Chapter 399: Photo Shoot

Chapter 399: Shooting Hard Photos

Hu Yijing arrived in Hangzhou on the 4th of the following day, bringing along a photography team to meet Meng Fan at Fengji Martial Arts Hall.

As a top-tier agent, she had selected three most suitable plans based on Meng Fan’s situation. After discussing with Meng Caiwei, Meng Caiwei settled on one of them, then called Meng Fan to discuss it, leading to today’s meeting.

Hu Yijing’s plan was simple: first, ignore all current invitations for now; second, define Meng Fan’s range—he was not just a sports star, so don’t limit him to sports brands; third, don’t actively seek endorsements, wait for high-quality ones to come knocking.

The implementation of the entire plan was divided into two steps, both tailored to Meng Fan’s reality, especially considering his heavy training schedule and tight time. In other words, these steps were not complicated and took up very little of Meng Fan’s time.

The first step was to shoot hard photos.

So-called hard photos refer to stills taken for advertisements and magazines.

In recent years, the entertainment industry has been buzzing with terms like “hard photo expressiveness,” which is exactly this—related to ads and fashion magazine covers, strategic battlegrounds for young stars in the entertainment world.

Of course, many hard photos are shot to the standards of ads and magazines but may not necessarily end up being used for them.

That said, hard photos are not exclusive to the entertainment or fashion industries; they also exist in business, sports, and other fields.

In sports, well-known athletes have often shot them for magazines, ads, or even event promotions.

Before this, many had invited Meng Fan to shoot hard photos, or even for interviews and magazine features, but Meng Fan hadn’t even bothered with ad endorsements, let alone these.

Oh, right, during the recording of *Voice Masters*, Meng Fan had also shot hard photos for promotional purposes.

Hu Yijing’s reason for proposing hard photos was to pave the way for the second step: landing a cover on a prestigious magazine.

She had seen Meng Fan’s expressiveness in the promotional hard photos from *Voice Masters*—those online fans boasting about their idols’ explosive expressiveness were nothing compared to Meng Fan.

Of course, the key was that Meng Fan was genuinely good-looking, in a way completely different from the popular traffic idols of today—full of robust, masculine charm, truly “hard” photos.

Once he smoothly became a cover figure for a renowned magazine, the endorsements coming his way would increase both in quantity and quality, with an automatic filtering effect.

In plain terms, this was called “angling for endorsements.”

Whether for Meng Caiwei or Meng Fan, Hu Yijing’s core philosophy was simple: Meng Fan should not casually accept endorsements; better to have none than mediocre ones, and if he took any, they should be big.

This clearly struck a chord with Meng Caiwei and Meng Fan—it was Meng Caiwei’s long-standing attitude toward endorsements, and for Meng Fan, as long as it wasn’t troublesome, fewer endorsements meant fewer hassles.

As for Hu Yijing, these two steps weren’t just taken one at a time; she had already targeted a magazine, one of the top five, with 99% confidence in securing the cover. The remaining 1% was because she had recently clashed with that magazine; otherwise, it would be a sure thing. Of course, conversely, having 99% confidence after a clash showed just how strong that confidence was.

“Xiao Fan.”

“Sister Jing, you’re here.”

Meng Fan was scheduled to train at Fengji today, so he naturally kept practicing while waiting for Hu Yijing. Honestly, even though he had brought up the endorsement matter himself, he wouldn’t let it interfere with other things—training had to go on. The Olympics were not far off, and he couldn’t slack off.

When Hu Yijing entered Meng Fan’s training room, her eyes lit up—partly because of Meng Fan’s physique and strength during training, and partly because it sparked an idea, prompting her to change the original plan on the spot. She said to Meng Fan, “Xiao Fan, keep training for now, don’t mind us. We have plenty of time; we can’t disrupt your training. While you train, we’ll take some candid shots, okay? Of course, we’ll show you the photos afterward. If anything involves leaks or such, we’ll delete it immediately.”

“No problem, it’s just routine training.”

Meng Fan smiled and nodded, continuing his workout, trusting Hu Yijing’s basic professionalism.

“Brother Feng, Naxi.”

Hu Yijing whispered to the two photographers she had brought along, “Shoot whatever you’re good at with candids, just shoot first and ask later.”

The two photographers, one male and one female, were both experts at photographing men—one from a male perspective, the other from a female perspective. They nodded but stood stunned for a while, genuinely shaken by Meng Fan’s training—not just the exaggerated intensity, but the aura he exuded while working out.

