Hearing this, Cheng Fangqiu paused, then looked up at Aunt Du. Under her gaze, Aunt Du suddenly felt uneasy and instinctively straightened her back.
Seeing that Cheng Fangqiu hadn’t spoken for a while, Aunt Du thought she was too embarrassed to refuse. Her face turned red, and she was just about to find an excuse to brush off the topic when she saw the young woman before her smile brightly and nod repeatedly.
“Of course!”
Aunt Du felt a weight lift off her chest.
“The first time I saw you, Auntie, I thought you had a very refined presence. I think you’d look great in outfits with traditional Chinese elements.” Cheng Fangqiu put down her pen and looked seriously into Aunt Du’s eyes as she spoke.
Hearing the compliment, Aunt Du shyly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before asking, “What do you mean by ‘traditional Chinese elements’?”
“It means incorporating cultural motifs into clothing design,” Cheng Fangqiu explained. Seeing that Aunt Du still looked puzzled, she picked up her notebook, turned to a blank page, and quickly sketched a few strokes.
“Look—tight on top, loose on the bottom, with green bamboo patterns and traditional Chinese knot buttons. Doesn’t this style carry a distinct Eastern elegance?”
Aunt Du nodded, half-understanding, then asked, “So how can I change my appearance? I saw the adjustments you made for the others, and they looked great.”
“If you don’t mind, I can help you as well,” Cheng Fangqiu offered.
“Of course, I don’t mind!” Aunt Du had been watching from behind the window earlier and saw how Cheng Fangqiu adjusted everyone’s hairstyle and facial details with great care. Now, she eagerly undid the two braids she had tied up in the morning.
“Auntie, your hair is so healthy—it’s like silk.” Cheng Fangqiu’s words were as sweet as honey, making Aunt Du beam with joy. She couldn’t help but say, “Everyone tells me that! Look at me—I’m at this age, and I don’t even have a single white hair.”
Cheng Fangqiu examined closely and gasped in admiration, “You really don’t!”
Aunt Du’s smile grew even wider.
“Mom, are you letting Qiuqiu design clothes for you too?” The commotion naturally caught Du Fangping’s attention. She immediately abandoned her conversation with her friends and rushed over.
At those words, Aunt Du’s eyes flickered. She had just scolded her daughter for wasting money, and now she was turning around and asking Cheng Fangqiu for advice herself. Wasn’t she slapping her own face? She felt a slight sting of embarrassment and cleared her throat. “No, I was just asking.”
“Huh? But Qiuqiu only gives styling advice to those who order at least two outfits from her.”
Aunt Du froze. She hadn’t known about this rule beforehand.
Oh no. Would they think she was trying to take advantage of her status as an elder to get a freebie?
Just as she was about to clarify and hurriedly place an order for two outfits, she heard Cheng Fangqiu’s soft voice from above.
“It’s fine. Auntie didn’t know beforehand. Besides, this is my first time visiting, and you’ve been so welcoming to me. There’s no need to worry about these things.”
With that, before Aunt Du could react, Cheng Fangqiu had already picked up her tools and started working on her face.
“Don’t talk for a moment.”
Though her voice was gentle, it carried an undeniable authority, making everyone instinctively follow her instructions. The courtyard, which had been bustling with chatter just moments ago, suddenly fell silent.
After a while, Cheng Fangqiu finally straightened up and smiled. “All done. Take a look.”
Catching on to the cue, Xu Qiqi swiftly handed over a mirror.
Aunt Du instinctively glanced at her reflection—and instantly, she couldn’t look away.
Her thick, jet-black hair had been carefully arranged into an elegant updo, secured with a wooden hairpin. The soft, voluminous bun sat neatly at the back of her head, with two delicate strands left loose at her temples, perfectly framing her slightly prominent cheekbones.
Her naturally thick, bold eyebrows had been reshaped into gentle, elongated willow brows. Her lips had been given a touch of color—not too red, just enough to brighten her complexion and add a hint of vibrance to her face.
If not for the somewhat outdated indigo-blue clothes she was wearing today, she would have looked incredibly dignified and graceful—more refined than the wives of high-ranking officials!
More importantly—she looked significantly younger!
“Mom!” Du Fangping leaned in close, scrutinizing her from different angles with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Are you really my mom?”
Her words made everyone burst into laughter, including Aunt Du herself. Half amused, half exasperated, she gave her daughter a light slap. “If I’m not your mom, then what? Your dad?”
“I’d say she looks more like your older sister!” Xu Qiqi, always eager to stir the pot, grinned and threw in a compliment.
“Exactly! From now on, we shouldn’t call her Auntie—we should call her Sister instead.”
“Sister!”
Once one person started, the others followed suit. Aunt Du’s face flushed red from embarrassment, but deep inside, she was absolutely delighted. After all, who wouldn’t love such compliments?
Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly turned to Cheng Fangqiu, her gaze now filled with genuine gratitude. “Comrade Xiao Cheng, your skills are truly amazing! I’d like to order two outfits from you as well—would that be alright?”
“Of course!” Cheng Fangqiu’s dimples deepened as she smiled. She was happy to earn money from young girls, but she’d just as gladly take money from mothers too!
Her goal was to break into all age groups and fill her pockets with cash.
That was the real motivation behind hard work.
“Then it’s settled! I want the ones with the, uh… what was it again? The traditional Chinese elements!” Aunt Du was over the moon. Without another word, she rushed inside to grab money.
Du Fangping quickly followed, clinging to her mother and begging for money—she wanted to get two more outfits made.
