Chapter 8.2
There were two other men in the same bedroom with Zhou Yun Sheng, they were Hayden’s ‘brothers’. In order to climb the tall tree called Hayden, they were all too happy to suppress Hayden"s enemy.
They saw Romeo looking in the mirror, and began a cynical chatter. They thought the boy would fight back as usual, and then they could show it to the camera and lower the judges" impression and the audience"s votes for him, but they didn"t expect him to not even glance at them, he just directly opened the quilt and went to sleep.
They mocked him for a few minutes, saw him not responding, and left, bored. The cameraman responsible for tracking the three in the room first took a shot at the bulge on the bed, then he followed them downstairs. The drama downstairs had more broadcast value.
Zhou Yun Sheng opened the quilt and clicked on the AI to read Romeo"s current social media score. The situation was worse than he"d expected. The netizens had thought that a child with such a clean and soft appearance must also have a good heart, so they"d placed high expectations on him.
After the first episode broadcast, the program group gathered statistics and the amount of Romeo"s fans put him in the lead. His appearance had great lethality and temptation, whether it was men or women, adults or minors, they were easily affected by his innocent looks.
That’s why when they found out that his inner and outer appearance were inversely proportional, the mood whiplash was so much. Expectations were too high, not good.
Some netizens were saying that Romeo was an "outwardly shiny but completely rotten on the inside" apple, one bite will forever make you feel disgusting. Others said that Romeo only belittled and slandered others but he had no talent of his own, so he will definitely be eliminated next episode. Some of the more radical thinking people were directly demanding they forget the voting and just kick him out.
In addition to the viewer votes, players could be promoted based on the three judges" evaluation and challenge scores.
Today’s challenge tested the dressing speed and personal taste. It placed the players in the subway and required them to use three minutes between trains to pick out a complete and suitable outfit and successfully catch the train to the next stop. Then they had to use their a.s.signed phones to take a wonderful self-fie.
Romeo was eliminated at the first stop, not because his dressing speed was slow, but because his popularity was too bad. When the train was approaching, he was pushed from behind, he tripped and had to watch the train drive away. He immediately asked the producer to help him find the culprit, but he was rejected. It was normal to push and shove in that kind of chaotic mess, so the producer felt that there was no need to expand the situation.
The challenge ended and Romeo ranked at the bottom with only six points. That’s why he couldn’t restrain his temper and criticized Hayden"s photos. The child had very thin skin, and he always acted on impulse, totally disregarding the consequences.
If Zhou Yun Sheng wanted to continue in the program group, he had to do three things: One, shoot stunning photos to wow the audience; Second, wash away Romeo"s smelly reputation on social media; Third, keep his curly, soft platinum blond hair. In the next episode, Romeo will be eliminated because his head was shaved, destroying his looks and making his last batch of supporters abandon him.
These three tasks weren"t difficult for Zhou Yun Sheng, so he comfortably fell asleep.
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The next morning, everyone got up for breakfast. Someone in the living room found a letter sent to the players from the host, Ariel, on the TV which said - What was the most fantastical dream that also felt real in your childhood?
This was a hint of the subject matter of today’s photo shoot, guessing the theme and preparing for it was very beneficial for the players. Some people guessed it was Alice in Wonderland, a magical theme. It was speculated that it was a sweet candy house theme, there were people guessing that it was "When I grow up", to make you dress up as your dream job from your childhood.
Emily took the card and looked at it for a long time, then she smiled and said, “When I was small, my most common dream was to fly, like Peter Pan. Drifting on the wind over the mountains and seas, to go to a country where I would never grow up. It felt so real."
The woman was worthy of being the heroine, just that speech made the cameraman give her a close-up, focusing on her brilliant eyes. But unfortunately, most of the players didn"t take her words to heart, except Zhou Yun Sheng.
They boarded a luxury bus and was driven to an abandoned industrial building.
Today’s photo shoot guide was one of the three judges, Miss Jeffrey. Although everyone called him Miss, he was a genuine man. He was 35 years old, his skin and body was under very good maintenance, his eyebrows were trim and long, and his eyes were painted with eyeliner and light gray eye shadow. He wore a long feminine windbreaker, and looked both handsome and charming. He was one of the top runway coaches and stylists in the fashion circle, and was also an out of the closet transvest.i.te gay man.
Miss Jeffrey was once Romeo"s most admired and most envied idol. He lived with his s.e.xual orientation and special hobbies completely without shame, so bold, honest, and strong.
Miss Jeffrey was the goal of Romeo’s struggle, but he didn"t get to reach him before death.
“Today’s theme is flying. Did anyone guess it?” The players gathered up and Miss Jeffrey winked at them. Behind him was a tall metal frame, originally used to fix a huge oil tank, but now the tank was transported away, leaving only a pit. Standing next to the metal frame and looking down showed you a dizzying ten meter drop.
