After Defying the System, I Became a Genius Director

Shao Yichen’s ears perked up the moment she heard the word “photographer.”

What’s this? A photographer with problems? Now that’s interesting!

My film crew might need exactly this kind of talent!

Meanwhile, the photo studio staff, naturally unaware that a customer was secretly paying attention to the situation, only wanted to resolve the issue quickly and persuade the disruptive customer to leave.

“May I ask exactly what aspect you’re dissatisfied with?” The studio manager first glared fiercely at the problematic photographer, then immediately put on a placating smile for the furious customer.

“Look at what they’ve photographed!” The young man, seeing the studio’s accommodating attitude, raised his voice even louder. “Everyone come look! The picture has this sickly yellow tint, it looks terrible! Didn’t I say I wanted it bright and cheerful, looking festive? Now it’s so dark you can barely see people’s faces!”

The photographer attempted to defend herself: “But—”

Before she could finish, the studio manager cut her off: “Keep quiet!”

Then the manager turned to the young man, nodding repeatedly: “You’re absolutely right. This photographer didn’t follow your requirements. We’ll dock her pay and provide you with a free couple’s photo album. How does that sound?”

“Of course not! Marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Do you think you can just brush this off with some cheap photo album? Compensation! You must pay compensation!” The young man pressed his advantage mercilessly.

“You specifically requested a sunset beach scene—if the lighting were too bright, the entire atmosphere would be lost!” The photographer finally seemed unable to contain herself. She lifted her head to look directly at the young man. “You never mentioned these requirements before the shoot!”

The young man seemed surprised to be contradicted by the photographer he was complaining about. He froze momentarily, then flew into a rage: “You dare talk back!”

He turned to the manager: “Let me tell you, I’m not short on money for photos! It’s just a set of wedding photos. Since your apology seems somewhat sincere, I’ll tell you what—I’ll do another shoot!”

“But I have one condition—get a different photographer! I never want to see this photographer again!”

Before the photographer could react, the manager, hearing that the young man was willing to pay for another complete package, immediately brightened and quickly responded: “No problem! This time we’ll definitely find our most experienced photographer for you, guaranteeing we’ll follow your requirements—bright and cheerful, looking festive!”

Then he turned to the photographer: “Jiang Miaomiao! You’ve been on probation at this studio for a month, and your performance has been terrible! The only job you had has ended up like this! I declare you fired!”

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The photographer who had just been fired—Jiang Miaomiao—was stunned upon hearing these words.

To be honest, this situation couldn’t really be considered her fault.

Jiang Miaomiao’s family situation was rather unusual. After her mother’s divorce, she remarried and brought Jiang Miaomiao to live with her stepfather. Since her stepfather and mother had a son together, Jiang Miaomiao became virtually invisible in the family. Not only did her stepfather treat her poorly, but even her birth mother favored her half-brother over her.

Under these circumstances, films became the only solace for her young heart.

She had loved films, TV dramas, and photography since childhood, and had read many books on photography. In high school, she took money she had saved from summer jobs and secretly left home, resolutely coming to A City to prepare for art school entrance exams in photography. Unfortunately, her scores fell slightly short; even though she ranked first among applicants in the art examination, she didn’t qualify for her desired photography program. But having already arrived in this city, she didn’t want to return home. By coincidence, she saw that a photo studio near the university was recruiting photographers with training included, so she simply found work in this bustling but unfamiliar place as a photo studio employee and wedding photographer, which somewhat touched on her original dream.

But her luck wasn’t particularly good. After working at the photo studio for some time, her mentor seized an opportunity to successfully transfer to a television station, securing a relatively stable job with better pay than the photo studio. This should have been good news, but with her mentor gone and unable to follow, the others at the studio who had missed this opportunity didn’t reflect on their own inadequate skills but instead resented her mentor.

Moreover, they even displaced their anger onto her. Not only was no one willing to teach her photography anymore, but they also spoke ill of her behind her back and bullied her both openly and subtly. She could only explore photography techniques on her own, working cautiously at the studio.

This incident was similar—from the moment this young man requested photography services, he had been nitpicking unnecessarily. Those experienced slackers immediately recognized this would be a difficult job, but they not only kept quiet about it, they deliberately assigned the work to Jiang Miaomiao for her first shoot.

Sure enough, after the job was completed, the young man flew into a rage.

But the original photography requirement was for shooting at sunset by the sea—wasn’t the whole point to capture the beauty of two lovers embracing in the misty sunset light? Adjusting the color to be as bright as daytime wasn’t impossible, but wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of shooting at sunset?…

Jiang Miaomiao not only couldn’t understand, she felt wronged. She believed she had done nothing wrong, but unexpectedly, the studio manager not only failed to understand her perspective but directly fired her!

What Jiang Miaomiao didn’t know was that the other studio employees had already spoken ill of her to the manager many times, resulting in his extremely poor impression of her. When problems arose, he naturally assumed, based on his preconceptions, that everything was her fault.

Although the studio’s working environment wasn’t particularly good, she had finally been about to become a formal photographer after her probation. If she left now, wouldn’t she have to start over as an apprentice elsewhere?

No, what if things got worse, and she couldn’t find any photography-related work at all…

Jiang Miaomiao, after all, was a young woman who had only recently reached adulthood. Upon learning she had been fired, she immediately panicked.

