Chapter 1794 - 1641: Stylist 17
Chapter 1794: Chapter 1641: Stylist 17
Shu Yixin’s situation, to put it bluntly, is that she got in someone else’s way. The drama she was filming had not just a stellar lead but also captivating second and third female roles, the kind that would absolutely attract fans if done right.
But the second female role was undeniably more intriguing than the third. Originally, when Shu Yixin auditioned, she went for the second female lead, and the role was set. However, it ended up being snatched away by a more popular star, Shen Anqi.
Shen Anqi had financial backing and support behind her, while Shu Yixin, with no such backing, couldn’t compete with her. Still, the director truly appreciated Shu Yixin’s acting skills and gave her the third female role, allowing Shu Yixin to have a role to play.
However, while Shen Anqi was formidable in securing roles, her acting skills were lacking. It’s not that she couldn’t act; it’s just that her performance was average — not bad enough to be an eyesore, but also without any standout moments.
If she acted alongside someone equally average, it wouldn’t be obvious. But as it happened, Shen Anqi’s second female lead often had scenes together with Shu Yixin’s third female lead.
Shu Yixin had honed her acting skills diligently. Although she hadn’t reached the level of veteran actors yet, outperforming Shen Anqi was a breeze.
Thus, when the drama was broadcasted after filming was over, Shen Anqi’s character was completely overshadowed by Shu Yixin’s character, leaving her with no standout traits.
This was actually a bit of revenge on Shu Yixin’s part. While she couldn’t rival Shen Anqi’s background, she had her real talent. Even if her role was taken, she wanted to ensure that the other couldn’t completely overshadow her.
And Shu Yixin succeeded. Not only did she outshine Shen Anqi, but she also boosted her own popularity. However, her actions greatly offended Shen Anqi.
The first time Tao Shuangshuang encountered Shu Yixin was when Shu Yixin was supposed to shoot a magazine cover. As it turned out, Shen Anqi intervened and took the cover at the last minute, turning Shu Yixin’s cover shoot into an inside spread shoot.
When it came to styling, both the makeup and styling artists were called away by Shen Anqi, with even the photographer focusing on Shen Anqi, leaving Shu Yixin sidelined. The most troublesome part was that Shu Yixin had another appointment to rush to and couldn’t afford to wait.
Shu Yixin’s agent approached the magazine team multiple times, but they kept stalling until they finally suggested Shu Yixin would have to find a photo studio herself to take the photos and send them over.
How ridiculous — a magazine shoot location suggesting someone takes their own photos in a studio and sends them over for use.
Initially, Shu Yixin was too angry to consider taking photos, but a stubborn urge not to admit defeat drove her to find Zhou Wensheng for a shoot.
Zhou Wensheng and Shu Yixin were former classmates, and Shu Yixin knew that Zhou Wensheng’s photography skills were no less than those of professional photographers who shoot celebrities.
That day, she was quite unlucky, as Zhou Wensheng’s makeup artist suddenly quit. If it weren’t for Tao Shuangshuang coincidentally applying for the job, Shu Yixin would have truly been cornered by Shen Anqi.
The same thing happened before — stars need to routinely update their photos, like street shoots, to keep their popularity alive. Especially for stars on the rise, these photos can’t be taken lightly.
Originally, Shu Yixin had made an appointment with a fairly well-known stylist’s studio for styling and photos. But at the last minute, Shen Anqi stepped in, intercepting it. The studio preferred to pay the penalty rather than continue working with Shu Yixin.
Recently, Shu Yixin has been very active, with a tight schedule where every minute and second counts. Given that famous styling studios require prior booking, finding a new stylist at the last minute was impossible.
In the nick of time, Shu Yixin’s assistant remembered Tao Shuangshuang, the makeup artist whose skills were on par with a stylist. Shu Yixin then spent half a day traveling to Zhou Wensheng’s studio to have Tao Shuangshuang style her.
Tao Shuangshuang, having glanced at the gossip, put down her phone and got up to wash up, not dwelling on the gossip.
No matter why Shu Yixin approached her, this client’s unpredictability was too high and not worth too much effort. Her more important client was over at Wang Ziqing’s side.
If Shu Yixin became someone who frequently sought Tao Shuangshuang for her styling skills, she would have returned after her first styling.
But in reality, Shu Yixin did not. However, it’s not surprising, given the abundance of excellent stylists in the fashion circle. Even if Tao Shuangshuang’s skills were top-notch, there were others equally talented.
Shu Yixin hadn’t thought to approach Tao Shuangshuang before. If it weren’t for the urgent need this time, Shu Yixin wouldn’t have come to her.
Primarily because Tao Shuangshuang wasn’t well-known, it was natural for Shu Yixin to instinctively seek out well-known stylists.
Wang Ziqing was different. She liked Tao Shuangshuang’s skills and trusted her a lot.
As a wealthy lady and former Goddess-tier star, Wang Ziqing knew more top stylists than Shu Yixin ever could.
In such circumstances, when Wang Ziqing discovered Tao Shuangshuang’s talent, she didn’t hesitate to have Tao Shuangshuang style her for a banquet.
This indicated that Wang Ziqing was a truly long-term client Tao Shuangshuang could rely on. Even though Shu Yixin might occasionally seek her styling services in the future, Wang Ziqing was undoubtedly the priority.
Today was the day Tao Shuangshuang had arranged to style Wang Ziqing. To ensure the timing, Wang Ziqing had her driver pick her up early.
The car sent by Wang Ziqing for pickup was understated in appearance but was indeed a luxury car, costing no less than three million.
Tao Shuangshuang got into the car naturally, feeling nothing special about it.
While the car was luxurious, to Tao Shuangshuang, it was no different from an ordinary car. The interior space wasn’t significantly larger than a taxi, and the speed in the city wasn’t any faster.
Wang Ziqing arranged for people to bring Tao Shuangshuang to the villa area with the best scenery in S City, where each villa stood independently, each spanning nearly a thousand square meters.
Individual villas came with their own swimming pools and gardens, and at the center of the entire villa area was a massive artificial lake with an expansive surface.
The lake was surrounded by transplanted century-old giant trees, with boats available for rowing and areas for fishing on the lake.
With excellent greenery, many birds and a group of wild ducks, released by someone unknown, frequented the area. People often found wild duck eggs along the shore.
Wang Ziqing’s villa, located near the lake, was in the perfect spot with a beautiful lotus flower view.
Now the lotus flowers were about to bloom, their pink buds standing gracefully. Dragonflies were flitting around them, and when Tao Shuangshuang arrived, Wang Ziqing was sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window admiring the lotus.
Tao Shuangshuang noticed that Wang Ziqing looked very different today from when they last saw each other, with a radiant glow all over.
Even her eyes sparkled with a watery brightness, devoid of the previous boredom, akin to a woman touched by romance.