Chapter 266
If Edmund knew that Jiang Xiaoman viewed him this way, he would definitely cry foul.
Foreign paparazzi aren't much more ethical than Chinese paparazzi, are they?
What does "changing boyfriends every season with new products" mean?
Those male models were all arranged by the studio, OK?
Not all high-end luxury brands invite celebrities to wear their latest collections.
Most of the time, the models wear the clothes first, and Edmund has a very meticulous personality. Even if an international supermodel falls into his hands, she is basically treated like a figurine. He has to work on her until she completely meets his requirements for the work before he will put her back.
A young, handsome male model was sent to Edmund's studio and didn't come out for several days...
This single sentence, if unfortunately encountered by an imaginative tabloid reporter, would be enough to unfold into a ten-thousand-word "Domineering CEO's Forced Love" romance novel.
In addition, paparazzi staked out Edmund's studio day and night, occasionally snapping photos of Edmund dining out with models and staff. A little cropping of these photos then transformed them into "Edmund has found a new love"...
Edmund used to scoff at the nonsensical gossip of these tabloids and wouldn't even bother to debunk them.
As a high-end designer who combines romance and shrewdness, Edmund also knows that appropriate exposure helps maintain his popularity and fame. Let the paparazzi follow him if they want; just consider it as supporting a bunch of marketing accounts for free.
However, every gift from fate comes with a hidden price.
Edmund wanted to get free publicity from the paparazzi, but he never expected that the paparazzi would relentlessly hype up his scandalous news, eventually shaping him into an absolute scumbag!
What the hell does "changing boyfriends more often than changing clothes" mean?!
This behavior is harmless in their circle, and some even find Edmund incredibly charming.
But for Chinese people with very traditional views on marriage, Edmund, who changes boyfriends every few days, would be someone even the most ruthless matchmaker in the village wouldn't want to take on.
Poverty can be romanticized as honesty and integrity.
Being ugly can be romanticized as being down-to-earth and steady.
But he had so many boyfriends that he had to "discard them weekly," and even the most eloquent matchmakers didn't know how to embellish Edmund's reputation.
This is completely beyond the professional capabilities of Chinese matchmakers!
Edmund was heartbroken, but he had no choice but to temporarily hide his admiration for Jiang Xia and diligently follow Jiang Xiaoman and the others to all the villages in Langshan, collecting the inspiration and materials he needed.
Jiang Xia thought that once he got through this period and Edmund found the creative inspiration he wanted here, he would leave China and return to his own country.
Unexpectedly, after his field trip, Edmund ended up staying at Jiang Xiaoman's guesthouse and refused to leave!
“Oh, Xiaoman, my best friend, I have a feeling that Langshan will be my lucky place!” Edmund said to Jiang Xiaoman.
To be able to describe "staying at someone else's house" in such a fresh and elegant way is truly worthy of an internationally renowned designer.
Moreover, as a high-end designer who is not short of money, Edmund had his assistant pay for a month's stay at Jiang Xiaoman's homestay before Jiang Xiaoman could refuse!
"What exactly is he trying to do?!" Jiang Xia couldn't help but exclaim in frustration.
"Um... he probably wants to... do something to you?" Jiang Xiaoman silently complained to herself.
However, seeing that Jiang Xia was about to explode, he decided to keep those words to himself.
Although Edmund may seem to be a hopeless romantic, his professional skills are absolutely top-notch!
Jiang Xiaoman thought he was taking the opportunity to stay at her guesthouse to get closer to Jiang Xia, but she didn't expect that this person was actually a workaholic!
Now he believes those gossip stories online, about why Edmund likes to lock models in his studio and "torture" them, because once he gets into work mode, he's like a robot that doesn't need rest!
Sometimes when Jiang Xiaoman woke up in the morning, she would find the lights still on upstairs. After making breakfast and going upstairs to call everyone to eat, she would discover, wow! The whole team had actually worked overtime all night!
Isn't it said that foreigners hate working overtime?
"Hehe~ My dear Xiaoman, you have to believe that there's no problem that dollars can't solve, even if it's working overtime all night." Edmund explained slowly, swallowing a bite of fried potato pancake with elegance.
Jiang Xiaoman: "..."
By staying up all night, one can earn the equivalent of a month's income for a top-level embroiderer in their village's embroidery workshop. Not to mention the embroiderers, even he himself couldn't help but be incredibly tempted.
Edmund was engrossed in his work and stopped bothering him, which gradually made Jiang Xia lower his guard.
After relaxing, he felt a little ashamed and took the initiative to apologize to Jiang Xiaoman.
