Exclusive Model for the Top Painter Chapter 60

Affection in the Dark Summer Night

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In the blink of an eye, it was the turn of spring and summer.

At the beginning of April, Liang Jin received an invitation to the preliminary round of the Chinese division of the International Professional Model Competition, which was held at the Fashion Convention and Exhibition Centre in A City.

The preliminary round was presented in the form of song, dance and runway performance, with the evaluation system combining audience voting and judges' scores. The audience vote accounted for 40% of the weight, and the judges' scores were 60% of the weight.

The song and dance was a group project, and the ranking of the team would be converted into individual scores, which would be incorporated into the total score. The runway performance was an individual presentation, which was the core part of the competition.

Group members are randomly assigned by the system. When Liang Jin received the notification about joining the group, he couldn't help but sigh: the world is too small, isn't it?

The group he joined, number 2203T, had a total of nine people.

In addition to himself, six of the other eight were actually his old acquaintances!

On second thought, it wasn't really surprising.

Liang Jin graduated from the well-known A City University of Media Arts, and participated in many professional-related activities during his school years, so almost everyone in the same department knew each other.

After graduation, he has been working in A City, and has accumulated some contacts.

Now that A City is hosting the competition, it's like holding a large-scale alumni and colleague exchange meeting for them...

Among these eight people, Liu Shen and Summer were his colleagues when he worked at Zhou Hai; one was his classmate in the same year; three were alumni of the same department; leaving only two new faces that he didn't know.

According to the arrangement of the organising committee of the competition, all team members were required to undergo intensive training at the Fashion Convention and Exhibition Centre in advance.

In the washroom of the training centre, Liang Jin overheard this conversation:

"Which group are you in?"

"2203T."

"Hiss, this group is famous."

"What?"

"You still don't know? There's a super-celebrity in your group!"

"What do you mean?"

"Liang Jin."

"Oh yeah, I've heard of him too. As a newcomer who debuted not long ago, he was able to win the Gucci China Fashion Modelling Championship and was also invited to participate in London Fashion Week, he really has a good track record."

"That's not the point at all okay? Did you know that he's bent?"

"Ah this... I don't really know. But there are quite a lot of bent ones in the circle, so it's nothing strange."

"And do you know who he's seeing?"

"Who?"

"Ji Xiuyuan."

"Fuck! Ji Xiuyuan? You're talking about that Ji Xiuyuan from the Tian Han Group?"

"Exactly."

"How did he do it? He's a winner in life! Tian Han's Director Ji, I've seen him once before. He seems very arrogant and cold, hard to get close to."

"Then do you know Yu Shan?"

"The hotshot film star in the entertainment industry?"

"Yes. A friend of mine said that Yu Shan is particularly flirtatious and loves to have fun. One time when he was drunk, he actually called out Liang Jin's name."

"Could it be that they had an affair?"

"That's not true, it's said that Yu Shan was the one who had an unrequited love, rumour has it that Liang Jin once rejected Yu Shan countless times."

"I actually don't know who to admire at the moment."

"Also, it's rumoured that he's a great fighter, he once single-handedly challenged a mafia group in A City and took out the entire nest in one go. When the set caught fire during filming, he barged into the fire alone and saved a hundred or so people!"

"Are you talking about a real person? Why do I suspect you're making it up?"

"It's a thousand times true, I have a friend who witnessed it with his own eyes."

"He must be mighty and majestic then?"

"Probably, he must be at least on the level of Captain America."

Liang Jin was speechless as he listened, this rumour is too unreliable, right? Would anyone really believe it?

He silently sighed, intending to turn around and leave.

The little brother next to him was chatting up a storm, so he also struck up a conversation with him and said, "This pretty boy, which group are you from?"

"2203T."

"Good guy, what a coincidence, what's your name?"

"Liang Jin."

Most afraid of the sudden silence in the air, the person next to him laughed dryly a few times, "That's impossible, you're so humorous."

"Why is it impossible?"

"You're fine skinned, with a youthful look, sexy body and red lips, how could it be..." The corner of his eye caught a glimpse of the information on Liang Jin's participant ID card that was hanging around his neck, and his tongue suddenly tied up as if in knots: "Liang Liang... Jin?! So-so-sorry!!!"

Liang Jin smiled indifferently, "It's okay, it's better not to believe the rumours in the streets."

When he returned home in the evening, Ji Xiuyuan was painting in his studio.

Liang Jin sat beside him, looking at his profile with his eyes downcast as he painted, and it was still as heart-pounding as the first time he met him.

The drawing was of his naked self, which was like the centre of the world under his brush.

For the first time, Liang Jin felt that the beauty of pure art was so outstanding that it was beyond the prejudice of the common people.

On this summer night, he stayed quietly by his side.

A few wisps of moonlight poured in through the window, and the wordless love and beauty quietly fermented, leaving the room full of happiness.

After a while, when Ji Xiuyuan finished his work and put away his painting tools, Liang Jin sighed and said, "Ji Shen, I feel so lucky! It's such a pleasure to be able to watch you paint. I was thinking that when I first took the initiative to strike up a conversation with you, it was because I was attracted by this look of yours! But what I'm curious about is, why did you paint me back then?"

Ji Xiuyuan said softly, "Xiao Jin, didn't I tell you from the beginning? Your body is fatally attractive to me."

