Chapter 36: Cupcakes
"Tsk tsk, my dad would have to earn so much money to buy this chandelier."
Miao Wen stood by the dining table, looking up at the chandelier in the center and marveling at it.
It was already night, but the banquet hall was bright as day.
Countless finely cut crystals reflect rainbow halos under the light.
Xia Cun stood beside Miao Wen, feeling dizzy in the rainbow light. She thought, perhaps this was what Xiao Lan's astigmatism felt like. Then she thought of taking over Miao Wen's question and asking, "Isn't your family also very rich?"
Miao Wen laughed and said, "Silly child, my family is nothing compared to the Jiang family. Besides, even if we can afford to buy this kind of lamp, we can't afford to maintain it."
It’s not that I can’t afford hundreds of thousands of dollars, but what will happen after I buy such a lamp home?
Without a professional and experienced team to handle daily cleaning and maintenance, such luxurious ceiling lights would quickly become a burden, draining the owner's energy. Unfortunately, her housekeeping team was a makeshift one.
Miao Wen's words were lucid, as if the crystal chandelier wasn't just an object but a trigger for a certain kind of class consciousness. Xia Cun finally withdrew his dizzy gaze and looked at the girl.
She realized that Miao Wen was a very reliable person to some extent. Although she was always complaining and seemed careless, she had good grades, clear goals, clear thinking... and talents.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Miao Wen asked, but then she suddenly remembered Xia Cun's praise for her in person in the piano room. She quickly said, "Forget it, just pretend I didn't ask! Let's eat something!"
Don't suddenly praise her in a weird way.
In the bright hall, the faint fragrance of flowers and the aroma of food intertwined, and Xia Cun and Miao Wen were looking for food with small plates.
The long dining table resembled a river, covered in a lace tablecloth, adorned with floral decorations and exquisitely presented dishes. Countless silverware and French porcelain tableware held orange slices, apple slices, foie gras, sushi rolls, macaron tarts, chocolate mousse, roast chicken, grilled snails, and a seafood platter...
It was still early, but the banquet hall was already bustling with people. Adults were chatting and laughing in groups of three or five, children were running around or eating dessert, and musicians were playing.
The main event hadn't yet arrived. Miao Wen and Xia Cun finished their snacks and returned to the lawn in front of the backyard pool. All the young men from the summer vacation group had been invited that evening, and most of them were currently scattered around the backyard.
Zhuo Manyi had just arrived at Jiang's house, and she sat with Shen Xing. She was wearing a blue starlight dress, with delicate and elegant hair and makeup, sitting by the blue swimming pool, like a mermaid princess.
This was the first time Xia Cun had seen her in more than ten days. At that time, Zhuo Manyi was angry because Jiang Song left the yacht with her. What about now? Is she still angry? Does she still like Jiang Song?
Perhaps Xia Cun's gaze was too blatant, Miao Wen cleared her throat and pulled her wrist, but Zhuo Manyi had already noticed Xia Cun and ordered her from a distance: "Come here."
Xia Cun blinked, as if he didn't hear it.
The others heard it, and they couldn't help but look up at Zhuo Manyi, only to hear her call again: "Hey, didn't you hear it?"
"Miss Zhuo is calling you, right?" Miao Wen asked in a low voice.
"She didn't call me by name."
“…”
Despite this, Xia Cun still walked straight towards Zhuo Manyi, and Miao Wen hurriedly followed him. Then, around a small round white table with carved patterns, the four girls sat down.
Zhuo Manyi always noticed people's clothing first; her most important principle in making friends was probably being fashionable. In her eyes, Xia Cun was a complete country bumpkin, always out of place, but when she came today, she immediately saw the girl at the table, as if she had been set up as a trap for her.
Although she was wearing a pure white vest that day, the noise started from the hem of the vest. She wore a cashew flower patchwork skirt under a lace floral overskirt.
Still dressed like a tropical fruit, those colorful balloons should be tied to her.
Therefore, when Xia Cun approached her, her first question was: "Where did you buy your ugly skirt?"
“…”
Xia Cun looked down and saw that it was indeed a skirt she had just bought. She honestly answered the girl where she bought it, and then said, "I don't think it's ugly."
"It's so ugly." Zhuo Manyi said without mercy.
"Okay, stop acting like a primary school student." Shen Xing advised.
