Chapter 64 Tomorrow will slowly, slowly become clearer
The VIP dressing room backstage at the fashion show.
"Come, sit here." Lin's mother pressed Yan Shuang's shoulder and sat her down in front of the makeup chair, then had someone call the makeup artist over. "Tonight's after-party is full of big names in the fashion world, so you have to dress up nicely. I specially asked the stylist to reserve a haute couture outfit from this season; you'll definitely look good in it."
Yan Shuang looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was plain, and her hair was slightly damp. She looked out of place among the heavily made-up socialites.
But she still instinctively refused, saying, "Auntie, I'm fine like this..."
"Yes, yes, that's good, but it can be even better!"
Just as Yan Shuang was sitting awkwardly in front of the vanity mirror, a woman wearing a white suit jacket walked over in a hurry, her wrists adorned with layers of gold bracelets that jingled.
"Bonjour~ I'm Michelle." The makeup artist, speaking with a heavy French accent, examined Yan Shuang's face from all angles. "What kind of makeup would you like, little beauty? A natural, bare-faced look? Or..."
"It's simple..." Yan Shuang had just started to speak when Lin's mother grabbed her shoulder.
"Michelle, darling!" Lin's mother exclaimed dramatically, spreading her arms wide. "Today, we must give Shuangshuang an absolutely stunning makeover!" She started counting on her fingers, "Her eyes must be as alluring as a fawn's, her skin as smooth and delicate as a freshly peeled egg, and her lips as luscious and dewy as a rose..."
Michelle raised her meticulously groomed eyebrows: "Madam Lin, are you going to a dinner party or a beauty pageant?"
"Much more important than that!" Lin's mother lowered her voice mysteriously. "This is for meeting my future husband!"
Yan Shuang almost spat out her water: "Auntie!"
"Oh~" Michelle immediately became interested, "Then we have to do a 'makeup that will kill you'!"
She winked at Yan Shuang, "I guarantee your fiancé will go weak in the knees at the sight of you."
Lin's mother excitedly added from the side, "Yes, yes, yes! It would be best if it could also create that...that...feeling that makes people want to hold it in their hands and cherish it!"
"Understood!" Michelle had already started applying her base makeup quickly. "It needs to be both innocent and natural, and breathtakingly beautiful."
Yan Shuang sat in the chair, both amused and exasperated, while Michelle cast a spell on her face and engaged in a lively discussion with Lin's mother:
Should we add some glitter to the corners of the eyes?
"Add more! Let's dazzle those socialites!"
Should I use rose gold or cherry red for my lips?
"Cherry red! It looks more luxurious!"
"Should I make my eyebrows look softer?"
"Make it softer! The kind that makes people fall for you at first glance!"
As the makeup brush swept across Yan Shuang's cheeks for the last time, Michelle snapped her fingers triumphantly: "Perfect!"
Yan Shuang slowly opened her eyes.
Her originally plain face was outlined with delicate features, and her almond-shaped eyes appeared even clearer due to the perfect eyeliner. A light rose blush was applied to her cheeks, making her skin look as smooth and radiant as the first snow.
Her hair was styled into a retro bun, with two carefully curled strands hanging down beside her ears.
The entire backstage area fell silent for a few seconds. "Oh my god..."
Lin's mother's eyes lit up as she carefully examined Yan Shuang's face: "I knew this girl was a beauty in the making!"
She turned to her assistant and instructed, "Quickly bring in that sky-blue evening gown; it's the style from the recent fashion show."
When the curtains in the dressing room were drawn back, the models and staff around them involuntarily stopped what they were doing.
The sky-blue haute couture gown perfectly hugged Yan Shuang's slender figure, with hand-sewn pearl petals scattered across the dress, and the crisscrossing ribbon design at the back revealing her beautiful shoulder and neck lines.
"This..." A design assistant who was tidying up the clothes racks stared wide-eyed. "Isn't this the one that was the final piece? It's actually..."
Several models, who were getting their makeup touched up, exchanged glances. One of them muttered quietly, "Whose newcomer is this? I've never seen her before..."
Her companion quickly tugged at her sleeve and whispered, "Shh, that was specially left by Madam Lin."
Lin's mother clapped her hands and laughed, "Spin it around so I can see."
Yan Shuang turned around gently, her skirt blooming like a flower.
"Perfect!" Lin's mother examined her face. "Now all those designers will be scrambling to have you walk the runway." She blinked. "But our Cheng Yu definitely won't want to."
Looking at the person in the mirror, Yan Shuang felt as if she were a carefully wrapped gift, just waiting to be sent to the world of fame and fortune.
“It’s almost time,” Lin’s mother said, taking Yan Shuang’s hand. “Cheng Yu must be getting impatient.”
She took a deep breath and followed Lin's mother down the corridor leading to the banquet hall.
-
Shangqiu Zhu leaned back in the leather seat of the Lincoln, loosened his tie, but felt an inexplicable restlessness in his chest that he couldn't shake.
"Mr. Shang, there are too many cars at the show venue ahead, causing some traffic congestion. We might be ten minutes late," the driver's voice came from the front seat.
