Lu Jiayan remained silent for a long time.
Sheng Mingzhi vaguely felt that his silence was a rejection. A prickle of embarrassment rose in his heart, followed by a surge of irritation.
Was I out of my mind just now?
Why would he ask Lu Jiayan if he wanted to attend a fashion gala? It would be a miracle if he didn’t get mocked mercilessly by this old man.
Perhaps their interactions lately had given Sheng Mingzhi the illusion that Lu Jiayan was actually quite easy to talk to. For a fleeting second, he had genuinely tried to invite him.
Now that he’d come to his senses, he thought: On what grounds?
On the grounds of their “plastic” marriage that couldn’t be any more fake? Or on the grounds that Lu Jiayan ran off abroad for three years without a word on their wedding day?
Sheng Mingzhi immediately backtracked: “Just act like I never asked.”
Lu Jiayan drawled, “Is this your attitude when inviting someone?”
“Who invited you?” Sheng Mingzhi laughed out of anger. “Stop being so narcissistic. Go or don’t go, see if I care.”
Lu Jiayan paused, his tone carrying a hint of amusement: “I’ll consider it.”
He sounded as if deigning to attend the banquet was an act of charity. He was as arrogant as they came.
Sheng Mingzhi was nearly fuming. Just as he was racking his brain for a witty insult, Lu Jiayan stood up. His gaze fell on the two sets of haute couture held by the designer.
One was deep blue, the other deep black.
He took a look and tilted his chin. “The deep black set suits you better.”
Sheng Mingzhi had fair skin; wearing black made him look incredibly noble. After saying his piece, Lu Jiayan checked his watch and headed to the office without looking back.
Sheng Mingzhi was left alone in the living room until the designer’s voice snapped him back to reality.
“Second Young Master, shall we keep the deep black set?”
Sheng Mingzhi looked at the back of the man who had just walked away in disbelief. He turned back and snapped, “Why keep it? Am I going to Lu Jiayan’s funeral the day after tomorrow?”
The designer: “…”
Why must the innocent bystander suffer when the couple fights!
He asked tremblingly, “Then… do you want the blue set?”
The living room was silent.
After a long while, Sheng Mingzhi suddenly spoke: “…Blue is unlucky.”
The designer: “…”
A moment later, Sheng Mingzhi said with firm resolve: “Just keep the black one.”
Sheng Mingzhi’s eyes lingered on the suit. For some reason, Lu Jiayan’s words flashed through his mind.
He said he would consider it. That probably meant he was coming.
________________________________________
Although Qiao Yan had intercepted Sheng Mingzhi’s gala suit, he actually looked down on that niche brand.
Given his status as an image ambassador for a certain luxury brand, Qiao Yan was able to use his connections to borrow a haute couture suit from this year’s Fall/Winter collection.
One was deep blue, the other deep black. Both were priced around a million yuan.
Qiao Yan had been eyeing the deep black one for a long time. He saved the picture and sent it to Huo Yuzhe: [Hubby, what do you think of this set?]
The other party didn’t reply.
Qiao Yan frowned slightly. This wasn’t the first time Huo Yuzhe had ignored his messages lately. There was always an excuse either he was filming or on a variety show where phones had to be turned off.
But when they first started dating, he had been on sets and shows then, too. Was Huo Yuzhe treating him like an idiot?
Though Qiao Yan suspected Huo Yuzhe was seeing someone else, he didn’t want to believe it without solid evidence. Furthermore, their public announcement on Weibo had been as high-profile as could be. If they broke up after less than a year, wouldn’t he be slapping his own face?
And if they broke up, all the spotlight would just benefit that “flop,” Sheng Mingzhi.
Putting down his phone, Qiao Yan pushed open the door to his sister Qiao Yu’s bedroom. His sister was the deputy editor-in-chief of Southwest Finance and knew many big shots in the financial world; maybe she could help him secure the clothes.
“Sis, I’m coming in?”
Qiao Yu seemed to have just stepped out. Her computer was still on, but she wasn’t home. Disappointed that he couldn’t use her connections, Qiao Yan sat in her chair.
