Chapter 288 - 222: A Very Pleasant Conversation

As soon as Ni Bingyan boarded the plane, she noticed the foreigner in the adjacent seat. However, her mind was preoccupied with the book Sang Yuan had given her. Plus, the man had a stern expression and looked difficult to approach, so she simply pretended not to have seen him.

She didn’t expect him to be the one to say hello.

Ni Bingyan was slightly taken aback, but she masked her surprise in an instant.

’Opportunities to go abroad were rare, so she should cherish any chance to practice her conversational skills with a foreigner.’

’Besides, it was currently Fashion Week. Anyone heading there in first class was likely connected to the entertainment industry in some way. It couldn’t hurt to make a new acquaintance.’

With that thought, Ni Bingyan lowered the partition between their seats and offered him the book she was holding.

"It’s no problem, sir. Happiness is meant to be shared, and that’s even truer for good books. I’ve already finished this one, so you’re welcome to borrow it for a bit."

The man checked the title carefully before chuckling softly and waving his hand in refusal. "No, thank you. I’ve already read it many times."

Ni Bingyan’s eyes brightened, and she immediately seized the opportunity to start a conversation.

"In that case, what are your thoughts on the book? Perhaps we could discuss it. As you know, we still have many hours before we reach our destination."

The man laughed. A warmth spread through his gray-blue eyes, and the stern, standoffish air he had just a moment ago vanished completely.

"Before we get into that, I feel it would be polite to introduce myself first. I’m Alan Casso. You can call me Alan."

Seeing him formally offer a business card, Ni Bingyan hurriedly accepted it with both hands.

She remembered how Wei Shuojie had specifically given her a box of business cards before she left, so she fished one out of her bag to give him in return.

Alan accepted it with both hands as well.

"Oh! Ni, so you’re an actress!"

Ni Bingyan gave an embarrassed smile and made a pinching gesture with her fingers to indicate something small. "Just a minor actress, to be precise," she said modestly.

Alan chuckled and tucked her card into his business card holder.

’He had curly, chestnut-brown hair and long eyelashes. As he lowered his head, a line of poetry about the gentleness of a bowed head, shy as a water lily in the breeze, surfaced in Ni Bingyan’s mind.’

’Stop, stop!’

’What a dangerous thought!’

She picked up his business card and saw that in addition to his name, phone number, and email, it also listed his profession.

’Jewelry designer?’

’Sounds pretty cool.’

After their formal introductions, they resumed their conversation about the novel with even greater enthusiasm.

After finishing their discussion on the novel, they moved on to talk about all sorts of things, from French literature and art to cinema.

’Ni Bingyan was surprised at how good her French had become. She couldn’t help but silently pat herself on the back.’

Alan was impressed by the breadth of Ni Bingyan’s knowledge and delighted to have met a woman with such good taste who truly understood him.

If he hadn’t noticed the ring on her finger and realized she wasn’t single, Alan’s usual style would have been to start pursuing her immediately.

’But oh well, even if they couldn’t be a couple, they could still be friends.’

Alan wasn’t bothered by this in the slightest.

’After all, lovers could break up at any moment and spouses often divorced, but friends were forever.’

"Ni, are you headed to New York Fashion Week?"

At this time of year, ninety-nine percent of actresses heading to New York were going for that very reason. There was no need to hide it, so Ni Bingyan explained that she was endorsing the D Family’s line of lipsticks and makeup and had been invited to attend their show.

’Anyone who could endorse such a major international brand couldn’t possibly be ’just a minor actress’ like she claimed.’

Having figured this out, Alan smiled and decided to share a bit more about himself.

"Oh~ Their designs always have such soul. To be honest, I’m cutting my trip short to head to New York myself. A friend invited me to help him with some preparatory work on the jewelry side of things."

Now that they had both opened up, Ni Bingyan naturally started asking him all sorts of questions about jewelry.

Alan wasn’t stingy with his knowledge, teaching her many style tips and techniques for selecting jewelry.

Ni Bingyan returned the favor. Seeing his interest in traditional Chinese culture, she told him a great deal about Chinese painting.

In her excitement, she even promised to mail him a copy of her newly published art book once she was back in China.

The two chatted happily for the entire flight. It wasn’t until the plane had landed and she saw the bright sun outside that Ni Bingyan finally drank half a bottle of water before smiling and bidding Alan farewell.

Her mouth felt a bit dry from talking so much.

’Still, having a companion like him on the journey was wonderful! Not only did she get to practice her conversation skills, but she also learned so much.’

After leaving the airport and arriving at their pre-booked hotel, the group focused on adjusting to the time difference.

After waking up, they found a place to eat, then got all dolled up to go out for a street photoshoot.

New York Fashion Week was scheduled to last six days, with dozens of runway shows. Naturally, Ni Bingyan couldn’t attend every single one.

Her agency had already decided which shows she would attend long before she departed.

For wealthy socialites, attending Fashion Week was all about shopping sprees, but for celebrities, it was a form of work. They couldn’t just do whatever they wanted.

Ni Bingyan had a great figure, stunning looks, and was plenty tall. With the help of Chen Daolin and Cheng Man, her first day’s street style photoshoot was a great success, with the photos looking completely natural.

But before Wei Shuojie had a chance to edit the photos and post them online, candid shots taken by a passerby had already hit the trending topics.

The photos showed Ni Bingyan in a sheer black dress, pretending to walk casually forward, while Duanmu Li stood behind and to the side holding a reflector, and Cheng Man was crouched in front and to the side with a camera.

What was supposed to be a serious, professional work scene became inexplicably hilarious when captured in its entirety by a random bystander.

[Hahaha! Sister Bing is trying so hard to look natural!]

[Gotta say, even from that unflattering candid angle, my Sister Bing is still absolutely gorgeous.]

[Am I the only one who thinks this dress is gorgeous? The sheer overlay, her long legs peeking through... it’s a kind of subtle, understated beauty.]

...

The team members looked at each other in dismay when they saw the trending topic.

"Sister Wei, are we still posting our photos?"

Ni Bingyan had never been in a situation like this before, so she quickly turned to Wei Shuojie.

"Of course we’re posting. Why wouldn’t we? The candid shots are nowhere near as good as the ones we took."

Though her work plan had been disrupted and she was thoroughly annoyed, Wei Shuojie went ahead and posted the photos as planned.

However, she didn’t use a side account to pretend to be a passerby, but posted directly from the official one. She didn’t use the edited pictures, but the raw photos. And she didn’t use the pre-written caption, changing it instead to—

"Alright, you caught us! Since you’ve already exposed the photoshoot, we might as well post the pics. We didn’t even have time to hire our million-dollar photo editor. So mad!"

This prompted another round of laughter from the comment section, with fans celebrating as if it were a holiday.

"Sister Wei is the GOAT~"

Seeing how this small move had managed to satisfy both the fans fawning over her looks and the jokesters who loved the funny situation, Ni Bingyan was in absolute awe of Sister Wei.

"Alright, that’s enough of that. Let’s go eat first. We need to get back to the hotel and sleep early. You have the opening show to attend tomorrow!"