Sunday morning, after half an hour of self-psychological counseling, Yun You finally transformed into Camellia and appeared inside the agreed-upon Mai O Lao.
This Mai O Lao was just across the street from the convention center where Mo Fa Shao Nü Only was being held, often used by cosplayers as a temporary dressing room to prepare their makeup and costumes.
Youlan’s choice of this place seemed well thought out in advance.
In fact, Jiang Lan’s home was also quite close, so theoretically she could have invited them over.
But even without the issue of her identity, she felt embarrassed to show the Gu Zi plastered all over her walls and countless glass cabinets filled with Gu Zi to others.
So in the end, she chose this place as their meeting spot.
Today, Camellia wasn’t wearing the standard flashy magical girl battle costume that looked like a stage outfit.
Instead, she wore a round-neck printed T-shirt with a red and white color-blocked hooded sweatshirt over it, paired with jeans and canvas shoes.
Her bright and eye-catching red hair was temporarily changed to black by magic, and the cognitive distortion magic was removed, so she didn’t stand out much.
At most, people might glance twice and think,
“Wow, this cosplayer is really pretty.”
After Yun You explained the situation, Lin Zhifeng reluctantly gave up on the idea of going to beat Lily up again and eagerly rummaged through the wardrobe to pull out a mountain of women’s clothing enough to crush Yun You.
Camellia’s battle outfit was already the limit Yun You could accept.
She absolutely refused to wear anything more, so in the end, Lin Zhifeng helped modify some of her original clothes, and that’s what she came out wearing.
Lin Zhifeng’s company was in the fashion industry, and the otter-themed pajamas she designed were among the top five bestsellers in her store.
The clothes she altered remained fairly androgynous but had a casual simplicity and youthful vigor.
However, after the modification, she shrugged with little pride.
For a face like Camellia’s, she probably wouldn’t look bad even in a sack.
It didn’t showcase her level at all.
Since Camellia was known to resemble Hong Feng, in a way, she was indirectly complimenting herself.
Yun You wisely didn’t point out this equation.
Camellia gave herself plenty of time to overcome her psychological barrier toward wearing women’s clothes, so she arrived at Mai O Lao quite early.
She ordered an iced cola and breakfast for three and quietly complained in her heart about the straws being optimized out for environmental reasons, sipping the cola by the table.
Soon after, Youlan and Daisy arrived one after another, their appearances also altered by magic.
Youlan wore a white fitted blouse with a pleated collar, a blue-black-silver plaid JK skirt, and a matching necktie.
Her long, black, silk-like hair—dyed from Bao Lan blue—flowed down her back.
Every movement exuded a serene beauty, like a heroine straight out of a school anime.
Daisy’s outfit was somewhat mismatched.
She wore a khaki, somewhat professional suit, but the women’s suit, which should have been slim-fitting, seemed a bit large on her, and the mature, professional vibe clashed with her.
To describe it, it was like… a child sneaking into adult clothes?
But it could also be explained as the current popular oversized style.
Camellia, who wasn’t good at matching outfits, didn’t dig further.
The three of them—known to be a male high school student, a workaholic, and an elementary schooler—stood with three completely different dressing styles, exchanging awkward and confused looks: What kind of clothes should girls this age wear?
Am I dressed weirdly today?
No use figuring it out.
Camellia rubbed her face, waved at the two, and took the big bags from Youlan.
“Have you eaten breakfast? I ordered some stuff according to your habits. If it’s not enough, I’ll order more.”
Youlan was quite surprised to find the breakfast on the table was exactly what she once photographed and posted.
She rarely shared personal information like that; only once or twice.
Had Camellia just remembered it?
But on second thought, Camellia seemed to have a good memory, especially for little details like this.
“Youlan, drinking iced Americano every morning isn’t very good for your health,”
Camellia added.
Youlan sat down, smoothed her skirt, and smiled lightly.
“Because adults have to drink iced Americano… But knowing it’s bad, you still ordered iced Americano for me?”
“Sorry, I’d never heard that before.”
