Hearing the words “this Saturday” at a time like this, Wen Xiaozhi burst into a sudden screech. Zhu Qing immediately clamped a hand down to quiet her excited, songbird-like roommate, then waved her other hand to signal Fang Kegui to go on.
“Do you still have the outfit for that character you cosplayed during the anime club’s recruitment drive?” Fang Kegui raised her delicate eyebrows.
Zhu Qing recalled the only time she had ever tried her hand at cosplay. Back then, it had been partly out of love for the character, and partly to help recruit new members for the club.
“All you need to do is wear that outfit, stay completely in character, and go out with a female client. Eat meals, carry her bags, go shopping, and provide emotional support—and you’ll get paid for it.”
Zhu Qing rubbed her temples. “The gig you’re describing is called a ‘rental commission,’ right?”
Fang Kegui’s eyes widened. “Oho, you actually know about that?”
“I do surf the web, you know.” With that, she turned around to rummage through her closet for clothes to wear indoors, leaving behind a flat rejection: “Not going.”
In truth, she had already made up her mind before Fang Kegui even brought up the favor. On this bizarre upcoming Saturday, she wasn’t going anywhere. She was determined to lie low and dodge this ominous day entirely.
“Heh.” Fang Kegui crossed her arms over her chest, uttering a few words with utter confidence: “This gig pays five thousand a day.”
“I’m in,” Zhu Qing caved instantly.
After all, on a day where one could make five thousand yuan, how bad of a day could it possibly be?
During their subsequent back-and-forth, Zhu Qing got the general picture. This was a commission recommended by a friend of Fang Kegui’s family, and the price offered was far above market rate. Zhu Qing figured it was probably just how open-minded, wealthy families passed pocket money to their kids.
As for why the requested person turned out to be Zhu Qing—it was because out of the cluster of photos Fang Kegui had posted on her social media account, the client had picked out one of Zhu Qing. In that photo, she happened to be cosplaying a white-haired female character.
“The picture was you in the first place, and by handing this gig off to you, I don’t even have to buy new gear. How about I just charge you a fifteen-hundred finder’s fee?” Fang Kegui fluttered her pretty eyes eagerly. Most people would be dazzled by those starry eyes of hers, but Zhu Qing had never agreed to anything because of them; in fact, she usually just rolled her eyes at her.
This time was different, though. Zhu Qing gave her a high five with a smile, sealing the deal. After all, on a day where she could net three thousand five hundred yuan, how bad of a day could it possibly be?
And so, Zhu Qing spent the night cramming two hundred rules for being a qualified rental companion.
Prepare gifts, arrange itineraries according to the budget, plan surprises, manufacture romance…
This is way too much, Zhu Qing thought, scratching her head. Just as she was about to close out the articles, she remembered the pay rate and decided she still needed to maintain a bit of professional ethics.
After another round of cramming, she was finally mentally prepared. With a mix of anticipation and trepidation, she added the client’s social media account.
The person’s display name was: Fuguang (Bright Light).
The profile picture was a photo of someone’s back, wearing a slate-blue windbreaker, her long black hair gently lifted by the wind against the backdrop of Iceland’s famous red houses.
Zhu Qing had been to that place, too, and had taken a photo from almost the exact same angle. Driven by a strange impulse, she flipped through her album and dug out her own picture. In hers, she was facing the camera, wearing goggles, smiling with reckless abandon.
Two photos taken in the same location at different times with entirely different vibes gave her an eerie sense of fate. Was this the client she was going to meet on Saturday?
She couldn’t help recalling Wen Xiaozhi’s nonsensical fortune-telling, feeling a wave of unease and a strange itch blooming in her heart. It felt as though she had a cat stowed in her pocket—restlessly kicking and scratching, impossible to chase away.
While brainwashing herself, this is just to get a better read on the client’s personality, she began scrolling through Fuguang’s Moments feed.
Visible for one year, but not a single post in the past twelve months.
