“Buzz—”
The vibration of the phone broke the ambiguous atmosphere in the room. Mo Yanzhi snapped out of his reverie and gave Li Shu a deep look before getting up to answer the call.
Li Shu straightened up, watching the man’s figure by the French window, a smile gradually forming in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Li Shu drank all the wine in the glass and licked his lower lip. The lips soaked in red wine were slightly moist and had an attractive luster.
“There’s a problem, I have to go back to the country earlier.” Mo Yanzhi ’s eyes darkened slightly. He strode over to Li Shu and kissed him hard.
“Is it serious?” Li Shu asked, knowing that if the situation wasn’t serious, Mo Yanzhi’s people wouldn’t be calling him back. Mo Yanzhi having to return early indicated that things in the country had escalated to a point where he had to go back and take control.
“Don’t worry,” Mo Yanzhi reassured as he caressed Li Shu’s lips, “It’s just some insignificant clowns.”
“Stay safe.” For some reason, Li Shu couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease. At his level of cultivation, any premonition could be a warning from the heavens.
“Don’t worry, take care of yourself here, and if you need anything, find Qin Ran.” Mo Yanzhi gently stroked Li Shu’s hair, his eyes showing undisguised reluctance.
The situation was urgent, so Mo Yanzhi packed his luggage that night. After asking for a kiss from Li Shu, he boarded the plane back to the country.
Li Shu also plunged into busyness.
Julian acted swiftly. After discussing the itinerary with Qin Ran, he brought in a teacher for Li Shu.
The teacher was a Caucasian beauty named Su Na. According to Jonathan, she was Julian’s ex-girlfriend from way back. She was a very famous American model but had to retire due to injury.
After leaving the stage, Su Na opened a training class, attracting many people who came for her rich experience. It took a lot of effort for Julian to invite her.
It’s not that he couldn’t invite others, it’s just that he wanted to find the most suitable one. Unlike others, Li Shu had no experience but had to grasp the basics and step onto the stage in the shortest possible time.
After a simple test, Su Na said bluntly, “Julian, you still like to do challenging things.”
Julian shrugged, “You know me, I’ve always been like this.”
“It’s really a big challenge,” Su Na commented as she circled around Li Shu, “He is in good physical condition, worthy of being someone you’ve set your eyes on. What kind of effect do you want him to achieve?”
“He’ll wear ‘Dawn’ and close the show,” Julian said lightly.
“Are you serious?” She wondered if Julian was crazy for letting a complete novice take such an important position.
“I never joke about such things.”
Well, regardless of how he usually was, Julian took his work seriously. Su Na nodded knowingly, “I’ll do my best, but how far he can go depends on him.”
“I’m relieved to hear you say that. I believe he can surprise us.” It might be overly confident, but Julian had a vague idea that Li Shu could do even better than they imagined.
“You really believe in him,” Su Na turned her head and raised her eyebrows slightly, “Mr. Li, can you endure hardship? If you can, then I’ll teach you well in the next ten days. If not, I advise you to give up early, don’t waste everyone’s time. Just to be clear, there’s no option of quitting halfway with me.”
“In that case, you can consider now.”
“There’s no need to consider, since I’ve agreed to Mr. Julian’s invitation, I’ll naturally do what I should do.”
Li Shu’s expression was firm, showing no signs of retreat due to Su Na’s words. Seeing this, Su Na’s opinion of Li Shu rose, after all, everyone likes people who are willing to work hard.
With the plan settled, Su Na made a special training plan based on Li Shu’s situation, including meal plans and quantities for three meals a day, and every day was filled with activities.
It must be said that Su Na’s advance warning was not an exaggeration. She really used all of Li Shu’s time to the fullest, squeezing out all of Li Shu’s energy and physical strength.
Every morning, Li Shu dived into intense training, and only when the moon was high in the sky was he allowed to go back to rest. Naturally, with such a schedule, there was no way to chat properly with Mo Yanzhi. Sometimes, halfway through their phone calls, Mo Yanzhi would realize that Li Shu had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Hearing the shallow breathing on the other end of the phone, Mo Yanzhi felt distressed. Under impulse, he even wanted to call Qin Ran immediately and ask him to bring Li Shu back. Whatever resources Li Shu needed, he could provide. There was no need to work so hard.
Of course, he would soon calm down. If he really did that, Li Shu would probably be the first to refuse. He never attempted to cross Li Shu’s bottom line. He had a strong premonition that if he did something, the surface calm between him and Li Shu would be shattered, and the result would definitely not be what he wanted.
Rationally, he knew this, but emotionally, he still couldn’t convince himself. He secretly decided to end things here as soon as possible and fly to the United States again before the new year.
Li Shu made tremendous progress, which no one could have imagined. In just a few days, he went from nothing to achieving such results. Among them, the one who felt the deepest impression was Su Na.
She studied with Li Shu every day, she saw every effort and every gain he made. In Li Shu, she saw a resilient and powerful soul. People with such souls couldn’t be defeated no matter what difficulties they faced.
