Cheng Ping had no heart to stay any longer and found an excuse to leave early. As he exited, the flashing lights flared up again.

Cheng Ping knew nothing about makeup and didn’t even notice any difference before and after the junior fixed it. Naturally, he had no idea what kind of stir it would cause.

That night, his vampire makeup unsurprisingly became a hit.

In the world of Halloween costumes, every star buys publicity, but to truly trend, it has to be impressive. Bizarre attempts to stand out don’t always succeed, and those who ignore the theme for the sake of beauty often get mocked.

In this respect, Cheng Ping’s face combined with Li Baixi’s skill made a powerful statement and proudly broke into the limelight.

“Damn, is this Cheng Ping? I’m in! Come bite me!”

“Get a grip, people. Have you forgotten his shady history?”

“He’s trending every few days. Does he even have any work?”

“Thank you for your concern. Our new movie just wrapped up. Please look forward to it.”

…

Outsiders focused on the spectacle, while insiders paid attention to the details. Fans were captivated by Cheng Ping’s looks, with few truly analyzing his makeup.

Until a makeup artist shared Cheng Ping’s photos in a professional group chat.

“Who did this look? It’s trending. Impressive.”

“Teacher Song, right? This eye makeup is his style.”

Someone tagged Li Baixi’s junior: “Teacher Song, did you do this makeup?”

Someone in the know chimed in: “No, it was Teacher Li.”

“Uh…”

Li Baixi had been riding a wave of success in recent years, and some peers were already jealous, seizing the opportunity to criticize: “Is Li Baixi copying Teacher Song?”

Someone immediately agreed.

After a few sarcastic remarks in the group, a girl couldn’t stand it anymore: “Overall, it’s not in Song’s style. It still has its own uniqueness.”

This girl specialized in film makeup and rarely spoke up. Now she got dragged in: “Oh, so many fangirls for Li Baixi. What’s unique about him? He’s the least unique.”

Someone tagged the junior again: “Teacher Song, are you not online?”

The junior was online.

He thought it was decent enough not to make things worse, so he couldn’t possibly explain it away and decided to play dead.

A few hours later, Li Baixi and his team finally landed. It was already past midnight in China.

Li Baixi didn’t have time to rest, looking exhausted as he rushed to meet his client. However, the foreign actress told him there was a sudden change: her dress had been swapped.

The actress originally chose a white petal dress, and Li Baixi designed her entire makeup and hairstyle to match it—elegant, poetic, and ethereal.

Now, she had switched to a puffy dress with pink and purple flowers.

Li Baixi was shocked: “You should have informed me earlier.”

The actress: “The dress sponsor contacted us last minute while you were still on the plane. I’ve left the entire afternoon for you to redesign. Is that okay?”

The actress, used to being a diva, was quite assertive in communication.

Li Baixi had no choice but to redesign the makeup.

After finally finishing, the actress looked at it from different angles and said, “I don’t see any Chinese elements. This goes against my original intent in hiring you.”

Li Baixi: “…”

There was only an hour left before her event. At his wit’s end, Li Baixi ended up giving her a modified Peking opera hua dan makeup.

Li Baixi had a mishap.

The actress was satisfied, but the entertainment media on site had mixed reviews. The most common comment was: “Aside from a few flowers, it doesn’t match the forest elf theme.”

A makeup artist can’t always deliver perfect results, and occasional mishaps are normal. But this mishap went international, a significant loss for Li Baixi.

Li Baixi, feeling frustrated and exhausted, went to the hotel to check in.

It was already morning in China by then, and they were just sitting down for a proper dinner. The group was too tired to talk, each quietly checking their phones.

Li Baixi finally saw Cheng Ping’s message: “The contact lenses ruined my makeup.”

Seeing no follow-up, he asked: “Is it serious? What happened next?”

Cheng Ping was awakened by the message alert. By now, his mood was very different from when he sent that message, with two voices playing in his head, one from the junior and one from his manager.

Does Li Baixi have feelings for me?

Cheng Ping didn’t know how to face Li Baixi and didn’t want to talk about the junior, so he replied: “Nothing serious.”

While Li Baixi was typing, Assistant Yang cleared his throat: “Take a look at these screenshots.”

Assistant Yang had received several screenshots of group chat records from a classmate.

