Jiang Wenxi stared at the message on her phone for a moment, then set it down on the desk.

"The new model isn’t coming today," she said. "He says he’s not in the country, he wants to push to tomorrow."

Bai Zichen looked up from the props he was arranging. "Not in the country... today of all days?"

"That’s what he said."

"So we set up for nothing?" Shao Mingye lowered his camera and looked at her. "We’ve been here since eight."

"We reschedule," Pei Jiahao said simply, already reaching for his planner.

Bai Zichen let out a long breath and dropped onto the sofa. "Of course we reschedule... what else are we going to do? Say no?" He laughed, short and dry. "CEO Liu’s partner says jump and apparently we ask how high."

"Zichen," Jiang Wenxi said.

"I’m just saying!" He threw his hands up. "We don’t even know if this Tang XiaoYu can actually model. Pretty face, nice Weibo, sure... but that doesn’t mean anything once you’re actually in front of a camera. And yet here we are, rescheduling our entire day because——"

"Because we need Liu Liuxian’s investment," Lin Yansu said from the styling rack, not looking up. "That’s why."

Bai Zichen opened his mouth.

"She’s right," Pei Jiahao said, without looking up from his planner either.

Bai Zichen closed his mouth. Then opened it again because he physically couldn’t help himself. "It’s just annoying... all this sucking up. Oh of course Mr. Tang, whatever works for Mr. Tang, we completely understand Mr. Tang..." He dropped the exaggerated voice. "His pretty face and his powerful partner and suddenly we’re all bending over backwards."

"His partner’s investment," Shao Mingye said, moving to break down part of the lighting setup, "is what’s going to help us finally rank above TongYan. Do you understand what that would mean?" He glanced over his shoulder. "The CEO might actually acknowledge we exist."

Bai Zichen’s expression shifted at the mention of Shen Zihao. Something complicated moved across his face.

"Trust me," he said, his voice dropping slightly, "you don’t actually want Shen Zihao’s attention."

Lin Yansu looked up from the rack for the first time.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Pei Jiahao said.

"I had to deliver a report to him once," Bai Zichen said. "The numbers were bad... it wasn’t even my department, I was just the one who got sent with the file." He paused. "His hand came up. He nearly hit me."

The room went quiet.

"Nearly?" Shao Mingye said.

"Nearly. Someone stepped in." Bai Zichen shook his head. "That man is not right in the head. I’m telling you."

"Everyone who’s had any real dealings with him says the same thing," Lin Yansu said quietly. "You don’t get close to Shen Zihao... that’s just the rule. You smile, you deliver what he needs and you leave the room as fast as you can."

"I heard he beat someone so badly once they needed surgery," Shao Mingye said, his voice matter of fact. "It never went anywhere because the person was too scared to say anything officially."

Bai Zichen’s eyes went wide. "I heard that too... I thought it was just a rumour."

"With Shen Zihao," Lin Yansu said, "the rumours are usually the tame version."

"And the models," Pei Jiahao said slowly, like he was piecing something together out loud. "TongYan’s top roster..."

"Mm," Lin Yansu said, which was all she needed to say.

Nobody pushed that thread further.

Bai Zichen sat up straighter on the sofa, his eyes sharpening. "So when Tang XiaoYu starts coming in... and Shen Zihao sees him..." He looked around the room. "Have you seen this man’s face? Shen Zihao is going to notice him."

"They’re in separate buildings," Jiang Wenxi said firmly. "TongShu and TongYan are not the same place."

"You think Shen Zihao cares about that?" Bai Zichen said. "He walks through both whenever he wants. He owns both."

"He won’t touch Tang XiaoYu," Pei Jiahao said. "CEO Liu is his backer, everyone knows they’re together. Shen Zihao isn’t stupid enough to go after someone Liu Liuxian is involved with."

"Right," Bai Zichen said, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced. "Right..."

The room settled into quiet after that.

Jiang Wenxi picked up her phone and typed the reply to Tang XiaoYu’s message, warm and professional, confirming the reschedule for tomorrow morning at ten. She read it back once and sent it.

"Tomorrow," she said, setting the phone down. "Everyone ready by eight thirty. And when he walks through that door, we treat him like any other model. Understood?"

Bai Zichen raised his hand.

"Understood, Zichen," Jiang Wenxi said, before he could speak.

He lowered it.

Shao Mingye went back to breaking down the setup, Pei Jiahao updated the schedule, Lin Yansu returned to the rack, and the studio settled back into its ordinary hum, the quiet energy of people with a lot to prove and not enough time to prove it.

Bai Zichen stayed on the sofa for a moment longer, looking at the ceiling with the expression of someone who hadn’t fully let go of the conversation yet.

"I just want to know one thing," he said.

"Zichen——" Jiang Wenxi started.

"One thing," he repeated. "That’s all." He sat up and looked around the room. "If Tang XiaoYu turns out to be useless in front of a camera... actually useless, not just inexperienced, but genuinely has no business being here... are we still going to smile and reschedule and bend over backwards because of who he’s dating?"

The room was quiet for a moment.

"Yes," Lin Yansu said simply, returning a jacket to the rack.

Bai Zichen stared at her.

"TongYan has three times our budget, twice our staff and a building that actually has working air conditioning on all floors," she continued, without looking up. "So yes. Until we are in a position where we don’t need anyone’s investment to stay competitive, we smile, we reschedule, and we do our jobs."

She finally looked up and met his eyes. "And then we make sure that when Tang XiaoYu stands in front of Mingye’s camera tomorrow, the work we produce is good enough that nobody can say Liu Liuxian’s money bought us anything we didn’t already deserve."

Nobody said anything after that.

Shao Mingye finished breaking down the last of the lighting equipment and straightened up. "Eight thirty tomorrow," he said. "I want everything set up before he arrives. I’m not adjusting the setup around him, he adjusts around the setup."

"Agreed," Jiang Wenxi said.

Bai Zichen slid off the sofa and went back to the props without another word, which for him was essentially a standing ovation.