Chapter 50 - Overnight Celebrity
Next Mo Shaoqing started towards the doorway, his movements became bolder as he moved.
The third outfit chosen for him by Director Ma Xiusi was a classic mens' blazer.
Mo Shaoqing was then led over to get his hairstyle redone, this time it was not the same young lady but a guy that was.... obviously.... gay. Mo Shaoqing guessed that this must have been the same person that answered earlier, Ai Lun!
And the person who probably prompted Ai Lun to take over the makeup was Ma Xiusi. It seems that his photos were ‘eye catching’ enough.
Ai Lun didn’t add much to his look, he only fixed a few stray hairs on Mo Shaoqing’s forehead. Smoothing his hair back he looked much more mature than before.
It was this hairstyle that really highlighted how handsome he was in the blazer.
Mo Shaoqing watched as the young man with slender fingers like orchids carefully fiddled with the tools on the table. His mind wandered to the number 1 fashion model in the industry, Allen Lee, and his signature appearance and bronzed muscular body. It seemed he involuntarily thought of something bad…
If Allen Lee’s private life was like Ai Lun… then…
No, no, no… you should stop it Mo Shaoqing.
Mo Shaoqing desperately reigned in his thoughts, he then quickly put on the black diamond stud in his ear that Ai Lun prepared and walked off.
Mo Shaoqing returned to the set, the original white backdrop was now replaced with a dimly lit alley. The puddles of water reflected a warm orange light. At the corner of the alleyway was an iconic red phone booth.
Mo Shaoqing felt that he needed to go for a “bad boy” concept.
Regardless of the result, he needed to use everything he had to show off these clothes.
When the shoot wrapped up, Mo Shaoqing followed Rui Sha out of ELL HQ. Since he couldn’t see the finished product, he didn’t know which shots would make the final cut. Although Rui Sha told him the photoshoot was pretty good, he was still worried. Plus he didn’t see Ma Xiusi when the shoot ended either.
With the magazine shoot over, there was no reason for Mo Shaoqing to remain in the Capital any longer. He left for Y City with Rui Sha. As for the issues regarding Zhang Yi and the orphanage, he would only follow up slowly.
When they returned, Mo Shaoqing listened to Rui Sha’s suggestion and opened a Weibo account. He then made his first post ever on Weibo.
He didn’t choose any of the heavily edited photos from the magazine shoot. Instead he chose a candid photo of himself cooking. The dish was a famous restaurant dish - - tomato and prawns and a stir fry beef tenderloin. At the same time he also prepared a summer dessert -- Matcha no bake cheesecake, which had been very popular in restaurants lately.
Mon_Shaoqing: My first Weibo post, the past few days have been fulfilling. I made dinner as a reward, look at what I’ll be having tonight: [picture] [picture] [picture]
After the post went live, it didn’t garner much community response. Only a few students liked and reposted it. Mo Shaoqing didn’t mind, because he knew that once the magazine was published his follower count would double.
In mid-July ELL started releasing the limited edition products. Unsurprisingly, every bookstore and news stand was sold out, as long as it was ELL magazine, they needed to restock more copies.
This meant that this season's issue was very successful.
In the beginning, everyone rushed to buy the magazine as the promotional gifts were too enticing. As they began to browse the new Fall/Winter Dunn.Brown collection though, it interested more people to buy.
As a boss, Ling Senhao was given a copy. Mo Shaoqing also got one as he modeled in the issue.
Mo Shaoqing couldn’t help but think that there was a chance his photos weren’t selected. Opening the magazine, he was surprised by 6 of his photos. Three smaller ones and 3 full spreads.
This already exceeded his expectations. He knew that Dunn.Brown’s spokesman, Allen Lee, had 5 spreads and the cover panel while other models had 2 shots selected.
The first full spread shot of Mo Shaoqing was him wearing a warm yellow sweater. His legs crossed with an arm propping up his head like he was in deep thought. A very typical pose, but with a bright white backdrop the yellow sweater really popped.
The next full spread chosen from Mo Shaoqi’s photoshoot was of him with glasses looking up towards a sky full of stars. The warmth and emotions in his eyes was like he was staring into the eyes of his lover.
A smaller still of him undressing was also chosen, but it focused mainly on his eyes while the majority of the photo was of the clothing.
If the white sweater that Mo Shaoqing was wearing in that photo made him look like an angel, then the next photo of him in the black blazer would make him a devil. His side profile, with a single black diamond stud, the angle of his smirk, it was completely charming, as if he was luring people into the alleyway...
Mo Shaoqing was stunned, is this really me? Has retouching improved so much these days?
Responding to his shock, Rui Sha confirmed it was him and these were taken at the photoshoot.
But the strange thing was, in all his photos his face was always obscured. It was either his side profile or his eyes that was in the photos.
In response, ELL posted vaguely: If the model is too handsome, the clothes will lose their spotlight. The photos were just right, mysterious and beautiful.
