Chapter 38: Makeup That Wouldn’t Wash Off

The place for dinner was chosen in a small alley not far from the university’s south gate.

The storefront wasn’t big but it was clean, with warm yellow lights illuminating the entire room brightly.

Qian Chenhe had booked a private room in advance, with a large round table that fit everyone from the anime club who attended today’s event.

When the waiter handed over the menu, Qian Chenhe took charge and ordered a table full of dishes.

Over a dozen dishes were served, balancing meat and vegetables, with two large portions of sauerkraut fish and dry-pot bullfrog specifically added in the middle.

The dishes arrived quickly, and everyone was indeed hungry.

After standing, walking, and being busy all day at the anime convention, the boxed lunch from noon had long been digested.

Chopsticks crossed over the table, reaching toward various plates.

Someone picked up a rib, someone ladled a spoonful of sauerkraut fish soup, and someone picked out the chili peppers from the bullfrog and placed them beside their plate.

For a time, there were only chewing sounds and the light clinking of cups and plates.

Ji Xu sat next to Shi Yu, keeping his head down to focus on the rice and food in his bowl.

He occasionally looked up to grab a bite of food that rotated in front of him, remaining quiet for most of the time as he ate.

Halfway through the meal, Qian Chenhe stood up, brought a jug of beer from the corner of the table, and placed them one by one in front of everyone.

When he reached Ji Xu, he set down a can, with dense water droplets condensed on its surface.

The beer can hit the surface in front of Ji Xu with a light “click” sound.

Qian Chenhe patted his shoulder: “Drink up, everyone. It’s rare for us to get together tonight, so feel free to drink.”

Ji Xu looked down at the can of beer in front of him, then looked up at Qian Chenhe’s slightly flushed face—likely because he had already finished a bottle earlier, making his smile brighter than usual and his tone a few pitches higher.

Ji Xu gently pushed the beer can toward the middle of the table and shook his head: “I’ll stick to juice.”

The lingering aftereffects of his last cocktail were still burned into his mind—passing out after one glass, bumping into pillars while walking, slipping in the bathroom, and being seen completely bare by Yuan Hanfei.

He remembered every single event clearly, without even the embarrassing details fading away.

He didn’t want to go through that again, let alone lose face in front of so many people.

Shi Yu never drank alcohol, and an opened can of juice was already sitting in front of him, with an unopened one remaining beside it.

Seeing Ji Xu push away the beer, he picked up the unopened can of juice and placed it in front of Ji Xu.

He pulled the tab open and inserted a straw.

Only after finishing the entire set of actions did he look at Qian Chenhe: “He doesn’t want to drink.”

Qian Chenhe looked at Shi Yu, then at Ji Xu.

Just as he was about to say something more, Shi Yu had already turned around to chat about other things with the person next to him.

Ji Xu picked up the can of juice and took a sip.

It was orange-flavored, its cool sweetness sliding down his throat.

He raised the can slightly toward Shi Yu’s direction, his lips moving to silently say “thank you.”

Shi Yu caught his lip movement, the corners of his eyes curving as he raised his own juice in response.

“Alright then,” Qian Chenhe saw that he couldn’t persuade him and didn’t push further, raising his own beer bottle high up.

“Then let’s make a toast to celebrate the successful end of this event.”

Everyone raised the cups or cans in their hands—beer, juice, plain water.

Seven hands clinked together above the round table, making a crisp, clattering sound.

Ji Xu bumped his juice with everyone, the rim lightly clinking against Shi Yu’s juice can.

The two made eye contact across the round table and smiled at the same time.

The icy orange juice slid down his throat, refreshing and sweet, much better to drink than beer, Ji Xu commented silently in his mind.

The meal became livelier as it went on.

One or two people who had drunk a bit too much began talking loudly, chatting about interesting encounters at the anime convention and funny tourists.

Some people started flipping through today’s photos on their phones, passing them around to look.

Qian Chenhe had already downed several bottles of beer, his cheeks bright red.

His tongue began to tangle when he spoke, having to stop every two sentences to think about what the next one was.

