In the blink of an eye, Christmas arrived. Meng Zihua’s studio was organizing another event, and this time, she specifically reserved a spot for Pei Yisheng.
“Don’t say your senior is adding chaos to your busy schedule; there are truly so many events at the end of the year that I simply can’t find enough people. Otherwise, I wouldn’t let this interfere with your school rehearsals,” Meng Zihua told Pei Yisheng over the phone. “It’s best if you can clear both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. These are both major events with great pay; you definitely won’t lose out by coming.”
Pei Yisheng had no complaints. He knew Meng Zihua had been helping him all along. “I understand, Senior. We’ve actually practiced quite a bit already. It’s fine for me to take a little leave. Oh, by the way, is Mibao behaving at your place? Last time I saw her, she was still mad at me.”
Mibao was the Ragdoll cat Pei Yisheng had fostered at Meng Zihua’s house.
After the Pei family went bankrupt, their house was mortgaged to pay the employees’ wages. Pei’s parents were abroad for medical treatment, and Pei Yisheng was attending school while working part-time. Initially, he intended to keep the cat with him, but living in the protagonist gong’s dormitory made him constantly anxious, fearing that one day the cat might just disappear.
When Meng Zihua found out, she took the cat in directly. “She’s quite good. She’s afraid of my Heihu. Usually, she lets me pet, hold, and kiss her she’s a kitty with excellent ‘cat virtue.’ I told you last time, don’t take her to get neutered yourself. You insisted on going, and then you didn’t even act the part [to trick her]. She definitely holds a grudge against you now.”
“Well, it was my first time. Who knew she had such a big temper?” Pei Yisheng had finally managed to find some time when his senior mentioned the cat was in heat and needed to be fixed. Meng Zihua was busy then, so he had taken the cat himself. When the cat woke up, she nearly picked a fight with him. Since then, every time he went to visit, she ignored him.
Before this, Mibao was a total “spoiled brat” who loved to brush her big tail against people’s legs.
“Just feed her more delicious treats, and she’ll get close to you again.”
Pei Yisheng could only hope so. After hanging up, he felt a bit nostalgic for the days when Mibao slept beside him.
If not for the upheaval in the Pei family, Mibao probably wouldn’t have been taken to get neutered by him.
His mother, Lin Xuerong, was soft-hearted. Every time she heard Mibao meowing in distress during heat, she’d say they should fix her, but as soon as the heat passed, she’d say Mibao had it hard enough and shouldn’t have to go under the knife. After wavering back and forth like that, the surgery eventually became unavoidable; he didn’t want to cause trouble for his senior.
Because Pei Yisheng had mentioned the cat, Meng Zihua specifically asked him to come over to her house on Christmas Eve to see her.
Mibao crouched haughtily on the rug, not making the slightest move to greet anyone.
The moment Pei Yisheng entered, he was drawn to the big fluffy “bread loaf.” “Mibao, baby, come find your brother!”
Mibao twitched her little ears, turned her head, and lay down even more comfortably.
Pei Yisheng was helpless. Seeing his defeated look, Meng Zihua laughed out loud. “You don’t understand, do you? You should try some ‘forced love’ on her.”
“Better not. She’s sleeping well; I won’t disturb her.” Pei Yisheng snapped a bunch of photos and videos. “I’ll coax her properly next time when I have more time.”
Meng Zihua didn’t comment. After tidying up, she and Pei Yisheng headed to the studio.
He had two days of work involving three jobs. One was a repeat order the “Madame” character he had cosplayed before. Besides that, there were two game characters, both “goddess-level.” Meng Zihua said he needed to use some “props” [padding].
Pei Yisheng looked plain before entering the room, but he came out with an hourglass figure.
His face turned bright red; he didn’t even dare to look down. Seeing him, Meng Zihua teased, “Still just a kid, aren’t you?”
Pei Yisheng curled his lips. “Senior, stop making fun of me. I’m not used to this.”
He couldn’t even see the path beneath his feet properly.
Meng Zihua patted his shoulder seriously. “Shengsheng, believe in yourself. Your potential is limitless. You have no idea how beautiful you are. I guarantee the camera flashes today will all be for you.”
Pei Yisheng’s natural conditions were too good he had the height, the long legs, and such a slender waist. He was practically a “natural saintly body” for cosplaying mature female characters.
After having glossy lip glaze applied, Pei Yisheng studied himself in the mirror.
It was magical. Just by slightly altering the eye shape, changing the lip line, and swapping the hairstyle, a person could transform into a completely different version of themselves.
When he wasn’t speaking, Pei Yisheng couldn’t even tell the person in the mirror was himself.
Just as Meng Zihua had said, the camera flashes that night nearly blinded him.
He heard many people calling his name. By the time they shouted “Yiyi,” Pei Yisheng was already skilled enough to provide “fan service.”
The scene was hot enough that the organizers were extremely satisfied, even wanting to treat Pei Yisheng and the others to dinner. Meng Zihua handled the networking professionally and let Pei Yisheng leave first.
While he was still on the road, Pei Yisheng’s new look went viral.
Seeing his ranking rise on the trending searches, Pei Yisheng called Su Yiyi in a panic. “They won’t find out it’s me, will they?”
“Probably not. The senior’s studio management is quite good. Although you do stand out, it shouldn’t result in a ‘human flesh search’ [doxxing]. Mainly, you don’t have any scandals, and your physical stats are right there. You’re not some ‘mud that can’t stick to the wall’ [hopeless person]. There’s no benefit to exposing you.”
“That’s good then. At the very least, I need to wait until I move out of the dorm.”
