"Yibo's chair swiftly swivelled forward. His eyes were focused on the television screen. He didn't even notice the curiosity on his mother's face who was suddenly surprised when he rolled his chair towards the TV set.
The camera focuses on the arrival of Xiao Zhan. The way he looks, no one would think he's a celebrity. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt rolled up at the end and jeans. And the shades he was wearing almost covered half of his face. Perhaps that was really the model's intention to remain anonymous. Yibo could see on the screen the look on Zhan's face whenever the camera flashed.
Yibo couldn't believe Zhan is uncomfortable by the camera flashes. He lived with it. Or maybe he is wearing dark shades to hide the puffiness of his eyes. His mother just died. And again, according to Zhao Liying voice reporting on the background while showing the scene at the airport. Zhan brings his mother's remains to be buried here in China.
"Do you have a relative here, Xiao Zhan," asked a reporter. The camera almost hit the model's face.
"His mother was his only relative," answered his companion. "But we will take his mother's remains in Chongqing."
Yibo saw his sniffed and then swayed, as if about he was about to fall. Zhan can't even breathe with the number of people who want to interview him.
Damn these media people for being so inconsiderate! And suddenly Yibo wanted to wring the reporter's neck. Zhan mother just died, he should at least be given privacy. And then Yibo wonder himself. Why does he have to sympathize with this Zhan?
"Have you met him in New York?" Carmen asked as Zhan's face disappeared from the screen and the weather report replaced the news. She reached for the remote and turned off the TV. "Isn't he the model got caught with your cousin's fiance?"
Yibo nodded silently. Carmen continued. "That model is not that beautiful than the picture we see of him in magazines," Carmen said with contempt. Meng Ziyi 's mother is her stepsister.
"I can't believe Jeffrey Moore chose that boy instead of Meng Ziyi!" Carmen continued, her eyes burning with anger. "What is he doing here in China? Why didn't he bury his mother in America when he no longer has any relatives here?"
"We don't know the reason, Mom," Yibo replied. "Maybe that's what his mother wanted to happen before she died."
"He and Meng Ziyi will definitely meet here. I don't want their paths to cross again, Yibo. I don't want Meng Ziyi to remember the bitterness of what happened to her again."
Yibo jaw clenched. "I just hope their paths won't meet, Mom. Anyway, Meng Ziyi is in Singapore for over two weeks. By the time she comes back here, Xiao Zhan might have returned to New York."
💚💛❤️💚💛❤️💚💛❤️💚💛❤️
Zhan silently observes the fish swimming in the man-made pond. Large and different colors that are enhanced by artificial light underwater.
He had been standing there for several minutes. The noise of the music inside the function room could barely reach his ears. He wanted to get away from the crowd at that party of a famous fashion designer.
Zhan couldn't say "no" to Chengpeng Fu. He was his mentor. He was eighteen when he first modeled his creations. He was also Chengpeng favorite being the most submissive person. Zhan was also quiet, shy, and unaffected. But when it comes to work, though young, he worked like a real pro. On the ramp, while he was walking, one wouldn't think for one moment what a shy young man he was.
When he and Zanjin arrived in China two weeks ago, Zhan didn't think anyone would recognize him at the airport. He thinks they can quietly leave the airport without anyone noticing him. How does he know that Zanjin will secretly call some of his acquaintances here in China to inform them of Zhan's returning home.
That's why he was so surprised when the media people met them on their way out. Without Zhuocheng to pick them up, Zhan wouldn't know what to do. So much for peace and privacy!
Zhuocheng quickly led him to the waiting car. Zhuocheng scolded Zanjin when he tried to stop Zhan getting in the car to face the media. However, Zanjin was the one who took care of Ziyuan's remains to be taken to Chongqing to be buried there according to Zhuocheng 's suggestion.
That night, on primetime news, all the television stations were full of his arrival. And Zhan didn't even have a chance to get mad at Zanjin for what he did. They were busy taking care of his mother's remains.
"You're just here, Zhan. Chengpeng has been looking for you for a while." From watching the fish in the pond, he turned to Zhuocheng who was approaching. Zhan smiled at him. He was thirty. This is the only person left who loves him. And Zhan will not allow the press to destroy their relationship.
Zhan doesn't care what is said about him. But they wouldn't spare Zhuocheng and his family. And that is what Zhan will not allow to happen. He owes them a lot. For seven years he was cared for and adopted by Zhuocheng and his mother.
Then Ziyuan came. Zhan was forcibly taken from them again. And they can't do anything about it. The security and happiness that he felt with Zhuocheng and his family suddenly came to an abrupt end.
And less than a year since Ziyuan brought him to Beijing, Zhan's first commercial for a toothpaste ad was seen on television.
He was young, fresh, innocent looking. And with a certain beauty that was so difficult to categorize. According to the photographers, there is no angle that he is not good at. That started the ball rolling. He was the new commercial prince. Ziyuan became his manager. Shan wasn't allowed to decide for himself. Ziyuan makes the final decision of what to buy and what food for him to eat. Everything that may be harmful to his skin and body is not allowed. And Zhan had been received several offers to be movie actor, but Ziyuan refused. "It's not time yet, Zhan," she said.
"My son's image is better as a commercial model. Also, if he were to become an actor now, he would probably end up in a group of young people...." Her eyes twinkled and she smiled like a contented cat. "There is a time for that." And in the following years Zhan was not even able to go home to Chongqing. Ziyuan does not allow him to even visit Zhuocheng. According to her, Zhan was too busy to waste time going home to the province.
And on the many occasions that Zhuocheng visited him, Ziyuan did not allow him to speak to Zhan.
"We missed you, Zhan. Mom mentioned you once. Our only consolation is that we see your face on television everyday," Zhuocheng said once when Ziyuan was sleeping and they talked on the phone. "Always take care of yourself. You are too young to spend all your time working. You should be enjoying your youth."
Zhuocheng was right. Besides modeling, he is still studying. Ziyuan made sure Zhan got an education and at one of the famous university in Beijing. Apart from that, Ziyuan enrolled him in a very expensive finishing school.
In exchange for that, Zhan had to accept ramp modeling other than commercial. According to his mother, his school is very expensive, and he has to work extra. And when Zhan won the Supermodel China, it was Ziyuan who had been so ecstatic.
His mother sold everything they owned. And together with Zanjin, who then formally became assistant of his mother, they left for New York and the rest was history.
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