72: Chapter 72 Photography Mastery

"You still want to rent?"

Zhang Qi heard her words, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Isn't this perfect?

He said, "Then let's discuss the lease agreement."

Lin Yuxi was overjoyed and quickly said, "Okay, okay! As long as you are willing to continue renting it to me, even if you raise the rent a little, that's fine."

Listening to her sweet and innocent voice, Zhang Qi was stunned for a moment.

He felt this girl was a bit silly...

However, her looks were indeed high enough. Compared to Sun Yiyao, Su Ran, and Manager Chen Danni, she was not inferior in the slightest.

Zhang Qi was not polite either, saying, "Aren't you going to invite me in? Are you going to make me talk about the lease with you while standing outside?"

"Oh. I'm sorry, this is still your house; it was rude of me."

Lin Yuxi quickly invited Zhang Qi in.

She opened the door, and her whole person was fully exposed under the corridor lights.

Zhang Qi did not rush in; instead, he started to size up this tenant.

At 1.72 meters tall, she was definitely outstanding among girls. That dark red empress robe was tightly cinched at her waist, and the golden brocade waistband made her waist look extremely slender, accentuating the curves above and below with striking clarity.

The brocade fabric clung to her body, outlining her long and well-proportioned figure completely.

The patch of neck exposed at the collar was blindingly white, and the lines of her collarbones were clear and exquisite.

The makeup on her face was bold and grand, her eyebrows were arched with a heroic spirit, her bright red lipstick was full and flamboyant, and paired with those cold, aloof eyes, her whole person exuded a sense of fierce authority.

Her long, jet-black hair was coiled into a high bun, with a few gold hairpins inserted diagonally, revealing her smooth, full forehead and a pair of beautifully shaped ears.

Compared to the half-face he had just seen through the crack in the door, he had to admit that seeing the full picture better displayed her charm.

Especially this empress robe, which magnified her innate cold temperament several times over, making her look quite charming.

Lin Yuxi noticed Zhang Qi's gaze scanning her from top to bottom.

She felt a bit uncomfortable and subconsciously took half a step back.

She had social anxiety and didn't like people staring at her so blatantly, so she said, "Hello, please come in."

There was a hint of urgency in her tone.

"Mm, okay."

Zhang Qi regained his focus and stepped into the room.

The layout of this apartment was no different from 1201 and 1204; it was a standard studio apartment of over forty square meters.

However, there were things everywhere.

Against the wall in the living room stood two rows of floor-standing clothing racks, densely hung with all kinds of clothes. Hanfu, Lolita dresses, JK uniforms, cheongsams, suits, evening gowns... colorful and varied, it was like opening a clothing store.

Against the other wall was a makeup table, with the surface piled high with bottles and jars of cosmetics; foundation, eyeshadow palettes, and lipstick tubes were stacked several layers deep.

In the middle of the living room, there were two professional fill lights, next to a tripod and a camera, with several data cables and chargers scattered on the floor.

"Sorry, it's a bit messy here."

Lin Yuxi's face flushed slightly, and she reached out to push aside the few pieces of clothing piled on the sofa.

"Are you an influencer?" Zhang Qi asked curiously.

"Yes, that's right." Lin Yuxi nodded, "I film transformation videos, so I have a lot of weird costumes."

She explained, then looked down at the empress robe she was wearing and immediately felt embarrassed.

It was strange to talk about serious business while wearing such a costume.

"I'll go change, wait a moment."

After saying that, she turned and ran straight to the bedroom.

Zhang Qi heard a crisp sound of the door locking behind him and raised an eyebrow.

This girl was quite vigilant.

He didn't mind and casually sat down on the sofa, his gaze sweeping around the room.

Although there were many things, if one looked closely, there was actually a certain logic to how they were arranged. Clothes were hung in sections by type, and cosmetics were arranged according to the frequency of use.

It was just that there were so many things that no matter how one tidied up, it looked crowded.

About three or four minutes passed.

The bedroom door opened again, and Lin Yuxi walked out, having changed into everyday clothes.

Zhang Qi looked over.

She had changed into a loose white short-sleeved T-shirt with light blue high-waisted denim shorts underneath.

Her makeup was removed, and her face was clean, leaving only her bare-faced foundation.

But it had to be said that even without makeup, this face was good enough.

Her skin was translucent and fair, her features were delicate and three-dimensional, and especially her eyes—after losing the embellishment of heavy makeup, they instead gained a touch of clarity and cleanliness.

Her long hair was let down from the bun and draped casually over her shoulders, with slight curls at the ends.

Her tall figure paired with those straight, slender legs meant that even in the most ordinary T-shirt and shorts, her proportions were stunning.

Compared to the empress with the full-blown aura from just now, the current Lin Yuxi was more like a pretty neighbor girl.

There was a touch of casualness mixed with her coldness, and her tall figure paired with a plain face had a unique charm.

And she looked very young, at most in her early twenties.

"Sit down, let's chat for a while."

Zhang Qi patted the sofa next to him, his tone casual.

"After all, the house you'll be living in is mine, so I need to know a little about you."

Upon hearing the words "the house you'll be living in," Lin Yuxi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Does this mean the new landlord is willing to continue renting to her?

She obediently sat down on the other end of the sofa, placing her hands neatly on her knees, her posture as upright as if she were in an interview.

Zhang Qi looked at her nervous appearance and found it a bit funny.

