So rouge really does smell good—no wonder people liked eating it in ancient times.

Gu Ying thought absentmindedly as Miss Liu in front of her suddenly stopped moving.

“All done,” Miss Liu said.

Gu Ying opened her eyes. When she saw her fully made-up face in the mirror, she was utterly shocked. The first words that came out of her mouth were, “Oh no, even my mom won’t recognize me now!”

Miss Liu burst into laughter at that, laughing so hard that tears welled up in her eyes.

This must be the highest compliment a makeup artist can receive.

Miss Liu wiped away the tear at the corner of her eye with her pinky and looked at Gu Ying. “You really are an interesting person.”

“Where do you live?” Miss Liu recalled the conversation she had when Sun Lan approached her. “If I’m not mistaken, it should be the Mechanical Factory’s family compound, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Actually, I only moved there a few months ago.” As Gu Ying spoke, her eyes stayed glued to her reflection in the mirror.

Seeing Gu Ying’s look of disbelief, Miss Liu found it amusing. “What, you still don’t believe this is you? Your features are actually quite proper. It’s just that your skin isn’t fair and you’re too skinny. If you gained some weight and lightened your complexion a bit, you’d be a real beauty.”

Gu Ying was stunned. No one had ever complimented her like that before.

She beamed and said with a laugh, “Being a bride really is a privilege—everyone only says nice things.”

Miss Liu rolled her eyes. “You think I’m just flattering you? I’ve always been…”

Before she could finish, another waiting customer began to urge her.

Miss Liu didn’t have time to chat. She added the final touch to Gu Ying’s hairstyle—curling two strands of hair deliberately left in front of her forehead into soft waves.

Miss Liu said that was the most fashionable hairstyle at the moment.

Once everything was done, she quickly moved on to help the next customer.

Gu Ying sat quietly to the side. She glanced at the clock and realized that Miss Liu had been fast—she’d finished her makeup in just half an hour.

But she had agreed to meet Gu Chengzhi an hour later.

After waiting in the photo studio for half an hour, Gu Ying finally saw Gu Chengzhi rushing over on his bicycle.

He parked it outside, locked it up, and hurried in. As he walked in, a beautifully made-up girl came toward him. He froze on the spot.

Was this girl… his sister?

Gu Chengzhi almost wanted to rub his eyes. How could someone look completely different just because of some makeup?

To be honest, it wasn’t that she looked particularly pretty—it was just very strange.

Standing there, he studied the girl walking toward him, his mind churning. He couldn’t help but marvel—this makeup technique was truly something. It had transformed someone so thoroughly that you couldn’t find a trace of the original face.

He stared at the girl for a while. As she came closer, he took a step forward, just about to greet her—only for her to brush past him without a word.

Gu Chengzhi: ?

Wait, that wasn’t his sister?

He looked around and spotted another girl sitting quietly by the window. She had just finished getting her makeup done too and looked quite nice.

Oddly, this girl was also looking at him.

Gu Chengzhi didn’t want to make assumptions, so he walked over and politely asked, “Hello, have you seen a girl who was here getting her makeup done earlier this morning?”

Gu Ying: ?

She had been waiting for Gu Chengzhi to come in, and as soon as he did, he became completely fixated on a stranger and wouldn’t look away.

At first, she thought her big brother had finally woken up and was trying to talk to a girl—but then even after the girl passed by, he didn’t react.

Then he looked around the photo studio, finally locking eyes with her and walking over. Gu Ying thought he had recognized her at last—only for him to ask her if she’d seen someone else!

Gu Ying couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Bro, you don’t recognize me anymore?”

Hearing the familiar voice come from this completely unfamiliar face, Gu Chengzhi nearly turned around and walked away.

“You—you—you’re Gu Ying?” It took him a while to stammer out the full question.

“Of course I am! Look at my clothes—you remember what I was wearing today, right?” Gu Ying chuckled. Seeing his exaggerated reaction, she felt secretly pleased. Finally, someone else understood the shock she’d felt when looking in the mirror earlier.

Gu Chengzhi stared at her clothes for a long time.

Yes, that was indeed what Gu Ying had worn when she left the house. This girl who looked nothing like his sister was… actually his real, flesh-and-blood sister!

He was dazed for a while, then reached out to pinch her face.

Gu Ying quickly dodged and scolded, “What are you doing? I just got my makeup done—you’ll ruin it!”

Gu Chengzhi laughed sheepishly. “I just wanted to see how many layers of powder they used to make you this pale. I think even the whitewash on our walls isn’t as white as your face right now.”

