IDEI Ch6

“Let’s settle on this one!” The director slapped his thigh, making the decision. “Which store is it? I’ll have the costume team contact the store!”

“Alright, I’ll send it to you,” Qi Yanning replied.

Yesterday, he had already added the director on Feixin (instant messaging app). Now, he copied the shop’s link and sent it to the director.

Since his time-travel, what he appreciated most was the convenience of life here. Although he was once the chief manager of the Embroidery Bureau, living standards in the entire Dayong Empire were considered good, but still couldn’t compare to the commoners here.

For instance, cell phones—so convenient for communication. And the tablet he used to watch the fashion show videos—it could record events from different times and places, upload them to the internet, and be accessible to anyone interested. This greatly satisfied Qi Yanning.

The director received the link and immediately forwarded it to the assistant director, asking him to arrange things. Then he put his phone away and led Qi Yanning toward the makeup and styling team.

The production team of “YourStar” was indeed a big one. Just the makeup and styling rooms alone were five in total, each at least 50 square meters, with neat dressing tables. Costumes and accessories were meticulously placed in the corners. Behind the makeup and styling rooms were six storerooms to store additional costumes and accessories.

The makeup team’s lounge was situated between the storerooms and the makeup rooms, furnished with desks, chairs, sofas, and even a few small beds for resting.

But Qi Yanning still frowned. The lounge had poor ventilation, with a dozen people crammed into the same space, which made him uncomfortable.

As they pushed the door open, the director loudly introduced Qi Yanning to the makeup artists already in the lounge, “This is Qi Yanning, your last colleague. He’ll be taking the lead on the makeup and styling for the reshoot of the theme song MV. You all assist him and cooperate with his work.”

The other makeup artists smiled and agreed.

Seeing that the atmosphere was good, the director turned and left. He had the whole production to manage, so being able to personally escort Qi Yanning showed great importance.

After the director left, the atmosphere in the lounge became subtle.

Qi Yanning raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping across the room. He could easily sense that, apart from the eight young assistant makeup artists, among the remaining six, two harbored strong hostility toward him, one was more discreet about it, and one showed a scrutinizing attitude.

This makeup team… seemed a bit delicate.

But he didn’t care.

As long as these people didn’t interfere with his work, he wouldn’t bother with what they wanted to do. But if they did interfere with his work…

Qi Yanning let out a soft laugh.

In his previous life, he hadn’t climbed to the top of the Embroidery Bureau by being soft-hearted.

“Hello, senior!” A soft voice broke the delicate silence in the room. A bright-eyed makeup assistant was looking at Qi Yanning.

This was Li Jinshi, a young girl from yesterday’s interview.

She was studying fashion design and was technically Qi Yanning’s junior. Her basic skills were solid, especially her sensitivity to colors.

During the interview, she had styled an outfit for a trainee. Tomato red and forest green—both heavy and vintage colors—but the result was unexpectedly harmonious.

However, perhaps because she didn’t fully understand the job of a makeup artist, she instinctively maximized the impact of the clothes. The trainee was completely overshadowed by the outfit, resembling a plastic mannequin.

Thus, even though the director liked the outfit, he still shook his head and was about to eliminate this inexperienced girl.

But Qi Yanning stepped in.

He approached, deftly added a pair of exaggerated sunglasses to the trainee, pulled down the collar to reveal a chunky decorative necklace, and slicked the trainee’s hair back into a pompadour.

In an instant, the trainee’s entire demeanor changed!

From being swallowed by the outfit, he transformed into a retro, modern lounge singer, evoking the flashy era of neon-lit discos.

The director’s eyes lit up, gazing at Qi Yanning with admiration.

The young girl, who had been on the verge of tears, thinking she was about to be eliminated, now looked at Qi Yanning with nothing short of awe.

