Chapter 1 A Photo Editor Is Not a Magician
"I'm officially moving out next Monday, remember to find someone else~" Huang Jiayan finished packing her things, leaned against the door frame, and looked around the small rental room where she had lived for more than half a year. She couldn't help but smile.
She was finally able to escape this old, run-down place, and couldn't help but hum a cheerful little tune.
"I was planning to have a drink with you tonight... but seeing how you are, I think I'll pass." Huang Jiayan glanced down at her phone, her fingers flying across the screen as she quickly replied to messages, her mouth never stopping. "Oh, by the way, your rental contract expires at the end of the month, you'd better hurry up, otherwise you won't be able to find anyone to share the rent, and that old geezer will definitely kick you out."
"Also, I've hired a moving company for tomorrow, so I might not be able to come to the company. You don't need to wait for me."
After replying to the message, Huang Jiayan noticed there was no response from the person inside. She kicked the door, making a loud bang. "Hey, did you hear me? I'm talking to you, Yu Yue!"
"Huh? Oh..." Yu Yue, who had just sat down and opened her laptop to get to work, was startled by the noise and turned to look at the other person. "Sorry, Xiao Yan, I'm a little dizzy. I really can't have a drink with you tonight."
The warm light from the ceiling shone on her slightly haggard face, which was faintly flushed with an unnatural redness.
Yu Yue glanced at the time in the corner of the computer screen out of the corner of her eye and said weakly, "Besides, I have to work overtime tonight."
She just got home from get off work at nine o'clock and hadn't even had a hot meal when a new task came in, and it was urgent. She'll probably be working on it until the early hours of the morning again.
"Nonsense, of course I know you have to work overtime. Sure enough, you didn't hear a thing I just said." Huang Jiayan rolled her eyes speechlessly, then raised her hand to admire her newly done manicure. "Fine, I can't be bothered with you."
The two worked at the same photography studio, specializing in outsourced shooting jobs. As newcomers, they not only had to work as assistants to the photographers, often traveling with them on business trips, but also had to handle some tedious post-production work, such as retouching photos.
Often, clients are pressing for deadlines, so working overtime to meet deadlines has become the norm, something Huang Jiayan is well aware of. Seeing that Yu Yue arrived home very late, and had barely sat down for a sip of water before turning on her computer again, she knew there must be an urgent task tonight.
Fortunately, she no longer needs to do these things or work overtime late into the night. Huang Jiayan felt secretly fortunate and proud. She joined the company later than Yu Yue, but was promoted before her. Now she has been promoted to a management position, and not only has her salary doubled, but the boss also rented her a one-bedroom apartment in a nice neighborhood in the city center, which is considered a benefit for employees in the leadership position.
Soon she will be able to move into a beautiful new house, and no longer have to share an old, dilapidated room with others.
Thinking of this, she felt even better and decided to go back to her room for a drink. So she shrugged at the person inside the door and said, "Well, good luck then, I won't bother you anymore."
After saying that, she turned around and went into her small room.
"Okay, go ahead." Yu Yue responded softly, not caring whether the other person could hear her or not. She just propped her drowsy head up and looked at the computer screen.
The weather has been bad lately, and she's been on business trips for several days, getting caught in the rain. She seems to have caught a cold, and her cheeks are a little hot, probably from a fever. She's been feeling groggy and uncomfortable all day, but there's nothing she can do; the work has to be done.
This is a promotional event for a newly partnered brand, and they've invited many celebrities to walk the red carpet. The event's banquet is still ongoing, and their on-site photographers have already sent over the photos of the celebrities on the red carpet. We need to process them overnight, and the images must be ready and sent to the client first thing the next morning. In their line of work, speed and efficiency are paramount.
Of course, not all celebrity photos need to be processed by them. Big stars with their own teams have dedicated assistants to do this, even for group photos.
This is the type of celebrity that the company likes the most. It saves time and effort, and you don't have to deal with all sorts of bizarre photo editing requests from the artists.
At her desk at night, Yu Yue poured herself a glass of hot water, added an effervescent tablet, waited for the bubbles to dissipate, and then gulped it down. The warmth went down her throat and soothed her stomach, making her feel a little better.
She shook her throbbing head and opened the compressed file she had just received. While munching on a slightly cold rice ball she had just bought from the convenience store, she began editing the photos.
