EM 38. Makeup

The shopping mall had six floors and was a comprehensive commercial complex. Song Feng studied the floor directory posted on the wall and estimated that everything he needed could be found here. Located in a relatively busy part of the city, the mall significantly lowered the difficulty of this “game” for him. Although they had no idea where Team 1 might be hiding, on the flip side, it would not be easy for Team 1 to spot them in the crowd either.

He glanced around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he cheerfully prepared to shop. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught something and turned back to ask,
“What are you all following me for? Don’t you realize we’re way too obvious standing together like this?”

Bai Xuyao twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Bro, the one who stands out the most is you. At least the rest of us are wearing casual clothes. Look at yourself.”

Song Feng looked down at his camo pants.
“These are casual.”

“Who cares if they’re casual? Camo pants already draw attention in a crowd. And yours, those are the exact ones from the base,” Bai Xuyao said, eyeing him up and down. “You’re the most dangerous one here, okay?”

Song Feng nodded in agreement. “Then why are you still following me?”

Bai Xuyao choked. After a pause, he said sincerely, “We were just afraid you’d get caught and feel lonely. So we came to keep you company. If we die, we die together.”

Song Feng was touched. He patted Bai Xuyao on the head and didn’t call him out. He turned and headed off to shop. He moved quickly, looping through the floors, then pulled out his wallet to calculate what he had. With a dissatisfied grunt, he muttered, “Is the base that broke? This is all the money they gave me? I can only afford cheap crap.”

Wei Xiaoyan casually scanned the merchandise nearby and said, “You should be grateful. They gave you money at all. What more do you want?”

Song Feng shrugged and began selecting items. Bai Xuyao and Duan Qing stood behind him watching, their expressions growing stiffer and their gazes more disturbed. By the time Song Feng finally finished, they had no words left to describe what they were feeling.

“Bro…” Bai Xuyao followed him into the mall’s restroom, staring in disbelief at what he was carrying. A dress, stockings, high heels, wig, silicone bra pads, bra, makeup, necklace, bracelet, and a small leather purse…

He gaped. “You—you—you—”

Duan Qing could hardly believe it either.
“You’re really going through with this?”

“You two clearly have never experienced the magic of makeup,” Song Feng said cheerfully as he walked in carrying a mountain of bags. “Just wait and see.”

The other two still wore expressions of shock, eyes wide as they stared at his silhouette disappearing from view.

“Relax. Boss’s skills are actually pretty damn good,” Wei Xiaoyan said from the side. “You’re about to witness a miracle.”

Bai Xuyao was incredulous. “He can turn into someone else?”

“He can. If you’re interested, look up Japanese drag makeup videos next time you’re on break. It’s about the same effect. And not just those people. Those girls we were hitting on a while ago, if they all took off their makeup, most of them would look like entirely different people too. You just don’t realize it,” Wei Xiaoyan said and glanced toward the mall entrance before turning to leave. “The stuff I need is downstairs. I’ll come back up in a bit. If you’re curious, just wait here.”

The two looked at each other. Since they had not come up with a clear plan yet, they figured they might as well use this time to think. The higher-ups had forbidden forming teams, but had not said anything about discussing information. As long as they retrieved the target item alone, they would not be breaking the rules. And since this was the city, transportation was convenient. A cab was just a few steps away. They were not too worried about losing time.

They reviewed the information packet for a while. Duan Qing said, “Most of these long background paragraphs are probably useless. The main idea is that a well-known drug lord is trying to make a deal with the local gangs.”

Bai Xuyao nodded. “Which means they’ll need to meet somewhere, and an entertainment venue is the most likely choice.”

“Yeah, like that club we went to last time,” Duan Qing said, flipping through the documents. “This part talks about the drug lord’s and gang boss’s hobbies. Maybe we can use those to figure out the exact location. What we need now is a city map, and we have to gather intel fast. We need to find out which venues cater to their preferences. They’ll probably book a private room, and when they do, we’ll have to find a way in and get the marker without them noticing.”

“The problem is how to get that intel. You can’t just Google this kind of thing.”

“There’s always a way.”

Bai Xuyao sighed. “There are definitely people lying in wait around that club.”

“So with how you two look now, there’s no way you’ll get in. Even if you did, you’d get caught immediately.” A soft voice suddenly came from ahead. It was quiet and gentle, not at all unpleasant to hear.

