Chapter 151: Brother Xiaoyu, the Man Who Can Do Anything

Cheng Xiaoyu led the wide-eyed, bewildered Bae Suzy toward the dressing room. The girls in the Idol Project had yet to debut, so they didn’t have a dressing room of their own and had to use the public one. Fortunately, there was hardly anyone around at this hour.

He had Suzy sit in front of the mirror. Once she was settled, he gently straightened her head with one hand and studied her for a while. At the time, Suzy still had a little baby fat and wore heavy, blunt bangs. Cheng Xiaoyu gathered her hair at the back of her head. It was a little rough, but thick. Looking at her in the mirror, he thought she seemed rather childish—not fresh or appealing at all, and nothing like the girl next door her temperament ought to suggest.

A dedicated styling enthusiast, Cheng Xiaoyu had always been particular—and meticulous—about his own hair in his previous life. Sometimes a bad haircut could ruin his mood for days. After one too many encounters with terrible hairdressers, he began avoiding salons whenever he could. When his hair grew too long, he dealt with it himself, eventually developing a routine all his own.

He reshaped Suzy’s image in his mind. The first step was to give her a new hairstyle. He had already packed the tools he needed in a plastic bag. From it, he took out a brand-new Gillette men’s razor, then smiled at Suzy in the mirror.

“Suzy, your big brother Xiaoyu is going to style your hair. Close your eyes first.”

“Oh.” Suzy obediently shut her eyes. He had chosen her not only because she had the greatest potential for a striking transformation, but also because she was the girl who listened to him most readily. She was just as obedient whenever an elder asked something of her—a sweet, guileless girl, innocent to the point of naivety.

Cheng Xiaoyu began working on her bangs with the razor. Why not scissors? Because he wasn’t a professional hairstylist, had never bought thinning shears, and wouldn’t have known how to use them anyway. Back in his previous life, he had used a razor at home to trim his own overgrown hair. The result looked natural, without a trace of scissor marks. First he thinned Suzy’s bangs considerably. Then, gathering the hair on top with his left hand, he continued thinning it with the razor in his right until it fell in distinct layers. Suzy’s hair was dyed a light brown, and after Cheng Xiaoyu had worked his magic, the color seemed to shine. In the mirror, she looked much fresher.

He cleaned up the hair he had shaved off, then asked Suzy to open her eyes and follow him to the washroom so he could wash her hair.

Suzy opened her eyes obediently. Seeing her hair scattered on the floor startled her, but when she examined herself in the mirror, she had to admit she looked a little better. Reassured, she followed Cheng Xiaoyu into the washroom.

There was no showerhead, so Cheng Xiaoyu filled a basin with warm water and gave her a dry wash. With her eyes closed, Suzy said, “Big Brother Xiaoyu, how do you know so much? You can write songs, sing, dance, and even do hairstyles. It’s amazing.”

As he worked a rich lather into the crown of her head, Cheng Xiaoyu laughed. “Because I’m an angel sent by God to save you all! Suzy, as long as you listen to me, Big Brother Xiaoyu will make you the best idol group in all of China.”

“Big Brother Xiaoyu, really? But I feel so stupid. I’m always the last one to learn the moves you teach us. Am I the one you like least?” Suzy asked, sounding a little aggrieved. Her brows furrowed.

Cheng Xiaoyu paused, then touched the tip of her nose with his sudsy right hand, leaving a little white dot there. “You’re the one I like best, Suzy. Maybe you’re not the cleverest, but you’re the most hardworking, attentive, and obedient. Just look at my little sister—she’s so smart, but she’s not nearly as lovable.”

Suzy felt the suds on her nose turn to water. A little embarrassed, she said, “You can’t compare me with Sister Yuxi. Her grades are so good, and she learns everything so quickly and well. No wonder you’re brother and sister! Sister Yuxi is already amazing, and you’re even more unbelievably talented.”

Cheng Xiaoyu pulled a rueful face. “Sometimes I can’t stand her, either. She learns everything so quickly that I don’t get any sense of accomplishment as her teacher. I had to practice for ages to learn these things myself. It’s enough to break your heart. Now, Suzy, lower your head and let Big Brother Xiaoyu rinse your hair.”

Suzy bowed her head while Cheng Xiaoyu rinsed her hair. She used her hands to clear the shampoo from it. When she was little, her father had washed her hair like this, too. Suzy felt a tender warmth well up inside her.

Cheng Xiaoyu took a fresh towel he had prepared and dried her hair, then gently wiped the water from her face. Suzy’s cheeks flushed, but she was too shy to say she could do it herself. Cheng Xiaoyu, completely immersed in his role as a stylist, didn’t notice.

He wrung out the towel and wrapped it around Suzy’s hair to keep the water from soaking her clothes. Even that simple gesture made her think how thoughtful he was.

When Suzy returned to the mirror, Cheng Xiaoyu began blow-drying her hair. He first lifted the crown to give it a little volume, then parted her bangs off-center, instead of leaving them blunt as before. The short fringe at the front swept in a graceful curve toward the right. Finally, he dried the ends and used a curling iron to give them a few subtle, loose waves.

Next, Cheng Xiaoyu brought out his makeup and gave Suzy a light Korean-style look. He only deepened the definition around her eyes slightly. Since she wasn’t a classic big-eyed, double-lidded beauty, her eye makeup needed a little extra emphasis. He finished with a touch of blush and peach-red lipstick, giving her features more dimension and life and making her face look less round. Then he patted her gently and told her to open her eyes.

Suzy opened them and stared at her reflection, hardly able to believe the lovely, fresh-faced girl in the mirror was her. Cheng Xiaoyu’s makeover had changed even her whole bearing. She still wasn’t conventionally beautiful, but she looked natural and pleasing, far prettier than before.

He asked Suzy to come back to the practice room with him. She was still a little shy. She hadn’t imagined she could look so different. In her eyes, Cheng Xiaoyu was practically a god—someone who could do anything.

When Suzy appeared before the other five girls in the practice room, all of them except Su Yuxi crowded around her with shrieks. They could hardly believe this was the same Bae Suzy who had seemed the most ordinary girl in their group.

Suzy blushed, which only made her look more radiant. Her skin had always been lovely, pale and dewy, as if a touch would make water bead on it. Cheng Xiaoyu’s greatest changes had been her hairstyle and the more defined eye makeup. He hadn’t made her look heavily painted; instead, her whole air had changed. She was the very picture of fresh-faced innocence, perfectly embodying the first love every man dreamed of.

Compared with Suzy, Su Yuxi was too cool and aloof, almost impossible to approach. Xu Qinning’s short hair made her seem too proud and intimidating, as if she would be hard to get along with. Only Suzy, with her faint smile and shy manner, seemed easy to approach. Of the six girls, she was by far the most approachable.

With Suzy’s striking transformation as an example, the other girls all clamored for Cheng Xiaoyu to style their hair, too. And so he acquired another nickname: Big Brother Xiaoyu, the All-Purpose Wonder.