Page 11 of He Is My Bride

Time flew by for Li Ying moving towards December as he prepared for Shanghai.

Amidst schoolwork, he allotted plenty of his time to learning how to walk and talk like a woman.

After Li Ying got his first pair of heels, Anne told him to practice walking in them. No big deal, this was New York: no one cared when Li Ying went grocery shopping in his Louboutins, paired with a hoodie and joggers. He only almost rolled his ankle thrice, and the sores were terrible.

My feet are killing me! Li Ying had messaged Anne after having taken the heels for their first longer outing.

Get some athletic tape, I’ll send you videos on how to tape your feet.

Li Ying thought it might help to eat more to put on some weight, so that he would get rounder around the edges, but his stomach was bottomless, and he didn’t seem to be able to gain much.

“Hanjun, you have been starving me!” Li Ying lamented as he wolfed down his third serving of fried noodles, finally feeling something like full. “We haven’t been eating enough meat in this house.”

“It’s not healthy to eat too much red meat.”

“Your family will think I’m a starving orphan, that poor Li Ying has never even seen a steak! They will never approve of the wretched orphan Li Ying…”

“Do you want to order more food?”

“No thanks, I’m full now. Come, feel…” Li Ying grabbed Hanjun’s hand and put it on his belly. “The food baby!”

What a sweet idiot, Hanjun thought.

While Li Ying could not get a swell to his hip or his breast just by eating more, Anne had him try several kinds of shapewear and bras to find what would give him the most natural curves to fool the eye.

“The padded plunge bra is the foundation of our technique,” Anne explained while doing the back strap for Li Ying.

The bra currently being fitted was a classy black one with lace, in addition to which there were simple nude ones to wear under light-colored clothes, as well as deep plunging ones to use with tops and dresses that had a deeper neckline.

“See, just the bra alone doesn’t create a full shape here,” Anne drew her fingers over the top of Li Ying’s chest, “this is why we have to use breast tape. Let me show you.”

Li Ying’s lean pectorals and what meager fat tissue lay on top were brought up and together with tape, after which the bra was put back on, and suddenly he had something for breasts.

“Now the girls have come out to play…” Li Ying marveled, staring down at his newly created cleavage. “This is insane.” It was amazing what was possible with some gel padding and tape.

“You have to learn how to contour here,” Anne circled her finger over Li Ying’s chest, “to enhance the effect of having a cleavage. I’ll show you how.”

She applied makeup to enhance the illusion of dimension around Li Ying’s breasts, which greatly improved the overall look.

“So, what cup size do I have?” Li Ying asked.

“This is a B.”

“Really? Not an A?” Li Ying felt oddly proud, yet Anne didn’t stop to congratulate him on his rack but proceeded to fit him with the next pair.

“By the way,” Li Ying had noticed the panties on the table, “what about my junk? I’m not huge but... Anne, we should talk about this, right?”

“…Yeah.” Anne was blushing, but she kept her professional voice and a straight face while avoiding looking Li Ying in the eye. “About that, I looked into it. Unfortunately, you can’t wear cute matching undies with your bra all the time.”

“Aww.”

“But I got these control briefs for you.” Anne showed Li Ying a pair of high-waisted black panties.

“They’re elastic, and going a size down should enable you to tuck it in and keep it in place.

These are also very good for putting hip pads in.

We can roll the waist down since you don’t need to flatten your belly. We want to show it off, after all.”

“We do?”

“You are very slim and have such a thin waist it’s honestly unfair. We should capitalize on that and show some midriff where we can, to look sexy.”

“Hanjun likes to hold me there,” Li Ying said and wrapped his hands around his, apparently, enviable waist, “for a good grip, you know?”

Anne closed her eyes in an expert display of patience. “This should help.” She gave Li Ying a brochure: it was aimed at trans women and explained safe tucking techniques.

“Thanks.” Li Ying leafed through the brochure. “…You can push them back into the inguinal canal?!”

—

As November drew towards its close, Anne suggested to Li Ying they should go out with him in full crossdress.

“To get you used to it, because you will be treated differently as a woman,” Anne had said. “We should gauge the reactions of people, see if they buy it.”

“Yeah, we should definitely do a test run.” Li Ying had agreed.

If it proved to be a disaster, there would still be time to cancel the plan, since Hanjun hadn’t yet told his family he would be bringing company.

