After My Rebirth, My Husband Pampers Me Everyday!

Chapter 239: A BLANK STARE READS AS AWKWARD

Haiyan pulled the car up outside TongShu’s main studio just past nine in the morning, the building already buzzing with the particular energy that came before a busy production day.

Guiying stepped out, adjusting the sleeve of his jacket, and had barely made it through the door before Bai Zichen spotted him from across the lobby.

"There he is!" Bai Zichen abandoned the rack of garments he’d been sorting and crossed the floor at a near run, throwing his arms around Guiying without hesitation. "You missed the showcase. Do you know how much you missed?"

"I heard." Guiying returned the hug briefly, laughing under his breath. "Something came up that week. I’m sorry."

"Something always comes up with you." Bai Zichen pulled back, already tugging him toward the main studio floor. "Come on, Jiang Wenxi’s been dying to catch you up properly."

Jiang Wenxi looked up from a sketch pad the moment they walked in, setting his pencil down and waving Guiying over to the long table where several tablets sat open, each displaying a different brand’s proposal.

"You missed a good one." Jiang Wenxi tapped the first screen. "The showcase went better than we expected. Half the room wanted to talk to us about you specifically, not just the collection."

Guiying leaned over the table, scanning the list. Names he recognized from Weibo trends, a few luxury houses he’d only seen from social media and two smaller startups he’d never heard of before.

"All of these want to partner?" Guiying’s brows lifted.

"All of these." Lin Yansu confirmed it from where she stood nearby, arms crossed, clearly pleased with herself. "We told them we’d pass along interest and let you decide. No pressure, but some of these offers are generous."

Guiying scrolled through the list slowly, reading names and terms, quietly weighing which ones aligned with what he actually wanted his image tied to, rather than chasing the biggest number.

"I’ll look through these properly tonight." He set the tablet down. "Send me the details on the top three, and I’ll get back to you by tomorrow."

"Take your time." Jiang Wenxi waved a hand. "More importantly, are you ready for another shoot?"

"I assumed that was coming." Guiying smiled faintly.

"Good, because there’s also something else." Shao Mingye stepped in from the side, his camera still hanging around his neck from an earlier test shot. "You’re walking the runway this time. Your own segment."

Guiying blinked. "My own segment?"

"First time walking, yes." Jiang Wenxi grinned at the surprise on his face. "We’ve already scheduled walk training this week."

"Lan Qiuyue and I will be handling your actual training." Lin Yansu corrected him with a small laugh. "But you’ll be practicing alongside TongShu’s own models during the sessions, so you get used to walking with other people on the runway instead of alone." She nodded toward the far end of the studio, where a small group stood stretching near the practice runway. "You already know He Fangfang from the partner studio, but she won’t be part of this. This is just our in-house lineup you’ll be working alongside."

The group at the far end glanced over at the mention, a couple of them offering quick nods in Guiying’s direction.

Lan Qiuyue appeared moments later with a clipboard, Lin Yansu following close behind with a tablet tucked under her arm, and the two of them looked Guiying over together before either spoke.

"Shoulders back. Chin level, not up." Lan Qiuyue circled him once. "Don’t think about your feet, think about the point you’re walking toward. Your body will follow if your eyes lead it."

Guiying nodded, adjusting his posture, and took his first step down the practice runway.

"Slower." Lan Qiuyue’s voice cut through immediately. "You’re rushing. This isn’t a race, it’s all about rhythm."

He stopped, exhaled, and started again, forcing his pace to match the count she called out from the side.

By his fourth attempt, his stride had steadied, though his arms still swung a fraction too wide at his sides.

"Better." Lan Qiuyue made a note on her clipboard. "Arms in. You’re not swimming, you’re walking. Picture a straight line running down the center of the runway, and place each foot almost directly in front of the last one. It keeps your hips moving properly without looking exaggerated. You’ve got an entrancing figure so you have to know how to walk with it."

Guiying tried it, and the difference showed immediately, his silhouette narrowing into something sharper, more deliberate.

"There." Lan Qiuyue nodded, looking pleased. "Now hold that same line, but pick up your pace slightly. Confidence reads better than caution on camera."

"If you want to practice this at home, use a hallway or a strip of tape on the floor." Lin Yansu looked up from her tablet, adding her own note to what Lan Qiuyue had already given him. "Walk barefoot first, without worrying about pace at all. Once the placement feels natural, add shoes back in. Most people rush the process because they skip that first barefoot stage entirely."

"Also record yourself." Lin Yansu tapped her tablet. "Phone propped up, full body in frame. You won’t notice half your own habits until you watch them back. It’s uncomfortable, but it works faster than anything else."

Guiying nodded, filing both pieces of advice away, and ran through the walk again, adjusting each time based on their corrections.

"One more trick." Lan Qiuyue stopped him near the end of the runway. "At the turn, don’t just spin. Pause for half a second first, let the cameras catch you standing still, then pivot. It looks intentional instead of rushed."

Guiying practiced the pause, then the turn, stumbling slightly on his first attempt before catching his balance and trying again.

"And for the turn specifically, practice it in front of a mirror if you don’t have a camera handy." Lin Yansu added, watching his attempt with a critical eye. "You want to know exactly what your face is doing in that half-second pause. A blank stare reads as awkward. A slight, controlled expression reads as intentional."

By the time they’d gone through nearly two hours of repetition, his legs ached properly, sweat gathering at his collar, and his stride had finally settled into something that no longer felt borrowed from someone else’s body.

"Let’s stop here for now." Lan Qiuyue finally lowered the clipboard, checking her watch. "You’ve made real progress today. We’ll pick this up again before the actual show, but you have the foundation now. A little amateurish but you’re off to an amazing start."