This was Pei Yisheng’s bottom line. Fortunately, there were only three days left until the New Year’s Eve performance. Once he returned from the holiday and calculated his grade points combined with his hard work over the past six months moving out of the dorm was within sight!
The closer it got to the critical moment, the more cautious Pei Yisheng became. He confirmed one by one that Song Wen and Wen Xiuyun had plans on New Year’s Eve. He hadn’t seen Qin Zhou for two days and had no way to ask directly, so he indirectly pried information out of Lin Jiahu. Learning that Qin Zhou wasn’t coming back either, he was overjoyed.
Thus, on the day of the performance, Pei Yisheng was very relaxed. The overall performance was superb, and the hall echoed with thunderous applause. Before the program was even halfway through, the host waiting backstage said, “We knew you guys were talented during rehearsals, but this time the effect is even better. Your award is practically set in stone.”
Pei Yisheng followed behind the guiding teacher, listening to the teacher’s humble replies.
Because there were many programs and time was tight, they had to find their own places to remove makeup and change clothes. Pei Yisheng and Su Yiyi were no longer interested in the performances they had seen many times during rehearsals. Feeling that they might as well go back and sleep, the two of them simply removed their wigs, threw on long down jackets, and headed back to the dormitory.
Pei Yisheng hummed a little tune from the show as he bent over to take off his shoes.
The shoes were off, but the hardest part was the clothes. For the best effect, this outfit was form-fitting, and the zipper was on the back. He curved his arm behind him, hooking at it for a long time, but he couldn’t pull it down, only succeeding in breaking into a sweat.
Just as he was thinking about calling Su Yiyi over, the door opened.
Pei Yisheng turned around completely off-guard, crashing straight into Qin Zhou’s eyes, which were as dark as ink.
For a moment, Pei Yisheng’s heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest.
Qin Zhou tilted his head slightly, as if integrating some information. His movements as he stepped into the dormitory one pace at a time were as if he were afraid of startling someone.
Pei Yisheng swallowed hard. As Qin Zhou approached, he stepped back bit by bit until there was nowhere left to retreat, his back pressing against the desk. He opened his mouth but hesitated, not knowing what to say to break the eerie atmosphere.
Compared to Pei Yisheng’s panicked state, Qin Zhou was much more composed. No wonder he had lost the person even after chasing them to the door last time; so this was how it was.
He accepted the truth that the long-haired girl was his beautiful roommate without any reservation. He even thought, somewhat belatedly, that the very first things he had found beautiful were Pei Yisheng’s legs and feet.
“Pei Yisheng, have you ever seen a long-haired girl? Chestnut-colored micro-curls, very tall, wearing a white short skirt… very beautiful?” Qin Zhou closed in until his face was almost touching Pei Yisheng’s. “Hmm?”
This was the image Qin Zhou had reviewed countless times. He had sketched it in his mind over and over, almost reaching the point of hiring someone to draw it so he could search for her. Afterward, he had even looked for that car, but unfortunately, the school surveillance was terrible and the license plate was illegible in the rainy night. Looking outside the school would have been too much of a commotion, and Qin Zhou hadn’t been quite that desperate yet.
Now, it truly was “finding it without any effort.”
Pei Yisheng, his cheek pressed by Qin Zhou’s high nose bridge, tried to dodge uncomfortably. The next second, he was locked by Qin Zhou’s waist, his chin grabbed and forced back, and he was even intimately nuzzled against the tip of his nose.
He also lost his temper, biting his lip and saying stubbornly, “No, didn’t see her, don’t know.”
He pressed his palms against Qin Zhou’s chest, pushing hard, but he couldn’t move him.
Qin Zhou even intentionally flexed his chest muscles. Furious, Pei Yisheng turned his face away again and scolded with false bravado, “What kind of hooligan are you being!”
“Is that so? But aren’t you a guy? How can this be considered being a hooligan? You’re the one who put your hands on me; I didn’t force you.” The corners of Qin Zhou’s mouth curled into a clear arc. He clearly enjoyed Pei Yisheng’s pitiful helplessness; even when Pei Yisheng called him a hooligan, Qin Zhou took it all with an indifferent smile.
Pei Yisheng’s brain felt like it was filled with mushy paste. He couldn’t win a verbal fight and he couldn’t run; Qin Zhou’s arms had encircled him the moment he first tried to bolt. Aside from pounding on Qin Zhou and hurting his own hands, he was completely powerless to resist.
No wonder Qin Zhou could be an “outlaw” in the original plot; this physical combat power was just too damn high.
“Look clearly, I’m a guy! There is no one here that you’re looking for!”
Qin Zhou nodded, then repeated his search criteria. “Then may I ask, have you seen a beautiful boy? On the last rainy night of this year, wearing a white cake-style short skirt, who slipped into our dormitory?”
Pei Yisheng glared at him, puffing out his cheeks in anger.
Qin Zhou let out a soft laugh and leaned close to Pei Yisheng’s ear. Staring at the earlobe that was growing redder and redder, he exerted extreme restraint to suppress the urge to kiss it. He threatened in a low, playful voice: “You don’t want everyone to know, do you?”
Pei Yisheng continued to glare. What nonsense was this? He had nothing that couldn’t be seen by others!
As if hearing his internal monologue, Qin Zhou feigned surprise. “Is that so? Then why change in secret? You’re clearly dressed so beautifully; why try to hide it?”
It was as if he had unlocked some forbidden switch. He pressed against Pei Yisheng’s ear, which was red like a piece of jade, and took a sharp bite. Just as Pei Yisheng’s hand swung to slap him, he pulled back just enough to maintain a safe distance.
Staring at the fingers that had just grazed his nose, Qin Zhou took an imperceptible deep breath and asked with a smile:
“Just why is that?”