Camellia calmly pushed two drinks in front of Youlan.
“Iced Americano and hot milk. You can have the one you don’t want.”
She was only offering a suggestion and a choice, not forcing Youlan to accept her idea.
Ms. Lin Zhifeng said that meddling needs limits; too much becomes ‘dad energy.’
If Yun You ever developed ‘dad energy,’ his real mother would be the first to execute justice.
Youlan looked down at the two drinks for a while, her fingers tapping the frosted plastic cup of the iced Americano before sliding over to the paper cup holding the milk.
She moved it closer, cupped it with both hands, feeling the warmth, and couldn’t help but smile.
“Then I won’t be polite. Actually, I don’t really like iced Americano either. It’s just… well, I have to get energized in the morning to drink it. But today, it’s okay to relax a little, right? So, this cup of coffee is yours.”
Camellia didn’t object to her choice.
She took the iced Americano and after one sip, doubted her life decisions.
How did Youlan usually swallow this stuff that tasted like medicine without flinching?
Daisy happily unwrapped the paper around her panini.
“Thanks, Camellia! How did you know I love this?”
Camellia decided to drink a sip of iced cola and then the iced Americano, so it wouldn’t be so painful.
Waste was out of the question.
Her reply was as concise as ever:
“You posted it before. You also said your mom thinks it’s unhealthy and you can only have it a few times a year. You always have to watch your classmates eat it.”
Due to her busy work schedule, Daisy’s mother hadn’t sat at the same table with her for a long time.
She always ate meals prepared by the housekeeper, let alone such so-called junk food.
Daisy paused, her eager bites turning cautious.
She ended up the last to finish breakfast among the three.
Pushing her plate aside, Youlan deftly pulled a San Li Ou makeup bag out of her absurdly large felt tote.
“Sit down, let me see your faces.”
Camellia stiffened a bit in front of these unfamiliar things, unsure where to put her hands.
“Do we really have to…”
The words twisted on her lips.
Even the usually unshakable Camellia showed a strange expression.
“Do we really have to wear makeup?”
“Yes, or else you’ll get ‘toileted’… I mean, people will point fingers at you for being unprofessional.”
Youlan observed their brows and contours for a moment and pulled out a bunch of familiar bottles and jars from the makeup bag, probably similar to what Lin Zhifeng had.
“You don’t have any allergic products, right?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never worn makeup,”
Camellia admitted honestly.
The most she’d used as a child was baby cream and Dabao.
“Hey, at least use some moisturizer… Ah, well, youth is a blessing. I’ll test a little behind your ear first. Daisy, come over too.”
Daisy immediately placed both hands on the table, looking quite obedient.
She didn’t know why she always listened to Youlan, as if it had become muscle memory.
Just do as told; Youlan wouldn’t harm her.
Camellia closed her eyes tightly, her lashes trembling slightly from nervousness, making Youlan chuckle.
“It’s a bit cool, right? Don’t be nervous, it’ll be fine soon. Speaking of which, they said you look a lot like Hong Feng, but I didn’t notice before. Today, you really do. Are you two really related?”
Without Youlan’s permission, Camellia kept her eyes shut and nodded slightly.
Youlan grabbed her chin to stop her from moving.
“Hmm. I’m usually told I look more like Dad, but you definitely look like Mom.”
At these words, Youlan fell silent for a few seconds.
Camellia sensed something was wrong and her eyes twitched beneath her closed lids.
Oh no, she wasn’t Yun You now, but Camellia!
The atmosphere was too natural, and she accidentally blurted out the truth!
What if Youlan and Daisy felt offended by her sudden self-reveal and blocked her?
Her heart pounded wildly, and she didn’t dare open her eyes.
She just felt Youlan staring motionless at her.
After a few agonizing seconds, Youlan burst out laughing wildly.
“Pfft… hahaha! I get it! This is also mentioned in the town novel Qing Mei Tian Jiang Hou Women Yi Qi Yang Wa. I didn’t expect you to have read that too!”
Camellia:
“…Huh?”
Youlan laughed until tears came out and rubbed her eyes.
