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The equipment she had ordered online arrived quickly.
After work, Fan Shengmei picked up the packages and went home to unpack and assemble them.
At this stage, not only were internet influencers still rare, but video-shooting equipment was also scarce. Some things existed, but they weren’t yet common or cheap.
Take the ring light, for example—Shengmei had searched for a long time before finding one suitable.
Following the instruction manual, she put everything together, then began preparing for her first shoot.
She had already decided on her direction—a beauty blogger.
It was the perfect time. Society’s pursuit of beauty was growing stronger by the day. People all longed to look good.
Her makeup skills were solid, and there were no professional beauty tutorial channels yet—only entertainment-oriented ones, shallow and fun but without substance.
This was her chance.
Once she had laid out all the cosmetics, Shengmei told Guan Ju’er and Qiu Yingying in advance:
“Guan Guan, Little Earthworm, I’ll need it quiet for a bit. Try to keep the noise down, maybe twenty to thirty minutes.”
Guan Ju’er nodded immediately.
Qiu Yingying, however, was curious and excited.
“Sister Fan! What are you doing?”
Shengmei pressed a finger to her lips, pretending to be mysterious.
“Secret for now!”
After closing her door, she switched on the ring light and got to work.
At first, she felt awkward. But she forced herself to adapt.
Her face was already bare—she had cleansed it with face wash and applied toner and lotion to prep her skin. Now she began with the base makeup.
“Hello, everyone! For important occasions, or even just when we go out in daily life and want to look our best, many of us struggle with makeup because we don’t know where to start. Today, I’ll teach you how to do your makeup—simple and practical! Just follow my steps.”
“First, the most important thing is the base makeup…”
…
“Alright, that’s it for today’s tutorial. I hope this was helpful! See you next time!”
The moment she pressed the red stop button, Shengmei collapsed in relief.
The smile she had held for nearly half an hour vanished, and her straight back slumped.
She had never felt this tired before.
Talking while applying makeup, keeping an eye on the camera angle—if she missed anything, she might have to start over from the beginning. Every step needed an explanation, every word carefully chosen.
The hardest part was the narration. She had to think while speaking, terrified of stuttering or saying the wrong thing.
She deliberately slowed her pace, leaving pauses that could be edited later.
Thankfully, she had practiced beforehand, running through it in her mind several times. And—she did it. One take, successful!
Shengmei let out a small cheer.
She glanced toward the silent living room and felt a wave of gratitude.
Pulling open the door, she called out:
“Guan Guan, Little Earthworm, I’m done! Seal lifted—you can talk again!”
Qiu Yingying’s door flew open.
“Sister Fan! Finally! You have no idea how quiet I was, I didn’t even dare to speak, worried I’d disturb you.”
Guan Ju’er also opened her door carefully, poking her head out with curiosity.
Shengmei reached over and pinched Yingying’s cheek.
“Good girl! I’ll treat you both to dinner later.”
Guan Ju’er adjusted her glasses, curious.
“Sister Fan, what were you doing in there? I thought I heard you talking to yourself.”
The apartment’s soundproofing was poor. Once it was quiet, voices carried easily.
Yingying nodded too—she had heard the faint sounds as well.
Shengmei paused, then decided to keep it secret.
“Give me a few more days. Once I’ve made some progress, I’ll tell you both. Who knows, I might even need your help!”
Since Shengmei said so, Guan Ju’er and Qiu Yingying stopped pressing her.
But Yingying noticed something different.
“Hey, Sister Fan, didn’t you already remove your makeup? Why are you wearing it again?”
Shengmei glanced at the clock and panicked.
“Oh no, it’s this late already! I need to sleep quickly—I have work tomorrow!”
She rushed into the bathroom to wash up.
…
The next day at work, during a quiet break, Shengmei sneaked time on her computer to edit her video.
She carefully selected background music—soothing and easy to accept. It had to be something she could use regularly; switching too often would hurt consistency. Familiarity would build viewer habit and loyalty.
Then came the subtitles.
Before, she had thought it was nothing. Now that she was doing it herself, she realized how tedious it was.
Bit by bit, she refined the video. She took out her notes—detailing which products she used and the correct application techniques—making sure every step was standardized and clear.
When she finally uploaded the video, she let out a long breath of relief.
Being a beauty blogger is exhausting.
After work, she was already thinking ahead to the next videos.
She remembered how, in later years, tutorials grew detailed—even down to tools and brushes. That gave her a direction.
She would start with the basics: foundation.
Later, she checked the app’s backend data. As she scrolled through the comments, likes, and notifications, her smile widened until she couldn’t hide it.
For such a short time online, the numbers weren’t bad at all.
She hummed a little tune as she happily walked home.
But when she reached her apartment complex, she froze.
Wang Baichuan was waiting downstairs.
“Xiao Mei.”
He stood quickly when he saw her, looking a little uneasy.
Had she… become even more beautiful?
He hadn’t seen her in days, and now he felt strangely tongue-tied, like a man returning home after a long absence.
“Xiao Mei, you’re off work,” he said stiffly.
Shengmei nodded naturally.
“Isn’t your company busy? What brings you here?”
She knew that “company.” She had helped him set it up herself. In truth, it was more of a workshop—small in scale.
Wang Baichuan shook his head.
“Not busy. We’re still in the early stage. I just… It’s been a while since we talked, so I came to see you. How about dinner? We can sit down and really catch up.”
He watched her nervously, afraid she might refuse.
Somewhere inside, he felt this was wrong. Shouldn’t it be Shengmei who felt nervous? Wasn’t she the one who had lied about owning a home?
But now, it was he who felt ill at ease.
Shengmei refused without hesitation.
“No. I’m tired from work and just want to rest. Besides, I still have things to do. Let’s not. You should head home and get some rest, too.”
She wasn’t lying. Between editing and her job, she was exhausted.
And she had to plan her next video—write scripts, refine her ideas.
On top of that, after the hot pot indulgence, she had to watch her figure.
She really had no time for dinner with Wang Baichuan.