Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

The weather in the Capital was the best in May. It was neither hot nor cold, and the skies were clear. Furthermore, there was a week-long holiday starting on May 10th. The majority of people would choose to go travelling during this time.

However, while others had already planned out their holidays, Song Xuanhe was busy, constantly on the move. He had barely even had any time to eat.

Song Xuanhe had kept his joint studio business with Feng Tong a secret from the Song Family this whole time. During the day, he would work at the Song Company. After work, he'd work at the studio. This kind of schedule had started in February and had been going on for three months now. It seemed like it would persist for the foreseeable future.

Although it seemed like there was still ample time to prepare for September's Fall Fas.h.i.+on Week, a team that had just gotten together needed time to get used to working as a unit. Moreover, everyone was still young. Therefore, it was inevitable that there would be some b.u.mps along the way. On top of that, Song Xuanhe had yet to find a suitable model. This only added to his hectic work schedule.

In April, when “Fortune” had released their list of the top 500 US companies, a new dark horse attracted a small proportion of the people's attention. However, Song Xuanhe, who had no interest in finance, hadn't noticed its rise until May 16th. On that day, “Year 2066's Top 100 Most Valuable Brands” was published, and RE company had ranked fifty-five on that list. This caused the whole world to stir.

There was no way Song Xuanhe wouldn't have heard about such sensational news. He had found out about it, because a magazine interview had been leaked onto the internet. Although there were no photos, the interview had exposed the new energy company's president's ident.i.ty—Xiao Yuanmu, an orphan who had grown up in China, a man who possessed a sensitive nose when it came to finance, and a graduate from China's top university.

RE company had been established last September. In less than half a year, they had successfully started to sell stocks. In ten months, they had entered “Fortune's” list and managed to rank 55th on a marketing research list of top companies in the world. It was so incredible that it left people flabbergasted.

The Song Family had had the most intense reaction. Aside from Song Guochao, even Song Xuanlin hadn't been able to resist giving Song Xuanhe a call and ask him whether or not RE's president was really Xiao Yuanmu.

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When Song Xuanlin's call had come in, Song Xuanhe was in the studio. He put the call on speaker, hands still tailoring the articles in his hands. He gave the same answer he had given to a million people a million times before.

“I don't know.

“The company was founded last September. Xiao Yuanmu had still been in China. It's probably not him.”

“There are so many people with the same name as him. Besides, the magazine is in English. If we look at it in Chinese, maybe the characters are different. I can't confirm whether it's Xiao Yuanmu or not.

“I already told you, we broke up. Obviously we're not in touch anymore.

“I didn't say that it isn't him. I just said that I can't confirm whether it's him or not.

“Ge, I'm busy. I'm going to hang up.”

Song Xuanhe placed his tools down. Before the next call could come in, he turned his phone off. He then continued to work in peace. There were still going to be some models coming in to audition at five. He had no time to deal with this.

Feng Tong knocked on the door. When he heard Song Xuanhe tell him to come in, he quickly entered and shut the door behind him, thereby blocking the view of other people in the studio.

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“I have a feeling that we won't have to worry about the big magazines not coming to our fas.h.i.+on show during September's Fas.h.i.+on Week.”

Song Xuanhe didn't bother looking up. He gave the other a half-a.s.sed sound of acknowledgement. It was obvious that he hadn't been listening.

Feng Tong laughed when he saw this. He had only been planning on teasing Song Xuanhe a little bit as the reason he had actually come over hadn't been for this. Therefore, he quickly changed the subject and began to discuss what materials he would be using this season.

The two of them would always end up completely immersed whenever they talked about work. They hadn't paid any attention to time at all. In the end, they had only stopped when they heard someone knock. Song Xuanhe called for them to enter and checked the time. He then raised his hand to let Feng Tong see the time as well.

Six twenty-seven. Nearly an hour and a half had pa.s.sed since the time Song Xuanhe was supposed to meet with the models.

The person who had knocked earlier stuck his head in cautiously. “Song

laos.h.i.+

, a model left, because they still had other things to do. How about holding the audition now…?”

“Who left?” Song Xuanhe asked while picking up the doc.u.ments regarding the audition.

