Looking at the spacious and bright room, with the vast and modern city on one side and the lush, dense forest on the other, Lu Ke felt a sense of his own insignificance, bowing before nature. At the same time, it felt as if he was standing on top of the world, with all the mountains at his feet.

He took a deep breath of fresh air, and his chest felt completely refreshed.

Standing to the side, Leigh watched Lu Ke quietly, catching the excitement and enthusiasm in his eyes and nodding in satisfaction. He knew Lu Ke would love it here.

"From now on, this will be your home," Leigh said with a smile, then continued, "I've arranged for a cleaner to come on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays after ten in the morning. You don't have to worry about cleaning and maintaining the house."

The schedule showed how considerate Leigh was. At ten in the morning, Lu Ke would typically have already left for the training facility. Even if he was occasionally resting at home, the time after ten o'clock would not disturb his rest.

"If you have a party or a special situation and need to cancel the cleaning for the next day, just let me know a day in advance. I'll give you her contact information later, and you can contact her directly," Leigh had clearly considered all possibilities. "Also, I've already arranged for the house's security. They'll come tomorrow to install the alarm and monitoring systems."

"Monitoring systems?" Lu Ke looked surprised. He was just a rookie, not a top-tier superstar. Was a monitoring system a bit of an exaggeration?

"The paparazzi will do anything for a story. The best-case scenario is that we won't need it," Leigh had his own considerations, especially after the negative news bombshells surrounding Ben Roethlisberger. He needed to be more cautious. "Don't worry, it won't affect your private life. They'll only be installed around the house."

Looking at the serious-looking Leigh, Lu Ke felt he was a bit out of sync.

Leigh chuckled and patted Lu Ke's shoulder. Without explaining further, he changed the subject. "Now, go unpack your luggage, organize your room, and get familiar with your new home. If something is too tedious or too tiring, leave it for tomorrow or another day. You'll make this house a home little by little."

Lu Ke laughed cheerfully. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this afternoon's work. Besides, shooting a commercial isn't physically demanding, is it? It's just standing in front of a camera and posing. There's no need to worry so much, it's not like we're joining a Bear Grylls team."

The lighthearted joke made Leigh smile knowingly. He didn't argue and just said with a smile, "You go and get busy. I need to sit down and rest for a while. I'm getting old and can't stand for too long."

Today was the first day of the bye week, but Lu Ke's life hadn't slowed down. Instead, it had entered a different kind of busy mode.

In the morning, he moved into his new home. In the afternoon, Lu Ke would be participating in the first round of advertising for Under Armour.

Three weeks ago, Lu Ke signed a contract with Under Armour, getting the first endorsement deal of his life.

However, during this time, the regular season was in full swing, and Lu Ke couldn't find the time to do the Under Armour shoot. It was mainly for print ads and a short video to officially announce that Lu Ke had joined the Under Armour family.

Tomorrow, Lu Ke had a series of interviews, including for magazines, radio, and newspapers, as well as some magazine photo shoots. On one hand, it was an official interview from the NFL, which officially established Lu Ke's foothold in the league as a rookie quarterback. On the other hand, it was because of the spotlight that came with a 5-1 record, which exposed him even more.

The day after tomorrow morning, Under Armour would hold an official press conference to formally introduce Lu Ke's debut.

In just sixty hours, Lu Ke's schedule was completely packed, with no time to breathe.

The reason why his schedule was so urgent, tight, and packed wasn't because of short-sightedness but because of time management.

This week was the San Francisco 49ers' bye week, and the real purpose of the bye week was for the team to relax and adjust. But there was simply too much work surrounding Lu Ke to be completed.

For other rookie players, there were two months before the preseason to complete the pre-league work. But Lu Ke, who was called into action before the regular season, didn't have that luxury. If Leigh and the 49ers' team manager, Trent Baalke, hadn't kept a clear head and put up a blockade, the work would have already drowned Lu Ke during the regular season.

Now that the bye week had finally arrived, the accumulated work came flooding in.

