2nd Chances 6: Blue Bird Studio

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Chapter 6: Blue Bird Studio

It was three days after Le Zhiji’s wedding when Chen Yijun received a call.

“I see. Please let me think about it.”

Chen Yijun let out a shaky breath after he hung up.

He sat there in silence for a moment before rubbing his hands over his face.

Okay, he knew that he couldn’t expect his life to follow the ‘plot’ of the former Chen Yijun’s, but this current situation was really beyond his expectations!

In the previous life, Chen Yijun had gotten scouted by Blue Bird Studio for his picture of Du Lingyu, and started out as a newbie photographer running errands for the rest of the studio.

So… why was Blue Bird Studio calling him to ask him to be a photographer’s assistant? For Wei Mingxin even!?

When he had returned from the wedding, Chen Yijun had quickly scanned his inherited memories for the names of people he had met in order to avoid embarrassing himself again.

Wei Mingxin! He might not be an internationally famous photographer, but he won quite a few awards in Shenzo, and it would be embarrassing if a prospective photographer didn’t recognize him by name, at least.

If it had been a completely different studio that got in contact with him because of those wedding photos, maybe Chen Yijun wouldn’t have felt that awkward about it, but this sort of coincidence…

How did he end up at the same checkpoint after selecting different options?!

Haiz…. Fine. What’s happened has happened, and Blue Bird Studio had sent him an offer all the same despite the minor differences.

However … did Chen Yijun actually want to take it?

He honestly wasn’t that interested in photography, and after realizing that transmigrating into Chen Yijun’s body didn’t automatically give him super camera powers, he wasn’t sure he was willing to take the time to get better at it.

On the other hand, working on a set, even just a photo studio’s set, was really appealing. He’d worked as a set dresser’s assistant in a theatre for a bit in his previous life and quite enjoyed it.

And … maybe part of him was a little scared to depart too far from the ‘plot’ of Chen Yijun’s life.

Even though he lived his past life without worrying about a plot, now that there was one, he was a little apprehensive to completely derail it and live without any clues as to who the people he’d meet are.

That’s … a really terrible reason to make decisions regarding your future on.

Chen Yijun sighed.

“Lanlan, come over here. We need to talk.”

Don’t say Lanlan is too young to be of any help; four years old isn’t like a baby, incapable of understanding right from wrong.

Anyway, it’s not like Chen Yijun himself knew what to do, so it didn’t hurt to confide in his little niece. Besides, there were other things they needed to talk about, so might as well get it all over with at once!

As Lanlan came over, obediently turning off the learning game on her kid’s light brain (when Chen Yijun was her age, in his former world, he definitely wasn’t so well-behaved).

She looked quite nervous, though.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. These are just things Little Uncle thinks we need to talk about. Even though Little Uncle can easily do everything behind Lanlan’s back, it’s better to talk about it, since it’s about Lanlan’s future.”

“Okay…”

… Why did that seem to make Lanlan even more nervous?

Chen Yijun cleared his throat.

“Ahem. So, first of all, I was talking to your mother, and she said you aren’t allowed to go to school until after your first molt.”

“Mom? I can go to school?”

Chen Yijun couldn’t tell which she was more surprised about, that Sister Lan had been aware of the situation, or that she would be allowed to go to school.

“Yes. Sister Lan also said that we can start by doing this. Later on, let’s pick a co-op group to join.”

Chen Yijun pulled up the site he had saved after Xiulan had sent him the link, showing it to Lanlan and patiently described what it meant for her future.

Of course, to participate Chen Yijun would have to volunteer either to be a teacher or organizer for whichever group they ended up joining, but that didn’t sound too bad.

If he had trouble with kindergarten and first grade materials, he’d have more problems to worry about than whether he could successfully join the co-op. Anyway, worst case scenario, he could do art. He had experience with that, after all.

And even better, Lanlan was starting to look excited about the idea of doing this sort of homeschooling.

Chen Yijun reflected that throwing Lanlan directly into a school setting, even in vr, might have been too intimidating for a girl who didn’t know anyone but her uncle for the first four years of her life.

This co-op schooling was mostly homeschooling with one day a week of meetups, so it would help ease Lanlan into interacting with others her age.

Sister Lan… you really are her mother. This uncle can’t match with you!

After satisfying Lanlan’s curiosity about the co-op, Chen Yijun continued on.

“In order to let Lanlan join a group and then go to school, Little Uncle is going have Lanlan registered as a citizen soon.”

Even though Chen Yijun thought he should inform Lanlan about this serious change in her life, honestly, he didn’t think she would even understand what that meant, let alone have any opinions about it.