The person gave him a name quietly. It had been the most appropriate model amongst the ones who had come. He was also the most expensive and experienced one.

It was normal for a model who already had a bit of fame to have a bit of a temper towards no-name designers. In this industry, it wasn't just designers who would pick their models, but models would also pick their designers. It was only when a designer was at the top of the field that they would be the one doing more of the choosing.

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Right now, Song Xuanhe was a nameless newbie with neither a known background nor education from a famed school.

Feng Tong turned to Song Xuanhe and apologized. “Sorry, I didn't keep track of time. I made you miss that audition.”

“It's fine.” Song Xuanhe shook his head. “I've seen videos of him on the runway and his comp card. His aura doesn't suit my designs. Have the others go to the changing room. I'll go take a look.”

The last two sentences were directed at the guy at the door. That person hesitated for a moment before acquiescing. He then shut the door.

There was concern hidden in Feng Tong's eyes. “Do you really think that Nicolas isn't suitable for your designs?”

“Yes.”

Song Xuanhe knew what Feng Tong and the front desk a.s.sistant were thinking. They undoubtedly thought that Nicholas had been the best choice out of all the models who were willing to work with him and that Song Xuanhe had only said this to maintain his dignity.

But, what had happened happened. He had thought that Nicholas fit his clothes when he had seen his comp card. However, the comp card was nothing in comparison to the videos he had seen. After all, when the time came, he would have to rely on his skills on the walkway, not on his skills in front of a camera.

Nicholas didn't even have a tenth of the aura he had on his comp card when on the runway. When Song Xuanhe had seen his comp card, he had thought that Nicholas just barely qualified to wear his clothes. But in the video, his aura had decreased drastically. Therefore, Song Xuanhe didn't like him at all. He had been planning on at least meeting him in person before making his decision though.

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As such, he didn't find it that much of a pity that he had already left.

Feng Tong knew that Song Xuanhe wasn't the type to pretend to be brave. When he had heard Song Xuanhe's reply, he trusted that the other truly felt that way. But because of that, Feng Tong grew even more concerned. “Xuanhe, I know that the current models are not quite up to par for you yet, but I promise you that this will change once we debut. Right now, you should consider lowering your standards. After all, September is nearing.”

Song Xuanhe stood up with the doc.u.ments. He smiled and patted Feng Tong on the shoulder. He said, “Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.”

Meanwhile, there were still five other models waiting in the runway's changing room. Most of them were new people who had just debuted. Therefore, they didn't show any intense looks of dissatisfaction despite having waited this long. However, there were still a few people who couldn't quite cover up the impatience on their faces.

Song Xuanhe's gaze quickly swept over every single person. Very quickly, he was able to come up with their measurements. He chose a few clothes and handed them over to the five models. “Try these on.”

The five people exchanged glances. When they saw Song Xuanhe walk over to the sofa in front of the runway, looking like he had no intention of speaking any more, they hesitantly entered the changing stalls.

The moment one model had pulled open the curtain and was about to step out, Song Xuanhe looked up. He supported his chin up with one hand while holding onto a pen with the other. In a flat voice, he said, “The one in changing room 3, you come out first. The order will be 3, 5, 1, 4, 2.”

The person who had just taken a step out withdrew his foot. The model in the middle room then pulled their curtain open and walked out.

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Song Xuanhe's chin raised slightly as he sized up the person from the bottom-up. He frankly examined the other, but his aura was overly languid and calm. Even though he was just sitting there, his serious, focused expression seemed particularly s.e.xy.

“Are you feeling hot?” Song Xuanhe dropped his hand that had been holding up his chin. He sat up and looked at this foremost model. “Or, are you too nervous?”

“I'm not feeling hot.” The model raised his hand before lowering it again upon realizing where he was right now. He lowered his gaze and quietly said, “It's my first audition though, so I'm rather nervous.”

Song Xuanhe raised a brow. His gaze s.h.i.+fted from the other's awkward hand to the doc.u.ments in his lap. “Your name is s.h.i.+ Qi, and you're seventeen years old. You're currently in your second year of high school. Are you sure that you'll be able to take time off school to fly to Y Country with us?”

