Miao Jiayan got told off because of the photos, and the one who told him off was Chen Chao. This was no small blow to Miao Jiayan.

After that, he wanted to take photos even less. He didn't understand anything about contracts, nor did he understand what Chen Chao meant by "putting it on paper." Miao Jiayan completely stopped answering calls from people asking him to take photos. It was the simplest way to solve the problem.

Chen Chao had no idea that his single phone call had made someone feel down for two or three days. He was already in his third year of high school, studying day and night.

For Miao Jiayan, there was another major event this year.

—He had a younger brother.

The due date had passed by over half a month, but the baby still hadn't been born. In the end, they had to do a C-section. Grandma Miao spent over a week in the city, taking care of Miao Jiayan's mother. Giving birth at her age made her a high-risk mother. Her body was severely swollen, and the pregnancy reactions had worn her out completely. She didn't see Miao Jiayan during the entire pregnancy. Miao Jian said she had some prenatal depression. She hadn't come back all year, and Miao Jiayan didn't try to get close and ruin his parents' mood.

When Grandma came back, Miao Jiayan asked her, "Is my little brother cute?"

"Cute, he's so fun." Grandma patted his back, her eyes filled with an unconcealable heartache as she looked at Miao Jiayan. "Looking at your little brother reminds me of when you were little. Grandma used to hold you every day back then."

"Does he look like me?" Miao Jiayan asked again.

Grandma said he did, that he looked exactly like him when he was little.

Miao Jiayan first smiled, then said in a low voice, "Don't let him be like me."

Grandma looked at him and sighed softly.

The addition of a grandson to the family was, by all accounts, a good thing for the elderly. But Grandma Miao didn't say it in front of Miao Jiayan. When Miao Jiayan went to school during the day, Grandma Miao quietly said to Grandpa Miao, "Tell me, as a grandma, why do I feel like there's a barrier? Why am I not that fond of that child..."

Grandpa Miao, dozing off on a recliner by the door, rocking slowly, said, "It's normal."

"I was staying there, and I felt uncomfortable all over. It was never like this before..." Grandma Miao said to Grandpa Miao while knitting a scarf for Miao Jiayan, "When I look at that child, it's like looking at someone else's kid. I like him, sure, but I just don't have that doting feeling you have for your own...sigh."

"That's because you have a problem with our son and daughter-in-law, and you're letting it affect the child," Grandpa Miao told her. "From the very beginning, you never planned on doting on this little grandson. You'd already set that foundation in your heart, you're on guard."

Grandma Miao immediately denied it, saying, "I have not."

Grandpa Miao didn't argue with her. A moment later, Grandma Miao herself added, "Then why did they want this child in the first place? Isn't it just because they don't want to take care of Xiao Yan anymore? To put it bluntly, they didn't want him a long time ago, that's why they had another one. How can you expect me to be fond of him?"

After she finished, Grandpa Miao said while rocking, "See, there you have it."

"Anyway, they only come back a few times a year. The child doesn't need me to dote on him. He has his mom and dad, and his maternal grandparents. He's not missing a grandma." Grandma Miao mumbled, unsure if she was speaking to Grandpa Miao or to herself.

Grandpa Miao was about to fall asleep but was patted awake by Grandma Miao.

"When they come back, don't just focus on the little one and ignore the older one. Don't be holding and fawning over the new grandson all day," Grandma Miao instructed him. "Did you hear me?"

Her words made Grandpa Miao chuckle. "What are you talking about? They're both your grandsons. Aren't the palm and the back of the hand both made of flesh?"

Grandma Miao's brows furrowed. "Don't give me that. We raised Xiao Yan. Don't you go breaking the child's heart."

Grandpa Miao closed his eyes and didn't speak. Grandma Miao patted him again and said, "The child is innocent, I shouldn't take my anger out on the child. But isn't our Xiao Yan innocent too? His father doesn't dote on him and his mother doesn't love him. Let me tell you, Old Miao, you'd better be clear about this."

