Chapter 20: Flirting and banter

“Lin Jianqing.”

“What?”

“Do you know what you look like right now?”

Lin Jianqing didn’t open his eyes.

“I don’t want to know.”

“Like a cat being forced to take a bath, too scared to move.”

Lin Jianqing opened his eyes and looked at her. Shen Huaixue laughed cheerfully.

“A stupid cat that’s obviously scared but pretends not to be.”

Lin Jianqing’s earlobes started to heat up again.

“You’re the stupid one.”

As soon as he said that, even he was stunned.

Too childish, so childish it didn’t sound like something he would say.

Shen Huaixue was obviously stunned too. Then she laughed even more openly.

“Were you just insulting me?”

Lin Jianqing looked away.

“No.”

“I heard it.”

“Then why ask?”

“Because I want to hear you say it again.”

Lin Jianqing completely didn’t want to talk to her anymore. Shen Huaixue continued applying his eyeshadow.

She applied it lightly, not using overly dramatic colors, just a light shadow to slightly deepen the contours.

Lin Jianqing was naturally handsome, and with this touch-up, the corners of his eyes appeared even cleaner and softer, as if the outlines hidden in mist had been gently polished.

As Shen Huaixue watched, her hand movements suddenly slowed.

So similar, truly similar.

Especially when his eyes were downcast, that expression carrying a hint of distance and forbearance was almost exactly like that person at certain times.

But not completely the same. That person’s beauty was sharper, like a knife hiding poison.

Lin Jianqing was different. He was cleaner, easier to see through.

At least that’s how it seemed now.

“Are you done?”

Lin Jianqing asked somewhat uncomfortably.

Shen Huaixue snapped back to reality.

“What’s the hurry?”

“I still have to work.”

“Are you working right now?”

“My job description shouldn’t include sitting here while you paint my face.”

“It is now.”

Lin Jianqing took a deep breath and told himself not to get angry.

Getting angry would only amuse Shen Huaixue. When Shen Huaixue picked up the lip gloss, Lin Jianqing finally couldn’t hold back.

“This too?”

“Of course.”

“Can I skip it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Shen Huaixue held the lip gloss, her tone light and airy.

“Because you look too much like a stubborn little animal right now. I want to see if adding some color makes it more obvious.”

Lin Jianqing: “…”

He suspected Shen Huaixue wasn’t really teaching him makeup at all. She just wanted an excuse to tease him.

Shen Huaixue moved closer.

“Open your mouth.”

Lin Jianqing looked wary.

“Can you speak normally?”

“Then do it yourself?”

Lin Jianqing looked at the lip gloss and was silent for two seconds.

“I can’t.”

“So, open your mouth.”

She spoke slowly and deliberately, the amusement in her eyes almost impossible to hide. Lin Jianqing’s face grew hot, and in the end, he could only slightly part his lips.

Shen Huaixue watched his reaction, her fingertips lightly holding his chin.

“Don’t pucker. Relax.”

Lin Jianqing couldn’t relax at all now. The sensation of the lip brush landing was very light, with a slight coolness. Shen Huaixue’s movements were serious, but her gaze was fixed on his lips.

Lin Jianqing became more and more uncomfortable under her gaze. He wanted to speak, but was afraid that opening his mouth would smudge the lip gloss. So he could only stiffen his body and let her do as she pleased.

Seeing this, Shen Huaixue finally couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re so silly.”

Lin Jianqing frowned indistinctly.

“You’re the silly one.”

Because his lips weren’t finished, his words came out a bit slurred.

It had no intimidation factor at all. Instead, it sounded like a small protest from someone being bullied too much.

Shen Huaixue’s smile deepened.

“Mm, I’m silly.”

She said that, but there was no hint of admitting fault in her tone.

After finishing the lip gloss, Shen Huaixue finally let go of his chin.

Lin Jianqing immediately leaned back a little, his action as obvious as could be.

Shen Huaixue watched his relieved expression, leaned back on the sofa, and commented slowly:

“Dodging so fast, it’s not like I did anything to you.”

Lin Jianqing picked up the mirror on the desk and looked down at it.

Then he fell completely silent. The him in the mirror looked different from usual.

Shen Huaixue hadn’t intentionally made him up heavily, nor had she made him look strange. On the contrary, she had been very restrained, simply making his features more refined, his skin cleaner, and the corners of his eyes softer.

If she hadn’t said anything, no one would think this was deliberately applied makeup.

They would only think he naturally looked like this. Lin Jianqing looked at himself in the mirror, his expression complicated.

“It seems… not bad.”

Shen Huaixue heard this and raised an eyebrow at him, as if she had finally been waiting for this.

“Admitting it?”

Lin Jianqing immediately put the mirror down.

“Just saying your technique is decent.”

“Not saying you look good?”

“No.”

“You clearly looked for a long time just now.”

“I was checking if there was anything strange.”

“And the result of the check?”

“…Nothing.”

Shen Huaixue laughed.

“So that means good-looking.”