Furthermore, it had been five hours since they added each other, and the other party hadn’t sent a single reply. What a mysterious person.
The chat window remained stuck on her own opening message:
Hello, I am Yuese. When it’s convenient, please feel free to review the following questionnaire document. I will arrange a suitable itinerary for you based on your preferences. [Attachment]
The name “Yuese” (Moonlight) was the codename of the character she was cosplaying. To give the client a better sense of immersion, she had chosen to slip into character right from the online interactions.
As for the attached document, it was a preference survey she had drafted in advance. That way, she could maintain an element of surprise for the specific itinerary while gathering enough info to make a thoughtful plan—it was practically perfect.
Yet all of it had been ignored by the other side. Unable to gather any more information, an unaccountable feeling of disappointment washed over her.
Just then, Fang Kegui, who was applying a sheet mask at her desk below the bunk, suddenly remembered something and spoke up sheepishly, “By the way, the absolute biggest taboo in our line of work is…” She burst into laughter, leaving the second half of her sentence unsaid.
But Zhu Qing knew full well that the second half was falling in love with the client.
She had no interest in responding to Fang Kegui’s sudden burst of “well-meaning” advice, merely rolling her eyes in secret.
From Tuesday all the way to Friday, that chat window remained completely clear and quiet, without a single byte of activity. Just as Zhu Qing was in the middle of a meeting at the campus news center, her phone suddenly vibrated. Fearing she might miss something, she pulled out her phone right away, only to see a message flashing across her screen:
Fuguang: Apologies, I’ve been extremely busy these past few days. Are you free to head out this Saturday? I have already arranged the itinerary. [Location Shared]
Zhu Qing raised an eyebrow at the shared location. Nudging Fang Kegui’s arm beside her, she murmured under her breath, “The client arranged everything herself. Is that normal?”
Fang Kegui replied, “It happens.”
“Are people hiring companions these days this rich? The restaurant she sent averages nearly two thousand per head. Is this coming out of the commission fee, or am I paying out of pocket?”
Fang Kegui had been playing Auto Chess with her tablet propped on her lap, but upon hearing the price tag, her eyebrows shot up. “Number one handsome girl of the journalism department, hand over the phone! Let me see what the client looks like.”
“Nope,” Zhu Qing smiled faintly. “She’s my client now. I have to protect her privacy.”
Zhu Qing watched with an even broader smile as Fang Kegui pouted and began dramatically mimicking what she had just said, after which she couldn’t help swaying her legs in high spirits.
Perhaps out of anticipation for the new job and novel experience, she couldn’t fall asleep the entire night on Friday, tossing and turning in bed until Fang Kegui yanked her up at six in the morning to do her makeup.
By nine o’clock, Wen Xiaozhi rubbed her sleepy eyes, looking at Zhu Qing, who was already fully dressed and styled.
She was wearing a casual outfit from a collaborative release between the game and a milk tea brand—a trench coat paired with an asymmetrical A-line skirt that was shorter in the front and longer in the back.
The tailoring was sleek, and paired with leather boots with modest heels, it accentuated her tall, one-hundred-and-seventy-eight-centimeter frame, making her look exceptionally long-legged and slender. The long white wig had been styled beforehand by Fang Kegui herself, fitting her face contours perfectly; matched with blue contact lenses and her makeup, it added a touch of cool detachment to Zhu Qing’s naturally striking, somewhat sharp face, while staying remarkably faithful to the game character.
“Wearing this outfit when you meet your true love today, your chances of sweeping her off her feet are sky-high!” Wen Xiaozhi had a look of earnest conviction that practically screamed trust me.
And so, Zhu Qing found herself pushed out the door amidst her own rebuttals to the little fortune teller’s claims and Fang Kegui’s self-absorbed bragging about her makeup skills.
The client had set the meeting time and instructed Zhu Qing to simply wait at the university gate. Out of politeness, Zhu Qing arrived half an hour early, standing quietly at the entrance while holding the welcome gift she had prepared.