He definitely didn’t think she’d react with a horrified look and a whispered, “Is… that going to be okay?”

Chen Yijun blinked in surprise.

It’s true that the former Chen Yijun was scared to register Lanlan and secure a birth certificate for her, but that was the WRONG move in the Chen Yijun’s mind.

Just like the seal, not registering Lanlan might hide her well, but also made it extremely likely that her future could be ruined.

For crying out loud, right now Lanlan was an illegal citizen!

Gods, the former Chen Yijun and Xiulan had left Chen Bailan as an illegal citizen for her entire life! They couldn’t even take her to the hospital! Irresponsible!

“It’s much better to register you as a citizen,” Chen Yijun said firmly, “Or else you will have to remain in hiding not only from hunters but also even regular people and the law. Your future would be ruined.”

It was actually very easy for young spirit beasts to get their papers in order through some backdoors, since many are birthed in secret. Of course whether it’s legal or not was another story… but if Lanlan got too much older, it would be difficult to justify to the identity brokers.

The government looked the other way for the registration of young spirit beasts, but adults coming to get IDs … who knew if they were criminals trying to change their identities? The broker organizations weren’t willing to take the risk of offending the law.

“… But … doesn’t that mean people will know I’m a spirit beast?” Lanlan asked, her eyes still trembling.

Chen Yijun tweaked her nose.

“Your Little Uncle is already a registered citizen, but no one knows he’s a spirit beast. We will register you so that only people with the highest tier of permissions can see that you’re a spirit beast as well.”

In the far distant past, hackers had discovered the census of spirit beast citizens and many bad things happened, so naturally the Global Earth Alliance had had to mitigate the problems.

Of course there was always a risk. Chen Yijun wouldn’t deny that.

But out of the tens of thousands of spirit beasts in this metropolis, what was the probability of a hunter zeroing in on Lanlan? For that matter, to break into a server that only the most important people at the highest level of security permissions in the entire planet could access was already a minuscule probability.

Compared to the risk of making Lanlan unable to mingle in society for the rest of her life, Chen Yijun was much more willing to take this one.

Once again, Chen Yijun felt like his priorities as a human born Yijun had deviated greatly from the spirit beast born Chen Yijun.

Even after he tried to comfort her, Lanlan still looked a little terrified.

“It will be okay, Lanlan,” he said, giving her a big hug, “It’s actually more dangerous for you if you remain unregistered. It’s too easy for people who aren’t in the system to disappear without anyone knowing it. And what kind of spirit beast you are is something we will hide to the bitter end, so hunters won’t even be interested. Like this, we can call the police if there’s anything wrong, and have them help us.”

Lanlan was still a little pale, but as Chen Yijun soothed her, she eventually nodded.

She didn’t fully understand, but since Little Uncle insisted and her mom had actually agreed, she decided to trust them.

It’s not like it will help the hunters find you, but it will let us get help from other people.

Lanlan remembered what Little Uncle had told her the night before they went to the theme park.

It seems he was serious about not hiding her in a shell, and was taking the steps to make it happen safely.

Chen Yijun felt a little guilty about making her scared.

“I’m sorry. Little Uncle is doing a lot of things that are scary and unknown, huh? I promise, Lanlan, I won’t do anything that will take away your future, even if that means having to admit I was dumb before.”

He hugged the little girl tightly in his arms, trying to will away the trembles.

Lanlan was very quiet for a moment before she opened her mouth several times, trying to say something.

Finally she succeeded in asking, “… Little Uncle… what if you… find a woman you like?”

Chen Yijun was speechless for a moment.

“Why is Lanlan asking such a thing?” He rested his chin on her head. He wanted to tease her with a, ‘Are you jealous?’ but the knowledge of the tragedy that started with the former Chen Yijun’s love was too fresh in his mind.

“If Little Uncle fell in love, won’t Lanlan be in the way?”

“No. NO. Lanlan won’t.”

“But she might not think so.”

Chen Yijun’s heart ached, and at the same time, he felt like kicking himself for not realizing just how insecure Lanlan was.

This wasn’t something just a few days of doting could solve.

Stroking Lanlan’s back, Chen Yijun spoke, his voice soft.

“Little Uncle isn’t interested in love. Right now, all Little Uncle wants is for him and Lanlan to find a safe place in the world and make friends and allies. A woman and messy emotions are too dangerous right now. Little Uncle swears that he has no interest in falling in love.”

He sighs as Lanlan sniffs, clutching his shirt tightly in her hands.

Looking down at her pitiful figure, Chen Yijun continued to soothe her.

“Besides, even in the future, if it’s a woman who doesn’t stand by my side to support the things and people I care about … is it even possible for me to develop a relationship with someone like that?”