His gaze instinctively landed on the computer screen. On the Word document was the draft of Qiao Yu’s recent interview with Lu Jiayan—six pages of dense text.
Seeing the name “Lu Jiayan,” Qiao Yan immediately remembered who he was. He was surprised; his sister actually interviewed Lu Jiayan?!
Suddenly, the memory of Qiao Yu hitting on a certain capital mogul flashed in his mind. Qiao Yan was startled. Could his sister have been hitting on Lu Jiayan?
If so, the person who drove her home that night was Lu Jiayan? Judging by the interview schedule, the timing matched up.
This discovery thrilled him. Suppressing his excitement, he scrolled down. On the last page was the interview photo of Lu Jiayan.
Just as he finished reading the text, Huo Yuzhe’s phone call interrupted him at an inconvenient time. Qiao Yan instantly lost interest in the document and answered the phone.
“Baby, I was filming just now. My manager had my phone, so I didn’t see your message.”
Huo Yuzhe’s voice was low and raspy. The “bass cannon” type that fans loved. “I saw your message. I went to ask about those two sets, but they’ve already been borrowed by other artists.”
After all, it wasn’t a small brand. There were many A-listers in the industry. While female stars had plenty of gown options, there were only a few styles for male suits. Naturally, everyone scrambled to contact the brands.
Qiao Yan was already irritated. Hearing Huo Yuzhe’s perfunctory tone, he couldn’t help but say, “Then can’t you just buy the two sets?”
The scene of being slapped in the face by Sheng Mingzhi at Cloud Pavilion was still vivid in his mind, making him grit his teeth in rage. For this MOMO Golden Wedding Gala, he had to trample Sheng Mingzhi under his feet no matter what!
Huo Yuzhe sounded troubled: “Baby, those two outfits aren’t cheap. Together, they cost over three million.”
Qiao Yan raised his voice: “Didn’t you just sign for a new drama? And now you’re telling me you have no money?”
Huo Yuzhe said nothing.
Qiao Yan snapped: “What did you tell me when we first got together? Huo Yuzhe, don’t forget how you got famous. If I hadn’t bridged the gap for you, do you think you’d be where you are today? I want to see those two outfits on the day of the red carpet. I don’t care how you borrow them. If you don’t have them, we’re breaking up!”
He hung up.
________________________________________
On the eve of the MOMO Fashion Gala, the Weibo hot search was already heating up.
Starting from 6:00 PM, the entertainment charts were occupied by various artists. There were tags about a certain starlet’s “peak beauty,” a top star’s bangs, and a male actor’s physique. The homepages were flooded with studio-edited “behind-the-scenes” artistic shots.
This gala had been a month in the making, inviting nearly a hundred stars, along with various investors and “gold masters.” Fans and media had been camping on both sides of the red carpet since 5:00 AM, armed with professional cameras and support banners.
Weibo refreshed every second with new updates. Among the fan groups by the red carpet, someone gasped.
“Qiao Yan is walking the red carpet with Huo Yuzhe this time.”
“I saw it on my feed! It’s so sweet. Their studios posted the edited photos at the same time.”
“Ugh, he’s so handsome. What a heavenly couple.”
“Is that the new Fall/Winter LV set Qiao Yan is wearing? Sick. Who said his fashion resources dropped?”
“I heard a certain top star tried to borrow these two pieces but failed. Qiao Yan is really impressive.”
“Crap, he actually got them. He must have some serious connections.”
…..
Half an hour ago, Xiao Wang was still fuming.
The red carpet was about to start, but when he called the representative of the accessible luxury brand to ask when Sheng Mingzhi’s outfit would be delivered, he was told that they were no longer lending it.
There’s always a reason for a brand to refuse a loan. Xiao Wang asked a friend in the industry to look into it and discovered it wasn’t that they wouldn’t lend it. It was that the outfit had been intercepted by Qiao Yan.
The brand had intentionally waited until thirty minutes before the ceremony to notify them. It was a move full of malice that caught Xiao Wang completely off guard. He was at a total loss; where could he possibly borrow another outfit at this hour?
