I pressed her down into the chair and said, "Don't worry, it's easier than foot binding."
The female stylist started cutting Mulan's hair, and I was relegated to the break room to read magazines. I started reading from the first page about Celebrity A falling for Celebrity B, and then I read until they broke up because Celebrity A and Celebrity C fell in love at first sight while using the restroom—there's even a homosexual element to this! Then I looked at Mulan again, still getting her hair cut. Bored and yawning, I picked up the second issue of the magazine. In this issue, Celebrity A and Celebrity C became enemies, and Celebrity A declared that old flames are the best, finally marrying Celebrity B. After their happy ending, Mulan was finally stuffed under some machine.
Next to me were two stylishly dressed female office workers, probably waiting for someone or something. Ever since they saw Mulan come in, they had been staring at her, whispering to each other from time to time, and gesturing to their own tender faces.
Mulan was already quite sensitive about her skin tone, and when she heard people whispering about it, she became extremely embarrassed. Our heroine was fearless on the battlefield, but what woman doesn't love beauty? Even the general, now dressed as a woman, was still afraid of people commenting on her appearance.
I was quite annoyed and was about to go and cause trouble when, to my surprise, the two female office workers suddenly stood up and ran up to Mulan. One of them timidly asked, "Miss, how can I get my skin to be the color of yours?" The other held her hands in front of her heart, looking extremely infatuated.
Mulan was taken aback, and only after realizing that the other person wasn't being sarcastic did she blankly say, "Why are you tanned like this? It looks good!"
The two office workers, their faces showing infatuation, exclaimed in unison, "Of course! It's so beautiful!" One of them added, "We've sunbathed before, but the color we got was wrong." The other immediately chimed in, "Yeah, it looks like we've been poisoned."
Mulan said, both amused and exasperated, "Isn't it nice to be as fair and clean as you all?"
"What's so great about her? She looks sickly, and nobody would even talk to her in a bar if she didn't wear a miniskirt. Unlike you, sister, you look so intellectual and mature." Another woman grabbed Mulan and said in a coquettish tone, "Sister, just tell us, we promise we won't tell anyone."
Intellectual? Mature? So white isn't the mainstream color anymore? No wonder female designers look down on me.
I coughed and stood up, saying loudly, "Do you want to become like that?" The two young white-collar workers immediately focused their attention on me. I said slowly and deliberately, "That mainly depends on your fathers..."
One of them immediately misunderstood me, covering her mouth in surprise and saying, "So you're mixed race, sister! No wonder you're so beautiful." The two of them immediately looked extremely disappointed, and then left reluctantly.
Mulan glanced at me, shrugged, seemingly helpless, but I noticed she secretly touched her face when no one was looking. Ah, women.
Okay, let's continue reading the magazine. The title of issue three is: "Celebrity A, having experienced many hardships, sees the true nature of humanity and frankly admits that dating is not as good as raising a dog..." Holy crap, this sexual orientation has extended to different species.
When a brand new Mulan stood in front of me, I still had one word to describe her: cool!
Her long, wavy hair was unrestrained and arrogant, displaying boundless flamboyance. But paired with Mulan's clear eyes and charming personality, she was, as the young white-collar worker said, intellectual and mature. It was a kind of feminine coolness that almost made men feel a sense of security, which was probably related to her experience as a military commander.
Mulan's femininity is already evident, but something is missing: her clothes are too casual, like she just came back from a geological team. This won't do. Even a woman as beautiful as an angel can be a terrible woman if she doesn't know how to dress.
This is a bit awkward, though. Am I supposed to take Mulan shopping for lingerie? I'm a modern young person, and I swear I have absolutely no outdated ideas. I wouldn't feel awkward at all shopping there with Baozi, or even just by myself, and I could offer my opinions immediately. The biggest problem I'm facing is: do I have to teach her how to dress?
The sales assistant can be of some help, but you can't exactly push her in to help you when you're trying on clothes, can you? There are so many people with heterosexual orientations these days—like celebrity A—what if the sales assistant misunderstands?
