to drive you."

"That's... not necessary, is it? Wen Di is quite busy too, so there's no need to bother him with such a small matter."

"The person is already at the door."

"Oh, thank you, Ji Shen." Liang Jin said generously, "Take the fare out of my salary."

Ji Xiuyuan smiled, "Okay."

Liang Jin returned to the villa just in time to sign for the courier, the DIY clay tools he bought yesterday had arrived!

After a casual dinner, Liang Jin was excited to start making figurines.

He first used his phone to search for Ji Xiuyuan's photos on the internet and selected a few super handsome photos which he saved. Then he stood the phone on the table and started to knead the clay in front of Ji Xiuyuan's photo.

However, imagination is beautiful, and reality is cruel. Liang Jin was very confident in his own craftsmanship, but when he compared the products he made with the photos, he couldn't say they were similar, he could only say they didn't resemble each other.

It was obvious that Ji Shen was so suave and elegant, so how could his features collapse when he kneaded him like this?

Sin, sin! After kneading three little people in a row, Liang Jin suddenly realised that it was a long battle.

He didn't expect to be able to make them tonight. He glanced at the calendar, it was August 2nd, the task of making a decent one before the fourteenth was very difficult.

After looking at the limited amount of clay left, Liang Jin silently opened his phone and placed another ten orders at the same shop.

Before he knew it, he kneaded the clay until the early hours of the morning, and after hours of practice, he had now mastered the skills of sculpting the head and hair.

Stopping here for now, Liang Jin took a shower and planned to browse Weibo for a while before going to bed.

What he didn't expect was that when he opened Weibo, he saw himself in the advertisement pushed on the front page!!!

To be precise, it was an advertisement for the Bluetooth earbuds that he had shot some time ago, and it was starting to be promoted!!!

The ad was forty-five seconds long and involved several different application scenarios for Bluetooth headsets: running, driving, business, and studying. Liang Jin's various scenes switched naturally and smoothly with his different identities, all exuding a bright and infectious look, perfectly fitting the tagline of the brand's series, Motion, which generated a lot of buzz for a while.

There was also a related term on the hot search: #EarbudsLittleBrotherSoHandsome.

Liang Jin excitedly forwarded the ad to Ji Xiuyuan: Ji Shen! I feel like I'm going to be on fire!!!

Ji Xiuyuan: The filming was great, you're still up so late?

Liang Jin: I'm so excited I can't sleep!!!

Ji Xiuyuan: Then come to the studio and learn more about the background of the Liao Zhai series.

Liang Jin: I'm suddenly sleepy. Sleep sleep, good night Ji Shen!

Ji Xiuyuan: Good night.

Liang Jin put down his phone and had just closed his eyes when a friend request popped up on WeChat.

He looked at the message and saw that the other party had written: Producer and Director of Hongyin Pictures, Yao Yin.

Yao Yin, what a familiar name.

Liang Jin remembered, she was the beautiful director who had invited him to make a movie at the Vogue gala!

After accepting, the other party immediately sent a message.

Yao Yin: Sorry to disturb you so late, A'Liang. I saw the earbud commercial you shot on Weibo and immediately wanted to contact you. I mentioned filming a movie with you before, do you remember?

Liang Jin: Director Yao, good evening! I remember you talking about it.

Yao Yin: There are several film projects being discussed recently, and I really hope you can come and audition for them. I'll let you know when the script is finalised, keep in touch!

Liang Jin: Okay, thank you!

After replying to Yao Yin, Liang Jin felt that he had been very lucky lately, and couldn't help but continue to browse the posts about him until the latter part of the night, looking forward to shooting a movie. After tossing and turning for most of the night, he fell asleep in a daze only after 2 a.m.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 9, 2023