“Can you stop secretly staring at me?”
Ever since they came back from He Yu’s place, Ji Lian hadn’t stopped looking at her. She kept sneaking glances at her every chance she got.
She couldn’t help it.
Today’s events had been far too shocking for her.
She simply couldn’t understand how Li Wangshu had managed to stay calm—and even flirt back—while He Yu was threatening her like a madman.
Then she remembered the stunned expression on He Yu’s face when Li Wangshu had said, “I’ll be the one to chase you.”
That made her feel a little better.
At least she wasn’t the only one who had never witnessed something like that before.
“How are you not afraid of him at all?” Ji Lian asked helplessly.
“What’s there to be afraid of?”
Li Wangshu didn’t understand her confusion.
“The old you was stupid, foolish, and mean, and he still didn’t kill you.”
“No matter how you look at it, I’m far more likable than you ever were.”
Ji Lian felt as if she’d just been stabbed countless times.
She had so many questions she wanted to ask…
But now her mind was filled with only three words.
Stupid.
Foolish.
Mean.
She wanted to cry.
The imaginary mushrooms in her corner flourished once again.
…
From then on, besides attending classes, Li Wangshu made a daily stop at He Yu’s place.
Every single day, she messaged him.
“Good morning. Today is another day I miss you.”
“The fried rice at lunch was pretty good, but not as good as mine. Want to try my cooking someday?”
“Good night. Sweet dreams. Hopefully you’ll dream about me.”
…
Day after day, it was always like this.
He Yu always replied.
His replies were simply very cold.
Li Wangshu occasionally wondered if she had been a little too enthusiastic and might end up scaring him away.
But after thinking about it, she didn’t think so.
If Young Master He were really annoyed by her, he would have blocked her long ago.
Besides, messages like “Got it,” “Mm,” and “Okay” might seem perfunctory when sent by other people.
Coming from He Yu…
They were already surprisingly generous responses.
…
Soon, one of the novel’s important plot points arrived.
Xu Jingya’s birthday banquet.
To Li Wangshu, the entire event was rather boring.
It was nothing more than another battle between the real and fake daughters over a dress.
Both of them would attend the banquet.
Ji Mo had already ordered a custom-made designer gown.
Ji Lian, however, had only been given an ordinary ready-made dress.
Objectively speaking, that was understandable.
Ji Mo’s dress had been ordered long ago, while Ji Lian had only recently returned, leaving no time for custom tailoring.
Unfortunately…
Ji Mo and her vicious friends mocked Ji Lian relentlessly.
Provoked beyond endurance, Ji Lian tore Ji Mo’s dress.
Ji Mo then performed another one of her innocent, green-tea white-lotus acts.
Ji Lian ended up completely humiliating herself.
Everyone concluded that the Ji family’s newly found biological daughter was vulgar, uncultured, petty, and completely unfit for high society.
Li Wangshu thought about it carefully.
She honestly didn’t possess much talent for family scheming.
More importantly…
She simply couldn’t be bothered.
So she definitely wasn’t interested in tearing dresses or fighting over them.
Still…
She had frightened Ji Mo quite badly before.
Recently, Ji Mo had been extremely well-behaved.
She deliberately avoided Li Wangshu everywhere and never caused trouble.
Of course…
She might simply be waiting to unleash something bigger later.
Although Li Wangshu enjoyed the peace and quiet…
Thinking about her mission, she realized Ji Mo behaving too well wasn’t actually a good thing.
She needed to provoke her a little.
So when the Ji family invited her to the birthday banquet…
She accepted.
Knowing Ji Mo had already returned to the Ji residence a day early, Li Wangshu thought about it and decided not to go back immediately to stir up trouble.
She would simply show up on the day of the banquet.
…
Xu Jingya typed a message into WeChat.
“Would you like to come home a little earlier? Mom can take you to try on dresses and do your makeup.”
Before sending it…
She deleted the message.
The previous night, Ji Mo had begged her repeatedly to accompany her while she picked out a dress.
Since the two girls didn’t get along, if she accompanied one…
She couldn’t very well bring the other.
After hesitating for a while, Xu Jingya called Ji Qingshuang over.
“Go pick up Moon, and take her shopping for a dress.”
Ji Qingshuang glanced at the time and frowned.
“I have an online meeting soon. I probably won’t be able to leave.”
“I’ll ask Xuyu to take her instead.”
“That works.”
Xu Jingya liked her future eldest daughter-in-law very much.
She also felt a young woman would handle this situation better.
