Exclusive Model for the Top Painter Chapter 49

Shameful Endorsements

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On Friday night, Liang Jin came home from work. With a fashion magazine in his hand, he excitedly dashed to Ji Xiuyuan.

Ji Xiuyuan was cooking in the kitchen, Liang Jin held up the magazine and excitedly said: "Ji Shen! The cover photo of this issue of Vogue magazine is me! It's me!!! Ah, this styling, I'm so handsome!!!"

Ji Xiuyuan put down his silver knife and smiled, "Congratulations, Xiao Jin."

Liang Jin said, "I have one more piece of good news and another piece of good news, which one do you want to hear first?"

Ji Xiuyuan asked, "What's the difference?"

"One is very good news, and one isn't so good, I guess!"

"Then let's hear the very good one first."

"Okay!" Liang Jin flipped the magazine in his hand with a flourish and spread it out in front of Ji Xiuyuan, proudly saying, "I've been voted as Asia's Sexiest Male Model!"

"It seems that the judges this year have good eyes."

"Yuan Yuan, are you praising me?"

"Of course."

Liang Jin stood on his tiptoes and kissed him on the lips, "No judge can compare to Yuan Yuan's wifely praise!"

Ji Xiuyuan laughed softly and lowered his head to kiss him on the forehead, "What about the other not-so-good news?"

"Oh! Because of this ranking, I got a new product endorsement offer."

"You don't like the product of the endorsement?"

"It's not that I don't like it, I guess, I just think it's a little embarrassing."

"What is it?"

Liang Jin coughed, "Adult sex toys."

Ji Xiuyuan's eyes lit up, "Sounds interesting."

"No way? Ji Shen?!!! You're interested in this?" Liang Jin suddenly recalled that a long time ago, Morgana had specially bought this for them, "Ah! I remembered! You just have this weird fetish!!!"

"Xiao Jin, it's called being open to new things. Don't, you want to try it?"

"Don't want to don't want to don't want to!"

"Really?"

"Yes yes yes! This matter is non-negotiable!"

Ji Xiuyuan sighed softly, "It's a shame, I think, if utilised properly, a lot of fresh fun could be explored..."

"Shut up shut up shut up!"

"Xiao Jin, I suggest you give it a try. I mean, by taking this endorsement, they should give you a whole bunch of related gifts, right?"

"Ji Shen, I suspect you just want the freebies!!!"

"Xiao Jin, you're so smart."

"But what do you want that stuff for???"

Ji Xiuyuan smiled gently, "One day, we will use it."

"Impossible!"

"Xiao Jin, everything is possible."

Liang Jin was outright speechless, this person is always like this!!!!

He looked like a reasonable person, but in reality, he was so stubborn and arbitrary that he wouldn't listen to other people's opinions at all!!!!

Liang Jin was secretly determined: he must be calculating something strange and weird!!!! I mustn't be caught in the trap!!!

Ji Xiuyuan said, "Xiao Jin, take the endorsement."

Liang Jin looked at his elegant and handsome smile, and those deep and seductive eyes, and immediately lost his soul: "Oh, alright then."

Ji Xiuyuan praised in a low voice, "Mhmm, so well behaved."

———

After the release of the film 'Si Qing Ru Xia', it gained a good reputation in the industry. As a literary film, it wasn't a big seller, but it was superior in terms of quality and was recognised by many bigwigs in the industry.

It was also for this reason that it was qualified to compete for a number of national and international literary and artistic awards.

At the nomination site for one of the awards, Yao Yin specially introduced Liang Jin to Zheng Yangping, a director who specialised in martial arts films. He happened to have a TV series about ancient martial arts on hand, and saw Liang Jin's youthfulness and hoped that he could play the lead role.

Liang Jin was extremely happy, as he had always had a dream of filming a costume drama, and he especially wanted to play the role of a righteous elder brother!

Zheng Yangping exchanged contact information with him and personally gave him the audition script, inviting him to come to the set next Friday for an audition.

The script was titled 'The Legend of the Changqing Swordsman’ and was about Qin Hongyi, the senior brother of the Changqing Sect, and his friends who went into battle together to uphold justice in the world.

When Liang Jin returned home with the script in his hands, he looked excited as he discussed the plot with Ji Xiuyuan. Ji Xiuyuan studied it for a while with a serious expression and asked lightly, "Xiao Jin, do you think there are too many emotional scenes?"

According to the script arrangement, the female lead was Qin Hongyi's youngest sister, Hua Siyan, the daughter of Hua Junhao, the head of the Changqing Sect.

Hua Junhao was Qin Hongyi's master and the biggest villain in this drama. Under his obstruction, the two protagonists instead went through trials and tribulations, and their love became stronger than gold.

Ji Xiuyuan was definitely jealous when he asked this!!!

This hasn't even been performed yet? How did he somehow get jealous of his character?

Liang Jin said, ''Ahem, Ji Shen. Director Zheng told me that the final script hasn't been finalised yet, and that it's all negotiable."

"You're eager to act in this drama?"

"Mhmm."

Ji Xiuyuan thought for a while, "It's not impossible, but I have some requirements."

"Say it."

"You have to promise me to try out those toys."

"???? What do you mean?"

"The new products you endorsed."

Liang Jin's heart rippled: I knew it! He would definitely find a way to trick him into doing something with these things!

Ji Xiuyuan asked, "Xiao Jin, is that okay?"

