Liuwei quickly perked up hearing these words. Quickly walking up to Xuemei, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out to his car.

“Hey! Let go, I can walk by myself.” Christian furrowed his brows and yanked his hand out of Liuwei’s grip. Liuwei felt a little empty after he could no longer feel her soft hands, but he knew better than to reach out again. Opening the door, Liuwei gestured for Xuemei to enter. The young girl huffed in annoyance but still got into the car without a fuss. The car was mostly silent except for the soft music playing on the radio. Passing over a bridge, Christian felt suffocated by the silence so he lowered his window to breathe in some fresh air. The city noises drowned out the awkward silence. In truth, Liuwei also wanted to speak, but he was not one for conversation. He was unsure of what he was supposed to say. Awkwardly tapping his finger on the steering wheel, Liuwei tried to calm himself down. Thankfully, after speeding most of the way, they quickly arrived at their first destination. Christian got out of the car while looking around with curiosity.

“Where are we?”

Liuwei did not say a word and pulled her wrist again. When Christian walked through the door, he saw a line of women and one man in the middle. He was rather flamboyant, almost like “I’m a proud queen” was written across his forehead. Slightly amused, Christian wondered what he was supposed to do here.

“Is this her?” The man walked up happily while throwing flirtatious glances at Liuwei.

“Yes.” Nodding politely, Liuwei did not show any reaction towards those inviting looks.

“Oh well… She is definitely gorgeous. I guess I’ll just dress her up so it’s more fitting for the occasion!” Gently touching Xuemei’s face, the man marveled at the pure and white skin.

Almost like a little Barbie doll, Christian found himself in and out of a dressing room to try on different outfits. He tried complaining saying that he didn’t need it, but Liuwei was not listening. Trying to control his anger, Christian still tried on the dresses in the end. After choosing an outfit, it was hair and makeup. Even a pair of one-day contacts were given to her. Christian could not help but feel that the make-up was uncomfortable, so after much fighting, the man decided to concede and just gave a simple light touch up. His hair was pulled up into an elegant updo. When he laid eyes on the stilettos they were expecting him to wear, he flipped out once again while complaining he would break his ankles. Finally, after some negotiation, lower wedge heels appeared that were easier to walk in. Although he was still slightly unhappy with all the fanfare, Christian decided it was good practice. One day, he would have to get used to fact that he was now a woman.

“Oh my god! Even I am impressed with myself. Come, come, look at your gorgeous date!” The man quickly gushed after looking over the final result.

Hearing these shouts, Liuwei looked up to see Xuemei walking towards him. She was in a tight-fitting black evening gown that hugged all the right places. The straps exposed her shoulders and the front and back both had a large dip that showed her back and substantial chest off. The slit in the dress highlighted her slim and long legs. Her hair was pulled up into a clean bun with a couple of curled strands hanging down shaping her lightly made up face. Looking at her plump, pink lips and her captivating eyes, Liuwei felt that he could no longer breathe evenly. Xuemei was born with lighter brown eyes than most Asians and it was a feature that really attracted others. The elegant picture was broken, however, when Christian lost his balance for a second while letting out a small curse. A smile playing on his lips, Liuwei quickly caught her.

“Young ladies should watch their tongue. I would think that you have never worn heels before or something. Don’t all girls wear them at some point?” He chided with an obvious intension to tease.

“Hmph! What 14-year-old do you see walking around in heels? Plus, who else is around to hear me curse? There is just the two of us, no need to be so uptight.” This definitely wasn’t the true reason, but it still made sense so Christian just went with it. As for the cursing, Christian felt like rolling his eyes. After spending so much time in the military, if he did not develop a potty mouth then it would be hard to honestly express some of the emotions one could feel during a mission. In comparison, his language now was saint-like. Thankfully, Xuemei also had quite the sharp tongue before so Christian inherited all her Chinese curse word knowledge. Pushing himself off of Liuwei, he stood by himself. This gave the former a chance to really look again at the young girl’s transformation. Holding out his hand, Liuwei bowed slightly.

“Would this beautiful young lady accompany me to dinner?”

Christian felt chills run up his spine looking at this act.

“Alright, alright. Stop it! I’m getting goosebumps just listening to such a cheesy line. Let’s just go and eat to our heart’s content!” Slapping Liuwei’s hand away in disgust, Christian quickly escaped and walked towards their car. Frowning slightly from such a reaction, Liuwei started to wonder if she was really that dense when it came to romantic things. Why did this girl always respond incorrectly? Is this not what all those girls always dreamed about? Every drama had a scene like this. However, he did not want to let this little incident ruin the night, so he quickly recovered and pulled open the door for Christian.

“Hm? Thanks, bro, but I can really open the door by myself. Otherwise, I’ll feel like you’re my driver and not my friend.” Smiling at the gesture, Christian patted Liuwei’s back and slightly lectured him. Liuwei now felt like puking blood. His chivalrous gesture was rejected and he was friend-zoned all at once. This girl really had a talent at making people want to throttle her. Breathing in deeply to calm himself, he still shut the door behind Xuemei and then got in on the driver’s side. The rest of the drive to the restaurant was silent. They quickly arrived at a fancy looking hotel where Liuwei parked at the front and let the valet take his car. He tried to hook his arm with Xuemei’s but the damn girl quickly pulled her arm away while frowning and saying she could walk on her own. His patience was wearing thin, but he chanted Buddhist mantras while telling himself to not freak out. The overflowing anger he held inside was instead vented towards the dirty stares that followed Xuemei ever since she walked in through the doors.

“This was a mistake.” Liuwei grunted unhappily while looking at the beautiful young girl in front of him. He wanted to see her all dressed up since he only ever saw her in sweats, but now he realized that he should have kept such a sight to just himself. All these bottom-feeders staring at her put a sour taste in his mouth.

“What did you say?” Xuemei innocently looked back to see Liuwei’s bad expression.

“Nothing. I was just talking to myself.” Liuwei responded through gritted teeth. He quickly pulled off his jacket and put it around her to cover her exposed shoulder and back.

“Hm? I’m hot. Just take it back. I don’t need a coat.” Totally oblivious to the gesture, Christian shrugged off the jacket and handed it back to Liuwei. Choked once again by such a response, Liuwei felt like just pulling his hair and screaming.

“Let’s just go to our table.” Sighing to himself, he had to wonder why he was attracted to such a thick block of wood.

“Okay! Let’s go!” Happily licking his lips, Christian showed his excitement for a feast. Liuwei felt enchanted once again as he stared at that cute yet seductive movement. It took him a moment to recover and stop staring.

When they received the menu, Liuwei wanted to order for Xuemei, but she quickly ordered for herself with an authentic sounding English accent. Although, Christian went to college in America, he grew up in England with his family before then. He only ended up moving after they passed away. He was never quite able to get rid of his accent.

“I’ve always wanted to ask you, why do you speak English with a British accent? I don’t remember your parents ever saying that you went there.”

“… I just loved British boys and when I was learning English I would watch shows from the UK. I think I just ended up adopting their accent by watching.” Another completely made-up answer, but Christian could not come up with a better excuse in time. Furrowing his brows, Liuwei showed obvious disbelief. “I guess I just have an ear for languages, I was able to pick up the accent fairly easily.” Without even blushing, Christian continuing to lie with a straight face. Although the doubt was not completely gone, Liuwei decided to trust her and not pursue it.