The hairstylist glanced at Jing Ran, with his messy mushroom haircut, thick glasses, and tacky sportswear.

It was quite challenging for a newly graduated hairstylist.

What kind of hairstyle should be designed for someone so ugly and unfashionable?

Master went out today to train students at an institution, so he wasn’t in the shop. The novice hairstylist was a bit unsure: “How about I give you a magazine, and you let him choose one?”

“Okay!”

The hairstylist started coloring Jing Li’s hair while she flipped through the hairstyling magazine, looking at the hairstyles of some handsome men.

Jing Li lifted her head, but she couldn’t turn it freely because the hairstylist was applying color. She looked at herself in the mirror and at Jing Ran sitting on the couch behind her. She called out, “Ranran.”

Jing Ran, who was busy looking at his phone, raised his head and looked at Jing Li, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Come here.” Jing Li motioned with her hand, curling her index finger.

Obediently, Jing Ran walked over to Jing Li and asked, “What’s up?”

“Do you think this hairstyle suits me?” Jing Li pointed to a popular young and fresh hairstyle in the magazine and asked.

“No, it doesn’t.”

“…?” Jing Li pointed to another one. “How about this?”

“Not good.”

“…Then you pick one that you like!” Jing Li spread open the magazine for him to choose from. The hairstyles in it were all better than the mushroom head.

“I think mine is pretty good. My grandparents also like it.”

He had the audacity to mention his grandparents, but his grandmother had long despised it. The Little Prince was so stubborn, and now his grandmother didn’t even comment on his hairstyle anymore.

In fact, Jing Li had already gotten used to his funny mushroom head during this period and didn’t care if it was ugly or not. But she couldn’t stand the fact that someone with such good looks was wasting it!

If Jing Ran was genuinely ugly, then it would be fine. But if he caused so much trouble with his good looks, others would still say he was an ugly person making a fuss. He clearly had a good appearance, but he was ruining it like this, and Jing Li couldn’t bear it.

The Little Prince was just that stubborn. Once he decided on something, he wouldn’t change unless someone guided him a little.

Jing Li pretended to sigh in disappointment and said, “Ranran, do you know? My mother likes handsome guys. If you don’t dress well, she might not approve of us being together.”

Upon hearing that his future mother-in-law might not approve of him dating Jing Li, the Little Prince became nervous. “Then… what should I do?”

Seeing the slight panic in the Little Prince, Jing Li couldn’t bear to continue teasing him. “You’ll have to listen to my arrangements.”

“Okay, okay.” Jing Ran nodded and asked, “Which hairstyle should I go for then?”

“Let’s go with this one!” Jing Li pointed to the hairstyle she had chosen initially.

“Um, okay, I’ll listen to you.”

Jing Li said to the hairstylist who was coloring her hair, “Hey, can you help my boyfriend with this haircut? And dye his hair the same chestnut color as mine.”

“Sure. Once I’m done with you, I’ll take care of him.”

After more than two hours, Jing Li and Jing Ran left the hair salon. Jing Li looked up at Jing Ran’s chestnut-colored hairstyle and was quite satisfied. At least it wouldn’t look as ridiculous as a mushroom head. However, his black-framed glasses and tacky sportswear seemed a bit mismatched. They were now on a pedestrian street, and Jing Li took him into an eyewear store.

“Hello, are you looking for glasses?” the saleswoman in the store greeted them warmly.

Jing Li replied, “Yes.”

“What kind of style do you like? Let me show you some options.”

While reading a magazine earlier, Jing Li had already decided on the type of glasses she wanted. She said, “I’m looking for the trendy round frame with metal rims, the kind that many male celebrities have worn.”

The saleswoman walked to a display case and took out a pair of glasses with metal rims and a round frame. She asked, “Are you referring to this style?”

“Yes, yes, that’s the one. My boyfriend has a prescription of -1000. Do you have ultra-thin lenses here?”

“We do. We recently introduced a new brand of lenses that are specifically designed to be ultra-thin, and the quality is quite good.”

“Then let’s go with the ultra-thin ones.” Jing Li nudged Jing Ran and said, “Ranran, go get your eyes checked.”

Because Jing Li had said to follow her arrangements, Jing Ran nodded.

“Miss, please settle the bill,” the saleswoman walked to the cash register and calculated the price. “The total comes to 1368 yuan.”

Jing Li was surprised to hear the price. It was over a thousand yuan! She thought they could manage with less than 500 yuan. They had both just had their hair done, which cost about 800 yuan. Her own savings amounted to just over a thousand yuan, and now she only had a few hundred yuan left. She wanted to dress up her little prince nicely, but it seemed so expensive.

Jing Li said, “Can we get a discount? We are students and don’t have that much money.”

The saleswoman hesitated and said, “These are imported materials, and we can’t offer a discount. However, if you choose a different style, I can give you a student discount.”

“But this pair of glasses is very beautiful…” Jing Li looked reluctantly at the round-frame glasses with metal rims on the cash register. Wu Yifan and Yang Yang^[1]They are famous actors in China have worn them, and they would look great on her little prince too.

The saleswoman said, “How about switching to cheaper lenses? That would cut the price in half.”

Jing Li turned to look at Jing Ran. He was wearing glasses with lenses so thick, they looked like the bottom of a glass bottle. They must be heavy, and she was afraid they might flatten his elegant nose bridge. So she insisted on buying ultra-thin lenses.

“Lili, I have money,” Jing Ran suddenly handed Jing Li a savings card.