As soon as I left the hair salon, I started wiping away the sweat that was pouring down my face. Mulan asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay, let's rest for a bit and go shopping when it gets cooler." I need to use this time to think of a solution.
I took her to a high-end coffee shop. Hua MM now has the air of a white-collar worker but dresses like a blue-collar worker, so I wanted her to get used to white-collar life first, so she could adjust to her new role. We rarely came to places like this before, but now that we're considered wealthy, let's splurge a little.
A waitress dressed entirely like a flight attendant, except for her hat, handed me a thick menu—or maybe a catalog? "Hmm, give me the catalog." To avoid looking clueless, I waved it away, pretending to know everything, and said, "I don't need to look. Just give me a cappuccino." I've heard so much about cappuccinos, I'll try it today.
The young lady maintained her smile and said slowly, "Sir, are you referring to Cappuccino?"
Chapter Six Annual Meeting
Damn it! This is so embarrassing. What kind of lousy coffee has such a long name? A shorter name would be better. From now on, I'll only drink Nestlé—instant Nestlé, that's four characters too.
I buried my head and waved the waiter away: "Another glass of fresh milk, please." Mulan has a sensitive stomach, so I didn't order coffee for her.
I asked Mulan, "You really haven't even worn women's clothing for a single day?"
"No, what's wrong?"
I stroked my chin and said, "We need to have a style to refer to first. What kind do you like?"
Mulan looked around and suddenly pointed to the booth opposite her, saying, "That girl is so pretty."
I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a pretty young woman with bright eyes and white teeth sitting there deep in thought. I quickly called out, "Xiaoyu!"
Ni Siyu looked up, puzzled. I waved my arm and continued shouting, "Ni Siyu, this!" This drew glares from the people around me. I didn't care. Do we, who drink cappuccinos, care about being glared at?
Ni Siyu finally saw me, picked up her cup and slowly walked over, smiling, "Hehe, Xiaoqiang."
"You're so disrespectful, I'll spank you!" The little girl giggled; it was our special way of greeting each other. I said, "What are you doing here at this hour instead of training? Did you come with your boyfriend?"
"No way!" Ni Siyu's pretty face suddenly darkened when she saw Hua Mulan. "Who is this? Where is Sister Baozi?" See? I told you Baozi is popular among women, right?
I patted her on the head: "What are you thinking about in your little head? This is my cousin."
"Really?" Ni Siyu asked, half believing and half doubting.
Hua Mulan laughed and said, "Really, I was with your Baozi sister just yesterday."
At this moment, a slightly overweight, bald old man walked over to Ni Siyu and said, "Xiaoyu, think carefully about what I told you and give me an answer as soon as possible." After saying that, he picked up his bag and left.
Now it was my turn to interrogate Ni Siyu. My face darkened as I asked, "What's going on?" A seemingly successful middle-aged man demanding an answer from a pretty girl so quickly could easily lead to unpleasant speculation. Could Ni Siyu be...?
Ni Siyu also gave me a hard whack: "What are you thinking about? He's the coach!"
"The coach and athletes are training in a coffee shop? The athletes' treatment has really improved!" I said sarcastically, but I already knew that the old man wasn't a bad person—he went out and took a taxi. What boss who's trying to seduce women takes a taxi?
Ni Siyu lowered her head and said, "He is a foreign coach and wants me to develop in their team."
I said, "Isn't this a good thing?"
Ni Siyu picked at her nails and said, "But we'd have to change our nationality..."
I think I understand now. Since Ni Siyu started learning from Zhang Shun and the Ruan brothers, her performance has improved by leaps and bounds, which must have attracted the attention of many foreign coaches. Now they want her to transfer, which is basically poaching her.
It's not uncommon for people to change their nationality and represent other countries in competitions. Some countries, once they've established themselves in a dominant sport, will even deliberately send their talent to help others develop. The reason is simple: long-term dominance isn't good for sports. If others can't compete with you, they might simply stop competing. Then who will you bully?
The problem is, we're not very strong in swimming either, and we still need talent. Since they're trying to poach our staff, the offers must be quite generous, so it's normal for the girl to feel conflicted.