"Xiaoman, I'm sorry. It was supposed to be my job to assist Edmund's team with their creative work, but now it's all on you."
"Hey! Why are we brothers saying things like that? Besides, all I'm doing is providing the venue and three meals a day. Didn't I get all those materials from your house?"
Visiting various villages to gather inspiration was just a formality; when it came to the actual creative process, the meticulous Edmund team ultimately adopted the cultural heritage of Langshan shamanistic rituals passed down from the Jiangxia family's ancestors.
This is a more reliable "historical material" than any oral tradition!
"But you can't keep hiding like this forever. Tell me the truth, bro, do you have feelings for Edmund? He doesn't seem as promiscuous as people say online. His staff are all very proper."
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Xiaoman leaned close to Jiang Xia's ear and whispered, "When I was cleaning the guest rooms these past few days, I noticed that the family planning supplies in the rooms were still unopened..."
"Family planning..." Comrade Jiang Xia almost choked on his own saliva.
"Hey, we're both adults, stop pretending to be innocent young men, okay?" Jiang Xiaoman couldn't stand Jiang Xia's behavior. He's clearly a fan of the entertainment industry, what hasn't he seen? But when it comes to her, he's so coy.
"What did I pretend? Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand! Edmund and I aren't what you think..." Jiang Xia ran away in a fit of embarrassment and anger.
He even forgot to take the basket of sweet potatoes that Jiang Xiaoman had packed for him.
"Tsk~ You're just being stubborn! I think Edmund is a good match; you might regret it if you miss out!"
Whether Jiang Xia will regret it or not, Jiang Xiaoman doesn't know, but it's clear that Edmund doesn't want to give him a chance to regret it and run away.
Two weeks later, Edmund's assistant said that they had hired several assistants who had arrived in the county town and hoped that Jiang Xiaoman could help find a car to take them to the high-speed rail station to pick them up.
"Who are you looking for? I happen to be going to the county town to deliver something. Why don't you come with us? When we get there, I'll take you to the high-speed rail station, and you can wait for your people there. I'll come pick you up after I've delivered the goods, okay?"
"Thank you so much!" Edmund's assistant and translator was moved to tears.
Once their boss gets into work mode, he turns into an unreasonable madman who demands immediate results for whatever he wants. The supermodels they worked with before were fired by the ruthless Edmund because they couldn't be available at any time, and replaced with more obedient supermodels.
There are many international supermodels, but there is only one Edmund. It doesn't matter if others don't listen; there are plenty of supermodels who are willing to listen and want to rise to the top.
Jiang Xiaoman pondered for a moment and felt that according to the paparazzi's description of the creative process, it was about time to reach the "seclusion to play with supermodels" stage. Could it be that the international supermodel they were going to meet this time was...
After dropping Edmund's assistant off at the high-speed rail station, Jiang Xiaoman temporarily put aside her urgency to gossip and went to the county government's "family housing" to deliver some things.
Although modern civil servants are no longer allocated housing like in the past, they still enjoy many benefits when working for the government, including low-interest loans when buying a house and group purchase prices for civil servants on certain properties.
Jiang Xiaoman is going to the residential area where Sun Zheyuan and Director Chen live today. It is only separated from the county government building by a road. The residential area is not big, and most of the people who bought houses here work for the county government.
In addition to sweet potatoes, his family also planted a lot of the currently popular honey sweet potatoes this year. These were seed potatoes given to him by a fan who specializes in growing honey sweet potatoes. Unexpectedly, these seeds were very suitable for planting in their Langshan area. Jiang Youliang first planted more than an acre of mountain land, and later found that he hadn't used up all the seedlings. So, while he was out checking on the beehives, he planted them on the empty land around his beehives as well.
As a result, the sweet potatoes grew so well that there were more than they could eat. After giving some to relatives and friends, there was still a lot left. Jiang Xiaoman thought about it and decided to dig up some potatoes and some tender ginger and sweet potatoes that they had grown themselves, and send some to Sun Zheyuan and the others to try.
Kinship is built up little by little. Sun Zheyuan and Director Chen of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center were willing to help him, probably more to help the people of Langshan get out of poverty as soon as possible. But it is undeniable that the one who benefits the most is still Jiang Xiaoman, the leader.
He knew his limits. He certainly couldn't give away valuable items that were suspected of being bribes, but what was wrong with giving away some of his own homegrown grains and local specialties to his friends to try?
The car drove to Taoli Fenfangyuan behind the county government. Jiang Xiaoman had asked Sun Zheyuan, Director Chen, and Section Chief Yang, who had helped him find the information, for the address beforehand. He then called them and told them that the items had been delivered directly to the building.
