Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“HE” was a strange character in the world of photography.

The works of other masters would be sent by their staff in a beautiful package. HE was the only one that would pack her work in a simple cardboard box.

As the crew unpacked the box, the judges tried to contact He Chen’s assistant to get her to send a scenery entry.

It was their only request.

As he made the call, he looked towards the assistant.

There were only two judges next to the submission. They were chatting as they looked at He Chen’s work and didn’t pay much attention.

The box was secured tightly. When they sliced opened the packaging, they realized that there was even a layer of bubble wrap to protect it.

They carefully removed the bubble wrap. Even though it might not be HE’s best work, it was still something hard to come by in the photography industry.

The work was an average size.

As they unboxed it, the assistant stopped halfway, shocked.

It wasn’t just him. The higher-ups were shocked as well.

Even though only half the picture was shown, they could see the subject’s cheeks, neck, blood and the lighting around his body, and the background.

Even though they hadn’t seen the entire work, they were amazed by it already.

“Hurry, bring it out completely. Be careful!” One of them shouted as he stood up.

The assistant snapped out of his daze and put even more care into unpacking it.

The name of the work was written on the bottom frame—

Fly

By: HE

Portrait photography was both easy and difficult to execute. You would have to plan meticulously on the composition, technique, equipment, pose, angle, lighting, and be creative as well.

The model was the most important. The model had to be able to carry out the expression.

He Chen’s work was stunning.

Her portrait wasn’t just a portrait. Her creativity was found in the scenery around the model as well.

The call was accepted, and He Chen’s assistant asked, “Hello?”

There was no response.

He Chen’s assistant paused for a while before saying louder, “Who is this…”

The judge snapped out of his daze. He had wanted to ask for scenery shots from He Chen, but he couldn’t care less now. He said excitedly, “It’s nothing. I just wish to inform you that I’ll be sending in HE’s work to the judges.”

He hung up the phone and called the organizing committee. “Secretary Cheng, I think we can aim for the center stage this year.”

Everyone knew about this exhibition. The works here were from the best in the industry. But there was only one spot for the center stage.

None of the works from the capital were selected this year as the photography scene was still catching up to the rest of the world.

Hence, there were only a few masters.

The organizing committee would be happy that one of the works was selected. They wouldn’t have imagined that one of them could aim for the center stage.

If they were successful, it would cause a huge uproar in the photography scene in the nation. This would improve the situation as well.

The judge made a few more calls. After he was done, he looked at the work again.

The work was stunning. However, when the judge gave it a second look, something felt weird.

After shooting, due to the huge amount of post-editing, the portrait wouldn’t look exactly like the model.

The judge thought for a while, before asking, “Do you find that the model looks familiar?”

The rest thought for a while before answering, “The model is Sixth Master Qin.”

Everyone fell silent when they realized it.

The Qin family was gaining strength in the capital. Even though the Cheng family was still at the top of the four big families on the surface, everyone knew that the Qin family was now more powerful than the Cheng family.

Not only did they have Qin Ran and Lu Zhixin, but even Cheng Juan would also help the Qin family. The Cheng family seemed to have lost to the Qin family after losing Cheng Juan.

Someone spoke. “If we showed this, would the Qin family find trouble with us?”

The Sixth Master was famous from a young age. He had a promising future.

The judge hurried off to confirm with He Chen’s assistant that the Qin family wasn’t going to find trouble with them.

…

Everyone knew that Film Emperor Qin was connected to the capital because he had zero affairs and had all the resources. Hence, everyone speculated that he was part of a powerful political family, and others said that he was from a huge financial corporation.

But no one would tell the public what the Qin family was like. Hence, they were just speculations.

He Chen’s assistant also felt strange after receiving the judge’s call.

Hence, he called He Chen even though it was early in the morning in Continent M.

“The judge from the exhibition called me.” The assistant said as he understood that Film Emperor Qin was even more well-connected than he thought. “He asked me about Film Emperor Qin again. Will everything be alright?”

“If they aren’t comfortable, ask them to return the work to me,” He Chen said as she stood up from the bed. Her wounds caused her to frown.

“Now that I recall, the capital has invited me to set up the scene for them. I’ll have to leave now. Rest well,” He Chen’s assistant said and hung up.

She wasn’t surprised by his reaction at all.

She then threw her phone aside.

The medicine was extremely effective, and He Chen felt so much better. She checked the time. It was 5:30 am. She continued to sit on the bed for a while before heading to the production set.

It was an early day on set.

When He Chen arrived, Qin Xiuchen was on his first scene.

“You’re here again?” Director Lin asked with a flushed face as he had scolded someone just then. He then asked someone to bring a stool for He Chen.

He Chen nodded.

Director Lin fanned himself. When he saw the calm look on her face, it calmed his anger. He then asked, “Are you here to look for Film Emperor Qin?”

He Chen didn’t reply.

“Film Emperor Qin has a kissing scene with Song Qingqing later,” Director Lin continued.

He Chen looked at him.

But he couldn’t tell what she was thinking of.

Director Lin noticed her movements and continued, “Film Emperor Qin is known for being a disciplined man in the industry. He remained single till now. Do you know why?”

He Chen drank her water and didn’t answer.

She took a sip. But, after waiting for a while and not getting an answer, she looked at Director Lin.