Grandpa Miao hadn't intended to say anything, but with Grandma Miao muttering endlessly beside him, he finally had to grunt from the back of his throat, "Isn't that obvious..."

Miao Jiayan had no idea his grandparents were weighing the degrees of closeness and distance. This was indeed Grandma Miao overthinking things; Miao Jiayan would never be concerned about this.

He was already sixteen, but in Grandma Miao's heart, he was still treated like a child.

At the start of the spring semester of his second year of high school, Miao Jiayan chose the liberal arts track. It wasn't that he particularly liked liberal arts, nor did he have a favorite subject among them; the fragmented knowledge points of history were quite a headache. Miao Jiayan's science grades in his first year were passable, but he knew he wasn't a particularly intelligent student and was afraid he wouldn't be able to keep up with physics and chemistry in his second and third years.

Once in the liberal arts class, his teacher spoke with him twice. The first time was more formal, asking if he was growing his hair out with the intention of studying art. Miao Jiayan said no. The second time was less formal. The teacher called Miao Jiayan to the office, held up his Chinese language paper, and said, "You have to practice your handwriting. As a liberal arts student with such terrible handwriting, do you even want to take the college entrance exams?"

The reason the teacher paid him some attention was that Miao Jiayan's grades were good. There were few liberal arts students to begin with, and Miao Jiayan had come from an advanced class, from which very few students chose liberal arts.

Miao Jiayan practiced copying from two standard script calligraphy models almost every day. By winter, more than halfway through the semester, his handwriting had indeed improved quite a bit. His handwriting had actually been decent before, but then he'd always written sloppily, so it got uglier and uglier. It was much better after some practice.

He kept not answering his phone, so the online shop couldn't contact him. Later, they made a special trip by car.

When Miao Jiayan came home from school and saw them at his house, he thought they were there to collect flowers again.

The young woman from last time was also there. Seeing him, she came over to greet him warmly, saying, "Why didn't you answer my calls?"

Miao Jiayan said, "I'm not taking photos."

The woman was amused by his reaction and said, "What on earth are you afraid of? Did you see the photos from last time?"

Miao Jiayan said he saw them.

"Tell me yourself, aren't they good-looking!" The woman said as she took out her phone, flipped through her photo album, and showed him. "They're just ordinary promotional photos. Look, I have so many here. They're all models."

Miao Jiayan took a step back and said, "Then get them to do the shoot."

"You're different," the woman said, looking at him.

"They're better-looking," Miao Jiayan said objectively.

"But they can't produce the same effect as you," the woman said seriously. "They have their style, and you are you."

Miao Jiayan didn't believe her. Chen Chao had told him off last time, telling him to use his brain, so now Miao Jiayan's mind was filled with only three words: Don't fool me.

Miao Jiayan was wearing a cream-white turtleneck sweater, his head slightly bowed, his chin half-buried in the collar, in a state that made communication difficult.

The woman pulled him to sit in a chair and told him about her job, about marketing, about why they needed to take photos. She also showed him all sorts of pictures they had taken before.

"The photos our shop takes are different from everyone else's. I gave you two thousand last time, right? With other places, you wouldn't even earn five hundred yuan for a day's work. I'm not ripping you off." The woman took a sip of the water Grandma had poured for her and said to him earnestly, "I'm an honest merchant. I won't trick you."

Objectively speaking, she was very sincere, and she seemed to genuinely like Miao Jiayan, praising him every few sentences.

Miao Jiayan didn't actually hate having his picture taken; he even liked it a little. The him in the photos was somewhat different from the real him. This unfamiliarity and contrast felt novel to Miao Jiayan. To be seen and liked by people was a rare thing for a child who had been unaccepted since he was little.

Miao Jiayan was just about to give in when the woman added, "The photos I take are often bought by magazines. Who doesn't like good-looking photos, right?"

