Chapter 92: The Mission Begins!
“Hiss~ My head hurts…”
When An Han woke up, his head felt like it was splitting apart. He held it with both hands, eyes half-closed, and his whole body felt sore and weak.
What did I even do last night?
Drank at the KTV… and then what?
His memory was a little blurry, but he could still vaguely remember what happened. The most vivid part was that both Su Peng’s and Long Xing’s favorability toward him had gone up.
“Check Su Peng’s and Long Xing’s favorability.”
[Su Peng: 90; Long Xing: 91]
Why does it keep getting higher? At this rate, they’ll hit a hundred soon!
He had worked so hard before to lower Su Peng’s favorability by three points because of his nagging, but somehow, it had gone right back up last night.
As for Long Xing, his favorability had gone up, down, and then up again. In the end, it still increased by two, pushing him past the ninety-point mark.
An Han rubbed his messy hair into an even bigger mess, sighing in frustration. He really couldn’t figure out what was going on anymore. It seemed that no matter what he did, as long as he interacted with them, their favorability would just keep rising.
Too hard!
“Check Wang Yu’s favorability.”
[Wang Yu: 67]
Compared to last time, Wang Yu’s favorability seemed to have risen a little bit. But he hadn’t interacted with Wang Yu much recently either.
“I don’t get it at all.”
By the time they got back to school last night, it was already past midnight. Now the dorm room was silent. When An Han checked the time, his heart skipped a beat. He jumped down from the top bunk in a panic.
With a soft thud, he dashed toward the balcony, hurriedly washing up and getting dressed.
“Xiao Han, what’s with all the noise?” Long Xing yawned and asked sleepily.
“I have something urgent to do!”
Today was the comic convention! He had arranged to meet Lin Yi at 8 a.m., and it was almost time!
In less than two minutes, An Han finished his morning routine. He didn’t even bother to change shoes, he ran out wearing flip-flops.
Today, the mission had to be completed!
One day. Cheongsam. Outside.
The comic convention could perfectly check off all those mission keywords.
The only question was… did “one day” mean a full 24 hours, or just the daytime hours?
If it was the former… he might have to spend the night at an internet café while wearing the cheongsam.
He sprinted all the way to the girls’ dormitory building. There, Lin Yi was already waiting, dressed in a long hanfu dress.
She wore a white inner shirt with a long red outer robe. Her hair was styled in a coiled topknot, and her pink-and-white skirt brushed the ground, so she had to lift it slightly with both hands. With her makeup done beautifully, Lin Yi, who was already quite pretty, looked elegant and radiant, stunning beyond words.
“You’re so slow!” she complained first, then lifted her skirt and twirled around. “Pretty, right? The hanfu shop lent it to me! I have to wear it all day today.”
As An Han looked at her hanfu, an image of himself wearing one popped into his head. It shouldn’t look too bad, right?
After all, hanfu covered the whole body and didn’t really show off the figure. The only problem would be… his chest probably wouldn’t fill out the top properly.
“You can change into your outfit once we get there,” Lin Yi said, glancing toward the backpack and shopping bags near the dorm entrance. “Here, take them. They’ve got your makeup and your cheongsam inside.”
“Yeah.”
Normally, An Han was loud and bossy in front of his roommates, basically the dorm’s little prince. But now, he shrank his neck timidly.
“Hey, I sent your photo to the shop owner, and she didn’t realize at all that you’re a guy.” Lin Yi leaned in, wrapped her arms around his, and giggled behind her hand. “Just make sure you don’t give yourself away later, and remember, you have to use the women’s restroom. If the boss finds out, she’ll cut your pay!”
“Huh?” An Han’s eyes went wide. “You didn’t tell her I’m a guy?”
“What’s the point? She couldn’t tell anyway,” Lin Yi said with a grin, tugging on his arm. “Come on, grab your stuff. I’ll call a car.”
Holding the bags, An Han looked around nervously. “Just the two of us?”
“Of course. If I could find someone else, why would I trick you into doing this?”
“......”
An Han suddenly had a bad feeling that this trip wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.
He remembered seeing photos online of anime conventions. Every booth had a few pretty cosplay girls as mascots, surrounded by crowds taking pictures. And now… he was about to be one of them.
Damn it, there’s no way Long Xing and the others won’t notice me! They’re going to the convention too!
“Don’t be so nervous,” Lin Yi said, noticing his tense expression and laughing softly. “All you have to do is stand there and not play with your phone. Just think of yourself as a clothes hanger.”
She clearly knew what kind of nervousness a beginner like him was feeling. She leaned closer and whispered a few ‘tips.’
“If someone wants to take your picture, just strike a pose and smile a little. Being the center of attention actually feels great!”
No, it absolutely doesn’t! What kind of person thinks that’s a good feeling!? Just imagining that scene made him cringe inside.
If someone he knew saw him like that, he’d want to dig a hole and bury himself, or maybe scratch out a whole apartment floor with his toes from embarrassment.
He could only force a weak smile in response. The worst part was, if someone did take photos, he couldn’t really stop them.
Even though they took a rideshare, it still took over half an hour to reach the convention center.
Outside, long lines of people were already waiting. Lin Yi led An Han through the staff entrance and pulled him along at a half-run to a corner of the hall.
It was his first time at a place like this. All around, temporary stalls divided the huge venue into narrow walkways leading toward the central stage. Thankfully, the hanfu clothing booth they were heading to was tucked away in a quiet corner.
Good, the more hidden it is, the less likely my classmates will see me.
“Boss!”
“You’re late.” The shop owner, a woman in her thirties wearing glasses and looking smart and elegant, was busy helping her staff set up. She glanced at An Han and raised an eyebrow. “You’re even prettier than in the photo. Go to the back and get changed.”
The owner had built a small changing space out of foam partitions. Lin Yi grinned and pushed him inside.
“Change into the outfit first, I’ll help you with the makeup after. It’s already been altered to fit you, so it should be just right~”
Being in such an unfamiliar place, with the only familiar face being a classmate he’d barely talked to before, made An Han feel extra tense and anxious.
Once inside the small booth, he whispered cautiously, “System, what’s Lin Yi’s favorability toward me?”
[Lin Yi: 61]
Not bad. That number looked low, but in reality, it was close to Wang Sheng’s level of favorability. That made An Han feel a lot better. His nerves eased slightly as he opened the backpack and took out the cheongsam Lin Yi had prepared for him.
The next second, his expression went dark.
“This is ridiculous! Lin Yi! Why is it short?!”
“What else did you expect?” Lin Yi called back cheerfully.