“I thought I was the only one who secretly shipped Bao Lan fans and never dared to tell you! So you really have Kikyō’s personality and look like Hong Feng. Nice, I just found something new.”
A cold sweat rolled down Camellia’s cheek.
At this point, she didn’t want to explain that she wasn’t making a joke but just telling the truth.
Since Youlan took her words as a joke, she wouldn’t ruin the relaxed atmosphere by being the odd one out.
Also…
Youlan seemed to have said something deeply unsettling?
They probably weren’t even talking about the same thing.
Better not ask what it was.
The more she thought about it, the more her head itched as if it was growing a brain.
Youlan, who had always kept to herself, now thought she’d found kindred spirits and spoke enthusiastically, claiming the three of them were practically half-sisters…
Camellia listened sweating bullets, dared not say a word, luckily Youlan was used to her silence and didn’t notice anything odd.
Youlan applied makeup quickly.
Camellia was initially worried about their proximity, but after seeing both her and Daisy’s faces in Youlan’s hands look like squished boiled eggs, she didn’t care.
Only at the eye makeup did she recoil slightly, but with the chair fixed behind her, there was nowhere to escape, making her feel like a fish pressed on a chopping board.
“So, wigs? Aren’t we originally…”
“Yes, wigs too. Although our hair after transformation is multi-colored and thick, it’s easy to tell it’s real hair. Using real hair also gets you ‘toileted’… I mean, people consider it unprofessional and disrespectful.”
“There’s a rule like that? What exactly is ‘toileting’?”
Daisy raised a hand curiously.
After transformation, she had long golden hair tied in twin tails with exaggerated Roman curls.
The radiant gold sparkled like the beach, sunshine, and everything that shone.
Now, her hair was a much more subdued black, which even Youlan found a bit odd.
“Toileting… it means some people vent their negative emotions online. It’s not something good. You two shouldn’t look it up—it’ll pollute your eyes.”
Youlan pinched Daisy’s nose with an empty hand, earning a bright smile.
“I thought Daisy, you’d been to a lot of Mo Fa O’s, but you’re a newbie too?”
Daisy stuck out her tongue and puffed up proudly.
“Hehe… the tickets were given to me. I hadn’t been before, so I wanted to ask you guys to come with me! Besides, since we all have cognitive distortion magic on now, no one will recognize us. Even if we mess up, it’ll just be a low-quality Daisy impersonator’s fault, not mine.”
While they talked, Camellia quietly mixed her cola with iced Americano and took a sip.
The strange taste made her wrinkle her nose.
Just think of it as a gift from others.
And they even gave exactly three tickets.
Maybe Daisy thought she was hiding it well, but Yun You guessed from her words and actions that she was probably quite young.
The more mature Youlan likely had the same guess.
Beneath Daisy’s cheerful exterior seemed a lonely side.
When interacting with these two companions, she occasionally revealed a bit of caution, always agreeing with them as if worried about doing something wrong and being abandoned.
Yun You guessed Daisy didn’t have a wide social circle or many friends, which explained her inability to properly manage social distance.
…Otherwise, she wouldn’t have only invited the two who contacted her after transformation to come to the convention together.
This was the first time Daisy made such a request, and she looked very nervous.
Considering all this, Yun You gave up on asking why it had to be after transformation.
Daisy suddenly burst out laughing at something, her legs swinging excitedly under the table.
“Looking at us now, we’re just like nesting dolls. Transform, then do makeup and change clothes, then cosplay as other magical girls… By the way, Youlan, whose cosplay outfits did you borrow?”
Youlan nodded modestly.
“Hong Feng, Kikyō, and Daisy. They match our colors perfectly, right? Too bad we’re still missing an extra Heather; then we’d be complete today.”
That would be perfect, couldn’t be more perfect.
Camellia turned to the mirror and blinked at the face whose aura was changed by contouring, eyeliner, and eyeshadow.
Imitating Hong Feng’s expression from her memories, she slightly relaxed her brows and curved her lips.
Not gonna lie, it really did look a little like her.