Mei Yin pulled away from her own siren call with the push- help from Zhao Hui. As Zhao Hui escorted Mei Yin back to the salon's exit she undoubtedly caught the attention of not only staff but salon clientele as well. Audible gasps and 'who is she' could be heard throughout the salon. Mei Yin was a little self-conscious and opted to put speed in her step towards the exit.
"Why were they all staring at me?" Did the staff not do a good job? Was there something on her face? Mei Yin couldn't help but ask such a vain question. "People stare because they've found something that they either like or don't like. In this case, I think it has to be the former." Zhao Hui responded in a proud tone. Mei Yin could handle being looked at, she chose to be a flight attendant after all. That type of career is full of prying eyes and attention. "I guess I never thought of it in that way."
"I can't tell you that it gets any better. It's not easy at all. the amount of stress and judgment you'll face from not only the media and netizens but also yourself is about to grow at an astronomical rate." Zhao Hui knew that the public eye isn't easy and often times does more harm than good. "Let's not dwell on it for now and just focus on your upcoming schedules." Right on schedule Zhao Hui and Mei Yin arrived at a two-story all-white studio with a chic and eclectic ambiance. The inside was almost bare with multiple rooms made into different sets and backdrops. Two of the rooms, however, were fully furnished for consultation and concept discussion purposes.
Mei Yin made sure to greet all the staff as she was led to one of the conference rooms. Not long after she sat down did a staff member enter with light refreshments, followed by the photographer and director of the shoot. Every member of the staff was so serious that the shoot did not feel or look like a test shoot. She was starting to feel slightly overwhelmed but she knew how big of a burden was on her shoulders. Of course, Li Group doesn't put together such unorganized events so everything has to be perfect.
Mei Yin stood to welcome the director and photographer. "Miss Xin I'm in charge of this shoot as the director. My name is Li Wei and this our photographer Wang Xiu Ying. We look forward to a good collaboration on this project." Only Li Han could manage to bring one of the biggest and well-respected talents of the world and place them into one room together. Director Li is an expert in his field with several awards for his many works and projects. He has been directing movies, video shoots, fashion shows and so much more since his career started 25 years ago.
Wang Xiu Ying is a renowned photographer whose name speaks for itself. She's a rare talent hand-picked by Li Han himself. In fact, Wang Xiu Ying is so good she signed an exclusive contract with Li Group. She is involved with just about every project involving the Li Group empire. Director Li walked Mei Yin through his conceptual thinking of how he wanted the shoot to progress. Wang Xiu Ying also took the time to address Mei Yin on how she would be taking the photos and how her vision aligned with the concept of the shoot. The concept was quite simple. Mei Yin just had to act like herself. Although when put into perspective, the hardest thing to do was always: being yourself.
Sometime after the shoot ended, Zhao Hui brought Mei Yin to a restaurant for lunch. She had worked hard and tried not to waste all of the staff's time. After all, they were professionals and she was just an everyday working-class citizen. Mei Yin decided on a heavier lunch since she had a light breakfast. There was mapo tofu, fried rice, Chinese vegetables, and sweet and sour pork. As she was eating Zhao Hui was going over the details with her for the press conference she switched topics.
"Are you sure you don't want to see the photo stills? Even though you are an amateur in the modeling world I still think you did well, in fact, I think you did better than some of the models that I've seen in the industry!" This may have sounded like pillow talk however Zhao Hui was right. "I don't want to see it. I'm not photogenic and photographer Wang knew it so she kindly asked director Li to go easy on me. Why do you think the shoot ended so quickly?"
Zhao Hui could only shake her head and accept defeat. She would see the pictures anyway so there was really no need to force her. If Mei Yin would have just taken a glance at her photos she too would have seen what everyone else saw.