Chapter 9 Yang Kang

  Huang Rong is an absolute theorist, but also very stubborn in practice. On the Lu5 network, she firmly believes that her design of Mu Nianci's image is correct, so on the second day, Huang Rong takes Mu Nianci to a beauty salon.

  When handing Mu Nianci over to the responsible shop assistant, Huang Rong solemnly added a list of all her suggestions for Mu Nianci's image makeover.

  Blush, long hair, eyelashes, nose shadow...... And in Huang Rong's backpack, there were also the necklace and hairpin she had prepared for Mu Nianci.

  "Believe me, it's different once you come out." Huang Rong pushed Mu Nianci while turning back to talk to the manager, "I have a membership card, can my friend get a 30% discount too?"

  Mu Nianci sat blankly in the beauty chair, facing the ugly duckling in the silver mirror. The shop assistant held a spray can and smiled: "This is a skin-cleansing spray, no problem? Now close your eyes."

  Mu Nianci closed her eyes, feeling a gentle mist of water falling on her skin. The shop assistant's sweet voice whispered in her ear: "Actually, you can keep your eyes closed all the time, and when you open them again, it'll be different. Your facial foundation is really good..."

  Mu Nianci had never enjoyed herself so much, she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep. In the Western Regions, there was a legend about Princess Aurora (author's note: the princess in "Sleeping Beauty") that when she woke up from her deep sleep, there would be a prince who would kiss her in front of her. Before falling asleep, Mu Nianci thought of the legend of that princess, although she was only an ugly duckling, but even an ugly duckling had a princess's dreams.

  At this time, in a distant place, the prince was practicing with a man named Linghu Chong. The prince suddenly let out a loud sneeze and said: "Damn it, who's scolding me again?"

  "Don't be uncultured. It's said that when someone misses you, you'll sneeze too." The angry youth was hanging from the horizontal bar with a bright red face.

  "Could it be my old mother?" Yang Kang gazed at the white clouds drifting in the sky.

  When Mu Nianci walked out, Huang Rong was blowing air into her cheeks and had a mouthful of spicy mouthwash to clean her teeth. She suddenly saw Mu Nianci and swallowed the whole mouthful of mouthwash. "Manager, I'll also do a hairstyle, otherwise Guo Jing might run away when he sees Mu Nianci."

  Huang Rong of course believed that silly child Guo Jing, so these words were also said to Mu Nianci. A bit surprised and frightened, but Huang Rong's astonishment was also genuine. Before Mu Nianci came out, Huang Rong had not expected the result to be so astonishing.

  Huang Rong pushed Mu Nianci in front of the mirror, then put the necklace around her neck, carefully combing a waterfall-like green silk, and pinning the hairpin among her long hair.

  Mu Nianci didn't know if she was facing a poster or her own reflection in the mirror.

  Her long hair was pulled straight, like a waterfall cascading down. In the gentle breeze that blew through the hall, her hair tips danced elegantly on her shoulders. The tortoiseshell necklace that Huang Rong had given to Mu Nianci complemented her own fair skin, which had been refined by the passage of time. A white silk flower adorned her head like a large butterfly perched on top. Huang Rong said that a white shirt would suit Mu Nianci's complexion, so Mu Nianci bought a white blouse. Huang Rong said that Mu Nianci had a slender waist and a high waistline, making long skirts the most suitable choice, so Mu Nianci bought a linen-colored long skirt with a narrow waist. Even the white stockings with embroidered flowers on her feet were recommended by Huang Rong, which accentuated her slim ankles and looked exquisite and elegant.

  Meng Cai looked at the person in the mirror, wondering if that was really herself. If Yang Kang truly liked this version of herself, would he like "Meng Cai" or just her beautiful clothes? Perhaps Huang Rong was right, if she didn't dress up, Yang Kang wouldn't have noticed her.

  Later, Mu Nianci quietly asked Huang Rong. Huang Rong was taken aback for a moment and let out a soft sigh: "Sister, I originally thought you were pretending to be stupid..."

  Yang Kang bit his pen holder and gazed up at the ceiling.

  In fact, saying that Yang Kang is an emotional idiot does not quite fit his true image. He's just lazy and appears a bit dull-witted. His hobby outside of class is actually helping people write love letters.

  In this circle, Bin Da has also produced some talents. In the past, senior students like Liu Yong were among the best. Liu Yong's love letters are mainly short poems and songs. It is said that at that time, the price of writing a letter was as high as one chicken leg per word. Many classic works have been adapted into songs by campus singers with guitars, including the supreme work "For her, I am willing to be worn out, my clothes are gradually loosening, but I will never regret" which later won the first prize in Bin Da's top ten singer competition. It was also at that time that the brothers under the stage were all frightened, and the girls suddenly discovered that many of them had received this love letter. Originally, Liu Yong's love letter was not just sold for one chicken leg. If it were placed in the publishing industry, it would be suspected of repeated submissions.

  Yang Kang was also a young talent who rose to prominence later in life. His mother, Bao Xizhen, was a well-known figure among female writers, and Yang Kang grew up under the influence of her tragic writings, developing some skills along the way. Yang Kang's style of writing love letters relied on parallelisms and elaborate descriptions, and he would write long articles that were full of passion and tears. The girls all thought that the boy who sent them love letters had been secretly in love with them for many years, and had a heart that was on the verge of shattering from experiencing wind, rain, frost, and snow. At this point, even if the other person was a pig, they couldn't bear to reject him outright - instead, they would seek out a more tactful way to decline.