Hearing "magazines" and "bought," Miao Jiayan's head buzzed. He remembered what Chen Chao had said to him and almost stood up and left right then and there.

"Didn't you say they wouldn't be used anywhere else?" Miao Jiayan asked warily.

"Yours won't be sold. I already promised you, and I keep my word." The woman laughed, "Honey, you're so funny."

The woman ended up making herself laugh. She took another sip of water and said, "Even I feel like a con artist."

Grandpa Miao and Grandma Miao listened from the side. To them, this kind of thing was like when Miao Jiayan's childhood birthday photos were made into a large picture frame and displayed at the entrance of the photo studio. People thought it looked good and used the photo as an advertisement—it was just that simple.

Miao Jiayan was finally persuaded and agreed to do another shoot.

Before the other party could speak, Miao Jiayan immediately said, "But I want to sign a contract."

The woman probably didn't expect him to say that and was stunned for a moment.

"Can't we sign one?" Miao Jiayan asked.

"We can," the other party asked with a smile, "How do you want to sign it?"

Miao Jiayan looked at her blankly, "..."

Chen Chao's self-study session tonight was taken up by a practice test for the comprehensive science exam. After more than two hours of the exam, his brain had been running at high speed, and he only felt a bit tired after school let out.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Chen Chao pulled it out, saw the contact name, and answered.

"Hello?"

Miao Jiayan called out, "Brother Chao."

"Yeah," Chen Chao responded. "What's up?"

Hearing his voice, Miao Jiayan paused, forgetting what he was going to say. He asked softly, "Brother Chao... are you really tired?"

Chen Chao cleared his throat and said, "Just had a test."

"You don't sound very energetic," Miao Jiayan said, clutching his phone.

"I'll be fine tomorrow. Today's test fried my brain." Chen Chao took a deep breath and asked him, "Did you need me for something?"

Miao Jiayan didn't want to talk about it anymore. He just said, "It's nothing."

"Impossible," Chen Chao frowned. "Spit it out."

Miao Jiayan didn't dare lie to him, so he had to tell him about them coming to his house to find him.

"So, do you want to do the shoot or not?" Chen Chao asked him.

"I kind of want to," Miao Jiayan said honestly.

"Then do it. It's fine. Just sign the contract," Chen Chao said.

"She asked me how to sign it," Miao Jiayan said in a small voice.

Chen Chao knitted his brows. "She's asking you how to sign it? Have you never signed one? Have they never signed one?"

Miao Jiayan's call had caught Chen Chao at a bad time, a moment when the slightest spark could turn him into a cannon.

"Have her call me tomorrow, before 1 PM," Chen Chao glanced at his watch, "or around this time. Have her talk to me directly. I'll have my dad's lawyer look it over. Don't let her pull a fast one on a little fool like you."

Hearing this, Miao Jiayan thought it was too much trouble and was about to say it wasn't necessary. But when Chen Chao saw he wasn't speaking, he chuckled. "Upset that I called you a little fool?"

"No!" Miao Jiayan said quickly. "I'm not upset. I don't want to do the shoot anymore."

"Do it." Chen Chao's tone sounded a little more relaxed than before. "The last shoot turned out pretty well. Where is it this time?"

Miao Jiayan answered, "She said we're going to Yunnan to shoot, at their plantation base."

"..." Chen Chao was speechless for a good ten seconds.

"Brother Chao?" Miao Jiayan glanced at his phone, thinking the call had been disconnected.

The little bit of good mood Chen Chao had managed to muster had completely vanished. He asked Miao Jiayan, "Do you know where Yunnan is?"

"It's really far." As a liberal arts student, Miao Jiayan had a very clear map of China in his head.

"If you know it's really far, then tell them to shoot nearby. They can take it or leave it."

Chen Chao, the cannon, finally exploded. "Two thousand yuan to shoot an ad for her and you have to make a trip to Yunnan? If she offered five thousand, would you have to go to America for the shoot? Ten thousand for a trip to Antarctica?"