Chapter Ch68 - [Extra: The Drama Queen] I’m the pure sort and I don’t want to smell so tempting.
Translator: reiyu; Editor: fraise
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Gu Kaifeng spoke in such a blindly worshipful manner it was clear he was exaggerating. Lin Feiran sternly quelled Gu Kaifeng’s exaggerations. He told the drama queen: “As long as it’s within my abilities, I’ll try to help.”
He was no Holy Father, but these ghosts and spirits did not have physical bodies, and were often bound by their obsessions and unable to act freely. If they were unlucky, they could go decades or centuries without finding someone who could see them. If they really had an important wish but had no way of fulfilling it— Lin Feiran found them quite pitiful. So, as long as it was not too difficult a task, Lin Feiran was happy to lend them a hand.
“My wish…” The drama queen placed a slender, pale finger on her lips, her eyes flashing. She said, “My original form is a costume. Please, get my original form and wash it clean, mend the frayed places, then let me comfortably dry in the sun.”
“Eh…” Lin Feiran had not thought that the drama queen’s wishes would be this simple and down-to-earth. He froze for a second, then immediately agreed. “Sure, no problem.”
The drama queen complained: “My original form was placed at the very bottom of the prop box in the backstage storage room. It’s been stuck under other old and torn clothes for many years. Day in and day out, I never see the sun, and I’m just waiting to grow mold.”
Moldy in the literal sense, not the metaphorical!
“The prop room key.” Gu Kaifeng thought hard. “It should be with the gym teacher. I’ll ask him and maybe he will lend it to me.”
“Good, good. Get me out, quickly.” The drama queen clapped her hands happily.
Lin Feiran asked curiously, “If you were Mr. Shen Fengsheng’s most beloved costume, why are you in our school’s prop room?”
Lin Feiran remembered that several years ago, when he went to A City on vacation with his parents, he had seen an entry for Shen Fengsheng’s old house in the travel guide. But none of them were very into Peking opera, and besides, A City was a tourist destination with many interesting places to visit, so they didn’t go there. Considering what a celebrated performer Shen Fengsheng was, the things he used should have been properly preserved and cared for.
“I was stolen after my master passed away.” The drama queen lifted one eyebrow and said in a huff, “I passed through the hands of many buyers. In the end, the rich man who bought me was bankrupted, and I was picked up along with a lot of other clothes. A few years ago, I landed in a secondhand market and was bought by someone at your school for 50 yuan. 50 yuan! Damn it, I’m angry. I do such good work, do I look like I’m only worth fifty bucks?!”
Lin Feiran was incensed alongside the drama queen. “Exactly, exactly! Fifty bucks is really too…”
The drama queen said, full of anger, “At least add another fifty! This lot of idiots, do none of them realize what things are worth?”
Lin Feiran: “……”
Lin Feiran consoled her awkwardly. “Don’t be angry. They have no taste.”
Lin Feiran was good at talking to his elders, but he wasn’t very good at cajoling girls.
After all, he was usually the one being cajoled!
Just then, a smattering of applause sounded from the hall. The student representative speeches had probably ended. Gu Kaifeng glanced down at his watch and said, “It’s about time, baby, we should go back.”
Lin Feiran nodded and said to the drama queen, “Wait a little. We’ll come back and get you in a bit.”
During midday break, Lin Feiran sat by himself on the steps leading into the hall, playing on his phone.
Footsteps sounded nearby. Lin Feiran looked up and saw Gu Kaifeng walking towards him, one hand stuck in his pocket and the other with a key ring hanging from his index finger. Seeing Lin Feiran look at him, Gu Kaifeng casually twirled the keyring around his finger a couple times, then caught it firmly; he suspected he was trying to look cool. He said, “I said I left something in the storage room and he didn’t believe me. Took a long time before he would give the key to me.”
“Let’s go.” Lin Feiran stood up from the steps. Gu Kaifeng saw that no one was around, so he stuck his hand out and felt up Lin Feiran’s uniform-clad rump.
A difficult-to-conceal smile curved Lin Feiran’s lips. He said, “Don’t make a fuss.”
“Dusting you off.” Gu Kaifeng shamelessly patted a little, then said quietly, “RanRan, after holding back for a month, that’s where your mind goes?”
Yes, held back too much! Lin Feiran hummed coyly, then walked in the direction of the prop room.
The auditorium’s prop room contained a messy assortment of props, scrolls, instruments, and costumes. In the corner stood the old piano Lin Feiran had played during the arts festival. Lin Feiran remembered that the piano contained the ghost of a young man, who looked terrifying and tragic. He had left a deep impression on Lin Feiran, and out of fear, Lin Feiran hadn’t come back to look for him.
Lin Feiran’s gaze lightly swept across the piano. After settling the matter of the drama queen, he would come back with Gu Kaifeng and check on the male ghost in the piano.
Yes! The nervous little sticky cake Lin had Gu Kaifeng to support him now, and now he was afraid of neither heaven nor earth!
There were many boxes filled with props on the floor. Gu Kaifeng opened his Yin-Yang Eyes.
The drama queen was currently standing on one of the prop boxes. She waved hurriedly at the two of them. “It’s this box. Quick! Older sister is about to suffocate to death.”
Gu Kaifeng went over and lifted the lid off of the box, releasing a musty smell. Gu Kaifeng frowned slightly, and his expression was a little disgusted. He reached into the box, grabbed the edge of the clothes at the bottom, and started pulling them out.