Just as he was at his wit’s end, Sheng Mingzhi arrived at the lounge wearing a brand-new suit.
Deep black.
It made his skin look exceptionally pale and his aura incredibly expensive.
Even for Xiao Wang, who saw Sheng Mingzhi every day, the flash of amazement in his eyes was hard to suppress. It had to be said—a black suit suited Sheng Mingzhi perfectly.
“Where did you get these clothes?” Xiao Wang hadn’t even had the chance to tell him that his original outfit had been stolen by Qiao Yan, though Sheng Mingzhi hadn’t planned on wearing that one anyway.
He would have an allergic reaction to anything priced under 100,000, thank you very much.
Xiao Wang circled him once and named a luxury brand, the shock on his face undeniable. “Isn’t this the high-fashion piece they just released for the Autumn/Winter collection? Did you buy a knockoff?”
Genuine.
Thank you.
The word “knockoff” didn’t exist in Sheng Mingzhi’s world.
Before he could explain, Xiao Wang gave up in despair. “Forget it. Knockoff or not, it’s better than having nothing to wear.”
In any case, this “little ancestor” had a magical ability to make counterfeit luxury brands look like the real thing. Besides, given how much negative press Sheng Mingzhi already had, one more scandal wouldn’t make a difference!
Xiao Wang quickly took some professionally edited photos backstage and uploaded a nine-grid gallery to the studio’s Weibo account.
The moment Sheng Mingzhi reposted it from his personal account, the comments section erupted into a flame war.
“Another knockoff?”
“Listen to your ‘daddy’ here: don’t think that just because you’re a nobody, the brands won’t sue you.”
“LMAO, you’re twinning with Qiao Yan again. He’s wearing a beautiful matching couple’s look with Huo Yuzhe, while you’re out here wearing two pieces alone.”
“Stop embarrassing yourself.”
…
Before he could even check Weibo, the ceremony staff began hurrying them at the door. At 6:30 PM, the fashion gala’s red carpet officially began.
Sheng Mingzhi checked his watch several times, looking somewhat distracted.
The MOMO gala was split into two parts: the red carpet first, followed by a banquet held at the Cloud Court Hotel nearby.
Hundreds of camera positions and thousands of lenses had been set up. Inside the hall, nearly eighty round tables were prepared, each marked with the guests’ names, arranged by industry status from the center outwards.
The more irrelevant you were, the further into the corner you sat.
After the red carpet, Sheng Mingzhi checked the time again. As if remembering something, he reclaimed his phone from Xiao Wang.
He hesitated for a moment, then opened his WeChat chat with Lu Jiayan. His thumb hovered over the input box for a long time; he couldn’t bring himself to ask the question he’d been pondering all afternoon.
—Is this dog man actually coming to the banquet or not?
He said he would consider it. Has he still not reached a conclusion after two days?
Sheng Mingzhi leaned against a pillar in the corridor of the Cloud Court Hotel. At the entrance of the hall, many artists and celebrities were entering with their invitations. To match MOMO’s “Golden Anniversary” theme, almost all the guests arrived in pairs. The giant screen in the hall began the banquet countdown. Sheng Mingzhi let out a slow breath and handed his phone back to Xiao Wang.
As fate would have it, just as he looked up, he saw Qiao Yan and Huo Yuzhe walking toward him.
Qiao Yan noticed him immediately, and his expression turned sour in an instant. It was for no other reason than the fact that he was twinning with Sheng Mingzhi.
There aren’t many suit styles for male artists; unless you’re a connoisseur, they mostly look the same. However, Qiao Yan was wearing a high-fashion piece just released this Autumn/Winter by a top luxury brand—there was only one of its kind, yet here it was on both him and Sheng Mingzhi.
Huo Yuzhe had contacted the brand to purchase his outfit. Therefore, Sheng Mingzhi’s must be a knockoff.
Qiao Yan sneered, “Sheng Mingzhi, have you no shame? Aren’t you afraid of being sued for wearing a counterfeit?”
Sheng Mingzhi couldn’t be bothered with him. “Save that line for yourself.”