The Photographer

When Ye Shuang arrived at the company, he engaged in his usual daily chats with employees in the elevator—

He mostly asked about their views on the company, or recent events in certain departments, even gossip. Such exchanges were far more effective than the leadership suggestion box, after all, he communicated with them on an equal footing. Although the conversations were not long, they often revealed many issues.

If one cannot listen to negative feedback properly and always finds criticism unpleasant, eventually that kind of attitude will backfire.

“…”

After arriving at the office, Ye Shuang put his things away. An Shiyu hadn’t arrived yet, so he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked out the window at the scenery.

From there, he could see the sea. The weather was nice that day, and the water almost blended with the color of the sky, a vast expanse of deep blue.

“Hmm…”

A few seconds later, a knock came at the office door not far behind him. “Knock, knock.”

“Come in.”

If it had been An Shiyu, knocking was unlikely; she would probably just push the door open directly. Not using her foot to open it would already be considered good behavior.

“Mr. Ye.” It was Kou Kou. She came in carrying files and neatly arranged them on the desk.

“Would you like me to brew a cup of coffee for you?”

“No need,” Ye Shuang said, glancing at her and teasing, “You’ve been working hard lately, haven’t you?”

After all, ever since Chen Qin took leave to rest for her pregnancy, Kou Kou had been reassigned to work closely with him again. Ye Shuang had been very busy recently, and Kou Kou had also become busy—those lazy days when she could slack off were completely gone.

“Not at all,” Kou Kou replied.

After all, this workload was normal. The previous situation, where she had nothing to do for half a day and could only kill time on her phone, was hardly fitting for a president’s assistant. Besides, Ye Shuang often gave her small bonuses or perks, which made her feel a bit embarrassed to take them.

“Mr. Ye, here’s today’s schedule.” Kou Kou handed him a tablet with the schedule displayed.

“No external meetings today?” Ye Shuang asked after glancing at it.

“That’s right.”

“Looks like today will be a bit easier,” Ye Shuang mused. Since that was the case, he might as well not stay in the office today. He could take Chen Qin to have their wedding photos taken.

His time now was practically squeezed out whenever possible.

“Kou Kou, go ahead and attend to your work.”

“Okay, Mr. Ye.”

After Kou Kou left the office, Ye Shuang directly video-called Chen Qin.

The video rang several times before she answered. The other end was pitch black, with just a faint glimmer of light showing through.

“Ye—” A soft, drowsy voice came through, along with a dim light turning on. Then he saw Chen Qin, still groggy in bed, her long hair loose, squinting as she tried to look at the screen.

Ye Shuang was momentarily blinded by the bright glare. “Still not up, you sleepyhead?”

“Hah, I’m so tired.” Even so, Chen Qin sat up and leaned back against the headboard. “Ye, you’re already at work so early. Aren’t you really exhausted?”

“I’m fine; you’re just waking up way too late,” Ye Shuang said, glancing at the time. “I have a pretty light day today, so I was thinking of taking you to get our wedding photos done. What do you think?”

“Is it a studio or a private top-tier photographer?” Chen Qin asked.

“I’ll check with that photographer first,” Ye Shuang said. “If the timing works, we’ll book that private photographer for today.”

“Alright, I’ll go brush my teeth.”

“Okay.”

Seeing Chen Qin headed off to freshen up, Ye Shuang hung up and called Kou Kou back in.

“Mr. Ye, what do you need?”

“That top-tier photographer you found for me last time—the one with many international awards—is he free today?” Ye Shuang asked. “If possible, I’d like to schedule him for today.”

“A shoot for today?”

“Yeah.”

“Mr. Ye, I’ll contact him now, but he might not reply right away. Should I let you know when I hear back?”

“You can just give me his contact info.”

“I have his business card.”

Kou Kou said, pulling out her phone and sharing a contact card with Ye Shuang. He took a look—

【an-yi】

The profile picture was a landscape shot with a silhouette of a girl in sunlight.

Ye Shuang zoomed in on the photo and saw that it was quite a stunning image. If the photographer had taken it himself, it was very impressive indeed.

Then Ye Shuang added him as a contact.

About ten minutes later, the other party replied.

Ye Shuang: Hi, photographer, are you free for a shoot today? It’s in Haizhu City.

anyi: Doing it today would be a bit of a rush.

anyi: In principle, it has to be booked in advance. It’s tough to arrange.

Ye Shuang: Can we work it out with extra pay? Money isn’t an issue—I’ve been too busy to find time lately.

Ye Shuang: How about adding two or three thousand?

anyi: In principle, no, but in practice, yes. That works.

Blunt as can be.

anyi: Send me the address.

Ye Shuang: Sure.

anyi: Do you have a makeup artist booked?

Ye Shuang: The bride won’t be wearing makeup, so we’ll go with a natural shoot.

anyi: Got it.

After confirming the time and location, Ye Shuang went straight to pick up Chen Qin from home. According to Chen’s Mother, Chen Qin was not allowed to go out alone—she always needed someone to accompany her.

“Photo shoot, photo shoot, hmm-hmm-hmm.” Chen Qin was in high spirits that day, gently swaying her head in the passenger seat.

“You’re in a good mood,” Ye Shuang said, gripping the steering wheel with a faint smile.

“Of course! Being with Ye makes me happy,” Chen Qin said, then paused before adding, “Ye, am I dreaming?”

“Dreaming about what?”

“About marrying you,” Chen Qin said cheerfully. “If it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up. I’ll just keep sleeping like this forever.”

“Silly.”

“Ye.”

“Hmm?”

“After we get married, do you want to hold a wedding for Yu You too?” Chen Qin said. “I won’t tell my parents about it.”

Ye Shuang was stunned. After a few seconds, he sighed softly. “You should be a little more selfish.”

“I’m already very content, really.”

“Alright.” Ye Shuang reached out and tapped Chen Qin’s forehead, then shifted the topic to the photographer. “Let me show you some of the photographer’s work—his Moments posts. They look pretty good.”

Chen Qin took Ye Shuang’s phone and opened the photographer’s Moments. The photos displayed there were indeed quite impressive.

“Won’t I look bad without makeup? I feel like heavy makeup is needed for the camera,” Chen Qin said, holding her face in her hands.

“Don’t worry, you look great even without makeup,” Ye Shuang assured her. “Your facial features are sculpted enough for photos, and that photographer’s editing skills must be good too.”