Look at the catwalk and patience
When Jiang Songhe returned to the dressing room on the second floor, she was immediately surrounded and led to a dressing table to sit down.
Immediately afterwards, many hands began to caress his upper body, one pair patting and tracing his face, another pair rubbing and kneading his head, and yet another pair touching and pressing his back...
Jiang Songhe doesn't particularly like physical contact with people, especially when they're shirtless, but she knows it's a necessary procedure, so she can only secretly switch to human mode and let others do as they please, closing her eyes and silently reviewing the precautions that the show director gave her over and over again.
I don't know what Wu Fangsi was thinking. Knowing he was crossing over into a completely different field and knew nothing about catwalk techniques, she still made him a "grand closing model." Just now, seeing that the other party didn't seem to be taking this show lightly, wasn't she afraid that he would ruin her reputation by making a mistake?
The show director probably received instructions and had very low expectations for him, saying that he should just walk like he normally does. He even praised him for taking those two steps unconsciously from upstairs to downstairs, saying that he was steady and quite decent.
So as long as he doesn't fall flat on his face or go the wrong way, the favor will be repaid.
"Your back is so well-developed~~" The erector spinae muscles were intentionally or unintentionally stroked. "If you put the slogan here, it would definitely make a great picture."
A delicate male voice drifted from behind, causing not only his erector spinae muscles but also all of Jiang Songhe's muscles to shudder involuntarily.
Jiang Songhe suspected that Wu Fangsi's previous remarks about whether he was gay or not were a ruse to silence him, but he had neither experience nor evidence.
When he opened his eyes again, his vision was blocked by a white haze. He focused through the gap and saw in the mirror that his head was wrapped in lace and an abstract crescent moon formed by algae rays was growing on one of his temples.
Every angular part of her face and body was coated with a layer of pearlescent shimmer, and with her wet, curly slicked-back hair, Jiang Songhe suddenly felt like she had traveled back in time. She looked like Jiang Songyun when she was in elementary school and made a craft project with glitter glue.
No wonder people say she's "too ugly"—she's not just ugly, she's probably quite comical.
"Perfect." The sudden silence in the dressing room made this seemingly empty compliment all the more striking.
Jiang Songhe lifted his eyelids, his eyelashes scraping against the lace, making it very difficult for him to open them. Moving his eyeballs was inconvenient, and unsure if he was finished being manipulated, he looked for "GRACE" in the mirror.
Upon meeting his gaze, "GRACE" seemed to sense his doubt and leaned down to look at Jiang Songhe in the mirror, saying, "It's truly perfect, exceeding expectations. I thought giving you this outfit would feel somewhat incongruous. But your physique has a wild beauty that balances out the overall femininity of the look, creating a surprisingly delightful chemical reaction."
Jiang Songhe neither understood nor took it seriously, still placing himself in the position of a tool. If you think it's perfect, then it's perfect. So he ignored the long explanation and went straight to the question he originally wanted to ask.
"Should I take this ring off?" Jiang Songhe raised her hand, turning her palm over to show the silver ring on the middle finger of her left hand.
"GRACE" looked at it carefully and replied, "The black sheepskin part is too dark in color, I'm afraid it needs to be removed."
"I understand." Seeing that the hands hadn't reached out to greet her for a while, Jiang Songhe stood up and asked again, "Where should I store my personal belongings? I'll put my ring and suit together."
“If you don’t mind, we can have our people deliver it to the lockers upstairs.” “GRACE” shrugged at the girl beside him who had already brought over a dust bag containing Jiang Songhe’s suit. “The show is about to start.”
Jiang Songhe took the dust bag, took out his coat, removed his ring and put it inside his pocket. Then he hung the whole outfit flat on the hanger, zipped it up, and handed the dust bag to the girl named "Maizi": "Thank you for your hard work."
-
After taking fitting photos, about half an hour later, Jiang Songhe followed the show director's instructions and took her place in the second-floor corridor with more than 20 professional models.
The team split into two groups according to the pre-rehearsed order of appearance, and lined up in straight lines at the symmetrical stairwells on the second floor. Jiang Songhe, as the closing model who did not need to turn back to change clothes, stood at the end of the line between the two groups, with someone beside her indicating when to leave the stage.
The sound of chair legs shifting could be heard from downstairs. Unlike the hurried shouts of the staff on the second floor, the gradually increasing voices on the first floor sounded relaxed and excited.
Wu Fangsi and "GRACE" did not appear again, probably in the closed fitting room, preparing for the next batch of styling for the models.
As 10 p.m. approached, the show director, standing at the front of the two queues, raised his hand to signal everyone on the floor to remain quiet. The lights around the stairwell were then turned off, and darkness spread down to the ground floor, clearly separating the show area from the preparation area.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."
(Ten, nine, eight, seven...)
The speakers upstairs and downstairs vibrated in unison, a robotic voice announced the countdown, and the director's gestures were synchronized with it.
"Four, three, two, one...WANTON WU's fall 2026 collection..."
