Inside the studio makeup room were cries of torture.
‘Ouch! You don’t need to pull my hair… don’t rip my face off… what are you putting on my eyelashes?’ Gu Jing said.
Outside the makeup room, Zhen Lang flipped through a photo alb.u.m and he was unaffected by Gu Jing’s loud cries.
‘You don’t need to paint my eyelashes like a fly’s leg… you don’t need to put blush on my face to turn me into a dead corpse like in ancient TV drama series… you don’t need to put thick eyeliner on me like I’m a demoness!’ Gu Jing protested.
Peng Cheng Gui gritted her teeth and she glared at the ungrateful Gu Jing. ‘Is my makeup style that poor? If you cry out one more time, I’ll turn you into a geisha!’
Gu Jing closed her eyes, she was too scared to look at her face in the mirror. She felt like she was a ritual sacrifice, but her face was in the hands of Peng Cheng Gui so she didn’t dare to utter another sound. Whilst Peng Cheng Gui happily hummed and sculpted Gu Jing’s face.
The powder on Gu Jing’s face made her itchy and the mascara on her eyelashes made her eyelids felt heavy. She fisted her hands and she endured the torture.
Peng Cheng Gui came back from the studio costume room and she saw Gu Jing sat tensed on the chair in front of the mirror. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Hehe… I’m scared the powder will fall off my face,’ Gu Jing said.
Peng Cheng Gui tossed a dress onto Gu Jing’s lap. ‘Forget about the powder on your face. Hurry up and change into the dress.’
Gu Jing picked up the thin dress on her lap and she reluctantly walked to the change room.
A short moment later the change room door was slammed opened. Gu Jing covered her naked chest. ‘How am I supposed to wear this dress?’
‘You need to take off everything underneath then you can wear the dress,’ Peng Cheng Gui said. She saw Gu Jing’s stunned face and she sighed. ‘I’ll help you.’
Gu Jing was like a mannequin and she gave Peng Cheng Gui free reign of her body.
After the dress was forcefully attached to Gu Jing’s body, she rubbed her cold legs and she saw the bottom of the dress hem was aligned with her bottom. She rubbed her cold bare shoulders and back. ‘Is this how the dress is supposed to be worn? Why is the dress exposing my back? What if I’m not careful and the dress falls off my body?’
‘If you don’t fight anyone then the dress won’t fall off. Put on these heels,’ Peng Cheng Gui said.
‘Heels? I have never worn heels before,’ Gu Jing said.
‘Then practice wearing heels and you’ll get used to it,’ Peng Cheng Gui said.
Gu Jing obediently put on the ten centimetre heels and it completed her transformation. The wig on her head flowed over her collar bone and the front of her strapless dress. The eyeliner and mascara highlighted her beautiful round eyes. The blush contoured her graceful cheekbones. The red lipstick on her lips made her lips looked luscious. The heels accentuated her long slender legs.
‘Bingo! I was right about you, you’re a natural beauty. Finally I get to see what you look like with makeup and wearing a dress… you look beautiful!’ Peng Cheng Gui said.
The newly transformed Gu Jing struggled to step down stairs. Her fingers glided over the white stair rail and she slowly descended toward the handsome Zhen Lang who waited at the bottom of the stairs for her…
‘Ah!’ Gu Jing cried out.
Gu Jing tripped over her heels and her upper body toppled onto… Zhen Lang’s pants.
Zhen Lang braced Gu Jing’s bare shoulders and he felt her soft chest on his pants. She lifted her head and she looked adorably embarra.s.sed. ‘I can’t believe at my age I can fall this tragically!’
Zhen Lang couldn’t help but laugh and his laughter echoed throughout the studio.
Zhen Lang noticed the heels with broken straps next to Gu Jing’s thighs. He picked up a heel and he shook it in front of her face. ‘Ten centimetres! Gu Jing, you’re one metre and seventy-three centimetres tall. Add these heels and you’ll be one metre and eight-three centimetres. What are you going to do if your date isn’t as tall as me?’
Gu Jing bit her luscious red lips and she glared at Zhen Lang. His body braced her fall so her body didn’t hurt… but her pride was hurt because she fell in front of him.