"You little rascal! You're really cunning!" Sun Zheyuan looked at the pig feed bag that Jiang Xiaoman was using to pack things and tapped Jiang Xiaoman's big head with a wry smile.
Other people would like to make the gift as luxurious as possible to show that it is valuable. But Jiang Xiaoman is different. She stuffed all kinds of things like cured meat, local honey, sweet potatoes, and yams into pig feed bags. If you didn't know better, you would really think they were local specialties sent by relatives from her hometown.
"Hehe~ I was just afraid of causing you trouble~ It's just some cheap grains and local specialties, and a few pieces of cured meat, all smoked by my dad. Brother, take them back and hang them in a cool, ventilated place, don't expose them to direct sunlight, otherwise the oil inside will come out and they won't taste good."
Jiang Xiaoman, looking rather simple-minded, helped Sun Zheyuan, this weakling, carry the local specialties upstairs, declined Sun Zheyuan's offer to stay for dinner, and hurried off to deliver them to the other families.
"Wait a minute! I also have some good stuff for Uncle Youliang. Since you're here, you can take it back on your way, saving me the trouble of making another trip." Sun Zheyuan followed Jiang Xiaoman downstairs, opened the door to the downstairs storage room, and carried out two wine jars.
“My family doesn’t have any other local specialties, this is all we have. Take it back and let Uncle Youliang try it. This is sorghum liquor aged for over 30 years in my family’s distillery. Remember to tell Uncle Youliang to take it easy and not exceed two ounces per meal.”
Jiang Xiaoman is so clever; with a quick thought, she immediately figured out why the Sun family's winery had opened its thirty-year-old cellar...
"Brother Yuan, are you getting married?"
Calculating the age, it's a cellar that's over thirty years old. Does that mean it was sealed away right after Sun Zheyuan was born?
The Sun family only has one son, so he must be kept for Sun Zheyuan's wedding, right?
"You think you're so smart! Go away! I'll send you a wedding invitation later!" Sun Zheyuan pushed the person away, looking embarrassed and annoyed.
Sigh! Everyone around me is in a relationship, but I'm still single. I'm getting fat from eating so much PDA every day.
Jiang Xiaoman, feeling heartbroken, finished seeing off the other customers and arrived at the high-speed rail station. Edmund's assistant, Ida Chen, had already picked them up and was waiting for them at McDonald's next to the station, drinking coffee.
However, to his surprise, the people who came to pick him up this time were not supermodels, judging from their height. Were they really staff members?
Jiang Xiaoman quickly found the answer to her question.
That evening, Edmund asked Jiang Xiaoman for help and invited Jiang Xia to his home.
"Xia, I know no one will believe my explanation anymore, but they wrote those rumors, so let them explain it to you for me!"
What is that?
Were they picking up foreign paparazzi instead of foreign supermodels?
In other words, Jiang Xiaoman no longer works in the European and American entertainment industry and has no idea that these unassuming foreign paparazzi are all people who give European and American celebrities a headache.
Relying on their excellent skills in writing stories based on pictures and fabricating stories, these paparazzi have made a fortune off Edmund. Now that they hear Edmund has finally found the person he wants to spend his life with and hopes they can come forward to help clarify the rumors they fabricated before... what is there to hesitate about?
Please! This is dear Edmund!
The paparazzi didn't seem to think they'd be out of a job just because Edmund found true love.
Unemployment my foot!
The other side is the most mysterious witch clan of the Chinese nation!
This one identity alone is enough for paparazzi to fabricate another 100,000-word romance novel.
Supermodels from Europe and America are easy to photograph, but this shaman from China had never appeared in the world of fame and fortune in Europe and America before. How could she make Edmund, a well-known designer who was used to seeing top-notch handsome men and beautiful women, fall for her? Did she bewitch Edmund, or did she really have a beauty that could topple kingdoms?
The paparazzi agreed to Edmund's request almost without hesitation.
They also brought along their tools of the trade—a camera for taking pictures and a pair of eyes that were good at writing about pictures.
Jiang Xia never expected that Edmund was actually serious about him!
In an effort to convince him of his innocence, they went to great lengths, bringing in so many paparazzi from the United States to clarify the fabricated rumors they had created on the spot.
That move was absolutely amazing! Jiang Xiaoman was truly amazed.
If it weren't for the fact that it involved Comrade Jiang Xia's privacy, he really wanted to start a live stream and invite his more than ten million fans to come and watch the drama unfold.