Chapter 279
The next day.
"Congratulations, Brother Lu! Our sister Fei's cover shot took first place this time," Lu Shanshan said eloquently on the other end of the line. The magazine, usually so pompous, calmed down considerably in the face of this long-awaited success.
The fashion industry's most anticipated September cover season has finally concluded today. Among the many top women's magazines, Dai Linfei has achieved legendary status with this cover. XZC, having shaken off its previous reputation as a "half-dead" magazine, has successfully staged a remarkable comeback in this fashion war.
"Oh, it's all thanks to your thoughtfulness..." Lu An complimented him. During the short call, the two relatives flattered each other tacitly.
As soon as the call ended, Lu An's expression relaxed. Zhu Xingdong's name had been removed, and Dai Linfei's three consecutive Golden Nines were in full swing. Now was the time to reap the rewards.
Lu An watched Dai Linfei reading the script, his heart filled with joy. As soon as the cover of "XZC" came out yesterday, several high-end cosmetics brands he had long partnered with contacted him, hoping to renew their contracts.
Thinking of this, Lu An felt a little regretful. But he walked straight to the tea table, sat down, and slowly poured himself a cup of premium Guanyin tea. Savoring the orchid fragrance that practically permeated his bones, he finally said with regret, "I was thinking of asking Teacher Zhou to shoot a new commercial for you right away."
He'd finally discovered that working with Zhou Xiao was a pure pleasure. From their first short film shoot to this magazine shoot, his work was a resounding success. Young people often understand online preferences better than the self-possessed and steady veterans (veteran photographers). Zhou Xiao's track record has been truly impressive.
Although he had thought of recruiting Zhou Xiao into his studio as early as their first collaboration, Lu An also noticed Zhou Xiao's free and easy nature, so he gave up the idea.
Besides, the other party is still on the rise, with a promising future. How could he agree to be detained in the studio? Even though the boss of this studio is the famous star Dai Linfei, Lu An still feels uneasy. In this case, it is best not to ask, so as to avoid awkwardness and difficulty in cooperation in the future.
"If I can invite him, I'll invite him. If I can't, that's fine too." Dai Linfei's expression remained calm. She glanced up at her agent. They had worked together for so many years that they were like family, so she spoke without hesitation.
However, Dai Linfei didn't intend to tell her agent about her private chat with Zhou Xiao, as she might be pestered into looking for him to film with her. For her, the most important thing was to be a memorable character.
…
Zhou Xiao had just received a congratulatory message from Zhang Hongyu. The pre-sale for the Golden September issue, which closed today, was also a hot topic for photographers in the entertainment industry.
Every year, the fashion magazines that win the best cover will subtly influence the next trends. Don't say fashion people love to be different; the trend is unstoppable.
Zhang Hongyu on the other end of the phone said with a tone of envy and pride, "Hey, they don't believe that we are good friends!"
Zhang Hongyu's social circle is diverse, thanks to his penchant for gossip. While his status within the industry is relatively modest, he enjoys some fame thanks to his membership in NINE STAR. However, his recent progress in photography has been completely overshadowed by his renowned gossipmongering.
However, he did not feel uncomfortable about this, but rather felt a little proud of it. According to Zhang Hongyu's words to Zhou Xiao, this meant that he could play the pig and eat the tiger.
Seeing the client receive a filming result that clearly exceeded their expectations, and receiving their words of amazement and praise, is the most satisfying thing Zhang Hongyu has experienced recently. Of course, all this presupposes the payment. After all, paying what you pay is what you get, which is Zhang Hongyu's consistent principle.
"Good disciple, we are master and disciple," Zhou Xiao replied.
Zhou Xiao was joking, of course, but for Zhang Hongyu, this remark hit home. How could it not count as mentorship? Although they were both teachers and friends, in Zhang Hongyu's heart, Zhou Xiao was more of a mentor than a friend. Otherwise, why would he selflessly share the gossip he'd gathered with Zhou Xiao? Anyone else who wanted to hear it had to trade information with him!