Then, their eyes lit up as they raised their cameras. To them, Meng Fan at that moment was the perfect prey.

For the next half hour, the two photographers felt like a crowd of Shen Yulins standing in their hearts, constantly going “OMG.”

Meng Fan’s charm was self-evident, amplified several times in this environment. What surprised them was that, even while shooting candidly, Meng Fan had such a strong sense of the camera, all while being fully focused on his training.

After finishing that half hour, Meng Fan’s morning training session was over.

“Sister Jing, I’ll go take a shower first. Wait for me in the dining area. Let’s eat first, then start the shoot.”

Seeing Hu Yijing had no objections, Meng Fan asked Old Black to take them to the dining area while he headed to the bathroom.

The afternoon shoot was, of course, posed. It was simple, with equally simple outfits: one set of national team sportswear, one set of casual wear, and one set of formal wear. The locations were also straightforward, all within Fengji Martial Arts Hall, and the entire shoot took less than two hours.

In that time, the two photographers and the rest of the team once again witnessed Meng Fan’s camera sense and presence. The photos needed no retouching—once you looked, you couldn’t look away. As for expressiveness, just his smile and gaze were enough, switching effortlessly between cold and warm, ice and fire.

After the shoot, Hu Yijing didn’t linger long, politely declining Meng Fan’s invitation to dinner.

“We won’t disturb your training,” Hu Yijing said with a smile. “This shoot is done. If the magazine has any additional requests, I’ll contact you, and I’ll limit the shoot time to two hours. For other aspects, I’ll follow your requirements.”

“Alright, thanks for the trouble, Sister Jing.”

Meng Fan was naturally pleased with such efficiency, and his trust in Hu Yijing grew. Indeed, leaving professional matters to professionals was the right call.

“Trouble? Don’t be so polite with me!”

Hu Yijing waved with a smile and led her team away, arriving quickly and leaving just as fast. Efficiency was always her work style, and she also genuinely wanted to leave a good impression on Meng Fan.

Taking on this job, of course, wasn’t about making money. Even if there were profits, Hu Yijing would never take a cent—including future high-quality endorsements she might help negotiate for Meng Fan. She would do it purely as a favor, seeking friendship and goodwill.

Money was important, but sometimes other things could bring in even more money—Hu Yijing knew this well.

Ever since she became friends with Meng Caiwei after their clash, Hu Yijing had handled many matters for her, all as favors. On the surface, she got no money, but indirectly, she gained far more.

Hu Yijing could be ruthless and unscrupulous at times, but she could also be very principled. This time, after the hard photos of Meng Fan were post-processed, she didn’t send them to any media first but to the Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo Center.

The center had a department responsible for athletes’ magazine features and interviews. Normally, Meng Fan’s special status could bypass this step, but she still sent it for review, mainly to ensure it aligned with the athletes’ spirit. The review went smoothly, and after filing a copy with the General Administration of Sport’s Publicity Department, they gave the go-ahead.

Only then did Hu Yijing send a press release to familiar media, featuring a curated set of candid shots from Meng Fan’s daily training, with almost no post-processing—all candids.

The photographers posted first, followed by the media.

Of course, it would be several days before the photos appeared in public view.

On the 5th, *The Croods: A New Age* was released. After finishing his training that day, Meng Fan went to the cinema with Wu Tong and Zhang Zhouwei to watch it.

Meng Fan had already seen the film, but he came along anyway, and everyone chose the Mandarin dub. Honestly, hearing his own voice in a movie he liked, throughout the entire film, was both amusing and surreal.

In recent years, the screening share of Mandarin-dubbed foreign films had plummeted, with very low showtimes. Animated films fared slightly better due to younger audiences, but not by much. This time, *The Croods: A New Age*’s Mandarin dub had the highest screening share in three years, simply because of Meng Fan.

Moreover, after viewing, audience reviews were very high. Many had reluctantly chosen the dub because the original version was sold out, only to find the experience surprisingly good. Some even exclaimed that only after watching did they learn from the credits that Meng Fan voiced two roles—both the protagonist and the main villain, the two most important characters.

Additionally, the quality of the other dub actors was excellent. Aside from Guy, the cast from the first film returned—Liang Jiahui as Grug, Fan Xiaoxuan as Eep, and Di Feifei as Ugga—all still brilliant.

Overall, viewers and critics who had seen both the original and dub versions rarely agreed that the dub was on par with the original, with Meng Fan receiving widespread praise.

For context, the original voice cast included Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds.

Such reviews attracted even more people to watch the dub, mainly out of curiosity about Meng Fan.

(End of chapter)