The room wasn't well soundproofed, and a comedy show was playing in the next room. Huang Jiayan's laughter penetrated the walls and went straight to her brain.
Yu Yue sighed, found her earphones, and put them on.
Despite joining the company earlier and working harder than her, she remained stuck at the bottom. Meanwhile, Huang Jiayan had become her supervisor, only needing to manage her staff and coordinate with the boss, no longer needing to work late into the night.
It would be a lie to say I'm not envious.
But what could she do? Her major in college made it hard to find a job, she had no connections, and she didn't know how to flatter.
People like her are everywhere in this dazzling city; they can't be pretentious, nor do they have the right to be. Even when they're sick, they have to work overtime.
On the computer screen were unedited photos of a male celebrity on the red carpet, with the filenames indicating the retouching requests made by the photographer.
—The eyes should have a youthful feel. Skin smoothing, whitening, and pore removal should be done while retaining some skin texture to avoid looking too fake. Raise the crotch to make the calves look longer, and the overall look should be tall, slim, and exude a cool and aloof temperament.
"..."
Yu Yue looked at the long list of requirements, and then at the picture, she saw that the cool and aloof young man and even some older men in the picture were completely unrelated, and fell silent.
If she remembered correctly, the other party had just celebrated their 30th anniversary of debut not long ago...
Although she was a child star and debuted early, she's already forty.
Yu Yue wanted to cry. This was the first time they had given her such a troublesome client. Clients with so many demands are extremely difficult to deal with.
Skin smoothing and leg lengthening are relatively easy to achieve, as they are not technically difficult. However, the kind of work that requires a certain look, temperament, and feeling is simply impossible to do.
No matter how skilled she is at Photoshop, she can't make a man over forty look like a teenager!
So, Yu Yue, who was quite troubled, decided to put it aside for now and instead looked at another folder, which also contained information about male celebrities.
It should be said that the brand, or sponsor, is a company that specializes in affordable luxury men's watches, and the promotional activities feature male celebrities.
Don't assume that male celebrities are easier to edit photos of than female celebrities. To be honest, the looks of female celebrities are all pretty good, while the looks of male celebrities vary.
Ultimately, the entertainment industry should be slightly more tolerant of male celebrities.
Yu Yue clicked the mouse to view the image information. The other party was a newcomer who had just debuted through a talent show last year, and had acted in a youth idol web drama. He wasn't very popular, but he was still somewhat well-known.
The retouching requirements in the file name notes are...
Preserve skin texture without blurring; reduce dark circles and make eyes look less tired and more vibrant; broaden shoulders; deepen chest muscles; soften leg hair but don't remove it all, leave some to highlight sexiness.
Yu Yue: ……
Yu Yue swallowed the last bite of rice ball with difficulty, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
Can someone tell her how to make leg hair look sexy? And what exactly does "appropriate" mean?!
What's the difference between this and adding the right amount of salt, sugar, and chili peppers to a dish to make "mom's cooking"?!
She's just an ordinary photo editor, not a magician!
Yu Yue was both angry and amused; she really couldn't edit this picture.
She chuckled coldly three times, sneezed, and then silently opened a photo editing app, pinching her nose as she began editing the photo.
What else can we do? If we don't start now, we won't be able to sleep tonight.
...
Time passed by, and the next room had transformed from a comedy show into a heart-wrenching romance. Yu Yue had gone from trimming her leg hair to trimming her nose hair, and after trimming her nose hair, she started trimming her pores and pimples, and after trimming her pimples, she continued trimming her leg hair.
No matter how good the makeup is, it can't hide from a high-definition camera zooming in on your face. Flaws that are invisible to the naked eye are exposed under the lens. Almost all celebrities can't withstand such a high-magnification telephoto lens with no blind spots from any angle.
Yu Yue couldn't remember how long she had been working on the repair, only that even the most handsome male celebrities and the most beautiful faces had been stripped of their charm. Her brain grew heavier and heavier, her eyes became drier and more sore, and her vision gradually blurred. On the computer screen, every pore seemed to have turned into dazzling stars, and the pimples covered by thick foundation had somehow transformed into the sun, making it impossible to look directly at them.
Suddenly, all the stars and suns in the sky turned into shooting stars, hurtling towards her face.