Zhang Hongyu, a sneaky guy, said in a bewitching tone on the phone, "Teacher Zhou, did you know that Ji Shao is going to release a new album soon?"
In fact, it's not just Ji Shao who's planning a new album; all NINE STAR members are also expected to do so, a commitment Huayao Xingyu+ has made to their members and fans. It's been a year, and even with the constant stream of variety show and film offers, the most anticipated thing for their eager fans is still the songs and performances!
NINE STAR is currently flourishing in film, television, and variety shows, and has appeared on numerous satellite TV channels. With the exception of Ji Shao, whose film and television work is being handled by his original agency, New Town, the other members have been assigned male lead roles by Huayao!
With the official announcements and filming happening one after another, a helpful netizen on a forum posted a schedule of NINE STAR's first anniversary schedule, and was surprised to find that all nine members have roles, and besides Ji Shao, all of them are male leads!
The members' resources are naturally backed by the large platform of Blueberry Video. Even though they are all web dramas, they immediately caused quite a stir in the circle.
That's eight male lead roles, and one major production with a second male lead! And even though it's a web series, they're all A-rated dramas. Many netizens were sour, saying Blueberry Video was bleeding money and was losing nine stars!
Even though the public doesn't really approve of Xiu Ren's acting, and even though many teams are jealous and trying to make things difficult for them, NINE STAR, who just held their first anniversary concert, is still climbing to the top.
Since Zhang Hongyu could talk about this with Zhou Xiao, it naturally meant that this was no longer a confidential project and it was also tacitly agreed upon by the company. It was estimated that similar revelations would appear on major marketing accounts in a few days.
Furthermore, Huayao sees the members' solo albums as glittering gold mines waiting to be mined, eager for fans to prepare in advance. Having not manipulated the talent show results, Huayao is finally about to reap the rewards of genuine traffic.
"Is there still time for filming?" Zhou Xiao was a little confused. According to the videos of Ji Shao going to and leaving get off work on his own super chat, it seemed that Ji Shao rarely took leave.
"We were rushing to finish the work, and the MV shoot was pretty quick this time," Zhang Hongyu said a little sheepishly, "I was only responsible for the MVs of a few members."
Zhou Xiao understood. This meant that Ji Shao and some of the other members were photographed by other photographers arranged by Hua Yao. And the shoot was so quick? It vaguely gave people a bad feeling...
"Oh, who is the other director?" Zhou Xiao asked.
"Hahaha, that guy is a little worse than me," Zhang Hongyu couldn't help but boast, "You definitely don't know him!"
Three drops of sweat seemed to trickle down his forehead, and Zhou Xiao silently beat the wooden fish for the MV director. Judging from Zhang Hongyu's tone, his finished film must be better than the other one.
What do fans of a group like to say when they're bashing each other and the company? The top response is naturally "the company is crooked and treating them unfairly."
If the filming is good, that's fine. But if it's not... then you can only clean up and wait for the fans' wrath, and then they will scold you every time they see you.
…
Inside the Huashang Times Hotel, Zhou Xiao was standing at the door of his room, watching the hotel waiter carefully push a cart into the room. The cart, specially designed for transporting packages, was currently piled with a number of packages.
"Ms. Zhou, the exterior of the express delivery here has been disinfected for you. Please sign for it!" The masked staff piled the express boxes on the floor. After Zhou Xiao signed, they continued to push the empty cart out of the room.
It's the annual Mid-Autumn Festival again, and the familiar company and studio gift boxes are still here. Zhou Xiao glanced at the XS gift box on the top of the pile, feeling a little embarrassed.
Well, of course, it was just a slight embarrassment. After all, when Qin Shi approached her, she was already working on a shoot with WP. Luxury brand shoots are always so demanding; signing a contract means you can't be distracted by other commercial shoots in the short term. However, this demanding nature of the contract comes only if the remuneration is generous enough.
Unboxing the XS delivery box, what caught my eye was the packaging that could be called lady-grade. The exquisite mooncake gift box with a handle and the XS classic series fragrance, with a subtle aroma.