‘My consort you don’t need to kowtow in front of me, you may stand,’ Zhen Lang said.
Zhen Lang offered his hand to help Gu Jing stand, but she pushed his hand away, she crawled off his body and she stood.
‘Be careful your dress is about to slip down your back,’ Zhen Lang warned. He picked up Gu Jing’s wig from the floor. ‘Gu Jing, your ‘long hair’ fell off your head.’
Gu Jing put aside her embarra.s.sment. She put one hand on her hip and she pointed her index finger from her free hand at Zhen Lang’s nose. ‘Zhen Lang you’re a jinx as deadly as a comet! Keep your mouth shut!’
Zhen Lang smiled, nodded his head and he obediently kept his mouth shut.
Gu Jing walked to the front door and she put on Peng Cheng Gui’s flat shoes. Then she took two steps outside and she realised Zhen Lang’s jacket was draped over her bare shoulders and it covered her bare back. She didn’t feel as self-conscious in the thin dress as she did before and she relaxed her fisted hands.
Gu Jing exhaled gently. She glanced over her shoulder and she saw Zhen Lang the jinx was following her.
Gu Jing felt like the jinx behind her was always a heavy burden on her shoulders. She pulled the jinx’s jacket closer together to cover her chest and she bravely walked into a cafe close to the studio.
Inside the cafe the aromas of the dinner dishes whetted her appet.i.te, she squeezed her stomach, put on a fake smile and she stepped toward a reserved table.
Gu Jing’s date sat at the reserved table. Gu Jing knew her date waited a long time for her by the way he impatiently tapped his fingers on the reserved table and his eyes were glued to his wrist watch.
Gu Jing’s date stood and he was about to leave the cafe, but she politely greeted him. ‘I’m sorry… are you…’
Gu Jing cursed on the inside, she forgotten her date’s name.
‘Yes, it’s me! You must be Miss Gu,’ the man said.
During the time Gu Jing’s date stared at her lecherously, she a.s.sessed her date. Her date’s height was average, he wasn’t as tall as Zhen Lang. He wasn’t as handsome as Zhen Lang. His charisma was average, he wasn’t as charismatic as Zhen Lang.
Gu Jing silently cursed herself for comparing her date to Zhen Lang. She let it slide, because she knew Zhen Lang for too many years and his image was imprinted in her memories so naturally she would compare other men to Zhen Lang.
Gu Jing thought it didn’t matter if she compared her date to Zhen Lang as long as her date wasn’t Zhen Lang the unlucky jinx.
Gu Jing forced herself to maintain her fake smile and she sat on a chair. She glanced at Zhen Lang who sat at the table in front of her table. She calmed her temper. If Zhen Lang wanted to wait for her then she would let him wait, but she wasn’t going to lose her temper in front of her date because of Zhen Lang.
‘Miss Gu, perhaps you haven’t ate dinner yet. What do you want to order?’ the man said and he pa.s.sed the menu to Gu Jing.
Gu Jing looked dreamily at the steak’s juicy name and the lobster bun she knew was delicious. But Peng Cheng Gui’s voice boomed inside her head – ‘Remember, you can’t let your date see you eat. The way you stuff food into your mouth will scare away your date. You can only drink water!’
‘I… I’ll just drink water,’ Gu Jing said pitifully.
‘Miss Gu, don’t worry this dinner is my treat. Order whatever you like,’ the man said and he retrieved the menu from Gu Jing.
Gu Jing’s date flipped through the menu and his eyes were shocked to see the expensive prices of the items on the menu.
Gu Jing’s eyes weren’t focused on her date. Her eyes looked at the two juicy steaks and delicious lobster buns brought to Zhen Lang’s table. She licked her lips. She felt it was cruel of Zhen Lang to purposely eat it on his own in front of her.
Zhen Lang smiled and he ignored Gu Jing’s fiery dagger aimed at him. He slowly cut a piece of one of his two steaks and he put it into his mouth.
Gu Jing swallowed her saliva. She silently cursed for the two steaks to disappear from Zhen Lang’s table.
A waiter came to Gu Jing and her date’s table. Her date opened his stingy mouth. ‘Give us a plate of fried potato chips and two gla.s.ses of water.’
End of Chapter Thirteen