But she refused to bow her head and apologize to the manager and the young man—this clearly wasn’t her fault! Even if someone else had taken the photos, they could only have produced work with similar lighting under those conditions!

She stood there frozen, and seeing her like this, the manager became even more impatient. He roughly pushed Jiang Miaomiao away from the computer: “Didn’t you hear me? I said you’re fired! You claim this wasn’t your problem? Well, you won’t have to worry about taking photos anymore!”

Jiang Miaomiao, suddenly pushed, fell to the ground. She was both anxious and frightened, with tears welling in her eyes, but she felt helpless. Just as she steeled herself, closing her eyes and preparing to beg the manager to let her stay, she suddenly heard an unexpected voice.

“I think this looks pretty good. Why treat a young woman like this?”

As the words fell, she felt someone helping her up.

“Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself falling on the floor?”

Jiang Miaomiao suddenly opened her eyes and saw an unfamiliar young woman.

She immediately recognized this woman as one of the graduate students who had come to take photos today, since all the graduate students were dressed and made up similarly for uniformity in their ID photos. They all had their hair tied back in ponytails, wore light makeup that wouldn’t interfere with facial recognition, and were dressed formally for the photos.

But this woman was somewhat different from the others—her formal attire was limited to the shirt and jacket on her upper body, since ID photos only capture down to the shoulders. Below where the photo wouldn’t capture, she wore jeans and sneakers, with a game mascot keychain half-visible from her pocket. This outfit seemed out of place in the serious photo-taking environment, but she wore it confidently. Combined with her above-average appearance, this unconventional pairing actually gave her a unique style.

After helping Jiang Miaomiao to her feet, this woman first confirmed she wasn’t injured, then exhaled, dropping the reassuring smile she had worn to comfort her. Crossing her arms, she turned toward the studio manager and the complaining young man: “Don’t you think you’re being a bit excessive?”

The studio manager said nothing—he hadn’t figured out why this female graduate student had suddenly left the waiting line.

The young man’s reaction was more direct. Already ill-tempered, now seeing some random woman appearing out of nowhere and criticizing him, he assumed she must be the photographer’s friend. Immediately raising his voice again, he shouted: “I booked a wedding photography package. What business is it of yours? Who are you to interfere?!”

“I simply couldn’t stand by and watch this,” the female graduate student—Shao Yichen—pointed at the footage playing on the computer screen. Though her voice wasn’t as loud as the young man’s, she stood her ground firmly: “What’s wrong with this footage? The camera isn’t shaky, the people are centered, the sunset and ocean are captured perfectly—it’s as beautiful as a film. If I were wearing a wedding dress in the center of this frame, I’d be thrilled. If you don’t like it, fine. I understand wanting a different photographer, but to shout at this young woman in front of so many people, with such a loud voice—do you think she’s easy to bully because she’s young?”

These few sentences left the young man’s face alternating between green and white. He had indeed thought the photographer was inexperienced and young, which is why he had made such a scene, but having a young-looking woman point this out made him unhappy as he couldn’t save face. His voice unconsciously lowered a bit, but he still stubbornly argued: “Shouldn’t wedding photography be bright and cheerful, with skin smoothing filters maxed out? Some even add rose petals or bubbles floating across the screen in post-production! Look at what she shot for me—you can see every pimple on my face clearly!”

Hearing this, Shao Yichen rolled her eyes mercilessly, confirming he was a genuine idiot: “Adding roses and bubbles in post? What kind of last-century retro aesthetic is that? Would anyone even be able to see the actual photo after adding all that?”

She couldn’t be bothered to say more to him and turned to Jiang Miaomiao, revealing her true purpose.

“I’m a graduate student from D University’s directing department, graduating this year. My name is Shao Yichen. I’ve already directed one film, though it’s not very well-known—it’s called ‘The Last Wish.’ Have you heard of it?”

Jiang Miaomiao’s eyes widened in surprise, and she nodded quickly. As a film enthusiast, she naturally knew about this unexpected small-budget dark horse film.

She had heard that both the lead actor and director were still students, which now proved to be true… However, she never expected to meet the director of this film here. Could it be that she might have the opportunity to observe and learn in the film crew, or even become a photography assistant?

Thinking of this, Jiang Miaomiao’s expression grew excited.

Shao Yichen naturally had no idea what Jiang Miaomiao was thinking, but seeing the young woman’s excited expression, she felt delighted.

It seems she recognizes me, which makes this easier to pull off… I mean, easier to arrange!

Shao Yichen coughed lightly, her expression turning serious: “I’m currently preparing to shoot a new film, but we haven’t found a suitable cinematographer. I just saw your work and think you’d be perfect for our film crew’s style. Since this manager apparently doesn’t need you to continue working here—would you like to join my crew as a cinematographer? I guarantee excellent treatment!”

Author’s Note:

Jiang Miaomiao: Thank you, Director, for recognizing my talent! I’ll work hard to repay your faith in me!

Shao Yichen: Not working hard would be the greatest repayment…

Second update today!

The female lead really worked hard to write a terrible script this time! But the male lead and others will later use the power of imagination to fill in the plot holes (?)

In the future, I’ll try to update six days a week! If I can’t manage six days, I’ll explain in the midday update~ Thanks to the little angels who cast Emperor Votes or poured Nutrition Fluid for me during the period from 2020-08-23 11:00:41 to 2020-08-23 21:00:00~

Thanks to the little angel who poured Nutrition Fluid: My Beloved Yue Rong 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!