During summer, business at tattoo shops improved significantly. Not just at Xu Zhinan’s “Nannan” tattoo shop—tattoo shops across the board were doing quite well recently. At the very least, many more people were interested in learning about tattoos than before.
Once Lin Qingye and Xu Zhinan’s relationship became public, the relatively uncommon profession of tattoo artist also entered the public eye.
Previously, many people held prejudices and misconceptions about tattoos, lacking a deeper understanding. At the mention of tattoos, they would think of burly men with dragons on the left and tigers on the right, instinctively rejecting the idea. But at Xu Zhinan’s shop, they discovered that tattoos weren’t limited to just those designs.
She was already skilled in realistic tattoo styles, and most of her clients were women. When Lin Qingye’s fans had visited for those few days, they had taken many photos of Xu Zhinan’s style of tattoos—all exquisite, especially showing impressive technique in the details.
As a result, more people became willing to learn about tattoos, and if they had something they wanted to commemorate, they were willing to consider trying a tattoo.
So recently, tattoos have become a hot topic. Not only that, but production companies caught wind of the trend and wanted to create an unprecedented show about tattoos—not for television, but as a web series.
All those famous tattoo artists had been invited.
In the evening, when Xu Zhinan returned to her shop, Lu Xihe was chatting with Li Yan.
“Hey, little Nan, you’re finally here,” Lu Xihe said when he saw her. “Did ‘Tattoo Tales’ contact you?”
That was the name of the tattoo web series being prepared—”Tattoo Tales”—with the theme of introducing tattoos and telling stories between tattoo artists and their clients.
Xu Zhinan put down her bag: “Yes, they did.”
Lu Xihe: “Are you going?”
“I’m still considering it, not sure yet. What about you, Brother Lu?”
“I’d quite like to go, join in the fun. Plus, it’ll be good for business.” Lu Xihe’s reason for participating was simple.
Li Yan asked from the side: “Master, why aren’t you going?”
“Well, it’s going to be broadcast, right? Even though it won’t be on TV and the subject is niche, so probably not many viewers, I’m a bit worried that if I don’t perform well, it might attract negativity toward Brother Qingye.”
Li Yan exclaimed dramatically: “Master! Don’t you know his fans super like you now? I think you’re becoming their new idol. You might even attract more fans for him.”
Lu Xihe: “Besides, we have this ‘Tattoo Tales’ show thanks to you. Otherwise, with tattooing being such a small circle, which production company would be willing to lose money on this theme?”
“Don’t worry, you’re the production team’s primary target. They’ll convince you to go no matter what.”
Lu Xihe was right—the production team’s focus was on persuading Xu Zhinan to participate.
That evening, the production team even came to their home with gifts to personally invite her.
After all, this show had a niche topic, and its viewership would depend entirely on whether Xu Zhinan, a hot topic herself, would participate.
The director of “Tattoo Tales” had previously been the assistant director on “I Come for Music” and knew Lin Qingye. He wanted Lin Qingye to help convince Xu Zhinan to participate.
But Lin Qingye leisurely leaned back on the sofa, arms crossed, looking lazy and unwilling to interfere: “She can decide for herself.”
The director had no choice but to continue his efforts: “You can make any requests about the show. We sincerely invite you and would be delighted if you could participate.”
Xu Zhinan had always been soft-hearted.
With someone personally coming to her door with such a sincere invitation, it became difficult to refuse.
Besides, she had already seen the program outline for “Tattoo Tales.” It was quite a heartfelt show that could more or less help people eliminate some misconceptions about tattoos.
It was a meaningful show.
“I just have one concern—I’m worried that if I don’t perform well on the show, people will criticize me. After all, we’ve only recently gone public with our relationship, so I’m concerned it might affect him.”
Lin Qingye, who had been acting like an uninvolved boss the whole time, finally showed some reaction: “Why worry about that? Am I afraid of such things?”
Xu Zhinan muttered: “But what if?”
