Xia Wennan understood what Yin Zejing was insinuating, but he pursed his lips, suppressing the urge to ask, and adjusted his sitting posture to seem unfazed. “What about you then?” he asked. “Why don’t you want me and Ming Luchuan together?”
“It’s for your sake,” said Yin Zejing. “I don’t think he’s worthy of you.”
“You think Ming Luchuan doesn’t deserve me?”
Yin Zejing laughed and kept his mouth shut.
“It’s fine,” said Xia Wennan. “I’m a beta, I’m not picky.”
The two stopped speaking about this topic.
The ad campaign’s photoshoot took place in a large professional photo studio. Xia Wennan followed Yin Zejing inside and spotted a slew of staff members, many of whom were familiar faces from the company.
Xia Wennan failed to spot Ming Luchuan among the crowd, instead, his eyes caught the sight of Duan Ning taking pictures with his camera.
The rest of the staff maintained a certain distance from Duan Ning, who was completely absorbed in his work, adjusting his camera angles to capture the omega star under the lighting.
This was Xia Wennan’s first time seeing the omega celebrity named Li Xin. He had wavy hair, big eyes, and dimples on his cheeks when he smiled. At a glance, his looks were in line with most alphas’ aesthetics, so it was no surprise that he was so popular right now.
The entire set exuded a laid-back and refreshing vibe. The ad was for Ming Yan’s new fall fragrance body wash products; in one of the sets, Li Xin reclined in a bathtub with an arm draped over the edge, exposing only his head and shoulders. His fair skin was lathered in snow white foam, and his lips were drawn up in a serene and contented smile. For a split second, it was as if the entire photo studio smelled of body wash that was as sweet as this omega.
This was the first time Xia Wennan observed a male omega celebrity’s photoshoot at such a close distance. His attention was subconsciously drawn from Duan Ning to Li Xin, and he eagerly took in the sights—
—right up until he heard a voice behind him ask: “Have you seen enough?”
Xia Wennan jumped in fright. He spun around and was greeted by the sight of Xu Feng standing behind him, his expression prim and serious.
“Seen enough?” Xu Feng repeated. After asking this time, he raised a hand to adjust his glasses and said, “President Ming told me to ask you, sir.”
Xia Wennan peered around the room. “Where is he?”
Xu Feng pointed to an unlit corner off to Xia Wennan’s right, where Ming Luchuan stood watching the photoshoot expressionlessly.
At this time, Yin Zejing had long left Xia Wennan’s side, having been called to help out by a senior intern.
Xia Wennan glimpsed at Ming Luchuan before turning to Xu Feng once more and inquiring, “Why doesn’t he come here and ask me himself.”
“I’m only passing on President Ming’s message. I don’t know what he means,” Xu Feng calmly replied.
Seeing that Ming Luchuan refused to spare a single glance his way, Xia Wennan knew that he was still angry, so he told Xu Feng, “Then go tell him that I haven’t seen enough, I love looking at pretty omegas.”
The corners of Xu Feng’s mouth were stretched taut, but he walked over to Ming Luchuan’s side without speaking a word.
Xia Wennan watched as Xu Feng approached Ming Luchuan and whispered something in his ear.
Ming Luchuan maintained an impassive face. After listening to Xu Feng’s words, he turned his head to the side and rattled off a string of words.
Xu Feng walked back to his side and asked Xia Wennan, “What brings you here?”
In lieu of answering, Xia Wennan told Xu Feng, “Go ask Ming Luchuan—why is he here? Meeting up with his white moonlight?”
Xu Feng left for a few moments, and when he returned yet again, he said, “Don’t you know?”
“What do I know?” Xia Wennan was perplexed.
This time, Xu Feng didn’t immediately leave but looked at Xia Wennan for a moment and said, “You don’t remember, sir?”
“Hm?” said Xia Wennan. “Is this you or Ming Luchuan speaking?”
“It’s me, sir,” said Xu Feng. “Didn’t you attend the meeting this morning?”
“I did.”
“We discussed this during the meeting, sir. Ming Yan has invited a renowned photographer—Mr. Duan Ning—to come take pictures for our new fall products, and President Ming would be visiting the set in the afternoon.”
“Ah?” Xia Wennan was slightly dumbfounded. Throughout the meeting, he had been fixated on Ming Luchuan and mostly spaced out, and he had zero recollection of any mention of this matter.
Xu Feng retained his prim and proper demeanor. “Is there anything else you would like me to pass on to President Ming, Manager Xia?”