Lin Jianqing stopped talking. He realized that no matter how he twisted it, Shen Huaixue would always circle it back.

Shen Huaixue arranged the cosmetics on the desk one by one in front of him.

“Remember the order?”

Lin Jianqing looked at those items, his expression a bit bewildered.

“First… foundation?”

“Then?”

“Eyebrows?”

“And then?”

Lin Jianqing looked at the eyeshadow palette, then at the lip gloss, then at the things in front.

He was silent. How could he possibly remember that!

Shen Huaixue looked at him with an expression of “I knew it.”

“Silly.”

“It’s just my first time learning,” Lin Jianqing immediately retorted.

“Not even the first time should be this silly.”

“You spoke too fast.”

“I spoke very slowly.”

“Then there’s too much stuff.”

“Is it hard to admit you’re silly?”

Lin Jianqing’s ears turned red again.

“I’m not silly.”

Shen Huaixue looked at his earnest retort as if her mood was at its peak.

“Fine, you’re not silly.”

She paused, then added:

“Just a little cute.”

Lin Jianqing froze entirely.

The office suddenly fell silent for a few seconds.

Then, he almost immediately stood up.

“I’m going to work.”

Shen Huaixue looked up at him.

“What are you running from?”

“I’m not running.”

“Face is red.”

“No.”

“Ears are red too.”

“Shen Huaixue!”

This time he was genuinely a bit annoyed. But the more he was like this, the more interesting Shen Huaixue found it.

It was as if she had finally discovered a fun switch. As long as she touched it lightly, Lin Jianqing would flare up, but he wouldn’t actually get angry enough to turn and leave.

At most, he would glare at her with red ears. Shen Huaixue suddenly felt that compared to that face similar to the white moonlight, Lin Jianqing’s own reactions seemed more interesting.

As soon as this thought surfaced, she paused slightly, then casually looked away as if nothing had happened.

“Take the things on the desk with you.”

Lin Jianqing was startled.

“Take them?”

“For you,” Shen Huaixue said naturally. “Go home and practice. I’ll buy more when you run out.”

Lin Jianqing looked at the cosmetics on the desk, which were clearly not cheap, and immediately became alert.

“I don’t want them.”

“The contract requires it.”

“The contract didn’t say I had to learn makeup.”

“But it said you have to cooperate with my arrangements.”

That line again. So it was “interpretation rights belong to the company” after all?

Lin Jianqing realized that Shen Huaixue was really good at exploiting the contract, and this roundabout trick really seemed to have been used on him.

He was silent for a moment, then had no choice but to pack the items into a bag one by one.

His movements were still careful. These things were expensive, okay? If he really broke them, what if Shen Huaixue used that as a reason to make things difficult for him?

Shen Huaixue looked at him being as cautious as if he were packing laboratory equipment and couldn’t help saying:

“I’ll buy more if they break.”

Lin Jianqing didn’t look up.

“You say that easily.”

“It is easy.”

“Easy for you.”

Lin Jianqing put the last brush in and added quietly:

“For me, these things are as expensive as a scam.”

Shen Huaixue laughed at that.

“Then you better learn well. Don’t waste them.”

Lin Jianqing looked up at her.

“Do you really want me to learn, or do you want to see me make a fool of myself?”

Shen Huaixue thought for a moment.

“Both.”

“You!”

Lin Jianqing no longer knew what to say. He picked up the bag and prepared to leave the office. Just as his hand touched the doorknob, Shen Huaixue suddenly called him back.

“Lin Jianqing.”

He turned back, his expression guarded.

“What now?”

Shen Huaixue leaned on the sofa, her gaze slowly sweeping across his face.

“Looking like this today is good.”

Lin Jianqing was startled. Shen Huaixue’s lips curled up slightly.

“From now on, before you see me, at least learn to do it to this level.”

Lin Jianqing:

He opened the door expressionlessly.

“I’m going to work, President Shen.”

This time he deliberately enunciated the words “President Shen” very clearly. Shen Huaixue heard it but just laughed.

“Go ahead, silly Student Lin.”

Lin Jianqing’s footsteps paused. He really wanted to turn back and retort. But thinking that continuing would only make Shen Huaixue happier, he held back in the end.

After the door closed, the office fell quiet again.

Shen Huaixue sat on the sofa, lightly tapping her knees with her fingertips. The image of Lin Jianqing blushing earlier still lingered in her mind.

Although their features were somewhat similar, their expressions were far too different.

After all, he was a man, so it was impossible for him to have that feeling of a supernatural being.

Shen Huaixue lowered her eyes, her smile slowly fading a bit.

This shouldn’t be…

At the beginning, she had only valued that similar face. But recalling how she had just taught Lin Jianqing makeup, that feeling was no different from the flirtatious banter between a young couple.

Thinking of this, Shen Huaixue, who originally hated men extremely, should have felt physical discomfort.

But thinking of Lin Jianqing’s soft, beautiful face and the light fragrance on his body, she inexplicably couldn’t bring herself to hate him.