DM Chapter 27

Chapter 27: You Have to Rely on Yourself to Live a Proper Life

Someone had personally offered her favorable conditions, ensuring that she would never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of her life. From then on, she would have only rights, no obligations, and the only requirement was to live well and not seek death. Such a great deal was something Jiang Xiaoyuan couldn’t even dream of—it was probably less likely than winning the lottery.

That said, who wouldn’t want to gain without labor?

Who would be willing to work like a monkey every day, just for a little living expense?

Qi Lian even distorted this aid fund into something she deserved, just to save her face. What more could one ask for?

If they were trying to deceive or harm her, the price they paid was too high.

Jiang Xiaoyuan steadied herself, trying several times to go with the flow, but something seemed to block her throat, and she couldn’t get the words out—she was a bit surprised because she hadn’t expected her skin to be so thin.

In the end, Jiang Xiaoyuan avoided Qi Lian’s gaze and took a step back, “Thank you, I need to go back and think about it.”

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. What was there to think about?

But once the words were out, there was no taking them back. Since she had said she needed to consider it, she was too embarrassed to suddenly appear overly “quick-witted.” Jiang Xiaoyuan kept berating herself while stubbornly maintaining a composed facade.

It was clear that Qi Lian didn’t quite understand, but he still adhered tohis “no bite” demeanor. He didn’t bring it up again, and the two of them ate the rest of the meal in silence, leaving the restaurant one after the other, distant yet polite.

On the way out, Jiang Xiaoyuan passed by a restaurant TV, a mall’s promotional screen, and even small ads on lampposts for infertility treatments. Everywhere, she saw the phrase “The passage is ready, will you embark on the journey?” It was as if the message was pervasive, with no escape.

Jiang Xiaoyuan found herself in the same predicament as the assistant at the lighthouse, feeling like there was an invisible eye constantly watching her every move, waiting to catch her at her weakest moment, tempting her to press “yes.”

The world in front of her felt like a giant spider web, and strangely enough, everyone else—even Qi Lian—seemed oblivious to the small words that kept popping up. She was the only one being tormented.

Midway through the journey, Qi Lian stopped the car, told her to wait inside, and left the keys in the ignition. It seemed that he was not afraid that she would drive away secretly.

After a while, he strolled back and threw a few shopping bags to Jiang Xiaoyuan: “I saw that you were short of a few winter clothes, so I bought them randomly.. I’m not sure what you like, so just make do with them.”

At this point, she really didn’t have a reason to refuse such a small gesture of assistance from her creditor. Jiang Xiaoyuan didn’t say anything, sincerely thanked him, and took the bags. But after a brief look through the bags of varying sizes, her gratitude quietly vanished—because she felt as if her eyes had suffered immense pain.

There was a hand warmer covered in little hearts and bunnies, a pair of pink pants with lace-edged wings, a Hello Kitty sweater, and a short pink A-line coat with ruffles and a small collar in a Chanel-like style. The most outrageous part was the huge bow on the chest, flamboyantly occupying half the front of the coat.

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”

What on earth was going through the mind of the person who paid for these abominations?

For a moment, Jiang Xiaoyuan thought her down jacket, which could double as a dung beetle costume, didn’t look so bad after all.

She couldn’t help but glance at Qi Lian, who was driving steadily, his eyes focused as if someone might suddenly jump in front of the car. His meticulousness made him look like he was performing surgery.

Jiang Xiaoyuan found herself unable to look directly at his honest and gentle face anymore.

When she returned to her rented room, it was so cold that she had to crawl into bed and hug the hand warmer for warmth. Despite its unimpressive appearance, the “little hearts and bunnies” hand warmer was practical enough to keep her from freezing on that snowy night.

Jiang Xiaoyuan was entangled for half a night. She always wanted to get up immediately and run to Qi Lian to express her 100% determination not to seek support for her. However, she always got up halfway and hesitated again. She shivered and didn’t understand why she couldn’t say it. She kept thinking about it until she fell asleep, but she couldn’t figure it out.

That night, she had a dream where she found herself in a place filled with scattered swamps of various sizes. A creature that looked like a plastic mannequin from a hair salon was chasing her. Its faceless head was rolling the words “Will you embark on the journey?” like a spinning wheel, and she had to flee for her life while avoiding the swamps beneath her feet.

The swamps started small, easy to jump over, but as she ran, they grew larger and wider, leaving Jiang Xiaoyuan increasingly exhausted…

“If only I could fly,” Jiang Xiaoyuan whimsically thought in her illogical dream.

