Chapter Fifty-Six: The Art of Cooperation

“Xing, is something wrong?”
Xiaonan looked at Lin Xing’s furrowed brows and quickly asked.

“It’s nothing, just a minor issue.”
Lin Xing shook his head slightly. “Earlier, Sister Dao spoke to me about the theme. I just hadn’t expected that Fashion Men’s Style would simply plan to replicate my character.”

Xiaonan was taken aback. “Isn’t that normal? After all, this issue of Fashion Men’s Style is set to be next month’s cover. The golden September and silver October—September’s already out of reach, but landing the October issue is still quite impressive.”

Lin Xing understood that this was likely why Sister Dao had agreed.
After all, Fashion Men’s Style was one of the top five domestic magazines. Appearing on the cover of a first-tier magazine signified real popularity—a dazzling kind.
Every September, stars fought tooth and nail for it.
So, when Fashion Men’s Style offered the official silver October cover, it was a temptation Sister Dao could hardly refuse.

Lin Xing knew this well.
What he hadn’t expected was that the interview outline and photoshoot would revolve almost entirely around “Du Fei,” his character.

On second thought, it made sense.
After all, Du Fei was the one who truly broke through in late August.
He’d been forgotten for a decade, but with Du Fei, he was suddenly known everywhere.
If Wu Yao’s scandal and the reality show “Farming with Stars” brought Lin Xing back into the public eye, the true breakout, the explosive fame, was thanks to Du Fei in “Just Waiting for You.”

So, Fashion Men’s Style’s interview with Lin Xing was naturally centered on “Just Waiting for You,” along with a few of the magazine’s standard questions.
Questions like: “Would you say you’re emotionally stable?” “What do you enjoy doing when not acting?” “How do you view your fans?” “Will you return to the stage someday?”
These questions were, frankly, all-purpose.
They even provided full answers in the interview outline.

Such was the entertainment world: people believed stars said profound things in interviews, but it was all carefully packaged.
The real test was a star’s ability to improvise.
Once without a script, some would stammer and stutter.

Clearly, Fashion Men’s Style had seen plenty of empty-headed celebrities, so they prepared the interview outline for the agent team to review.
To avoid awkward moments.

An hour later, at the Fashion Men’s Style studio.
Today’s shoot was mainly in the photo studio.
Sister Dao had arrived early, chatting with Li Rong, the magazine’s director and the shoot’s planner, who had handled all pre-shoot communications.

It was a large studio, with all the sets ready, prepared for today’s theme.
The domineering CEO style.

After a brief exchange, Lin Xing began makeup and wardrobe.

The first outfit was Lin Xing’s look from “Just Waiting for You”:
A dark suit, black tie, gold-rimmed glasses, and a luxury watch.

“Mr. Lin, for this first set, we want a cold, aloof vibe. Just channel Du Fei.”
Li Rong addressed Lin Xing.

“All right.”
Lin Xing was very cooperative.
So cooperative that Li Rong was a bit surprised.
All day, Lin Xing did whatever was asked, without complaint.

“Mr. Lin, that was good, but you need to be a bit more stern.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“Mr. Lin, act as if you’re thinking, head lowered, deep in thought.”
“Okay.”
“Mr. Lin, pretend you’re working on a script. The lighting’s off, we’ll need to reshoot.”
“Okay.”
…

By the time the shoot ended in the afternoon, some crew members wanted to take photos with him.

“Lin Xing is tired, let’s…”
Sister Dao noticed the number of requests and tried to turn them down.

“Sister Dao, it’s fine.”
Lin Xing shook his head with a smile. “This isn’t tiring at all.”

He paused, then added, “But let’s avoid crowding. The crew still needs to work on the set, so let’s not cause them trouble.”

And so, Lin Xing posed for pictures, one by one, for nearly half an hour.
It was Li Rong who eventually stopped it, asking others not to take more photos. She’d expected Lin Xing to be cooperative—after all, they were one of the top five magazines.

But Lin Xing’s lack of attitude, his extreme cooperation, and even his consideration for the staff—Li Rong had only ever seen such qualities in veteran actors.
As for today’s internet celebrities, even among young actors, few had such patience.

“Mr. Lin, thank you for your hard work today. Tomorrow at nine, we’ll shoot for another two hours here.”
Li Rong said to Lin Xing, “Then we’ll head over to ‘Yi Shang Leisure’ next door for some location shots.”

“All right. But may I offer a suggestion?”
Lin Xing suddenly spoke.

Li Rong’s heart skipped a beat. As a planner, suggestions didn’t faze her, but demands from celebrities did—often more like requirements than suggestions.

Still, Li Rong smiled. “Go ahead.”

“It’s like this. Today, all our shots were with the gold-rimmed glasses. I think that’s enough. For the next shoot, I’d like to take them off—or maybe wear sunglasses instead…”
Lin Xing’s words left Li Rong a little stunned.

“‘Just Waiting for You’ only just finished airing. You’re in the peak of your character’s popularity, and everyone loves seeing you like this…”
Li Rong was confused. “Why not capitalize on it now?”

“I’m not saying I won’t. In fact, this past month I’ve made the most of it—but I can’t rely on this character forever. If I did, I’d be trapped in it for good…”
Lin Xing chuckled. “Du Fei is just one role in my acting career, and I have many sides. So I hope our shoot can show the audience more facets of me.”

Li Rong thought to herself: you really are confident—no wonder you dared to take on “Sweeping the Underworld.”
As for the rumors online about capital manipulation, Li Rong saw them as a joke. She’d worked with Zhu Ming and knew what kind of director he was.

But Li Rong still doubted Lin Xing.
With such a handsome face, why bother with acting chops?
After all, Fu Shu had gone into “The Return of Power” equally confident—only to be taught a hard lesson.

Still, the suggestion wasn’t an issue for Li Rong; she wasn’t troubled, since tomorrow’s shoot would feature a different style of clothing.

The following day, the studio shoot wrapped up. Lin Xing wore a deep brown leather jacket.
He didn’t wear glasses for this day’s shoot.

As for sunglasses, none were used.
Li Rong felt they didn’t fit the style.

Finally, during the shoot at Yi Shang Leisure, Lin Xing wore sunglasses.
Yi Shang Leisure was a multi-purpose space: furniture, sundries, café, and small dance hall—a perfect place for photo ops.

The shoot here was more relaxed, but Lin Xing still maintained the domineering CEO vibe.

Three days of shooting came to an end.

Next, Fashion Men’s Style would move into post-production: selecting shots, retouching, designing the layout, and getting ready to publish.

Additionally, the magazine would start its promotional campaign on September 14th.

But all that was no longer Lin Xing’s concern. When the time came, he just needed to participate in the publicity.

“What’s the next item on the schedule?”
Lin Xing asked Xiaonan on the way back.

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