"Relax, it's not an interrogation."

"Oh, okay." Lin Yuxi nodded, but her body remained tense.

Zhang Qi didn't pay it any mind and started asking directly.

"What do you do for work?"

"An influencer, I film transformation videos."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

"Where are you from?"

"From Jiangcheng."

"Do you live alone?"

"Yes, just me."

"How is your income?"

Lin Yuxi hesitated for a moment, but thinking that this was the landlord understanding the tenant's financial ability, she answered truthfully.

"I have nearly 700,000 followers across all platforms. With ads and revenue sharing, I get about 30,000 to 40,000 a month. When it's good, it can be 40,000 to 50,000."

Zhang Qi nodded.

A monthly income of 30,000 to 40,000 was indeed quite good among her peers. But to live comfortably in a place like Shenzhen, it was really just enough.

The monthly rent of 10,000 for this apartment alone took up a third of her income.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Almost two years." Speaking of her work, Lin Yuxi was visibly more relaxed, and she started talking more.

"At first, I only had a few hundred followers, then it slowly grew. But in the last few months, the follower growth rate has slowed down; I'm a bit stuck in a bottleneck."

"Where are you stuck?"

Lin Yuxi thought for a moment and said, "The content is actually fine; my makeup and styling have been improving. It's mainly the filming part. I have to do makeup, change clothes, and film all by myself, so my energy is limited."

"And I really don't know much about videography. Composition, lighting, camera movement—I've just been fumbling through it myself."

She said this with a hint of helplessness in her tone.

"I've thought about learning it, but firstly I don't have the time, and secondly... I'm quite a homebody and don't really like going out for classes."

After listening, Zhang Qi already had a judgment.

Although this girl was a bit naive, she was indeed talented.

She was pretty, had a good figure, was skilled at makeup and styling, and was only twenty-one with nearly 700,000 followers; she had great potential.

But her bottleneck was also very obvious—her filming technique couldn't keep up.

In the transformation video niche, no matter how good the content was, if the image quality didn't improve, the ceiling was right there.

Zhang Qi looked at her, his mind already turning several times.

This girl earned 30,000 to 40,000 a month and had the personality of a solitary, socially anxious homebody.

She didn't have the clear intention of clinging to someone like Su Ran, nor was she backed into a corner by life like Sun Yiyao.

If he tried to just throw money at her, he would likely scare her away.

However, he had more than just money now.

Zhang Qi's mind stirred, and he opened the system panel.

Skill Points: 4.

He didn't hesitate, immediately consuming one Skill Points and assigning it to the Photography skill.

In his mind, the system's mechanical voice rang out right on time.

[Ding—Consumed 1 Skill Points, Photography skill upgraded to "Professional" level.]

In an instant, a vast amount of knowledge about Photography flooded into his mind.

Composition rules, lighting application, color matching, camera movement techniques, post-production color grading...

These things, which were originally completely foreign to him, were now clearly and systematically etched in his mind, as if he had studied them for over a decade.

Zhang Qi digested this for a few seconds, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

A professional-level Photography skill was enough.

He looked at Lin Yuxi and said casually, "I heard you say just now that you don't know much about videography. It just so happens that I am quite proficient in this. You can show me your videos, and I can give you some guidance."

Lin Yuxi was stunned for a moment.

She raised her head, and a flash of surprise crossed those cold, aloof eyes.

"Really?"

Her tone was filled with obvious surprise, and her body even leaned forward unconsciously.

For a content creator stuck in a bottleneck, having someone offer guidance on professional techniques was truly like providing charcoal in snowy weather.

"You also know videography?" Lin Yuxi pressed further, her eyes filled with a bit of scrutiny.

After all, these days, there were too many people who claimed to know, but few who actually had the skill.

"You'll know once you see." Zhang Qi leaned back on the sofa, his tone calm.

Lin Yuxi didn't hesitate any longer, immediately took out her phone, opened her account, clicked on the few videos she had posted recently, and handed it to Zhang Qi.

"Take a look at these; these are the ones with the best data recently."

Zhang Qi took the phone and played the first video.

In the video, Lin Yuxi went from bare-faced to fully made-up, from a T-shirt to a gorgeous ancient costume, with the entire transformation process in one continuous shot.

Zhang Qi watched for a dozen seconds and had already discovered several problems.

He now possessed professional-level Photography knowledge; these images, which looked flawless to the average person, were full of room for optimization in his eyes.

"Your camera angle is too static."

Zhang Qi pointed at the screen and said.

"What is the core highlight of a transformation video? It's the contrast between the before and after. But your lens is at the same angle from beginning to end; the visual stimulation for the audience is diminishing."

Lin Yuxi blinked and listened attentively.

"Look here, at the moment the transformation is complete, you should have a slow-motion low-angle shot, combined with a change in lighting, to maximize the aura. Instead of just filming it flatly like before."

"Also, your lighting—the main light source is too direct, and it lacks depth when hitting your face. Your features are naturally three-dimensional, so you should use side lighting to strengthen the contours; this way, the texture of the resulting image will be a grade higher."

Zhang Qi spoke quickly, but every sentence hit the nail on the head.

The more Lin Yuxi listened, the brighter her eyes became.

She had been making videos for almost two years and always felt her footage lacked something, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what was missing.

Now, with Zhang Qi's guidance, that feeling of sudden enlightenment rushed straight to her head.

"Wait, let me write this down."