As he spoke, he kept staring at her face.

The more he looked, the more delighted he became. “Turns out my sister isn’t bad-looking after all. See? After putting on makeup, you’re actually quite eye-catching.”

Grinning, Gu Chengzhi gave Gu Ying a ride home on his bike, even humming a tune cheerfully along the way.

When they got home, even Sun Lan nearly didn’t recognize her. If it hadn’t been for her remembering what Gu Ying wore that morning, she would never have believed this pretty girl in front of her was her daughter.

Gu Ying had never worn makeup before—she’d never had the occasion to. So Sun Lan had never known that Gu Ying, once made up, didn’t lose out to the other girls at all.

For a moment, Sun Lan was moved to tears.

When word spread that Gu Ying’s makeup was done, the matchmaker on Gui Xiwen’s side urged him to come pick up the bride.

Today, Gui Xiwen was dressed in a black suit. He was already handsome and tall, and the well-fitted suit only added to his distinguished air.

It was a joyous occasion today, and Gui Xiwen wore a constant smile on his face. But to those who paid close attention, that smile seemed to have a different meaning altogether.

In the compound, many people believed Gui Xiwen was marrying Gu Ying just to spite Ming Xue. So, they concluded that his smile was forced—he was smiling, yes, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

It looked like a joy he was only pretending to feel.

Someone whispered, “Looks like the rumors were true. Gui Xiwen is marrying Gu Ying to get back at Ming Xue. You can tell he’s not genuinely happy.”

“Exactly. Who looks like that on their wedding day? Sigh, Gui Xiwen and Ming Xue were such a good match. What a pity.”

Gui Caihong, standing nearby, overheard and sneered, “Who would be happy marrying such an ugly bride?”

As Gui Xiwen’s aunt, Gui Caihong naturally had to attend the wedding. Today, she had even specially brought Meng Huairong along.

Meng Huairong had been adopted by Gui Caihong since she was young and was very good at reading the room. When she saw Gui Caihong openly criticizing her future niece-in-law in front of others, she thought it was inappropriate. Tugging at Gui Caihong’s sleeve, she softly suggested, “Mom, maybe don’t say things like that.”

That only made things worse. Her attempt to soothe Gui Caihong ignited the older woman’s already simmering anger.

Looking at the considerate child in front of her, Gui Caihong felt even more indignant.

Meng Huairong was kind-hearted and beautiful—how could she lose out to Gu Ying?

It was already absurd that Gui Xiwen, in a moment of madness, insisted on marrying Gu Ying, but the real shock was that Zhang Dongling actually agreed to it too. Had they all lost their minds?

The more Gui Caihong thought about it, the angrier she became. She coldly asked, “Did I say anything wrong? That cousin-in-law of yours isn’t good-looking at all—you haven’t even seen her yet, right?”

“Once they bring in the bride, you’ll understand why your cousin isn’t happy today. He’s so prideful, and he’s marrying someone so far beneath his standards. How could he possibly be in a good mood?”

This thought unexpectedly lifted Gui Caihong’s spirits.

Yes, once Gu Ying arrived and everyone saw how unattractive the bride was, they’d probably all be secretly laughing at her.

Outside, the master of ceremonies was starting the preparations for the bride’s arrival. Gui Caihong, who had been disinterested all morning, suddenly perked up. She pulled Gui Xiwen out of his room and chirped, “They’re calling for you to go pick up the bride. Hurry now—don’t keep our bride waiting too long!”

Watching Gui Xiwen leave with a crowd of people to fetch Gu Ying, Gui Caihong leaned against the doorframe, smiling to herself.

Meng Huairong asked curiously, “Mom, what are you smiling about?”

Gui Caihong raised an eyebrow toward the direction of Gu Ying’s house. “You’ll see soon enough.”

Gu Ying also lived in the compound, so the trip to pick her up didn’t take long.

Soon, a large group returned with the bride and groom.

Gui Caihong had clearly been waiting for this moment. She signaled to Meng Huairong, “Didn’t you want to know what I was smiling about? Go take a look—you’ll get it.”

Puzzled, Meng Huairong followed the crowd teasing the bride and peeked through the people. After a moment, she ran back excitedly. “Mom, this cousin-in-law of mine is actually really pleasant-looking!”

Gui Caihong: ?

Gui Caihong thought Meng Huairong must have looked at the wrong person.

Suspicious, she asked, “Are you sure it was Gu Ying you saw?”