Zhuo Manyi then took a sip of the red wine, then raised her chin slightly and asked with a hint of sarcasm: "How did you get here? To ride your horse?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Shen Xing was puzzled.
"She was the one who threatened to give Jiang Song a horse. I wonder where the horse is?"
She hadn't been interested in asking about it, but Xia Cun and Jiang Song had unexpectedly—well, what? Who knows—before they knew—she and Jiang Song had caught them all off guard. So what had happened between them?
"Wow, you look like the evil female supporting character."
"Shen Xing!"
Shen Xing made a zipper-like motion to his mouth, put the straw of the drink into his mouth and watched the show.
"I'm sitting—"
"He came in my car!"
Miao Wen interrupted Xia Cun and laughed dryly.
Haha… I shouldn’t laugh, it’s so embarrassing.
Fortunately, Zhuo Manyi didn't notice her at all, she was just staring at Xia Cun, but Xia Cun stupidly turned his head to look at her, as if he was afraid that Zhuo Manyi wouldn't realize that she had just lied to her. Miao Wen couldn't help but hold her forehead.
"Did Jiang Song send someone to pick you up?" Zhuo Manyi finally got straight to the point and asked, "Are you in a relationship?"
Xia Cun was stunned by the question, then shook his head.
"I knew it."
"Why?"
"It's easy to figure out that Jiang Song is warm on the outside but cold on the inside. He doesn't like people at all... Besides, you're not going to tell me you really believe in Cinderella and the prince, are you?" Zhuo Manyi said with a look of disgust, "So unfashionable."
Just the mention of the word "Cinderella" was so cliché. Zhuo Manyi couldn't understand why she knew such an old-fashioned fairy tale, and even said it herself.
Xia Cun looked at her quietly and suddenly asked, "Do you remember what the prince in Cinderella looked like?"
"Ah?" Zhuo Manyi seemed to be choked.
"But you'll remember Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother, and the pumpkin carriage and the glass slippers, right?"
“…”
"Only the prince is hard to remember."
"...Who's talking to you about this?" Zhuo Manyi was speechless. She and Xia Cun must have been on the wrong side of the conversation. Every time he spoke to her, he was speechless.
"I just think Jiang Song has nothing to do with the story of Cinderella."
Jiang Song is a more important prince.
Zhuo Manyi: “…”
Is it possible to reason like this?
Shen Xing, who was standing by, failed to hold back his laughter and choked on his drink. He said, "What's going on? That makes a lot of sense."
"That makes no sense! This is called sophistry!"
"Elegant, young lady."
Zhuo Manyi was depressed, feeling like she was talking to a cow. After calming down for a while, she said, "Anyway, I advise you to stop dreaming and give up, so as to avoid being sad in the end."
Are you sad?
Why do they all feel this way?
"What about you?" Xia Cun asked back.
"..." Zhuo Manyi felt that this scene was familiar. She had asked herself the same question when she was at the beach. She couldn't help but twitch her forehead. "Why do you always ask me, what does my life have to do with you?"
"Will you be sad then?"
So this is what he was asking. Zhuo Manyi was stunned.
The three girls at the round table all looked at her. Suddenly, Zhuo Manyi seemed to have lost all her temper. She just said depressedly, "A little bit, because I really want to fall in love with a handsome guy..."
And Jiang Song was her ideal handsome boy, but after a semester, this guy still hadn't shown any interest in her. She had been thinking that playing together during the summer vacation might spark some romantic sparks, but ended up being beaten to the punch by a faceless pineapple. So angry, so annoyed.
And the expressionless pineapple said expressionlessly: "You will definitely fall in love with a handsome guy."
Zhuo Manyi: “…”
Shen Xing smiled and said, "That's right, Miss Zhuo is beautiful and generous. She will definitely date many handsome men in the future."
The atmosphere at the table became strangely harmonious. Shen Xing had just finished speaking when he suddenly looked in a certain direction, "Hey, here comes the handsome guy."
Several people looked in the direction and saw He Shizhao walking out of the villa. Zhou Yun was originally sitting there serving his five-year-old cousin. When He Shizhao appeared, Zhou Yun suddenly jumped off her seat and pulled He Shizhao to talk.
Zhuo Manyi took a liking to him and said regretfully, "He is handsome, but I don't like this type. He is so cold."
"Actually, he's quite gentle with children." Miao Wen was still peeking out when He Shizhao squatted down and talked to Zhou's little sister.
"I'm not a kid."