Then, her feet suddenly left the ground, her entire body rising into the air in a mix of panic and excitement, and, without even growing wings, she began to walk on air.

She flew higher and higher, and the faceless creatures stood in a line by the vast swamp, jumping in place as if they were bidding her farewell. Jiang Xiaoyuan looked at them, but she did not feel any joy from the primate’s physical body. She did not notice the light wind and clear sky, the vast sky and the vast land. Instead, she felt an indescribable sense of crisis in her heart, as if she would fall down at any time.

Just as this ominous thought crossed her mind, Jiang Xiaoyuan suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath her feet, and the intense sensation of falling jerked her awake, drenched in cold sweat, in the pale morning light.

The hand warmer was now just a warm spot against her skin, and she couldn’t tell who was warming whom. Jiang Xiaoyuan’s nose was cold, and she got up to face the faceless figurine that she had never returned. Heart heavy, she placed it face down on the table and wiped away tears that inexplicably welled up.

Shivering, Jiang Xiaoyuan suddenly realized what had stopped her from speaking the night before—deep down, she knew she didn’t have wings. If she ascended, she would inevitably fall.

Strictly speaking, she had already fallen once. Although she hadn’t yet had time to summarize the lessons, her subconscious had already begun to fear.

In this delicate moment, hovering between sleep and wakefulness, Jiang Xiaoyuan, through the faceless figurine, confronted her long-standing fear—nothing is permanent, nothing is guaranteed, nothing is hers to rely on. Her heart was filled with a deep sense of unease, like an ant clinging desperately to a leaf drifting in the current.

Jiang Xiaoyuan propped her hands on the edge of the bed, exhaled deeply, cleaned herself up, and reluctantly put on the Hello Kitty sweater and the pink pants. In the end, she didn’t have the courage to wrap herself in the big bow and go out in public, so she shook her old black down jacket vigorously and headed for the hair salon.

Cold wind whipped at her neck, but perhaps due to her subconscious awakening, Jiang Xiaoyuan’s mind was unusually clear. She mapped out a clear path for herself—so long as Mingguang lives, he’ll keep coming up with endless temptations to lure her into replying to that deadly message. Even if Qi Lian were the richest man in the world, he might not be able to satisfy her endless fantasies. Besides, he helped out of loyalty and old feelings; not helping would also be perfectly reasonable.

She couldn’t continue like this; she had to rely on herself to live a proper life.

Jiang Xiaoyuan worked with great vigor that morning. Boss Chen watched her coldly from the sidelines, sensing something was off, and made a point of coming over to check on her during the break: “Are you excited?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan sincerely said, “Boss, I want to save up some money as quickly as possible.”

Chen Fangzhou nodded, “Really? What a coincidence, so do I.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “Then what do you think about me going to further my studies in styling?”

“Not much,” Chen Fangzhou splashed cold water on her face in the dead of winter. “You can’t even ride a bike yet, and you want to fly a rocket? What do you want to do, go to space? Is Earth too small for you?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “You’re supposed to encourage me, Boss. Young people with dreams need encouragement.”

“Shoo, shoo,” Chen Fangzhou waved her aside. “If everyone went off to chase dreams, who’d do the work? Jokes aside, let me tell you, you need at least a near-advanced technician level before further studies will teach you anything. Otherwise, you’re just wasting money—and going abroad for further studies costs tens of thousands. With your salary, it’d take you ages to save up.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan hurriedly stopped him, “Wait—Your Majesty, don’t go, I have a petition for this matter!”

Chen Fangzhou: “If you have anything to say, please speak up.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan smiled and said, “Manager, I want to discuss something with you. Do you think it’s feasible for us to expand our business a bit?”

Chen Fangzhou crossed his arms over his chest in alarm. “What are you planning? With all the crackdowns on pornographic and illegal activities on TV every day, we’re just a small business. We can’t afford to break the law.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”

She hadn’t realized that the small-statured Manager Chen had such a towering and twisted imagination.

Chen Fangzhou: “What do you actually want? Just spit it out. I’ve got a customer turned over my card and is waiting.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “Beauty and hairstyling go hand in hand. Of course, adding beauty services would require new equipment, which isn’t cost-effective. But what do you think about offering styling services as a side job? You know, we often have customers who are about to attend important events but don’t have time to go home and wash their hair. They come here to get their hair washed and styled. Couldn’t we also offer makeup services for them?”