Both of them looked up in unison. Duan Qing’s expression cracked on the spot, his whole body going stiff. Bai Xuyao opened his mouth, then opened it again, and immediately clutched his chest as he leaned against the wall, his voice trembling, “Bro… is that you?”

You’ve completely become a different person, what the fuck!

Standing before them was a tall, stunning beauty. She had long, curly hair and fair, luminous skin. Her eyes, highlighted by eyeshadow and false lashes, were incredibly seductive. She wore a low-cut spaghetti strap dress, revealing just enough cleavage to be enticing. A necklace hung around her neck, its pendant resting perfectly in the valley between her breasts, drawing all attention there. The hem of her dress barely covered half her thighs. Underneath were dark stockings that made her legs look long and slender, paired with high heels that screamed sex appeal. Even though men tended to have broader shoulders, she wore a small shawl that matched the dress style perfectly, tying the whole look together.

Song Feng smiled as he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. His arms had been coated with primer, giving them a smooth and pale glow. A bracelet on his wrist swung gently with the motion, adding a touch of flirtiness.

Just then, a man came down the hallway, staring at him oddly. Song Feng immediately stepped aside to clear the way to the restroom, bowing his head slightly with a hint of embarrassment. “The ladies’ room was full just now… so I… I just…”

“No worries, no worries.” The man quickly reassured him before heading inside, even turning back to sneak another glance.

Song Feng walked over to the two of them, smiling brightly. “Well? What do you think?”

Neither Bai Xuyao nor Duan Qing had recovered. After a long moment, Bai Xuyao finally muttered, “Way prettier than those girls we were hitting on…”

Song Feng already had well-defined features, and now, with makeup on, there was only one word to describe him. Gorgeous. He beamed and adjusted the dainty leather purse on his shoulder. “Right? I was seriously about to jerk off in front of the mirror in that stall just now.”

Bai Xuyao: “……”

Duan Qing: “……”

Song Feng tugged his dress a little lower to expose more cleavage, then grinned.

“Team 1 is known for being professional. You think they’ll be able to take their eyes off a beauty like me?”

The two of them shook their heads in unison.

Which meant this man could strut around outside completely carefree—what the fuck.

“Darling, are you ready?”

A deep voice suddenly cut in. The three of them turned around, and once again, Duan Qing and Bai Xuyao were stunned.

Duan Qing stared.
“…Xiaoyan?”

The newcomer was dressed in a perfectly fitted suit. He wore a slightly longer wig that fell naturally over his forehead. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, and light makeup had subtly reshaped his features. His expression was calm and collected, a total transformation from his usual sunny disposition—he looked every bit the mature, elite professional.

Wei Xiaoyan stepped forward and casually took the shopping bags from Song Feng’s hands. With the other hand, he wrapped an arm around Song Feng’s waist. He was the very picture of a devoted boyfriend out shopping with his girlfriend.

“Let’s go.”

Song Feng nodded obediently.
“Okay.”

Just then, a beautiful woman happened to walk past them. Song Feng paused, then slipped out of Wei Xiaoyan’s hold and quickly followed her into the women’s restroom.

“Darling, I need to change my pad. Wait for me.”

Bai Xuyao: “……”

Duan Qing: “……”

They were at a complete loss. They were starting to believe that staying sane around these two was just not possible. Because these two had no bottom line.

Wei Xiaoyan stood outside waiting. Soon, a certain someone came out and dove straight into his arms. They were roughly the same height, but with Song Feng in heels, he now stood slightly taller. Still, that didn’t stop him from burying himself against him, looking thoroughly aggrieved.

“Fuck,” Song Feng muttered bitterly. “There was a door. I didn’t see anything.”

“You didn’t see the doors in the men’s restroom earlier?”

“There were two broken ones on the men’s side, so I figured maybe the women’s side would have some broken ones too. How the hell was I supposed to know all of them were working?”

Wei Xiaoyan was speechless. He grabbed Song Feng’s hand.

“Boss, I know you’re mad, but stop clawing at my suit. It’s cheap. What if you ruin it?”

“There are plenty of elite guys in the club. You can just steal a better one.”

“Yeah, but only after we get to the club.” Wei Xiaoyan threw his hand off.

“Fine.”

Song Feng dashed off to toss the rest of the makeup supplies at the other two, then took Wei Xiaoyan’s arm.

“Darling, let’s go.”

The two of them left just like that, their figures quickly vanishing from sight.