Zhou Xiao separated the mooncakes and perfume and looked at another large package. It was from Dai Linfei's studio. Opening the package, he found a comprehensive selection of endorsement products, along with a box of mooncakes. There were even several branded consumer cards. Zhou Xiao picked one up, and it had a picture of Dai Linfei, seated on a sofa, printed on it.
Zhou Xiao was certain that Lu An had specially arranged such a generous gift box. Looking at the handwritten letter again, it was filled with impeccable sincerity.
After counting the packages received one by one and carefully selecting the ones that his parents could use and packing them, Zhou Xiao placed the express deliveries to be sent separately at the door. Before leaving, he made an appointment for the express delivery and took it to the front desk on the first floor, asking the young lady to help him give it to the courier.
"Please help me share this box of mooncakes." Zhou Xiao put the mooncakes in his other hand on the table, offered a token of his gratitude, and left the hotel amid the sweet voices of the young ladies.
"What's the last digit of your license plate?" A taxi arrived just in time and stopped at the hotel entrance. Zhou Xiao just opened the door when he heard the driver's question.
“5488!”
There was no conversation along the way. When the car stopped steadily by the roadside, Zhou Xiao, who was about to get off, looked out the window and saw a familiar face standing under a tree waiting for him.
"Teacher Zhou Xiao!" Assistant Di Jiangtong trotted over from under the tree, his face filled with joy. How could he not be happy? Last month, he'd gotten an extra month's salary as a bonus!
Now the little girl looked at Zhou Xiao as if she had seen the God of Wealth. She hoped that her MV shoot would be as successful as her previous photo shoot and bring another surge of popularity to her artist.
That’s right, Zhou Xiao’s destination on this trip was a real-life photography base in Shanghai, which was also one of the shooting scenes for the MV she shot for Di Jiangtong.
Following the cheerful steps of the assistant in front of him, Zhou Xiao was led to a real-life campus filming location. The familiar long corridors, the deafening chirping of cicadas, and the somewhat mottled walls created a campus scene so intense it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
"Teacher Zhou is here!" Zhou Xiao looked in the direction of the voice. It was Di Jiangtong, dressed as a student. Wearing the classic blue and white school uniform, with a jacket casually tucked in at the waist and a bob wig, he looked like a girl's high school student.
There are campus-related lyrics in Di Jiangtong’s new song. Although the proportion is not large, this material cannot be omitted in any way.
Following Di Jiangtong's shout, the other people in the field also looked over. Zhou Xiao sensed a particularly intense gaze among them, and when she followed that gaze back, she saw a girl with a somewhat nervous expression.
Zhou Xiao still remembered this person; she was the makeup artist who had previously done Di Jiangtong's photo shoot. Zhou Xiao curved her eyebrows and smiled at her. Her skills were quite good. While not as good as a professional makeup artist, she could still sense a certain spiritual energy in them.
The girl seemed to be greatly encouraged after receiving her smile. She mustered up the courage to greet Zhou Xiao and then walked quickly to the back.
"Tsk tsk, congratulations to the teacher for gaining a little fan girl~" Di Jiangtong next to him joked.
Di Jiangtong, the star of a recent online trend of makeup imitations that flooded the internet, knew this young makeup artist was riding on her and Zhou Xiao's traffic. Not only did her follower count skyrocket, but she also became an internet celebrity. But Di Jiangtong didn't mind.
She had the skills and the ambition, so why would she stop her? It wasn't so much a desire to establish a good relationship as it was a recognition of herself. But she was more courageous and decisive than she was. Not only did she contact her, she even offered to give her free makeup for the entire music video.
Zhou Xiao waved off Di Jiangtong's joke and then looked around carefully. This was a mature team. Apart from her, the external photographer, everything else was prepared by Di Jiangtong's agency.
"Do you remember how it felt the last time you took a photo shoot?" Zhou Xiao joked.
The campus style this time is similar to the photo shoot, and was also chosen by Zhou Xiao in order to make Di Jiangtong more adaptable.
Di Jiangtong looked thoughtful, then smiled and said, "Oh, I forgot. Let me study it again~"
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