Chapter Forty-Seven
The overhead lights in the dressing room were blindingly bright, like countless tiny spotlights rehearsing in advance. Xu Li closed her eyes, letting the makeup artist apply the last touch of glitter to the inner corner of her eye, when she heard the door be slammed open.
Nan You's high heels clattered like a string of firecrackers in front of the vanity mirror. "Twenty minutes! That's enough time to shoot a whole movie with just one layer of foundation?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sharp edge, "Ah Li, the red carpet isn't a charity gala. If the live stream is delayed by thirty seconds, the brands will be charged per second."
The makeup artist's hand trembled slightly, and one of the glitter particles was brushed off-center, leaving a thin silver line on Xu Li's cheekbone, like a slash of moonlight.
Xu Li opened her eyes and saw Nan You through the mirror—a wheat ear brooch pinned to the collar of her black suit, the "lucky charm" she had personally chosen last night, was now trembling due to her rapid breathing.
“Sister Nan,” Xu Li took the makeup brush from the makeup artist and gently smoothed out the silver line herself. Her voice was like iced honey water. “Remember last year’s charity gala? You made me wear a backless dress in minus three degrees Celsius, and the brand ended up giving me three extra magazine covers.”
She tilted her head, and the sequins shimmered like diamonds at the base of her eyelashes.
"If they dare to deduct money today, I dare to make the organizers include the red carpet in the final cut—I've already thought of the trending topics: #XuLiIsLateButSoBeautifulItIsAbsolutelyForgive#."
Nan You's eyebrow twitched slightly.
Of course she remembered the farce from last year—Xu Li suddenly turned around at the end of the red carpet, exposing her shoulder blades to the camera.
The next day, the hashtag "frozen-boned beauty" went viral online, and the brand added another spokesperson overnight. At this moment, Nan You stared at Xu Li's pupils, which were almost transparent from the glitter, and suddenly felt that there lived a gambler who used being late as a weapon inside.
“Okay.” Nan You suddenly smiled, took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around Xu Li’s shoulders. When his fingertips touched her collarbone, he realized that her body temperature was frighteningly low.
“But when I go on stage later, if the host dares to ask ‘why you’re late’—” “I’ll say,” Xu Li stood up, her sequined skirt sweeping across Nan You’s calves like a cold, silvery river, “because Sister Nan You insisted that I finish applying this tube of ‘Mermaid Tears’ lipstick.”
She left a faint, almost invisible fingerprint on the wheat ear brooch on Nan You's collar. "Don't worry, I'll tell them—this is the color my manager got by throwing a tantrum." Nan You paused for half a second.
Suddenly, he reached out and pressed Xu Li's head against the back of her head, placing her forehead against his collarbone. The sound of his heartbeat penetrated through the two layers of clothing, like drumbeats striking Xu Li's eardrums.
"You're crazy, hurry up!" Her voice was muffled inside her suit. "If you dare use me as an excuse again, I'll throw that whole box of spicy snacks you hid into the Huangpu River."
Xu Li laughed so hard her shoulders trembled, her sequined dress shattering into flowing stardust under the lights. She knew Nan You's anger was always just fireworks, leaving only a mess of candy wrappers after they exploded.
Just now, her agent was gently smoothing the last fine line at the corner of her eye with her thumb, the movement as light as if she were polishing some fragile porcelain. The sound of staff urging the audience to hurry up and leave came from outside the door.
Nan You took a deep breath, spun Xu Li around and pushed her towards the door, then bent down to pick up the makeup artist's brush that had fallen to the ground. "Let's go," she said, her voice returning to its usual cold and hard tone.
“Go tell them what ‘the aesthetics of being late’ means.” Xu Li turned around and saw a thin mark on the back of Nan You’s suit, scratched by sequins, like a piece of the night sky accidentally torn by the Milky Way.
She suddenly reached out and pinched Nan You's wrist on the inside—that was their secret signal, meaning "Don't be afraid."
Nan You didn't turn around, she just waved her hand, as if chasing away some childish comfort. But when she pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, Xu Li clearly heard her laugh very softly.
The wind at the end of the corridor carried the cool smell of air conditioning, making the sequins on Xu Li's skirt rustle like a group of small fish eager to take flight.
Nan You walked half a step ahead of her, her back straight, her high heels clicking on the marble floor, each step like a countdown.
"Sister Nan," Xu Li suddenly lowered her voice, "if I'm asked about the rumors later—"
"Shut up."
Nan You didn't even turn her head. "I've already had the PR department buy out the photo of you taken at the bar last night. If you dare to say anything out of line again, I'll throw you into a pile of reporters and let them eat you alive."
Xu Li smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners, but in the instant she turned the corner, she suddenly reached out and grabbed the hem of Nan You's suit. Nan You was forced to stop and turned around, meeting Xu Li's eyes, which were overly brightened by the sequins.
“That’s not what I meant.” Xu Li’s fingertips slid inside the suit lining and touched a small damp spot. “Your back is all sweaty.”
