Chapter 33: He Smiled Childishly And Innocently

Mad Dog

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The filming period of “Jiao Si” was forty-five days, which was relatively long for a movie. The locations included Hengdian, Liuzhou, and Jiangwu.

Hengdian was on the outskirts of Lin Lan District, while Liuzhou and Jiangwu, where the scenes were shot, were in other places. Qiu Heng planned to start filming with the scenes in Jiangwu first. The entire crew would charter a plane to depart next week, with a gap of about four to five days in between.

Within this period, Xiao Yongfei, like a “master of time management,” also arranged a magazine shoot for Jiang Qi.

Jiang Qi had originally planned to spend these days with Zhi Qi. Completely unaware of this arrangement, his expression sank as soon as he heard about it.

“…Come on, the shoot I arranged for you is for Calle’s year-end special edition.” Xiao Yongfei felt inexplicably guilty under Jiang Qi’s gloomy gaze, but at the same time, he felt he had done nothing wrong. He explained with a stiff smile, “Calle! It’s the year-end special edition that many influencers want to be featured in. Editor-in-chief Ji Ting personally came to invite you. Shouldn’t I accept?”

“It’s a bit too ungrateful, isn’t it? Besides, Calle and Ji Ting are both leaders in the domestic fashion industry. Why offend them? Are you going to cut off your connections in the fashion circle? The more he thought about it, Xiao Yongfei felt that he made the right decision to accept this notice.

“Magazines only take one or two days to shoot.” He walked over and gently patted the shoulder of the displeased young man. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you rest for the next two days. Can I stop arranging notices for you?”

…Xiao Yongfei was quite accommodating and generous in his self-deprecation.

Actually, Xiao Yongfei’s ‘grievance’ was understandable. As a top agent, he hadn’t dealt with a ‘difficult’ artist like Jiang Qi for a long time. There were many things he didn’t tell Jiang Qi, such as the numerous invitations for magazine covers he had turned down, and the fact that he couldn’t reject Ji Ting’s offer.

Yet, even so, Jiang Qi was still complaining?

Who could he reason with? Xiao Yongfei’s heart was filled with frustration and anger as he stormed off.

*

Two days later, the shoot wasn’t going smoothly.

Because this shoot was for the year-end special, related to the Double Tenth Festival, the theme was ‘Winter Sunshine.’

For a shoot about winter sunshine, the models naturally couldn’t look cold.

But the difficulty lay in Jiang Qi not knowing how to ‘warm’ up.

Originally, Ji Ting was looking forward to this event because of his previous experience shooting Jiang Qi. However, as they continued shooting, he sensed something was off. He almost felt like crying—he originally thought all those online trends like ‘Jiang Qi doesn’t smile’ were just marketing gimmicks, but who knew they were actually true!

Choosing someone who doesn’t smile much to shoot a Winter Sunshine series, wasn’t he asking for trouble?!

The shoot progress was at a standstill for a moment. Ji Ting’s once somewhat handsome face now resembled a bitter gourd, and his long artist-like hair was almost turned into a bird’s nest by himself scratching it.

“No… handsome man.” He walked over to Jiang Qi, who was resting on the side, and asked tearfully, “What’s the use of having such a handsome face? Just being expressionless? Can’t you smile a little?”

Because they needed to create a winter atmosphere, the studio was filled with frosty air and artificial snow, making it uncomfortably cold.

Jiang Qi was leaning back in his chair, drinking the ginger tea that Qiu Mi handed him, a hint of red staining his thin lips. Like a red plum in the wintry snow, he looked at Ji Ting with faint eyes, seemingly not understanding what he was saying.

Ji Ting was speechless for a moment, his mind buzzing with agitation.

If it were anyone else, he would have wanted to slap them silly, but with Jiang Qi… he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

The Burberry early winter haute couture he was wearing was provided by Burberry, a red-brown plaid wool coat with a high collar that covered half of his chin. Jiang Qi’s face, pale to the point of transparency, had slightly lowered brows and eyes, with fine black hair sprinkled with dots of snow.

With a flicker of thought, Ji Ting suddenly lifted the camera around his neck and took a picture.

He captured the moment of the boy holding a paper cup, drinking tea, with a look of surprise, his light-colored eyes glistening in the reflection of the snow.

Sometimes, candid shots capture more charm.

However, the challenging task of capturing the ‘warm sunshine’ still continues. Ji Ting was satisfied with the candid shot in his camera, but his excitement only lasted for a few seconds.

His anxious and worried mood didn’t ease until Zhi Qi came over.

Today was the day agreed upon by the girl and Jiang Qi to meet at the set, so she hurried over after class according to the address he gave. But Zhi Qi never expected the studio to be so cold. She was wearing only a thin beige knitted skirt, loosely hanging down to her knees. The moment she entered the studio, she almost got goosebumps from the cold.

She shivered instinctively and then looked around for Jiang Qi’s figure.

To her surprise, it was him who spotted her first.

As Ji Ting was anxiously looking around, he saw Jiang Qi, who had been sitting calmly, suddenly brighten up and then furrow his brows. He quickly stood up and walked briskly towards the door.

