Chapter 113: Lunar New Year Festivities and It’s None of Your Business
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
"Woooohoooo!"
A spell of explosive enthusiastic cheers rang out from the huge screen on the wall. Using some sort of technology, each of the listeners heard a realistic surround sound which made them feel as if they were really beside a crowd which was celebrating crazily.
Colors burst forth from the dark blue screen, basking the surroundings in dazzling hues, while spotlights of all colors swayed over the pale faces shown on the screen.
Lin Sanjiu was sitting on a high chair and her body was as stiff as a board. She couldn’t move at all because her body had been tied tightly to the back of the chair with a black leather rope. The other women, who were brought to this place with her, were also in the same sitting posture. Even though their gags have been removed from their mouths, none of them said a word.
"Hello! Garden of Eden residents!"
A petite and sweet-looking female host appeared on the screen. She was wearing a tight-fitting white dress and was smiling with her pouty red lips. "Once again, it is time for our Lunar New Year Specials! Don’t you feel that everyone gets especially excited during this time!"
"Of course!" A male host appeared on the screen, walking in from the opposite side. He answered her with a clearly extremely scripted reply, "Apart from delicious food and fireworks, and visiting our families and friends, for us here in Garden of Eden, the highlight for this entire month is about to start!
"This year, we’re so lucky! For this grand occasion, we managed to invite various famous experts from the Garden of Eden to give their analyses and opinions…"
In contrast to the on-screen festive atmosphere which seethed with enthusiasm, there was a deafening silence in the room where the women were held. The only sounds in the room were the rustling noise of the staff members’ clothes as they worked.
Just then, a makeup brush covered with powder swept across Lin Sanjiu’s cheeks a few times. "Raise your eyes and look upwards," a young woman spoke.
Lin Sanjiu gave a sidelong glance at the makeup artist beside her and did nothing.
"Oh really. If you want to throw a tantrum, choose the right time!" The young female makeup artist with cropped hair was extremely unhappy but there was nothing she could do. The makeup artist, who was wearing rubber gloves, could only unwillingly wipe away the concealer which covered the flora design under Lin Sanjiu’s eyes.
The hair stylist fixing Lin Sanjiu’s hair suddenly spoke, "I heard that this one is crabby. Don’t waste your time on her. Oh, isn’t he the guy that became famous after the previous competition?"
"Yes! I like him, I’ve got to watch this segment." The makeup artist paused and turned to look at the screen behind them.
"You can watch while you do her makeup. Don’t let it delay your work," the other hair stylist advised as she continued adding hair extensions to Lin Sanjiu’s hair. With her skillful hands, she had already converted half of Lin Sanjiu’s short hair into loose waist length braids by adding hair extensions.
The person that they were discussing about was a gruff well-built man who was wearing only an odd-looking brief, showing his muscular body. The man looked at the camera and flashed a smile.
Just when she thought that there was something suspicious about the man, Lin Sanjiu suddenly heard a soft chattering sound. She turned to look behind her and noticed that the fair-skinned girl was staring hard at the television screen. The girl’s teeth were chattering non-stop.
[Does she know this person?] Lin Sanjiu guessed when she saw the color drained from the girl’s face. Even at this point in time, Lin Sanjiu was still very confused about her whole situation. She never thought that she would actually be sent to the snow globe city.
Yesterday morning, she was brought into the city in a capsule along with the other women. Lin Sanjiu had previously assumed that the snow globe city was cut off from the outside world. But when they arrived yesterday, she realized that she was wrong.
Through the glass walls, she saw that there was a distinct area used for receiving the capsules from the outside world. Within that large area, there were no normal pedestrians and only decontamination facility built with heavy lead to block radiation. The staff working there were all wearing anti-radiation hazmat suits, which left no skin exposed. The faces behind the helmets revealed no emotions as they examined the capsules one by one.
The capsules which have been exposed to the radiation outside were immediately sprayed with a large quality of transparent fluid once they entered the decontamination facility. White fumes spewed forth with the fluid, as the capsules were thoroughly rinsed. After that, the staff wearing hazmat suits walked over to the capsules and dragged out the women. Shortly after, the women were treated in the same way.
