Chapter 7: CH 7

After Guan Qijun left, Ou Shaowen read the article carefully and clicked on the comments without any help. After a long time, he went online and searched for the meaning of the words “nurturing” and “Aunt”, clicking on the relevant links one by one from top to bottom, then searched for Ou Renjin’s past news, and then sat quietly, pondering in silence.

He seemed to have figured out that this was the reason why Ou Renjin had tolerated him for so long and hadn’t had the surgery yet. Ou Renjin had discovered the meaning of his existence beyond that of an “organ petri dish” and wanted to “keep” him for a while, and then go for the surgery when he “got tired” and “bored” of him?

Ou Shaowen sat up straighter with some excitement and looked at Ou Renjin’s gossip news again for confirmation. The report said that every “Aunt” he had nurtured before was the shortest for three months and the longest for more than half a year. Did this mean that he could have at least two months without surgery and without having to go back to the lab?

Or maybe it was okay if he had the surgery first, as long as Ou Renjin didn’t send him back right after the surgery and kept him for a while.

It would be nice to be kept! All he had to do was eat with Ou Renjin, go on dates, sleep with him, talk to him, and be there for him whenever he needed. It was a great reward in itself, but the keeper had to pay for it. He couldn’t help but get so delusional that he wondered if he could get away with not asking for payment, as long as Ou Renjin could keep him for a little longer!

With the exact time frame determined, Ou Shaowen’s heart seemed to have finally settled down. He didn’t have to worry all the time that he would be pushed into the operating room in the next second, and then wake up in the laboratory.

But then he was a little frightened again, afraid that it was all a mistake on his part.

He sent Guan Qijun a text message, “Does Ou Renjin want me to go?”

“You don’t have to care about President Ou, it’s up to you to decide,” Guan Qijun replied quickly.

It was true that Ou Renjin was gentle and wouldn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to do, but he had to be good so that Ou Renjin would get tired and bored of him later rather than sooner.

Ou Shaowen considered for a short while and asked, “How much is the payment?”

Guan Qijun replied after a moment, “The average model ranges from 3,000 to 5,000, and those like you who have some attention should get a bit more.”

Because he had often listened to Aunt Zhou’s chatter, Ou Shaowen had a fair idea of the purchasing power of the corresponding amount and knew that the money was more than enough for him to buy a gift in return.

“Okay, I’ll go.”

Having made this decision, Ou Shaowen began to search for information about photo shoots for the magazines. Most of the videos that came up were footage of celebrities and professional models, and as he watched these people take different poses under the flashing lights, he felt as if there was nothing difficult about this whole photo shoot thing.

He thought he had done all he could to prepare himself and went to bed with peace of mind.

On the appointed day of the photo shoot, Ou Renjin sent an assistant to drive him to the studio.

“It’s your first time going to such an event, and President Ou is worried that you won’t be able to handle it, so he asked me to stay close to you all day today, so that you won’t be bullied,” Xiao Liu opened the car door for him and couldn’t help but tease. “But I think President Ou is too worried about you, who dares to bully you? One must be really short-sighted not to be afraid of President Ou’s revenge.”

After joking about the top boss, Xiao Liu couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty and instructed, “Don’t say anything to President Ou about what I said to you!”

Ou Shaowen didn’t feel that there was anything he couldn’t say to Ou Renjin about these words, but he still nodded.

The person in charge of the photo shoot was a young man in his twenties, who seemed to be in a hurry and talked like a machine gun when greeting them. After all, Ou Shaowen had not spoken for many years. Before answering a question, he always turned his vocabulary in his mind. When he encountered this kind of person who shot one sentence after another, he really couldn’t keep up with the tempo. He just nodded habitually. Fortunately, Xiao Liu was smart and helped him deal with it, so it was not too awkward.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Ou Shaowen was dragged to the dressing room to put on his make-up, while a camera was already following him around. The camera first took a few close-ups of his profile, and then quickly pulled away to capture his whole body. Ou Shaowen knew that this was a tool for filming, but having lived under the lab’s security cameras for years, he was not shy about it. He just glanced at the camera lightly, lowered his eyes and let the make-up artist do his job. He was not used to make-up, and his brows were slightly furrowed, looking a little uncomfortable.

While filming, the cameraman asked, as if making small talk, “Mr. Ou happens to have the same surname as President Ou, quite a coincidence. Are you related?”

Before Ou Shaowen could answer, Xiao Liu interrupted with a smile, “Hey, I heard that it was just a few photos, how come there’s still a camera interview?” He chuckled twice and waved his hand, “That won’t do, it’ll cost more than that.”

