Chapter 53: Blinded Part 2

She couldn’t see, but the scent was even more pronounced, Jiang Ruoning’s faint fragrance filling the space. This time, Shi Sui didn’t force her way in. She stood to the side, waiting for Jiang Ruoning to emerge. Jiang Ruoning quickly changed into the second outfit and pulled back the curtain to find Shi Sui sitting by the vanity, waiting with makeup tools in hand. As their eyes met, Jiang Ruoning’s face flushed for an instant. She glanced at the iced Americano nearby; her mouth felt dry.

Shi Sui beckoned her. “Come here.”

Jiang Ruoning had never felt a room so small, so stuffy. Every step made her body cells burn. When she sat beside Shi Sui, Shi Sui adjusted the makeup chair’s angle, and her hand accidentally brushed Jiang Ruoning’s arm. Jiang Ruoning felt a jolt like static.

Static, static, static! It had to be static!

But the fabric of her clothes wouldn’t generate static. Jiang Ruoning couldn’t even fool herself. She regretted it a little—she should have chosen the other makeup artist. She asked Shi Sui, “Is that makeup artist still around?”

Shi Sui pretended not to understand. “Which one?”

Jiang Ruoning said, “The one who was late earlier.”

Shi Sui replied, “She left.”

Jiang Ruoning frowned. “Already?”

Shi Sui said to her, “Yeah, you said to choose me.” She said it deliberately ambiguously. “So she left.”

Jiang Ruoning caught a whiff of tea in her words—very awkward. But she couldn’t find fault with it. She really had chosen Shi Sui. So frustrating, so oppressive. She wanted to punch her!

She curled up in the makeup chair, bracing for Shi Sui’s inevitable sneak attack so she could ‘counter.’ But Shi Sui was so proper it was unnatural. Every makeup step followed procedure strictly—even applying cream used tools, no hands-on contact.

She was too proper; Jiang Ruoning wasn’t used to it. She couldn’t help blurting, “You…”

Shi Sui held the eyebrow pencil close, eyes lowered. “What?”

Jiang Ruoning said, “Nothing. Thanks for the hard work today.”

Shi Sui said, “It is hard work. I usually charge for doing people’s makeup.”

Jiang Ruoning hadn’t expected her courtesy to be taken seriously. She barely held back an eye roll and gritted her teeth. “Should I pay you then, President Shi?”

Shi Sui hooked her chin, lifting her face slightly. With the eyebrow pencil, she traced fine lines over her brows. Shi Sui said, “I don’t want money.”

Jiang Ruoning blurted out, “Then what do you want?”

Shi Sui suddenly lowered her head and kissed Jiang Ruoning. “I want this.” After she spoke, her gaze drifted down from Jiang Ruoning’s nose tip to her thin lips. The awkward feeling in Jiang Ruoning’s heart vanished completely. She still wanted to act reserved. “I…”

Shi Sui’s long tongue plunged straight in, stirring up a muddy mess.

None of the scenarios Jiang Ruoning had imagined played out. Shi Sui pressed her onto the chair and ravished her thoroughly. Her hands, which had reached out to push away, wrapped around Shi Sui’s neck instead, hooking behind her nape. In the quiet room, only the heavy panting from their fervent kisses remained.

An hour later, Jiang Ruoning emerged from the changing room. Wu Jie took her to join the other models for group photos first. The other models had mostly finished their individual shots and had other schedules ahead, so Jiang Ruoning did the group shots before her solo ones. Wu Jie glanced at the time. “We might wrap up late tonight.”

Jiang Ruoning had pushed through twenty-four-hour marathons before without feeling tired, and now she grew more radiant the longer the shoot went on, as if continuously absorbing nourishment. The photographer marveled, “Miss Jiang, you’re in such great form. Must be a good mood.”

Wu Jie noticed it too. Every time Shi Sui finished doing her makeup, Jiang Ruoning emerged with eyes shimmering like rippling autumn waters. She had no idea what they were up to in there, but she wasn’t inexperienced in romance—she knew exactly what was happening. This time, though, she was all for it.