After she was totally drenched with the cold fluid, Lin Sanjiu actually felt a little better. Once she found herself inside the snow globe city, under the protection of the glass walls and sprayed by that unknown fluid, she immediately felt the effects of the radiation on her body wearing off. Like rain after a long drought, she could feel her body recovering as she inhaled deeply.
She was gradually regaining her stamina and strength but she did not attempt to do anything rash. Firstly, there were fully armed soldiers surrounding and glaring at them. Secondly, she wanted to know what this snow globe city intended to do with all these women, including herself.
After the whole decontamination process, the women were pushed back into the capsules just as before. Then, they were sent to a room with a few large TV screens. Afterwards, teams of makeup artists and hair stylists came into the room one after the other. They set up all kinds of weird makeup equipment and started working on the women.
During this time, some of the women tried pleading while others tried to resist. However, the ropes that tied them were Special Items which limited their strength. Furthermore, Sandwhale and his gang were still there, walking behind the soldiers and monitoring each woman.
A buxomy woman struggled so hard in her seat that she fell to the ground. When that happened, one of the soldiers rushed over and pressed an electric baton to her abdomen. That baton was certainly different from the low-wattage police baton that Lin Sanjiu used previously. After violent convulsions racked the woman’s body for some time, the room was filled with a stench of incontinence.
After she was dragged away, none of the remaining women made a sound.
[What do these people want with me?] This was the question which was in each of the women’s minds. After the makeup on their faces were close to perfection and their hairs were styled to look more and more beautiful, this sense of uncertainty, that hung like a gray cloud, grew even heavier.
Light from the TV screens bounced off the faces of the women as another skinny chap commented with narrowed eyes, "This is why I think that we have to pay close attention to the contestant’s face when they find out what the competition is about. That’s worth analyzing…"
The sexy female host suddenly smiled, "That seems like a very popular view. When I place my bets this time, I will definitely listen to Mr. Fang’s analysis…"
[What the competition is about? Are we the contestants?] Lin Sanjiu was starting to worry when the door abruptly opened. Someone yelled anxiously, "You guys will be up in 15 mins. Quick! Get ready!"
The person that was shouting was wearing very thick makeup, and he actually used a light pink foundation. If he was not yelling, there was no way Lin Sanjiu could tell his gender. He scanned the room and snapped, "HURRY UP!" before he closed the door with a slam.
The people in the room suddenly became more anxious. The makeup artist who was dealing with Lin Sanjiu completed her eye makeup quickly while the hair stylist gave Lin Sanjiu one final look and adjusted her hair before turning to her colleague and asking grumpily, "How did the makeup turn out like this…"
The makeup artist rolled her eyes, "She already looked like that. There is not much I can do."
"But she won’t be very popular with this style."
"Cough, it is not really my business, is it?" The makeup artist laughed and kept her equipment before leaving. "No matter how much is bet on her, none of that will go to me. Oh, we should remove this bandage."
When Lin Sanjiu confirmed that she was really a contestant, the makeup artist was already reaching for her neck.
Her Pygmalion Choker was right under the bandages and there was no way she wanted that to be revealed. Lin Sanjiu turned her head sharply, pushing away the young woman’s hand before glaring at her coldly.
The two of them froze, looking at each other for a considerable amount of time. Lin Sanjiu finally muttered mildly, "I’m hurt. I won’t look good without the bandage."
The other party rolled their eyes again and ignored her after that. By then, most of the others had also had their makeup and hair done. When the makeup team was about to leave, the pink-faced man rushed in again. He gestured to the people behind him, "Quick! Quick! Come in and shoot!"
A dozen small video cameras which were dangling in mid-air flew into the room, over the heads of the makeup artists. They were followed by two other men who were controlling the cameras with some sort of equipment. Each woman was surrounded by three to four video cameras.
Whilst everyone was bewildered by that sudden intrusion, they all heard the female host’s voice on the TV screen, "Since we have heard the pre-competition opinions, we will introduce the contestants in the next segment. Anyway, the majority of our contestants have appeared previously. Compared to yesterday, there are not as many competitors today. According to sources, there are nine of them today. Backstage, are you guys ready?"
