Exclusive Model for the Top Painter Chapter 35

Unbridled Favouritism

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On Monday afternoon at 3 p.m., a business meeting for the [Enlightenment] series of paintings was held at the Tian Han Group.

The Tian Han Group was originally the leading company in the fashion industry, and thanks to Ji Xiuyuan, an international art department has been established in recent years, and is developing extremely strongly. The series of paintings commissioned by the Louvre in France has brought the company a considerable amount of revenue.

Liang Jin was filming on the set in the morning and arrived at the company just after 2 p.m. Walking into the imposing first floor lobby of Tian Han Group, Liang Jin engaged in a déjà vu conversation with the receptionist.

Young lady: "Hello Sir, how may I help you?"

Liang Jin: "May I ask, Ji Shen, ahem, Mr. Ji Xiuyuan, where is his office?"

Young lady: "May I ask if you have an appointment?"

"I don't..."

"Sorry, Director Ji's schedule is very full. Without an appointment, there is no way to accommodate you."

Liang Jin suddenly remembered that Ji Xiuyuan had given him a card last night, what did he say it was for?

He was tired and sleepy after a certain activity, and Ji Shen's low voice sounded as if it was lulling him to sleep, so he fell asleep while listening to it...

This card, where was it used?

Liang Jin unzipped the Dickies black and yellow men's crossbody bag he was wearing and pulled out his keys, mug, gym membership card, milk tea coupon, movie tickets from a week ago, script, highlighter...

The receptionist was dumbfounded and was about to ask him what he wanted to do.

Liang Jin's eyes lit up: "I found it!" He took out an unassuming black card from a crevice in his script: "May I ask if this card is useful?"

The young lady's jaw dropped, she took the black card from Liang Jin's hand with trepidation, and looked at it over and over again, then solemnly said, "Wait a moment, let me confirm."

Liang Jin smiled, "Okay."

The young lady immediately called the manager of the administration office, and a minute later, the manager rushed to the scene.

The administration manager studied the card with great care for a long time, and after using the anti-counterfeiting machine to run a comparison, he said respectfully, "Hello Sir, this card has the highest authority of the Tian Han Group, and belongs exclusively to Director Ji..."

"Oh yes, he's the one who gave it to me."

"... To ensure your identity, please enter your password or verify your fingerprints on this machine."

There... There was a password?

Liang Jin immediately went numb, the card had been thrown into his bag by Ji Shen, how would he know the password?

However, did this machine look familiar? When he was falling asleep last night, it seemed that Ji Shen had taken his fingerprints with one of these?

Let's give it a try, Liang Jin placed his index finger on the touch screen.

A beep sounded: "Verification passed. Cardholder: Liang Jin. Priority level: Highest."

Cold sweat broke out on the manager's forehead, his identity was correct, but this young man in front of him, he looked like a student who had just graduated, was he a relative of Director Ji?

Even if he was a relative, he wouldn't grant the highest authority, would he?

Is he an illegitimate son?

This was even more outrageous, isn't Director Ji still under thirty? How could he have such a large illegitimate son?

Just as the manager's mind was wandering, Liang Jin put the things he had taken out back into his bag one by one and politely asked, "So, can I go and find Mr. Ji now?"

"Of course you can!" The manager handed the black card back to Liang Jin, "Follow me, the Chairman's special elevator is this way."

Stepping on the thick carpet, all the way down to the end of the hall, in front of them was a transparent panoramic elevator with a post-modernist design.

The two of them entered the elevator and the door slowly closed.

Liang Jin asked, "What floor is it on?"

The manager smiled, "I'll take you there myself."

"Okay, thanks."

The elevator moved slowly, from the first floor all the way up. When it reached the 32nd floor, it finally stopped.

Exiting the elevator, there was a long corridor. There were many green plants placed around and artistic murals hanging above their heads.

The two of them came to an office with a security guard sitting at the door.

The manager said, "This is Mr. Liang Jin, could you please ask Mr. Ji if it is convenient for us to meet now?"

The security guard operated the electronic screen and before long, the door opened.

The manager was very shocked, it was actually Mr. Ji himself who opened the door.

Of course, what shocked him even more was still to come.

Chairman Ji Xiuyuan, who was always unsmiling, showed a warm spring-like smile to this youth that he had never seen before: "I told you to have Wen Di pick you up, but you insisted on squeezing into the subway by yourself."

"Taking the subway is common in life, and I just saw your painting advertised at the subway station! I looked carefully, and in the tiny corner, my name was displayed too!"

Ji Xiuyuan rubbed his hair, "Next time I'll ask them to put your name in front of mine."

"Ah, that's not very good, is it?"

As soon as the two of them started talking, an indefinable affectionate feeling filled the air.

Ji Xiuyuan kissed the side of his face, "It's okay as long as you're happy."

Liang Jin exploded in shock at his sudden intimate gesture.

The manager inwardly cried out holy shit and exchanged glances with the security guard. The two of them tacitly pretended not to see, wishing they could lower their heads to the ground.

Ji Xiuyuan led him into the office with unparalleled calmness, before closing the door behind him.

Liang Jin immediately roared, "Ji Shen! There were people outside just now!!!"

"What does it matter?" Ji Xiuyuan propped one hand on the wall, circled Liang Jin with his other arm, and leaned down, "We are already together, aren't we?"

"But, in public, you have to be a little more restrained, right?"

"You don't like it?" Ji Xiuyuan frowned very reluctantly, "Then I'll pay attention in the future."

Why did he feel a little aggrieved? Liang Jin gave him a peck on the lips, "Are you unhappy, Ji Shen?"

