Chapter 348 Pretending to be a Returned Businessman in a Historical Novel 21
Sun Li was the first to react. He took a deep breath, straightened his chest, and strode towards the moon-white trench coat that had been assigned to him.
The others also seemed to awaken from their daze and walked towards their own sets of gorgeous clothes.
Zhou Xiaoman's heart was pounding. She walked to the crimson phoenix cheongsam and gently stroked the phoenix feathers embroidered with gold thread with her fingertips. The touch was delicate and warm, carrying a strange vitality.
The backstage area was a makeshift space partitioned off with wooden boards and curtains.
When Zhou Xiaoman changed into her cheongsam and stepped out from behind the curtain, she felt like a completely different person. The form-fitting cut accentuated her toned figure, honed by years of exercise, and the crimson silk shimmered softly in the dim light. The person in the mirror was both familiar and strange; there was a light in her eyes that she herself was unaware of.
The others also changed their clothes one after another.
Sun Li's modified trench coat accentuated his tall and straight figure, giving him a refined and scholarly air. Bai Lu wore a light purple long dress, the hem adorned with delicate Suzhou embroidery jasmine, making her appear elegant and ethereal.
They stood in a row, looking at each other with amazement in their eyes.
"My God..." Deputy Factory Director Wang muttered to himself as he watched from the side, "This...this looks just like it stepped out of a painting."
"Director Zhou, is this... is it starting now?" He rubbed his hands together, asking Zhou Jue somewhat nervously.
Zhou Jue didn't answer him. She just walked to the other end of the warehouse and pulled back a thick dust cover.
"Splash—"
The curtain slid down, revealing a sight that made everyone gasp.
Where there used to be piles of miscellaneous items, a T-shaped stage had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Although it was a temporary structure made of wooden planks, it was painted white and covered with a red carpet, making it look quite professional. At the end of the stage, several high-powered spotlights were erected high, their dark nozzles pointing towards the entrance of the T-stage.
"Let's go." Zhou Jue clapped his hands. "Let your clothes see the light of day too."
Ten people lined up, took a deep breath, and walked onto the catwalk.
When Sun Li walked to the front and stood under the lights at the entrance of the T-stage, he felt all the blood rush to his head.
He could hear his own heartbeat, pounding like a war drum.
He prepared to take the first step, following the rhythm he had practiced countless times.
Just then, the warehouse's large iron door creaked open, and blinding sunlight streamed in.
Director Li led a few people in, followed by seven or eight blond, blue-eyed, high-nosed, deep-set foreigners. The foreigners curiously looked at the furnishings in the warehouse and chatted in a language that was unintelligible.
The models were instantly thrown into chaos.
Sun Li's body stiffened visibly, and he instinctively tried to lower his head.
"Look ahead," Zhou Jue's voice came from below the stage.
Sun Li jolted awake, abruptly raising his head and forcing himself to look straight ahead.
Director Li led the foreigners to sit on chairs that had been set up on both sides of the catwalk, where they pretended to be spectators.
Before the models could adjust to this sudden change, another group of people poured in through the door. They were reporters from the city, each carrying a heavy camera.
"Miss Zhou, everyone has arrived." Director Li walked to Zhou Jue's side.
Zhou Jue nodded and gestured to the models on the stage.
"continue."
Sun Li readjusted his breathing and took the first step.
The next second.
"Snap! Snap! Snap!"
On both sides of the runway, the flashes on more than a dozen cameras suddenly went off simultaneously without warning.
The blinding white light, like countless red-hot steel needles, instantly pierced their retinas. The dense "crackling" sound, like a machine gun, frantically pounded on their eardrums.
Sun Li's mind went blank with a "buzz".
All he could see was a dazzling white expanse; he could see nothing, hear nothing. The steps he had practiced thousands of times, the rhythm he knew by heart, were all swept away in that instant.
His feet felt like they were filled with lead, and he couldn't take another step.
Bai Lu, who was following behind him, was in an even worse situation.
The sudden bright light and noise instantly brought her back to the fear she felt when she first faced a crowd. Her eyes began to dart around in a panic, and her body trembled uncontrollably. All she wanted was to finish quickly and leave this suffocating stage.
When your mind is in turmoil, your steps become unsteady.
The high heels she had specially changed into to match her dress suddenly twisted.
"ah!"
A short, startled cry.
Bai Lu lost her balance and, like a felled tree, fell straight down to the side of the catwalk.
"Bang!"
A dull, loud bang echoed through the empty warehouse.
The music stopped.
The flashes stopped.
Everyone stopped moving.
Deputy Factory Director Wang and Director Li's faces turned deathly pale in an instant, and they looked at Zhou Jue in horror.
The foreigners were also startled and stood up, craning their necks to look at the stage.
Bai Lu lay motionless on the ground, her beautiful pale purple dress now scattered haphazardly on the cold wooden board. Her shoulders trembled violently, and suppressed sobs came from beneath her arms.
It's over.
These two words popped into everyone's mind.
Zhou Xiaoman stood in the line, her hands and feet icy cold. She looked at Bai Lu lying on the ground and felt the biting chill spread from her feet all the way to her heart.
The warehouse was deathly silent.
Zhou Jue's face was expressionless. She didn't look at the panicked cadres, nor did she pay attention to the foreigners whispering among themselves.
She simply took her first steps and walked onto the catwalk.
Her leather shoes made a crisp "tap, tap, tap" sound on the wooden board, each tap seeming to strike the hearts of everyone present.
She walked up to Bailu, stopped, and looked down at her.
"Stand up."
Her voice was calm, without a trace of emotion.
Bai Lu's sobs stopped abruptly. She looked up, her tear-streaked face filled with despair and shame: "Director Zhou... I... I'm so sorry..."
“I said, stand up,” Zhou Jue repeated, his tone now carrying an unquestionable command.
Bai Lu trembled all over. Looking into Zhou Jue's unfathomable black eyes, she felt a surge of strength from somewhere. She braced herself with her hands on the ground and, swaying slightly, actually stood up.
Zhou Jue's gaze slowly swept over the nine pale-faced young people remaining on the stage.
"You saw everything?"
"This is not Paris yet."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.
"The flash and music here can be stopped."
"But in Paris, no one will stop the flash because you fall, no one will turn off the music because you cry. If you fall, the camera will immediately give you a close-up, and the whole world will see you lying on the ground in a sorry state."
You only have two choices.
"Or, like her, stand up immediately, straighten your clothes, and keep walking forward to finish your own path."
"Either lie on the ground and don't get up, then when people have had enough of the laugh, they'll naturally pull you down!"
Zhou Jue turned around and looked at Deputy Factory Director Wang and Director Li below the stage. They were already sweating profusely with anxiety.
"Director Zhou, this...this is the first time for these children...they're too nervous..." Deputy Director Wang stammered, trying to explain.
“I know.” Zhou Jue interrupted him, a faint smile finally appearing on his face: “Director Li, Factory Director Wang, don’t worry.”
She pointed to the people still on the plane below the stage, and the few foreigners with innocent-looking faces.
"Fear stems from a lack of experience."
"What are we, the people of Huaguo, best at?" she paused, then said, word by word.
"It's the 'sea of questions' approach."
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