Chapter 53: Su Yue Treats Yun Zhen to Milk Tea

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Su Yue Treats Yun Zhen to Milk Tea

Yun Zhen was deeply puzzled. Why did she call applying makeup a form of dark magic? Didn’t she feel it was a bad omen? She was too embarrassed to ask, but her bewildered expression made it all too obvious.

Su Yue took the initiative to explain. "Little sister, the reason we call makeup a dark magic is because here in Asia, many people have incredibly superb makeup skills. Putting on makeup is comparable to getting a whole new head! A random passerby can be transformed into a beauty, older women into young girls, and men into women. I guarantee even their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them!

"It’s precisely because makeup creates such a drastic contrast before and after that people call it dark magic."

Yun Zhen was thoroughly shocked. "That’s incredible!"

She could somewhat understand making a person prettier. But... older women? Did she mean the elderly aunties? The people here could actually use makeup to turn an elderly auntie into a young girl! Was it reversing the aging process? And turning men into women? This wasn’t a simple makeover. No wonder it was called dark magic!

Yun Zhen had seen women wearing makeup before. When she got married, she had also hired the village’s skilled hands to apply hers. Generally, they used charcoal to draw eyebrows, rouge to paint the face, and pressed lip paper to make the lips rosy and glossy. Makeup could instantly improve a person’s complexion. However, she had never heard of makeup having the power to completely transform someone’s identity. Or even change a person’s gender! This was entirely beyond her comprehension.

Yun Zhen’s bewildered appearance made Su Yue laugh. "Little sister, you definitely haven’t spent much time on the internet. That’s what everyone calls it online. If you had, you wouldn’t find it strange.

"After talking for so long, I still don’t know your name. I’m Su Yue. ’Su’ as in the character with the grass radical over ’ban’, and ’Yue’ as in the moon." Su Yue didn’t forget to introduce herself before asking for Yun Zhen’s name.

Recovering from Su Yue’s explanation, Yun Zhen offered her own name. "I’m Yun Zhen. ’Yun’ as in light clouds and gentle breeze, and ’Zhen’ as in rare treasures."

Su Yue let out an "Oh" of realization. "Yun Zhen, what a lovely name! What made you think of coming to our school to sell crocheted dolls?"

"The people I’m with said there are more people here, so it’d be easier to sell them," Yun Zhen answered truthfully.

Su Yue nodded in agreement. "They weren’t wrong. This is a college town, entirely surrounded by university students. Exquisite little trinkets like these sell best here. I won’t disturb your stall anymore. I have to head back and rush my thesis. I’m really sorry for scaring you earlier. Let me buy you a cup of milk tea as an apology. I was just craving Mixue’s grape taro balls anyway," she added, glancing at her watch.

Hearing that Su Yue wanted to buy her something, Yun Zhen hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no, you don’t have to. Just buy one for yourself. You don’t need to buy me anything." She believed that one shouldn’t accept a reward without merit. She had only met the young woman in front of her twice; how could she accept her gifts?

"Meeting each other is a stroke of fate," Su Yue insisted. "Wait here, I’ll buy it and bring it over to you." She was simply too enthusiastic.

Yun Zhen stood rooted to the spot, watching her walk away.

"Mommy, I want Peppa Pig!"

A little girl, about three or four years old, grabbed her mother’s hand and tugged her toward Yun Zhen. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the crocheted dolls displayed on the ginger-yellow cloth.

The girl’s mother spoke softly to her daughter, "I’ll buy one for you online. You can pick whichever you like, and it’ll arrive in two or three days. The ones sold outside aren’t pretty."

Tears welled up in the little girl’s eyes. "No! I want the Peppa Pig that lady is selling!"

"Alright, alright, I’ll buy it for you," her mother said helplessly. Picking up her daughter, she walked over to Yun Zhen and asked, "How much is the Peppa Pig?"

Yun Zhen was torn between asking for a hundred yuan or sixty. A hundred yuan was her ideal price, but if this woman found it unacceptable and walked away like the previous person, she would regret it dearly. Perhaps she should just say sixty.

