Chapter 17 - The Arrival Of Mei Niu (1)
Dragging her suitcase down from the taxi, Sheng Jiaoyang looked up and examined the lavish building in front of her. After studying it for a few minutes, she then walked to the security room to sign-in.
She"d still been half-asleep yesterday morning when the contest staff had called and told her to partic.i.p.ate in the upcoming training.
The training was with the other contestants who"d pa.s.sed the selection process, and when she included herself, there were a total of thirty people.
At the entrance of the room where the other contestants were waiting, there were a few staff members who were collecting everyone"s cell phones and luggage. The noise in the waiting room could be heard through the unlatched door, and when she heard such an uproar, Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t want to go in.
"Oh, another one"s here," When Sheng Jiaoyang finally pushed open the door and walked in, the s.p.a.cious room instantly went silent as all gazes swept towards her.
Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t care at all and tried to find a place to sit down.
"I heard that we could be eliminated at any time during our training. Only half of us will be able to enter the compet.i.tion."
"Really? That"s so cruel!"
"Which compet.i.tion isn"t cruel?"
Listening to the discussions on the other side of the room, Sheng Jiaoyang"s expression remained unchanging. She just calmly raised her eyes and discreetly sized up the other contestants in the room until she unexpectedly saw two faces that were slightly familiar. They were the two girls who"d lined up in front of her when she"d signed up at the compet.i.tion before.
After all the contestants had arrived, one of the senior staff members finally made an announcement.
"Alright, now all of you need to follow the staff members to change your clothes. There"s a fas.h.i.+on show that you"re all required to partic.i.p.ate in today."
The senior staff member"s voice was like a clap of thunder that shocked all the contestants.
"There"s going to be a fas.h.i.+on show today? Didn"t we just come here for training?"
"Will they be eliminating anyone?"
"Why didn"t they tell us about this on the phone yesterday?"
The staff ignored the contestants" complaints and just silently carried out their duties.
Sheng Jiaoyang was a.s.signed a full-length chiffon dress. When it came to walking down a runway, a full-length chiffon dress was one of the more uncomfortable dresses to walk in. If she wasn"t careful, it would be very easy for her to trip herself up on the long hemline of the dress. For those that had never worn this style of clothing before, it would indeed be challenging.
Apart from herself, several other contestants also received a full-length dress. While the remaining contestants were given shorter styled dresses which were more comfortable to walk in but revealed more of their skin. The entire dressing room was filled with mournful wailing.
"Ladies, listen up! Now that you"ve successfully entered the first segment of the compet.i.tion, your every word and action will be picked up by the cameras. All of you, please pay attention to your manners, ok?" The staff members hadn"t been able to stand the banshee-like noises permeating the dressing room and had gotten one of the senior staff members to warn them.
In a flash, the noise within the dressing room quietened down.
Sheng Jiaoyang breathed a sigh of relief; it was finally peaceful.
Once they"d changed their shoes and had picked a numbered ticket, they were then taken backstage according to the number on the ticket that they"d drawn. One by one, under the guidance of the staff members, they were led to the stage.
The number that Sheng Jiaoyang had drawn was somewhere in the middle. This position wasn"t perfect, but she wasn"t all that nervous. She luckily had a sufficient amount of experience from observing plenty of runway shows before, giving her an abundance of confidence and an idea of what she had to do.
When it was her turn, she walked onto the stage, stood on the designated position, and arranged the train of the dress around her feet. When the staff member waved their hand at her, she started walking, and with her measured steps, the light material of the dress fluttered slightly in the air.
The full-length dress that was considered extremely inconvenient for other people was effortlessly managed by Sheng Jiaoyang, as she"d worn similar dresses many times in the past. Previously, since she was short, in order to wear a beautiful dress like this, she"d had to wear high-heels with a heel of at least twenty cms. As it had been quite tricky back then, walking with such a dress with her current height was now even easier.
The only thing that troubled her now was her vision as she was unable to wear her gla.s.ses on the runway. Unfortunately, she"d had no time to have her eyesight corrected before rus.h.i.+ng off to attend the training. And since her range of vision was limited to about one meter in front of her, she was left with no other option but to pay careful attention to where she placed her feet.
Hence, in the eyes of others, although this girl didn"t walk rigidly, her movements were too severe, and it decreased the gracefulness of the dress.
"Yiyan, I heard that you specifically chose this girl, but I don"t see anything special about her," Came the voice of a woman sitting to the left side of the runway, in the front row of the audience. Adorned with an excessive amount of accessories, her face was covered with a heavy layer of makeup. But while her facial features appeared quite youthful due to the makeup, the fine lines around the corners of her eyes revealed that she was much older than she seemed.
Sitting beside the woman was Zhuo Yiyan, the one who"d given the exemption card to Sheng Jiaoyang. He looked at the girl walking meticulously on the runway and laughed as he said, "It"s still early. Some people just need to experience more before they"re reborn."
"Although this contest is just beginning, there"s already enough to see their potential. For example, that girl called Xiao Yang who appeared on the stage earlier was perfect. She"s also a novice who"d never walked on a runway before, but the aura and poise she displayed could be considered better than that of many models who"ve been doing this for years. Even though she lacked catwalk experience, it was apparent that she was confident in her abilities. However, this Xu Jiaojiao is too formal. Moreover, her features are too delicate; she lacks any sharpness. Even as a fas.h.i.+on model, I"m afraid that she wouldn"t take a very good photo."
Zhuo Yiyan had yet to speak, when a young woman with a mixed-race appearance who was sitting on his right, abruptly said, "She resembles my former self."
The woman with heavy makeup was suddenly quiet.
A corner of Zhuo Yiyan"s mouth lifted. With just a few words from the currently popular international supermodel, the older woman past her prime was immediately defeated.
"Lina, the show is already at the halfway mark, and this is the first sentence you"ve said. It seems that this contestant has caught your attention," Zhou Yiyan said as he turned his head to look at the young woman seated next to him.
The woman"s facial features were very distinct; her eyes more profound than those of an average Asian. A thin layer of makeup was applied to her face, making her already beautiful appearance seem extremely attractive. In addition to that, she had a cold expression on her face, giving her beauty a somewhat overbearing aura.
She was a mix of Chinese and Italian, with her Mother being Chinese. Her Chinese name was Lin Na, and this was her first time visiting this country.