For a moment, Lanlan didn’t move, but finally she gave a small nod.

Even so, Lanlan’s delicate mood still scared Chen Yijun, and he spent the rest of the evening doting on her and coddling her.

It was only after he had helped her bathe and sent her to bed that he realized he hadn’t even gotten the chance to get to the main topic – about whether or not she thought Chen Yijun should take Blue Bird Studio up on their offer!

Oh well. It’s a bit embarrassing if he had to rely on his four-year-old niece for that…

Chen Yijun decidedly ignored the fact that he had fully intended to rely on his four-year-old niece for that as he scratched the back of his head and prepared for bed.

—

After wrestling with the decision all night, Chen Yijun finally decided to join Wei Mingxin on a virtual call and talk to him in person.

In the former Chen Yijun’s life, he wasn’t that involved with Blue Bird Studio’s boss and founder, Wei Mingxin, despite getting hired by them, and then all the love drama happened so he had NO time to play with the office politics, so Chen Yijun thought it would be better to judge with his own eyes this time through.

Loading into the virtual cafe, Chen Yijun spotted the waiting Wei Mingxin, co-founder of Blue Bird Studio.

After their first greeting, Chen Yijun jumped straight to the main point.

“I can’t proceed with this discussion without telling you, I cannot leave my niece at home. Although it’s extremely impertinent of me to say such a thing, but it’s impossible if I cannot bring my niece with me.”

After saying something that sounded downright insulting even to Chen Yijun himself, Chen Yijun sat stiffly, waiting for the famous photographer, Wei Mingxin, to blow up at him for his rudeness.

Instead, Wei Mingxin blinked in surprise and said, “That little girl was your niece, not your sister?”

… Mister Photographer, you’re missing the main point…

Luckily, Wei Mingxin quickly got back on track.

“So I take it that you’ll consider it positively if you can bring that little girl to work with you? That’s doable, but can I ask why?”

Wei Mingxin was so eager to bring Chen Yijun aboard that he didn’t think it would be too difficult to honor that request. Besides, the little girl was so well-behaved he felt like it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Chen Yijun, on the other hand, was kind of shocked that Wei Mingxin was taking it in stride, but he had already prepared for this question so he answered, “My niece has always had poor health, and when my sister’s stalker attempted to kidnap her, it put her life in danger. I don’t dare leave her alone in case this happens again.”

“Stalker? A kidnapper? He’s still on the streets? You didn’t prosecute?”

Wei Mingxin was indignant. Many people would be, when they heard that a threat to a child’s life was still at large.

“It’s impossible. His identity was all fake, and we couldn’t prove anything.”

After hearing this, Wei Mingxin felt sympathy for this uncle that had to protect his niece. Even if it’s a scifi era, there are a lot of dark things hidden in the shadows that have never changed, and it wasn’t particularly surprising that this uncle-niece pair was helpless when they had little money and no background.

What he didn’t know was that this was a lie Chen Yijun and Lanlan had decided on to explain Chen Yijun’s overprotectiveness.

What Lanlan didn’t know was that the lie wasn’t about how kidnapping happened. It was actually about how it wasn’t a kidnapping but an attempted killing. Chen Yijun had understandably decided not to tell her that yet.

As for the fake identity, that was also true. That psycho had used a pseudonym when go after Xiulan, and even in the former Chen Yijun’s future, it was extremely doubtful that he had used his true identity when manipulating actresses like Du Lingyu.

What kind of person would only say he’s a Professor of Genetics without ever giving a university affiliation no matter how long you knew him? It was highly suspect.

“Of course, of course you can bring the girl. She seems very obedient, and there are offices she can stay in while we work on set. That will be fine,” Wei Mingxin quickly gave his assurance.

“I see…” Chen Yijun fell into silence.

Well, crap. There goes one reason to refuse.

Since he was still torn between accepting the job and not, Chen Yijun had decided to leave it up to fate.

Phase 1: give up if they don’t allow him to give Lanlan – failed.

It wasn’t like he was disappointed; he just felt like it was a shame the most clear-cut reason to refuse was already brushed aside.

And so, feeling a little sheepish, Chen Yijun said, “I really am flattered to be noticed by Wei-laoshi, but I’m also a little bit confused. I know my own abilities in photography, so…”
^{<like ‘sensei’, ‘laoshi’ also means ‘teacher’, but can also be used for a person respected for their professional talents>}

“It’s true that I wasn’t thinking about your technical skills when I thought to reach out to you,” Wei Mingxin said, “To be honest, you strike me as having more of an illustrator’s insight rather than a photographer’s insight, but that kind of thing can be a powerful means within photography as well.”