“Of course!” s.h.i.+ Qi's eyes lit up. His lips subconsciously drew into a smile, flas.h.i.+ng two tiger teeth. “I will definitely be able to get time off!”

Song Xuanhe looked at him again. Seeing the other's ears flus.h.i.+ng, he looked away before nodding. “Number five.”

s.h.i.+ Qi, who was still standing on the runway, was taken aback. Instantly, his ecstatic mood fell. He parted his lips, wanting to say something. But in the end, he simply got off the runway and went to wait patiently on the side.

The other models came out one after another. No matter who Song Xuanhe looked at, his expression had remained the same. When the models were nervously waiting for the results, Song Xuanhe slowly said, “Zhang Yang's hand movements were too stiff while walking. William should practice more in front of the mirror. s.h.i.+ Qi needs a lot more experience walking down the runway. You forgot to pose at the end. That's a big mistake….”

Song Xuanhe mercilessly exposed each person's flaws. As their expressions turned more and more embarra.s.sed and unresigned, he declared, “s.h.i.+ Qi will be partic.i.p.ating in the next round on the fifteenth of the next month. Everyone else, thank you for partic.i.p.ating in the audition.”

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The expressions of the models aside from s.h.i.+ Qi turned ugly. It was probably because Song Xuanhe's expression had been too calm the whole time, even when mentioning their faults. His serene appearance had caused these hot-blooded young models to feel rather dissatisfied.

One of them couldn't help but say, “May I ask why s.h.i.+ Qi was the only one of us five to make it? From what I know, he debuted the latest. He's only been working for three months. You also said that he lacks experience and made a big mistake on the runway. Why did he make it while we four were eliminated?”

Song Xuanhe glanced at s.h.i.+ Qi when he heard this. Upon seeing his nervous expression, he asked, “Why do you think you rose above the rest?”

s.h.i.+ Qi was startled. He licked his lips nervously. “I like these clothes. I like every single detail of them while wearing them. I-I think maybe that's the reason why….”

Song Xuanhe smiled. He then looked at the model who had questioned him. “s.h.i.+ Qi lacks experience, but he understands and likes the clothes he wears. On the runway, your priority is to showcase the clothes on your body. But, you guys don't even understand the clothes you have to show off. How can you get the people in the audience to like the clothes? Of course, that's not the reason why I chose him though.”

“Then why?” s.h.i.+ Qi widened his eyes, antic.i.p.ating the answer.

Song Xuanhe glanced at him. He was about to answer when he changed his words. “The result has already been decided. Everyone can leave.”

The other people who had been furious upon hearing Song Xuanhe say that they didn't understand clothes calmed down. When they heard this, they turned to leave without any more questions.

When they reached the door, one person said, “He thinks that he's famous and actually dares to snub us? There are so many new designers making their debut at Fas.h.i.+on Week every year, and only one makes a splash every few years. And, it's September's Fas.h.i.+on Week to boot. I can just tell that he's probably going to fail based on his eye for talent. It's too bad. Feng

laos.h.i.+

will probably be dragged down by him.”

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The person who had been speaking hadn't quieted his voice. The door hadn't yet closed either, so Song Xuanhe had heard every single word.

When s.h.i.+ Qi had heard these words, he looked at Song Xuanhe helplessly as if wanting to see if the other was angry.

Upon noticing s.h.i.+ Qi's gaze, Song Xuanhe turned towards him and ended up meeting his eyes. s.h.i.+ Qi immediately took a step back, startled. His face flushed all the way to his ears. He didn't dare say a thing.

Song Xuanhe frowned. He looked the other up and down.

Perhaps it was because his gaze was too obvious, but s.h.i.+ Qi's face slowly returned to normal. He then started to pale as Song Xuanhe's eyebrows knitted tighter and tighter.

“What are you thinking about?”

Song Xuanhe hadn't interacted with adolescent boys in a long time. He really didn't know what this seventeen-year-old was thinking about. He also started wondering if it had really been that long since he had graduated. Maybe that was why he couldn't remember whether or not the seventeen-year-olds he had known were this easily startled or were so quick to blush.

“I…I wanted to ask you…” s.h.i.+ Qi met Song Xuanhe's gaze nervously, his gaze s.h.i.+fting around before settling on the other. He pursed his lips and finally blurted out, “Why did you choose me?”

