The eight dashing, handsome men—four adults and four small boys, participating in the fun activities caused a massive stir at the kindergarten. After one of the teachers uploaded a video of them playing with each other on the Internet, the number of followers on her social media account grew at an astounding rate.
Netizens all over the city sent private messages to the teacher asking her to upload more videos of the four little boys from the Huo family.
Some ambitious agent even made the mistake of asking Matthew whether he would allow his sons to make a public appearance at a dinner party.
It only took one cold glance from Matthew's eyes for the agent to make himself scarce almost immediately.
Just as Matthew had promised, after the autumn sports meeting of the four boys, he took Erica to M Country for a few days so she could take as many photos of the aurora as her heart desired.
After returning from a refreshing vacation at M Country, Erica went straight to work with her camera.
At the studio, Erica kept pressing the shutter, fingers dressed in a pair of white gloves. "Move a little to the right...move...move..."
"Erica Li!" The subject of Erica's photography, a ravishing beauty, called out to her angrily.
Erica pulled her face away from the camera and replied, "Miss Xia, you are so impatient! I feel bad for all the photographers that have had to work with you in the past!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Noreen glared at her angrily.
If it weren't for the fact that Dylan's previous group of photos had caused a sensation, Noreen wouldn't have been forced to ask her agent to contact EM.
However, it wasn't actually EM that Noreen had a problem with. She was just mad because no one had told her before that the best photographer in the industry right now was Erica.
"Do you want your photos taken or not? I don't have time to waste on you. There are still many people who are waiting for me to take photos of them!" Erica sneered. The contempt in her words clearly indicated that she did not even want to be in the same room as Noreen as the two of them were rivals in love. However, Erica couldn't let Matthew lose his face to Noreen for her sake.
Erica realized it would be better to rely on herself and figure things out on her own.
With an air of arrogance around her, Noreen rolled her eyes at Erica and said, "I'm thirsty. I need to take a break. Somebody, please get me a bottle of water."
The male assistant who was on standby next to her immediately brought a bottle of water, and considerately unscrewed the cap before handing the bottle to her.
After resting for more than ten minutes, Noreen didn't feel like continuing the shoot. Instead, she leaned back on the lounge chair and started playing games on her phone.
Having lost her patience, Erica quickly glanced at her wristwatch and stood up. "If you don't wish to continue, I can send someone else to take your photos. But you'll still have to pay what we've agreed."
Noreen smirked at her contemptuously and retorted in a cold voice, "Why should I pay you if you're not going to take my photos? Are you really that hard up for money?"
"You are the one who asked for me. I could easily be working with my other clients right now. You may have nothing better to do than to waste my time, but I don't have time to waste on you," Erica said in a cold voice.
"Did I hire you to act in such an unprofessional manner?" Noreen knew that she wouldn't get a chance like this to bully Erica again, so she was ready to make the most of the situation.
Instead of getting angry, however, Erica smiled and said, "Unprofessional? You know what? Miss Xia, my fists are itching to punch something. Would you like to take some hits for me?"
As the two quarreled, the atmosphere in the studio began to intensify. In utter disbelief, Noreen looked at her and asked, "Erica, is this how Mrs. Huo is expected to act? You are threatening to beat me. Where are your manners?"
"I don't need to be civil with an unscrupulous person like you. You want to talk about manner? Why don't you come here and I'll show you what manners are with my fists?" Erica said as she took off the camera strap from her neck and quickly pulled out her gloves before throwing them on the table. She was just getting ready to teach Noreen a lesson.
Fortunately, there were several other employees in the studio. When they noticed that Erica was just about to make a scene, they rushed over to stop her.
Some of them started blaming Noreen. "Miss Xia, this sort of behavior is something we didn't expect from you. How could you act like this when Mrs. Huo took the time to take your photos?"
With a ferocious glare at the speaker's face, Noreen said, "Who do you think you are? How dare you say that to me!"
Just then, Noreen's phone rang.
Erica caught the subtle yet noticeable change of expression on Noreen's face when she saw who the caller was. Then, after Noreen took a deep breath, she exited the studio with her phone to her face.
"Miss Xia... Miss Xia!" The assistant called her name several times, but Noreen didn't respond.
With an embarrassed look on his face, the assistant then turned around to face Erica and stammered, "Mrs. Huo... I'm so sorry..."
However, Erica's attention was completely focused on Noreen's phone call. She waved at Noreen's assistant perfunctorily and said, "Don't worry about it. Please, excuse me, I'll be back."
"Okay, thank you, Mrs. Huo. I'm really sorry." The assistant was very grateful to Erica for not taking offense in Noreen's behavior, while he cursed at Noreen silently.
When Erica stepped out of the studio, she immediately looked around and found Noreen disappearing into a corner with her phone.
Erica took out her phone and pretended to make a call.
Before long, she could hear Noreen's voice which meant that she was getting closer. "Ask them to unload the goods from the ship, and wait for my orders..."
Just then, a voice came from behind and took Erica by surprise. "Mrs. Huo, it's really you. Nice to meet you!"
Erica's heart skipped a beat as she quickly put the phone back to her ear before turning around and yelling at the person. "Hello, I'm here to answer a phone call!"
"Well, Mrs. Huo, please go on ahead with your call."
Erica nodded and pretended to be talking to the other end of the line. She continued to walk inside with her phone, as if she didn't know that there was a woman in the room. "I don't know either. Well, how about..."
Suddenly, Erica turned around and noticed Noreen, who was staring at her expressionlessly, with a hint of malice in her eyes.
The two looked at each other with great intensity. This time, Erica rolled her eyes at her and walked away.
When Noreen came back, Erica was already waiting for her. When she saw the woman coming in, Erica said angrily, "Where have you been? I'm giving you another chance. If you don't want to continue, I'll leave!"
Noreen's eyes swept over her face. Soon, Erica felt guilty as soon as Noreen took a few glances at her. She covered her guilt with impatience. "What are you looking at? Don't you hear what I said?"
An awkward silence permeated the air in the studio. This was the first time anyone who worked with Noreen watched someone else treat her like that. In fact, they had to admit that they felt great when Erica treated Noreen like that.
Although Noreen's agent was furious at Erica's attitude, it didn't matter. Since Noreen herself didn't want to fight back, her agent decided to avoid more problems.
This time, Noreen didn't argue with Erica. She returned to the front of the camera and continued to shoot with Erica.
After an hour and half, an exhausted Erica put down her camera and waved at Noreen's agent. "I'll go back to edit these photos on Photoshop. I'll give them to you in a week."
As she started to pack her equipment in her bag, a bodyguard quickly came over to help carry the camera bag and walked out of the studio.
The driver opened the car door for Erica. Just as she was about to get in, she was stopped. "Erica Li!" someone called out. Erica could tell that it was Noreen without turning back.
Erica turned around and looked at Noreen in confusion. "Isn't the shooting over? What is it now?"
With an unreadable smile on her face, Noreen walked towards her and said, "There's a coffee shop next door. Why don't we go there? I'd like to invite you to a cup of coffee, Mrs. Huo."