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The makeup store was deathly quiet.
Xu Zhiqiao remained polite yet distant. “No, thank you. I’m just here to help my friend pick something. Since the beauty advisors here are so aloof, we’ll just try another place.”
The two beauty advisors glanced at each other in alarm.
Zhou Cong spoke in a calm tone. “Come here.”
Xu Zhiqiao silently declined.
Zhou Cong said again, “Big Brother will help you pick one, okay?”
Seated on the stool, Li Ruo paused before smiling. “Oh? You two know each other?”
At that, the two beauty advisors’ expressions tensed.
Before Zhou Cong could speak—and perhaps to keep him from saying anything inappropriate—Xu Zhiqiao smiled, her eyes curving politely. “My Big Brother is Ji Huailuo. He and Zhou Cong are friends.”
“Oh~” Li Ruo nodded in sudden realization. “So you’re Master Ji’s little sister.”
Xu Zhiqiao nodded. “Your makeup looks really pretty, Sister. Goodbye.”
Li Ruo smiled gently. “Wait, don’t go yet. Come here, let me help you pick something.”
“No need—”
“Yes, yes, you must. I’m really sorry about earlier,” Li Ruo said warmly as she stood and took Xu Zhiqiao’s hand. “You have such great features—you need something sheer and natural. I know just what works.”
The two beauty advisors now eagerly hovered around Song Siting, their earlier indifference replaced by an overcompensating friendliness. “Do you have a favorite shade?”
Xu Zhiqiao didn’t wear makeup. Her past life had been dull and uneventful; she had no clue about cosmetics.
“I don’t use—”
Before she could finish, a large hand suddenly tugged her by the back of her collar, pulling her cleanly out from between Li Ruo and the beauty advisors.
“Take care of this classmate,” Zhou Cong said casually. “I’ll help my little sister choose.”
Li Ruo stood frozen on the spot.
She had spent over an hour trying on makeup in this store, and Zhou Cong hadn’t even looked up once. Every time she asked for his opinion, he just lazily muttered, Buy them all.
Now, it was like he was afraid this girl might run off. He gripped her wrist tightly, lowered his head, and seriously examined every lipstick shade.
“Tsk…” Zhou Cong frowned. “Aren’t these all… kind of the same?”
Xu Zhiqiao tugged her hand away. “I’ll pick it myself.”
Zhou Cong didn’t push. One hand in his pocket, his posture relaxed, he loosely accompanied her.
This time, Xu Zhiqiao genuinely intended to buy something for herself.
But she truly couldn’t decide. So she pulled out her phone and video-called Xu Shu, speaking softly, “Mother, which one looks good?”
Zhou Cong: “……”
Laughter rang out from the phone. “Pick something for everyday wear. If you’re not wearing makeup, don’t go for anything too bold. Actually, my Baobao would look best with just a tinted gloss.”
Xu Zhiqiao glanced at the row of lip glosses. “There are so many colors. Which one?”
“Try a few on,” Xu Shu suggested. “Then take some photos and send them to me—I’ll help you pick.”
“Okay~”
After the call ended, Zhou Cong’s chest quivered slightly, and then he let out a laugh. “How old are you? You can’t even shop without video-calling your mother?”
“Mind your own business.” Xu Zhiqiao grabbed a tester. “Go stand somewhere else.”
Zhou Cong replied, “Nope.”
Turning her back to him, Xu Zhiqiao adjusted the mirror and dabbed a bit of gloss onto her lips.
By then, Song Siting had finished picking her lipstick and walked over to offer advice. “This one suits you.”
“Okay.”
The very next second, Xu Zhiqiao’s shoulders were spun around.
Zhou Cong bent at the waist, studying her lips closely. “Not good…”
Under everyone’s gaze, Xu Zhiqiao couldn’t tell if she was angry or embarrassed. Her ears flushed red, and she gritted her teeth. “You’re insane!”
Zhou Cong used his fingertip to wipe the gloss that had smudged past her lip line. “Seriously, try another one.”
Xu Zhiqiao smacked his hand away and bolted like a rabbit. “Tingting, let’s go.”
Sensing something was off, Song Siting decided to ditch the lipstick and quickly took her hand, leading her out.
The store quieted instantly.
Li Ruo looked conflicted. “She’s… Ji Gongzi’s little sister?”
“Miss Li,” Zhou Cong turned his gaze from the door and said evenly, “take a look around, see if there’s anything else you like. It’s on me.”
“……”
Zhou Cong added, “Sorry for making you come out for nothing.”
Li Ruo’s expression was complicated. “That little girl just now…”
“I’d appreciate it if you kept this confidential,” Zhou Cong said flatly. “She gets scared easily.”
The message was clear: she wasn’t to let anything slip—not now, not in front of Old Master Zhou.
Li Ruo, face perfectly made-up, whispered, “But I… I really like you…”
Zhou Cong: “Sorry.”
“……”
She’d heard plenty about the Zhou Family’s Young Master—his cold and detached temperament—but seeing it in person made the rumors feel too kind.
He used the fewest words to express the greatest impatience and apathy.
He gave nothing—not hope, not dignity.
He was ruthlessly cold, despite having a face that looked like it would welcome anyone.
Zhou Cong swept his eyes over the counter and pointed with his chin. “These. Wrap them all up.”
“Yes, Young Master Zhou.”
“Oh, and that one too,” Zhou Cong recalled something. “The one my sister’s classmate picked. Include it.”
“Of course.”
—
Back in the dorm, the room was silent. Xu Zhiqiao was once again surrounded by the three girls.
She had buried herself under the blanket, lying stiff as a board.
“Don’t suffocate yourself,” Song Siting laughed. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a little touch on the lips.”
Xu Zhiqiao shot up, face flushed. “Is he insane?! He was with that other woman—it was obviously a blind date. He must be crazy!!”
“……” Zou Qi offered gently, “Maybe he was just being polite…”
“I don’t care what he was doing,” Xu Zhiqiao fumed. “But touching me like that—you don’t think he’s a creep?!”
“……”
Silence fell over the room.
Seeing their expressions, Xu Zhiqiao’s eyes widened. “You’re not seriously unbothered by that, are you?”
“……” Wang Miaomiao cleared her throat. “Sorry… We just… don’t have that kind of, uh, sweet trouble.”
Zou Qi: “Good thing he didn’t come after me. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to resist.”
Song Siting: “I’d make an exception for that face.”
Xu Zhiqiao: “……”
“Well, how about this,” Song Siting coughed, trying to be helpful. “You rejected him, didn’t work. If you accept him, you can’t stand it. So I’ve got two ideas. One, keep him dangling—don’t accept, don’t reject. Let him get bored and give up on his own.”
“……” Xu Zhiqiao sulked. “Do I look like I’m that capable?”
Song Siting: “Then your only other option is to get a boyfriend. That’ll make him back off.”
“……”
That sounded like a terrible idea too.
Before they could settle on a plan, Xu Zhiqiao’s phone buzzed.
It was a message from Zhou Cong.
[Come out.]
[I bought all the ones you tried earlier.]
Frustrated and overwhelmed, Xu Zhiqiao replied without thinking:
[No time. I’m going on a date with my boyfriend.]
Seeing the message, Zhou Cong’s lips curled into a slow, mocking smirk, his eyes devoid of warmth.
Then he made a calm call.
“Ji Huailuo, did you know your little sister’s dating someone?”