In a city known for its extreme tolerance especially among college students an outfit like hers wasn’t overly out of place, as distinct and uniquely styled girls were a common sight around campus.
Even so, Zhu Qing’s tall, well-proportioned figure and eye-catching beauty drew a significant number of glances.
Fortunately, she had never known the meaning of the word embarrassment since childhood. Dealing with looks of disdain, hatred, admiration, or envy was a compulsory lesson she had mastered long ago without ever taking it to heart.
She simply stood there calmly, keeping an eye on the time on her phone while politely declining photo requests from passersby as she waited.
Right then, a soft car horn sounded.
A Panamera finished in an obsidian black coat pulled up not far from where Zhu Qing stood. Just as it came to a stop, a gust of autumn wind swept past, tugging at the hem of her coat and the strands of hair near her temples, briefly obscuring her vision.
As the car window rolled down, the view clouded by the wind cleared up once more—and in that very instant, she caught sight of a face with refined features and cool, sharp brows.
The woman inside the car spotted her conspicuous figure at a single glance, and their eyes met right then and there.
The moment their gazes locked, Zhu Qing froze for a fraction of a second. She saw those eyes—deep and quiet like a cold, secluded pool, as if all the bustle and noise of the outside world had nothing to do with them.
In that instant, she realized that those eyes were not the kind that would ever linger on her. It was a bone-chilling coldness unlike anything she had ever encountered before.
She couldn’t help a slight shiver, her breathing inadvertently quickening.
The woman narrowed her eyes slightly, a flicker of surprise and confusion dancing within them before she seemed to realize something. Letting out a soft, gentle laugh, she spoke:
“Are you Shui Qing?”
Her voice was as crisp and cool as her face.
Only then did Zhu Qing realize she had been staring at the woman for quite a while. A faint blush instantly bloomed across the tips of her ears, yet she stubbornly maintained the professional ethics Fang Kegui had repeatedly drummed into her—never do anything out of character; in other words, don’t break character.
She forced a signature gentle smile belonging to the game character, adopting the exact tone from the game’s voice lines. “Yes. And are you… Miss Fuguang?”
A hint of warmth entered Fuguang’s eyes, though she couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh. Tilting her head slightly, she said, “Get in, Miss Yuese.”
She called her directly by the game character’s name, even deliberately exaggerating her pronunciation on purpose.
For the very first time in front of this woman, Zhu Qing felt a surge of awkwardness, but she could only steel herself and climb into the car.
Right now, she desperately wanted to look into a mirror to check if her makeup was smooth and even, or if her expressions and movements looked bizarre and stiff. She couldn’t help thinking that if only she had practiced in front of the mirror a few more times earlier…
Zhu Qing sat inside the car, buckled her seatbelt, and forced herself to speak according to her prepared script: “Today is a day suited for embracing life, and this is the morning gift I have prepared for you, my lady.”
It was a line straight from the game interface. She used to think nothing of it, but now she felt the line was utterly chuunibyou and abstract, making her blood rush backward in an explosion of secondhand embarrassment.
She truly hoped the woman had actually played the game before requesting this specific character, and that she would recognize it as a game voice line rather than thinking she was genuinely an obsessed chuunibyou.
Fortunately, the young woman in front of her didn’t laugh again. She merely gave a light, nonchalant nod before shifting gears to reverse the car. After a pause, she playfully used a game meme herself, mirroring Zhu Qing: “Miss Yuese, did you only prepare a morning gift? Doesn’t the daily login reward also come with an evening greeting?”
At this moment, Zhu Qing wanted nothing more than to cover her face. Clinging to the last shreds of her professional ethics, she exerted every ounce of control over her facial muscles, fabricating nonsense in the softest voice she could manage in her entire life:
“Then you’ll have to stay with me until tonight to get the evening greeting, my lady.”
The moment the words left her mouth, the inside of the car plunged into instant silence. Through her overheated brain, she suddenly realized—what on earth had she just said?!