She had heard of Qi Yanning, of course. After all, when this senior graduated, he had turned down invitations from design studios to participate in a talent show, which had made waves across the school. The descriptions of him among the alumni were mostly that he was handsome and gentle. But why hadn’t anyone mentioned…

That his professional skills were so strong?!

Unfortunately, she hadn’t had the courage to add Qi Yanning on Feixin back then, leaving her full of regret as she left.

The interview had seemingly ended in failure, and she feared she would never see this amazing senior again.

But what she didn’t expect was that later that night, she received a call from the production team, asking her to join today!

Even being a makeup assistant was an unexpected surprise for a fresh graduate like her.

It was said that Qi Yanning had told the director that she had talent and was worth nurturing as a makeup artist. Because of that, she had been hired and became his assistant.

“Li Jinshi, right?” Qi Yanning ignored the varied expressions of the other makeup artists and looked at the excited girl with a slight smile. “Just call me by my name.”

“Qi… Qi-ge.” Li Jinshi still didn’t dare call him by his name and stammered, “What should we do next?”

“Next?” Qi Yanning’s gaze fell on the large television in the lounge.

“Of course, we watch the show,” he said with a subtle smile.

One of the makeup artists nearby let out a sarcastic snort.

“We’re all mostly new here today,” Qi Yanning continued, unhurried and gentle, but his voice carried an inexplicable weight that made hearts skip a beat. “Before this, none of us were very familiar with the contestants on this show. At this point, the most important thing is to understand the people we’re serving.”

Qi Yanning’s gaze swept over them one by one. Although his expression carried a smile, his eyes were sharp, putting great pressure on them.

“Moreover, we don’t really know each other yet. We should sit together and get to know one another properly, don’t you think?”

The makeup artists remained silent, their thoughts unclear.

But Qi Yanning didn’t care. He turned on the television and played the contestants’ self-introductions.

“Alright, let’s watch.” He was the first to sit on the sofa.

“Okay!” Li Jinshi cheerfully dragged a small chair over and sat behind Qi Yanning.

The others could only slowly walk over and sit down. One person was clearly displeased, slamming their chair down with a loud noise.

“Tsk.” Qi Yanning had already started watching the video of the first trainee, but was interrupted by the noise. He raised an eyebrow, a bit impatient, and glanced over.

No one saw how he moved, but when they noticed, he had already turned slightly, his hand gripping a makeup artist’s chin.

“Be quiet, or leave,” he said, his expression somewhat displeased, lightly furrowing his brow. Half-turned, he cast a sidelong glance that cut across the makeup artist’s face like a blade.

The makeup artist seemed dazed, and after a moment, his face turned an odd shade of red—

Qi Yanning watched him for a while, and when his face grew redder, he let go of his chin, smiled faintly with unclear meaning, and pulled out a handkerchief to gently wipe his slender fingers.

Then, he turned all his attention back to the television.

This left the makeup artist, whose chin had been grabbed, with an expression that was hard to read.

Soon, it was lunchtime, and if the stage manager hadn’t brought their lunch boxes, they would still have been absorbed in this impromptu meeting.

By the end of the morning, the scrutinizing and neutral makeup artists had developed a faint fondness for Qi Yanning. As for the assistant makeup artists, they all looked at him as if he were a deity.

Qi Yanning had showcased an impressive wealth of knowledge and an exceptional sense of aesthetics. Every point he made, they replayed in their minds, astonished to find that if they followed his advice, the quality of their makeup and styling would improve significantly.

He was amazing!

The assistant makeup artists eagerly surrounded Qi Yanning, asking questions left and right, until Qi Yanning got annoyed and showed a half-smiling expression, at which point they quickly dispersed.

Meanwhile, the makeup artist whose chin had been grabbed spent the entire morning distracted.

“Hey, Xiao Le, what’s going on with you?” His colleague, another makeup artist who also harbored strong hostility toward Qi Yanning, asked quietly.

Xiao Le lowered his head for a long time before bashfully muttering, “Don’t you think he’s super handsome?”

