When Bian Huan came back with a new copy of the contract, Li Ming just looked it over for a moment, checking whether the additions he had wanted were in there, and then signed his name. "Alright, here you go! I hope you won’t be angry but I’m not really in the mood to celebrate right now."

Bian Huan took the contract and put it into a folder, smiling brightly. "Oh, I don’t mind at all. I’ll go and celebrate with my wife instead then." Anyway, as long as he had Li Ming’s signature, that was alright. Back then, he had actually managed to badger Mo Fang for so long that he signed the original contract for all of the pictures before he went to the airport, so he wouldn’t have a problem publishing the ones that Li Ming had agreed to now. This was something he had waited for for several months. Thus, there really was nothing that could dampen his mood. Yes, he would’ve liked to be able to publish even more of these pictures but just having the go-ahead for these was already very good.

He went to put the folder away safely but couldn’t help but look over his shoulder. He saw that Li Ming was already on his way back to Duan Zhi Hao’s side, rubbing the head of the cat for a moment as well.

Come to think of it, Li Ming had seemed really surprised and then absolutely devastated after he found out that Mo Fang had left. Bian Huan couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he should’ve given him some words of consolation or something but he also felt that that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

Something told him that he and Li Ming weren’t really on the same wavelength. And he didn’t know him well enough to find the right words to say despite that. With Mo Fang, he would’ve been able to do so but not with Li Ming. Somebody else would have to do that. And anyway, hadn’t he brought his new boyfriend along? In that case, he would certainly cheer up soon!

Thinking of that, he went over and gave the two of them a bright smile. "Well, thanks for giving in after all. And … don’t be sad about what happened with Mo Fang. Anyway, looks like you already moved on. I wish the two of you a lot of luck in the future! Really, all the best to you two and I hope you’ll have an awesome evening.

"I’d better go and bring the cat back now. It’s my sister’s, actually, and she just lend it to me for this one photoshoot but if there’s a hair out of place, or if it gets back past her curfew, she’s going to be pissed. So I’d better hurry. This has taken longer than it probably should have. She wasn’t really cooperative before." Saying so, he picked the cat from Duan Zhi Hao’s arms, which was immediately greeted with a few scratches to his arm but Bian Huan didn’t even seem to notice. "Well, again, all the best to you two!" He patted Li Ming’s shoulder and then Duan Zhi Hao’s as well before he carried the cat away to a carrier that stood to the side.

Duan Zhi Hao gave Li Ming a strange look, not quite sure what had just happened but Li Ming could only shrug his shoulders.

"He … was already a bit weird when my ex introduced us. Anyway, I’m done here so we can leave. I’m sorry everything took so long. That … that wasn’t quite what I had intended. Things got a bit out of hand."

Duan Zhi Hao shrugged his shoulders as well and followed him back over to the door. "Honestly, I don’t mind. This wasn’t quite what I was expecting but, I could sit down, there was a cat to pet and some stuff to look at, so it could have been worse. Anyway, I hope it helped a bit." To be honest, looking at Li Ming’s face, he didn’t think that had happened. On the contrary, it seemed to have taken him back by a few steps.

Li Ming sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Well, you see, my ex … he was a model."

Duan Zhi Hao raised his brows, not quite having expected that. "I wouldn’t have taken you for the type who dates models."

Li Ming couldn’t help but laugh. "Well, I didn’t take myself as that type either. Just … it was different with him. Anyway, do you still have time to go see Si Tao or would you rather go home for today?"

"The guy at the restaurant? Sure I’ll go there! Also, I can say that you owe me a drink now."

"That’d be more than one I assume."

Duan Zhi Hao gave a hum and reached over to pat his shoulder. "Well, I wouldn’t want to take advantage. Anyway, I offered to come along. Now, don’t try to change the subject on me. You were just talking about your ex being a model."

Li Ming sighed, but anyway, it wasn’t that much of a problem to tell Duan Zhi Hao. After all, he had already told him a bit before and it hadn’t been too bad. Actually, it might be good to talk with him especially because he didn’t know Mo Fang himself. "Well, while we were dating, we’d go out every time we had a free day which was usually twice a week and for each of them, we’d switch who’d choose what to do. On one of those days, he brought me over to that studio, and we took some … couple photos."

Duan Zhi Hao raised his brows, not quite sure what to think of that. "That … is a strategy I’ve never heard of but somehow, I feel like I should try that on my next girlfriend."

Li Ming chuckled. "Well, I have to admit that it definitely worked on me. It was … really memorable. We had a good time even though I’m not that comfortable in front of the camera, to be honest.

"But anyway, that was just the beginning of the end. After the photos were done, the photographer tried to get me to sign a contract so he could publish them. And while trying to convince me, some things came out that I hadn’t known about. And then we broke up because of that."