Nan You's Adam's apple bobbed. Of course she knew—from the moment she stepped into the dressing room, her temples had been throbbing, and her palms felt sticky as if she'd clutched a handful of melted toffee. But now that Xu Li had pointed it out, a certain hidden embarrassment suddenly took shape. "The air conditioning is too stuffy."
She was stubborn. Xu Li didn't call her out. She simply tiptoed and used her thumb to rub off a tiny, almost invisible bit of foundation from Nan You's nose—it was something Nan You had picked up while the makeup artist was testing colors on her face.
The heat from her fingertips made Nanyou subconsciously hold her breath.
"I'll take your arm later." Xu Li's voice was so soft it was like a breath. "Don't worry, I'll tell them that Sister Nanyou was helping me revise my speech backstage just now, and she almost cried while revising it."
Nan You's lips twitched. The speech—that thing had been lying in her email last night, written by Xu Li herself, full of platitudes like "thank you everyone" and "keep up the good work."
She cried? All she could do was cry. Xu Li secretly added at the end, "Special thanks to my agent, she's more like an artist than I am."
"You dare." Nan You reached out to pinch Xu Li's nape, but suddenly released her grip when she touched her cool skin. Her fingertips slid down her spine, finally stopping at her lower back, like pressing a hidden switch.
Xu Li trembled slightly. She was all too familiar with this gesture—four years ago, when she failed her first audition and was squatting in front of a convenience store eating a cold rice ball, Nan You did the same thing, lingering his fingers on the back of her neck for three seconds before lifting her up from the ground and saying, "Come on, let's go buy a dress that can kill."
At that moment, that hand, through a thin veil, was imprinting the same warmth into her skin. "Xu Li." Nan You's voice suddenly lowered, as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper.
"If someone in the audience calls you a 'pretty face' later—"
“I’ll just turn around and hand you the microphone,” Xu Li said quickly, “so you can tell them that the roses in the vase have thorns.”
Nan You smiled. Not the precise, agent-like smile, but a rough, almost crude smile with fine lines around her eyes. She released her hand and instead tidied Xu Li's hair behind her ear, her fingertips accidentally catching a strand of hairpiece, causing Xu Li to hiss.
"Serves you right," Nan You said, but subconsciously rubbed the patch of scalp with her fingertips. "Who told you to insist on dyeing your hair 'chestnut brown' last night? Now look at the color difference at the roots, it's like a traffic light."
Xu Li didn't refute. She simply reached out, wrapped her arms around Nan You's waist, and buried her face in the crook of her shoulder.
Nan You's suit jacket still carried the chill of the corridor's air conditioning, but inside there was a hint of bitter coffee aroma—from the three cups of Americano she had downed at four in the morning during an emergency meeting in the public relations department.
“Nanyou,” Xu Li’s voice muffled by the fabric, “you said, what if I fell on the red carpet today—”
“I will step over you.” Nan You said expressionlessly, “and then tell the media that this is performance art, with the theme ‘The Fall of a Top Star’.”
Xu Li burst out laughing. The laughter sent a shiver down Nan You's spine, like a butterfly fluttering inside her ribs. She suddenly realized that for the first time since stepping into the dressing room, she had truly relaxed her shoulders. The side door backstage was pushed open, and a torrent of camera flashes poured in.
Nan You instinctively reached out to block Xu Li, as if shielding her from an overly sharp sword. Xu Li, however, slipped under her arm, grabbed her wrist, and intertwined their fingers.
“Let’s go,” Xu Li said, her sequined dress exploding into a sea of stars under the lights. “Let’s show them what belated aesthetics are.” Nan You didn’t say anything more. She just tightened her fingers, letting Xu Li’s fingertips press against her rapidly beating pulse.
The moment the two stepped out the door side by side, the sound of camera shutters was like a downpour hitting glass. Nan You suddenly remembered that rainy night three years ago—she stood at the entrance of the convenience store with a tattered umbrella and said to the girl squatting on the steps, "Xu Li, do you believe that one day you will be so famous that everyone will be waiting for you?"
The girl, with her mouth full of rice balls, mumbled, "Then you'll have to learn to wait for me first."
At that moment, under the spotlight, Nan You slightly tilted her head and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "I've learned it."
Backstage at the press conference, the red light in the control room came on.
"Ten, nine, eight..." The countdown exploded in the headphones.
Nan You pressed Xu Li into the center position in the first row and smoothed out the last fold of her skirt.
The stage lights went out instantly, and when they came back on, a huge poster scrolled across the stage screen—Xu Li's face was cut into countless diamond fragments, spelling out an English slogan:
"Fashion is late, but beauty is eternal."
The first scream erupted from the audience. ... At the same moment, a black minivan pulled up at the side entrance of the venue.
Lu Yi handed his phone to Tan Yuze, who had just gotten out of the car: "It's trending on social media." Tan Yuze looked down.
#Xu Li arrived 30 minutes late for red carpet photos# followed by a purplish-red "explosive".
In the nine-grid GIF, Xu Li walks down the red carpet, lifting her skirt. The wind makes the scales on her skirt flutter, like a mermaid just coming ashore.
