Red Velvet
The next day at noon, Jinnan woke up at almost twelve o'clock.
Before he could fully open his eyes, the first thing he did was to feel the pillow beside him to see if it was cold. His hand quickly touched a piece of warm fabric, and then someone grabbed his wrist.
Jinnan poked his head out from under the quilt. Xu Zhiyuan was leaning against the head of the bed, neatly dressed, holding a fashion magazine in his hand.
In the latest issue of Plogue, the purple-eyed French supermodel known as the "Northern Lights" wore Lumière's new spring and summer haute couture collection. Her makeup left a string of dark blue dots on her sharply contoured face, like peacock wings.
Jinnan sat up higher and looked at it with Xu Zhiyuan. Xu Zhiyuan passed the book to him and pointed out which fabrics of each piece of clothing were related to them.
Hualin’s current industries are naturally more than these, but as the pillar of Jinlicheng’s start-up from scratch, high-end fabric supply still occupies a large proportion in Hualin’s current business segment.
From the top luxury fashion shows to the designer styles displayed in the buyers' stores, when these fabrics were transformed into photos and printed on paper, Jin Nan truly realized how huge a business empire they controlled.
"It's 26 degrees outside now. If you want to have some fun, we can go to Arnool." Xu Zhiyuan said, "English should be enough in the city."
"Hmm?" Jin Nan was still not fully awake and didn't understand what Xu Zhiyuan meant by this riddle.
Xu Zhiyuan could only point out: "No light bulbs."
Jinnan pinched the quilt and suddenly laughed: "They will be furious if they hear you say that."
Xu Zhiyuan shrugged: "Whatever."
People woke up with laughter and had to get up. Jinnan got up with a messy hair and put on his pants while looking at the scenery outside the window.
Amidst the almost uniform blue-grey glass buildings, patches of short coconut-tree-like plants are planted by the water. The blue and green stretch as far as the eye can see. It is hard to imagine that after climbing over a mountain, perhaps the next door is a desert.
"Do you understand Arabic?" Jinnan suddenly asked, "If we were left outside, we would be doomed."
Xu Zhiyuan was not flustered: "I understand a little bit."
The journey began at the Central Market, where the two of them wandered into shops. Jinnan listened, mute, as Xu Zhiyuan chatted with people and inquired about prices. Although he occasionally sprinkled in a few words of English, his fluency wasn't as good as his claim of knowing a little.
After a few casual purchases, Jinnan, wearing a large straw hat, took Xu Zhiyuan's off-road vehicle to Arnoor Island. After a brief stroll around and taking some poorly photographed tourist photos, the two of them went into a small shop somewhere and had dinner as the sun set.
Jin Nan finally managed to escape the glaring sunlight and took off his sunglasses. He clicked randomly on the menu he didn't understand and asked Xu Zhiyuan, "When did you learn this?"
"What?" Xu Zhiyuan shook out his napkin and glanced at his watch. It was still early.
"Ayu," Jinnan said, "you never told me that."
The waiter came to check something, and Xu Zhiyuan calmly responded, ordering a throat-soothing drink for Jinnan. When the glass was brought in, the white liquid inside, resembling latex paint, made Jinnan hesitate.
"I learned a little bit of the first-grade graduate student's native language," Xu Zhiyuan said lightly. "There's a cocktail party tomorrow night. Should we go buy some hangover medicine later?"
"Okay." Jinnan agreed immediately.
The foreign country and the unfamiliar restaurant made Jinnan lose his appetite. He looked at the sky outside the window. Apart from the unfamiliar words, the occasional flashing lights from the cars also made him a little dazed.
Xu Zhiyuan noticed his absent-mindedness and asked, "What's wrong? Didn't you have fun today?"
"No, I just feel that I'm not suitable for running around." Jin Nan tasted the drink and found that it was a kind of milk he had never tasted before.
Children who drink too much milk often develop a dislike for the smell of it, but Jinnan didn't have that habit. For the first half of his life, milk, no matter what kind, was a rare commodity. He sipped from the bowl, only half full when the food arrived. He was stunned by the porridge and pancakes on the table.
"Is it possible that we can find chopsticks here?" asked Jinnan.
The pancake was very thin, the kind that would break when poked with a fork, and Jinnan had no idea how to combine it with the paste.
Fortunately, Xu Zhiyuan was there to handle all the difficult things. He helped Jinnan prepare the food. When he handed the bread to Jinnan, his eyes fell on the unknown mosque outside.
Jin Nan smelled the fragrance, turned around, took a bite from the hand that Xu Zhiyuan handed over, and said as he chewed, "It tastes pretty good."
Xu Zhiyuan continued to serve the young master. Some sauce stained his slender fingers. While wiping it off, he looked at his watch. It was not too late.
But half an hour later, Claire called: "Two young masters, can you check the news even if you're out and about? The stylist is waiting for a reply."
Jinnan took out his cell phone and turned it on. The battery was still 10%.
Claire sent two outfits. As one of the investors, they could dress casually, but since they were in front of the camera, Jinnan wanted to look good. Xu Zhiyuan wanted simplicity, the simpler the better.
After considering everything, the stylist matched three sets of clothes for each of them, making the atmosphere as solemn as if they were not attending an event tomorrow but taking wedding photos.
Jinnan was amused by his own idea and leaned over to see what Xu Zhiyuan would choose. Xu Zhiyuan had already quickly selected a set to reply and made his choice in a few seconds.
I leaned over to take a look and saw that he was dressed in black again.
All right. Jin Nan gave up on the idea of choosing fancy clothes and also decided to wear black.
