Chapter 121: That’s Really Decent of You

“Of course, of course!”

The male teacher immediately pulled a thick stack of ten-yuan bills from his pocket and handed it to Xu Fei.

“Take it off.”

Xu Fei froze for a moment.

He looked at the money in his hand, then at the teacher’s expression, which seemed caught somewhere between eagerness and longing.

What the hell—let’s do it.

Xu Fei steeled himself.

“Would it be all right if I made one more request?”

He had already begun unbuttoning his clothes, but something occurred to him. Lowering his voice, he spoke to the teacher.

The teacher had been beaming with delight, but at this, he nodded reluctantly.

After all, Xu Fei was the only person in the past month who had agreed to this request.

“I have a friend with me. We came here, but we don’t have anywhere to stay. Could you arrange a place for us? It won’t be for long—probably ten days to half a month.”

When the teacher heard this, the reluctance on his face vanished, replaced by a broad smile.

“Excellent. What do you think of this place?”

As he spoke, he pointed toward the studio.

Xu Fei glanced around.

The room was certainly spacious enough. When he had first entered, he had also noticed several wooden bunk beds in one corner, the sort usually found in student dormitories.

“Of course.”

The teacher continued, “Since you’ll be staying in the provincial capital for a while, I actually have another idea.”

“What idea?”

“Our training course lasts about two weeks, and we need a model every day. If you’re willing, why not serve as our model each day?”

Xu Fei’s eyes lit up. This was excellent news.

Two weeks meant fourteen days.

At one hundred yuan a day, that would be fourteen hundred yuan.

That was a considerable sum.

It would solve the problem of lodging for himself and Old An.

It would also cover most of the cost of Zhang Ze’s subsequent treatment.

It truly solved two problems at once.

The two of them reached an agreement immediately.

The teacher pressed the money into Xu Fei’s hand.

Xu Fei put it away, then removed his outer clothes.

When it came time to take off his underwear, however, he still felt somewhat embarrassed. He could only turn and walk into the shadowy corner of the room.

Once he was completely undressed, Xu Fei found a wooden board and used it to cover his private parts.

When he stepped onto the platform, the male students were easy enough to deal with; they were already preparing their brushes.

The dozen or so female students, however, wore rather complicated expressions.

After all, they were only about nineteen or twenty years old—still in the bloom of youth.

It was the first time many of them had seen a man’s body, and Xu Fei’s was young and powerfully built.

Under the lights, Xu Fei removed the only piece of wood shielding him.

The teacher nodded first.

“Not bad. Take a look, everyone. This model’s proportions are practically perfect. Observe him carefully. Opportunities like this are rare. You may begin.”

Following the teacher’s instructions, the students began sketching Xu Fei’s body.

To be honest, this was Xu Fei’s first time doing anything of the sort.

At first, he was still rather shy.

But after gathering himself for a while, he gradually grew accustomed to the situation. He simply treated it as though he were bathing in a bathhouse.

Even so, the warm gazes of the girls still caused faint ripples in his heart.

Especially the girl sitting two or three meters to his left. She was exceptionally beautiful and bore some resemblance to Du Man.

Thinking of Du Man naturally reminded Xu Fei of the tender moments they had shared.

A normal physical reaction followed.

Lost in his thoughts, Xu Fei forgot that he was serving as someone else’s model.

“Ah!”

A scream shattered the silence of the studio.

Several of the female students immediately covered their eyes, while the male students burst into laughter.

The commotion brought Xu Fei back to his senses.

He glanced at everyone in confusion, then suddenly realized that something on his body seemed to have changed.

Looking down sharply, he saw the unmistakable bulge.

Xu Fei hurriedly crouched down and raised a hand.

“I’m sorry! I…”

The teacher stepped forward and shielded him, then turned to the students.

“All right, stop laughing. Can’t you take this a little more seriously?”

He then turned back to Xu Fei.

“Brother, what happened?”

Blushing furiously, Xu Fei replied, “I was thinking about my wife.”

“Hmm?”

The teacher stared at him for a moment, then laughed and shook his head.

“Understandable. Just calm yourself down, and don’t let your thoughts wander where they shouldn’t.”

Xu Fei nodded.

After that interruption, the offending part soon returned to normal.

When the teacher saw him stand again, he turned to the students.

“All right, everyone, continue.”

This time, Xu Fei had learned his lesson. He deliberately avoided looking at that particular student and instead fixed his gaze at a point forty-five degrees above him.

As a result, his body formed an exceptionally perfect angle.

The teacher continued offering guidance, occasionally asking him to make small adjustments or assume different poses that displayed the various forms of human beauty.

After about two hours, Xu Fei’s legs had grown numb from standing.

Only then did the teacher nod.

“All right, that’s enough for today. Go home and study your work carefully. Tomorrow, we’ll meet here again at this time, all right?”

As he spoke, he looked toward Xu Fei.

“Brother, go get dressed.”

After two hours as a model, Xu Fei had largely grown accustomed to being naked. The awkwardness he had felt at the beginning was gone.

He stepped directly down from the platform.

As he passed the girl who resembled Du Man, he raised the corners of his mouth slightly and gave her a nod.

When their eyes met, the girl instinctively glanced downward.

Her face reddened, and she lowered her head.

Yet as Xu Fei walked past, she secretly stole another glance at the man’s forbidden region.

Xu Fei, meanwhile, calmly walked to the corner of the room and put his clothes back on.

“Brother, we haven’t formally introduced ourselves. My name is Qi Baiyan.”

Xu Fei smiled.

The name naturally reminded him of the renowned master of traditional Chinese painting, Qi Baishi.

“You’re thinking of the old master Qi, aren’t you?” Qi Baiyan asked with a smile.

Xu Fei nodded.

“That’s normal. Most people think the same thing when they first hear my name.”

Xu Fei extended his hand.

“My name is Xu Fei.”

“Nice to meet you, Xu Fei.”

Qi Baiyan shook his hand.

“Here, this is the key to the studio.”

After taking the key, Xu Fei glanced at the students filing out of the room.

“By the way, what brings you to the provincial capital?”

“I came to seek treatment for a friend.”

“Oh.”

Qi Baiyan nodded.

“It must be serious, then?”

“How did you know?”

“That’s obvious. If it were an ordinary illness, why would you agree to do this kind of work?”

“Actually, we lost our money. We had no other choice. The medical and procedural expenses were simply too expensive, so we thought we’d try our luck at the casual-labor market.”

Qi Baiyan was rather surprised by this answer.

“You’re a good man.”

As he spoke, he pulled Xu Fei to his feet.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Come on, I’ll take you to the cafeteria for something to eat.”