He really wanted to take on this drama so badly, so Liang Jin could only endure the humiliation of compromising: "... Okay, but just this once, never again!"

"Also, no kissing scenes are allowed."

"Ah okay! I promise there will be absolutely none!"

"And no excessive touching either."

"Okay!"

"The positioning of this drama is a martial arts drama, focusing on the righteousness of the martial arts is fine, the emotional scenes are not important, so delete them if you can."

"Ji Shen, this... request is too much, will Director Zheng agree to it?"

Ji Xiuyuan smiled, "Xiao Jin, give me the director's contact information, I'll talk to him personally."

The next night, during dinner.

Ji Xiuyuan was in a happy mood, "Xiao Jin, I've made a deal with Director Zheng, the new script will be sent to you in the next two days."

Liang Jin was incredibly shocked, "Ji Shen, how did you do that???"

"It's nothing special, just invested some money in the film crew."

Liang Jin: ???? Is this the money power of the rich?

After receiving the new script, Liang Jin was outright dumbfounded, the plot was simply worlds apart from the previous one! Apart from the characters being kept as they were, everything else had essentially been completely overturned and rewritten!!!!

Really... It's been hard on the scriptwriters.

The most tragic thing is that the female lead Hua Siyan's role has been cut by almost 80% to 90%, completely relegated to the background. The entire drama has just turned into Qin Hongyi's big male lead storyline.

Liang Jin smiled helplessly: it's okay, as long as Ji Shen is happy.

On Friday morning, Liang Jin happily arrived at the audition venue for 'The Legend of the Changqing Swordsman'. Unexpectedly, he saw Yu Shan again, he sat at the judge's table and tossed a wink at Liang Jin.

Liang Jin: ... How come he's everywhere? Has the entertainment industry been contracted by him?

Zheng Yangping took the initiative to introduce: ''Xiao Liang, this is Yu Shan, a famous film star in the circle, you guys should have met before, right? He is one of the people in charge that we specially invited to participate in the casting process."

Yu Shan took the initiative to pick up the conversation, "Director Zheng, not only do we know each other, we're also very close, right Liang Jin?"

Liang Jin: "Actually, we're not that close."

Yu Shan: "We're, very, close."

Liang Jin didn't want to argue with him, "Oh, then we're close."

The segment chosen for the audition was the scene where Qin Hongyi had just joined his master's sect and met his master Hua Junhao for the first time.

Hua Junhao is the head of the Changqing Sect and the most respected leader of the righteous path in the entire martial arts world. Before his true nature as a villain was revealed, he had always been the idol that Qin Hongyi worshipped.

The emotions embedded in this scene are the most sincere longing of a young man.

Yu Shan played Hua Junhao and Liang Jin played Qin Hongyi.

As an award-winning actor, Yu Shan's grasp of the roles was naturally exceptional.

Liang Jin's thinking was quite straightforward, isn't it just about worship? Wouldn't it be enough to imagine the other person as Ji Shen?

So both of them quickly got into character.

Although there weren't any costumes or scenery, Yu Shan's temperament immediately changed, as if he was a decent gentleman: "Hongyi, from today onwards, you are my first disciple. Changqing Sect's many affairs, I will need you to assist me in dealing with them."

Liang Jin's eyes were full of admiration, and his tone was even more sincere: "This disciple will live up to Master's trust! Willing to sacrifice my life and repay virtue with gratitude, I am willing to do anything!"

Yu Shan's eyes looked at him with a mysterious expression, and meaningfully said, "So... very good."

After the audition was completed, Yu Shan purposely wandered over to Liang Jin and commented, "You acted well just now."

Liang Jin politely said, "Thank you."

"I say, why can't you look at me with those eyes normally?"

"What kind of eyes?"

"Admiration and reverence and fascination...'"

"Emperor Yu, you're an actor! How can you still confuse your role with your personal feelings? That's the way Qin Hongyi looks at Hua Junhao, it has nothing to do with you and me."

"Did you look at Ji Xiuyuan that way?"

"... That's none of your business."

"I'm just curious, where am I inferior to him? If you met me first, would you have fallen in love with me?"

"... I'm leaving, bye."

———

In the afternoon, he went to shoot an endorsement advert for an erotic product company. Liang Jin had thought that the scale would be bigger, but thanks to the strict censorship system in China, what he had to do was actually very simple:

Just show off his pretty face and sexy body.

With his youthful figure outlined in a snug T-shirt and tight trousers, Liang Jin held the product he was endorsing in his hand and gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

This kind of advert usually doesn't require much in the way of quality, and it was finished in an afternoon.

Looking at the foolish-looking simpleton in the camera, Liang Jin very much didn't want to admit that it was himself!

What's more, for the sake of the advert's effect, the post-production deliberately made that place extra large!

Liang Jin could practically imagine Ji Xiuyuan's reaction after seeing it!

He would definitely pretend to be puzzled and ask, ''Xiao Jin, isn't this part a bit exaggerated? Shall we verify it now?"

Very reluctantly, Liang Jin carried a large bag of erotic gifts in his hand and slowly returned home.

Ji Xiuyuan was waiting in the living room early and said caringly, "Xiao Jin, you've worked hard. Do you want to take a break first? Later on, we're going to do something fun."

"... What are you doing tonight?"

"Xiao Jin, tonight, all of my time belongs to you."

‿︵‿︵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: July 16, 2023