Even the makeup artist was stunned. Just a while ago, Tang Yuanyuan was describing to her what kind of makeup she thought her bestie should have. Just as she was all ready to do that, who knew…
With the eyeshadow palette in her hand, the makeup artist dragged her assistant and took a few steps back.
“Fei, didn’t we already agree to this? That day, you—”
“I don’t think I agreed.” Meng Kefei’s voice sounded slightly cold when she looked up at her. “I wasn’t planning on coming at all, but you had to invite me, so I had to come with a gift. I have something on right now, so may I leave?”
At this point, Tang Yuanyuan became nervous. “That’s not what I meant. Wouldn’t you like to stay just for a bit? Today’s going to be an eventful day. Since we’re the same age, I told my mother that we could have a joint ceremony.”
“That’s not necessary. Even though we were born in the same year, we weren’t born on the same day. It’s your coming-of-age ceremony today; not mine.”
Meng Kefei began to look self-deprecating. “Also, this is what wealthy people like you do. Poor people like me don’t deserve to have this sort of ceremony.”
Tang Yuanyuan’s face dropped.
“Whatever. Happy adulthood. I’ve got to go now.”
Meng Kefei turned around and headed out right away.
“Hold on.” Tang Yuanyuan quickly walked up to her and stopped her from leaving. “Fei, why did you have to say those things? I never once considered your family background, but you—”
The words that Meng Kefei said concerning the rich and the poor had immediately put a barrier between the two. Tang Yuanyuan could sense the coldness in Meng Kefei’s heart, but there was nothing she could do apart from grabbing her by her hand.
“Please tell me what happened. What made you change? Can you please tell me?”
“There’s nothing to say. I’m afraid I really have to go now.” Meng Kefei tried to get rid of her grip.
Sensing her insistence on leaving and her indifference toward herself, Tang Yuanyuan railed.
“So, you’re not going to tell me anything, and you’re still going to treat me this way? We may be close, but we should treat each other fairly, shouldn’t we? Why are you doing this to me?”
Her words caught Meng Kefei off guard. Feeling nonplussed, Meng Kefei looked her in the eye.
To Meng Kefei, Tang Yuanyuan had always been a gentle, pure, and harmless girl. However, the words that she just said were weighty.
She’s really mad now, isn’t she? Meng Kefei thought to herself.
Then, Meng Kefei bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. Underneath her eyes, something was going on.
At this point, Tang Yuanyuan slowly approached her. “Didn’t we promise each other to be besties forever? There shouldn’t be anything that we can’t talk about. I’ve been thinking about what happened between us for a long time but I have no idea what I did wrong. I’m clueless and mad as to why you’re treating me this way.”
Upon hearing that, Meng Kefei sneered and turned to her, looking callous.
“Clueless? Then perhaps we shouldn’t be besties anymore.”
Tang Yuanyuan was stunned.
“Do you think I want to be your bestie?”
“What are you saying?”
“Listen. I never wanted to be your bestie. You’re the daughter of a rich family and everyone loves and coddles you. Conversely, I’m just a daughter of a low-income family and my parents have to put up with people’s attitude toward them every day while at work. I even have to work to support myself. What right do you have to demand that someone like me attends your coming-of-age ceremony?”
Tang Yuanyuan felt slightly bad when she heard about her having to support herself. “But previously, we always celebrated our birthdays together.”
“That was just me trying to make you happy. Do you understand? I never wanted to celebrate birthdays with you, nor have I ever wanted to be your bestie.”
Tang Yuanyuan stood there silently in disbelief. She did not cry but her eyes were widened. Right now, the image of Meng Kefei was getting vague and blurry, and her voice was trailing off.
“You’re an adult now. To be frank, I never wanted to bring this up with you but you wouldn’t stop pestering me with your endless questions. Let me tell you then: I no longer want to be your bestie. Next time when we meet at school, please just treat me like a stranger. We’ll part ways from now on.”
Why? What has happened?
“We’re done.”
As Meng Kefei finished, she left the dressing room.
Tang Yuanyuan did not follow her. Instead, she stood there like a cordless puppet whose soul had left its body.
Witnessing what just happened flabbergasted the makeup artist and her assistant, as they did not expect Meng Kefei to say something so cruel and heartless. Throughout these past few days, the makeup artist had noticed how much Tang Yuanyuan was genuinely looking forward to being with Meng Kefei on this special occasion. Besides, Tang Yuanyuan had even prepared a dress for Meng Kefei, only for Meng Kefei to tell her that she no longer wanted to be her friend.
Tang Yuanyuan must be… devastated.
All of a sudden, the makeup artist quickly went in front of Tang Yuanyuan and noticed that tears were welling up in her eyes that were still widened. However, Tang Yuanyuan would not allow her tears to fall down her cheek.
She could not help but say, “Ms. Tang, please don’t cry. Please don’t.”
Tang Yuanyuan looked her in the eye with widened eyes.
“Today is your coming-of-age ceremony, Ms. Tang, and there are many guests outside. If you cry now, you’ll ruin the makeup.”
“You’re right.” Tang Yuanyuan nodded. She could not cry because her makeup would be ruined if she did. By then, everyone would make fun of her.
Today was her coming-of-age ceremony—the day when she was supposed to be the happiest. Besides, she was a grown-up now. She should not simply start crying like how she used to.
Hold it in. I have to hold it in.
Standing there, Tang Yuanyuan dared not even blink. The makeup artist saw how red her nose had become, even though she would not let any tears come down.
This made her feel bad—all she wanted to do right now was tell Tang Yuanyuan that it was okay to cry as loud as she wanted.
“I won’t cry. I won’t do it.” Tang Yuanyuan tried to convince herself.
At this moment, the makeup artist’s assistant quietly pulled her sleeve and whispered to her, “What should we do now? How can she go out there like this? Should we just let her cry now and help fix her makeup after?”
The dresser exhaled. “But we’re on a tight schedule. We might not make it in time if we need to fix her makeup.”
After all, putting on makeup was different from fixing them; the latter would require more time.
“But, is she going to have a mental breakdown?”
Sigh.
Again, the makeup artist exhaled. “I didn’t expect this to happen on such a wonderful day.”
At this juncture, they heard the sound of steady footsteps before the door of the dressing room was pushed open. Then, a deep male voice sounded out.
“How’s everything?”
This familiar voice came to Tang Yuanyuan and startled her. In the next second, her body began to shiver.
After Yuchi Yishu came into the room, he felt that something was not right. Tang Yuanyuan’s back was facing him while the two makeup artists were standing far away from her with a serious look on their faces.
Then, he walked up to Tang Yuanyuan. “What’s going on?”
Immediately, Tang Yuanyuan fell into his arms and started bawling.
