Every few months, the company invited clients and senior executives to a gathering. People in the other departments always seemed excited, mainly because it meant skipping work while eating and drinking for free. The reason sounded shallow, but office workers needed this kind of shallow happiness to spice up their lives. Public Relations was different. The moment a gathering was announced, everyone looked disgusted. Of all the departments, theirs was the one required to attend. They were the face of the company, after all, and organizing the event was annoying enough already. Fortunately, Manager Cui had made a special trip back from out of town. Claiming that An Zi Yan and his people lacked experience and might make mistakes, he took charge of the gathering himself. An Zi Yan did not care, and Mai Ding thought the arrangement suited him perfectly.
The gathering was being held on the twelfth floor of the company building. Most of Mai Ding’s coworkers had already gone up early to make preparations. He felt both excited and nervous because he had never been above the tenth floor before. In front of the restroom mirror, he carefully straightened his appearance. Fan Shao Jun walked in carrying a small pouch and set it on the sink.
“See this suit? Jealous, aren’t you? I gritted my teeth and spent a whole month’s salary on it. I finally get to show it off today.” No one had asked him anything, but Fan Shao Jun happily talked away. Mai Ding nodded. He could not tell the value of a suit at a glance, so he pretended he understood. “It really does look different.”
“Of course it does. Look at the occasion. People from other companies will be there too. We can’t let them think our company is shabby.” Fan Shao Jun glanced at Mai Ding’s suit in the mirror. “At least you have some sense. You finally changed out of those suits you normally drag out of the trash.”
“I-I know how to dress for an occasion too, all right?” Mai Ding answered awkwardly. In reality, he had paid no attention to the occasion at all. He did not care about designer labels and usually bought cheap suits online. As far as he was concerned, if he could wear them, they were good enough. That morning before they left home, An Zi Yan had produced a suit from somewhere and thrown it at him, ordering him to change. What a close call. Good thing he had listened. Fan Shao Jun, who really knew his clothes, took one look at Mai Ding’s suit and immediately guessed the price. When Mai Ding heard how much it cost, he cursed An Zi Yan repeatedly in his head. What a waste. He had no idea how to save money. Why did clothes have to cost this much? That guy had clearly never suffered a day in his life.
Every day, An Zi Yan’s name was praised in Mai Ding’s head one moment and cursed the next. He repeated the cycle constantly and somehow never got tired of it.
Fan Shao Jun opened the little pouch and started applying things to his face with practiced movements. When he noticed Mai Ding staring blankly at him, he asked, “What? Never seen a man put on makeup?”
“No.”
“You really haven’t seen much of the world. Men need to treat themselves well too. There are no ugly men, only lazy ones.” Mai Ding had heard something similar before, though not quite in the form Fan Shao Jun used. In only a short while, Fan Shao Jun’s skin looked better and his eyes seemed brighter. He looked noticeably more handsome than usual, and unless someone studied him carefully, they would never know he was wearing makeup.
The frog at the bottom of the well beside him was amazed. Mai Ding had always assumed that when men wore makeup, there were only three possible results: punk, woman, or ladyboy. Now he finally understood why so many women loved cosmetics. Fan Shao Jun pushed the pouch toward him. “Want to try?”
“Huh?” Driven by curiosity, Mai Ding hesitated. Fan Shao Jun suddenly received a phone call and had to hurry upstairs. He told Mai Ding to put the pouch on his desk when he was finished and rushed off. Should he try it? He had watched Fan Shao Jun’s steps just now, so it should probably be manageable. Mai Ding stared at himself in the mirror again. The suit An Zi Yan had picked fit him perfectly and made him look different from usual. If he added a little makeup, maybe he would become Cinderella before midnight. He would walk into the ball, the entire room would fall silent, and every gaze would turn toward him. That settled it. Once Mai Ding made up his mind, he immediately went to work.
Ten minutes later, An Zi Yan walked into the restroom too. Mai Ding turned around, and the two stared at each other for several seconds. An Zi Yan showed no reaction whatsoever. He stepped beside Mai Ding, turned on the faucet, rinsed his hands, then turned around and left. Had Mai Ding suddenly become so handsome that even An Zi Yan no longer recognized him? Mai Ding was still secretly congratulating himself when he heard An Zi Yan talking to Guo Ping outside.
“Did something happen in that restroom before?”
“Not that I know of. Why?”
“I just saw something unclean in there.”
“No way. Is it haunted?!”
“Who knows.”
What something unclean? He obviously knew it was Mai Ding! How did he look like a ghost? Where?! Mai Ding stared at himself in the mirror again, bent down, and hurriedly scrubbed his face clean. Maybe the cold water sobered him up a little. He realized this was no time to keep dawdling, rushed out, returned Fan Shao Jun’s pouch, and headed for the elevator. An Zi Yan and Guo Ping were waiting there. When Guo Ping saw Mai Ding, he asked, “You’re still here?”
“Mm. Something held me up.”
“How come I didn’t see you?”
“I was in the restroom.”
“Did you see anything unclean in there?”
“No! It was perfectly clean!” Mai Ding answered resentfully.
When the elevator doors opened, Zhu Qiang and several people from Marketing were already inside. Zhu Qiang had dyed his white hair black, making him look much younger. Mai Ding stepped in first and happened to stand beside him.
“Is that where you’re supposed to stand?”
The elevator was still mostly empty, and there was no rule saying elevator positions were divided by rank, was there?! Mai Ding argued furiously in his head, but outwardly he moved aside respectfully. An Zi Yan stepped between Zhu Qiang and Mai Ding. Zhu Qiang stared at the changing floor numbers and said sarcastically, “Only going up now? Very proactive of you.” An Zi Yan acted as though he had heard nothing and did not take Zhu Qiang seriously at all.
Mai Ding felt a headache coming on. Didn’t An Zi Yan already have enough enemies at the company? It would not kill him to play along and answer someone once in a while. Hopefully they would not start arguing again. Zhu Qiang had the temperament of a firecracker. One spark and he exploded.
“I’m talking to you. Didn’t you hear me?” Zhu Qiang raised his voice.
“Gossiping woman.”
“Who are you calling that, you brat? When Old Cui steals all the attention from your Public Relations Department, let’s see what you do then.”
See? They were fighting again. But why did Zhu Qiang’s tone sound more like an older brother scolding his useless younger brother? Probably just his imagination, Mai Ding thought. “Ah~” He suddenly let out a strange cry inside the elevator, then flushed and lowered his head, both hands moving behind his back. He had not suddenly lost his mind. While he had been distracted by his thoughts, he felt a hand settle on his backside, and Mai Ding knew perfectly well which bastard that hand belonged to!!
The elevator doors opened. Mai Ding, walking out last, waited until no one was paying attention and gave An Zi Yan a small pinch. An Zi Yan stopped. Mai Ding assumed he was about to retaliate, but instead An Zi Yan simply stepped back into the elevator without explaining anything and rode it downstairs again.
“What happened to him?”
“Maybe he forgot something. Let’s go in first.”
He definitely forgot Ellen downstairs at the company!! One thing after another had Mai Ding so furious he could practically feel the heat rising inside him. An Zi Yan really knew how to get on his nerves!