Selling Xingxing

"...I know. I'll give it serious thought." Song Yunxing nodded. "Aside from changing the lead single to a love song, do you have any other suggestions?"

Meng Ruo and the staff were a little surprised, looking up at the man's perfectly composed face.

In his years at the company, Song Yunxing had written plenty of original songs, but not one had been about love. Everyone privately wondered whether he had suffered heartbreak. Besides, musicians generally had their own principles. None of them had expected him to accept their suggestions so readily.

"Oh, we do have a few more suggestions. On our end..." The head of marketing projected his laptop screen onto the display and began a detailed analysis of the current music market.

An hour later, the meeting ended, and Song Yunxing and Meng Ruo took the artists' private elevator downstairs.

In the enclosed space, their figures were reflected in the elevator's glass walls.

"Why are you being so cooperative? Are you confident you can write one?" Meng Ruo adjusted her glasses.

"I'm not stupid. If the album's style and concept are too similar to my previous work, I'm the one who has to cover the losses." Song Yunxing swung his arms and said casually, "I'll give it a try. Maybe I'll break through my creative block."

"Let's hope so. The album release has been postponed, but you still have several engagements coming up. We need to leave right away." Meng Ruo scrolled through her phone. "Dreamfloat has released two new perfumes and wants you to endorse one of the lines. There's the Shangli cover shoot, men's bags from FY..."

"Wait! Where did all these endorsements come from? Did all the clients suddenly strike it rich?" Song Yunxing frowned.

He was hardly a nobody in China's music scene, but that was how the music industry worked: a song could reach a wider audience without the singer doing the same.

He was popular, sure, but not that popular, was he?

Looking at that long list of luxury endorsements, he almost thought he was dreaming.

Meng Ruo adjusted her glasses again, hiding the smile at her lips. "Ahem. Sometimes, you have to admit that two people are better than one."

"You've gained several million followers. Your circles don't really overlap, so this wave of attention has been a huge help to both your careers."

Song Yunxing stepped out of the elevator, looking baffled. "But I went on that variety show to stop being linked to him! How did I end up with more followers and endorsements?"

Meng Ruo climbed into the van and raised her eyebrows meaningfully at him. "You're asking me? Shouldn't you be asking yourself? With your heart rate that high, what were the fans supposed to think?"

Song Yunxing's gaze flickered. "I didn't want that either. He was so close to me. Anyone's heart would..."

He explained in a low voice, a WeChat conversation visible on his faintly glowing screen.

"Jiang Huaizhi will arrange things. He'll do his best to get you both off the show in the second episode. We're in no hurry to clear up the rumors right now. Keeping the fans steady is what matters most. We'll keep filming the show and carry on with work as usual." Meng Ruo sat up straight, glanced discreetly at his phone screen, and let out a breath.

"Got it." Song Yunxing closed WeChat and picked up the printed introduction to Dreamfloat's new perfumes and the shoot plan beside him.

"Xiao Nan, let's go," Meng Ruo instructed.

Xiao Nan sat in the driver's seat, took hold of the steering wheel, and drove out of the underground parking garage.

The van made its way along the bustling streets, the main roads filled with vehicles of every shape and color.

The van stopped at a traffic light. Sunlight streamed through the window and scattered across the pages. Song Yunxing looked up and happened to see a luxury watch advertisement starring Shen Yanci playing on the large digital billboard across the road.

The man wore a fitted black suit, his sharp black eyes fixed on the camera with an innate air of authority.

A close-up enlarged his hand. A silver steel watchband rested against his wrist bone. His fingers were long, his hand lean and well-proportioned, with clearly defined veins beneath the skin that conveyed a vigorous sense of strength.

Song Yunxing's lashes fluttered. He couldn't help remembering the stupid thing he had done while half asleep the night before.

His ears reddened slightly. He secretly lifted the hem of his shirt, then closed his eyes in despair.

It's over. I must have eaten so much shrimp last night that my abs bloated out of existence!

That vicious man! So this was what he'd been plotting! Now I have to put in extra time at the gym!

The van sped down the road and soon reached the shoot location.

This wasn't Song Yunxing's first shoot with Dreamfloat. He walked into the makeup room with familiar ease and picked a seat at random.

Dreamfloat was a recently established, affordable Chinese perfume brand. He had originally used its perfumes himself while living abroad. At some point, he had mentioned the brand during a livestream, and after he returned to China, Dreamfloat approached him to become its spokesperson.

Fortunately, the brand had lived up to expectations. Not only had it paid handsomely to recruit foreign perfumers to train local talent, but its quality and marketing had also kept pace. It was now considered one of the leading domestic perfume brands.

The perfumer lit up when she saw Song Yunxing.

"My muse! A day apart feels like three autumns!" the tall foreign woman said in halting Chinese.

Song Yunxing stood, gave her a radiant smile, and began chatting with her.

"...You inspired this perfume, Camellia Slumber. Take a few bottles home!" The woman enthusiastically pressed a gift box into his hands.

"Sure. I'll head to the changing room with the assistant first. We can talk more after the shoot." Song Yunxing patted the back of her hand and followed the assistant beside him to collect his clothes for the shoot.

Meng Ruo followed behind Song Yunxing, but the person in charge of the shoot suddenly called her aside.

"What did you say? Shen Yanci is next door shooting the other perfume? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Meng Ruo couldn't help raising her voice.

The coordinator shrank back a little. "The perfumes aren't from the same line. They're the work of different perfumers. We specifically arranged separate shooting locations. Mr. Song will be shooting outdoors."

"You know perfectly well what things are like right now! Those two can't have any more contact, or we'll never be able to separate them!" Meng Ruo paced anxiously. "When does the official promotional campaign start?"

"Camellia Slumber will be a little earlier. Mr. Shen's Precious Chinese Oud should also launch in about a week. We thought their relationship had probably improved..."

"Never mind that! Space the promotional campaigns as far apart as possible! We've worked together for so long. Could you please make sure the information you provide..."

The temporary makeup room suddenly fell silent. Meng Ruo turned around too and saw the young man standing in the changing room doorway.

He was dressed simply, without any accessories, in a white shirt and mid-length shorts.

His exquisite, deep-set eyes looked as though they came with their own eyeshadow, and his clear skin glowed with a healthy flush.

Only a few buttons on his shirt had been casually fastened, revealing a glimpse of pale, finely shaped collarbone at the neckline. His exposed skin seemed to glow, and the visible stretch of his calves was straight and well-proportioned.

Although the staff around him had all seen Song Yunxing before, they were still stunned by the young man's beauty.

The simpler his clothes, the more they highlighted his extraordinary good looks.

"Excellent. This is exactly what we want! Makeup, get him ready quickly. Tidy his hair, and we'll start shooting right away!" the coordinator instructed at once, eyes shining.

The perfumer beside them nodded repeatedly as well, looking utterly satisfied. "That's exactly the effect!"

Song Yunxing sat in front of the mirror. The makeup artist beside him hardly knew where to begin and could only start by applying a thin, light layer of foundation.

Meng Ruo rubbed her temples helplessly, hoping today's shoot would go smoothly and wouldn't land them on the trending searches again.

Heaven knew how many brands had approached them lately, and every offer was for the two of them together! The pay was simply too good. If this kept up, she really would end up selling Xingxing!