Before and Behind the Makeup [Entertainment Industry]

When she was eighteen, Lin Qingqi did a good deed.

She sponsored several poor students, spending only a tiny fraction of her pocket money, and added a lovely flourish to her already beautiful life.

Jiang Yueshen was one of the students she sponsored.

Unlike the others, she lowered her head whenever she saw Lin Qingqi, the tips of her ears turning so red they looked ready to drip blood.

Lin Qingqi found it amusing. Like teasing an obedient stray dog: beckon and it comes, pat its head and it trembles. She enjoyed having that kind of control, but deep down, she had never considered these people her equals.

So when she got drunk that night and somehow ended up in bed with Jiang Yueshen, Lin Qingqi's first reaction upon coming to her senses was disgust.

It wasn't that Jiang Yueshen hadn't pleased her. But the fact that it had felt so good only made Lin Qingqi angrier and more humiliated.

She had been pleased by someone she'd once given charity to? How embarrassing.

She got dressed, took a thick wad of cash from her wallet, and tossed it onto the bedside table. Her voice was cold as ice. "Pretend it never happened."

But Jiang Yueshen took her seriously. The next day, she came back with red-rimmed eyes to return the money, apologizing over and over.

Lin Qingqi looked her up and down and said lightly, "Stop showing your face around me. You're disgusting."

The color drained from Jiang Yueshen's face. She stood rooted to the spot, as if all her strength had been taken from her.

Eight years later, the Lin family collapsed. Lin Qingqi fell from the clouds into the mud, and to survive, she had to take bit parts on film sets, despite never having lifted a finger for herself before.

On her first day, she sat barefaced in the corner of the makeup room, waiting to be casually handed off to some junior assistant.

The door opened, and a woman walked in wearing a designer shirt and a discreet but expensive watch. Two assistants followed behind her, and her commanding presence silenced the entire makeup room for a moment.

Everyone held their breath. Only Lin Qingqi didn't look up.

She stared at her phone, calculating how much rent she was still short this month.

Then the woman walked up to her and gently lifted her chin.

Forced to look up, Lin Qingqi met a pair of smiling eyes. The woman before her had exquisitely refined features and flawless makeup. Everything about her radiated two words: elegance and privilege.

Who was she? An actress? No, a makeup artist. Lin Qingqi made a quick assessment, then did her best to force out a flattering smile.

After all, she couldn't afford to offend anyone now.

"Hello, ma'am. I'll leave it to you," she said obediently.

*

Seeing someone who had once been so high and mighty suddenly rein in her arrogance made Jiang Yueshen's hand pause.

She looked at Lin Qingqi's distant, polite face and suddenly laughed. Everyone in the makeup room found it baffling. Only Jiang Yueshen knew why: this woman truly hadn't recognized her at all.

The poor student Lin Qingqi had slept with, insulted, and thrown money in the face of all those years ago was standing right in front of her, and Lin Qingqi hadn't even given her a proper look.

Jiang Yueshen lowered her head and carefully applied makeup to the woman who had humiliated her. When she was done, Lin Qingqi's already beautiful face was even more captivating.

*

Lin Qingqi trended online after this scene. A minor character who wasn't even supposed to have a name soon gained a huge following among ordinary viewers.

Lin Qingqi thought she'd just gotten lucky, until one night at a cocktail party, the poor student she'd once looked down on cornered her against a wall and whispered, "You thought I was disgusting back then. What about now?"

Lin Qingqi's pupils suddenly contracted. A blurry rainy day flashed through her mind, along with the figure she'd once reduced to silence with her words.

Looking at the composed, elegant face before her, she finally recognized the person as the same young woman who had been so awkward and humble eight years ago.

Now the tables had turned, and Lin Qingqi could only think: I'm finished.

(Both leads are adults the first time they get together.)

Theme: Stay positive and work hard, and you can change your circumstances.