He leaned against the back of his chair, waving his hands to gesture about something while the people beside him laughed and cheered.

Shi Yu sat in his seat without moving much, occasionally picking up a bite of food to chew slowly.

His gaze swept over the lively crowd at the table, quiet like an observing leaf.

Ji Xu was already full, laying down his chopsticks to lean back against his chair, drinking the rest of his juice while listening to everyone chat.

He noticed that Qian Chenhe’s eyes closed and opened, opened and closed, his head nodding downward bit by bit.

Finally, after dropping down once more, his head didn’t rise again—he lay flat on the table with his face pillowed on his arms, his lips slightly open as his breathing grew heavy and long, completely fast asleep.

Shi Yu looked at Qian Chenhe lying on the table and let out a sigh.

He pulled out his phone to check the time; it was already nearly ten thirty, and the dorm curfew was eleven o’clock.

He looked at Qian Chenhe again—an omega couldn’t enter an alpha dorm building, so he could only deliver him to the entrance at most.

His gaze swept across the remaining few people at the table.

Several of them had also drunk quite a bit and couldn’t even stand straight, while a few omegas were supporting each other.

His gaze finally landed on Ji Xu: “Ji Xu, which building is your dorm in?”

“Building Seven.” Ji Xu sat up straight.

Qian Chenhe’s dorm was in Building Twelve, which was very close to Building Seven, just a few minutes’ walk away.

Shi Yu finished his remaining half glass of juice, stood up, walked to Qian Chenhe’s side, and shook his shoulder: “Qian Chenhe, wake up, let’s go back to the dorm.”

Qian Chenhe moved his head, slurring a line of sleep talk that was completely unintelligible, then went still again.

Shi Yu looked at Ji Xu: “Can you help me take him back to his dorm? He’s in Building Twelve.”

Ji Xu stood up and walked to Qian Chenhe’s other side.

He and Shi Yu each supported an arm, pulling Qian Chenhe up from his chair.

Qian Chenhe’s head hung limply, his entire body sinking down like a bag of wet flour.

Ji Xu propped his shoulder under Qian Chenhe’s armpit to lift him up, and together with Shi Yu, they flanked him on both sides and walked out of the private room.

The remaining few people followed behind, some helping to carry bags and others clearing the path in front.

The group staggered along in the night campus, streetlights stretching their shadows into long, crooked lines.

Once they reached Building Twelve, the others dispersed back to their own dorms, leaving only Shi Yu and Ji Xu supporting Qian Chenhe at the entrance.

Shi Yu held Qian Chenhe leaning against his shoulder and said to Ji Xu: “Qian Chenhe’s room is 601, please take him up.”

Ji Xu nodded and took Qian Chenhe’s arm, supporting his whole body against himself.

Fortunately, Qian Chenhe was thinner than him, so the weight was barely manageable.

He dragged Qian Chenhe into the elevator and pressed the sixth floor.

When he knocked on the door of 601, Qian Chenhe’s roommate happened to still be awake, opening the door and taking him in with a helpless chuckle.

Together, they got Qian Chenhe onto the bed.

His roommate pulled off his shoes and covered him with the blanket before Ji Xu stepped back out and went downstairs.

Downstairs at Building Twelve, Shi Yu was still waiting.

He stood beside the streetlight, and seeing Ji Xu come out, he took two steps toward him: “Let me walk you back.”

“Huh?” Ji Xu froze for a moment. “No need, I can go back myself.”

He pulled out his phone to check the time—10:50 PM, ten minutes left until curfew.

“It’s almost curfew. If you walk me back, Senior, you might not make it back to your own dorm in time.”

Shi Yu also looked down at his phone, hesitated briefly, and nodded: “Alright then, be careful on the way.”

“You too, Senior.” Ji Xu waved to him, turned around, and walked briskly toward Building Seven.

The streetlight dragged his shadow out in front of him.

He jogged a few steps and rushed through the doors of Building Seven in the final few minutes before curfew.

The duty guard auntie looked up at him and said nothing.

When he pushed open the door to Room 404, Yuan Hanfei was sitting at his desk flipping through a book.