The girl’s mother spoke up again, "Something like this is only seventy or eighty online. It shouldn’t be more than a hundred and fifty, right?"

Yun Zhen took a deep breath and said, "A hundred yuan!"

The girl’s mother furrowed her brows. "A hundred is still a bit expensive, but what can I do when my daughter likes it." She pulled out her phone and glanced around the stall. "Where’s the QR code?"

Yun Zhen’s heart tightened, terrified that this transaction would fall through again. "I don’t have a ’cue-are code’. Can you give me cash?"

The mother was surprised. "You came out to set up a stall without bringing a QR code?" She took a closer look at the vendor. It was a young, immature-looking girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with pale, rough skin and frostbite on her face. Her clothes were clean, but she exuded a sense of constraint. She was likely a child from a patriarchal family that favored sons over daughters; otherwise, at such an age, she would be studying in school instead of setting up a stall outside in the dead of winter. A trace of pity welled up in the mother’s heart. She had also suffered deeply from the oppression of a patriarchal family when she was young, and it had taken immense effort to achieve her beautiful life today. She couldn’t help but sympathize with the little girl in front of her.

She took out two fifty-yuan bills. "Good thing I brought cash."

"Thank you!" Yun Zhen recognized the two fifty-yuan notes. Together, they made a hundred, which was exactly right. A hundred yuan! This was a whole hundred yuan! A single crocheted doll sold for a hundred yuan. She had brought fifteen of them, so if she could sell them all, she would make one thousand five hundred yuan. She was incredibly thrilled.

The little girl left happily, clutching the crocheted doll.

Another young man approached. "Miss, are the crocheted dolls all the same price?"

Yun Zhen welcomed her new customer. "Yes, they’re all a hundred yuan. Feel free to pick. I bought the material kits and made them myself. They are purely handmade."

The young man grabbed a Pleasant Goat doll and gestured with it against his bag. "The craftsmanship is great. It looks completely different from the ones online, and it’ll hang perfectly on my bag." He frowned briefly before his expression quickly relaxed. "A hundred is a bit pricey, but oh well. I’ll just skip a hotpot meal later—it’ll even help me lose weight!"

Yun Zhen spoke up preemptively, "I don’t have a ’cue-are code’. You can give me cash."

The young man was stunned. In this day and age, there was actually a street vendor who only accepted cash. "Do you not have a phone?" he asked.

Yun Zhen shook her head. Sister-in-law Liu and Li Mei had told her that the organization would only buy her one after she came of age.

"I don’t have any cash on me," the young man said in distress. He let out a sigh. "Wait for me to go back to my dorm and borrow a hundred. Oh, right, I’m taking this one. Don’t sell it to anyone else while I go get the money." He set the doll down and ran off.

Yun Zhen didn’t know if she would actually see him return.

Su Yue returned carrying two cups of milk tea and handed one to her. "Here you go, Yun Zhen. They were out of grape taro ball, so I bought two cups of brown sugar pearl and coconut jelly combo. Careful, it’s hot." Before Yun Zhen could refuse, she forcefully pressed the milk tea into her hands.

"Thank you!" Yun Zhen said gratefully.

Su Yue jammed in her straw and took a sip. "I’m going to the dorm to write my thesis. I hope you sell out all your stuff soon. Bye-bye." With that, she left.

Imitating Su Yue’s actions, Yun Zhen plunged the white tube into the cup with a THWACK. A rich, milky aroma wafted out, carrying a hint of sweetness that made her swallow her saliva. She took a fierce sip but accidentally scalded her throat.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!"

Having sucked it in too fast, she choked and coughed violently until tears streamed from her eyes. After taking a few heavy breaths, she decided to taste it slowly.

Taking a tiny sip, she was instantly amazed. It was so delicious! Was this what milk tea was? Tea with milk! It had such a unique flavor—fragrant, sweet, and bursting with a rich milky taste. Drinking a mouthful in the dead of winter chased away all the coldness in her body.

When they were drawing lots at the supermarket, she had heard Li Mei mention that this drink called milk tea cost about ten yuan. When Li Mei paid for her lottery draw, she had said it was equivalent to treating her to a cup of milk tea.