“Aiyoh, be gentler!” The drama queen grit her teeth and rubbed her wrist, saying accusingly, “You almost broke my arm.”
Lin Feiran looked closely. Gu Kaifeng was holding onto the costume’s sleeve.
“Got it.” Gu Kaifeng agreed, dragging out the words thoughtlessly. Lin Feiran opened the plastic bag he had prepared beforehand, and Gu Kaifeng put the costume in.
The drama queen said unhappily, “You’re just stuffing me into a plastic bag like that?”
Gu Kaifeng had limited patience for everyone besides Lin Feiran. On hearing this, he lifted an eyebrow and said, “How else?”
Pink bubbles floated out of the drama queen as she said excitedly, “Instead… why don’t you carry me back? Bridal carry. I haven’t been carried like that by anyone before.”
Gu Kaifeng and Lin Feiran both imagined themselves walking around carrying a costume like that. They both felt that it would look very odd, so they said in unison, “No.”
The drama queen’s expression was unhappy!
“I’ll wipe your hands. The box is all dusty,” Lin Feiran said. He took hold of Gu Kaifeng’s hands, then used a wet wipe to wipe off each of Gu Kaifeng’s long and slender fingers. His eyes were lowered, his dense eyelashes trembling gently, and Gu Kaifeng could not take it any more. He bent his head and kissed Lin Feiran, who ardently stuck out the soft red tip of his tongue and reciprocated, still wiping down Gu Kaifeng’s hand. Gu Kaifeng couldn’t help laughing, still kissing Lin Feiran.
“Pay attention,” Gu Kaifeng said in a muffled voice. He snatched the dirty wet cloth from Lin Feiran’s hand and tossed it aside, then firmly caught hold of Lin Feiran’s waist and deepened the kiss.
“Wah, you’re really ignoring my presence?” Big sis drama queen, who had had dog food unexpectedly tossed in her face, quickly called to every ghost in a 50 meter radius. “Friends, friends! Quick, come see handsome guys messing around!”
“Enough…” Lin Feiran noticed ghosts encircling them to watch, and his face went instantly red. He wriggled, trying to get free, but Gu Kaifeng hugged him tighter and deactivated his Yin-Yang Eyes, and the world immediately quieted down.
Lin Feiran panted as he shoved Gu Kaifeng away. “There must be many ghosts nearby. Don’t…”
Gu Kaifeng’s beautiful dark eyes curved as he smiled. “If there are many of them, then let them be. It’s thrilling.”
Lin Feiran: “……”
The two made out in the prop room for a while, then returned to class, taking the costume with them. After evening self-study, they brought the costume back to the dorm.
As the spirit of the costume, the drama queen went with the costume. Where the costume was, the drama queen would be able to move freely within a fixed radius with the costume at its center.
After returning to the dorm, Lin Feiran pulled the costume out of the plastic bag and shook it out. He carefully asked for the drama queen’s opinion. “Is machine wash okay?”
The drama queen screeched, like she’d had her tail stepped on: “Of course not! I’ll die from dizziness! Let someone throw you in a washing machine and spin round and round, why don’t you try it?”
Lin Feiran waved a hand dismissively. “I was just asking. I’ll handwash you.”
The drama queen shyly put her hands to her face. “Please, be gentle with me. Rub gently. You’re not to use a washing board. My skin is very tender.”
Lin Feiran: “……”
Gu Kaifeng reached out to take the costume and said, “I’ll wash it.”
“No, I’ll wash it for her. You…” Lin Feiran softly muttered something. He dodged, holding the costume, and Gu Kaifeng’s hand closed on air.
This drama queen was female. Although her true form was just a set of clothes, touching the costume was like touching the drama queen’s body. So Lin Feiran was not willing to let Gu Kaifeng touch the costume.
“What’s the matter, now you’re hardworking?” Gu Kaifeng thought this funny. “Usually you make me wash even your underwear.”
“I don’t!” Lin Feiran was too embarrassed to admit he was jealous of a set of clothes. “Out of ten pairs I let you wash at most… eight.”
Gu Kaifeng gave a drawn out snort. “Mm?”
Young Master Lin, who couldn’t take care of his own daily life matters, turned red. “Nine pairs, nine pairs, all right?!”
Gu Kaifeng, who was resigned to doing all of it, forced himself to nod. “All right.” He paused, then added, “It’s fine. I like washing them for you, anyway. It’s a benefit.”
Lin Feiran: “……”
The drama queen, now so awash in love she could leave for her next life with no regrets, said: “I want to wash in warm water. About body temperature.”
“Got it,” Lin Feiran said. He put the costume over one shoulder, picked up the thermos and walked to the water room. He filled the basin with warm water, then placed the sleeve of the costume in the water to soak. He asked, “Is this temperature all right?”
The drama queen felt it with her hands and said, “A little warmer.”
Lin Feiran obediently added a little more hot water.
“That’s enough,” the drama queen said.
Lin Feiran soaked the entire costume in the warm water, then twisted open the detergent bottle cap. As he was about to pour it in the drama queen came over and said, “Wait. What scent is this detergent?”
Lin Feiran felt a headache coming on. “Lavender.”
The drama queen requested, “Let me smell it.”
Lin Feiran picked up the dripping costume from the basin and put the collar close to the neck of the detergent. “Can you smell it?”
“I can.” The drama queen wrinkled her nose. “This is too fragrant. Use a little less. I’m the pure sort and I don’t want to smell so tempting.”
Lin Feiran: “……”