The next day, Jin Nan regretted his decision the moment he entered the stylist's studio. He hadn't even looked closely at the sample photos of the black outfit he'd been given the previous day, and only realized after trying it on today that the shirt was essentially a thicker black gauze lining with a layer of lace-like, hollowed-out material.
The model's skin color is originally wheat-colored, which doesn't show up much when she wears it, and she looks very noble. But Jin Nan can't wear that look, because Jin Nan is very white.
When the skin color is faintly visible from the fabric, it has nothing to do with whether it is expensive or not. The stylist looked at Jinnan for a long time and added a red velvet choker for him.
Jinnan looked in the mirror. It looked good, but...
"Zhengchu, is it really not too much for me to dress like this?" Jinnan asked cautiously.
The assistant applying Xu Zhiyuan's makeup finished first. Neither of them needed to lift a pen much, so the job was relatively easy. Xu Zhiyuan, once able to move, immediately looked over and gave Jinnan a thumbs-up.
"It looks good, doesn't it?" Jinnan changed his expression and revealed a satisfied smile. "Then I won't change it."
Stylist Liang Zhengchu: ...
"What? His opinion is the golden rule?" Liang Zhengchu teased. "You should have your own ideas too. If you keep doing this, I'll give you a cockscomb!"
"That's fine," Jinnan said. "Anyway, if I take the picture, I'm going to expose your name."
Liang Zhengchu rolled his eyes speechlessly, watching Claire laughing wildly beside him.
Of course, he didn't have a rooster comb. Jinnan's hair was done very well, just to hide his flamboyant side. Xu Zhiyuan walked beside him, dressed in black with a brown leather belt, his shirt untied, one button undone, a hint of the stylist's cunning.
Jin Nan was indeed jealous: "The photographer is going to kill you today, just wait and see."
"It's cold outside. Do you want to put on another coat today?" Lu Yiqing reminded.
Xu Zhiyuan glanced around and thought that Liang Zhengchu's fancy coats didn't count. Jinnan himself was wearing a casual blue and white jacket today, which didn't match at all.
He thought for a moment and draped the jacket he'd brought with him over Jinnan's shoulders. The slightly thicker, formal suit jacket, covering him, unexpectedly created a strange chemical reaction with Jinnan's body.
"Does it look good?" Jinnan looked nervous.
Xu Zhiyuan nodded: "It looks very good."
To be honest, Jin Nan's question was completely pointless. How could he wear something that looked ugly? But Jin Nan received too few direct compliments, so Xu Zhiyuan was willing to give him more.
"Street photography is a must today. Would you like to take some street photos?" Liang Zhengchu excitedly put down his makeup brushes and searched for his camera. "I have an invitation too. I can go backstage with you."
"Thank you, but no thanks." Xu Zhiyuan refused calmly.
Liang Zhengchu remained undaunted and eventually took a photo with Jinnan holding up his phone and posted it on his personal social media.
Half an hour later, at the Almayaz Amphitheater, Jin Nan found his place among the colorful crowd and pearl lights and sat down with Xu Zhiyuan.
The sound of voices and noise filled the air, people so close together that Jinnan could hear pearls clashing against each other. At least four languages mingled, converging into a vast ocean of sound. The dark blue lights in the auditorium gradually dimmed, and a beam of white gradually grew larger as the curtains opened.
Like a white droplet in a dark world, it spreads with the first model's appearance, eventually lighting up the entire runway. Every exquisitely designed piece of clothing, when placed on Jin Nan's notebook, is just a code.
"Should we do something else in the second half of the year?" Jin Nan yawned. Sitting still for so long had given him a bit of a cigarette urge. He tilted his head casually and noticed that Xu Zhiyuan wasn't looking up at the balcony, but was staring at him.
Jinnan raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"
The dim gaze fell on him, then stopped and wandered. The admiration in Xu Zhiyuan's eyes was rare, and Jinnan rarely saw it again.
"This suit is probably hard to buy," said Xu Zhiyuan.
Jinnan smiled: "Don't think about it, Zhengchu will definitely not be willing to let him go."
Liang Zhengchu was sitting in the crowd, out of sight. As Jinnan scanned the crowd, he caught sight of a pair of hands waving at him from a distance. His expression changed slightly, and he averted his gaze.
"What's wrong? Who did you see?" Xu Zhiyuan followed his gaze. At first glance, the lights in the room looked like ripples on the surface of water, and people and things seemed to be shrouded in a veil. Except for the people and objects standing in the light, everything else was hazy.
Before he found any trace, a hand pressed on his knee and patted it twice.
"We had dinner together," Jinnan said. "He's not an important person."
An hour later, Xu Zhiyuan found out that this unimportant person turned out to be Duan Ruixuan, who had just won the Purple Pansy Award for Best Actor last year for his spy war film.
The young actor, who was less than thirty years old, put one hand in his pocket and handed Jin Nan a bouquet of lilies. It was one of the gifts given to the invited guests at today's event. Jin Nan looked sullen and refused to take it.
"Long time no see, Xiaonan." Duan Ruixuan smiled elegantly and nodded to Xu Zhiyuan beside Jinnan. "Mr. Xu, I've heard a lot about you."
Those who can call Jinnan "Xiaonan" are usually close friends. Jinnan's circle of friends is not small, but in fact, there are only a few people who he cares about.
He could smile at everyone, but Duan Ruixuan was the only one who made Jin Nan change his friendly attitude and become a little distant and cold. This made Xu Zhiyuan frown slightly.
Duan Ruixuan actually knew Jinnan already, and judging from the situation, they had a pretty close relationship.
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