“Go, go, go! You already have two! Isn’t that enough?” Aunt Du stood in front of the mirror inside, twirling around to admire herself. The more she looked, the more satisfied she became. She decided she’d ask Cheng Fangqiu later how to style her hair like this on her own.
Seeing her mother refuse, Du Fangping pouted. Then she noticed something and reminded, “Mom, that wooden hairpin belongs to Qiuqiu—you should give it back to her.”
“I know.” Aunt Du wasn’t stupid. She admired herself in the mirror for a while longer, then finally sighed in satisfaction. “I’ll change into something nice and go chat with Aunt Liu and the others.”
Chat? More like showing off.
Du Fangping immediately saw through her mother’s true intentions and smirked.
Aunt Du cleared her throat, pretending to be serious. “I’m just going to help Comrade Xiao Cheng bring in more customers.”
After spending time with Cheng Fangqiu, she had genuinely taken a liking to the girl. She was confident, warm, and full of charm—far better than most young people her age.
While her peers were still asking their families for pocket money, Cheng Fangqiu was already earning her own.
Thinking of this, Aunt Du shot a glance at Du Fangping in disapproval. “You should learn from her! If you could improve even a little, I’d be thanking the heavens.”
Frustrated that she couldn’t get more money and annoyed at being lectured, Du Fangping had no desire to stay. She gave a perfunctory “Mm-hmm” before dashing back outside. She didn’t need her mother to tell her—she wanted to spend more time around Cheng Fangqiu anyway. Whether or not she could pick up any of her skills was another matter, but at the very least, being around her felt comfortable.
That was what mattered most in friendship—feeling at ease.
Aunt Du took out her money, asked Cheng Fangqiu to teach her how to style her hair, and then returned the wooden hairpin before hurrying out the door.
Designing so many outfits wasn’t easy, but thanks to the rough sketches she had prepared in advance, Cheng Fangqiu was able to complete everything after about two hours of work.
Once she was done, they all went to a state-run restaurant for a meal, then stopped by the department store to pick out fabrics before heading back to the courtyard.
Cheng Fangqiu and Xu Qiqi exchanged a glance as they looked at their bulging purses, filled with the money they had earned that day.
Every bit of effort had been worth it.
By the time they returned to the courtyard, the movie hadn’t started yet, but the open space where it was being shown was already packed with people—all families from the neighborhood. Since they weren’t familiar with the area, they followed Du Fangping and squeezed forward through the crowd.
It was obvious that Du Fangping had arranged for someone to save them seats earlier, because even though they arrived late, they still had prime spots near the front.
It was Cheng Fangqiu’s first time watching a movie in such an open-air setting. She looked around with curiosity and noticed that everyone was in high spirits, their faces full of anticipation for the film.
“I heard from Fangping that they’re showing The Taking of Mount Wei tonight. I haven’t seen it before,” Xu Qiqi said excitedly, her round eyes shining with excitement. “Qiuqiu, have you seen it?”
Cheng Fangqiu shook her head. In her past life, she wouldn’t have even thought about watching an old war film like this. And in this life, the original owner of her body had lived in a small mountain village, where the only time they ever saw a projectionist was around the New Year. The movies they showed were always the same few films—nothing particularly interesting.
“Next time, bring your husband along, and we can go to the cinema together. The picture there is much clearer than this.”
“Alright.”
After exchanging a few words, a crisp male voice suddenly interrupted from the side.
“Excuse me, could you let me through?”
“Oh, sure.”
The chairs were placed close together, so if they didn’t shift, there was no way for him to pass.
Cheng Fangqiu pressed her legs together and moved slightly to create a path. However, the person didn’t immediately walk past. She looked up in confusion and was met with a pair of eyes filled with undisguised surprise.
“Master Cheng?”
“Yuan Zheng?”
Just as they recognized each other, the movie began playing. With the loud rumbling sounds of explosions filling the air, they had no choice but to put their conversation on hold.
However, not long after, Cheng Fangqiu noticed that Yuan Zheng had somehow managed to find a seat right next to her.
“Master Cheng, what are you doing here?” The young man’s face was full of excitement.
“I came to visit a friend,” Cheng Fangqiu replied with a smile, not elaborating further.
Yuan Zheng glanced at the people sitting next to her. “Your friend is Fangping?”
“Mm. You know her?”
“She’s going on a matchmaking date with my brother.”
Cheng Fangqiu recalled that when Yuan Zheng entered earlier, he had been with an older man. Understanding dawned on her, and she nodded. “So you’re here as a cover?”
“Yeah, but it looks like I wasn’t really needed after all.”
Both of them glanced over at Du Fangping, who was completely surrounded by a group of female friends, making them chuckle.
In this era, it wasn’t easy for unmarried men and women to meet in private.
“Master Cheng, do you want some candy?” Yuan Zheng suddenly produced a few White Rabbit milk candies as if by magic.
Cheng Fangqiu had eaten quite a bit at the state-run restaurant earlier and wasn’t in the mood for sweets, so she shook her head.
A trace of disappointment flashed across Yuan Zheng’s face, but he stubbornly held out his hand. “Take it anyway. You can eat it later.”
Unable to refuse his enthusiasm, Cheng Fangqiu accepted one as a token gesture. But before she could react, Yuan Zheng shoved all the candies into her hands.
She had no choice but to smile helplessly. “Thanks.”
“No need to thank me.”
Because their seats were close together, the space between them was minimal. Yuan Zheng could clearly see her long eyelashes fluttering under the flickering light of the movie screen.
In the darkness, his heartbeat inexplicably quickened.
A faint scent of jasmine drifted to his nose, making his thoughts waver.