Yang Qi picked up her handkerchief and wiped away her tears, nodding in agreement with him. The two of them made up.
Fang Huaiyu, however, found himself surrounded. The spectators crowded around him so tightly that he could not get out, eyeing him like ravenous wolves, as though they wanted to bite a piece of flesh off him.
Their stares nearly brought Fang Huaiyu to tears. He crossed his arms over his chest, hugging himself as he eyed the crowd warily. "What are you trying to do in broad daylight?"
"Heh, little brother, don't be scared. We mean no harm. We just want a few pointers."
"Exactly, little brother. You look so much like a woman dressed that way. Your skill at drawing eyebrows and applying rouge must be second to none. Could you teach us a trick or two?"
"Yes, teach us! Of course, we won't ask you to do it for nothing. We'll pay you."
Most of the men asking Fang Huaiyu for advice were married or already engaged.
Some people, however, scorned Fang Huaiyu for dressing as a woman. They thought it was disgusting for a grown man to insist on dressing that way, looking neither male nor female.
Someone voiced that opinion on the spot. Fang Huaiyu had long anticipated that exposing this preference of his would invite criticism, and he had mentally prepared himself beforehand.
But when he actually heard it, even all that preparation could not keep their words from making him feel pressured and afraid.
Even so, he did not think there was anything wrong with his preference. Just as he was about to defend himself,
someone else spoke up for him. "Hey, that's out of line. What business is it of yours what he wears? You're not his father or his mother.