5. Engagement Banquet (Part 1)
The Rolls-Royce Phantom Extended Wheelbase was driving smoothly, but Chu Xiao seemed to have nails stuck to his seat, changing his sitting position several times in just five minutes.
Her fat fingers kept tugging at the hem of her skirt, creating wrinkles in the expensive silk fabric.
"..."
Every breath felt like a tug-of-war with death. Chu Xiao finally couldn't take it anymore and tugged at the fishbone corset around her waist—
What's the point of a boning corset on someone weighing over 200 pounds?! If you even have a waist, wear it! The original owner of this body was truly a genius!
Okay! She's having trouble breathing!
"Bang!"
A muffled thud interrupted Chu Xiao's mutterings, followed by the driver slamming on the brakes, making Chu Xiao feel a little dizzy.
"I'm so sorry, Miss, there was a minor collision with the car next to us!" the driver apologized nervously.
"Notify the housekeeper to handle it, and continue driving," Chu Xiao ordered listlessly.
She is so weak now that she doesn't even have the strength to get angry.
The car restarted and headed towards the family estate in the northern suburbs.
Chu Xiao didn't take the minor accident on the road to heart; such trivial matters would naturally be handled by others.
She was more concerned about her physical condition—the boning of the dress made her feel tight and short of breath, and she was experiencing bouts of dizziness and oxygen deprivation.
This damn corset is murderous!
No! She can't wear this fishbone corset anymore. If she doesn't take it off soon, she might become the first human to be strangled to death by a corset in modern times.
"Assistant Li, quick! Help me remove this torture device..." Chu Xiao's face was pale, and her voice was already clearly panting.
At this moment, Chu Xiao was accompanied by his personal assistant, who had come to the Jian family after graduating from university and took care of Jian Fei's daily life. In the original book, she was Jian Fei's most trusted right-hand woman.
After Chu Xiao transmigrated, he secretly observed this female assistant surnamed Li. Seeing that she was capable and knew how to conduct herself, he continued to employ her.
“Yes, Miss Li.” Assistant Li replied briskly, taking out a specially made “molecular relaxation gun” from the multi-functional box.
In fact, she had noticed Chu Xiao's discomfort long ago, but she didn't dare to say anything because she remembered how stubborn this young lady was when she insisted on adding a corset when ordering the dress.
It was difficult to put on this corset, and even with the help of four professional stylists, Chu Xiao still managed to wear it for an hour.
Unfastening it isn't easy either. Although the material for the corset has been upgraded, the process for unfastening it remains the same: first, pre-relax, and then unfasten it in three sections.
After softening the corset with a "molecular relaxation gun", Assistant Li carefully loosened the bottom clasp, waited ten minutes before working on the middle section, and finally removed the top clasp.
Chu Xiao remained in a 45-degree supine position the entire time, waiting quietly with her eyes closed.
At this moment, her heart was completely pure, because she didn't even have the energy to curse the original owner in her heart.
When the last clasp finally came undone, and Assistant Li deftly pulled away the torturous fishbone corset, Chu Xiao slumped into the leather seat, as if she had relearned how to breathe.
"call--"
She let out a long breath.
Even with the air conditioning on full blast, her back was still covered in a thin layer of cold sweat.
If she had known this would happen, she should have firmly refused in the first place—why did the original owner of this body have to be so stupid as to insist on ordering this inhuman thing? Why did she also have to be so stupid as to transmigrate into it?
As Chu Xiao's car slowly drove into the family manor in the northern suburbs, dusk had already fallen.
In the rose garden, Jian Bing was holding Leng Ao's arm, personally seeing off the last few guests at the entrance.
The rose garden was already lit up with colorful lights. Seeing her sister arrive late, Jian Bing frowned and said, "What time is it?"
Hearing this soft, almost dripping complaint, Chu Xiao surprisingly didn't show any impatience.
What she couldn't resist most was the soft, gentle Wu dialect; it was so soothing to her very core.
Chu Xiao stepped onto the stairs and sized up the woman before him—the halo of the crystal chandelier slanted around Jian Bing, casting a soft glow on her porcelain-white neck. Her almond-shaped eyes were brimming with moisture, making one's heart tremble. Her rosy lips were full and moist, like cherries glistening with dew, incredibly alluring.
Ironically, although the female lead's personality was completely off and she was no different from the character she was described as, her appearance—from those tender, watery eyes to that soft, delicate voice—was exactly what Chu Xiao considered beautiful.
The last time he transmigrated into a book, he found out that he had become a fool and couldn't go back, so he was full of resentment and had no interest in appreciating the female lead when he met her.
Chu Xiao successfully lost 20 pounds and was in a good mood, so he had the leisure to take a closer look at the female lead.
"What...what are you looking at?" Jian Bing involuntarily took a step back. She felt that Chu Xiao's gaze was familiar, just like...the gaze of some men who were interested in her.
