A/n: Meng Ziyi  is cast  in the role of Xiao Qing, the step sister of Xiao Zhan and Xiao Yuan

 

 

 

Xiao Zhan pushed down the doorknob with his elbow and struggled to walk in his sister's room, careful to not knock any  of the boxes onto the door frame.
Qing Mei, as he calls his step sister,  and her two best friends were giggling excitedly bent over a photo album.

"What the hell? Didn't your mother educate you to knock before barging in, you rude bastard?!", the  pretty girl shouted at the boy who dropped his load of bags on the princess-like bed, already covered with tons of makeup stuff, small mirrors and all kinds of accessories.

"But I knocked, and it seemed to me that you said 'yes', sorry for bothering you.", Zhan apologized, almost falling down when tripping onto a purse lying recklessly on the carpet floor.

"Look out, you idiot, that purse costs a fortune, and I don't want for my STEP mother to reproach me that I don't take care of the things that she's buying for me, you stupid !", the girl screamed again with a disgusted grimace, emphasizing dramatically the word 'STEP'.

"Oh, my poor QingQing , you are forced to endure so much!
I simply can't imagine what I would do in your place.",  the other two girls meowed, hugging Xiao Qing and pretending to sob.

 

 

"I just don't have any other choice,  but to accept my unfriendly fate of living with my STEP family, who I bet would have liked to see me dead along with my beloved dad.", Xiao Qing wiped away an invisible tear.

"Qing Mei, why do you say something like this?
You know that it's not true, mom, me and A-Yuan, all of us, love you dearly. And we try our best to make you feel loved.", Zhan replied, with hurt in his eyes.

 

 

"You better shut the fu*k up, all of you killed my father, I hate you all!
Bàba, bàba (A/n: dad in Chinese), I miss you so much!"

"Qing Mei, you know very well that it was an unfortunate illness, with nobody's fault. Besides it was our father, too, not only yours. We loved him and miss him very much!", the boy wiped away a real tear this time, streaming down his cheek.

"He died only because your sneaky mother tricked him to marry her.
I don't even know why I am  talking to you and why you are still here, in my room!
Get out, your infectious presence  in my room freaks me out already!
Besides, I need to get ready for the costume party!
I will be a beautiful Cinderella  who will finally get her prince to fall in love with her! I mean, with me!...Oh, my prince will be there, waiting for me...", Xiao Qing sighed dreamily , in unison with the other two friends.

Zhan left the room quietly, then hugged his DiDi,  who was waiting for him  behind the princess's door.

"GeGe, don't make this sad face, you already know her!
Better come and teach me to play the guitar. I want to be cool, as I've heard that girls like rockers.", little A-Yuan tried to cheer up his gege.

"Why, do you have a girl whom you like?", Zhan laughed, ruffling  A-Yuan's hair.

"Yes, I like someone, but not as much as you liked the boy with those annoying outstretched legs and spooky eyes."

"His eyes were not spooky, but rather piercing, captivating and stunning.", Xiao Zhan jumped, his face converting into a dark flaming pink rose as he was speaking, causing his little brother to laugh heartily.

 

 

"Oh GeGe, why did you run away if you have fallen in love with him?"

"You know why, don't you remember tekking you what happened when Qing Mei introduced me to her friend's cousin, lying that he is gay, and he freaked out when I asked him out for an ice cream?"

"How can I forget? You came home with  bruises all over your body, bare footed and an injured foot, beaten up and humiliated by his friends.
But I could feel that this guy was not like those beasts. I could read in his spooky eyes about how much he really liked you."

The two siblings got startled at the high pitched voice:
"So, you two are laughing together behind my back?!
I almost forgot, I need you to come to pick me up, but not before calling you. 
Who knows, maybe my prince would bring me home. 
Anyways, stay awake and wait for my phone call after midnight, when the  costume party will be over."

 

 

 

                                                                             

 

 

 

Finally, the house was quiet and the two brothers could relax in peace. 
Xiao Qing, a.k.a. Cinderella has already gone to the school party in a carriage, rented by her older brother, at her wish.

After feeding his little brother, Xiao Zhan intended to call their mother who was away abroad for several days, work related.

"A-Yuan, did you see my phone? Where on earth did I put it?"

"Maybe you lost it in the park, or...Wait! Maybe it's in Qing's room, you know, when you dropped the bags.", the kid beamed, savoring his strawberry milk.

"I hope that it's in her room, not in the park, call me from your phone.", Zhan cheered up.

He exhaled in relief at the well known ringtone tune, coming from behind his sister's door.

