Chapter 13: 13

After Qin Juran returned to her dorm that night, she washed up and began to pack her bags. She stuffed the clothes from the original owner that she disliked into the suitcase, as well as some other useless miscellaneous items.

Since S University wasn’t that far from A district to begin with, Qin Juran couldn’t think of any specialty gifts to bring back home – moreover, the original owner’s family ran a café anyway, so bringing snacks didn’t make much sense.

Not to mention, she hadn’t even met her “parents” yet, so she had no idea what they liked, and she didn’t want to hastily buy the wrong gift.

Qin Juran thought it over, finally deciding to place an online order for some 5 Years of College Entrance Exams, 3 Practice Exams workbooks.

The bookstore was currently having a 50% off sale, so Qin Juran quickly added the books to cart, also throwing in two Daily Drills workbooks.

Seeing Qin Juran pack her bags, Huang Ying asked through her sheet mask: “Juran, where are you going?”

“Home.”

“You’re going back home?” Feng Jing immediately exclaimed, peeking her head out from her bedsheets.

“Well I’m not going to leave home,1 am I?”

“But wait – Fan Chuan is hosting a National Day party at his apartment. You’re not going?”

Qin Juran then remembered: a few days ago, one of Fan Chuan’s lapdogs had made an offhand remark about it to her, whom she had immediately blocked on WeChat afterward. She ignored Feng Jing’s question and made a gesture, as if to say: Why should I care?

Huang Ying removed her sheet mask, tossed on her slippers, and went to hover over Qin Juran. Seeing Qin Juran place a half-used bottle of eye cream on the corner of her desk, she quickly asked, “Juran, why are you putting your eye cream here?”

Qin Juran didn’t even bother looking up as she replied, “Allergies.”

“Oh? So you’re not using it anymore?”

“Mhm.”

“Then is it okay if I take it?”

Qin Juran raised her head, replying in a surprised tone: “Like I said, it gave me an allergic reaction. Our skin types are similar, so you might be allergic too!”

“Aiya, don’t worry, don’t worry, we’ll see about that.” After this, she mockingly put the eye cream in her own makeup bag.

Qin Juran watched her subtle and seemingly familiar movement curiously.

Without waiting for her reply, Huang Ying continued blabbering: “Juran, you know, tomorrow night’s dinner party performance is definitely going to be very luxurious. I’m not a main actress, but I can still attend the banquet after our performance. I can’t wait to find a handsome guy to sit next to.”

“Also, also – I asked a classmate from a different department to take pictures. I’ll send them to you once I get them!”

Qin Juran glanced at Huang Ying’s eager, animated expression, and suddenly paused her bag packing, lighting coughing: “Huang Ying, tomorrow’s performance is really important to you, huh?”

“Of course! This is the first time I’m able to dress up so pretty and be up on the stage like that.”

“Forget it! You’ll just be wearing a common handmaid’s dress – you’ll blend in with the rest of us, no one will even notice you,” Feng Jing cut in from the side.

“What’s wrong, Juran?” Huang Ying noticed that Qin Juran’s expression become more and more worried at each mention of the performance, and couldn’t help feeling concerned.

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Qin Juran snapped out of her daze and replied, “That dress I picked – do you like it?”

Huang Ying hesitated, then answered sourly: “I love it – of course I do. That dress cost tens of thousands of dollars, how could I not?!”

Qin Juran thought for a moment. “How about this: we’ll go earlier tomorrow, and you can first wear my dress so your friend can take pictures of you in it.”

“Really?! Why would you do that, Juran? You – you would lend me such an expensive dress?!”

Feng Jing’s ears also perked up at Qin Juran’s offer, and she eyed the girl suspiciously.

Qin Juran flicked a glance at Feng Jing, then turned back to Huang Ying, shrugging without saying anything more.

The next morning, the three girls woke up bright and early. After Qin Juran finished tidying her bags, she once again called the bus company. Confirming her ticket for 7 a.m. outside out of the campus entrance, she sent a message to Qin Julai to ask whether he could accompany “Dad” to pick her up, since she’d feel more at ease with someone her age.

Qin Julai quickly responded with an “Okay.”

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He seemed to be a good child. Qin Juran wondered whether he would like the gift she bought.

All through her phone call, Feng Jing’s ears were attentively eavesdropping. Qin Juran thought about using Fan Chuan to tease her, but then tossed the idea away after thinking about the hassle it would be.

Fan Chuan’s National Day party was a plot point of the novel story, as well as the accident that was bound to occur that night. All this time, no matter how far Qin Juran tried to stray from the original storyline, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

She didn’t know whether this world had some magnetic field of “destiny,” but until now, she still had no clue when things would begin deviating from the original story, or how.