While the rest of the world was busy thinking about how handsome the model could be, the fashion circle was shocked by how skilled the new talent was. Of course, this Mo Shaoqing was Xing Yang’s first rising star.
Very quickly ELL’s official Weibo posted 9 photos from the magazine and tagged a few modeling agencies. Xing Yang then forwarded the post with @Mon_Shaoqing.
Fans looking for more quickly came across the newcomer’s Weibo and then realised, wasn’t he the Xiao gege who sold flowers on campus?
Mo Shaoqing’s only Weibo post quickly went from a couple likes to over thousands. The likes continue to come in without a hint of slowing down. His account went from a dozen followers to over 30 000. Mo Shaoqing went viral overnight.
His fans soon learned that he wasn’t just a working boy but also a boy who liked to cook. The three pictures he posted were simply breathtaking!
Follow! Follow! Follow!
After thousands of notifications pinged, Mo Shaoqing posted again on his Weibo thanking ELL magazine and also reposted their Weibo.
Previously Mo Shaoqing had a hand cameo appearance on the TV series “Hello, Senior”. Perhaps to get in the good books of Xing Yang, they posted reels of his acting and even showed off that he was skilled on the piano.
As the second male lead of the magazine, he was still considered just fresh meat of the industry. He had gained a few million fans, many of his fans commented online Unexpectedly this male god can play the piano too? AND our male god has such white, slender and beautiful hands!!!
Alright, so he was a hand substitute! Well a hand substitute is not something special, his name was written into the cast list. Checking online however, wasn’t this the Xiao gege who was gaining popularity on campus lately!
Without realising it, Mo Shaoqing gained many loyal fans for his second male lead role.
After the magazine shoot was completed, Mo Shaoqing got busy with new jobs. These jobs were of course part of the film “Emporer Ling's Edict”.
Mo Shaoqing has asked the crew to take a few days off while he prepared for exams. Once his exams were completed, he would return to the Capital with everyone for another magazine photoshoot. Although the crew wouldn’t purposely delay the shoot for him, he still felt bad for the delay in schedule.
As soon as he got to Y City, he had no time to rest and had to rush to S City with the film crew.
This time, the Mo Shaoqing that returned to the studio would be a whole new person.
This time, Mo Shaoqing was not alone, with him he had Rui Sha and assistant Xiao Wen. He didn’t have to rush while eating, because Xiao Wen could arrange it, he also had a designated van he could rest in and commute in. He could be taken seriously as an artist now.
When Mo Shaoqing arrived on site, You Tianling was already in costume and rehearsing lines.
When Mo Ansheng saw Mo Shaoqing come in he immediately pulled Mo Shaoqing over. He couldn’t help but feel sad, How could our family’s cabbage (Mo Shaoqing) be taken by someone so quickly? He had obviously called dibs first.
You Tianling’s words echoed: “You know, our family’s Shaoqing is so outstanding, if you can’t make up your mind, sooner or later he’s going to get signed away”
Mo Ansheng pretended to wipe his nose, “What? Back to work! Keep working!”
It seemed that upperclassman could still speak up for themselves, Mo Shaoqing was happy, he had thought that upperclassman would be angry at him!
You Tianling poked Mo Shaoqing’s forehead: “You, something so big happened and you didn’t even tell me. I actually wanted to sign you to my parent’s company. Who knew you would go sign a contract with another company so quickly!”
He then started to tease: “When you get famous in the future, don’t forget about me ok! Otherwise….heh heh…”
Mo Shaoqing dare not answer, let alone beg for mercy.
“Alright, let me show you the shooting schedule for "Legend of Emperor Ling", after we’ll be meeting your co-star, Liu Yuan.”
Unlike last time, this time the cast had more members. Along the way, Mo Shaoqing had seen several familiar faces, there was even a famous veteran actor from his past life here. He was then brought over to meet Liu Yuan.
You Tianling chatted with Liu Yuan casually with familiarity, he seamlessly requested Liu Yuan to take care of him. Because of this action, Mo Shaoqing was extremely grateful. However, he had his own way of getting along with others.
How could one call themselves a fan, if they could not stand up for themselves? He thought as his smile grew.
“Hello Mr. Liu, my name is Mo Shaoqing”
“Hello.” Liu Yuan had always been described as someone who was kind and generous to newcomers who were listened well and sensible.
“I really liked the roles you played in some of your previous roles…”
“Thank you” Liu Yuan smiled, many juniors in the industry had told him this. Whether or not they were true, he had expected Mo Shaoqing to say this much without explanation.
“I wanted to ask if you acted in the undercover role in the film “Decoder”, I’m pretty sure it was you.” Asked Mo Shaoqing.
This question surprised Liu Yuan, it wasn’t that he wasn’t the actor, but this film was quite old, and it didn’t seem like such a young man would have seen it. He was an unknown actor at the time, there wasn’t even a cast list at the time. Certainly, this kid didn’t say this to flatter him… but he actually watched that play?