Lin Qingye laughed: “With my personality, I might do something any day and get criticized again. I might need you to help improve my image.”
“…”
Seeing that he was finally willing to help, the director pressed his advantage with another sincere speech and promises.
Xu Zhinan finally gave in and agreed.
The recording location for “Tattoo Tales” was in Yan City. The production team took it very seriously. There were two invited tattoo artists from Yan City—Xu Zhinan and Lu Xihe—and they had also invited several renowned tattoo artists from elsewhere.
A total of seven tattoo artists were invited.
Having been in the circle for a long time, Lu Xihe knew all the top tattoo artists. Xu Zhinan wasn’t good at socializing and only knew Lu Xihe, but she had heard of the other five artists, so this was an opportunity to meet them.
This was a small-budget production with an educational nature. Shortly after the personnel were confirmed, the official “Tattoo Tales” Weibo account posted an announcement.
On the poster, Xu Zhinan stood in the middle, in an inverted pyramid formation.
She wasn’t the most experienced, she was the youngest among them—but being placed in the middle didn’t seem out of place.
That was because Xu Zhinan was the only female among the seven tattoo artists; it would have been strange to place her elsewhere.
Once this poster was released, fans went wild.
Hahahahahahahaha @LinQingye @LinQingye @LinQingye @LinQingye!!!
Don’t tell @LinQingye his wife is being fought over, 6 against 1.
Why am I so happy to see this lineup? @LinQingye, brother, do you know about this?
These six male tattoo artists are so muscular, they look like refined men who work out regularly. That’s different from what I imagined tattoo artists would look like. @LinQingye, you should start working out.
@LinQingye probably doesn’t know yet! No way, right? @LinQingye brother, isn’t Nannan beautiful in the poster?
I told you not to @LinQingye, why is everyone still @LinQingye [Doge]
…
Lin Qingye indeed didn’t know about this lineup.
He hadn’t even considered the gender issue, assuming the number of men and women would be roughly equal. Xu Zhinan didn’t think it was worth mentioning, but she had told Lin Qingye several times how amazing the other tattoo artists were, yet never mentioned whether they were men or women.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lin Qingye asked.
Xu Zhinan blinked: “There are naturally more male tattoo artists than female ones. Besides, I told you several people’s names, which sound quite masculine.”
“…”
Lin Qingye wouldn’t have paid attention to the names of such irrelevant people.
He clicked his tongue and said nothing more, picking up his phone from the table, doing who knows what.
Xu Zhinan continued to communicate with the person in charge from “Tattoo Tales” about the first recording this weekend. When it was all finished, Lin Qingye was still sitting there unchanged.
Xu Zhinan paused, tilting her head to observe him for a while.
Could he be angry?
But nothing much had happened. She just hadn’t told him that the other six tattoo artists were all men.
Well, better to appease him.
Xu Zhinan sighed, put down her phone, and walked over to him: “Brother Qingye.”
“Hmm?” He didn’t even look up.
“Are you angry?”
Lin Qingye paused, looked up, and then suddenly smiled: “Yes.” He admitted it.
Although his expression didn’t look angry at all.
Xu Zhinan: “…”
Lin Qingye placed his phone face down on the table and opened his arms to her: “Come here.”
Eager to appease him, Xu Zhinan didn’t think much and obediently squeezed into his embrace. Lin Qingye pulled her, and she ended up straddling his thighs.
“If any of those guys has other thoughts about you, you need to tell me.”
“…” Xu Zhinan reminded him helplessly, “They all know about our relationship, and all six of them are probably older than you. They’re not ‘guys.'”
Her response was met with Lin Qingye squeezing her waist firmly.
She was ticklish, so her body shuddered. She gave him an annoyed glare, then reluctantly said: “Fine, I understand.”
Lin Qingye chuckled lightly, teasing: “You and your little body.”