Yu Yue leaned back and shook her head. She must be delirious from the fever, especially when her leg hair started swaying and dancing as if to say, "Am I sexy?" Yu Yue knew she couldn't continue, so she decided to go to the bathroom to wash her face and clear her head.
But as soon as he pushed the chair back and stood up, he stumbled and almost fell.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Huang Jiayan was about to go to the bathroom when she saw Yu Yue staggering and falling by the door.
Yu Yue rubbed her head and shook her head. "It's nothing, I just lost my balance when I stood up suddenly."
"Your face looks very red, do you have a fever?"
"Yes, it should be." Yu Yue said weakly.
"Have you finished the drawings yet?" Huang Jiayan frowned. "Are you sure you can do it? The manuscript has to be submitted first thing tomorrow morning."
Although she wasn't Yu Yue's direct supervisor, if the drawings weren't completed in time for this mission, she, as the supervisor in charge, wouldn't fare well either, not to mention that her share of the bonus would also be gone.
“Just one more,” Yu Yue said. “I’m going to wash my face and clear my head.”
"Oh, that's good. Let me go to the bathroom first." Huang Jiayan glanced at her phone; the lock screen showed 01:01, and it was already 1 a.m. without her realizing it. Seemingly feeling a little guilty, she said, "If you really can't make it, just take a sick leave. I'll bring the hard drive to the company for you first thing tomorrow morning."
Generally, uploading via email is more convenient and faster, but when there are many images and large documents, the company's photographers prefer to use mechanical hard drives. After all, a single ultra-high-definition RAW photo can be hundreds of megabytes in size, and ten photos would amount to one gigabyte.
"Aren't you not going to the company?" Yu Yue remembered that the other party was moving tomorrow.
"It's okay, I have to get up early anyway," Huang Jiayan said nonchalantly.
"Okay, if I really can't get up tomorrow, I'll have to trouble you." Yu Yue said gratefully, "Go to the bathroom, I'll rest for a bit first."
Huang Jiayan nodded, grabbed her phone, and hurriedly ran into the bathroom.
Not long after, the sound of a toilet flushing came from inside. The next second, the door opened, and Huang Jiayan said to her, "I'm done."
"Hmm." The two turned aside, and Yu Yue went into the bathroom to the sink. As soon as she turned on the tap, she noticed a cell phone next to the sink—it belonged to Huang Jiayan. Just as she was about to speak, the phone screen lit up, and a message popped up on the lock screen.
Honey, I miss you. Are you asleep yet? [winking emoji]
Yu Yue was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, two more image messages popped up in quick succession, instantly overriding the previous one and turning it into a collapsed notification of "[1 contact sent 3 messages]".
"I forgot my phone." The next second, Huang Jiayan rushed in, grabbed her phone from the sink, and left just as quickly as a gust of wind.
After the other person left, Yu Yue came to her senses and thought she might have misread things because she was delirious from the fever, so she didn't care and started washing her face and brushing her teeth.
By the time I finished washing up and sat back down at the computer, it was already 1:22 AM.
I tried to finish before 2 PM, silently encouraging myself.
Yu Yue quickly finished editing the artist photos she had only half-finished, yawned, and finally opened the last file package.
'Please, give me a handsome guy who's easy to edit photos of and doesn't have many requirements!!'
Yu Yue prayed as she slowly clicked on the image information.
To her surprise, the other person's caption for the edited photo was only one word: "Handsome?"
Yu Yue's face twitched, inwardly cursing which arrogant male celebrity this was. It was the first time she had ever seen such a concise and speechless photo editing request.
I should have known better than to pray randomly. My request was indeed too small, as small as just one word.
It seems simple, but the definition of 'handsome' is actually very subjective. What I consider 'handsome' may not be what you consider 'handsome'; it's just too broad.
However, the moment the image opened, she became fully alert, and her previously dazed and confused mind instantly cleared up.
A note from the author:
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The author with procrastination issues, [Pigeon], has finally started a new story!
I plan to finish writing this book that I pre-published six years ago before starting the fanfiction (I'm afraid if I don't write it now, I might never actually start this book).
The short story is not long, estimated to be around 150,000 words.
I'm just writing this casually, feel free to take a look.
Finally, let's sprinkle some flowers! [Sprinkling flowers]
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