Chapter Twenty-Two: I'm So Pretty

In the wardrobe of apartment 3306, Li Yaodong was looking for a shirt.

He had just returned from Singapore Island, still carrying the fatigue of a long flight. His clothes hung neatly on the left side of the wardrobe, while Cheng Yin's few plain-colored garments were huddled in the right corner, like a flock of sheep that had strayed into a pack of wolves.

He didn't remember buying this. The moment the paper bag was opened, Li Yaodong's breath hitched slightly.

The black lace lingerie lay like a mass of night on the wrapping paper, so thin it was almost transparent, with tiny pearls adorning the edges.

The price tag was still on, and it was expensive. This wasn't something Cheng Yin would buy.

The sound of water from the bathroom behind me stopped.

Li Yaodong put the underwear back in the paper bag, hesitated for a moment, and then placed it on the bed. He sat on the single sofa by the window, lit a cigarette, and waited for Cheng Yin to come out.

Cheng Yin's gaze fell on the paper bag on the bed, and her fingers unconsciously gripped the edge of the bath towel.

"Yours?" Li Yaodong exhaled a puff of smoke and pointed to the paper bag.

Cheng Yin nodded, a drop of water dripping from her hair to her collarbone, then sliding down her chest and into the depths of the bath towel. Li Yaodong's gaze followed the drop of water until it disappeared.

“Cici bought it,” Cheng Yin added. “I told her I would pay her back.”

"Have you tried it?" Li Yaodong asked softly, his finger hooking the edge of the paper bag.

Cheng Yin shook her head. Water droplets continued to drip from her wet hair, forming small dark dots on the carpet.

"Try it now." Li Yaodong shoved the paper bag into her hand, his tone leaving no room for refusal.

Cheng Yin took the paper bag back to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, the door opened a crack, and her voice came out weakly: "I...don't know how to put it on."

Li Yaodong walked over and said through the door, "Need any help?"

After a few seconds of silence, the door was opened a little wider.

Li Yaodong pushed open the door and saw Cheng Yin standing in front of the mirror, her black lace bra hanging loosely on her body, the shoulder straps slipping to her elbows, the back clasps twisted haphazardly, and various thin straps intertwined. She looked like a butterfly caught in a spider web, beautiful yet disheveled.

Li Yaodong walked behind her and placed his hands on her bare shoulders.

“Adjust the shoulder straps first.” Li Yaodong’s voice was deep as his fingers deftly adjusted the thin straps. “Then fasten the back.” His fingertips occasionally brushed against Cheng Yin’s skin, causing a slight shiver.

Cheng Yin stared at the mirror, watching Li Yaodong's hands busy on her body. His nails were trimmed very short, with distinct knuckles.

The clasp was finally fastened, the tangled straps were straightened, and the bra fit her body perfectly, with her skin faintly visible beneath the lace pattern.

"Turn around," Li Yaodong commanded.

Cheng Yin slowly turned to face him. Her black underwear contrasted sharply with her pale skin, and the lace trim just covered the cigarette burns below her collarbone.

Li Yaodong's gaze swept over her body like an X-ray, from her collarbone to her waistline, and then to her straight legs.

Li Yaodong's Adam's apple bobbed. He pulled Cheng Yin back to the full-length mirror, stood behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Repeat after me,” Li Yaodong suddenly said in Cantonese, “'I’m so beautiful.'”

Cheng Yin blinked: "I'm so pretty."

“No.” Li Yaodong squeezed her shoulder. “There needs to be emotion. I’m so beautiful.”

Cheng Yin tried again, but her voice remained flat.

Li Yaodong sighed, his hands sliding from her shoulders to her waist, gently holding hers: "Do you know what that means?"

"I am beautiful."

“Knowing and feeling are two different things.” Li Yaodong’s chin was almost resting on her head. “Again. I’m so beautiful.”

