Chapter 38- No One puts Beauty in a Corner

Once Hao Mei grudgingly agreed to don the silk robes, a mischievous imp settled on his shoulder. If he was being forced to do this, then he'd damn well do it on his own terms. KO was sent out of the office to beg for cosplay supplies from the Art Department and, with the bird well and truly set among the pigeons, Mei thanked the gods for his years of modelling experience. He'd paid attention to the stylists and had once planned to put the skills he'd learned to use cosplaying as his Dreams of Jiangshu avatar. Never mind... they could be used now to pull the reins out of Ban Shan's hands.

By the time KO returned with arms loaded high with art supplies, Mei had rung Bei Wei Wei: her help in the matter, he'd informed her, would take the place of her red packet. When she would have continued to demur, he'd resorted to emotional blackmail;

"When did Old Man You concoct this idea?"

"Ah..."

"Tell me that he didn't have the idea incubating before returning to the office yesterday. Tell me that you didn't know what he was planning before anyone else... and you're off the hook.

Completely."

"Ah..."

"You owe me."

"Okay, okay. I'll help."

In the background, Mei could hear Xiao Nai's chuckle.

"Laosan sounds like he has been injected with chicken blood. Tell him he owes me a red packet. A big one." He hung up as Wei Wei started to splutter. He didn't have time to properly curse his brothers... Ban Shan wasn't the only one who could whisper in the dark of the moon. His eldest brother wasn't going to know what hit him.

First on Mei's "to-do" list, was KO. (A/N: get your minds out of the gutter. Bunch of perverts.)

Logging in to his Galaxy Dreams account, Mei used the image of KO's avatar to guide his work until he had done a passable job at turning KO into a delicate featured Blossom Archer. When Wei Wei arrived, he set her to work fixing the wig that Ban Shan had so "thoughtfully" provided. He also made a mental note to watch his sarcasm- there was no need to completely stoop to Ban Shan's level. Wei Wei had been transfixed at the change in KO, staring at the hacker for a long minute before Mei grew impatient and pushed the wig into her face. It wasn't that the hairstyle looked elaborate- it was that Mei had a tendency to create knots if he so much as looked at long hair. It was up to Wei Wei to set the wig, brush the hair out, and then style it as if the dead straight yet completely out of the eyes locks were a natural occurrence. While Wei Wei worked on KO's hair, Mei worked on his own transformation.

As he flicked his eyes from the computer screen, on which his Heavenly Healer avatar was smiling at him, to the small mirror he'd found in the bottom of the art supplies box, Mei continued to grumble. He couldn't help wondering why they "just happened" to have a recreation of an avatar's costume when it wasn't from a game the company was designing.

Wei Wei helped him with the wig and her eyes grew round.

"Eh?"

"Mr Beau... no... E-Mei..."

"Don't say it."

"If a photo of you had been submitted, I wouldn't have been the department beauty. You'd have boys from all departments lining up to ask for a date... or a dirty pair of socks." She shuddered and shook her head at Mei's incredulous look. "Don't ask. Surely you already know that beauty can be hazardous?"

"Cold. Laosan has been a bad influence on you."

Wei Wei giggled then blushed as Mei picked up the Heavenly Healer robes. "You'll need help putting those on. Shall I get KO?"

"No. Get your husband. Call it practice for your day."

Blushing, but unable to refute the truth in Mei's words, Wei Wei left the office. Xiao Nai entered soon after.

"Ban Shan is about to send out a search and rescue party.... oh." Xiao Nai opened the door and stuck his head back out. "Calm down Old Man You, the carp is leaping through the dragon gate." (A/N: to make a significant advancement after much effort: to undergo a great transformation. I think I'm enjoying learning and experimenting with idioms a bit too much than is good for me. 🤷‍♀️)

"Laosan, please... what is happening?"

"Exactly what you think is happening... and more." Xiao Nai helped Mei ease in to the blue silk robes.

"Ban Shan had a harebrained idea and everyone ran with it. They needed an outlet after working so hard and this is a fairly harmless way for them to relax."

"Harmless." Mei scoffed but couldn't meet his brother's eyes.

"Fairly harmless. And no harm intended. It grew in scope as they planned and I thought I was going to have to create a problem with the game until A Shuang commented about how the only aspect of Dreams of Jiangshu 2 that we don't have image references for... is the wedding." Mei mentally added A Shuang to his rapidly growing list people to curse each night.

"So everyone went all out. The Art Department had already made costumes based on an avatar or character modelled on each individual. I was going to gift them before the demo but they asked to use them today and said they'd take photos of the set up to use as prototypes for the wedding scenes in the game."

It made sense. In a twisty, turny, gaming world, but there was one thing Mei still didn't understand.

"If the costumes are from the game, then why do I have a Heavenly Healer costume?"

Xiao Nai pulled the belt if the robes tight, making Mei hiss as his ability to breath easily disappeared.

"You haven't seen the latest character, have you?"

"The Princess? The one that gets kidnapped, rescued, kidnapped again and eventually offs the bandit herself?"

"Hmm. Well, KO helped design her outfit and supplied this costume as a reference point. The red embroidery was added last night, I believe, to make it a bit more Bride-like." Xiao Nai stepped back and rubbed his chin as he took in the end result. "Wang Wei wanted to use Wei Wei as the prototype but I think after today he'll be more than happy to use you."

Mei scowled. "I'm not a princess. And why did KO have a Heavenly Healer costume?"

Xiao Nai looked at him and beneath his make up, Mei blushed. "Forget I asked."

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and called up every trick he'd learned over the years to maintain composure. "Let's do this..."

When the door to the inner office opened, all eyes turned towards it. Conversations died down, joking stopped, and if a pin had been dropped on the hard floor it would have chimed into the silence. Xiao Nai stepped through, surveyed the room, and then turned back to offer his arm. Slowly and deliberately, he guided a fairy into the office.

The silk robes, sky blue at the shoulders and darkening until the hem swishing against the floor was the colour of a midnight sea. Red embroidery adorned the neckline and the sleeves, bringing blessing to the 'bride'. Sometimes, to say "clothes maketh the man" is a kindness, however in this case, the clothes were overshadowed by the glow from the person wearing them. Ebony hair was artfully piled high, curls dripping down the back and softly framing an angelic face. Blue eyes matched the robes and shone brightly against translucent skin.

A collective gasp broke the silence and then all eyes turned from the astounding visual of the Beauty they thought they knew, towards the dumbfounded hacker. Normally stoic, KO was unsurprisingly left speechless, but his shock was too great to hide and it was this display of emotion that eventually started the chatter back up.

"Did you see his face? Even KO can look like a fish out of water."

"Can you blame him though? It was E-Mei brought to life."

"Who knew Mei-ge could look like that. Maybe he's really a yaoren in real life?"

"Don't be stupid.... he couldn't be? Could he?"

"What girl could hang around Old Man You and Drunk Monkey Hou for so many years and not get too disgusted and quit?"

"Hey!" A disgruntled Ban Shan glared at the offender. "I heard that."

He clapped his hands as Xiao Nai brought Mei towards him. "Settle down, settle down. We have a wedding to conduct...."