However, to leave enough time for rest and to avoid affecting the next week's training and preparation, Leigh tried his best to schedule all the work in the first half of the bye week. The second half of the bye week would be left for Lu Ke to relax and adjust, to avoid any further disturbances. After all, the games and training were the main priority.

As a result, Lu Ke was facing one of the most physically demanding periods of his professional career.

...

At two in the afternoon, Lu Ke, accompanied by Leigh, arrived at the studio in the Castro district.

It was an abandoned warehouse with drab cement walls. Even the abandoned pickup truck parked next to it was covered in thick dust, as if it had been there for a century. Inside, he could see exposed pipes and graffiti all over the walls, filled with a street-style casualness and artistry.

This reminded Lu Ke of Candace's workplace. So this was the kind of environment where those stunning photo shoots were created, with a strong post-modern style that fully displayed the freedom and casualness of artistic creation.

From then on, everything entered a completely new phase. Compared to the morning, this was the real Alice in Wonderland.

A photoshoot isn't as simple as a model standing in front of a camera and posing while a photographer clicks the shutter.

Before the actual shooting, just the changing and makeup phase takes at least thirty minutes. For a female model, three hours is normal. In addition, the photographer also needs to measure and adjust the lighting, determine the theme of the shoot, arrange the background, and communicate with the model. These professional procedures also take a lot of time.

Once the shooting begins, it's not enough to just stand still and pose. For a specific pose, the photographer needs to capture a creative spark. The model might have to hold a pose for three to five minutes, with small adjustments being made. The key is that the process of artistic creation isn't a science.

"More in your eyes, more... turn slightly towards me, good, a little more, a little more, wait, too much, go back a bit, still not enough in your eyes, more, sharper, get into game mode, no no, fierceness, I need fierceness... not a frown, but fierceness, fierceness...

Stick your chest out more, stomach in, chest out, like a little poplar tree... come on, come on, chin up five degrees, just five degrees is enough... arm back a little, and shoulders back a bit, as if the spring breeze is bending the wheat, just a little, a little bit back is enough..."

Standing in front of the camera, Lu Ke felt as if his body was no longer his own, completely out of control. He understood every single word the photographer said, but when they were all put together, he couldn't understand a single thing. What did "more in your eyes" mean? And "how do you measure five degrees?" And what kind of state was "a little poplar tree?"

Lu Ke wasn't sure how to show "fierceness," but he was pretty sure that if this went on, he might actually become fierce.

He originally thought that static poses were the most difficult, with all the subtle adjustments that he couldn't control or even understand what the photographer meant. So, dynamic poses with movement would be simpler. But he quickly realized that he was too young and too naive.

"Run, yes, from left to right, again, run back... start the throw, no, no, don't actually throw the football, freeze at the moment the ball is about to leave your hand... that pose isn't good. Like a slow-motion replay, do a long-pass motion, chest out more, and take a slightly bigger step with your feet... good, get your whole body moving, give me some dynamism, give me some sunshine... eyes, don't forget your eyes!"

Lu Ke clenched his teeth tightly. He had a strong feeling that in the next second, he might just throw the football at the photographer's face.

This wasn't a photoshoot; it was torture.

Now, Lu Ke finally understood what Leigh meant.

A photoshoot was definitely a physical workout. In just an hour, they hadn't even finished shooting the first outfit. During that time, because Lu Ke was sweating profusely, he had to change into a new outfit, and they had to start shooting again.

In comparison, Lu Ke would rather run for an hour or train his passing for an hour. Standing in the studio for an hour felt longer than a century. Lu Ke had ten thousand respects for Candace's work. This was simply not a job for a normal person.

Indeed, everyone has their own expertise. He was better suited for the football field, not the photo studio.

After seventy minutes, the shoot for the first outfit was finally over. Lu Ke was drenched in sweat, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. He dragged his exhausted body to the rest area. After a short rest, he would dive into the shoot for the second outfit.

That's when Lu Ke saw Stephen Curry sitting in the rest area.

The New Year's bell is about to ring, waka kaka!

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