Beautiful? That word never appeared in her self-perception. Useful, obedient, and durable—those were her values.

“I…can’t do it,” Cheng Yin said honestly.

"Can't do it?" Li Yaodong's voice softened unexpectedly. "Or are you afraid?"

Cheng Yin's fingertips unconsciously picked at the edge of the lace, the black fabric making her fingers appear even paler: "I don't know... what is beautiful."

These words were like a dull knife, slowly piercing Li Yaodong's chest. He remembered Chen Zhi's bloodied right hand, the fading scars on Cheng Yin's body, and how she always treated him like a tool...

Li Yaodong withdrew his hand from Cheng Yin's waist and gently lifted her face: "Look at yourself in the mirror." His gaze in the mirror was burning, like a searchlight in the dark night, illuminating inch by inch the corners of her face that she had never shown to anyone.

"Collarbone." His fingertips lightly touched the hollow of her collarbone. "Like the curve of a spoon, just right to hold a drop of water."

Finally, his gaze fell on the hollow at his waist: "And here..." His breathing suddenly quickened, "...the seam where the jeans fit best."

Cheng Yin's lips twitched.

“Now,” Lai Yiu-tung’s lips almost touched her earlobe, “say it after me. ‘I’m so beautiful.’”

"I... am so beautiful." She repeated softly, but the last syllable of her voice suddenly broke out of her throat, like a taut thread suddenly snapping.

She smiled. Very lightly, very quickly, almost just a tremor of her breath.

But Li Yaodong saw it.

He turned around, took a shirt from the closet, and tossed it to Cheng Yin: "Put this on, let's go out to eat."

Cheng Yin took the shirt, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Underwear..."

"Wear it." Li Yaodong had already reached the door. "Get used to it."

After the door closed, Cheng Yin slowly put on her shirt.

"I look so beautiful." She tried it again in the empty bathroom, this time speaking louder.

Outside the door, Li Yaodong leaned against the wall, and upon hearing this clumsy self-affirmation, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

When Cheng Yin came out, she was already dressed. The black lace was covered by her white shirt, with only a small section of the lace peeking out from the neckline, like a hidden secret.

Li Yaodong's gaze lingered on that spot for a second before he walked toward the entrance.

"Li Yaodong".

"Um?"

"Thank you." She paused. "For today's lesson."

Li Yaodong raised an eyebrow: "How is the tuition calculated?"

Cheng Yin's serious expression almost made him laugh.

In the end, Cheng Yin shook her head and replied in accented but clear Cantonese, "No need to calculate. Because... it's for your service."

Li Yaodong simply reached out and tidied the stray hairs on her forehead.

"What do you want to see?" Li Yaodong suddenly asked, catching her gaze.

Cheng Yin shook her head, but couldn't help asking, "Why is it Cantonese?"

Li Yaodong watched the elevator numbers change: "Because speaking the truth...feels better when done in one's mother tongue."

Cheng Yin nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The elevator continued its descent, and Li Yaodong spoke again: "Today's lesson."

Cheng Yin looked up at him.

“It’s not for my benefit,” Li Yaodong said, looking straight ahead. “It’s for your own.”

The elevator arrived at the lobby, and the doors slowly opened.

Li Yaodong had already stepped out of the elevator. He turned back to look at her and asked, "Aren't you coming?"

The cool air in the lobby, mixed with fragrance, wafted towards you.

Clatter.

The sound of heels clicking on the marble floor made Li Yaodong, with his back to her, curl the corners of his mouth into a smile. But he merely loosened his tie, as if simply to let in some air, rather than to conceal the movement of his Adam's apple.

"Let's go get some late-night snacks." He walked out without looking back, but his voice held a hint of relaxed softness. "You passed today... here's a bowl of wonton noodles as a reward."

The night breeze swept through the revolving doors of the lobby, blowing a strand of hair behind her ear, but this time she didn't bother to fix it, letting the hair brush against the corner of her lips.