His tone was light, as if he was joking, and the cameraman also chuckled, “It’s just a casual shoot, to be released as highlights for the netizens’ benefit. Besides, if we can be the first to shoot the newcomer after President Ou’s love affair is exposed, the editor-in-chief surely won’t care about the price.”

Seeing Xiao Liu smile and stop talking, the cameraman first praised Ou Shaowen, and then turned the topic to Ou Renjin, “By the way, how long have Mr. Ou and President Ou known each other?”

Ou Shaowen looked up at Xiao Liu, who shrugged, indicating that President Ou had not given him any ban on giving interviews, so Ou Shaowen answered frankly, “Twenty-eight days.”

The cameraman counted the time and realised that they had met after Ou Renjin and Qi Shuyang had broken up, so he couldn’t help but feel a little sorry that there was one less point to speculate on.

“Then it seems that President Ou must have fallen in love with you at first sight?”

Ou Shaowen shook his head and said calmly, “He just has a good heart.”

The cameraman raised an eyebrow and smiled, “President Ou does have a good heart and has always been keen on charity. I wonder how you and President Ou met. Did he help you before?”

Ou Shaowen raised his eyes and looked straight at the man, “Does the work I have to do today include answering these questions?”

Ou Shaowen actually carried an aura of detachment from the world, and when he looked at you coldly, it really made people a little afraid to offend him.

“It doesn’t have to be like that, it’s just a casual chat with you.” The cameraman had been doing this kind of digging for gossip while people were getting make-up for years and his face had long been thicker than a city wall. He didn’t feel embarrassed at all, he still had a smile on his face, “Your figure is absolutely as good as those models we often work with, and your appearance is also handsome. Do you have plans to enter the entertainment industry?”

“I haven’t thought about it.” Ou Shaowen paused, “But if Ou Renjin wants me to do something, I’ll do it.”

In fact, he didn’t quite understand what it meant to enter the entertainment industry, but he wanted to do something that would make Ou Renjin happy. After all, during all this time, this man made him so happy.

“So if President Ou asks you to do something you really don’t want to do, or asks you to give up something you really love, will you choose to follow his requirements?” The cameraman looked at him with the pleasure of having finally dug up a hot topic, his eyes glowing.

Ou Shaowen lowered his eyes. He had never had the right to refuse to do what he didn’t want to do, or the chance to get what he loved, but if it was Ou Renjin, he would feel that…

“He won’t have such a requirement.” He looked at the cameraman with firm and sure eyes, “He’s a very gentle man, he will never make me do anything I don’t want to do, nor will he ask me to give up what I love.”

He looked into the cameraman’s eyes and added, “He’s not that senseless.”

The cameraman felt as if he had been laughed at. He smiled apologetically and changed the subject as soon as possible. But he didn’t know if his previous question ruined the mood of this Mr. Ou. When the topic shifted from Ou Renjin to him, he didn’t answer the questions as he had just now; he became a little silent and avoided many questions.

It was a good thing that the make-up artist finished his work at this point. Ou Shaowen finally got rid of this environment that made him a bit uncomfortable. When it was time for the official photo shoot, the cameraman was replaced by a photographer with long, slightly curly hair that reached his chin and a somewhat cold look in his eyes.

The photographer didn’t say much and didn’t ask for much, just let him pose as he felt like. Ou Shaowen, dressed in a white loose shirt, half unbuttoned, held a bouquet of dark, delicate flowers and looked into the camera with his calm eyes, his gaze deep and empty.

In the silence, only the flash worked rapidly non-stop.

Ou Shaowen was confused for a short while, trying to change a few poses as he had seen in the video, and the photographer did not say anything to comment, quietly pressing the shutter.

After about a quarter of an hour, the photographer stopped moving, looked down at the photos he had just taken, and said coldly, “Change to the next look.”

Among Ou Shaowen’s looks today, one set was a young man in a shirt with a bouquet, one set was a prince from an ancient castle in a crown, and one set was an aristocratic vampire with black hair and sharp teeth, almost all of the most popular looks on the market lately. Fortunately he had an excellent appearance and an outstanding temperament, and the photographer was also skillful, so he didn’t make these old themes look boring and cheap.

When it came to the last set, the photographer finally spoke up and instructed Ou Shaowen on his expressions so that he could show the dark, seductive and mysterious nature of vampires. His instructions were direct and clear, and he wouldn’t ask to show something with your eyes, like some other photographers.

He would tell directly:

Use your tongue to lick your canine teeth.

Curl the corners of your lips a little.

Look in the direction I’m pointing.

They completed the whole day of shooting with extreme efficiency. Ou Shaowen couldn’t wait to leave, and then, as if something suddenly occurred to him, he turned to the photographer and nodded.