Could Ji Ting be hallucinating to see such a ‘vivid’ expression on Jiang Qi’s face?

Ji Ting followed Jiang Qi’s gaze in a daze and saw the boy standing in front of a girl who was about half a head shorter than him. The girl was wearing a skirt, slender in figure, and her appearance was not very clear, but Jiang Qi seemed to be protective of her.

He watched as he took off his coat and put it on the girl. Now, he was left with only a warm white sweater underneath, with a ‘gentle’ expression on his face.

…

This coat was sponsored by Burberry for the cover shoot!

Ji Ting was speechless and curious again. He asked Qui Mi beside him in a low voice, “Who is that girl?”

Qui Mi smiled mysteriously and only said two words in a playful manner: “Qiqi.”

After Jiang Qi’s award acceptance speech a few days ago, the mysterious figure ‘Qiqi’ who couldn’t be found despite thorough searching through Jiang Qi’s Weibo follow list, the surrounding staff, and so on, made the internet curious. People started to doubt whether Jiang Qi was just making things up casually—or if she was his relative.

No one would have expected that Qiqi was such a lively and pretty girl.

Of course, Ji Ting knew about this matter. He looked at the smiling girl next to Jiang Qi—Zhi Qi’s knitted dress had lantern sleeves, and her delicate and cute hands lightly touched his face.

The graceful girl furrowed her brows lightly, and in Ji Ting’s highly imaginative fantasy, it seemed like she was saying: Why is your face so cold?

Jiang Qi’s lips curled slightly into a smile.

Jiang Qi, smiling.

These two words seemed completely unrelated, yet they seemed to save Ji Ting’s life. The man’s eyes lit up, and in an instant, a thought flashed through his mind, eager to try. Ji Ting had a staff member bring a blanket for himself, then walked towards Jiang Qi and Zhi Qi.

“Jiang Qi, give your girlfriend this blanket,” Ji Ting said naturally, without noticing the slight stiffness in the expressions of the young man and the girl after the words ‘girlfriend’ came out. Then Zhi Qi’s ears turned slightly red, feeling a bit embarrassed as she pursed her lips and lowered her head.

Jiang Qi was successfully pleased by Ji Ting’s use of those words, so he obediently put on his coat again and draped the blanket Ji Ting specially brought over Zhi Qi.

This blanket was also a new release from Burberry for the Christmas season, made of thick and warm reddish-brown fabric filled with Christmas elements—bells, reindeer, sleighs, Santa Claus…

When the girl wrapped herself in the blanket, it completely enveloped her petite body, leaving only her chestnut-colored long hair and a fair and delicate face exposed. On her ivory-white face, a pair of black eyes blinked curiously, gazing at the artificial snow being produced in the shooting studio.

“Jiang Qi.” Seeing this, Ji Ting immediately took advantage of the situation and struck while the iron was hot, “Shall we continue shooting now?”

He figured that since the girl was looking around curiously, the young man might want to ‘show off’ a bit in front of his beloved.

Sure enough, Jiang Qi nodded with a soft “Hmm.”

Under Zhi Qi’s gaze, the staff, who had just finished their break, resumed their work methodically, setting up lighting props.

Jiang Qi stood in front of the camera, and his body movements were much more ‘gentle’ than before.

This was because Ji Ting intentionally adjusted the main camera he was shooting with to focus on Zhi Qi’s position—meaning that when Jiang Qi looked into the lens, the corner of his eye would inevitably catch Zhi Qi.

Who wouldn’t call this a bit calculating?

But calculated methods often work. Seeing the girl he liked, the corners of the young man’s eyes and eyebrows were no longer as frosty as before.

Although Jiang Qi still didn’t smile, Ji Ting had already pressed the shutter countless times. In fact, in the warm winter sun, you don’t necessarily have to smile. As long as your expression and body language convey warmth, it’s enough.

Looking past Ji Ting’s camera, Zhi Qi gazed at Jiang Qi in the middle of the studio, feeling that the young man was truly a natural actor. He simply stood there, effortlessly attracting everyone’s attention, almost without the need for spotlights, naturally becoming the center of attention.

Jiang Qi was neither awkward nor constrained, just calmly doing what he needed to do, as if he was born to be like this—naturally captivating.

As the shoot neared its end, Zhi Qi was finally pulled out of her trance-like state. She looked up and happened to meet the young man’s eyes.

Since the camera couldn’t capture her, Zhi Qi, feeling playful, couldn’t help but smile and make a face at him for a moment. Her pink tongue peeked out from the corner of her mouth, enough to make the young man’s azure eyes instantly heat up.

Like gathering a bunch of fire, Jiang Qi couldn’t help but smile.

His sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes stretched into a charming arc, and for the first time during the entire shoot, the young man smiled, revealing a mouthful of pearly white teeth, exuding youthful vigor.

Ji Ting’s eyes lit up, quickly capturing this moment.

Under the snowfall, the young man in the reddish-brown coat had snowflakes on his ink-black hair, smiling with innocence and childishness.

It was a scene so stunning that it almost froze time.

This smile later became the cover of calle’s New Year’s edition—the highest-selling issue ever.

Fashion industry professionals commented: This is a smile worth collecting.