Chapter 34
Judging from her appearance, Xu Qingzhou could roughly tell that Rose was probably not very bright, whether it was due to her birth or an illness she had in childhood.
She followed Rose inside.
The shop is a small two-story building. The second floor displays wedding dresses, and the front of the first floor is the reception desk, while the dressing room is behind it, separated by a wall.
When a person who cannot speak and a person with a slight intellectual disability are together, it is more difficult for them to put on a wedding dress with straps all over the back than for others. When Xu Qingzhou came out of the dressing room, her forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat.
Next came the makeup.
Fortunately, Xu Qingzhou had no concept of makeup or styling and no requirements, so when her cousin, the boss, personally carried in the makeup case with a graceful gesture and an alluring demeanor, she remained relatively calm.
Anyway... she's just here to make money; whether the drawings turn out to be human or ghost doesn't matter...
She closed her eyes, letting her cousin do whatever he wanted to her face.
An hour later, accompanied by a crisp snap of his fingers, my cousin stepped aside.
"Beautiful lady, open your eyes and take a look."
Xu Qingzhou slowly opened his eyes.
The mirror, surrounded by lights, reflects a girl wearing a vintage satin white wedding dress and a white veil.
Her bangs were curled into an arc, adding a touch of playfulness and cuteness to her usually calm and serene face. Below were a pair of eyes that appeared even darker and brighter with the help of eye makeup. The cherry red lipstick made her complexion look completely different from usual. With just a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth, the liveliness and radiance of a young girl seemed to leap out of those eyes.
Xu Qingzhou had never seen herself like this before. Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt somewhat unfamiliar.
After a long pause, I finally tried to curl the corners of my mouth slightly to make my expression more lively, so as to match my own vibrant and radiant self.
But just as she began to smile, her cousin suddenly said towards the door:
"See? What do you think?"
Xu Qingzhou subconsciously turned her head in the direction of his gaze, and then unexpectedly met the eyes of Chi Jun, who was about to come in to do his makeup—his expression frozen on the corner of his mouth with a smile.
Chi Jun had changed into a suit and leather shoes. His usual arrogant and unrestrained lazy and roguish demeanor had been toned down considerably. When he met Xu Qingzhou's gaze, his eyes paused slightly.
My cousin was very satisfied with his reaction. He smoothed his hair to the side of his face with a seductive air, and the tips of his leather shoes tapped merrily on the floor.
"Isn't my cooking amazing?"
Chi Jun glanced at him, then stared at Xu Qingzhou for two seconds. Just as he was about to answer, Rose's honest voice suddenly came from behind him:
"Cousin, the toilet is clogged again."
"What?!"
My cousin's eyebrows shot up instantly, and he rolled up his sleeves and rushed out.
Did I tell you to go to the public toilet in the back if you need to poop?
"I'm already exhausted from juggling multiple jobs, and now I have to be your 'shit cleaner' every now and then. Who's the boss here?!"
"..."
As my cousin's shouts and curses faded into the distance, the small dressing room became increasingly quiet.
Coming to her senses, Xu Qingzhou quickly stood up and offered Chi Jun her seat. As she looked at him, her eyes hesitated, but she couldn't help but mouth the question:
Is it pretty?
The little girl's eyes sparkled, revealing a hint of excitement and anticipation.
Chi Jun pursed his lips, his gaze slowly sweeping over her from head to toe.
Finally, he nodded expressionlessly.
"Yes, you can watch it."
Xu Qingzhou: "..."
She thinks she looks pretty good right now.
But Chi Jun only commented "She's presentable," does that mean she's unpresentable even without makeup...?
But then I thought about it again. Throughout history, writers and poets have always described fox spirits and fox demons as extremely beautiful and alluring. And then look at Chi Jun's rather striking appearance—
Perhaps, the fox clan's appearance is simply exceptional; in their eyes, human appearance is indeed tragically "unbearable"...
Thinking about this made Xu Qingzhou feel a little better.
A short while later, my cousin returned, grumbling and cursing.
Compared to when he went out before, he had a very noticeable, pungent smell of cologne on him. He rested his hands on the back of the chair where Chi Jun was sitting, looking at Chi Jun through the mirror:
"Come on, let's begin."
When it comes to wedding photos, the most important thing is to capture the bride's beauty.
In contrast, the groom was merely a tool, so his makeup appeared much more perfunctory and sloppy.
Besides, Chi Jun's features are very three-dimensional and delicate. It would only make things worse if his cousin added or removed a stroke from his face. So in the end, he only focused on styling his hair.
After everything was ready, my cousin, carrying all sorts of equipment, picked up Chi Jun and Xu Qingzhou, along with the crucial lighting technician, Rose, and set off for the church in a grand procession.
Although it's called a church, the actual filming location was a lawn next to it. Besides them, several other couples were also having their photos taken that morning.
Compared to the other professional lighting technicians present, Rose's posture while carrying the lighting panel appeared clumsy and stiff, which angered her cousin so much that he frequently slapped his forehead and smoothed his hair, occasionally cursing loudly. He was forced to show a bit of "manliness" by the situation before him.
Fortunately, although Rose is a bit dim-witted, there's an advantage to being a bit dim-witted—
If any other girl were scolded like that, she would have blushed with embarrassment and given up, or even started fighting with her cousin.
Rose just smiled awkwardly and sheepishly, continuing to hold the reflector with all her might. Her cousin had no choice but to give up on scolding her and occasionally take matters into his own hands, giving her stern commands afterward.
"Don't move. Just imagine yourself as a stone, a stone, understand?"
Rose nodded solemnly, staring wide-eyed and pursing her lips, imagining herself as a stone, until her cousin came forward again to help her adjust her position.