Chen Fangzhou: “Are you going to offer it?”

That was exactly what Jiang Xiaoyuan had in mind, and she quickly nodded enthusiastically.

Chen Fangzhou snickered.

Jiang Xiaoyuan blinked: “Your Majesty, can you give me some advice?”

“I get that you want to make some extra money,” Chen Fangzhou said, “Kid, let me tell you, there are two kinds of things that make money: things that no one else can do, and things that no one else wants to do. Go out and ask around—how many women out there can’t do their own makeup? Why would they need you?”

After saying that, Boss Chen turned and left.

Jiang Xiaoyuan quickly took long steps to catch up with him: “No, no, no, Boss Chen, hear me out.”

Chen Fangzhou quickened his steps, twisting his waist like a top and spinning out of there like a black whirlwind. At the same time, he covered his ears with his hands and pinched his voice, saying, “I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”

Their colleagues all popped their heads out to watch, and Jiang Xiaoyuan was speechless. Helplessly, she raised both hands in surrender and tried to explain: “No…don’t misunderstand, I’m not toying with him.”

Even though Chen Fangzhou had thrown cold water on her idea, Jiang Xiaoyuan wasn’t ready to give up. There were two points where the manager was wrong—first, not everyone is good at makeup, and second, even if they are, it doesn’t mean they have the time. Even if they have the time and skill, it doesn’t mean they can accurately highlight their strengths and minimize their flaws to maximize the effectiveness of their styling.

Jiang Xiaoyuan, who was now well-versed in both beauty and hairstyling, saw a good business opportunity in expanding horizontally.

So that evening after work, she used her “tall and strong” build to forcibly drag the petite and frail Boss Chen off his electric scooter. She practically kidnapped him to the nearby bridal studio, which looked like a haunted house, intending to show him a concrete example of her work.

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “One look and you’ll see the difference between my level and that of those so-called ‘makeup artists.'”

She dragged Boss Chen to the bear-faced and rabbit-hearted photographer with great effort, and said confidently: “Show him the raw version of my last styling work!”

The photographer complied with her request.

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “Manager, ignore the guy in the photo and just focus on the makeup of the woman. What do you think?”

Chen Fangzhou stared at the expressionless face of Feng Ruixue in the photo and sniffed: “Tsk, so young, what a pity—when was their cremation?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”

God have mercy on her, with one sentence, Boss Chen not only shattered Jiang Xiaoyuan’s glass heart, but also brought the photographer to tears.

Despite being rejected multiple times, Jiang Xiaoyuan still didn’t intend to give up. For the first time in her life, she felt so strong and determined, fighting tirelessly for her goal, and she was willing to use any means necessary.

The next day, she asked Lily to be her model. Several of Lily’s close friends contributed their personal makeup kits, and they managed to put together a full set of cheap makeup tools. That evening, just before the shop was about to close, Jiang Xiaoyuan secretly hid Chen Fangzhou’s scooter keys, forcing him to sit and watch as she worked her magic.

To be fair, Lily wasn’t exactly stunning—she had a large face, mismatched eyelids, and her skin wasn’t great. Her only redeeming quality was her love for beauty and her willingness to cooperate.

Chen Fangzhou casually sat down at a nearby table. After all, he was single and lived alone—going home only meant cooking frozen dumplings by himself, so he didn’t mind staying late at work.

As he shook his leg, Chen Fangzhou said, “Jiang Xiaoyuan, I’ve noticed you’re increasingly disregarding the manager’s authority. You’re just a technician intern now—what are you planning to do when you become a full-fledged technician? Stage a coup?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan didn’t bother to respond.

She was focused on impressing this country bumpkin once and for all, pouring all her energy into Lily’s face—deciding where to highlight, where to conceal, which color palette to use, and what hairstyle would complement it—all of these combinations flashed through her mind like a carousel.

For the first time in her life, Jiang Xiaoyuan was treating her “work” with such seriousness. Initially, Lily wanted to joke around with her, but when she saw the focused look in Jiang Xiaoyuan’s eyes, she suddenly fell silent. The determination and solemnity in Jiang Xiaoyuan’s gaze made Lily feel an almost inexplicable reverence for her own head.

At first, Chen Fangzhou leaned back in his chair, casually bantering with the younger girls. But gradually, everyone fell silent. Chen Fangzhou couldn’t help but sit up straighter, his eyes lingering thoughtfully on Lily’s face before finally resting on Jiang Xiaoyuan’s hands.