Bai Xuyao snapped out of it and exploded.

“What the fuck? We’re not allowed to team up!”

Duan Qing said, “They’ll probably split up once they reach the club. What about us?”

Bai Xuyao paused. The two looked down at the makeup supplies in their hands, then around the mall, and immediately fell into silence.

Out on the street, Song Feng strolled leisurely with Wei Xiaoyan, his arm still hooked around the other’s. As they walked, he recalled the details from the briefing.
“The negotiation wraps up before ten tonight, right?”

Wei Xiaoyan nodded.“So we need to find the club before then, sneak in, and retrieve the item.”

Song Feng narrowed his perfectly made-up eyes. “No. Earlier than that. I want to get there before the negotiations even begin.”

Wei Xiaoyan raised a brow. “You planning to join them for drinks?”

Song Feng nodded with a grin.

“If they’re able to stage the test in a real city, then even if the drug lord and gangsters are just actors, they won’t skip any of the real steps. They’re definitely going to call girls.”

“Alright, let’s move fast.”

“Yeah. You got any cash left? Let’s grab a cab. Fuck, cheap shoes are garbage. My feet are killing me.”

Wei Xiaoyan stared at him, speechless.

“The makeup was cheap too, wasn’t it? Won’t it need touching up by tonight?”

“Not much. I came prepared, don’t worry.”

Song Feng said this as they stood at the curb to flag down a taxi.

They didn’t buy a city map nearby. Instead, they took a cab out of the area and found a small internet café to check the map online. After that, Song Feng found a decent nightclub, seduced a low-level thug who collected protection money, lured him to a hotel, and beat the hell out of him. He managed to extract quite a bit of useful intel on the local underground scene.

He quickly narrowed it down to two likely entertainment venues. Then he knocked the guy out, gagged him, tied him to the hotel bed, emptied his wallet, and left the room with a smile.

By then, it was just past the afternoon.

He and Wei Xiaoyan went to scout both locations and soon found suspicious activity at one of them. They locked in their target.

Song Feng smiled and said goodbye to him.

“I’m heading in. Good luck.”

He walked into the nightclub, touched up his makeup, threw out anything he no longer needed, then picked a seat and ordered a drink. He sipped slowly while keeping his eyes on the entrance.

At eight p.m., the people he was waiting for finally arrived.

He narrowed his eyes. The two in the lead were unfamiliar faces. Based on their age and build, they didn’t seem to be from the base. Behind them was Xiao Mingxuan, apparently acting as a liaison or third-party observer. He was clearly there just to watch the test unfold.

He got up and followed at a casual pace.

The group entered a private room, leaving two men in black stationed at the door.

He lingered nearby. As expected, the floor manager soon appeared with a group of beautiful women in tow.

Song Feng stayed in place, casually surveying his surroundings.

As one of the women passed close by, he timed it perfectly and brushed against her.

“Sorry, are you alright?” The girl was clearly well-trained and spoke first.

“I’m fine.”

Song Feng smiled sweetly and straightened up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the floor manager exit the private room. Without saying anything more to the woman, he turned and made his way over.

The two men outside the door stepped in to block him.

“I’m with the others. Just went to the restroom, so I’m a little late.”

As he spoke, he lifted something he had swiped from the woman just now.

“This is my work badge.”

The two men gave it a glance, looked at his face, and stepped aside.

Song Feng pushed the door open with a smile, strolled in naturally, and found himself a seat.

He casually tossed the work badge aside. To the girls, he might look like another guest. To the guests, he’d just seem like part of the escort team. No one would question it.

He scanned the room quickly.

A deck of playing cards sat on the coffee table. Each card bore a line of text.

The task was simple. All he had to do was take one.

He could swipe a card while reaching for fruit and tuck it under the platter before leaving. Or he could grab one while pouring drinks, slip it into his bag, then make an excuse to leave. Either way, it would be an easy success.

Xiao Mingxuan was only an observer. He wouldn’t interfere with whoever entered the room.

The two men inside were part of the simulation. They didn’t recognize any of the new recruits, but they had been told to watch the cards closely. If anyone got caught, the mission would still be considered a failure.

Xiao Mingxuan narrowed his eyes at one of the new arrivals. Something about them felt off.

Song Feng noticed the look and turned to meet it. He smiled sweetly and gave a playful wink.

Xiao Mingxuan lost control on the spot.

The drink in his mouth sprayed everywhere.