[Nine? What happened to that buxomy woman?]
Lin Sanjiu’s thoughts were interrupted by the beaming pink-faced man who appeared on the screen. He was standing in front of one of the small cameras as he replied loudly, "All the contestants are in position!"
Next, a familiar pale face appeared on the TV screen.
Lin Sanjiu was a little stunned when she saw the face on the screen. She turned to look at the black-haired, fair-skinned girl beside her who had been crying all along.
[Yup, she was still her. The only difference is the makeup on her face.]
The girl’s makeup artist had obviously captured the girl’s primary "charm". The makeup artist painted the girl’s face white so that her cheeks lacked even a tint of healthy pink. To add to that effect, the girl’s eyes and the tip of her nose was purposely given a faint reddish highlight. Her black eyelashes were also pressed down, so that they hung over her eyes drawing attention to the tears in the girl’s eyes. This combination made the girl look like a frightened little bird.
"This is Contestant 92. Isn’t she lovely!" the pink-faced man’s voice rang out in the room and from the TV screen. He leaned close to the girl and took a deep breath before asking with a smile, "What is your name?"
The girl’s teeth were still chattering, so she couldn’t answer.
"Ah, she seems quite timid. Her personality makes her look pitiful!" The pink-faced man was unfazed, as if he was already used to such circumstances. He waved his hand and said, "Let’s take a look at some comments from our audience!"
As he gestured to the side, the screen was divided into a few split screens. The female host and the pink-faced man each had one small corner, the black-haired girl took the center screen. Meanwhile, numerous comments appeared above the center screen.
Lin Sanjiu was dumbfounded when she saw the screen, her eyes quickly swept through the scrolling text comments.
The voice of the pink-faced man broke her attention as he asked again, "Hey, Contestant 92, what did you say? Could you speak a little louder so that our audience can hear you?"
A quivery voice escaped from the screen, "My, my name is Chuyan[1]."
Her tears fell as she spoke and suddenly the number of comments exploded, almost covering the entire screen.
The pink-faced man seemed very pleased with the reaction from the audience. He left Chu Yan and walked over to another woman with short brown hair. One of the cameras flew upwards and shot down from above. The top view of the woman’s ample breast was immediately shown on the screen. Though there were slightly fewer comments, she still generated great responses from the audience.
As each of them was only given one to two minutes of screen time, five people in the room were quickly introduced. Lin Sanjiu had to admit that the makeup artist and hair stylists were quite skilled. Even though the women had stiff and apprehensive expressions, they were all alluring with their own charming, sexy or innocent appeal.
After the pink-faced man had introduced Contestant 96, he looked at Lin Sanjiu and walked over to her. As the cameras turned, Lin Sanjiu’s face was now on the television screen. Previously, there were comments like, "I don’t want to see that pinked-face sissy! Show us the next contestant!" But then, the comments stopped.
Everyone inside the city, within the protection of the snow globe, had their eyes glued to their screens. When Lin Sanjiu’s face appeared, it was as if everyone had been doused by cold water. Mysteriously, all that previous excitement and enthusiasm faded. She did not show a single hint of fear or uncertainty on her honey-bronze skin. When the audience looked at her face, they saw neither her long hair nor her red lips. They only noticed her cold, threatening eyes which seemed as though they could cruelly pierce anyone who was looking at their screens—it was as if they were not looking at a woman but just something that was wearing the skin of a woman. They had the impression that they were looking at a huge ancient beast which resonated an aura of authority.
This Lunar New Year Fighting Tournament had been around for 27 years in the Garden of Eden, and never before had a female contestant raised her chin that high.
After some time, a few comments finally appeared.
After four of five comments scrolled across the screen, the room fell silent. Trying to prevent the atmosphere from going cold, the pink-faced man quickly asked, "Contestant 97, what is your name?"
Lin Sanjiu shot a glance at his face while her eyes remained stoic. "It’s none of your business."