Jing Li remembered that Jing Ran had been working at grandmother’s bakery to pay the nursing home expenses for Grandpa Guo. She didn’t dare to use his money. “Isn’t your money supposed to be for paying for Grandpa Guo’s nursing home fees?”

Jing Ran explained, “This is the pocket money my parents give me, and I hardly ever use it.”

“How much is inside?” “I don’t know, it should be enough.”

Jing Li remembered that her friend Chen Wenbin had mentioned that she was interested in the money in Jing Ran’s family, so she assumed that Jing Ran’s financial situation should be decent. Therefore, she handed her savings card to the saleswoman and said, “Just this pair of glasses, and also give me a pair of contact lenses for my boyfriend.”

After Jing Ran’s prescription was checked, the saleswoman brought out the contact lenses that were suitable for his prescription. Since it would take over two hours to make the glasses, or they would need to be picked up the next day, Jing Li had Jing Ran try on the contact lenses first.

Jing Ran had trouble putting on the contact lenses for the first time. He struggled for a while and his eyes kept tearing up.

“Ranran, don’t blink. If you blink, you won’t be able to put them on,” Jing Li tried a few times but still couldn’t get them on him.

“Can I not wear them? I’m a bit scared.” Jing Ran felt some resistance in his heart about putting such a small foreign object in his eyes.

“You promised to listen to my arrangements.”

“Oh.” Jing Ran widened his eyes and let Jing Li put them on him.

It took about half an hour to put on the two small transparent films.

Jing Ran asked, “Do I have to spend this much time every time I wear them?”

“You’ll get used to it, then it’ll be quick, just a few seconds,” Jing Li put away the contact lens case and receipt, remembering that they also needed a bottle of care solution, so she paid again to buy the solution.

Jing Li walked out of the eyeglass store holding Jing Ran’s hand. After changing his hairstyle and putting on the contact lenses, Jing Ran now looked like a handsome young man. If he changed his tacky sportswear, he could easily compare to the boy groups from Japan and South Korea.

Today, Jing Ran went out wearing a dull yellow T-shirt and a loose camouflage sweatpants. If Jing Li hadn’t already gotten used to his taste, it would have been quite an eyesore. There were a few girls in groups of three or five, looking at Jing Ran’s handsome face and his outfit, whispering and giggling.

No need to guess, they must be saying how a smart and handsome university genius like him has such low fashion sense.

Jing Li brought Jing Ran to a trendy men’s clothing store and selected a few outfits for him to try on. After Jing Ran tried them on, even the salesperson couldn’t help but swoon over him.

Jing Li proudly took out Jing Ran’s savings card and handed it to the salesperson, saying, “He’ll wear this outfit out, pack the rest.”
The salesperson saw Jing Li’s fashionable and beautiful appearance, while Jing Ran looked quite plain when he entered the store. They imagined a scenario of a rich girl keeping a handsome toyboy and took the bank card from them and prepared the bill.

As the two walked out of the clothing store, girls on the street couldn’t help but stare at Jing Ran. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Jing Ran asked, “Lili, is it not good for me to dress like this? I feel like people are looking at me like I’m a monkey.”

Jing Li looked at the girls nearby, who were swooning over Jing Ran, and said, “Have you ever seen girls swooning over a monkey?”

*
After the couple finished shopping, it was already dark outside. Jing Li went home first to bring the things home, while Jing Ran went to buy two clay pot rice dishes from Hua Ji across the bakery.

Jing Ran placed an order at the cash register of Hua Ji: “Auntie Hai, I want a salted fish meat pie and a barbecued pork, to go.”

The cashier, Auntie Hai, looked up and saw a tall and handsome young man. She didn’t remember knowing someone like him, but he called her so warmly.

Aunt Hai asked, “Who… are you?”

Jing Ran replied, “It’s me, Jing Ran!”

“Huh? Jing Ran?” Aunt Hai couldn’t believe that the handsome young man in front of her was Jing Ran. His stylish hairstyle and trendy clothes had nothing to do with the Jing Ran she knew, but his voice was indeed Jing Ran’s.

Surprised, Aunt Hai said, “Oh my, Jing Ran, how did you become like this?”

Jing Ran habitually scratched the back of his head. He was not used to his new look and shyly said, “My girlfriend likes me this way.”

Aunt Hai had always been jealous of Jing Ran because he always had better grades than her own son. Fortunately, he was ugly since childhood, which gave her some consolation. But now, not only did Jing Ran have good grades, he was also handsome, and his girlfriend was beautiful. Jing Ran’s grandmother said that his girlfriend also attended a prestigious university. Her own son didn’t get into a top-tier university and was studying at a second-tier school, and his girlfriend had only graduated from a vocational school. This made Aunt Hai furious. Why did fate favor this fool?

Jing Li took out the clothes she bought today and threw them into the washing machine. When she saw Jing Ran coming back with two boxed meals, she said, “Jing Ran, quickly change your clothes. I need to start the washing machine.”

Jing Ran went to the bedroom to change back into his pajamas and took the new clothes to the bathroom to hand them over to Jing Li.

Jing Li tied her hair into a ponytail, revealing her smooth and fair neck. Jing Ran felt an inexplicable restlessness in his body.

Jing 6 put the clothes in the washing machine, pressed the start button, and walked out of the bathroom, saying, “Let’s go eat.”

“Lili, we haven’t kissed today…”

Ah, Little prince is so straightforward…

Jing Li placed both hands on his chest, tiptoed, and leaned closer to his lips…