Next day Zou Yue woke up with a mission in mind. He swiftly took a shower and changed into his underwear. With a single towel on, he walked out and locked the door tightly.

“That dreadful thing on the bed, I’m gonna conquer you.”

Trexa gran, who was sitting on the pillow, glanced at him weirdly. “Squeak?” she pointed to herself.

“Not you Trexa gran. It’s THAT.” he pointed to the small pile of clothed neatly folded on it. With trembling hands he picked the white frilly top. It had neat frills ironed near the collar and even the sleeves were flared out in the end, giving an elegant look. 

.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m a model I can rock anything, right?” he chuckled awkwardly and wore the frilly top.

It fit him perfectly. The chiffon even hid his lack of boobs.

“I can’t delay any longer. I have an important meeting..” he mumbled and swiftly threw on the black flared pant. It hugged his curves tightly and flared out at the bottom.

“It looks good, right?”

Trexa gran, who was chewing on a piece of cashew, just froze. The nut dropped from its claws.

“Don’t litter my bed, baby,”

The rat scurried over to him and climbed onto his shoulders with shimmering eyes.

“You like?”

It nodded.

“Aww, my baby is the best.” he kissed its cute little head and ran to the mirror. The outfit actually fitted him much better than a loose t-shirt. The blouse was loose and flowy creating a delicate ambiance around him.

The pants were cute but gave off a business woman vibe.

“I really should thank Peng Peng. If not for his fashion tips I would not be able to pull this off,” he mumbled, fiddling with the frills.

Trexa gran excitedly jumped around.

Zou Yue next pulled out a small package. It had the thing he needed the most. A pony tail extension. He tied his shoulder length hair up in a half up pony tail and tied up the surrounding extension firmly.

The straight back hair flowed down to his waist and moved side by side every time he took a step.

“Wow, I look seductive, don’t I?” Zou Yue was really feeling himself. As a modal he was used to dressing up in male clothing and female clothing, but that was all for the shoot.

This felt more exciting that those times.

“I really convinced myself.” he rolled up his ponytail and pulled it up in a bun. He wore a barrette to hide it in.

With a huge, fluffy coat, he hid his full outfit from sight.

“I look convincing enough.”

Zou Yue wore huge black shades on his face and walked out confidently.

“Yue baby where are you off to dressing like that,” his mother suddenly yelled from the kitchen.

Zou Yue froze. “I—I am not doing anything weird. Just….”

“Wear your mask. The news has reported about increasing fine dust level. Come here.” she handed him a small black face mask from the drawer. “Wear it,”

Zou Yue happily wore it ad showed it off to her. “Do I look handsome?”

“Of course my baby looks like those kpop idols.” she pinched his cheeks. “But why do you still have your hair long, though? Do you want me to trim it?”

“No, no, I plan on growing it out.”

“Oh.. Okay, stay safe and come home before dark. I mean it kid,” she waved at him with a playful glare.

Zou Yue happily ran out of the house with a huge bag in hand. “She did not even doubt it. He he,” he ran to the nearby coffee shop’s restroom and wore down hair extension. Finally, his look was complete.

Along with shade and mask, no one was able to clearly see his face. Which made it even more awesome. ‘Even if I buy an entire warehouse full of rice bags, no one would know it was me~’

Giggling, he walked down the road.

They bit agree on meeting in a cafe down in the centre of the city. It was quite close to the small bakery he went during Christmas.

Because it was holiday season, the roads were still jammed and slow moving. Yet he enjoyed it all thoroughly.

Soon the cafe came into view. He paid the cab off and walked in calmly.

“You must be Mrs. Ling?” a middle-aged man whispered from behind him.

“Yes, it is me,” he whispered, lowering his voice a bit even, so it sounded slightly hoarse. “Ignore my voice I’ve got a sore throat.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Liang dingxiang, just call me Mister Liang.”

“Nice to meet you, Mister Liang.” Zou Yue shook his hands firmly.

The man slightly raised his brow for a second. “You must be a hard-working woman Mrs. ling; I could feel the calluses.”

He flinched. “Ah, I used to do a lot of housework before I married my husband.”

“Oh I see, come let’s have a talk.” he gestured to the empty seat near the window.

Zou Yue gracefully walked over and sat down, removing his coat. “Mister Liang, let’s talk business. I would like to source a few kilograms of rice and other non perishables for my store.”

“What, and how much? Uncle Wen told me to keep it a secret I don’t know why but we can sign a nondisclosure agreement of you want.”

Initially Zou Yue just wanted to name fifty bags in fear someone might find out about his stock pile but now he changed his mind drastically since this man was trustworthy.

“How much rice do a family of four consume per month?” Zou Yue mumbled to himself, mentally calculating the amount.

“Usually in a healthy household a single person consumes about a cup of rice each day ignoring the amount of other dishes we eat this is the bare minimum. If you calculate that you need at least half a bag to feed a family of four,” Mister Liang answered for him.

Zou Yue nodded. “I need at least five hundred bags of rice,”

“Good, what type of rice?”

“umm…normal ones. What other types are there?”

“There is sticky rice, basmati rice, brown rice,”

Zou Yue got super overwhelmed by these choices. “Can I take a moment please?” he walked away regally over to the corner and called his mum. “Mum, what type of rice do we eat?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Aunty Liang needs to know.” He urged her further.

“Oh, we use parboiled rice. Sometime sticky rice too,”

“What par.. something?”

“Kid, that’s why you should enter the kitchen now and then. Sigh, it’s double boiled rice. It’s boiled, dried and sold. It tends to have the least stickiness and you and your father prefer it.” His mother started chiding him for not even knowing the type of rice they eat every day.

“O—okay mum I’ll call you back later yeah,”

Zou Yue walked back and sat down. “Parboiled rice.”

Mister Liang noted it down in his notepad. “Next?”

“Noodles, instant noodles. I need at least a thousand. Topramen. I would also like to have a huge stock of legumes and dried vegetables.”                                                       

“Instant noodles come in different sizes….”

The meeting went longer than he had expected but Mister Liang was able to source everything he ever needed. He even helped him order a small mill to grind his own flour.

“hmm.. the orders will arrive in ten days approx. I will send them directly over to your warehouse. Happy business.”

“Thank you so much mister Liang,”

“The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Ling. Oh, look at the time, it’s already twelve pm. I have another meeting with a client here. Sorry Mrs. Ling I won’t be able to send you to the door.”

“It’s okay,”

Zou Yue excitedly left the coffee shop. He had spent almost forty thousand dollars on just his orders, but he was left satisfied and happy. “I really must thank uncle Wen. He-he I got food, I got my fooddddd…” 

He watched Liwei walk into the cafe right in front of him. His pleasant mood deteriorated. ‘What is this white lotus doing here?’

He sneaked in and watched him meet Mister Liang with a sweet smile.

“Oh my god, he… why are they meeting?!”