"No."

"You're lying, your eyebrows are all knitted together." Liang Jin laughed, "Ji Shen, why are you like a child now, so hard to coax?"

Ji Xiuyuan nibbled on his earlobe, "I'm easy to coax, you know that."

Liang Jin wrapped his arms around him, "I miss you. When I was filming this morning, all I could think about was you..."

The rest of his words were swallowed up in a fierce kiss, and Liang Jin whimpered and gasped as his body was easily ignited, clinging to his embrace.

Ji Xiuyuan's hands slipped into his shirt, wrapping around his waist and stomach, and he kissed across his delicate neck and collarbone.

Liang Jin's lust-wracked brain barely maintained a trace of lucidity as he whispered, "Ji Shen, there's a meeting...later."

"Mhmm, we'll talk later." Ji Xiuyuan didn't stop moving, "Let me hold you for a while, do as you're told."

———

Three o'clock in the afternoon.

Liang Jin had no choice but to appear at the meeting with a fresh hickey on his neck, under tremendous psychological pressure.

Every now and then, meaningful glances were directed towards him, and Liang Jin was practically dying of humiliation.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought of covering it up with a scarf or something, but if he did, a certain possessive and petty chairman would not be happy.

There was nothing he could do about it, and in order to spoil him, it was okay to subject himself to some gossip.

Liang Jin has always been soft-hearted, and in his opinion, taking care of his other half's mood is the right thing to do as a boyfriend.

The whole meeting went especially smooth, with three representatives from France joining the team in a project management capacity. The creation and planning of the paintings was left entirely in the hands of Tian Han Group.

The [Enlightenment] series of paintings is based on the 18th century French ideological liberation movement. Inheriting the humanist spirit of the Renaissance, the series aims to promote and celebrate the concept of human rights and the pursuit of reason, freedom, equality and democracy.

At first, the French representative was quite critical of Ji Xiuyuan's use of Chinese models. But after personally witnessing the creation of the first scene in the painting 'The Awakening', he was convinced by Liang Jin's professionalism and Ji Xiuyuan's level of creativity, and his attitude immediately reversed, praising: "Art sans frontières!" (Angel: French for "Art without borders".)

Liang Jin wore light blue contacts and western style make-up. Dressed in a classical eighteenth century rococo-style blouse with linen trousers. He held a book in his hand and wore a sharp sword at his waist. Like the pioneers and fighters of history books, he radiated a rationalist aura.

The project team were all very pleased with his performance.

Only Liang Jin himself could see something different in Ji Xiuyuan's eyes: This guy was serious on the surface!!! In private, he must have thought of a new role play!!!

Tonight is destined to be another sleepless night...

After the meeting, Liang Jin and Ji Xiuyuan returned to his office.

Ji Xiuyuan took out a work ID card from the drawer and handed it to Liang Jin: "This is the ID card prepared for you, you can come to my office anytime to take a break when you work at Tian Han in the future."

Wen Di happened to be sorting out the forms nearby and said in passing, "An office has been set up next to the chairman, why don't you just sign a contract with Tian Han."

Ji Xiuyuan glanced at him, "Xiao Jin, what do you think?"

"Huh? Signing with Tian Han?"

"Mhmm, become my exclusive model." Ji Xiuyuan said seductively, "And, there is no breach of contract fee. If you're not satisfied, you can fire me at any time, how about that?"

"... Okay."

Wen Di had long guessed the special relationship between the two, and as a veteran in the workplace, he had always had a good grasp of when to speak and when to bolt.

Now, for example, he was about to bolt when Ji Xiuyuan called out to him, "Wen Di, take Xiao Jin to do the induction formalities."

On the way to the personnel department to go through the formalities, Wen Di looked at the work ID that Ji Xiuyuan had prepared for Liang Jin and recited, "This ID of yours is too exaggerated, isn't it?"

"Why do you say that?"

"The ID number, A001, do you know what that means?"

"No idea."

Wen Di sighed, "Tian Han's ID numbers are made up of departmental abbreviations plus the year of entry, for example, mine is C2010001, which means I was the first employee to join the chairman's office in 2010. Only members of the board of directors can use the ones starting with A, but people on the board don't usually get this kind of thing. In other words, it's the same as Director Ji giving you his work number directly."

Liang Jin silently pulled out the black card in his pocket, "What about this?"

Wen Di went speechless: "Don't lose this one, it is like the personal presence of Director Ji in our company. In short, this card, it's worth more than me."

Liang Jin thought about how he had actually put this card together with a five dollar milk tea coupon earlier, what a sin...

"In all the time I've known Director Ji, I've never seen him take such a fancy to anyone. He's always valued his career, this document together with this card is enough to show how much he cares for you, more than anything else. Liang Jin, please do one thing," Wen Di looked him in the eye and said, "Don't ever take the initiative to break up with him. If that day comes, I'm afraid something will happen to the company."

Liang Jin's heart tightened, he was both happy and scared: "How could that be? Don't talk nonsense, Wen Di, we have a good relationship. Besides, if we were to break up, he would be the one to dump me, right?"

"Director Ji hasn't talked about it, he's serious this time."

"Take a step back, let's say that we do break up one day. With Ji Shen's character, he would never let his personal feelings affect his career."

Wen Di pondered for a while, "Let's hope so. Still, I wish you guys a long and prosperous life."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, after all, if your relationship is stable, it will be beneficial to the company in every way." Wen Di smiled, "The happiness of all the employees of Tian Han Group depends on you."

Liang Jin: ????

‿︵‿︵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: June 9, 2023