They tiptoed inside the room, with the terrifying feeling that Xiao Qing could see or hear them from where she was.

"A-Yuan, she would kill us, knowing that we came here in her absence. 
At least I found my phone.", Zhan happily smiled when spotted the red buzzing item.

His smile suddenly froze and he widened his eyes at the photo album forgotten opened on the bed.

"What, what?", A-Yuan mumbled, worried at his brother's shocked facial expression.

The kid took the album and yelled in surprise:
"GeGe, it's him, your crush! I can recognize him by his scary bug eyes!
Oh, my god, he is in the same school with Qing, look, this is her school yearbook!
His name is Wang Yibo, and his nickname 'The Prince'!
His hobby is Lego...ewww, what a dork! Skateboard and motorcycle...this is more likely...and he wants to become a dancer and a singer!
GeGe, you write songs, and songs are obviously for singers...and for dancers as well!
You two are a perfect match, made for each other!"

"DiDi, calm down and don't scream anymore like that, my head started to hurt already.
Besides, why would I care about a 'prince', I bet that he already has an army of princesses as girlfriends, he is not called a prince for nothing."

"GeGe, you never know till you don't find out!", the kid showed his gums with a wide smile.

"First of all, let's get out of this too dangerous room, my little philosopher.", Zhan kissed his brother's head crown, and closed the girl's room door behind them.

"GeGe, wait!
You know how much I hate math, but still, I'm a very smart, cool guy!
I have a brilliant idea, come with me!", the little 'cool guy'  shouted, dragging Zhan with him to the basement.

A-Yuan struggled to make his way through all kind of boxes and big bags and finally managed  to open a closet from the back of the basement:
"Tadaaa!
This will be your costume for the school costume  party!
You can choose between Bàba's suit or Māmā's princess red dress, from when they attended that carnival they were talking non-stop about. 
If you ask me, I suggest you choose the dress, instead of the suit. It would be a much better disguise, especially for Qing's eyes.
It will be less dangerous for her to recognize you as a princess than as a prince."

"Are you insane, DiDi?
Why would I do such a crazy thing?
I don't even have a mask, and it's a costume party where everyone will wear a mask.
And even if I had one, my voice would give me away in an instant. 
Not as I'd pondering about doing this...but why would I even do this?"

"Because you would meet him again!
And even better, without him  to know who you are.
As for the mask, the girl I like, from my class, won first prize at a national painting conquest, so I can ask her to make a beautiful mask for you.
I will call her while you try the dress.
Yeah, your voice is kind of too manly, but you don't have to say anything, you can act as a mysterious princess who doesn't say anything with , she speaks just with her eyes, and, and...
And everybody would wonder about who the fu*k might be this mystery beauty?!"

"Language A-Yuan! 
What if Qing Mei recognizes mom's carnival dress?"

"Don't worry, I was just a kid back then, when our parents were looking non stop at the carnival photos, but I still remember that Qing hated mom and refused to look at  the photos, so I'm sure that she will not remember mom's princess dress.
Now, take out the dress from the closet, and let's make you a beautiful princess.
Oh, I almost forgot, Yú's mom is a hair stylist.
Yú is my classmate I was telling you about, and I will tell her to ask from her Māmā for a nice long hair wig."

 

 

After just an hour and half, Xiao Zhan, the red dressed princess,  was standing in front of the big mirror abandoned in the basement, talking to himself:
"Am I crazy or what's wrong with me?!
Following a seven year kid's mind!
I am an almost 20 years old adult for Christ's  sake!"

 

 

He was just about to get undressed from the carnival red dress, when his DiDi climbed down the stairs in running, followed by a cute, shy little girl:
"GeGe, we almost forgot about your , excuse me Yú, for my language.
Look here, you can shove in this bra I took from mom's room, some crumpled socks."

"A-Yuan, stop it!
I don't think I can do this, and it's pointless. 
So what if I will see him?
Maybe I will just get hurt, watching him surrounded by his princesses admirers.", Zhan sighed, trying to take out the wig from his head.

"But, Jiějiě (A/n: older sister in Chinese), no admirer can be more beautiful than you!
I would do anything to look like you when I would be at your age, and find my prince.
It would be such a pity to give up, now that you already found your prince, go and win his heart!
Love will conquer all! Jiayou!", the suddenly bold little girl screamed, earning a loud chuu on her cheek from the gummy smiley kid.

"You two are so fitting together! 
I think that you don't have to wait to be my age for your prince, because my DiDi is already con