…
Song Xuyu was the perfect wealthy young lady.
She knew far more about the Ji family’s affairs than outsiders did, including how guilty the family felt toward their biological daughter.
Because of that, she treated Li Wangshu warmly.
Ji Lian also didn’t dislike this future sister-in-law.
Although she naturally favored Ji Mo a little, she always treated both girls equally whenever she gave gifts.
The moment Li Wangshu got into the car, Song Xuyu handed her an exquisitely wrapped gift box.
“A welcome gift.”
“Consider it a belated birthday present too.”
“Thank you, Sister Xuyu.”
Li Wangshu opened the box.
Inside was an elegant brooch.
Ji Lian recognized it immediately.
Ji Mo had received one that looked almost identical.
“Sister Xuyu has wonderful taste.”
“I really like it.”
…
“This boutique belongs to me.”
“If you see anything you like, just take it.”
Song Xuyu brought Li Wangshu into a luxury clothing store.
The employees all recognized her and greeted her politely.
She introduced Li Wangshu to everyone.
“This is the Ji family’s newly found daughter.”
“She’s Qingshuang’s younger sister.”
“She’s here to try on an evening gown.”
Even if the employees wanted to gossip…
None of them dared to do it in front of her.
…
Across both her lifetimes, the most expensive dress Li Wangshu had ever worn cost only a little over one thousand yuan.
Looking at dresses worth tens of thousands…
Hundreds of thousands…
Even over a million yuan…
She felt momentarily overwhelmed.
Fortunately…
She knew exactly who to ask.
She picked three dresses she liked, took photos, and sent them to He Yu.
“I’m attending Ms. Xu’s birthday banquet. I can’t decide. Help me choose one.”
…
At that very moment, He Yu had just finished beating someone up.
When he saw the message, he casually tossed aside the baseball bat in his hand, walked off to the side, and looked at the photos.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he replied:
“Put them on first.”
Li Wangshu had no choice but to try on all three dresses.
…
“The newest designs have all been loaned out for recent events,” one of the sales assistants explained while helping her change.
“These aren’t this season’s latest pieces, but they’re timeless classics.”
“This one is even a vintage collector’s piece.”
Every time Li Wangshu changed outfits, the assistant looked amazed.
Once her makeup was finished…
Everyone was even more stunned.
Without makeup, Li Wangshu possessed an elegant, refined beauty, like a gentle breeze beneath a bright moon, carrying the quiet grace of a scholar.
After careful styling…
She became dazzling.
Graceful.
Radiant.
The kind of beauty impossible to ignore.
The kind that effortlessly drew every eye in the room.
“Oh my goodness…”
Song Xuyu gasped.
“Little Sister, you’re unbelievably beautiful.”
“I guarantee you won’t find anyone prettier in all of Beijing.”
“Please help me take some pictures.”
Li Wangshu handed her phone over.
Song Xuyu was an excellent photographer.
Combined with a flawless model, even photos taken directly with an ordinary phone camera looked like carefully planned magazine editorials.
“I almost want to sign you as one of my models.”
Song Xuyu was genuinely captivated.
She even regretted that the boutique’s newest and finest dresses had already been borrowed.
Otherwise…
What incredible advertisements they would have made.
…
Li Wangshu selected two photos from each outfit and sent them to He Yu.
“Which one do you like?”
He Yu stared at the pictures for a long time.
No matter which dress she wore…
She looked stunning.
“They’re all average. The white one is acceptable.”
The other two exposed her shoulders and back.
Only the white dress was relatively modest.
“I like this one too.”
Li Wangshu completely ignored the first half of his obviously insincere reply.
She changed back into the white modern Chinese-style qipao.
The stylist helped arrange her hair.
After the jade bamboo hairpins were placed into her hair, Song Xuyu couldn’t help exclaiming,
“Moon… you look like someone born to wear ancient clothing.”
“You’re absolutely gorgeous.”
“I have to take another picture.”
…
Li Wangshu sent He Yu another photo after her hairstyle was finished.
In the picture…
She sat quietly before the dressing table.
She wasn’t looking at the camera.
Her profile was as perfect as a carved masterpiece.
Half of her hair was pinned up with two green bamboo jade hairpins.
The rest flowed down to her waist.
The slit of the qipao wasn’t high.
But because she was sitting…
It revealed just enough to leave something to the imagination.
He Yu stared at the photo.
His teeth clenched.
Although the dress wasn’t revealing…
It emphasized her figure far too well.
Wearing it…
The young girl looked like a beautiful temptress.