Xu Zhinan had momentarily softened and fallen into his trap, trapped in his embrace. She wanted to leave but couldn’t break free, held in his arms and teased until it got late.
When he finally calmly let go, Xu Zhinan’s face was completely flushed, her eyes moist.
As soon as he released her, she angrily fled like an escape.
Xu Zhinan returned to the other side of the sofa and picked up her phone. When she opened it, she discovered a notification that someone she had specially followed had posted on Weibo ten minutes ago.
And she only followed one person.
Xu Zhinan tilted her head to glance at Lin Qingye.
He looked quite calm, not at all like someone who had just posted on Weibo.
What did he post this time…
In the past, he had created his account 8 years ago and hardly ever posted, but recently he’d been posting too frequently…
Xu Zhinan clicked on it and immediately felt dizzy.
He had reposted the “Tattoo Tales” announcement.
Xu Zhinan had also seen the comments under that post in the afternoon. Everyone had noticed that Xu Zhinan was the only woman, and they were all tagging @LinQingye in the comments.
And he did repost it.
Sure enough, the comments were full of eye-catching “Hahahahahahaha” strings.
Xu Zhinan: “…”
The first formal episode recording was this Saturday. The production team had specially prepared a studio with a tattoo shop style.
The first episode was quite simple, beginning with the seven tattoo artists getting to know each other.
The six male tattoo artists all had very cheerful personalities, each with their humor, creating laughter with just a few words.
They were concerned that Xu Zhinan might feel awkward, so they kept bringing her into the conversation. The interaction was very harmonious.
“Tattoo Tales” had 7 episodes in total. The production team had solicited tattoo stories and desired tattoo designs from the public in advance, selecting 7 stories.
Each tattoo client would tell the tattoo artists their story and requirements. Then each artist would create their design—a total of seven designs—and the client would choose the one they liked best to be tattooed.
The first tattoo client was a man who appeared to be in his thirties, with a refined appearance. He introduced himself as an engineer at a Fortune 500 company.
The place he wanted his tattoo was on the scalp above his ear, and he was even willing to shave his head for the tattoo.
Lu Xihe asked him why he wanted such a tattoo.
He explained that his daughter had a congenital ear disease and had to wear a cochlear implant. This father didn’t want his daughter to feel inferior or different from others, so he came up with the idea of getting a tattoo.
A tattoo that resembled his daughter’s cochlear implant.
After hearing the father’s story, everyone was deeply moved. After a brief discussion, they each began preparing their designs.
They were all professional tattoo artists who took their work seriously, and they all buried themselves in drawing.
After a while, there was suddenly a commotion outside the recording studio. Soon, a PD came in walking backward, the camera pointed at Lin Qingye.
Lin Qingye truly had a face that could charm anyone, especially compared to the six tattoo artists who were ordinary people with incomparable charisma.
Lin Qingye looked natural, placing seven cups of milk tea on the table: “Everyone take a break?”
Xu Zhinan: “…?”
When did he become so considerate?
The six tattoo artists didn’t understand Lin Qingye’s original personality and appeared very relaxed and calm. They each took a milk tea, said thanks, and then rather curiously asked a few questions about their relationship.
Lin Qingye answered with good temper.
They didn’t find it strange—except for Xu Zhinan, and except for the fans.
Half a month later, the first episode of “Tattoo Tales” aired.
In the bullet comments, everyone was initially moved by the tattoo story, but as soon as Lin Qingye appeared, the comments completely changed tone.
Hahahahahahaha oh my god! My scalp is tingling!! This can’t be the real Lin Qingye!!!
Approachable Lin Qingye! United and friendly Lin Qingye! Kind and gentle Lin Qingye!
Hahahahaha sure enough, the last time he reposted on Weibo, this brother was already prepared!
Ahhhhhhhhh mom my CP is giving sugar again!!
Brother, slow down with the sugar, slow down with the sugar, I’m dying of sweetness!
Lin Qingye, wake up! This isn’t a dating show!