The models were to tie a few safety ropes to their bodies, hang over the pit, and pose as if they had the superpower to fly. This theme was very novel, if you"re able to overcome your fear and manipulate your body, you would be able to shoot a great photo.
Emily confidently smiled, but beside her, Hayden paled. He had a crippling fear of heights.
“Well, don’t whine. No matter what the customer asks you to do, you have to unconditionally complete it. This is a model"s most basic professional ethic. When you go up, don’t entertain the fear, and don"t focus on styling and beautifying yourself to stand out. Remember, you are not the subject of the photo, your job is only to complement the product to ensure promotion. This is my most important advice."
Jeffrey took out the latest MOT phone model and shook it, then he invited MOT’s marketing manager to explain the characteristics and functions of the phone. The premise was to help them find inspiration, but in fact, it was just advertising. MOT paid millions in sponsorship fees to be on the program, they needed to get the most out of it.
The contestants were very happy with the product this time, even Zhou Yun Sheng"s eyes lit up. He has always been interested in electronic products. Even if this era was not as advanced as his time, every era had their unique technology that was worth studying and referencing.
Miss Jeffrey was very satisfied with everyone"s performance, especially Romeo"s. His eyes were bright like a kid in a candy store. If only he could be so cute all the time, but unfortunately, whenever he opened his mouth, he was unbearable. Jeffrey waved and said, “Well, you children plan to be models in the future, so use this time to adjust your mindset.”
Zhou Yun Sheng chose a pure white tight-fitting shirt and pants, and a pure black silk tie, followed by zebra-striped socks and a pair of black and white st.i.tched shoes. His tall and slim figure in this outfit would be the starting point to shed his reputation. He was now a young master, a rebellious young master, people hated him, but couldn"t help but obsess over him.
His skin was very good, completely without visible pores or blemishes. The make-up artist dabbed on his face for a while but felt it was superfluous, so they washed it out with make-up remover, leaving only light eyeliner to highlight his big and moist blue eyes.
The young man stood by the window, surrounded by sunshine, and appeared transparent. His thin platinum hair lifted in the breeze and tapped on his eyelid, making him feel itchy. But he was lazy and didn"t want to move his hands from his pocket, so he pursed his pink lips to blow at his eyes, looking playful and cute.
Jeffrey was secretly observing the players" state and saw this amazingly vivid scene. If the young man could also maintain such a relaxed state in the photo shoot, he would certainly be able to win the first place prize. It was such a pity that he didn"t know his greatest advantage, yet he always spared no effort to destroy it.
Jeffrey shook his head regretfully, then he turned to the beautiful and pale-faced Hayden.
Hayden’s external image has always been a tough guy, so even if he was scared to death, he tried to act nonchalant. When Jeffrey asked again and again, he ensured that there was no problem.
The players were all dressed, so Jeffrey had no more time to care about him, he clapped and asked, “Okay, who’s up first?”
Everyone stepped back, except Emily.
“Would you like to have a try?” Jeffrey confirmed.
“The longer you wait, the deeper the fear will sink into your heart. It"s better to shoot while you have the guts."
“My Dear, you not only have a brave heart, you also have a clever mind.” Jeffrey let the staff tie the safety rope on Emily, then gave her a red phone. When she was lifted up, he commented to her cameraman, “Emily is one of my best players, her character is as good as her appearance. She could go far on the road to a model.”
As Jeffrey had expected, Emily’s shoot was going well. When you hang by a rope in mid-air, it is difficult to grasp your balance, you could accidentally end up head down, or lose control of your hands and feet. To pose in this situation, and a beautiful and stylish pose at that, was considerably difficult.
But Emily was not a woman with just looks, her body looked slim, but she had amazing strength. She relied on precise muscle control to stabilize her center of gravity, and made a lot of brilliant poses.
“My Dear, you’re great! Right, that’s it, keep still! We’ll be able to shoot this episode"s best photo!” Jeffrey praised Emily’s performance. The sponsors also said that Emily’s appearance matched with their product, causing the other players to feel threatened and jealous, and also putting more pressure on Hayden.
After Emily finished her shooting, a female contestant stood up in order to suppress her limelight. But unfortunately, the task was far harder than in her imagination, she just kept hanging head down and screaming, her tears and snot ruining her makeup, and even worse, her phone fell to the bottom of the pit. Although the sponsor only provided a sh.e.l.l, so there was no loss, they were still unhappy to see their fragmented product.
Jeffrey had to pull her down and let the stylist quickly re-do her makeup. Then he talked with the sponsor for a while.
The final shot was a mess, but the 30-shot chance had run out, and Jeffery couldn"t break the rules for her. Afterwards, a few men and women players went up, but none were up to the level Emily had set. Of course, there were a few good photos, but after Emily"s wonderful performance, those shots could only get a "so so’ evaluation from Jeffrey.
“Okay, next.” After checking out the pictures of the last player, Jeffrey turned around.
Zhou Yun Sheng brushed back a curl of platinum hair and slowly walked out.
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