Why is mine women's clothing?

Pei Yang opened WeChat for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. Several days had passed since the incident at the club, and the money he had transferred to Feng Wanting for the second time had once again been returned to his account after going unclaimed for twenty-four hours.

Feng Wanting hadn't sent a single word of explanation.

Their WeChat connection might as well not have existed. Neither spoke to the other, but neither blocked the other either.

Whatever. We can just sit on each other's contact lists, Pei Yang thought, giving up.

"Pei Yang! Pei Yang-"

Yin Sufang had called so loudly his voice cracked, but Pei Yang was still frowning at his phone. Furious, Yin Sufang slapped the desk and shot to his feet. "Pei Yang!"

Pei Yang flinched and instinctively placed his phone facedown on the desk. "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you hear me calling you?" Yin Sufang had always had a bad temper, and getting the lead curator role had only made it worse. Yet everyone in the Exhibition Planning Department had to cooperate with him, Pei Yang included.

Pei Yang answered honestly, "I zoned out. Did you need something?"

"You've been zoning out a lot lately," Yin Sufang snapped. "If something's going on at home, or you're not feeling well, take leave and go home before it's too late. Don't sit here taking up a position without doing any work! You're affecting my exhibition!"

"Yin Sufang." Pei Yang raised one eyebrow at him. "It's normal to be nervous and anxious about your first time with Independent Curating. If you don't think you can handle it, you can tell Boss Lan and hand it over to me while there's still time. What's the point of yelling in the office and taking your frustration out on me? I think you're the one who needs to take leave and go home."

"You!" Yin Sufang was speechless, his eyes widening.

The tension between them left everyone in the open-plan office afraid to breathe. Only after a long while did a colleague trying to keep the peace speak softly. "Curator Pei... Yin Ce said we're to go to the Third Conference Room for a meeting on the event procedures."

Pei Yang understood. He murmured an acknowledgment, took out his meeting notes, and headed to the conference room first.

To avoid another clash with Yin Sufang, Pei Yang chose a seat in the corner, trying to keep himself out of the spotlight.

Once everyone had arrived, Yin Sufang handed out a stack of documents according to the names stuck to their upper-left corners. He set them down gently for everyone else, but flung Pei Yang's at him.

So childish. Pei Yang ignored Yin Sufang and quietly straightened his documents.

Yin Sufang sat at the head of the conference table and said slowly, "Some people are right. This exhibition is the first project I, Yin Sufang, have planned independently from beginning to end, without any involvement from Sister Lan. So everyone should understand how important it is. My future career development is at stake, and I'll be giving it a hundred and twenty percent. I hope you'll all bear with me. I don't need you to give your all to support me; I only need you to do your own jobs properly."

By the end, Yin Sufang's teeth were practically chattering. Anyone could see how nervous he was.

His colleagues hurried to reassure him. "Fangfang, don't worry. We'll give you our full support."

"Exactly, Fangfang. We all know there's a gap between us and you. You graduated from a prestigious university; you only ended up assigned to FK in this backwater because of bad luck. We've worked together, so we'll do everything we can to help you reach a bigger stage."

"But don't forget about us once you get to Headquarters, Fangfang!"

The compliments came one after another, everyone tacitly treating Pei Yang as though he didn't exist. They all remembered that Yin Sufang was a prestigious university graduate who'd had bad luck, yet forgot that the same was true of Pei Yang.

Listening to all their pretty but empty words, Yin Sufang glanced at Pei Yang in the corner and said, "The transfer to Headquarters isn't settled yet, so there's no need to congratulate me in advance. Read through the proposals and procedure documents I've given you."

Pei Yang had read this proposal so many times that he could practically recite every paragraph, but since Yin Sufang told them to read it, he obediently did so.

"Unlike the exhibitions of luxury goods and prestigious objects we usually work on, this is a Han Antiquities Exhibition centered on hands-on education for children."

"To give the children a more immersive and memorable experience, our clothing needs to fit the exhibition too. On the last page of the proposal, you'll find photos of the outfits I've prepared for you, along with instructions on how to wear them. Study them carefully and remember the details so we can save time on styling on Wednesday."

We have to get styled too...?

Pei Yang closed his eyes briefly. Yin Sufang had always liked adding flashy flourishes to his exhibitions. He flipped straight to the last page to look at his outfit, then stared in disbelief.

He immediately looked up to check his colleagues' reactions, but everyone except him looked surprisingly... pleased?!

"Wow... it's so pretty! And we get a professional makeup team too?"

"Fangfang, you've really gone all out this time..."

"Of course," Yin Sufang said. "The company budget is limited, so I'm paying for the makeup and styling team out of my own pocket. Make the most of it, everyone, and take plenty of photos when you have time."

"Oh my god, our Fangfang really is beautiful inside and out."

"Thank you, Yin Ce! Here's wishing you a successful exhibition in advance!"

"Aaaaaah-"

"I love this outfit. It's like we're filming a TV drama. So ethereal."

"Let me see yours. Wow, yours is gorgeous too!"

"Fangfang's taste is just incredible..."

His colleagues eagerly discussed their proposals, leaving Pei Yang alone on the sidelines. Frowning, he kept closing his proposal and opening it again, checking that the name stuck to the upper-left corner of the cover really was his.

The conference room descended into chaos. Yin Sufang clapped his hands to restore order and said with a smile, "There's no need to keep discussing it. We've been colleagues for so long-wouldn't I know what clothes suit you? I've carefully considered both the hairstyles and the outfits. I guarantee they'll play up your strengths and conceal your flaws, so everyone will look lovely on the day."

His colleagues chorused, "Thank you, Yin Ce!"

"All right, if there are no questions, let's move on to the next item..."

"I have a question." Pei Yang hadn't wanted to draw attention to himself again, but Yin Sufang had gone too far. He said coldly, "Yin Sufang, you're being far too obvious about treating me differently. Do you really have to target me at work like this?"

Yin Sufang looked baffled. "How am I targeting you? What's your problem?"

"Why is mine women's clothing?" Pei Yang asked, his expression dark.

"W-women's clothing?" A colleague laughed. "Hahahaha-Curator Pei's wearing women's clothing?"

Pei Yang looked around. Most of the male colleagues had Ming-style Daoist robes, predominantly in black, blue, and other dark colors. The female colleagues had a variety of styles, from chest-high ruqun to wide-sleeved robes, mostly in yellow, pale green, and other light colors. Only his had broad sleeves, a floor-length hem, and a cinched waist-the only outfit there in delicate pink.

"What do you mean, women's clothing?" Yin Sufang said through gritted teeth. "Hanfu all have floor-length skirts. Stop being so stereotypical. Who says only women can wear pink?"

"..."

"I want a different color," Pei Yang insisted.

"Not happening. All the outfits were rented together. I chose pink for you because it suits your fair skin. If we change the outfit, we'll have to change the hairstyle too. We're pressed for time, and I don't have time to discuss it with the styling team again." Yin Sufang's tone left no room for negotiation. "That's final. Since when do colors have genders?"

Pei Yang said nothing.

In just a few sentences, he'd made Pei Yang sound like some narrow-minded, backward old fossil. Pei Yang actually had nothing to say.

It was fine. Pei Yang would compromise.

Hopefully I won't run into anyone I know that day, he thought.