"Then how can we not be sad?" Only Xia Cun continued to ask the previous topic.
The other three reacted for a moment, and then Zhuo Manyi looked at her with a resentful expression: "What else can we do? Move on."
Her words sounded like she was saying that "liking" was an easy thing and that you could just move on.
“How do I move on?”
The four people at the table couldn't come up with an answer for a moment and fell into silence, as if "liking" had become a very heavy thing again.
At this time, Miao Wen received a message, glanced at it and said, "Tong Anyu has also arrived, and it seems that the party is about to begin."
"Okay, let's go back inside."
Shen Xing was the first to stand up, and the other three followed. However, after taking a few steps, Zhuo Manyi silently took Xia Cun's hand and called her to the swimming pool alone.
Xia Cunzi was waiting for her to speak, but Zhuo Manyi didn't say anything for a long time, so she had to ask her: "What do you want to say?"
"Well, let me tell you... Jiang Song's IG account is his WeChat nickname plus his birthday. It's easy to search and he has a lot of followers. If you want to see that video, go find it yourself." She inexplicably responded to Xia Cun's request on the beach.
"But I don't need this."
"You!" Zhuo Manyi was speechless and glared at her. "Forget it, I'll just tell you directly! I previously traced his account to a Sakura girl. Her family and the Tanaka family are old friends. She grew up with Jiang Song, and it is said that the two families are interested in a marriage alliance. You know what I mean..."
Zhuo Manyi was chattering away. The wall lights of the swimming pool were bright, illuminating the shore. Her blue starry sky skirt looked even more dreamy under the aqua blue light.
"Your dress is beautiful."
"Hey! Did you hear me?"
"Yes."
"..." Zhuo Manyi couldn't tell the girl's emotions, so she simply curled her lips, "I don't want to make you sad, I just feel--"
What do you think? Zhuo Manyi had a long list of her own ideals to say, but when the words came to her lips, she felt that this guy wouldn't understand even if she said them, and if she said too much, she would really look like a vicious female supporting role.
But that was the way it was. Even between her and her, they were only people who would see and talk this summer. After summer was over, or even after today, they would forget each other. The gap between them was too big, not to mention the gap between Jiang Song and them. To him, they were all just passers-by in the summer, so by next summer, Jiang Song might really have forgotten all of them.
We are not the princess of this prince. She wanted to say this, but she looked so lonely.
Zhuo Manyi stopped talking and imagined herself as a beautiful and open-minded female second lead who was always eager to be with her but couldn't get her. She only left a meaningful sentence:
"Summer's almost over, girl."
After saying that, she turned and left the swimming pool.
Her back was calm, her posture was proud, and no one could detect the joy in her heart——
Yes! So beautiful!
She is indeed a calm and open-minded beauty!
Xia Cun stood by the pool for a long time, gazing at the girl's back. Except for her, all the other guests went to the banquet hall, where the main character of the banquet had already appeared.
Jiang Song would be like a prince, wearing a white evening gown, with his hair combed back, walking down the winding staircase into the center of the crowd...
She knew it would be like this because she had seen Jiang Song in a formal suit and with his hair combed back in the afternoon. He was completely different from the Jiang Song in four-piece clothes with air conditioning. Jiang Song in four-piece clothes looked a little silly and shy, but after changing into formal clothes, he seemed to become mature and steady immediately, as if he was very far away from her.
What is between her and Jiang Song? Why do others think they are in different worlds?
Xia Cun climbed up the stairs from the backyard to the second-floor terrace and sat there eating a cupcake.
She ate slowly because the raw chocolate had a strong, slightly bitter flavor, and also because her mind was a little confused.
Can she still do it? Xiaolan said that one should be happy in dreams and not sad or cry when waking up. Can she still do it? Why does she feel sad just by hearing that summer is about to end?
So what should she do before the end of summer to dislike Jiang Song less?
The melodious music floated onto the terrace. After an unknown amount of time, a figure appeared on the terrace floor. She turned around and saw a young man in formal clothes coming onto the terrace. Unfortunately, he was wearing black instead of white.
Black and white, it was as if he and Jiang Song were born to be antonyms.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: It's a big drama, I will write a few more chapters, just let me [poor]
Tomorrow is going to be dreamy again. When the two babies are together, they really forget the whole world. How can they not be born with the holy body of Errenzhuan? I really can’t win [poor][poor][poor]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
