Chapter 84: Wang Hui's Love, Part Two (Qixi Festival Special)

Several dozen minutes later, a heavily made-up version of Wang Hui came into being. Staring at the mirror, he took a deep breath as he looked at his face caked in thick powder, eyebrows drawn in thick black strokes, and eyelids smothered in heavy purple eyeshadow.

“Are you sure this is the latest trendy look for stylish men?”

Si Liren patted her small chest, barely suppressing a laugh. “Relax, you look at least ten times more handsome than before!”

Reassured by her certainty, Wang Hui relaxed a little, even managing a small smile at his reflection. He had to admit—it did have a certain charm.

“I’m off then,” Wang Hui announced, stepping out of Si Liren’s room with confident strides.

On the way, he greeted others with the same confidence. “Hey, Old Li, keeping busy?”

Old Li’s eyes widened, and, unconsciously, he put distance between himself and Wang Hui, watching him leave.

But Wang Hui paid no mind to others’ opinions—in truth, his single-mindedness meant he hardly noticed at all. He returned to his room, impatient to open Weiyan.

“Hey beautiful, are you free for a video call now?”

Feng Tianlin and Long Mengting had been waiting eagerly and immediately replied, “Of course!”

Feng Tianlin thought mischievously, “Heh heh, let’s see if I don’t scare him to death.”

When the video connected—

“What the hell!” Both sides exclaimed at the same time.

Feng Tianlin pointed at the phone screen. “What… what is that? How is it even scarier than me?”

Long Mengting’s delicate face was frozen in surprise. “Did we add the wrong contact?”

They had meant to prank Wang Hui, but ended up getting scared by him instead.

Wang Hui’s reaction was even more dramatic. When he saw that terrifying doll-like face, he nearly dropped his phone in fright, collapsing onto the bed and taking a long time to recover.

First love? Gorgeous beauty? All lies—complete and utter lies.

“Boss, what are you doing?” Wang Hui’s voice was almost in tears, full of grievance.

“I should be asking you that! What’s with that makeup? You look like a ghost.” Feng Tianlin’s eyes were wide as he spoke, only after confirming by voice that it was Wang Hui.

“Huh? My junior sister from the Daoist Alliance did this. She said it looked good,” Wang Hui said, glancing in the mirror.

Feng Tianlin now understood—this guy’s sense of aesthetics was utterly warped.

“Hurry up and take that off. I can’t stand to look at you, it’s too ugly,” Feng Tianlin said, feigning disgust.

Wang Hui mumbled an “Okay,” and went to wash it off, but soon returned. “It won’t come off!”

Now, with water streaks, his makeup looked even more frightening.

“Oh my god, forget it. Stop messing around. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit,” Feng Tianlin said, covering his face in exasperation.

“What is it?”

“Nothing much, just checking in, seeing how you’re doing…”

During their chat, Feng Tianlin learned that this kid had become a core disciple of the Daoist Alliance, with access to all sorts of rare resources and top-tier techniques. His future was bright, and if Feng Tianlin ever needed to pull off something big, Wang Hui would be a great help.

After talking for a while, Wang Hui hung up, then immediately stormed over to Si Liren’s room, banging on the door furiously. “Si Liren! Open up!”

Light footsteps approached, and as soon as Si Liren opened the door, she burst out laughing at the sight of Wang Hui’s face, smeared like a painted cat.

“Hahaha, what kind of look is that?”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve! Hurry up and help me clean this off!” Wang Hui fumed.

“Wait a sec, let me get a picture—this is too funny,” Si Liren said between laughs, snapping away with her phone.

When she’d had her fill, she finally brought out a bottle of makeup remover. “Alright, come to the bathroom, I’ll help you.”

After the makeup was removed, Wang Hui, looking thoroughly dejected, was about to leave when Si Liren stopped him.

“You’re back so soon—you must’ve video-called that woman, right? How did it go?”

“What do you think?” Wang Hui’s misery was plain to see.