Qin Juran inhaled a sharp breath. She casually tidied her things, then handed her dress to Huang Ying.

Huang Ying also took full advantage of this opportunity. She found a medieval European-style café nearby and dragged her friend there, spending the entire morning taking pictures.

She even brought back two portions of fried rice noodles for Qin Juran and Feng Jing for the first time ever. Without any second thoughts, Qin Juran quickly sent her money in return for the food.

Huang Ying froze, then said awkwardly, “Juran, what are you doing? You lent me your dress, so let me treat you to a meal.”

Without even sparing her a glance, Qin Juran replied, “That’s a different matter. This is for the meal.”

“What are you talking about? You say it as if you owe me.”

Qin Juran’s answer was ambiguous: “You’ll find out soon.”

Since they were to get dressed in the afternoon, the staff had purposefully told the students to eat in advance, as they would not be able to before the show. By 4 p.m., everyone had arrived backstage to get ready. The foreign language department indeed went all out, even inviting the best makeup artists around to do the students’ makeup.

The large dressing room was filled with a sweet floral aroma, the fluorescent lights lining the mirrors casting a warm glow on the room. With a majority of the theatre members already in full costume, the scene felt remarkably similar to a European aristocrat salon.

As soon as Qin Juran walked in, she was ushered before the largest mirror in the room. Sitting nearby was Ruan Nan, who was currently being made-up. For some reason, Ruan Nan was wearing a designer windbreaker over her dress.

The makeup artist was afraid to get the jacket dirty and suggested multiple times for her to take it off, but Ruan Nan only shook her head.

Qin Juran walked over to Ruan Nan, looking into the mirror to see the red dress on Ruan Nan’s legs peeking out from under her jacket. She laughed lightly and shook her head as she sat beside her.

Qin Juran’s face already had a pure, sweet type of beauty, so the European-style princess makeup only further created an innocent, celestial feeling. Meanwhile, Ruan Nan’s natural elegance combined with her dark makeup fitting for an evil princess created an aura resembling a black swan.

As the fine brushes swept softly against her face, Qin Juran lightly shut her eyes. The makeup artist couldn’t help looking back and forth between the two of them, musing, “Student Qin, Student Ruan, I’ve done makeup for many pretty women, but I rarely see such stunning natural beauties as the two of you. Moreover, these two roles seem to have been perfectly made for you both to play!”

After she was done, she stepped back to assess Qin Juran, as if to admire her work. She then exchanged a few words in English with Peter, the foreign teacher, seeming to praise him for his brilliant casting choices.

Once Ruan Nan’s makeup was finished and she finally took off her jacket, the makeup artist let out another astonished gasp.

In her ash-grey gown, Qin Juran’s hair was styled in long, cascading waves, adorned by small jewels that glistened in the light with every movement. With her naturally pure beauty, she looked just like an innocent fairy princess lost in the human world.

Next to her, Ruan Nan’s grey curls trailed over her delicate, porcelain collarbone. She was dressed in a stunning wine-colored short evening gown. With no other accessories on her body, the tattoo on her ankle stood out, adding a sense of elegance.

As the two women stood together, all eyes were captivated by them. One look at each other seemed enough to dispel all the tension between them.

A student in a knight costume wanted to add to the excitement; slapping his thigh, he dug out a shiny silver crown from the props. He walked over to the two, kneeled down right between them, then asked in a dramatic movie-narration voice: “Oh, your royal highness. Legend has it that this crown of ice crystals is a rare treasure, fitting only for the most beautiful lady in the kingdom.”

As he said this, he seemed to look between them conflictedly, finally presenting the crown towards Qin Juran: “I offer your royal highness this crown.”

While Ruan Nan stood frozen beside her, Qin Juran swept a gaze over all the staring faces, waiting to watch whether she’d accept or not.

Her gaze fell back upon the male student kneeling on the ground. She thanked him and boldly received the crown from his hands. But before anyone realized, she turned and reached out her arms, firmly laying the crown atop of Ruan Nan’s head.

Ruan Nan meant to move in avoidance, but Qin Juran was a step ahead of her.

Qin Juran’s bluebell scent wafted by and warm light glowed on the two girls’ faces, highlighting Qin Juran’s satisfied appraisal of Ruan Nan. She raised her head and announced resolutely, “This one-of-a-kind crown –  the only person befitting it is the presenter’s beloved.”

Saying this, she twirled a lock of Ruan Nan’s hair in her fingertips and lightly kissed it. Her eyes were full of affection as she continued,

“My dear princess.”

 

T/N: Kind of swamped in schoolwork currently, so this might be the only update this week  I promise to upload extra next weekend!

Footnotes

The Chinese phrase “to leave home” is what people say when they go to become a monk or nun 

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