Director Lin gave her a funny look and continued, “The Qin family has been around for a long time. They have a rule for all their descendants. They can only have an affair if they fail to have a son by forty years old. Even though this may seem outdated, they still keep to this rule.”

However, Qin Hanqiu wasn’t brought up with this rule.

But he wasn’t exaggerating.

“He won’t actually kiss her.” Director Lin continued smilingly, “Film Emperor Qin wouldn’t do such things unless he has to.”

Qin Xiuchen was the sponsor most of the time as well. No one would dare to force him into such matters.

“Miss He, you’re here,” Film Emperor Qin’s manager said as he walked towards them, carrying a packet of food. He handed it over to He Chen and said, “I was about to look for you in your room.”

He Chen looked at the packet. It was the same dish. She didn’t know how Qin Xiuchen found out what she liked to eat.

…

Half a month later.

Qin Xiuchen was almost done with his scenes. Director Lin knew that he was a busy man and shot all his scenes within this period. As Qin Xiuchen only had a third of the scenes in this movie, it was really quick.

The rest of it had to be added later, anyway.

It was a wrap. Director Lin prepared a dinner for Qin Xiuchen as he was the first lead to finish shooting.

During dinner, Qin Xiuchen received money from Director Lin and looked at the door.

“Miss He will be heading back today. You were still shooting when she went to the airport. I forgot to inform you of it,” Cheng Ning said quietly.

Qin Xiuchen lowered his head.

At Yang City, located next to the capital.

He Chen got in a cab when she reached the airport and headed to the He family.

Her family was in the old city.

When she reached, Grandma was already waiting for a while. She said, “My dearest grandchild, you’re finally back. Let me look at you, you’ve lost weight.”

“Grandma.” He Chen greeted her grandma as she hugged her with a big smile on her face.

“Get in, your mom prepared your favorite dish,” her grandmother said as she brought He Chen back cheerfully.

She couldn’t wait to spend time with her granddaughter.

Grandma He sat He Chen down on a chair. She then took a bowl of soup for her. The helpers in the house looked at her smilingly.

Father He just returned, but when he saw Grandma taking a bowl of soup for He Chen, he frowned and complained. “Are you disabled?”

He Chen frowned after she heard that. As her mom and grandma were here, she wasn’t going to argue with him in front of them.

Father He wanted to continue even though He Chen ignored him. Grandma wiped her hand and glared at him, saying, “What’s the matter? Do I need to seek your permission to get a bowl of soup for my granddaughter?”

Father He replied, “That’s not it, mom. She’s not disabled. Stop spoiling her. Look at how she is now. Jinxin already knew how to respect you since she was five.”

Grandma He replied coldly, “I raised her up. So, it must be my fault for her bad behavior! Let me head upstairs and apologize to the graves of our ancestors for leading their descendants astray!”

Father He immediately stopped her. “Mom, stop!”

The helper and Mother He came out from the kitchen and wanted to stop Grandma He.

Meanwhile, at the table, He Chen was done with the soup. She handed the empty bowl to Grandma He and said, “Grandma, I’m done with it.”

Father He knew that it was his fault for angering his mother and apologized. “Mom, it’s my fault.”

He needed to rely on He Chen to settle the issue.

He Chen got up after finishing the meal. Grandma looked at her smilingly and asked, “My dearest granddaughter, could you stay for a couple of days this time? Your sister is coming soon.”

“Alright, I’m heading up to shower.” He Chen also wanted to stay for a couple of days.

She went upstairs.

Grandma He then looked at Father He and asked, “Is Jinxin coming back?”

“Yes.” Father He said joyfully.

“That’s great.”

Grandma He was tired. She recalled something and asked the helper, “Get the tickets for the photo exhibition. He Chen loves such things.”

The helper went to fetch the tickets. But as she approached, she was shocked and exclaimed, “Old Madam…”

“What’s the matter?” Grandma He and Mother He went over to take a look. The boxes that contained the tickets were empty.

Father He was on the way to the study room. When he heard the commotion, he stopped in his tracks and said, “I…”

Grandma knew what had happened already and turned to look at him.

Father He answered, “Were you referring to the tickets for the exhibition at Universal Plaza? I’ve left one for you and sent the rest to Jinxin. He Chen never liked such things, and Jinxin has quite a few people to give the tickets to…”

The place fell silent.

A storm brewed.

He Chen heard everything, but it didn’t affect her.

Her older sister was talented. She knew how to read at the age of three, learned poetry at the age of five, got a poetry award at the age of eight, and became a scholar in the college entrance examination when she was fifteen. Back then she was praised as scholars weren’t as common nowadays.

She was pretty as well.

She was famous in Yang City.

The Qu family wanted to get He Jinxin into their family.

The Qu Zixiao family wanted to settle Qu Zixiao down. Hence, they needed someone as talented as Ouyang Wei to capture his attention.

But He Jinxin was already engaged.

To be frank, He Chen was gifted as well. But, because of how talented He Jinxin was, Father He didn’t pay much attention to He Chen.

He Chen wanted to seek attention previously. She had answered some questions in her primary school examination wrongly on purpose and asked Father He to help her with it.

However, her father only answered her impatiently, “This is so simple. Your sister already knew how to solve this when she was 5.”

After she realized that Father He was impatient with her, she never approached him again.