Chapter 18: Honey Candy Part 2

Fu Zheng: “Mm.”

“I-I still think it’s not good.” Tao Zhi gathered his courage. “How about we go back? I don’t know how to do makeup. I really can’t pretend to be a girl for three days. If we’re found out, we’ll both be done for.”

He had thought about it for a while but couldn’t figure out why he felt scared, so in the end, Tao Zhi chalked it up to not knowing makeup.

How could he pass as a girl without makeup? He’d be busted.

Tao Zhi swallowed and emphasized, “We’ll both be done for, both get beaten until our noses bleed. It’ll be really pitiful and miserable.”

“?” Damn.

Fu Zheng lost his composure at those words. He couldn’t stand hearing Tao Zhi talk about himself like that and instinctively wanted to retort—he wouldn’t get beaten until his nose bled.

But the first half of the sentence made him pause.

“You didn’t do makeup?!” Fu Zheng frowned, staring at him.

Tao Zhi nodded.

He really hadn’t.

It had been snowing for a week, and the temperature had plummeted. Tao Zhi was bundled up heavily in a hooded coat and scarf that covered most of his face, so whether he had makeup on or not made little difference.

Now, Tao Zhi took off his coat and scarf, fully exposing his face.

A palm-sized little face, with cheeks and nose tip flushed red from being bundled up. “What about now? Isn’t it super obvious?”

Fu Zheng: “…”

Fu Zheng couldn’t spot any difference at all.

Like this, he looked just like a pure female college student.

Where was the problem?

Fu Zheng didn’t speak.

After a long moment: “Didn’t Rong Huai teach you?”

“I didn’t learn it.” Tao Zhi felt a bit embarrassed and scratched his head, looking down.

Fu Zheng: “…”

Makeup was too hard. Rong Huai had taught him for an afternoon, and he only managed to learn lipstick. He couldn’t even apply foundation evenly. Fortunately, Tao Zhi’s skin was good to begin with, so Rong Huai figured it didn’t matter if he skipped it. And with sixty thousand yuan on the line, Tao Zhi gritted his teeth and went for it.

But now he was scared.

“Let’s go back, Fu Zheng. Let’s go back.” Tao Zhi kept whispering in his ear.

Plus drawing big pies.

“Once I learn makeup, I’ll definitely seduce your brother properly for you.”

“I’ll go back and learn it for real.”

“Okay?”

“No.” Fu Zheng rejected him outright.

“We’re already here, and now you want to go back? You playing me?”

Besides, this was fine. He looked pretty like this.

Makeup or not didn’t matter; he passed just like this.

What was there to worry about?

However.

Fu Zheng stared at Tao Zhi for a good while longer.

“Where’s your makeup stuff? In the backpack?”

As he spoke, he grabbed Tao Zhi’s backpack and pulled out a tube of lip tint.

Fu Zheng twisted off the cap and, under Tao Zhi’s bewildered gaze, pinched his chin with one hand and lifted it.

The brush tip of the lip tint touched Tao Zhi’s lips.

Fu Zheng didn’t know makeup either, but how hard could this be?

He brushed it along smoothly. The pale pink lips quickly turned peachy, glossy and shiny—

It was Fu Zheng’s first time doing something like this, and he was surprisingly serious, frowning in concentration, his movements meticulous.

The tip of his nose picked up the lip tint’s sweet scent. Up close, Tao Zhi’s lashes trembled, as if brushing against his face.

It itched a little.

Damn.

Fu Zheng’s heartbeat suddenly sped up, like the feeling of impending collapse from staying up too late. He quickly let go of Tao Zhi and backed up several steps, pretending to be calm as he said, “That should do it.”

“Ah…” Tao Zhi blinked and touched his lips with his hand.

“Don’t ‘ah’ me.” Fu Zheng’s scalp tingled at the sight.

His mouth glistened with moisture, and when his lips parted, there was a slight sticky sound, like a slow-motion “pop.”

“I’m going to wash my hands.” Fu Zheng fled as if escaping.

Uh…

Tao Zhi watched his back, puzzled.

But… was this really okay?

Tao Zhi couldn’t resist touching his lips again.

Just as his fingertip brushed them, two knocks came from behind.

Tao Zhi went to open the door.

His fingers hovered on the doorknob. He hesitated for a moment before opening it.

Seeing Fu Zheng like that, they probably weren’t leaving, and he couldn’t wear a scarf for three days anyway. He had to face it; no retreating.

With that thought, Tao Zhi took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and pressed down the handle.

—But he chickened out and only cracked the door open a sliver, just enough to show half his body.

Fu Si Heng stood outside.

The instant the door opened, Fu Si Heng paused blankly for a few seconds before snapping back.

With the coat and scarf off, Fu Si Heng realized the clothes Tao Zhi wore today were the ones he had bought.

A high-neck sheer off-shoulder knit dress. The rounded shoulders were veiled in thin gauze, glowing with a hazy luster.

The high neck piled up at the throat, accentuating the elegant, slender line of his neck.

Further up, a dainty chin and moist, rosy lips.

A stray lock of hair clung to his cheek. Tao Zhi looked at him somewhat nervously. “Brother Fu, it’s you.”

Fu Si Heng’s gaze fixed.

He smelled the scent emanating from Tao Zhi again.

This time, it was peach honey.

His mouth exuded a sweet, cloying honey peach flavor.

Like melted sugar syrup, it drew out a silken thread that ensnared all his senses.