Who wouldn’t be miserable? He’d thought he’d found true love, only to discover it was his boss, that doll-face, playing a prank on him. His naïve heart had been dealt a blow of ten thousand points.

Si Liren could easily guess from his expression that things had gone south with that woman, so she smiled.

“To make up for the makeup incident, let me treat you to a meal.”

At the mention of food, Wang Hui perked up immediately, licking his lips. “What kind of meal?”

Si Liren snapped her fingers. “The Si family’s exclusive culinary art—‘Whatever’s-on-hand Stew’!”

“‘Whatever’s-on-hand Stew’?” Wang Hui stroked his chin. “Sounds delicious!”

Indeed, his sense of taste had become as warped as his sense of style.

Si Liren tied on an apron and grabbed a ladle. “Just wait and see.”

She set to work. “Let’s see… leftover rice from this morning, leftover rice from last night, lunch leftovers from yesterday… breakfast leftovers from yesterday…”

An hour later, Si Liren produced a pot of something unidentifiable. Even a first glance told you instinctively—this was not meant for human consumption.

But Wang Hui nodded seriously. “Looks pretty good.”

Without hesitation, he picked up his chopsticks and started eating, shoveling it in mouthful after mouthful, to Si Liren’s shock.

“Stop eating, you’ll give yourself a stomachache,” Si Liren pleaded. The whole thing had been a prank—who knew the fool would actually eat it.

But Wang Hui paid her no mind, finishing the entire pot of… whatever it was.

When he was done, he let out a satisfied burp and flopped onto the sofa, clutching his stomach. “The taste was so-so.”

Si Liren stared, incredulous. “How did you eat something so awful?”

She’d tasted a spoonful herself, and it nearly sent her straight to heaven—yet Wang Hui had finished the entire pot.

Wang Hui just shrugged. “It wasn’t hard to eat. Food that’s hard to swallow makes you gag, but this ‘Whatever’s-on-hand Stew’ didn’t.”

“What sort of life have you lived to say something like that?” Si Liren looked at him, speechless.

Her words made Wang Hui fall silent, lost in memory. After a long while, sorrow filled his face.

“When I was little, my parents abandoned me at a Daoist temple. It was my master who saved me and raised me. Back then, there weren’t many paranormal creatures about, and Daoists had little standing, so life was hard—never enough food or clothes.

It wasn’t until I started high school that Daoists gained some respect. My master even rented a place for me near the school. I’d make all sorts of excuses not to visit him at the temple, only going on weekends because I had no choice. Now, even if I wanted to see him…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but Si Liren had heard the rumors—supposedly, his master was killed by a terrifying supernatural creature.

Realizing she’d dredged up painful memories, Si Liren quickly changed the subject. “Have you ever studied divination?”

Wang Hui shook his head. “My master said that stuff shortens your lifespan, so he didn’t let me learn.”

“Then you probably don’t know about the Matchmaking Hexagram?” Si Liren smiled.

“The Matchmaking Hexagram? Divination is hard enough, and that’s supposed to be even harder. You believe in that stuff?” Wang Hui looked at her as though she were an idiot.

Si Liren cursed him inwardly for being so dense, but forced a smile. “My master divined it for me.” She blushed, glancing away. “He said I’d meet my ideal husband here.”

“Your master was definitely lying. There’s no way divination can be that precise—unless he’s a celestial from the heavens. He probably just wanted to give you a reason to come here,” Wang Hui replied, oblivious.

Si Liren’s face twitched. “Are you kidding me!”

She swore, then tossed him a ticket. “The temple fair is coming up. Here’s a ticket—don’t forget to come.”

Though Wang Hui didn’t quite understand, he tucked the ticket away. “Sure, I’ve got nothing else to do anyway.”

Back in his room, his breath quickened. “No way… could that girl actually have feelings for me?”

He might’ve been dense, but he wasn’t stupid. Even he couldn’t ignore the signs at this point.

But after so many years of hardship, and never having any female classmates get close to him, his understanding of women was close to zero.

“Could it be… that love has finally come for me?”