Liu Xiaoyang’s Gigot

Qin Guan and others were quite curious, so they asked Liu Xiaoyang, “What will you do with the big gigot?”

Liu Xiaoyang answered with pride, “I wanted it for somebody else. Qin Guan was right. I made new friends during winter vacation.”

His roommates looked interested in his words, “Tell us more.”

Liu Xiaoyang shared his experience of making new friends. “I paid ceremonial visits to other relatives in the neighborhood with my parents during the Spring Festival. I took a chance and chatted with boys who I was unfamiliar with.”

“Although I’m very young, I’m a college student in every way that counts. Some of them had a lot to talk about and we became friends.”

“One of my friends heard that one of my roommates came from Northwest China. Coincidentally, his grandpa was a northwesterner and in desperate need of authentic air-dried mutton. That’s why I begged you to bring a gigot for me.”

The others nodded. His new friends sounded quite reliable, so they said, “You could bring them to our dormitory in our spare time so we can hang out together. By the way, what do they do?”

Liu Xiaoyang talked about them with particular pride, “They are amazing! One of them majors in medical jurisprudence, another studies psychiatry, and the third one was in the intelligence department of a military college.”

His roommates scattered away as soon as he finished, going about their own business.

Could that boy make friends with reliable, common people? Those three could form a group to solve hard cases. It was surely impossible for common people to understand the world of a genius.

Confused, Liu Xiaoyang shouted to them, “Hey, come back! I’ll tell you how to perform an autopsy…”

No one was interested in corpses. They all ran away.

…………

When the new semester began, Qin Guan was busy. He had made a fundamental plan for himself. In the second half of the freshman year, the professional courses would start one by one, and the majority of his time had to be spent on those courses.

Qin Guan planned to take exams for various certificates as a sophomore. There was one year left till then. He could go about it little by little without a break.

The exams for the CET 6 would be arranged around at that time, and memorizing vocabulary was slow work.

Qin Guan’s schedule was full. He had to give up the small part-time jobs, but Sister Xue arranged jobs on the weekends for him.

Product promoting had a low quality-value ratio, which had to end.

Finally, the domestic education of Huang Jiajia was left. With reasonable time and a good reward, he could keep that one.

The first weekend of the new semester, Sister Xue and the shirt factory came to an agreement. The first advertising poster of the annual contract would be shot at the same place.

Qin Guan arrived at the studio in Chaoyang Park. It was the same photographer who had taken pictures of him last time. He hugged Qin Guan encouragingly when he saw him walk in.

The photographer had submitted the photos he had taken last time to the organizing committee of a figure photography competition.

After the first selection, he would be informed about the results. Qin Guan smiled back with kindness. He always cherished the admiration of people who engaged in art.

The manufacturer of the J shirt paid special attention to the advertisement shooting this time. As an ambitious boss, he didn’t plan on selling his shirts by phone orders forever.

He was also in the hope of introducing his shirts to shopping malls and expanding the sales volume. Qin Guan could give him such a chance.

The effect of the last poster had been amazing. The customers who saw the posters were women shopping in supermarkets and malls.

When the housewives saw Qin Guan smiling brightly on the posters, they had automatically imagined their own children in them.

Pink will clash with his skin. This young man looks so energetic in it, though. The quality seems good. Oh, dear! This is a really affordable price. It’s on sale, 60 Yuan each. I have to buy one!

The women had long forgotten the reality, which was that their boys were hoarse-skinned, black-faced and stocky-figured.

Every mother thought her son was as handsome as the model on the posters.

As a result, the phone sales escalated. There was a huge number of calls about the shirts.

The boss was very excited. His dream was coming true. With vigorous zeal, he employed a designer who had just graduated from the design department of the Capital Institute of Fashion Technology, and rented a formal office beside Chaoyang Park, as well as a large warehouse in the suburbs. Of course, he also signed a long-term contract with the factory in South China.

Betting everything on this endeavour, he spent all the term’s profits to make his shirts a formal brand.

He had come there with the designer. He met with Sister Xue, and the two of them had a heated discussion about the advertising contract. When Qin Guan changed into his first outfit, they made the final agreement.

Qin Guan’s reward was raised from 3,000 Yuan to 5,000 Yuan for two more series of photos. The full-page shirt advertisement in the future would feature Qin Guan as the only model.

The lights were on. Qin Guan walked into the venue wearing the first shirt. The designer was excited at the sight of her finished product.

The shirt would be featured in the youth section of the spring collection. It was a white shirt with three-quarter sleeves rolled up and hollow lace around the collar and lower hem, representing the first stream of sunshine in spring.

At least that was the designer’s inspiration. All the boss cared about was beauty.

When Qin Guan’s stepped on the venue, everyone relaxed. Qin Guan rode on the edge of the wooden window frame with one foot stretched out.

His body was flecked with sunshine, looking like shiny drops of time. He inclined his shoulder gently into the window, moving it in close proximity to the photographer's lens. The photographer was quite excited. He pushed the shutter crazily to capture Qin Guan’s warm smile.

“Okay! Change your pose one more time!” The photographer put down the camera and signaled for Qin Guan to take another pose.

Qin Guan moved back his foot from outside the window. He put his legs together and sat on the windowsill. Supporting his body with his arms, he leaned against the windowsill and stared ahead with a blank expression. The corner of his mouth was curled up as if he was smiling at the lens.

The photographer felt warm air blowing on his face. Qin Guan smiled gently and intently at the lens, making the hearts of onlookers throb.

The shoot went smoothly. Two minutes later, they were done taking photos with this shirt. While everyone checked the quality of the pictures, Qin Guan went to change into the second shirt.

The boss was quite satisfied with the result. He was not of a high educational level and couldn’t use elegant words, but he knew what beauty and ugliness were, and whether the customers would buy the shirts.

When Qin Guan came out wearing the second shirt, the designer starting getting nervous. She had spent most of her talent on this one.

No one noticed the detail on the light green shirt until Qin Guan walked in front of the camera.

The light went through the shirt and the decorative patterns were suddenly visible to the onlookers. Dandelions were floating slowly on the shirt. They seemed like they flying under the effect of the light.

Looking particularly excited, the designer explained her idea to Qin Guan, “The shirt is linked to the theme of spring. It shows the exuberant energy of spring, which is pregnant with infinite vitality.”

The photographer turned to the confused Qin Guan, “Don't listen to her. Listen to me. It's not so complicated. It’s fine to show a sense of emptiness.”

What does “a sense of emptiness” even mean? Could you please break it down for me?

Noticing Qin Guan’s blank expression, Sister Xue knew that something was going wrong. Grinding her teeth, she waved at Qin Guan. He walked up to Sister Xue, who murmured in his ear for a while.

Qin Guan nodded and said doubtfully, “I’m good at that. The problem is whether it would work. Are you serious?”

Sister Xue pushed him toward the venue, “Listen to me. Hurry up. Don’t waste time.”

Qin Guan could do nothing but walk to the middle of the venue and do as Sister Xue had asked.

He opened his arms, closed eyes and relaxed the muscles of his face. With his head leaning back slightly, he took a pose for the photographer.