Reborn as a comedic artist

Three sets of photos completed.

Cheng Ming let out a long sigh, revealing a tired expression, but he was trying hard to suppress a laugh.

"Alright, it's finally finished. I guess I've accomplished my mission..."

Lin Yiyi stopped, panting, and leaned closer expectantly, her large, watery eyes sparkling with starlight.

"Let me see! It must be beautiful...?"

Cheng Ming generously handed over the camera screen: "Of course, this is art."

Lin Yiyi took the camera and looked at the screen with great joy.

The next second, her smile froze.

The air seemed to stand still at that moment.

on the screen.

In the first photo, she is squatting on the ground like a refugee who has just escaped from a mental hospital, with her double chin squeezed into three layers.

In the second photo, taken with a wide-angle lens, her nose occupies a third of the frame, her pores are clearly visible, and her eyes look dull, like someone with an intellectual disability.

The third photo is even more outrageous. The moment it was taken was when she had her eyes closed and mouth open, with her hair all over her face, making her look like a stroke patient performing a ritual.

Lin Yiyi could hardly believe her eyes and rubbed them hard.

After a long pause, he finally came to his senses, took a deep breath, and looked up.

Those eyes, which had been filled with expectation after being fooled, were now burning with raging anger. The girl next door had instantly regressed and transformed into a "Sichuan-Chongqing Tyrannosaurus Rex!"

"The magician of light and shadow...!"

Lin Yiyi gritted her teeth and squeezed out these five words.

Cheng Ming took a half step back, maintaining a safe distance, and calmly said, "I am..."

"Is this the art you're talking about?"

"Look what you've photographed...!" Lin Yiyi held up her camera, feeling like she was about to explode with anger.

Cheng Ming looked completely innocent and spread his hands:

"Miss, don't be angry yet, let me explain. At first glance, this photo really isn't very good."

"You know it's not very good?!"

"but!"

Cheng Ming abruptly changed the subject, spouting nonsense with a straight face:

"If you look closely, you really can't look at it, but that's not my problem, that's just how you look..."

"???"

Lin Yiyi almost laughed out of anger, pointing to her own nose:

"This is what I look like? This is what I look like...?!"

"yes."

Cheng Ming began his logical loop with earnestness:

"Miss, you obviously use beauty filters too much. You live in a fantasy world."

I'm a photographer, not a magician. My job is to present reality. You should learn to reconcile with your true self.

"Reconcile with you?! Delete those photos! Now! Right now!"

Lin Yiyi blushed deeply, feeling her blood pressure soar and threatening to spiral out of control.

"Look, you wore the clothes, you did the makeup, you put on the false eyelashes, and I didn't even show the cakey makeup on your face, which is already being very lenient..." Cheng Ming continued to criticize.

"I, I, I'm on the Shu Road...!"

Lin Yiyi, unable to bear it any longer, roared and raised her small fist to punch Cheng Ming in the chest:

"Delete the photos! Or I'll smash your camera...!"

With lightning speed, Cheng Ming caught the camera and jumped back, shouting righteously, "Wait...!"

The loud voice startled Lin Yiyi, who froze in mid-air.

Cheng Ming straightened his collar, regaining his gentle and refined demeanor.

He raised a finger, smiled, and uttered the profound statement that would soon shake the entire photography world:

"Miss, although we got along very well..."

But every country has its laws, and every industry has its rules. Taking photos for free is for art, but deleting photos... costs fifty. After all, your looks are already running out of credit...

.............................

The air in Taikoo Li suddenly became quiet for a few seconds.

Lin Yiyi stared wide-eyed at the abstract, outrageously horrifying man before her.

She's lived for twenty years; she's seen people hit on her, ask for her WeChat, and even offer her a sports car.

But I've never seen anything like this before—they film people like ghosts and then demand money to delete the photos!

Lin Yiyi thought she had misheard: "You...what did you say?"

"I said, delete the photos, fifty yuan, WeChat and Alipay accepted..." Cheng Ming smiled and took out his phone to open the payment code.

"Are you out of your mind? You're the one who made me look bad in the photos, why should I pay you?"

Lin Yiyi's chest heaved violently with anger, and the sight of the rippling blue waves made the onlookers swallow hard.

"Hey, you're really going against your conscience by saying that..."

Cheng Ming shook his head, ignoring the issue, and began his sophistry.

"First of all, did I ask you before taking the photos? Did you agree to it? This is about the spirit of a contract."

"Secondly, your comment that the photos are ugly is a matter of subjective aesthetics."

From my artistic perspective, these photographs reveal the distortion and struggle of humanity under the heavy pressure of modern society.

It's a masterpiece of postmodern deconstruction. Look at this picture of someone rolling their eyes—how rebellious it is!

Cheng Ming pointed to a horrific photo on the camera screen and spoke eloquently about it.

Lin Yiyi was about to lose it: "Rebel my ass! Who takes artistic photos with their nostrils in them?!"

"That's to highlight how precious breathing is."

Cheng Ming remained unfazed:

"Finally, and most importantly,"

Cameras have a limited shutter life, memory cards experience wear and tear from writing data, and my time is money too.

"I've served you for free for so long, putting in all my labor, and now you want to destroy the fruits of my labor? Is it too much to ask for some compensation for lost wages and emotional distress...?"

More and more people gathered around.

People originally came to watch handsome men and beautiful women strike up conversations, but unexpectedly, the scene suddenly turned into a large-scale "extortion" incident.

"Holy crap, this guy's got talent!"

"Free photo taking and 50 yuan for photo deletion? This business model is absolutely brilliant!"

"The key point is that he can still spout nonsense with a straight face. Does being handsome really allow you to do whatever you want...?"

In the crowd, a tall, muscular figure holding a camera was pointing the lens in their direction; it was Wang Shuo, Cheng Ming's best friend from university.

We had originally planned to come to Taikoo Li together to shoot some footage, as a farewell gift.

But he forgot to take something halfway, so he had to turn back. He didn't expect that in the time it took him to go back and forth, Cheng Ming would cause such a big mess.

................

Lin Yiyi looked at the crowd pointing and whispering around her.

Although she was from Sichuan and Chongqing, she was still a girl and too shy to argue with this scoundrel any longer.

If those photos get out, she'll become a laughingstock, and she'll lose all face.

"Fine! Fifty, right? I'll give it to you...!"

Lin Yiyi gritted her teeth, took out her phone, and scanned the QR code in Cheng Ming's hand.

"Ding—50 yuan received via WeChat."

Taking photos is free, deleting 50 photos has been completed.

The system detected intense emotional fluctuations in the target subject, Lin Yiyi (anger, shame, helplessness), and completed a soul-stirring artistic photograph.

[Gained +100 Art Points!]

[Congratulations, host, on completing the beginner's mission! You have received a beginner's gift pack. Your past life's art skills are loading...!]

Cheng Ming showed no outward expression, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief. In front of Lin Yiyi, he frantically operated the camera with his fingers.

"Delete, confirm, all done. Honest and fair dealing, welcome back next time."

"You bastard! Don't let me see you again!"

Lin Yiyi glared fiercely at Cheng Ming, her eyes practically piercing him with hatred.

"You damn liar...! You look respectable, but you do awful things. I don't want to see you again...!"

After cursing, Lin Yiyi stomped her foot, covered her face, turned around and ran into the crowd, leaving Cheng Ming with an angry back view.

"Take care, and remember to leave a good review!" Cheng Ming waved goodbye.

..............................