Like an ordinary pebble, after repeated tempering and polishing, it finally emitted a dazzling light.
The days of training passed quickly. During these days, Li Shu was almost oblivious to the outside world.
During this period, “Seeking The Sword” had its first official announcement. Qin Ran forwarded this news using Li Shu’s Weibo and mentioned it to Li Shu one night.
“The crew of ‘Seeking The Sword’ called with unexpectedly good news. The drama is hot. The series is going to be aired, and we’re in talks with the TV station. The director specifically asked me to pass on a ‘thank you’ to you.”
“Seeking The Sword” was originally a low-budget online drama, but later, thanks to Li Shu’s involvement, Mo Yanzhi added a large investment. With the backing of the Mo Group, the series naturally received some respect from people. After a few visits by the director, he managed to get the drama successfully aired.
This was a complete surprise. Sending Li Shu the script was just a way to build a relationship with Qin Ran, to give Qin Ran a favor. Who would have thought that such a big fish would follow?
“Jonathan and I discussed it. I posted a series of your pictures on Weibo. It’s been a long time since you’ve been active, and the fans are starting to make a fuss.” Qin Ran pushed his phone, which was open to the Weibo interface, toward Li Shu, teasing.
Other newcomers who became popular tried various ways to manage and consolidate their popularity. But Li Shu was different. If Qin Ran didn’t remind him, he could completely forget about this matter.
“Brother Qin, please help take care of Weibo during this time.” Li Shu scrolled through and found that the original owner didn’t post much on Weibo either. Apart from work-related posts, there were few Weibo updates over the past two years. After taking over as the original owner, Li Shu unintentionally matched the original owner’s image of rarely posting on Weibo.
“If you don’t want to use Weibo, you can hand over the account to me. Of course, it’s not a strict rule. If you don’t want to, just check it every few days. Don’t let the account become inactive.” Qin Ran said this because he realized that Li Shu really didn’t like playing with this kind of social software. He wasn’t deliberately not posting on Weibo, he just didn’t have the awareness.
“Then, I’ll trouble you, Brother Qin.”
After handing over the Weibo account to Qin Ran, Li Shu completely let go of this matter. Qin Ran had been a manager for so many years, and Li Shu trusted him.
“If you ever want to take over yourself, just let me know.” When a star entrusts their Weibo account to their manager, it’s out of trust in the manager. Li Shu gave him the account without asking anything, which made Qin Ran feel very appreciated.
Fans who had been without their idol’s updates for a long time suddenly found their idol posting on Weibo. Although it wasn’t the selfies they had been clamoring for, these beautiful photos were just as good.
It was still a nine-square grid. Every time you click on it, you can feel the critical impact of a flourishing beauty. Fans hugged the pictures and left messages, asking what Li Shu has been doing recently.
The comments section was bustling, and after enjoying the perfect photos, suddenly, a fan noticed that Li Shu had liked a comment on Weibo.
[Shu Shu, was this an accidental like?]
[No, how could you just like this comment by accident? Didn’t the official say before that Shu Shu was working in the United States during this time? ]
[Then… has Shu Shu really gone to the ML Fashion Show? Ahhh~ Shu Shu is amazing!]
[Shu fans, don’t boast too much. With LS’s current status, it’s obvious that he’s not qualified to go to the ML Fashion Show. You guys keep boasting now, but when you lose face later…]
[The official statement hasn’t come out yet, so why are you jumping to conclusions upstairs?]
[Let’s make a bet. If LS really goes to the ML Fashion Show, I’ll live stream myself eating my keyboard.]
[…]
Being famous invites gossip, especially for someone like Li Shu, who became popular in a very short time. No matter what he said or did, there would always be people who sang a different tune. Qin Ran looked at the comments section, which was blowing up, and suddenly felt that it was quite lucky for Li Shu to not pay attention to these comments.
Of course, Qin Ran didn’t know that even if Li Shu saw these comments, he wouldn’t have any extra thoughts. They were just some meaningless words. In his mind, they couldn’t even stir up a ripple in his heart.
If he cared about others’ opinions, how could he have come this far? On the path of cultivation, the most important thing is to remain true to oneself.
It was Julian who communicated with the organizers. When they first learned that Li Shu was a pure newcomer, they refused to agree no matter what Julian said. Julian argued hard, even bringing in his superiors. It was only after all this that the organizers reluctantly agreed to let Li Shu try. If it didn’t work out, Julian would have to follow their plan.
Knowing this was the best outcome, Julian agreed.
“It’s just a rehearsal. Stay calm and don’t be too nervous.” Julian arrived at the venue with Li Shu and couldn’t help but comfort Li Shu, whose face was slightly pale.
Li Shu took a deep breath and said slowly, “I’m fine.”
He was just uneasy, not because of the upcoming runway show, but because he had had a vague sense of unease for the past few days. And just now, that unease reached its peak.
[Host, the protagonist gong had a car accident.] As if to confirm what he was thinking, 1314 suddenly spoke up.
With a bang, Li Shu heard something explode in his mind.
