Grandma Miao would call Miao Jiayan every day, asking if he was eating well, if things were going smoothly over here, and if he had encountered any difficulties.

Every day, Miao Jiayan would say everything was going very well.

In fact, things were indeed going smoothly. Apart from not finding his groove on the first day, the progress afterward was very smooth.

After finishing the photo sets here, they had to transfer to another city, which was a car ride of over four hours.

Miao Jiayan and Chen Chao sat together in the back seat, both a little sleepy. Chen Chao was leaning against the car window, dozing off. When the car jolted, his head knocked against the window with a "thump." Miao Jiayan heard it and opened his eyes, sitting up a bit straighter. The knock against the window woke Chen Chao up. Miao Jiayan patted his own shoulder and said, "Lean on me."

So Chen Chao leaned over, resting his head on Miao Jiayan's shoulder and closing his eyes again.

Miao Jiayan rested his head in the small gap between the two headrests of the back seat, while Chen Chao rested on him. Afraid his hair would tickle Chen Chao's face, Miao Jiayan smoothed it all over to the other side. His shoulders were thin, but it wasn't uncomfortable to be used as a pillow like this. The air was filled with the scent of the shampoo from Miao Jiayan's hair wash that morning, a faintly fragrant smell.

The older sister in the front passenger seat turned back to look at them. Miao Jiayan met her gaze, and she smiled at him.

Miao Jiayan smiled back at her and said, "You should get some sleep too."

The older sister said, "I've already slept a few times."

The road wasn't very smooth, and there were very bumpy stretches from time to time. Whenever they hit a potholed section, the car would jolt violently. With all the shaking, Chen Chao couldn't sleep soundly, and his head would even bounce off Miao Jiayan's shoulder. Later, whenever they reached an uneven section of road, Miao Jiayan would reach out and gently cup his head, allowing him to keep resting properly on his shoulder.

Sometimes Chen Chao would wake up, open his eyes for a look, shift his position, and then go back to sleep.

Some of Miao Jiayan's hair fell back from the other shoulder, softly brushing against Chen Chao's face. Chen Chao mumbled, "Mmm," and said indistinctly, "Hair."

"Yeah." Miao Jiayan tilted his head slightly to look at him, then smoothed all his hair over to the left side again.

When they were almost there, Chen Chao woke up and sat up.

The small patch of skin on Miao Jiayan's shoulder and neck where Chen Chao had been resting had a thin layer of sweat where they touched, which turned slightly cool as Chen Chao sat up.

"We're almost there," Miao Jiayan said.

The base here wasn't far from the city center, just on the outskirts, unlike the last one which was in a village. The car stopped at a gas station with a few other cars queuing in front. They took the opportunity to get out and stand for a while as the car refueled.

Chen Chao got a bottle of water to drink. After finishing it, he stretched his back.

Miao Jiayan watched him and smiled. Chen Chao asked him, "Were you asleep just now?"

"I was," Miao Jiayan said. "And I slept for quite a while."

"You two were sleeping so soundly. I wasn't sleepy and wanted someone to chat with, but you were both asleep. I was so bored," the older sister said from the side.

Miao Jiayan said with a smile, "I won't sleep for a while."

"Nonsense, we're almost there, of course you won't sleep." the older sister said. "Can you two at least act like you're here to work! I'm your client, your big sister, after all. Can't you curry some favor with me? Huh? Coax your big sister and make her happy?"

In all her years, she had worked with tons of beautiful models, who generally fell into two types: one was especially aloof and pretentious, the other was fawning and eager to please. Miao Jiayan and Chen Chao were neither aloof nor enthusiastic. One of them was completely oblivious, and the other would never try to please anyone. The two of them just had their own little conversations every day, did everything together, and never included others.

The older sister was used to it anyway. She looked at Miao Jiayan and said, "Fine, fine, no coaxing. Just take good pictures for your big sister, and that'll be enough."

Miao Jiayan was working very hard for the photoshoot. He changed into several outfits a day. If they told him to stand barefoot on the ground, he stood barefoot. If they told him to wear a slip dress, he wore a slip dress.

The tip of the kid's nose was red from the cold, and his teeth were chattering under the camera lens. Although the base was said to be warm, being in a slip dress and freezing all the time was really tough.

The earth under his feet was very cold. Miao Jiayan's toes were curled up, and he was gently rubbing one of his arms with his hand.

"Here," Brother Di said, signaling him.

After a few days of shooting, Miao Jiayan had already been trained to have a conditioned reflex. He turned his head and tucked his chin as he looked at the camera.

In the lens, his body clearly wasn't ready yet, but his expression and gaze were already in place. It made Brother Di's heart soften. He chuckled and said, "Look how we're tormenting this kid."

When Miao Jiayan realized it himself, he couldn't help but laugh, shrugging his shoulders a little sheepishly.

Brother Di kept shooting, capturing his entire series of reactions.

After finishing, he flipped through the photos and said, "You've got quite a bit of spirit."

Today's shoot was at a Chinese rose base. Miao Jiayan, wearing a white slip dress, stood in a field of brilliant red flowers, like a young lover someone had left behind in a pure memory.