He wanted to wait until Li Ying was certain he was ready for this, and hadn’t taken his word for it yet.

—

On the day of their outing, Li Ying did a casual day make-up, employing the tricks Anne had taught him to feminize his features.

He did his hair no differently than usual, just gave it a quick brush and pulled it up in a mid-height ponytail.

He left his wispy new curtain bangs to frame his face, to give him a softer, youthful look.

He taped up and donned his bra as Anne had taught him, and because he was feeling confident and kinda flirty, he contoured his breast and opted for a deep-plunging black halter top, with a bow in the back of the neck.

To test the limits of his presentation, Li Ying tucked tight and paired the top with skinny jeans.

Damn, my ass looks great in these! Li Ying peered over his shoulder in the hallway mirror to check out his behind: it was perfectly round, not too big, but perky. He took a picture for Hanjun

Going out with Anne like this. I bet guys will flirt with me!

Li Ying knew what he was doing. He didn’t forget to slip in the hip pads to give himself a more feminine curve where people’s gaze would inevitably be drawn to.

For shoes, he picked a pair Anne had chosen for his wardrobe: black patent Jimmy Choo sandals.

Of course, these sandals came with four-inch-three worth of heel each.

His accessory collection was also starting to come together, thanks to Anne’s tireless efforts and Hanjun’s wallet. Out of this collection, Li Ying chose a black velvet choker with a tiny rhinestone bow on the front. It was glamorous yet cute, a little bow of bling around his neck.

While checking out his neck, Li Ying fretted whether his Adam’s apple would give him away, but luckily his was small and slender. Anne had assured him it didn’t stand out in a way that would break the illusion.

Admiring the choker in the mirror, Li Ying blushed, thinking of something naughty: he should wear it, and only it, for Hanjun.

Resisting the urge to keep posing and taking pictures of himself for his man, Li Ying tore himself away from the mirror and grabbed his leather jacket on his way out.

It was a good match for his casual look.

Li Ying couldn’t bike in heels yet and was not feeling like practicing while tucking, so he took the subway. He would meet Anne at an upscale café that had recently opened on Park Avenue.

Li Ying was self-conscious only for a few minutes until he noticed no one paid any more attention to him than usual.

No, wait, that guy was definitely looking.

Li Ying began noticing that some men even looked up from their phones when he approached, as if by instinct.

Was it that they heard the clack of a heel or something caught their attention in their peripheral vision?

Their eyes lingered on him, and a few smiled.

Ah, I shouldn’t be staring at them. Won’t they think I want to chat? Li Ying tried to fix his gaze forward and ignore the onlookers, but now he was well aware of the gazes he was getting. He wanted to stop someone and ask, ‘do you think I’m a woman?,’ but that might not have been a good idea.

Li Ying got off at the subway station and found the café. Anne was already waiting for him, cradling a matcha latte in her hands.

“Hey,” Li Ying greeted. “Sorry I’m late, this stuff does take a while.”

“Voice.”

“Oh…” Li Ying had already forgotten, but Anne went on as if nothing had happened :

“It does. You should remember to take enough time to get ready. That means you have to wake up early sometimes.” Anne raised a brow behind her cup while sipping her drink. “Have you improved on that front since high school?”

“Well, I’ve had to, I’m trying to learn being an adult.” Li Ying used his feminine voice now. It was easy to do consistently once he remembered it. “I’ll go get myself a coffee—Oh, hi!”

“Hi, welcome! How are you doing!” a handsome male waiter greeted him. Of course there was table service, the place was nice. “What can I get you today, miss?”

“Can I have an Americano and the mozzarella toast, please.”

“Sure thing, right away miss, thank you.”

When the waiter was gone, Li Ying looked at Anne, grinning. When she smiled back at him they both broke out giggling.

“Oh!” Li Ying exclaimed, “You thought he was cute!”

“What, no? I’m just excited for you. How do you feel?”

“Huh, me? Good. I think some guys were looking at me on the way.”

“How did they look at you?”

Li Ying shrugged. “How do men look at chicks? How would I know? Not super creepy or anything, just like they wanted to talk to me, I guess?”

“I think that’s good. How does this all make you feel?”

Li Ying thought about it. “It’s been fun dressing up as a girl, actually. I feel like I’m finding new ways to express myself.”

“It doesn’t bother you that you would have to keep living as a woman if you stay in Shanghai?”