However, misfortune never comes singly. The cousin soon discovered that it wasn't just the clumsy Rose who needed to adjust her posture, but also the "perfect couple" in front of them.
"Laugh, you two, laugh even harder! Xu Jun, you have to laugh, that expression of yours... uh, are you looking at me with displeasure?"
Chi Jun: "..."
He managed a weak smile, but his cousin just stared at him.
Fine, a roguish smile is fine too.
He's handsome, that's all that matters.
Turning to Xu Qingzhou, he whispered in her ear, "Little sister, your smile is too reserved. You need to smile more! Understand? Smile~ smile~~~"
Xu Qingzhou nodded, clutching the white bouquet in her hand, and tried to lift the corners of her mouth slightly.
At this moment, my cousin suddenly seemed to remember something and pointed at Chi Jun, saying:
"Yes, just look at your groom and imagine waking up beautifully every morning, opening your eyes to see his handsome face right in front of you, gazing at you with affection."
"..."
Containing, feeling, pulse, pulse?
Xu Qingzhou imagined waking up the next morning and turning to see Chi Jun staring at her. He would probably just tease her to mask his true feelings, and ask warily, "Xu Qingzhou, why are you staring at me like this so early in the morning? Do you have ulterior motives towards me?"
The sense of immersion is too strong.
Xu Qingzhou pursed his lips awkwardly, even the smile he had managed to force out earlier vanished.
cousin:"……"
*
The initial wedding photoshoot was far from "smooth," but fortunately, these things fall into the category of "practice makes perfect," and my cousin quickly discovered Xu Qingzhou's smile triggers during the training process—
"Hey little sister, doesn't this camera lens look like money? You'll get paid if you film it successfully!"
"If the photos turn out well, your cousin will give you extra money~ Money, money, money~"
"Beautiful! So beautiful! Little sister, you have such an aura of wealth, every part of you is gorgeous! You're sure to have a lot of money coming your way in the future!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, she's a fairy, a true fairy! Why the hell would she need to go to school? With that face alone, she could make 2.08 million a day in the entertainment industry!"
Whether it was the overwhelming "money" offensive, or my cousin's exaggerated tone and overly enthusiastic and hilarious filming poses, in any case, my cousin's trick never failed him—
Xu Qingzhou's smile was much brighter than before.
Sometimes she was so amused that she couldn't stop laughing that she had to cover her face with a bouquet of flowers and gesture for the camera to pause, which inadvertently allowed the camera to capture even more authentic and lively moments.
The best part was that Chi Jun seemed to find Xu Qingzhou's money-grubbing nature amusing. Later in the filming, when he looked at her, his forced smile always carried a hint of amusement and natural interest.
Although it is far removed from the mainstream wedding photo theme of love and happiness, if we set aside outdated ideas and look at it this way, the sense of couple is surprisingly strong.
The filming at the church ended at 11:30 a.m.
Overall, my cousin was very satisfied with the fact that Chi Jun and Xu Qingzhou, this "perfect couple," were late for the shoot that morning. When ordering takeout, he waved his hand in a great mood and declared that he would get each of them a deluxe lunch!
Forty minutes later, the four people sat in a row on the long stone bench in front of the church.
One person was holding an egg pancake in their hand, and next to them was a plastic bag containing a lone braised chicken leg.
Faced with three pairs of questioning eyes, my cousin calmly pointed to the order slip on the takeout bag:
"It's luxurious, isn't it written here? Supreme - Luxury - Egg Pancake."
Everyone: "..."
Because her cousin repeatedly warned her not to get her wedding dress dirty while eating, as washing it was very expensive, Xu Qingzhou ate very carefully.
After she had finally eaten a third of the omelet, she looked up and saw that Rose next to her had already finished the omelet and the chicken leg.
Rose must have been really hungry from holding up the light board to play the rock scene that morning. Now that she had finished her own portion, Rose was staring longingly at the little chicken leg that Xu Qingzhou was holding.
After a pause, Xu Qingzhou smiled and handed the chicken leg to her.
Rose was taken aback for a moment, but seeing Xu Qingzhou's friendly and gentle gaze, she immediately said "thank you," took the chicken leg, and started to eat it in big bites.
After finishing her meal, she seemed to feel that a simple "thank you" was a bit perfunctory, so she looked intently at Xu Qingzhou and Chi Jun with her slightly squinting eyes and said, word by word:
Wishing you a long and happy marriage and many children.
While eating his egg pancake, Chi Jun suddenly coughed.
Xu Qingzhou was both amused and exasperated, and took out paper and pen to explain:
We are not lovers, we are siblings.
Upon hearing this, Rose looked even more confused, staring blankly at Xu Qingzhou, then at Chi Jun, and remained silent.
At that moment, my cousin suddenly clicked his tongue.
The voice was extremely abrupt, revealing a disdain for something that seemed quite amusing.
Xu Qingzhou and Chi Jun both turned to look at him at the same time.
My cousin still sat upright, his posture dignified and elegant, with his legs crossed, his expression a half-smile, seemingly oblivious to the two gazes directed at him from the side.
After crunching through the egg pancake and then devouring the chicken leg in two bites, he clapped his hands, stood up, dusted off his legs, and turned back to say:
"Why are you looking at me? Hurry up and eat. We have to rush to the next place after you finish eating."
After saying that, she took out a small mirror from her pocket and began to style her hair in a seductive manner in front of the mirror.
After tidying up a couple of times, he glanced sideways at Chi Jun and Xu Qingzhou.
"Tsk—!"
Chi Jun: "..."
My feet are itchy, I want to kick someone.
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