"No… no way? Why do I remember that you were still in the abstinent category back then? Oh yeah, I even heard people talking about you today, about how you looked all arrogant and cold and unapproachable!"

Ji Xiuyuan kissed the top of his hair, "Those are all my appearances. Xiao Jin, only you can see my truest inner self."

"Oh, so you're just cold on the outside, but actually perverted and shameless on the inside?"

Ji Xiuyuan laughed softly, "Indifference is me, gentleness is also me; abstinence is me, shamelessness is also me. If I hadn't met you, perhaps there would be no me in your eyes."

"Xiao Jin, meeting you is my greatest fortune."

As the words fell, Amber, the little cream cat on the sofa, opened her misty sleepy eyes and purred softly.

It seemed to be echoing, and it was as if it was adding a vivid footnote to this fortune.

———

Sunday night, A City University Town Cultural Square.

Shu Yue's band, Scratch, was holding their debut show, with the hope of pulling in sponsorship from investors to provide financial support for subsequent development.

Because they won the championship at the university music festival last year, Scratch was quite popular among students in A City, and this debut show attracted a lot of people to come and watch.

Shu Yue, as the lead singer, played and sang many popular songs, and also presented the audience with music he wrote himself. He has a particularly strong sense of stage presence, and the whole concert had a lively atmosphere, with constant cheers and applause.

But even so, the debut was not a success.

The main objective was to get sponsors, but unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm of the student fans, they did not attract sponsors who were willing to invest.

Originally, the concert was already a money sink, and without subsequent investment, the band's operation would be nearly unsustainable.

Shu Yue was in a depressed mood and asked Liang Jin to come out for a drink.

When he got sad, he hugged Liang Jin and cried, "Brother!!! The band is my dream!!! I haven't even graduated yet, is my dream going to be shattered? The thought of doing finance, which I hate, wakes me up at night, I really love music!!!"

Liang Jin has always been righteous, so when he saw him so sad, he said, "How much money are you short of? Give me your card number, I'll transfer a hundred thousand to you first, if it's not enough, we'll talk about it."

Shu Yue cried even louder when he heard him say this, "Brother! You are my real brother! Closer than my own father! But I can't do this, how can I spend your hard-earned money! What I'm doing now, I honestly don't know what I'm doing. If the band doesn't get off the ground, all your money will be wasted."

"It's okay, I said I'd help you."

"No way! I'm going to suck up the investors' money with my skills!" Shu Yue insisted, "Anyway, I can't use yours!" He paused for a moment and whispered, "Just pay for the drinks tonight."

Liang Jin laughed and said, "That's no problem at all."

Shu Yue raised the bottle and clinked glasses with Liang Jin, "Brother, next time we meet, my band will definitely be better."

In order to make ends meet and earn money to support the band in the meantime, Shu Yue accepted a position as a resident singer at a certain bar.

Handsome, trendy and talented, Shu Yue attracted a lot of ambiguous eyes in the bar. There were always people who came to talk to him, and there were even bold girls who took advantage of him.

Shu Yue couldn't stand it, and one night, the long accumulated indignation reached the breaking point. He picked up his guitar with one hand and struck a lewd greasy middle-aged man on the head, smashing him so hard that there were stars in his eyes.

Here's what happened:

This middle-aged, hairy, lewd man fell into lust and ran to chat to Shu Yue. When he learnt that he was the lead singer of a band and was in the process of attracting investors, he took the initiative to introduce himself and said that he could help him. Shu Yue immediately jumped for joy and wanted to talk to him about specific details. This lewd man smirked and proposed that he should sleep with him.

As Shu Yue was a little confused, the lewd man wanted to touch his hand. Shu Yue was disgusted and instantly counterattacked, smashing him in the head.

Seeing that this matter had become a big deal, and his job was about to be lost, Shu Yue looked at the manager who came to deal with the commotion, feeling unusually irritable.

It was at this time that Zhou Hai appeared out of nowhere and asked him, "What's going on?"

Shu Yue answered truthfully, "This man harassed me, so I hit him."

Zhou Hai whispered something to the manager and then said to Shu Yue, "Come to the office to talk."

Shu Yue followed him with a puzzled expression, "You run this bar?"

"Not really, it was recently acquired."

"Aren't you in the film and television industry? Why are you involved in this?"

"I like to drink and invest in the process. Why do you sing here?"

"What else can be the reason, life forced me."

Coming to the office, the two sat opposite each other.

Zhou Hai said, "According to your contract with the bar, if the contract is terminated due to an employee's personal negligence, the company has the right to dismiss you immediately without paying any compensation."

True to his usual style, Shu Yue shrugged indifferently, "As long as you don't reverse my wage."

"I heard that your band debuted?"

"Yes, disbanded on debut."

"Why, I thought you needed an investment?"

Shu Yue understood the implication of his words and immediately looked at him nervously, "What do you mean?"

"If I entertained the idea, would you be willing to sign a cooperation agreement with me?"

"Are you serious???"

"Mhmm."

"Great!"

"Just to be clear beforehand, I never make a losing deal. If my investment goes down the drain, you'll need to work in my company to pay off your debts."

As expected of him! Shu Yue maintained his forced smile, "No problem, I have one last question."

"Ask."

"It shouldn't be necessary to sleep with you, right?"

Zhou Hai thought seriously for a moment, "If you want to, it's not impossible."

‿︵‿︵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: August 7, 2023