This classmate was the girl who defended Li Baixi and was frustrated by the group’s comments, so she complained to Assistant Yang.

“Damn! How can your junior be such a shameless person!” Ma Koukou fumed.

Assistant Yang didn’t wait for instructions, quickly sent over two photos: “The makeup was altered. The first picture is our finished look, and the second is how it turned out. We were on the plane during the party, so Teacher Song must have fixed it on site.”

The classmate immediately shared the photos in the group.

The group chat went silent.

The junior finally spoke up, seemingly frank: “Yes, Cheng Ping’s makeup was ruined. Since my senior wasn’t there, I helped out a bit.”

The classmate sent a sarcastic smiley.

The previously silent members came back to life: “Teacher Song is so generous.”

Ma Koukou: “I’m so mad, let me into the group to tear these people apart.”

Assistant Yang: “Calm down. Burning bridges won’t help us. But Cheng Ping, letting Song redo his makeup, if not for my classmate…”

“That’s right, how heartless of him.” Ma Koukou immediately declared she was no longer a fan of Cheng Ping.

Li Baixi: “It’s not that bad. He needed to fix his makeup on the spot.”

“Master, don’t you get it? He must have done it on purpose. The one time your makeup didn’t please him, he retaliates like this!” Ma Koukou said sharply, “Master, have some pride. Finding another man isn’t that hard—”

Ma Koukou stopped abruptly because she saw the look on Li Baixi’s face.

Li Baixi also realized his expression must be off and found an excuse to leave, skipping dinner and returning to his room.

Both Li Baixi and Cheng Ping had their thoughts and didn’t contact each other for a long time.

A week later, Cheng Ping received the script sent by Actor Lu. It was a modern drama.

Thanks to Actor Lu’s recommendation, Cheng Ping faced little competition and secured the role after one audition. The contrast between now and then was stark, but he knew if he didn’t perform well, he might soon return to where he started.

After securing the role, Actor Lu took him to meet the producer and director over dinner.

During the meal, Cheng Ping suddenly remembered something: “Has the makeup designer for the crew been decided?”

Director: “Not yet.”

Cheng Ping remembered Li Baixi’s suggestion to recommend him, so he mentioned it. The manager next to him gave him a surprised look.

Director asked: “Does he have experience with costumes? This is a modern drama, so the costume requirements aren’t high. Can he handle the role of styling director?”

Cheng Ping: “I’ll have him contact you.”

Afterwards, the manager expressed her disapproval: “Your career is just picking up. It’s better to stay away from romantic entanglements.”

“What romance?” Cheng Ping awkwardly pretended not to understand.

Manager: “Isn’t he pursuing you?”

“Maybe you’re overthinking it…”

“We’re already looking for a new makeup artist for you, and you’re still tying yourself to him?”

Cheng Ping, seeing no way out, darkened his expression: “A favor is a favor. One must repay kindness.”

The manager looked at him carefully and asked: “Cheng, do you not mind him pursuing you?”

“What’s wrong if he is? Does that mean he deserves to be disliked?”

The manager realized he had touched a nerve. Cheng Ping’s previous pursuit of someone had not ended well. So, he stayed silent.

Li Baixi’s studio received the invitation.

Li Baixi sat in his boss’s chair, stared at the message for a while, leaned back, and crossed his legs on the desk, daydreaming.

People came and went, occasionally glancing at him with curiosity.

Li Baixi, almost sliding off, was finally reminded by Ma Koukou: “Master, your posture in that skirt is improper. What’s the matter?”

Li Baixi explained the situation.

Ma Koukou: “No way, it’s too late for that scumbag to make amends. He’s lost us forever!”

Li Baixi: “Ma Koukou, according to the script, this drama has a lot of young men, all kinds.”

Ma Koukou: “When do we start?”

Li Baixi rolled his eyes.

Assistant Yang: “Do you really want to go?”

Li Baixi looked at the ceiling: “It’s my first time being asked to be a styling director. I’ve hit a bit of a bottleneck recently, and I feel like breaking through in this direction is the right move.”

Assistant Yang: “But a styling director is responsible for the overall design, covering all characters from head to toe. We’ll need to form a team from scratch. For starters, we need an illustrator for the proposals.”

Li Baixi laughed.

Ma Koukou: “Young lady, you have no idea who Li Your Majesty really is.”