While it wasn’t as grave as an arranged marriage by parental decree and matchmaker’s words, there was no doubt that in this small household, Miss Xiao Xiu occupied the lowest rung of the food chain.
She was dearly beloved, yet possessed the least amount of say.
When confronted with instruction, she could be stubborn with her words, but she dared not be unyielding, especially when her parents became serious. In such moments, she could only obediently comply.
This was precisely the situation at hand. Despite a hundred, a thousand times over, her heart screamed in protest.
Yet, under her mother’s unyielding pressure, she could only meekly sit in the chair, enduring the makeup lessons that felt utterly incomprehensible.
“I’m so unlucky!”
As the incessant chatter flowed into her ears, Huang Xiu wept inwardly.
She used to be a staunch, straightforward man whose toiletries consisted solely of toothpaste, shampoo, and shower gel. Her showers were quick and efficient, and skincare was left to fate.
She disdained even facial cleanser, at most borrowing a dab of her roommate’s Dabao. But now, what were all these things scattered across the vanity?
Makeup remover, moisturizer, BB cream, foundation… They were all items she had only ever heard of, never actually seen or used.
“Ah, yes, yes, yes!”
Huang Xiu’s mind wandered, nodding her head with the rapidness of pounding garlic. She agreed to everything her mother said, desperate to swiftly conclude this tribulation.
“Alright, since you’ve agreed, I’ll do your makeup and you can see for yourself.”
“Yes… wait, wait, wait!”
Huang Xiu spun around abruptly, her eyes widening as she saw her mother’s sly grin. “You tricked me!”
“Tricked you? What nonsense!” Zhuang Wenli’s right hand shot out, pinching Huang Xiu’s ear with lightning speed, poised to twist.
“Mother, you’re so thoughtful, teaching me personally.”
Huang Xiu wanted to cry but had no tears, forced to let her mother fuss over her face.
Cool liquid was rubbed between warm palms, and a soft brush gently swept across her face, tickling her skin.
The girl in the makeup mirror was already exquisitely beautiful. With a layer of light makeup, she transformed into a peerless beauty, radiating charm and elegance.
She possessed both the tender softness of a young girl and the delicate allure of a true beauty.
“Is this… me?” Huang Xiu stared blankly into the mirror.
She found it almost impossible to believe.
“My makeup skills are something you *must* learn!” her mother declared triumphantly. “Once you learn, you’ll be speechless.”
“A woman adorns herself for her admirer. You’ll use these skills sooner or later, even if it’s just to please yourself,” she added earnestly.
Huang Xiu, however, wasn’t convinced.
Forget the nonsense about a woman adorning herself for her admirer. If it truly came down to pleasing herself, she’d rather play a couple of games than bother with makeup; that would be far more satisfying.
Her mother’s mini-course on makeup and skincare lasted for over an hour. It only concluded when her mother finally had to leave to prepare dinner.
But the torment was far from over. In the days that followed, whenever her mother had a moment, she would seize Huang Xiu to impart what she called “little tidbits of female life knowledge.”
Even hiding in her room, refusing to come out, proved futile. Unable to bear it any longer, Huang Xiu finally erupted on the third day!
That day, her mother, carrying a black plastic bag, entered Huang Xiu’s room as usual. Before she could even begin her lecture, she was immediately apprehended by the girl.
“Mother, please, have mercy on me!”
“I’m seventeen now, I’ve lived for seventeen years, I understand how things work!”
Huang Xiu’s voice was heavy, hoping to exert enough pressure on her mother to make her retreat from the challenge. Yet, as she spoke, her voice eventually softened.
Ultimately, she couldn’t bring herself to get angry with her family, unwilling to even utter harsh words.
“I’m really not a child anymore, Mom. I truly don’t think those things you’re talking about are useful,” Huang Xiu pleaded pitifully.
This time, she was determined to put an end to her mother’s intentions. For she truly didn’t understand.
When she was a boy, she never had so much life knowledge to learn. From childhood to adulthood, everything had been natural and effortless.
But the moment she became a girl, everything changed, as if she had entered a different world where she had to learn everything.
However, while the path of good may be a foot high, evil can be ten times higher; how could her cunning mother, that old fox, not have anticipated Huang Xiu’s potential resistance?
Her mother played her hand. She began with a gentle call of her nickname.
“Xiao Xiu, dear!”
The sound was filled with such worry and concern that Huang Xiu’s heart couldn’t help but waver. Then, her mother patiently and earnestly began to explain to Huang Xiu.
Huang Xiu was seventeen, certainly not young, but she had only been living as a female for a few short days. To quickly learn how to be a girl, a crash course was absolutely necessary.
These words were not without reason, and Huang Xiu’s resistant demeanor softened considerably. Still, she didn’t abandon her resistance, formulating a rebuttal.
For instance, why did she have to learn it all so quickly? She could perfectly well learn at her own pace in the days to come!
So her mother continued to persuade, this time going a step further, appealing to both emotion and reason.
“Xiao Xiu, dear, you’re about to go far away from home for university, to live a collective life. The social circles for girls are far more complex than for boys.
As your mother, I truly worry that you’ll be ostracized for not fitting in, for not being ‘girly’ enough! When that time comes, with you so far away, even if I’m heartbroken, I’ll be powerless to help!”
As she spoke, her mother’s eyes reddened, and seeing this, Huang Xiu felt a pang of distress herself. She instinctively took her mother’s hand. “It won’t happen, Mom, please don’t worry at all!”
“The more you say that, the more worried I become,” her mother sighed, tilting her head slightly. “You’re too naive; you don’t know how truly wicked people can be.”
“Moreover, university is far more complicated than high school. While I don’t know the specifics for you Awakened individuals, it’s probably quite similar to regular universities. How many female students nowadays are deceived by scummy men during college and end up pregnant?”
Her mother held Huang Xiu’s hand, gazing at her flushed face, and said earnestly, “I truly fear you’ll be taken advantage of.”
“Mom!” Huang Xiu shrieked, utterly mortified. “I was a boy before!”
They might be able to trick other young girls, but trick *me*? Impossible! I know exactly what they’re thinking!
“So, these lessons…” her mother said, a hint of complaint in her voice.
“Please don’t say another word, I’ll take them!” Huang Xiu gritted her teeth. “Whatever you teach, I’ll learn. Is that finally good enough?!”
Nailed it!
Her mother’s lips curved into a slight smile; after living together for over a decade, she understood her child perfectly.
“There aren’t many lessons left, actually. Today, we’re going to cover the most important one,” Zhuang Wenli announced, opening the black plastic bag she had brought into Huang Xiu’s room.
‘The most important lesson?’
Huang Xiu, a little curious, lowered her gaze towards the plastic bag.
In truth, her resistance to the previous lessons stemmed primarily from shyness. It was the shyness of someone who still considered themselves male, yet was confronted with knowledge exclusive to females.
But the moment she saw the contents of the bag, that feeling of shyness finally reached its peak, not just in the past few days… No, it was the highest it had ever been since she transformed into a girl.
Inside the plastic bag were actually Seven Degree Space sanitary pads and the legendary beginner’s artifact—Xiao Du!
“Your teacher confirmed it, your transformation means you’re a complete woman now,” her mother said.
Zhuang Wenli wore an ‘auntie’ smile, yet to Huang Xiu, it appeared utterly terrifying. Carrying the plastic bag, she advanced step by step, while the girl retreated, one step at a time, until her back pressed against the room’s wall.
There was nowhere left to go!
“Therefore, today I’m going to teach you about women’s physiological periods and safe practices!”