(Four, three, two, one... WANTON WU 2026 Autumn Collection...)
The stairwells on both sides were simultaneously illuminated by a ring of spotlight.
As soon as the robotic voice finished speaking, a melodious and enchanting musical prelude took its place. If you listened closely, you could hear rhythmic breaths between the drumbeats—inhale, exhale, exhale, exhale—gradually becoming more unrestrained until the timbre was fully exposed in the melody, and then it abruptly stopped.
"Don't stop."
(No stopping allowed.)
A murmur that sounded like both a command and a coax drifted from somewhere in the main hall on the first floor. Suddenly, a light came on, and a commotion arose, followed by a series of screams that grew louder and louder.
"Janus?! It's Janus! Whoaahhhhhh—"
The second-floor sound system broadcasts top singers' enchanting vocals in real time with exceptional clarity.
"Lay you down, dear."
(Honey, lie down.)
show me your curves and edges.
(Show me your curves and outline.)
Hum~~
(Hmm~~)
You're doing great.
(You did a great job.)
Now give me more.
(Give me more now.)
spell LOVE out,
(I want you to spell the word "love".)
with shiver, tears or moan…”
(With trembling, tears, or groans...)
Jiang Songhe was upstairs, his brows gradually furrowing.
At this moment, the queue began to move forward. Before going downstairs, each model was still bowing her head to cooperate with the staff to make expressions or small movements and receive makeup touch-ups and styling adjustments. The next second, she immediately got into character, stood tall and proud, and descended the steps.
After the two groups completed a round of alternating routes, they returned upstairs to quickly change clothes and lined up again. Jiang Songhe finally received his instructions; it was now his turn to go on stage.
Like the other models, Jiang Songhe went to the stairwell to touch up her makeup, but the interval between her and the person in front of her was a little longer.
The show director stood in front of Jiang Songhe with one hand, holding a portable monitor in the other, intently listening to the channel feedback through the earpiece. After a short while, the director waved his arm and lowered his hand, raising and lowering his chin to signal the crossover model to pay attention to her breathing rhythm.
Jiang Songhe followed the instructions and, seeing that Director Xiu mouthed "GO," focused her attention on her feet and slowly walked into the light.
...
Once downstairs, all the lights in every corner of the space were turned on.
Facing the bright light, Jiang Songhe walked through the side halls marked with "DON'T TOUCH" and "NO PHOTOS," circled the venue, and arrived at the end point, entering the main hall through the archway facing the catwalk.
As the singer on stage drew to a close with his last song, he held the microphone, bent his knees slightly, and interacted tacitly with the models who had entered in front of him. With just a few flamboyant moves, he helped the models outside the runway to return to their positions.
Jiang Songhe continued walking straight ahead, but his eyes subconsciously tried to veer to the left or right. He quickly realized he couldn't, so he raised his chin even higher and made a feint.
The guests watching the show outside the stage railing stood up one after another. Some clapped and some whistled. As the climax and curtain call approached, they were all eager to move and spontaneously formed a human wall that was getting tighter and tighter.
Jiang Songhe noticed that her arms were being touched from time to time, and her brows furrowed noticeably. Her pace quickened, and her steps onto the catwalk were as hurried as if she were being reborn.
Just as he was about to swing his leg forward, someone pressed down on the middle of his collarbone with three fingers.
The initial aggressive advance was met with a passive slowdown. Jiang Songhe met a pair of narrow eyes that were slowly receding into the distance. Jonathan Xi brought the custom-made blue-to-white gradient microphone to his thin lips, which seemed to be smiling but weren't, and began to sing in time with the beat—
"Slow it down, baby."
(Sweetie, slow down.)
show me your moves and patience…”
(Show me your catwalk skills and patience.)
The melody remained the same, but the lyrics were quite different, clearly an impromptu rendition with a hidden meaning. Jiang Songhe deliberately lowered his English level, confining the meaning to the literal words before his thoughts wandered.
Jonathan and Jiang Songhe moved in unison, letting go of each other's hands and quickly moving away to the microphone stand on the side of the stage, where they secured the microphone.
As the music faded, Jiang Songhe clearly heard a series of camera shutter sounds behind him, and from the spontaneous cheers of the show's guests, he guessed what the slogan on his back was.
LOVE is LOVE. (Love knows no boundaries.)
Using the blindfold as cover, Jiang Songhe looked at Jonathan, who was lazily leaning on a microphone stand with his hands folded and eyes looking straight ahead. Just before he was discovered, he turned around and stood still.
"Here he is!" Jonathan suddenly leaned closer to the microphone, beaming and opening his arms towards the archway. "Applause to the one and only—"
"Witch! Fang!! Si!!!"
Under the spotlight, Wu Fangsi ran up the stairs into the center of attention, stepped onto the catwalk, bowed 360 degrees to express her gratitude, and then rushed straight to Jonathan. The two embraced intimately, arm in arm, receiving applause and returning the enthusiastic kisses from the audience...
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