"Hmm." He responded casually, his gaze still lingering on the night outside the window. The flowing light and shadow gradually blurred in his eyes, replaced by the scene of that sunny afternoon when he first met Yan Shuang.
That day, the Yan sisters accompanied their parents on their first formal visit to a business. Yan You wore a fuchsia dress from Dior's latest season and a priceless diamond necklace.
She was like a proud peacock, attracting everyone's attention the moment she entered the room.
As for frost...
Shangqiu Zhu tried hard to recall, and could only remember that she was wearing an elegant light blue dress, seemingly without any decorations, and stood quietly half a step behind her sister.
During the dinner, Yan's father talked at length about Yan You's new awards, her piano performances, and her study abroad plans, while Yan's mother occasionally added details. The business owners listened with great interest.
Yan You sat opposite Shang Qiuzhu, occasionally casting him a bright, tentative smile.
What was Yan Shuang doing at that time?
Shangqiu Zhu closed his eyes, trying to find her figure in the fog of memory.
He couldn't remember.
He only remembered that later at a charity gala, Yan You smashed a cup of tea because the temperature was not to her liking, splashing it on Yan Shuang's skirt.
Her first reaction wasn't anger, but a smile as she said, "It's okay, this dress just wasn't really suitable for me anyway."
Looking back now, it was clearly a habit and tolerance that had been cultivated through long-term neglect.
Because no one cares about her, she can only pretend that she doesn't care either.
Later, whenever I saw her at a family dinner, she would just smile politely, with a perfectly measured curve at the corners of her mouth.
But how much familiar loneliness is hidden in that smile?
While everyone cheers for Yan You's dazzling performance, has Yan Shuang already gotten used to hiding in the shadows?
Did she grow up suffering all sorts of injustices like this?
There was no arrogance of a rich heiress, no demanding things as a matter of course, only careful concessions and silent forbearance.
As the Lincoln drove over a bumpy stretch of road, the car swayed slightly, and his heart suddenly felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.
Each beat was accompanied by an almost painful throbbing.
He had thought he had long since lost the ability to care for others. But now, the vibrations coming from the upper left side of his chest were so intense, each one mocking his pride in his self-control.
Shangqiu Zhu stared intently at the road, his heart pounding.
Those neglected days and nights, those feelings that quietly grew but were never acknowledged.
Those restless, out-of-control, involuntary concerns.
Because of this girl who was ignored by the whole world but still treated the world with gentleness, she found the answer to everything.
The Lincoln finally drove through the congested area, where millions of lights and distant stars shone brightly, bridging the gap between heaven and earth.
In Shangqiu Zhu's twenty-eight years of life, there has never been a moment when he has perceived his own feelings so clearly as he does now.
He never believed in love; he considered it nothing more than a self-indulgent illusion, the most hypocritical lie in the world.
He has no sympathy for the weak; this world is a dog-eat-dog world, and pity is just another form of incompetence.
Every page of his life is marked with gains and losses, advantages and disadvantages; every chapter is meticulously calculated, showing the right balance between advancement and retreat.
But that person happened to be her.
Outside the car window, streetlights stretched into the distance one after another, and he thought of the lonely road she had walked alone over the years.
Those suppressed emotions finally broke through the frozen ground.
"Hurry up," Shangqiu Zhu suddenly said, his voice hoarse beyond belief.
The driver saw an unprecedented urgency in Shang Qiuzhu's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Okay, Mr. Shang."
-
On the garden terrace, Lin Chengyu leaned against a Roman column, casually flicking his cigarette ash, and white smoke slowly escaping from his thin lips.
Below the terrace is a brightly lit show and banquet.
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see celebrities clinking glasses under the crystal chandeliers, Wall Street bankers raising champagne and laughing, and socialites swaying in their haute couture gowns. He, however, remained detached, as if separated from that glamorous world by a transparent barrier.
Several socialites who had just entered noticed the figure on the terrace and couldn't help but stop and look.
"That's... the young master of the Lin family?" someone exclaimed softly.
Despite being dressed like a young master from a noble family, he inexplicably exudes a dangerous wildness.
Lin Chengyu glanced down at his watch, and just as he was about to light the fifth one, he suddenly seemed to sense something.
He didn't turn around, but the corners of his lips had already unconsciously turned up.
He casually stubbed out the cigarette, and the night breeze carried away the faint smell of tobacco from his body.
He straightened his suit collar and turned to look at the person who had just arrived.
Yan Shuang walked down the red carpet from the end of the corridor.
She wore exquisite makeup, but her eyes remained as clear as ever.
The crystal chandelier in the banquet hall shone behind her, and she walked out of the light as if by divine intervention.
He stood on the edge of this glamorous world, watching the woman he had kept in his heart for three years walk towards him step by step.
The entire luxurious venue was incredibly noisy, but Lin Chengyu felt an unprecedented sense of peace.
He saw Yan Shuang's red lips slightly parted and heard her call his name. That voice, after three years, finally landed clearly in his ears again.
For the first time, he sincerely thanked fate for setting the misaligned gears of time back on track, allowing her to reappear in his life.
What was once as distant as a whole galaxy apart is now finally within reach.
He doesn't know how many more three-year periods he would be willing to wait for this moment.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