Jiang Ruoning gave a dry laugh. “Nah.”

She felt terribly guilty. From then on, aside from makeup sessions, she barely said a word to Shi Sui. For the last two outfits, she even dragged Zhao Miaomiao in as a shield. Zhao Miaomiao trembled nervously, stumbling through compliments. “This outfit fits so well. The makeup looks amazing. President Shi is incredible…” She ran out of words and looked pleadingly at Jiang Ruoning, who rescued her. “Go grab some afternoon tea for Wu Jie and the others.”

Zhao Miaomiao let out a whoop and bolted away happily. Jiang Ruoning stared at her retreating back and asked Shi Sui, “Why is she so scared of you?”

Shi Sui replied, “No idea.” She gently turned Jiang Ruoning’s face back while she spoke, applying concealer. She leaned in deliberately close, her breath tickling Jiang Ruoning’s cheek. Jiang Ruoning wanted to scratch it but feared smudging her makeup, so she grazed her cheek with the edge of her fingertip instead. Shi Sui tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and asked, “Are you afraid of me?”

Jiang Ruoning blinked in confusion. “Why would I be?”

Shi Sui said, “I’m a little afraid of you.”

Jiang Ruoning was even more baffled. “You’re afraid of me? Afraid of what?”

As Shi Sui applied eyeshadow, she replied, “I’m afraid you’ll ignore me.”

Jiang Ruoning: …

This woman couldn’t have a normal conversation anymore.

She ignored Shi Sui and sat still with her face composed. Suddenly, she remembered back in school when Shi Sui had done her makeup once. During the New Year’s gala, Ye Yu performed a song onstage, and Qin Zheng had done her makeup—flawlessly exquisite. Jiang Ruoning had been instantly envious and demanded Qin Zheng do hers too. But Qin Zheng, while she had her eyes closed, passed the task to Shi Sui. Shi Sui back then had no clue how to do makeup; it came out a total mess. When Jiang Ruoning opened her eyes, she saw fiery red lips staring back from the mirror.

Jiang Ruoning pursed her lips, watching Shi Sui’s serious expression in the mirror. She had no idea how many times Shi Sui must have practiced on others to reach this level of skill. She was a completely different person now.

Shi Sui finished contouring and saw Jiang Ruoning staring into the mirror in a daze. “What are you thinking about?”

Jiang Ruoning shook her head.

She just thought she couldn’t keep feeling sorry for Shi Sui anymore.

But things never went as planned. During the final outfit change, she spotted Shi Sui sitting by the tea table, drinking cold medicine. The dark brown cold remedy carried a faint licorice sweetness at first, but it turned bitter after a while.

Jiang Ruoning pretended not to notice and sat waiting for Shi Sui to do her final look.

By the time they wrapped, it was past nine at night. They hastily ate boxed dinners for supper. Wu Jie rallied everyone. “Sorry for keeping you all late today. I’ve booked a table at Zhuanglou—everyone come along.” She especially invited Shi Sui. “President Shi, you mentioned last time wanting to try Shangjing specialties. You have to grace us today.”

Shi Sui nodded. “You all go ahead. I’ll follow shortly.”

Wu Jie told Jiang Ruoning, “We’ll head over first. You bring President Shi along later.”

Jiang Ruoning was stunned. “Me?”

Was this the same Wu Jie who always hid her behind her back at drinking gatherings?

Wu Jie said, “Yeah. President Shi is new to Shangjing and might not know the way. Bring her over in a bit.”

Jiang Ruoning wanted to mention navigation apps, but Shi Sui already smiled. “Miss Wu thinks of everything. Thanks, Miss Jiang.”

Even the photographer and lighting techs glanced over. Jiang Ruoning forced a smile. “No problem.”