Song Xuanhe looked at his expression. “Because of your current expression.”

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When he had heard this, s.h.i.+ Qi went “ah,” dazed.

Song Xuanhe pulled the door open and said in a flat voice, “You don't have to wait until the audition on the fifteenth. Come here tomorrow for training. You need work on your walking, bearing, and expressions. Didn't you feel like proving them wrong when you had heard them say my eye for people was bad? As long as you can meet my demands, you'll make them swallow their words when your reputation explodes in four months.”

After he said this, he turned around and left without looking back.

s.h.i.+ Qi stared at Song Xuanhe's increasingly distant figure. It was unknown what he was thinking about, but his eyes grew increasingly bright. When Song Xuanhe had disappeared from his line of sight, he turned around, covered his lips, and laughed. Those brilliant eyes on his bashful, pretty face were eye-catching.

Song Xuanhe had just entered his office when Zhou Nan—who had come out of nowhere—stopped him. He started to complain, “

Da ge

, why'd you turn off your phone?! Do you know that your dad, your brother, Auntie, my parents, and everyone who knows me and you have all been calling me?! Do you know what my afternoon's been like? It was so hard to get Yu Yan to even meet with me today. I had wanted to chat with him and ask him to get back together with me. But, everything was ruined by those people calling me for you! Yu Yan probably thought that my exes were calling me. How am I supposed to explain things to him?!”

“Tell me, Song

Er

, tell me.” Zhou Nan accepted the juice the a.s.sistant had brought over and took a sip. “Tell me, how great a crime it is to disrupt someone else's love life!?”

Song Xuanhe placed the doc.u.ments in his hands onto the desk. He bent over to grab the phone on the sofa and had been about to turn it on when Zhou Nan stopped him. “Don't say I didn't give you a heads-up. It wasn't just me, even Lin

zi

and the others who frequently meet up with us were bombarded with calls. They were all asking about Xiao Yuanmu. If you turn on your phone, you're gonna be swamped by those people.”

Just as Zhou Nan had said this, Zhou Nan's phone started to ring. He glanced at the caller ID and then showed it to Song Xuanhe. He made a gesture towards him before answering the call.

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“Hei, Uncle, yes, this is Zhou Nan.”

“Song Xuanhe, ah, yeah, he's my friend. I don't know where he is right now. We're friends, not conjoined twins.”

“I'm not joking around. I really don't know about RE's Xiao Yuanmu. I can't find him either, how can I ask him, ah? Alright, I'll send out a ma.s.s text when I find out. Oops, I mean I'll text just you. Right. Bye, Uncle.”

After hanging up, Zhou Nan silenced his phone and threw it down. He sighed. “You better give me that bottle of Bordeaux. Send it to me tomorrow.”

Song Xuanhe laughed. “You came here for my wine?”

“Of course not,” Zhou Nan said, “I also want compensation for you ruining my date.”

Song Xuanhe gave him an askance glance. Zhou Nan shook his head and sighed. “I think that you'll probably have to go home today. Your dad called my dad today, telling him to tell me to find you as soon as possible. I have tried to keep things vague for as long as possible. If you don't go home, you won't be able to keep this studio hidden for much longer.”

“Got it.” Song Xuanhe's gaze paused on his own phone screen as it started up. He waited until the home screen came up. However, although his phone usually started up quickly, this time, it took a long time for it to switch to the home screen. He had to wait nearly half a minute.

Song Xuanhe saw red notification bubbles on every single one of his messaging apps. Zhou Nan stretched his neck to peer at his screen and couldn't help but laugh, taking pleasure in Song Xuanhe's misery.

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Song Xuanhe didn't bother with him. He casually started to delete all the apps. However, before he could press “confirm,” an incoming call came.

The number was one Song Xuanhe was very familiar with. It was the home phone of the Song Residence. The only person who would use this number to call him was Song Yansong.

“Grandpa?”

When Song Yansong had heard the call go through, he glanced at Song Guochao and Song Jiabao's family next to him. He then looked away and calmly asked, “Where are you?”

“I'm at my friend's studio right now. What's up?” Song Xuanhe asked despite clearly knowing what the other wanted.

