As the audience sat quietly in the dark, the lights came on and music started playing. Then Xu Tianqi, 22, appeared on the catwalk in his fantasy world of modeling.
观众们静静地坐在黑暗中，灯光亮了起来，音乐随之响起，22岁的胥添麒出现在他梦寐以求的走秀T台上。
The junior student is majoring in fashion performance and marketing at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. Last month, the 1.90-meter-tall student flew to Los Angeles for a competition organized by the International Modeling and Talent Association. He came second.
胥添麒是来自浙江理工大学时装表演与营销专业大三学生。上个月，这位身高1.9米的大学生飞往洛杉矶参加了一场由国际模特达人协会举办的比赛，并获得了亚军。
Ever since winning his first prize at the Shanghai International Model Competition in October, Xu’s life has not been the same.
自从在上海国际模特大赛中获得冠军之后，胥添麒的生活就变得不再寻常了。
“I had worked very hard for three years to become a model,” said Xu. “When I saw the shyness in the other competitors’ eyes, I felt confident in my heart because I had practiced for a long time for that moment.”
胥添麒说：“三年时间里，我努力想要成为一名模特。当看到其他参赛者眼中的羞怯时，我心中就充满了自信，因为我为了那一刻已经训练了很长时间。”
People see him as a green hand in the modeling industry, but Xu knows exactly how much he has devoted to the trade.
在人们眼中，胥添麒是模特界的新人，但是他清楚自己为了这份事业倾注了多少汗水。
Xu first began to attend training courses to become a professional model in the last year of senior high school. Before that he studied the piano, but he struggled with music theory.
胥添麒从高三便开始参加专业模特培训课程，此前他一直主修钢琴，但是他总是同那些乐理知识格格不入。
“I had to develop a special skill. Since I was over 1.85 meters in height, I decided to learn modeling,” said Xu.
胥添麒说：“我必须拥有一技之长，因为那时我身高已经超过1.85米，于是我决定学习模特课程。”
He once attended a training school in Harbin for three months, where he learned how to walk, stand and even dance. After enrolling into his university, Xu was in no hurry to attend competitions, but he still practiced the most basic modeling skills.
他曾在哈尔滨的一家培训学校训练了3个月的时间，在那里他学会了台步、站姿甚至还有舞蹈。升入大学后，胥添麒并不急于参加比赛，而是仍坚持训练一些最基本的模特技能。
“To make my legs straight, I stood against a wall with a piece of paper between my legs and the wall for at least one hour every day,” said Xu. “If the paper fell down, I kept standing for an extra 15 minutes.”
“为了让腿挺直，我每天都会练习‘靠墙功’，在腿和墙之间夹上一张纸，至少要站上一个小时。如果纸掉了，就得多站一刻钟。”
He also did body building four days a week and practiced walking on the dormitory roof.
每周胥添麒还会进行四天的形体训练，在宿舍楼顶练习走台步。
In order to keep fit, Xu didn’t allow himself to eat big meals. “To maintain a balanced diet, I avoided any greasy, fried and high-starch foods. My list of banned foods included meat, noodles, steamed buns and potato chips,” said Xu.
为保持体形，胥添麒不允许自己吃得太多。他说：“为了保持平衡膳食，我不吃油腻、油炸或者淀粉含量高的食物。我的食物黑名单上包括：肉、面条、馒头和薯条。”
He learned how the models for top brands moved by watching video clips of fashion shows. But he also practiced by taking part-time jobs. So far, Xu has modeled in shopping malls and shot advertisements for small stores on Taobao, an online shopping website. Sometimes he even did so for free to gain experience.
他通过观看时装秀的视频剪辑，来学习大牌秀场上的模特是如何走秀的。但是他还是会利用做兼职的机会来训练自己。到目前为止，胥添麒在商场里走过秀，为淘宝小店拍过广告。有时候他甚至为积累经验而免费走秀。
Now, two of the world’s top 10 model agencies have contacted Xu, but he’s still considering which one to pick.
目前，已经有两家排名世界前10的模特经济公司向胥添麒抛出橄榄枝，至于选择哪家，他还尚在考虑之中。
“When I make my decision, I hope the agency will help me audition for the coming New York Fashion Week. That is what I desire most in the short term,” said Xu.
胥添麒说：“当我最后做出决定时，我希望我的经纪公司能帮我安排接下来纽约时装周的试镜。这是我短期内最期待的事情了。”
Few models have such a good educational background as Xu and he believes that his studies will not go to waste. In fact, Xu reads a lot in his spare time. When he flew back from Los Angeles, there was a copy of Steve Jobs’ autobiography in his luggage.
很少有模特能拥有像胥添麒一样良好的教育背景，他坚信自己不会荒废学业。实际上，胥添麒在业余时间经常读书。当他从洛杉矶飞回国时，行李箱里还放着一本乔布斯自传。
“People always think that models make a living only with their face and body, but being cultivated is very important,” said Xu. “You need to know about fashion, history, society as well as people’s emotions. So when a photographer asks you for a historic pose, you can easily reproduce it.”
“人们总是认为模特光靠脸蛋和身材吃饭，但是个人修养也很关键。你需要了解时尚、历史、社会以及情感。只有这样，当摄影师要求你来摆出一个历史感极强的姿势时，你才能够轻而易举地重现出来。”