Amidst a vivid expanse of deep and light reds was a barefooted figure seen from behind—slender arms, a small, protruding bone on a cool-toned, pale ankle, toes curled as if from the dirt, or perhaps from the cold. The dress covered him to two inches below his knees, its white hem stained with a little bit of mud.

He turns to look at you without a trace of distracting thoughts, his gaze tranquil.

And when you smile at him, he lifts his chin and smiles back. The previous cold distance is swept away, and his eyes gain warmth, becoming sentimental and gentle.

Brother Di had him stand still, moving back and forth to find angles, and took many shots of him. After shooting, he looked back at the earlier photos and said, "You really are good material."

He told Miao Jiayan not to move, so Miao Jiayan stood perfectly still. The older sister came over from outside, and Brother Di called her over to look at the photos.

The older sister leaned in to look, "Aaaah"-ing to show how much she liked them. She looked up at Miao Jiayan and said to him, "You truly are your big sister's precious treasure."

Miao Jiayan found her words a bit corny sometimes. As a country kid, he didn't know that people online were more open. The older sister called him "treasure, treasure" every day, which actually made Miao Jiayan a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't know what to say.

"I told you he was different, do you understand a little better now?" the older sister asked Brother Di, adding, "He has a very special temperament."

Brother Di was still looking at the photos. He grunted in agreement and said, "A silent tolerance."

"Not quite." The older sister shook her head, but she couldn't think of a more suitable description either.

Chen Chao was also called over to look at the photos. He was holding the clothes Miao Jiayan had changed out of and first tossed a jacket over. Miao Jiayan figured they would probably be studying the photos for a while, so he put the jacket on.

"Doesn't he look like a little girlfriend?" the older sister asked Chen Chao.

Chen Chao looked at Miao Jiayan in the photos and said, "He doesn't."

"He doesn't?" the older sister asked with a laugh. "He looks so much like a 'white moonlight' girl."

Chen Chao didn't say anything at the time, but in his heart, he felt that Miao Jiayan in the photos wasn't as charmingly pretty as a girl; he was sharper, cleaner. His androgynous temperament, which didn't distinguish between genders, gave Miao Jiayan a vague, ambiguous feeling that was unique to him and set him apart from others.

"Young man, help out with a few shots," Brother Di suddenly said to Chen Chao.

"Me?" Chen Chao asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, you," Brother Di tilted his chin towards Miao Jiayan. "Just be in the shot with him."

Before Chen Chao could speak, Miao Jiayan said first, "Don't."

The older sister asked, "What's wrong?"

"He doesn't do photoshoots," Miao Jiayan said, seeming a bit anxious and frowning. "He doesn't do this."

"What's wrong with this?" The older sister heard the disapproval in his tone, as if he thought photoshoots were a bad thing, and was a little surprised by his reaction.

Miao Jiayan looked at Chen Chao and shook his head at him, saying, "Brother Chao doesn't do photoshoots."

Brother Di then said, "Then I'll find someone else to shoot with you? I need a few shots with another person."

Miao Jiayan's brow was still slightly furrowed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Okay."

Brother Di asked again, "What if he doesn't show his face?"

Miao Jiayan looked at Chen Chao again. Chen Chao asked Brother Di, "How do you want to shoot it?"

"Just be in the shot with him, it's very simple." Brother Di said to the older sister, "Tidy up his hair for him, get him changed."

"Tidy up his hair? Didn't you say he wouldn't show his face?" For the first time in these few days, Miao Jiayan showed stubborn persistence.

"I promised you, so I won't trick you. Don't worry," Brother Di told him.

Chen Chao was actually quite cooperative. He didn't mind; even showing his face was no big deal. He wasn't very concerned. If the photos were published, who would recognize him?

His hair was shaved even shorter. They had him wear a solid greyish-black T-shirt. The shirt was slightly loose, with a wide collar and slightly long sleeves. At first glance, the shirt looked a bit sloppy.

Chen Chao had never worn this kind of clothing before and was quite disdainful of it.

Miao Jiayan saw Chen Chao walking over from a distance and repeated to the older sister one more time, "Don't shoot his face."

The older sister first said, "Okay," then asked him, "Why don't you want him to be in the photos?"

Miao Jiayan seemed reluctant to say.

The older sister asked tentatively, "Do you think what we're shooting is bad?"

Miao Jiayan watched Chen Chao get closer and closer. He didn't answer directly, only saying softly, "His grades are very good."

"That's not a conflict," the older sister was exasperated. "Do you think you're a bad kid? Good kids can't take pictures like us? What are you thinking, treasure? Your big sister even has models from Tsinghua."

Miao Jiayan fell silent. Chen Chao walked over and asked Brother Di, "How do we shoot this?"

The reflector board was moved further away, and the older sister also walked away to stand at a distance. Brother Di said, "Anything."

"..." Chen Chao suddenly understood how Miao Jiayan had felt on the first day of the shoot. Except that on Miao Jiayan's face, it manifested as calm confusion, while on Chen Chao, it was just speechlessness.