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“Everyone's worried about you after you shut your phone off all day. We also wanted to ask you about Xiao Yuanmu. If nothing's wrong with your friend's studio, come home for dinner.”

After hanging up, Song Xuanhe looked at the time. It was already past seven. The Song Family typically ate dinner at six fifteen. It looked like Xiao Yuanmu's company had really caused huge ripples within the Song Family.

“It's not just the Song Family,” Zhou Nan said, “Everyone in our circles…it's not just China. I think the whole world has their eyes on him. Your ex-boyfriend's taking the world by storm.”

Song Xuanhe side-eyed him. “How do you know it's him?”

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“It's obviously him. Who else would it be?” Zhou Nan said. “Anyone who knew him would be able to guess that it's him. What do you plan on telling your family? This is unprecedented. He's got a monopoly on this newly researched energy source. Every family..no, every country wants a slice of this pie. You've got an advantage as his ex. As long as you help the Song Group get a piece of this, even if you don't want to inherit the Group, you'll have it.”

He knew that Zhou Nan was warning him out of concern. Song Xuanhe patted him on the shoulder. “Don't worry.”

Zhou Nan wrapped an arm around his and asked, “Say, how does it feel to find out that your ex achieved meteoric success after breaking up with you?”

“How about you tell me how it feels to have to win back the ex you threw away?” Song Xuanhe glanced at him from the side, picked up his car keys from the desk, and headed outside.

“It hurts, but I'm also happy.” Zhou Nan chased after him while whistling. “What about you?”

Song Xuanhe: “I don't feel anything.”

“Acting dumb.” Zhou Nan stretched his waist as he continued in a casual tone, “Tell me. Maybe one day he'll mention having an ex who had riled him up. At that time, people will laugh at you for being so blind. Perhaps I could help say a few words on your behalf.”

“How?” Song Xuanhe couldn't help but smile. “Would anyone want to interview you?”

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“You're too much, ah, Song

Er

!” Zhou Nan heckled. He still didn't look serious at all. “Tell me. I'm dying to know how you feel about an ex. I've been trying to get Yu Yan back for so long with no success. I feel like I don't know him anymore after having been apart for so long. Give me some tips, so I can get back into a relations.h.i.+p.”

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Song Xuanhe paused and said, “If you don't really like him, don't bother him.”

“F*ck, you're the one saying this?”

Zhou Nan widened his eyes in shock. He didn't come back to himself for a long time. It wasn't until he was met with a spray of exhaust fumes to the face that he snapped out of it. He clicked his tongue. “Has the sun risen from the west? Is Xiao Yuanmu some kind of supernatural ent.i.ty? Don't tell me you suddenly realized you loved him after you had broken up.”

The author has something to say:

The economic ranking and anything that seems to clash with reality were made up by me. But Fortune magazine and the top 100 most valuable companies worldwide list does indeed exist. If you're interested, you can look it up. Anything that seems unrealistic, just pretend it's a made-up setting that's different from reality.

Kara: Heh. Xuanhe's not the one who realized he loves the other after “breaking up,” Zhou Nan. (灬º 艸º灬)

Eve: Hi everyone, not a major announcement or anything but I thought I should let you guys know that I'm going to be restricting myself from looking at comments on this novel for a bit, which means that I might be late in replying to questions. If there's an urgent comment or question, feel free to ping me on discord. I've always struggled with very bad anxiety and negativity only exacerbates it. I understand that everyone is ent.i.tled to their own opinions and don't want to censor anyone. I also understand that these comments are not an attack on myself. But knowing this in my brain isn't the same as knowing it with my heart.

Every negative comment about the story and characters I love affects me on a normal day, let alone on a day where my mental health is at its lowest. I know there are countless of kind comments and I thank you all for leaving me such encouraging words. But a single negative comment can severely diminish my joy and will to translate. So I thought that it would be best if I just didn't read any for some time. I might catch up on comments on this novel once a week or at some other frequency, but I definitely won't be reading them every day anymore. I started to translate to share the novels I love with other fans who love them the same and I want to continue to do that. So I hope that this break will help me find that love again. To anyone who read this far, thanks for supporting me and this novel.

Updates will continue as per usual.