Chapter 187: Peach-Blossom Cheeks

To put it plainly, the Lantern Festival was really just a grand matchmaking event for young men and women.

If a young man and woman took a liking to each other, and their families were of equal social standing, the elders would be happy to make the match.

Mrs. Chen and Gu Zhang had met at the Lantern Festival in Lin City.

At the thought, Mrs. Chen couldn’t help but glance at Gu Zhang.

As if reading her mind, Gu Zhang looked over at her at the same moment.

A rare blush spread across Mrs. Chen’s face.

Gu Zhang couldn’t help but remember that year. He pictured a young Mrs. Chen standing under the lanterns. When she saw him looking her way, she had shyly lowered her head, her own cheeks flushing a rosy red.

Gu Fei caught the entire flirtatious exchange between her parents and quickly lowered her head, pretending not to notice.

Gu Erlang stared at Lan Zhi without blinking. ’Tomorrow night,’ he thought. ’Tomorrow night, I can go see the lanterns with Lan Zhi!’

The next morning, Gu Fei saw her mother looking radiant and simply pursed her lips to hide a smile.

After lunch, Mrs. Chen called for Lian’er, "Go do Little Fei’s hair in a nice style, and have her change into that new jacket so I can see it."

Lian’er grinned and pulled Gu Fei into the room, with Lan Zhi hurrying in after them.

Gu Fei had beautiful hair—it was thick, dense, and fell all the way to her waist.

Lan Zhi held Gu Fei’s hair, thought for a moment, and said, "How about we do a flying immortal bun? It would go perfectly with two pearl flowers."

Lian’er had no idea what a "flying immortal bun" was, so Lan Zhi took the lead while Lian’er assisted. It took them an hour, but they finally managed to complete the hairstyle.

Lan Zhi pinned in the pearl flowers. Lian’er clapped her hands. "You look so beautiful all dressed up, Miss!"

Gu Fei looked into the bronze mirror. It wasn’t as blurry as a modern person might imagine—the surface was quite bright and the reflection was clear enough.

The only problem was that the bronze mirror cast a sallow, yellowish tint on her reflection. Having grown used to modern mirrors, Gu Fei found it hard to accept.

Feeling a pang of temptation at the thought of the mirror in her space, Gu Fei pushed the other two out. "You two hurry up and get ready as well. Go do your hair and change."

She latched the door behind her, then took out a mirror from her space to have a look.

’They did a really good job with this hairstyle.’ On a whim, Gu Fei took out all the makeup she had used back in her university days.

She started by shaping her eyebrows, then applied toner, lotion, eye cream, and moisturizer. After that, she put on foundation and finished with a natural makeup look.

By the time she was done, Gu Fei could hardly recognize the person staring back at her from the mirror.

Her brows were shaped like distant peaks, her eyes shone like clear autumn pools, and her powdered cheeks glowed like peach blossoms.

’I can’t look in the mirror anymore,’ Gu Fei thought. ’If I keep staring, I’m going to shamelessly use every flattering idiom in the book to describe myself.’

Once she had changed into her new jacket, Gu Fei finally opened the door and stepped out.

In the main hall, Gu Sanlang was growing extremely anxious. They had agreed to leave right after lunch, but more than two hours had passed, and his sister was still cooped up in her room, tinkering with who-knows-what.

As soon as the door opened, Gu Sanlang’s spirits lifted. "Sister, are you ready to—"

He froze, staring at Gu Fei. After a long moment, he finally managed to say, "Sister... how... how come you look so beautiful?"

Hearing Gu Sanlang, Mrs. Chen came out of her room. She, too, froze for a moment at the sight of Gu Fei. ’My daughter doesn’t usually bother much with her appearance,’ she thought. ’She’d often just carelessly tie her hair in a braid, and on days she isn’t going out, she’d just wear old clothes. But seeing her suddenly all done up today, especially in that embroidery silk jacket... she looks like a completely different person.’

This wasn’t a simple country girl anymore. She looked just like the daughter of a prestigious family.

A wave of emotion washed over Mrs. Chen. ’Her daughter’s beauty is being buried in a family like ours.’

’From now on, I have to work harder and earn more money. I’ll buy my daughter lots of pearl flower hairpins and jewelry, and so many silk and satin dresses.’

’I want my daughter to be this beautiful every single day!’