In the third photo, she suddenly turned around, winked at the camera, and the glitter at the corner of her eye shattered into stars in the flash. Tan Yuze swiped his finger, and the video automatically switched to the live stream.
In the video, the host is introducing the program: "Welcome ELLE's October cover star—Xu Li!"
The screen was instantly flooded with comments:
My sister is going to kill me!!!
Is this dress sewn by Star River?
Half an hour late? Okay, I forgive you.
Suddenly, a golden barrage of comments slowly floated down from the top:
[Nan You was just cursing backstage, saying that Xu Li would be "blacklisted" if she was any slower, and it was broadcast on the microphone.]
A dog's head followed behind. Tan Yuze's eyebrows twitched. ... On stage, Xu Li took the microphone, and her first words were not "Hello everyone," but rather she turned her head and asked Nan You, "May I speak?" Nan You stood on the side of the stage with her arms crossed, her face colder than the stage lights.
The director reacted quickly, switching the camera to Nan You—a close-up of him instantly appeared on the big screen: his bangs were stuck together with sweat, but a "try messing around" smile was playing on his lips.
The audience was silent for two seconds, then erupted in screams even more frenzied than at the start. Xu Li smiled, tapping her fingertips on the microphone: "Then go ahead and say it."
She turned to the camera and said, slowly and deliberately, "I was late because Sister Nanyou insisted that I change my lipstick."
As he spoke, he suddenly reached out and hooked Nan You's wrist, pulling her into the spotlight—Nan You was caught off guard and stumbled, the wheat ear brooch flashing a cold light in the spotlight.
The entire audience erupted in uproar. Xu Li tiptoed and whispered something in Nan You's ear.
The director didn't record the audio, but Tan Yuze could read lips—"Hush money, a lipstick." The next second, Nan You grabbed Xu Li by the back of the neck and pushed her back to the center like a cat. He took the microphone from the host and said in a cold voice, "To clarify, the reason for the lateness is that the brand added a high-end custom set at the last minute, and the size needed to be changed on the spot."
She paused, scanning the room, "And, Xu Li's lipstick was handpicked by me—the Mermaid Tears limited edition color, sold out worldwide."
The live chat went wild instantly:
【I don't believe you for a second!!】
[Mermaid Tears? There's no link on the official website!]
Sisters, stop arguing, I'll buy it, okay?!
...
Looking at the real-time data, Lu Yi gasped: "Sales have exceeded 30 million... but the lipstick link hasn't been uploaded yet."
Tan Yuze didn't speak, but just stared at Nan You's profile on the screen—she was bending down to adjust Xu Li's in-ear monitor, and when her fingertips brushed against her earlobe, Xu Li suddenly turned her head and gently bit her knuckle with her teeth.
It was very light, like a cat. The camera cut away, but Tan Yuze saw it.
He lowered his eyes, his thumb tracing the ID of the golden bullet comment on the phone screen:
【@XuLi, did you retire from the entertainment industry today?】—This is Xu Li's alternate account.
...After the press conference, the media interview area was packed with people.
The reporter is still broadcasting live.
A reporter asked loudly, "Ms. Xu, is it true that you and your agent have a strained relationship?"
Just as Xu Li was about to speak, Nan You suddenly stepped forward and shielded her behind him: "I have a bad temper, and she's shameless. A perfect match."
After saying that, he pulled Xu Li away. Behind them, flashes of light formed a galaxy. ...In the parking lot, Tan Yuze leaned against his car, waiting for someone.
The live stream has been stopped.
Xu Li came out first, her skirt stained with a few colorful ribbons, as if she had just finished a battle. She bent down and got into the car, waving to Nan You: "Quick, I'm hungry."
Nan You didn't move, but simply lowered her head and lit a cigarette. The sparks flickered in the night, reflecting the weariness in her eyes.
When Tan Yuze returned the phone to Lu Yi, he lit a cigarette. Bai Chuan handed him a mint from his pocket: "Quit it. She can't stand the smell of cigarettes."
This way.
Nan You exhaled a smoke ring: "The way she bit me on stage tonight will be trending on social media for three days."
The assistant laughed: "She did it on purpose."
Nan You grunted in response and stubbed out his cigarette on the car door. Sparks landed on Xu Li's skirt, giving off a burnt smell.
Inside the car, Xu Li leaned out and exclaimed, "Nan You! My skirt is torn!"
Nan You frowned: "I'll compensate you with ten."
Xu Li blinked: "I want the exact same one."
Nan You opened the car door: "No two are exactly alike. I'll have the designer tied up and sew it for you right here." The car door closed, shutting out all the flashes.
Tan Yuze was still standing there, not reaching out to take the mint that Bu Di had offered, when his phone vibrated.
[@XuLiRetiredFromTheEntertainmentCircleToday posted a new Weibo post] The accompanying picture is a candid shot of Nan You pinching the back of her neck backstage.
The caption read: "Caught a cat with its fur standing on end."
First comment:
[@Nanyou replied: You're finished.]
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