Xia Wennan had initially set out to interrogate the hell out of Ming Luchuan, but he abruptly ran out of steam and immediately lost interest, softening his tone as he said, “Could you ask him if he’s still angry?”
A moment later, Xu Feng came bearing two words for Xia Wennan: “It hurt.”
Xia Wennan couldn’t hold back a laugh. He then told Xu Feng, “Go tell him I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Xu Feng didn’t budge. With his hands behind his back, he paused briefly before saying, “Wouldn’t it be better if you told him yourself, sir?”
Xia Wennan shot a look at Ming Luchuan when he heard this and saw that the man’s eyes were still trained on Li Xin’s photoshoot. He thought for a bit, then patted Xu Feng’s shoulder and slowly retreated to the rear of the crowd.
Xu Feng understood what Xia Wennan meant to do, so he kept still.
Detouring behind the crowd, Xia Wennan walked over to where Ming Luchuan stood with light footsteps, but halfway through, he suddenly heard a shout, “That’s a wrap!”
Duan Ning brought his camera to Ming Luchuan, while Li Xin donned a bathrobe and followed Duan Ning over with his assistant.
Xia Wennan’s footsteps came to a halt.
Duan Ning said something to Ming Luchuan, then seemingly introduced him to Li Xin. Ming Luchuan stuck his hand out and shook hands with the star.
In front of Xia Wennan, the staff wandered to and fro, packing up the props and equipment on set, occasionally blocking his line of sight. He watched on as Duan Ning showed Ming Luchuan the pictures he’d taken, and Li Xin also shifted closer in curiosity to take a look alongside them.
Xu Feng had returned to Ming Luchuan’s side at some point, but he had remained silent so as not to disrupt them. He simply stood calmly behind Ming Luchuan, and then he looked up and glanced at Xia Wennan’s direction.
“Wennan.” Yin Zejing jogged over to him and stopped next to Xia Wennan. “Wanna head back with me?”
“Let’s go,” said Xia Wennan. He was a little disappointed that he hadn’t been able to carry out his original plan to give Ming Luchuan a scare, meeting such unlucky timing.
Just as they turned to leave, Xu Feng abruptly exclaimed, “Manager Xia!”
Xia Wennan stopped in his tracks and saw Xu Feng walking towards him.
“Manager Xia, where are you going sir?” Xu Feng said as he approached him. “Did you forget about tonight’s dinner?”
“Huh?” Xia Wennan froze, and it was then that he realised Ming Luchuan and the others were all staring at him.
“President Ming and the others are waiting for you,” said Xu Feng. “We’ve invited Mr. Duan and Mr. Li to dinner tonight.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Wennan turned to Yin Zejing, who laughed at him and said, “Better hurry up then, Manager Xia.”
Ming Luchuan’s gaze fell on Xia Wennan, or perhaps it was someone else nearby. He wore a seemingly gentle and relaxed expression on his face, but his eyes had a stern look to them. When Xia Wennan arrived at his side, he extended a hand and wrapped it naturally around Xia Wennan’s waist, saying “This is my partner, Xia Wennan.”
Smiling, Duan Ning gave him a nod. “Wennan.”
On the other hand, Li Xin flashed a delighted grin. “Mr. Xia, I’m a big fan of Wind and Freedom. I’ve been using this perfume since it first came out.”
Wind and Freedom was a relatively lesser-known omega perfume from the Emotions line. Unlike the other fragrances in the line with primarily sweet, floral and fruity notes, Wind and Freedom carried the smell of trees and plants, possessing the fresh scent of a summer breeze sweeping across a meadow.
“Thank you,” said Xia Wennan.
Right then, Ming Luchuan said, “Why don’t we all head out to dinner after Li Xin gets changed?”
Li Xin immediately said, “All right, but I’m a little slow. You might have to wait a while.”
Li Xin went to change his clothes, while Duan Ning left to pack away his photography equipment. Ming Luchuan retracted the hand around Xia Wennan’s waist.
Xia Wennan looked at Ming Luchuan and saw that he was gazing up ahead, determined not to look at Xia Wennan. Thus, he jolted the man with his ass and said, “Still mad?”
Ming Luchuan swayed on his feet from the impact, and frowned as he said, “Are you a primary school student?”
“Nope,” Xia Wennan replied. “I’m a university student.”
Ming Luchuan scoffed.
Xia Wennan tilted his head, looking up at him. “What should I do so you’ll stop being mad?”
Ming Luchuan icily replied, “Let me kick you back.”