"I'm really sorry to have kept you waiting."
The stagehand knocked on the dressing room door rather angrily.
"Has the makeup been done yet? It's been ages!"
The makeup artist opened the door and said helplessly, "Little Sweetie doesn't want to wear contact lenses. I've been trying to coax her."
"If she doesn't want to wear them, you can do the makeup for others first!" The stagehand glared at the makeup artist.
Just coaxing her all the time was a waste of everyone else's time. Look how pitiful the poor kid was.
"Cough, cough, cough!" The makeup artist tugged at the stagehand's clothes and winked at her, signaling her to stop talking.
"Zhang Xiaolu is inside!"
The makeup artist silently mouthed the words to remind the stagehand.
Hearing that Zhang Xiaolu was there, the stagehand quickly shut her mouth.
"Forget it. Xu Yiyi is good - looking. He can go on stage without makeup. Just put on a pair of contact lenses for him and we'll start shooting."
"Okay." The makeup artist quickly went in to look for the contact lenses. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaolu, sitting in the corner of the dressing room, exuded a gloomy aura.
She had heard everything the makeup artist and the stagehand said.
What did the stagehand mean?
Did she mean that her daughter wasn't good - looking and that's why she needed makeup?
Zhang Xiaolu's eyes fell on her daughter's face. Her daughter had puffy eyelids, thick lips, and her skin wasn't as fair as hers; it was yellowish - brown.
Sigh.
Zhang Xiaolu let out a long sigh. All her good genes had been defeated by her daughter's father.
The makeup artist took out a new box of contact lenses and was about to put them on Xu Yiyi, but Zhang Xiaolu directly picked up an opened box of contact lenses from the table and handed it to the makeup artist, asking her to use these.
The makeup artist was taken aback. She remembered that when she first came, Zhang Xiaolu had told her not to worry about Xu Yiyi.
She had promised that after it was all done, she could arrange for the makeup artist to work in a big production crew, or even get her a job as a dedicated makeup artist for the TV station.
The makeup artist hesitated for a moment. Thinking about her future, she still picked up the used contact lenses that Zhang Xiaolu had handed her.
Sorry, little boy.
It was just wearing used contact lenses, but it could get her a better job. It wasn't a bad deal at all.
"Come on, little boy. You may feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but it will get better soon."
Out of guilt, the makeup artist's tone towards Xu Yiyi was much kinder. Xu Yiyi was very scared because it was his first time wearing contact lenses.
The makeup artist tried several times before successfully putting one in. Xu Yiyi blinked his eyes and felt a burning pain.
It's okay. Mom said it would be fine once he got used to it.
Come on, I can do it.
Xu Yiyi encouraged himself in his heart.
"Sister, put in the second one for me."
Xu Qingqing saw how uncomfortable Xu Yiyi was and couldn't help but turn her head and secretly shed tears.
She had never cried even when she had a big wound on her back after sliding down the hillside.
But seeing her child in pain, Xu Qingqing felt as if her heart was being stabbed with a knife, burning with pain.
Finally, Xu Yiyi managed to put on the contact lens for his second eye.
Both eyes were burning with pain, and tears kept streaming out. He couldn't even open them.
"Mom, my eyes feel so uncomfortable." Xu Yiyi tightly grabbed Xu Qingqing's hand and kept rubbing his eyes.
"Don't rub them. It will be okay in a while."
Xu Qingqing reached out and held Xu Yiyi's hand, gently wiping away his tears with a tissue.
Xu Qingqing's nose was blocked with snot. She sniffed hard and smelled a faint smell of essential balm in the air, which made her sneeze.
The stagehand on the side felt so bad for him that she brought some snacks to comfort Xu Yiyi.
"Yiyi is the best. You can eat all these snacks after the shooting."
"Thank you, sister." Xu Yiyi smiled at the stagehand while shedding tears.
The stagehand lovingly stroked his head.
This kid was so well - behaved!
When Xu Yiyi stopped crying, the makeup artist covered his red - rimmed eyes. Then Xu Qingqing led Xu Yiyi onto the stage to take pictures.
"Good. Put your hand on the robot next to you. Great. Keep this expression!"
"Raise your head slightly and look straight ahead. Open your arms a bit more."
Many of the staff members had finished their work and were just waiting for the final touches. They gathered on one side to watch Xu Yiyi's shooting.
"Wow, Yiyi is so cute!"
"That little frowning expression is so cool. He's both cute and handsome. I just want to pinch his cheeks."
The hard - working Xu Yiyi quickly gained a group of fans, including both sisters and moms. He became even more serious in his work.
Every time the photographer gave an instruction, Xu Yiyi could accurately receive it and make adjustments.
After about half an hour of shooting, the photographer looked at the photos on the camera and couldn't help but sigh.
"This kid has an amazing sense of the camera. He's the best - performing kid I've shot today."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Xu Qingqing proudly led Xu Yiyi off the stage. The staff ladies gave Xu Yiyi candies and cookies.
"Yiyi did really well. Have this cookie."
"Are you tired, Yiyi? Have a bottle of yogurt."
"Thank you, sister." Xu Yiyi didn't take them directly but turned to look at Xu Qingqing.
"Mom, can I eat them?"
"It's the sisters' kindness. You can eat them." Xu Qingqing nodded with a smile.
Xu Yiyi shyly took a little and ate it.
"Thank you, sisters. I've finished eating."
His polite personality made everyone like him even more.
Xu Qingqing noticed that Xu Yiyi kept blinking his eyes frequently. Since he had just put on the contact lenses, his eyes must be very uncomfortable.
"Thank you all for liking Yiyi. We're going home."
After saying that, Xu Qingqing carried Xu Yiyi to find a place to take out his contact lenses.
After the contact lenses were taken out, Xu Qingqing could finally see Xu Yiyi's real eyes clearly.
They were as red as a rabbit's eyes, and the area around his eyes was swollen.
"How could this happen!" Xu Qingqing's nose twitched, and she was too heart - broken to speak.
"Mom, I'm okay. It's just because I'm not used to them." Xu Yiyi squinted his eyes and still tried to comfort Xu Qingqing.
Xu Qingqing hugged Xu Yiyi in her arms and looked down at the contact lenses in her hand.
Was there something wrong with these contact lenses?
Xu Qingqing put the contact lenses under her nose and smelled them carefully. She smelled the smell of essential balm again.
Why did the contact lenses smell like essential balm?
Just then, the staff member who had just finished counting the items happened to pass by behind Xu Qingqing.
"Strange. The contact lenses were purchased according to the number of people, but there's an extra pair. If the finance department finds out, they'll definitely say I've spent too much money."
"Did you buy too many?"
"Impossible. I checked several times."
Hearing the staff's conversation, Xu Qingqing looked at the contact lenses in her palm and remembered the makeup artist's abnormal emotions when she took out the contact lenses.
Unusually gentle, and even a bit guilty...
Xu Qingqing clenched the contact lenses in her hand. A bad suspicion crossed her mind.