Chapter 272 - 273: The Deal Fell Through

Chapter 272: Chapter 273: The Deal Fell Through

Qiu Yi was dumbfounded. This guy was actually making a dirty joke. ’And you’re making it to our Sister Zhi, of all people! You’ve got some serious nerve.’

"Come on, come on..." Turns out Sister Zhi was a rogue herself. Instead of telling Li Yang to stop, she looked at him expectantly and said, "Go on, show me. I want to see just what you’ve got."

What the hell!

Li Yang couldn’t help but look awkward. ’She’s even more of a rogue than I am.’

’You could have at least pretended to refuse. That would’ve given me an out. We’re all civilized people here, this isn’t right.’

"Uh, never mind..." Li Yang said, feigning composure.

Sister Zhi was inwardly pleased. ’Trying to play games with an old pro like me? He should’ve known who he was dealing with.’

"I’d better not. I wouldn’t want to scare you," Li Yang said with a straight face.

Damn him...

Sister Zhi felt like her own steering wheel had just been ripped from her hands.

"Let’s talk business..." She shot Li Yang a look, one that was utterly captivating. "You’ve clearly got some real skill. How about this: we’ll cooperate. You can help sculpt the bodies of the models at my company."

"You have a modeling company?" Li Yang was curious and couldn’t help but ask.

"Er..." Sister Zhi gave an embarrassed laugh. "It’s not really a company, but Qiu Yi and the others all follow me. I’m sort of their lead model, I guess. I find them jobs and sometimes I train them..."

Li Yang let out a soft "oh." ’No wonder.’

"Sister Zhi has connections..." Qiu Yi explained in a low voice beside him. "We were all new to this. Sister Zhi discovered us and brought us into the industry. She takes really good care of us."

"There’s nothing to be ashamed of..." Sister Zhi said calmly. "After I was slashed up like this, I couldn’t be a model anymore, couldn’t walk the runway. I had to find another way to make a living. But modeling is all I know, so I came back to this small city. I still had some connections from my time in the big city and could still pull in some gigs, so I put this team together. It’s been going pretty well, all things considered..."

Li Yang let out another "oh." ’That explains it.’

"But the models under me right now have all hit a plateau..." Sister Zhi said seriously. "I can teach them all sorts of runway walks and about professional poise, but some things are just innate. I can’t change those. If you can really do what you claim, let’s cooperate."

Li Yang thought for a moment, then asked, "Is there good money in modeling?"

Sister Zhi looked at him, a little surprised.

After a moment, she said, "That depends on the kind of model. For an international supermodel, a single step on the runway can be worth tens of thousands of dollars."

Li Yang’s eyes lit up when he heard that.

’Holy crap, tens of thousands of dollars for a single step.’

’That’s hundreds of thousands!’

’And that’s for just one step!’

He was already tempted. "Sister Zhi, you haven’t formally established a modeling company yet, right? In that case, instead of you hiring me, why don’t we partner up and open a company together? We can all make money."

Sister Zhi nearly fell over. She stared at Li Yang in astonishment, looking him up and down. "Do you even know what the most important thing for a model is?"

Li Yang gave a dry laugh. ’How would I know? But as long as it makes money, that’s all that matters.’

"You have nothing in common with the modeling world!" Sister Zhi said bluntly. "Dressed like that... as the boss of our modeling company? Don’t you think that’s a little strange?"

Sister Zhi was interested in Li Yang’s "medical skills," but as for anything else... she wasn’t interested.

"You can’t just say that..." Li Yang said after a moment’s thought. "I’d just be the boss. It’s not like I’d have to be a model, right? Besides, as the boss, not only could I help the girls with their figures, I could also bring in contracts."

"You?" Sister Zhi raised an eyebrow. "It’s not that I’m looking down on you," she said, looking at Li Yang, "but do you have any idea how hard it is to land a contract? Even for me, and I have some clout in this industry, it’s still not easy..."

Li Yang was just about to show off a little and say that he was actually quite capable, but just then, Sister Zhi’s phone rang.

"What?" After answering the call, Sister Zhi’s expression changed. "Mr. Liang, has there been some kind of misunderstanding? Please, just listen to me..."

But the person on the other end didn’t seem to be listening. With a CLICK, he hung up the phone.

Sister Zhi stood there, stunned, not moving for a long moment.

After a while, Qiu Yi finally asked, "Sister Zhi, what’s wrong?"

"The joint auto show... it’s off. Mr. Liang says he doesn’t need our models anymore!" Sister Zhi finally said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Qiu Yi grew frantic. "How could that happen? Everything was already arranged, we were supposed to be the models. Why would he suddenly cancel... Oh, right. He must be getting revenge on us for what happened yesterday."

With that, Qiu Yi explained what had happened the day before.

"I see..." Sister Zhi was taken aback for a moment; she hadn’t known about this.

"It seems that’s really what happened... Alright, I’ll go talk to him," Sister Zhi said.

"Will it work?" Qiu Yi asked helplessly. "I have a feeling... it might be impossible to negotiate."

"I have to try," Sister Zhi said seriously. "Besides this joint auto show, the biggest one around here is the luxury auto show, but there’s no way we can land that one. That’s why getting this joint show is so important. I have to go and negotiate."