Meng Huairong sweetly linked arms with her. “Of course! She’s wearing a red dress and beautifully done makeup—who else could it be but the bride? How could I mistake her?”

Gui Caihong didn’t believe her. She pulled her arm free and marched forward, pushing her way through the crowd. “Make way, let me through! I’m the aunt, I should have a look!”

Shoving aside the onlookers, Gui Caihong squeezed into the crowd—only to see a surprisingly elegant bride in the center.

The bride wore a red dress and her face was lightly powdered, making her skin look fair. Her hair was styled in an updo, sprinkled with gold powder, and a gold leaf ornament adorned the left side.

Gui Caihong was stunned. She could barely reconcile this person with the image of Gu Ying she had in her mind.

Who knew that makeup could make such a difference? This didn’t even seem like the same person!

This version of Gu Ying wasn’t exactly a stunning beauty, but she was by no means ugly.

Gui Caihong overheard whispers nearby.

“Wow, Gu Ying actually looks really good with makeup. That red dress suits her.”

“See? Just like they say—Buddhas need gold, and people need clothes. Anyone can look decent with a little effort.”

Gui Caihong stood still, expression unchanged, but inside she was fuming.

Ha! If she’d known this would happen, she would’ve pretended to be sick and stayed home. This wedding was an infuriating mess.

She ate at the banquet with no enthusiasm, didn’t spare the bride a second glance, and left early with Meng Huairong in tow.

After the guests had left, the Gui family started cleaning up.

The tables and chairs borrowed from other households in the compound had to be returned, the cooks and helpers paid, and accounts settled with the master of ceremonies.

All in all, there was still a mountain of work to do.

The only two people who had nothing to do were Gui Xiwen and Gu Ying.

They had been “gently” locked in the bedroom under the elders’ instructions—to get some rest early.

There was no raucous wedding-night teasing here, but tradition dictated that the newlyweds stay together in the room, with the clear intent that they start working on producing children as soon as possible—something the elders fervently hoped for.

After finishing everything, Zhang Dongling and Gui Xiangrong returned home and headed to the bridal room door to listen in, curious about what was happening inside.

But what they saw was a sneaky little figure crouched right outside the door.

Furious, Zhang Dongling grabbed Gui Xiwu and knocked him twice on the head.

“You’re still a kid and already learning bad things! Who told you to eavesdrop? Your brother just got married and here you are snooping around outside their door?”

Zhang Dongling threw Gui Xiwu to Gui Xiangrong. “You—teach your son properly!”

Caught eavesdropping, Gui Xiwu looked pitifully at his father with teary eyes and immediately begged for mercy. Zhang Dongling covered his mouth with her hand. “Shh, keep it down! Don’t disturb your brother’s wedding night!”

After saying that, Zhang Dongling tiptoed sneakily toward the bridal chamber.

Gui Xiangrong: “…”

Heh. Do you not know who your son takes after?

Gui Xiangrong couldn’t bear to watch. He grabbed Gui Xiwu with one hand and pulled Zhang Dongling back with the other. “Enough. Let’s all get some rest.”

Zhang Dongling tried to resist. “Don’t pull me—I just want to listen a little, just a little bit, okay?”

“No.” Gui Xiangrong firmly dragged his ridiculous wife back to their room.

Zhang Dongling didn’t get to hear anything and kept staring longingly toward the bridal room, her face full of regret.

However, inside the bridal chamber, beautifully decorated with romantic flair, nothing happened as the elders had wished.

As soon as he entered the room, Gui Xiwen collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. No matter how much he was called, he wouldn’t wake up.

He reeked of alcohol—no one knew how much he had been forced to drink.

Gu Ying didn’t bother with him. She sat in front of the mirror, slowly removing the decorations from her hair. She needed to take off her makeup.

While she was unpinning her hair in front of the mirror, there was a sudden pop, and the light in the room went out.

Gu Ying glanced out the window—everything outside was pitch black too. She figured it was a power outage in the compound. She remembered she had prepared candles in case of such an event and got up to fetch them.

Then she realized—she was now married. The candles were at her maiden home. This was Gui Xiwen’s house.

Gu Ying stood in the darkness for a long while, calming the emotions rising within her, before slowly feeling her way toward the bed.

She wanted to shake Gui Xiwen awake and ask where the candles were.

But she missed and accidentally pressed somewhere soft.

In the dark, the man on the bed—who should’ve been sound asleep—let out a low grunt.

Gu Ying raised an eyebrow.

Hm? Faking sleep?