The other makeup artist was speechless, staring at his colleague, whose ears were now bright red from being easily swayed by appearances, unable to catch his breath.

“Besides…” Xiao Le whispered, “He’s really talented, not the useless guy who rose through connections like Wang-ge said. A-Qing, could there be some misunderstanding?”

They had been close with the former makeup artist Wang-ge, though they weren’t part of his studio. After Wang-ge was fired, in his anger, he left the two of them behind, secretly instructing them to keep an eye on the production team.

But Xiao Le, who had once been so deferential to Wang-ge, had turned against him in an instant!

The other makeup artist, A-Qing, glared at Xiao Le, even more frustrated.

＊

In the afternoon, there was another long meeting. By the end, everyone was exhausted and mentally drained, except for Qi Yanning, who remained clear-headed, sitting upright and elegant.

Not until they had finished organizing all the information on the hundred trainees did Qi Yanning mercifully dismiss everyone.

Everyone was thoroughly worn out. It wasn’t just passive watching; they were frequently questioned or prompted to follow Qi Yanning’s line of thinking and respond. Their minds had been constantly working, and by now, they were completely drained.

Even A-Qing, who had harbored the strongest hostility toward Qi Yanning, had no energy left to do anything and followed the others out.

But Qi Yanning didn’t leave right away. He was waiting for the costumes for the MV shoot to arrive.

Li Jinshi didn’t leave either, staying behind to organize the notes she had taken.

To Qi Yanning’s surprise, two other assistant makeup artists also stayed. One was a boy, and the other was a girl, both specializing in makeup.

“Why haven’t you left yet?” 

Qi Yanning raised his eyes, looking at the three assistants—no, the three “little chicks.”

The girl, who had a cheerful personality, laughed brightly, “Qi-ge, we’re waiting for you. Besides, I still have some questions I want to ask on the way.”

The boy and Li Jinshi both nodded in agreement.

“Alright, then wait,” Qi Yanning said indifferently.

They didn’t have to wait long before the director sent someone to fetch Qi Yanning.

Qi Yanning stood up and called to the three assistants, “Follow me.”

With that, he strode out.

The three assistants scrambled to gather their belongings and followed after him.

They arrived at an empty storeroom next door, which was now filled with clothes scattered all over the place.

“Xiao Qi!” The director’s chubby figure appeared. “Take a look at these clothes, are they okay?”

Before Qi Yanning could move, Wu Jianming, the male assistant, had already tactfully picked up a bag of clothes, unwrapped it, and displayed it in front of Qi Yanning.

“Wow!” Li Jinshi, with her keen eye for color, gasped in awe.

The suit was simply stunning!

The cut was sharp, with the shoulder line and waistline perfectly in place, and the program’s logo embroidered on the chest pocket added a nice touch. But the most striking feature was the color—a soft, bluish-gray with a hint of green, reminiscent of the point where the lake and sky meet in summer, fresh and calming.

After confirming that the color matched his judgment, Qi Yanning moved on to examine the inner lining.

Each person had two options for the inner layer: a white silk shirt paired with a tie of the same color as the suit, or a thin, white hoodie with a half-zip. The shirt would give a more formal and mature look, while the hoodie was more youthful.

However, both options looked great.

With a quick glance, Qi Yanning confirmed the thickness, cut, and material of the inner layers, finding no issues. He then turned to the director.

“The clothes are fine,” Qi Yanning said.

The director beamed with joy. “Great! Xiao Li, notify the trainees to come collect their new uniforms!”

Xiao Li from the trainee management team acknowledged and headed toward the practice room.

It was still before nine o’clock, and the trainees were all in the practice room.

Thus, while drenched in sweat from practice, they received the news—

They were going to get version 2.0 of their uniforms!

The trainees looked at each other, unsure how to react.

Oh no! Please don’t let it be another insurance salesman outfit!

Many of them inwardly groaned in despair.