Wu Jie led the group away in a boisterous wave. Jiang Ruoning went back to the changing room to change. Shi Sui stood outside on the phone. When Jiang Ruoning finished changing, she saw the staff organizing clothes and pitched in to hang them up. The staff thanked her profusely. “I should be thanking you all. You worked hard today.”

The staff were flattered. The stylist from LESS had been late, extending Jiang Ruoning’s session and causing overtime. Yet here she was thanking them—and her agent was even treating them to dinner. Any lingering gripes about the extra hours evaporated; their smiles grew much warmer. “Miss Jiang, you’re too polite. Let me handle it.”

Jiang Ruoning glanced at Shi Sui, still on her call, and helped finish organizing. As the staff prepared to wheel them out, Jiang Ruoning asked, “Going to the main changing room?”

The staff hurried, “No, these go to President Shi’s office.”

Jiang Ruoning paused. She remembered that after the other models left, the staff had piled their tried-on clothes in the main changing room, to be moved to Shi Sui’s office once everyone finished. Or was it just hers…

Shi Sui hung up and walked over. “Ready to go.”

Jiang Ruoning snapped back and followed her out of the company. A car waited downstairs, no driver. Shi Sui handed her the keys. Jiang Ruoning asked, “Where’s your driver?”

Shi Sui said, “Off duty.”

Jiang Ruoning: “…” She remembered. “What about Assistant Jiang?”

Wasn’t she always glued to her side?

Shi Sui replied, “She had something tonight.” Prompted by Jiang Ruoning, she realized she hadn’t checked on Jiang Nuan yet. She pulled out her phone and messaged her.

Jiang Nuan sat at the bar counter in a bar. Lin Wei was too stingy—asking her for intel without even springing for a booth, let alone a private room. And she exuded arrogance, looking down on everything. Of course, she had the capital for it.

Jiang Nuan just couldn’t stand it. The haughtier Lin Wei acted, the more she wanted to drag her down.

Lin Wei swirled her glass—this was her ninth strong drink. She couldn’t tell if Jiang Nuan was drunk, but she felt dizzy. Just now, staring at Jiang Nuan, she saw double: one version clawing aggressively, the other watching coldly. Their expressions differed, but their eyes mocked her identically.

Lin Wei swatted the air clumsily. Jiang Nuan didn’t flinch, letting the hand land softly on her shoulder. Lin Wei snapped, “Don’t look at me like that.”

Jiang Nuan chuckled. “Like what?”

Lin Wei said, “With pity. I don’t need your pity.”

Jiang Nuan swirled her glass. The red liquid inside could drive anyone in the bar wild. The air reeked of booze, bodies in the dance pool writhing to pulsing lights and pounding drums, blood racing. She sipped the red drink and asked Lin Wei, “Why would I pity you?”

Lin Wei was honest. “Because I lost. I lost to Shi Sui.”

Jiang Nuan watched the flashing lights flicker across Lin Wei’s face. For the first time, mentioning Shi Sui didn’t come with gritted teeth or rage—just defeat. Used to her combative, honey badger vibe, seeing this pitiful side made Jiang Nuan swallow her sarcastic retort. Still, she pressed, “Why do you have to compete with Shi Sui?”

“Compete?” Lin Wei scoffed. “Do I want to? It’s everyone in the family constantly comparing us—my grades weren’t as good, my personality wasn’t as good, I wasn’t as steady as her…” At the painful part, she threw back the drink in one gulp—her tenth. Her cheeks flushed red, fingers clenched the glass stem so tight her knuckles blanched and veins bulged. Her body tensed like a drawn bowstring. Jiang Nuan couldn’t fully relate, but… she kind of got it. She comforted, “Actually, you’re better than Shi Sui in some ways.”

Lin Wei turned, staring intently. “In what ways?”

Maybe no one had ever said that to her before—her eyes lit up extraordinarily. Jiang Nuan realized for the first time how limpid they were; even her usually aloof features came alive. She blurted, “You’re prettier than her.”

Lin Wei looked like she’d heard the wildest fairy tale. Her lips curved, and she burst out laughing. “Are you blind?”