Going for the tan bombshell look today

Petals danced on the wind, moonlight spilled down, and in the stillness of the night, Shen Yeqing alone was thrown into turmoil.

The drunken girl was already barely conscious. She gave him a couple of silly chuckles before toppling over, and he hurried to catch her in his arms.

His hold, restrained and tentative at first, gradually tightened.

Shen Yeqing lowered his eyes, unfathomable emotions stirring in their depths.

"Liu Liu..."

Xie Mi had been unhinged since childhood.

Wild by nature, she liked scrambling up trees whenever she had nothing better to do, so the other children in her apartment complex mocked her as the Six-Eared Macaque.

So Xie Mi beat them up until every last one of them submitted, and they started calling her Sister Liu instead.

From then on, the apartment complex officially became Flower-Fruit Mountain, and Sister Liu and her band of little monkeys began a happy life of running wild.

That was where her nickname "Liu" had come from.

Logically, nobody in the book could have known her real-world nickname, yet in her dream, she vaguely heard someone call her...

Liu Liu?

Who? Who was calling her??

"All our guests got drunk last night and went to bed late, so this morning, we're launching a surprise tent raid!"

A jarring voice shattered Xie Mi's dream.

She struggled to open her eyes and found herself lying in a tent, with Director Niu's sneaky voice coming from outside.

"I'm sure everyone's curious about what celebrities are really like first thing in the morning, so allow me to reveal the truth."

Zip-!

The tent was abruptly unzipped, letting glaring sunlight flood inside. The first person to appear on camera was Liu Woxing, who was already awake and folding her blanket.

She looked at the camera that had suddenly barged in with some surprise. Though she had no idea what was happening, she greeted it first.

"...Morning."

Even without makeup, she looked little different from usual, her skin smooth and creamy, her beauty flawless and natural.

[Holy crap, that bare face! I'm stunned. Please, queen, make a daily skincare video!]

[Has it occurred to anyone that even if she did, we couldn't afford any of it? Boohoo, would it kill the world to have one more rich person-me?]

[And she's so disciplined! She was hungover, but she still woke up at eight and even folded her blanket. I could never manage even that much in my entire life.]

[People better than me are working harder than me too, so what's the point of trying? I give up!]

The camera slowly moved to Xu Shuangrong beside her.

Xu Shuangrong had been woken by the noise. She took off her sleep mask and rubbed her drowsy eyes, but showed no irritation at all. Sitting up, she stretched languidly and smiled at the camera.

"Good morning, everyone."

[Aaaaaah, kisses for my baby!]

[She's such a soft, adorable sweetheart even right after waking up. That stretch was too cute, boohoo.]

[Help, what's even the difference between before and after makeup? Her makeup artist's job is in danger!]

The camera slowly turned toward Xie Mi.

"Uaaaaargh!!!"

Xie Mi raised both hands above her head, kicked her legs wildly, and stretched with all her might before rolling back and forth wrapped in her blanket.

[All I can say about Sister Xie's segment is: relatable.]

[Holy shit, that scared me. I almost thought I'd opened my own camera. Isn't that exactly what I look like in bed right now?]

[Has a burrito come to life?]

#Such a relatable wake-up routine#

It was so authentic that viewers felt as though they were looking in a mirror, sending it onto the trending list.

Quite a few viewers also spotted something everyone had overlooked in the wake-up video.

[Whinestein]: Unless I'm mistaken, isn't Xie Mi the one who truly looks exactly the same "before and after makeup"?

[Huangfu Iron Bull]: I've been impressed by how natural her makeup looks for ages, but now I'm seriously wondering: does she even wear any?

[Ma Something Mei]: Here, I took comparison screenshots. No difference. Seriously, no difference.

The assistant director saw those comments and realized something was off too, so he found Xie Mi while the guests were washing up and asked her about it.

"Teacher Xie, do you usually wear makeup on the show?"

Xie Mi had just finished scrubbing her face with a towel. At his question, she answered matter-of-factly, "Nope."

The original owner's agency was so damn broke. How could it afford to hire her a makeup artist?

When filming, she usually borrowed the production crew's makeup artist. For everyday events and shows, the original owner had done her own makeup. Now that Xie Mi was here, she simply skipped it.

For no other reason than getting an extra half hour of sleep.

"Well..." The assistant director looked troubled. "How about putting some on? This is a dating show, after all. Your image matters too, don't you think?"

"Hmm..."

Xie Mi gave it serious thought, then nodded. "I didn't think that through. Give me half an hour, then. I'll go put some on."

"Sure thing!"

The assistant director returned to the production team in high spirits. When Director Niu asked what had made him so happy, he said nothing, merely flashing a mysterious smile.

"Just wait for the huge surprise coming your way."

Her idol Teacher Xie already looked amazing bare-faced. If she seriously did her makeup and styling, wouldn't she be drop-dead gorgeous?

He had to be the first to take high-definition glamour shots and upload them to their [Xie Mi Fan Club] page.

Half an hour later, the guests finished washing up one after another and gathered in front of the tents.

"A new day has begun, and yesterday's Guardian Angel Game has come to an end. Based on our production team's observations, everyone took good care of their assigned partner. A perfect success!"

"Next, we're going to... Why are we one person short?"

Only then did Director Niu notice there were just five people. He was about to send an assistant to find the missing guest when a figure finally arrived.

"Coming, coming! My eyeliner took a little longer than expected. Sooorry~"

Everyone's eyes locked onto her.

Staaaare-

Director Niu was the first to break the silence, asking politely, "Excuse me, local friend, are you in the wrong place? We're filming a show..."

Xie Mi blinked her big, doll-like eyes and pointed at herself.

"Local? Me?"

She turned to look at the image on the camera.

A green shirt with a wavy pattern, yellow floral shorts, and a pair of woven-straw flip-flops.

Yesterday's hairstyle had gone flat, so today she had casually tied it into a ponytail, but she had put on a little straw hat with plenty of local flair.

On her face was the makeup she had painstakingly applied: green eyeshadow, wavy eyeliner, bright red M-shaped lips, and foundation several shades darker than her skin.

Didn't this look pretty good?

Couldn't they tell she was going for the tan bombshell look today?

Hearing that familiar voice, everyone there suddenly realized something.

The livestream chat caught on too.

[Xie... Mi?]

[Holy shit! I didn't dare laugh this whole time. I thought she was a visitor from Africa!]

[I get it! Sister Xie's cosplaying today. She's doing the vacation edition of the Ghanaian pallbearers. True fans recognized her instantly!!]

[Wait, who pissed her off this time?]

"Teacher Xie?!" The assistant director came pattering over and stared at her in disbelief, his jaw dropping.

By now, Director Niu understood everything. He closed his eyes and took two deep breaths, then turned his head toward the assistant director in stiff, jerky increments and gave him a sinister smile.

"You certainly have given me one."

"Huge. Freaking. Surprise!"