  And at a certain time when a man and woman were under the flowers and moonlight, Yang Kang was nibbling on his brush waiting for the next business to come knocking.

  Mu Nianci stood quietly outside the door, looking at her toes with a sense of unease. The white shoe tips were spotless, not a speck of dust on them, clearly not shoes worn by working-class people.

  Mu Nianci didn't knock on the door, but she knew Yang Kang was inside, and they were only separated by a single door.

  She and Yang Kang were classmates in middle school for six years, even if they didn't have a close relationship, they could be considered childhood sweethearts. According to Huang Rong's way of thinking, it was "you tell him" - Huang Rong felt that Mu Nianci and Yang Kang had an unclear relationship between them, with no one going to break the ice in between. However, when Mu Nianci stood at the door of Yang Kang's dormitory, she felt that it wasn't just a piece of paper, but a door. The door was locked from the inside, if Yang Kang wanted to see her on his side, he only needed to lightly turn the lock, while on her side, in order to see Yang Kang, she could only knock on the door or simply break it down.

  Mu Nianci couldn't break down the door, so she had to knock on it and tell Yang Kang that she was there. Whether or not the door would open ultimately depended on Yang Kang's thoughts. But just like in middle school at that fork in the road, Mu Nianci thought to herself that she needed to be a bit braver. If she didn't go knock on the door, Yang Kang might not even know she was there.

  Mu Nianci hesitated to raise her hand, and at the same time lowered her head to look at the clothes on her body. These clothes were what made her most hesitant, thinking of Yang Kang's expression when he saw these clothes, Mu Nianci's brain would automatically go blank for a few seconds, unable to think clearly.

  The door had already opened before he even knocked. Linghu Chong was holding a large teapot, preparing to go next door to borrow some water, when he saw Mu Nianci raise her hand in a knocking gesture, as if she were going to knock on his head.

  "Ah!" After hesitating for a few seconds, Linghu Chong let out a cry of surprise and covered his mouth with his hand. His mouth was wide open to the extreme, as if he could swallow his own hand and a large teapot together.

  The door closed suddenly in front of Mu Nianci, and Linghu Chong stuck to the back of the door and shouted: "Yang Kang bit me, am I dreaming?"

  Yang Kang's pen fell to the ground with a "clack", and he stared at Linghu Chong with wide eyes, in complete silence. It was only then that Linghu Chong realized he had gone too far, originally intending to play a joke on Yang Kang, but not expecting his feigned surprise to be so convincing.

  "What's wrong?" Yang Kang asked.

  "Come and see for yourself."

  Yang Kang walked over, looked at Linghu Chong with a puzzled expression, patted him on the shoulder and pushed him away, then reached out to open the door.

  "You must be mentally prepared before opening the door," Linghu Chong covered his own eyes with both hands, "I couldn't bear to see you scared to death."

  Linghu Chong and Yang Guo had a good relationship with Mu Nianci, so he wasn't afraid that Mu Nianci would get angry. When he covered his eyes, he was also curious to see what expression Yang Guo would have when he saw the new Mu Nianci.

  "Get out of the way," Yang Kang pulled his sleeve, "What am I afraid of? Even if it's a tiger, I'm not afraid!"

  The door opened, and Yang Kang stared at Mu Nianci with wide eyes. The girl with a head of scattered long hair smiled at him, and no matter what attire or adornment she wore, her familiar smile immediately brought back memories for Yang Kang.

  "Isn't it Mu Nianci?" Yang Kang turned his head and said to Linghu Chong, "I thought it was a real tiger..."

  Yang Kang said it was a pity, perhaps it was a tiger and he would be more excited?

  "Let's go, let's go, we're going to be late." Yang Kang urged, and he ran out first.

  Mu Nianci stood there dazed, and Linghu Chong couldn't think of anything to say, so he praised her: "You look even more beautiful dressed like this."

  That day was a high school classmate reunion at a restaurant next to Bian Daxue.

  The restaurant is said to be the largest in the Yangtze River Delta, with a radius of one kilometer. The organizer was Cheng Ying, the class leader back then. Cheng Ying not only sent out group emails but also made phone calls to every single person in the class, making the gathering extremely lively. Even Peng Lianhu, who wasn't originally from their class, came running over.

  The saying that a three-year-old's words are unreliable is at least proven wrong by Peng Lianhu, who was still mugging his female classmates for two game coins when he was sixteen and had already made a name for himself in the physics department by the time he was twenty-three. His perfect score on the TOEFL exam is well-known to everyone, and it's almost certain that he'll be going to a top university in the Western Regions for graduate school. Everyone is too embarrassed to mention his three warnings at Affiliated Middle School, so Peng Lianhu has also completely forgotten his own mischievous past, not only attending classmate gatherings from other classes but even standing behind the restaurant door to greet lost classmates.

  When Peng Lianhu saw Yang Kang walking with his hands in his pockets, he could still recognize that this kid had used a brick to scare them off back then, so he quickly went up to greet him. However, upon seeing Mu Nianci following behind Yang Kang, staring at her own toes as she walked, this former bandit completely forgot about the victim.

  "Hey, Yang Kang, your girlfriend?" Peng Lianhu exclaimed, "She's pretty."

  "Ah, didn't I see it right?" Yang Kang sneered and said, "Isn't this Mu Nianci?"

  Peng Lianhu suddenly realized: "Mu Nianci, it's been four years... I almost didn't recognize you."