Hearing the door, he raised his head to look at him: “So late today?”

His gaze lingered on Ji Xu’s face for a moment—traces of blush and foundation still remained on Ji Xu’s cheeks.

A bit of unremoved eyeliner at the corner of his eye dragged out a faint gray mark under the light.

Most of the lip stain on his lips had worn off, leaving only an uneven ring of pink around the edges.

“Anime club dinner,” Ji Xu placed his backpack on his desk, reaching out to rub his face.

When his fingers touched the remaining makeup on his skin, he felt a thin layer of dry, granular texture.

“Yuan Hanfei, are you not going home today?”

“There’s a debate competition tomorrow,” Yuan Hanfei closed his book and turned his chair to face Ji Xu.

“An inter-school league, at the university auditorium. Do you want to come watch the match?”

Ji Xu was walking toward the bathroom to wash his face.

Hearing this, he paused his steps and turned around to look at him: “Can I go too?”

He had assumed this kind of debate competition was only open to relevant clubs or invited audience members, not expecting Yuan Hanfei to invite him directly.

“Of course you can go,” Yuan Hanfei stood up and followed him to the bathroom door.

“This debate competition is organized by the university. It’s public, so anyone can go watch.”

“I have reserved seats for family members of the contestants, so I can take you to sit in the front row.”

He leaned against the doorframe, watching Ji Xu turn on the faucet, bend down, and splash a handful of water onto his face.

Ji Xu rubbed for quite a while and scrubbed hard, turning his cheeks red.

When he looked up into the mirror, he found the gray eyeliner at the corner of his eye and the blush on his cheekbones were still there, stubbornly set as if carved into his skin.

He scrubbed again, to no effect whatsoever.

He turned around to face Yuan Hanfei leaning against the doorframe, his expression carrying a defeated helplessness: “Yuan Hanfei, my makeup doesn’t seem to come off.”

Yuan Hanfei didn’t laugh at him.

He turned back to his desk, pulled a pack of makeup remover wipes from his drawer, and walked back to the bathroom door.

He pulled out a wipe and held it out in front of Ji Xu: “Close your eyes.”

Ji Xu obediently closed his eyes.

The wipe felt ice-cold as it pressed against his eyelid and the corner of his eye.

Yuan Hanfei’s fingertip gently pressed against his eyeliner through the non-woven fabric, slowly wiping from the inner corner to the outer corner.

The pressure was light and steady, without pulling at his eyelid.

Then he switched to a fresh wipe, covering his cheekbones and the sides of his nose, wiping away the remaining blush layer by layer.

His movements were unhurried, as if he were performing delicate work that required patience.

Ji Xu felt the wipe slide from his brow bone down to his jawline, then sweep back around to both sides of his nose.

Finally, it wiped around the edges of his lips, cleaning off the remaining color from his faded lip stain.

Yuan Hanfei folded the used wipes, tossed them into the trash bin, and took half a step back to look at Ji Xu’s face: “All done.”

Ji Xu opened his eyes and turned to look in the mirror.

A clean, bare, plain face without eyeliner, blush, or foundation returned to the mirror.

There was only a faint layer of pink on his cheeks from being scrubbed, like the natural warmth after taking a hot bath.

He reached out and touched his face, finally feeling real skin instead of that dry, cakey makeup layer.

“Thank you,” Ji Xu said to himself in the mirror, then turned around to say it to Yuan Hanfei: “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Yuan Hanfei leaned against the doorframe, the corners of his mouth curving: “Tomorrow’s match starts at ten. See you at the auditorium entrance at nine thirty.”

Ji Xu nodded, took another look at his clean face in the mirror, turned around, and walked out of the bathroom.

The blanket on his bed was still messy.

He climbed up and lay down, smelling the lingering shampoo on the pillow and the faint fragrance of makeup remover wipes in the air, and closed his eyes.

Outside the window, a narrow beam of white moonlight seeped through the gap in the curtains, falling onto the dorm floor, quiet like a thin, long river.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Cultivation and Destiny, All Because of You

Angstcultivationfluff

Read Now →
Not interested