Ooh, Wei-laoshi is very observant. It’s true. The former Chen Yijun liked illustration and graphic design, before finding his niche in abstract ways to apply paint to canvases. Actually, Chen Yijun just liked art in general, and was much better at ‘creating’ rather than ‘capturing’.

As Chen Yijun was thinking about such things, Wei Mingxin stroked his moustache as he stared at the kid thoughtfully.

“I wanted to ask you, that photo with the parents and the couple all posing the same way, with the flower girl in the bride’s father’s arms. The flower girl is actually from the groom’s family, isn’t she? How did you get such a harmonious picture?” To the point where the bride’s father almost looked at the flower girl like he was looking at his own child.

Outsiders wouldn’t be aware, but Wei Mingxin was buddies with Big Bro Le, and he knew that the Le Family and the bride’s family weren’t very familiar with each other. Not to mention, the bride’s father was the head of a medium-sized corporation, and hadn’t been completely pleased with his daughter’s choice of an entertainer from a middle class family.

Still, he didn’t oppose the marriage and was genuinely hoping his daughter would have a happy future with her in-laws, but he was a grumpy old man who had lost his dear wife and wasn’t really sure how to interact with families not made of money.

And the Le parents, they kept feeling like they were walking on pins and needles around this old man, since they didn’t know how to interact with big shots either.

So how had this kid managed to coax such a charming smile out of the old man, and even caused the groom’s parents and the bride and groom to watch over the him and the flower girl with such soft, warm eyes?

“Ah, I was telling the little girl that today her family was getting bigger and bigger, with new grandpas and uncles and aunties. Since that’s the case, is she able to open her heart like a little flower fairy to love all of them? The little girl was very cute, and called the bride’s father ‘Grandpa’ just like that.”

Oh, that definitely would have melted the old man’s heart.

Wei Mingxin understood now why the old man’s expression looked both like his heart was full, as well as like he was going to cry.

But that explanation wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Although Wei Mingxin knew why the kid’s stunt worked so well, how would a random stranger know?

He narrowed his eyes a little and said, “But that must have taken some guts to do. Not every in-law have a good relationship, or even want to have a good relationship.”

“Haha, that’s true, but during the entire time I was with them, even though the bride’s father was so angry he was steaming, he never lashed out against the groom’s family. And the groom’s family was always watching out for his well-being, since he’s a little lame in the left foot. They might have been acting stiff with each other, but it felt like they wanted to get along. Although… it was still a big gamble… hahaha…”

Wei Mingxin couldn’t help the big smile crossing his face.

“That sort of observational skill is what I’m looking for. For me, I can teach you the technical skills, but artistry is a lot harder to teach. As I told you over the previous call, I’m hoping to make you my assistant, and your artistic sense is why I want you as my assistant.”

Chen Yijun had a troubled look on his face.

Finally, he said, “This sort of thing is also highly dependent on how the people involved work together.”

Too many artists working on the same project can be … explosively frustrating at times even among peers, so having a newbie kid just barely of age come in to give a famous photographer his own ideas? C’mon, you really think that’s realistic here?

“I’m well aware of that. Even so, I really think your abilities … no, I’ll be blunt. I want your abilities to work for me.”

Looking up at Wei Mingxin’s face, Chen Yijun recognized that unshakable determination that talented people can get once they’ve made up their mind on where they want to take their next project.

Since they had already talked about Lanlan, Chen Yijun could only use, “I’m very flattered that Wei-laoshi thinks so highly of me, but I can only think that a contract would be really disadvantageous to the studio if I’m not useful,” as an excuse.

A contract would also be really disadvantageous to Chen Yijun too, but of course he couldn’t be that blunt.

Anyway, although he mostly deals with managing the photography of the studio, Wei Mingxin was still one of the founders of the studio and understood the situation well.

He stroked his moustache thoughtfully.

“… How about this? I still want to try having you as my assistant, but I also understand the trouble that can come from a contract. How about we hire you per job? After a while, we can discuss a contract again.”

Chen Yijun blinked.

Wei Mingxin really wanted him this badly?

It was a really good deal, and Chen Yijun was interested in exactly what Wei Mingxin had in store for him, so he eventually agreed after putting up a bit more pointless resistance.

A week later, Chen Yijun was standing in Blue Bird Studio, somewhat speechless.

“My first job is a shoot for ALaMode entertainment magazine?”

No, normally you don’t start your newbie on a job for a top tier magazine, right?!

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<a/n: Okay okay, no closer to revealing Chen Yijun’s career, but closer to … getting the FL … in the story…
… … sigh>