Leng Ao stepped forward and shielded Jian Bing behind him.
"You're pretty." Chu Xiao glanced at the petite figure hiding behind Leng Ao and curled the corners of her lips.
Hearing this slow and deliberate praise, Jian Bing felt a little shy for some reason, and a blush rose on her fair and delicate cheeks.
Chu Xiao turned and left without caring at all.
Leng Ao frowned as he looked at the back of the man who was even more robust than himself.
...
As Chu Xiao arrived at the entrance of the banquet hall, he squinted because he was dazzled by the colorful light reflected from inside the door.
She instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes, and when her vision adjusted, the sight before her made her gasp for breath—
The entire banquet hall resembled a giant diamond cutting factory, with each female guest's gown shimmering with dazzling brilliance.
The meticulously sewn dresses were densely studded with tiny diamonds, which reflected a dazzling light with every movement of their wearers.
Chu Xiao even suspected that if the power were to suddenly go out at this moment, the reflection of the diamonds on these dresses alone would be enough to illuminate the entire banquet hall.
The couple surrounded by everyone in the center was even more exaggerated.
The lady's dark green dress was studded with huge emeralds on every inch of fabric.
Her long neck was adorned with layers of emerald necklaces, and heavy emerald earrings dangled from her earlobes.
Under the light, the colors of those gemstones appeared even more intense, as if they were covered with dozens of bottles of Tiger Balm.
Chu Xiao looked down at the pink diamond dress that the original owner had carefully chosen—she had originally worried that it would be too flashy, but now it looked particularly "simple".
She sighed and rubbed her forehead, relieved that she hadn't taken it upon herself to change the original owner's pink diamond dress, otherwise she might have become an "oddball" at the banquet today.
It seems I still know too little about the aesthetic standards of the world's rich.
This extravagant display of wealth left Chu Xiao completely baffled. She clearly remembered that she had never set out such a flamboyant trend when she wrote the book.
Moreover, when Jian Bing greeted the guests just now, she was clearly only wearing a simple Suzhou embroidered cheongsam, with a bright green jade brooch at the neckline and a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets on her wrists—
"What are you standing there for at the door? Hurry up and go inside, the banquet is about to start." A familiar, soft voice suddenly came from behind, interrupting Chu Xiao's thoughts.
Chu Xiao turned around at the sound and saw that Jian Bing had changed into a new outfit at some point—a fiery red dress adorned with blood diamonds that reflected a dazzling red light under the lamp.
The sharp-edged diamonds sliced Jian Bing's fiery red figure into countless fragments, making her look like a burning flame from afar, spraying scorching light spots in all directions with every step she took.
"..."
Flames have come to life?!
Chu Xiao's lips finally twitched involuntarily.
I thought the female lead was unique and followed an elegant and noble path, but now it seems I was just overthinking it.
Even the original female protagonist has fallen for this flamboyant aesthetic, so there's no doubt about the taste of this world.
Just then, the prominent couple in the center of the banquet hall seemed to notice the commotion at the door.
The burly man waved in their direction, the diamond cufflinks on his wrist drawing a dazzling arc of light under the lamp.
Chu Xiao felt her eyes flash again.
“Dad is calling us over.” Jian Bing was the first to understand. She lifted the hem of her skirt, which was adorned with blood diamonds, and walked forward gracefully.
Chu Xiao paused slightly.
"..."
Looking at the noblewoman in the center, clad entirely in emeralds, she suddenly realized an absurd truth—
The woman who dressed herself up like a spirit of Tiger Balm was actually the original owner's biological mother, the infamous hypocritical stepmother in the novel.
"Xiao Fei, why are you only arriving now? Did something happen on the way?" Feng Youjing gently took Chu Xiao's hand. "I was so worried about you..."
She wore a standard, virtuous wife and loving mother smile. If it weren't for the dazzling emerald green all over her body, Chu Xiao would almost have believed that she was a good mother who cared deeply for her daughter.
"..."
It smells so strong, like green tea.
Chu Xiao subtly withdrew her hand: "There was a small accident, but it's been resolved."
The moment Jane's father saw his daughter, his eyes lit up.
He warmly put his arm around Chu Xiao's shoulder—this daughter, who was just as tall and strong as him, was practically a carbon copy of him when he was young!
"Come, come, let me introduce you all. This is my youngest daughter, Jianfei!"
Because of Jian's father's enthusiasm, Chu Xiao was forced to navigate among a group of jeweled "uncles and aunts".
The faces of everyone surrounding her were plastered with fawning smiles, and the brilliance of the diamonds hurt her eyes.
Squeezed into a corner, Jian Bing clutched her skirt, feeling dejected.
She was clearly prettier and more outstanding than her younger sister, but her father's gaze always followed only that good-for-nothing sister.
Even though today is her engagement party, and even though she has changed into the most dazzling and expensive blood diamond dress, her father still only thinks about his sister.
She even suspected that if Jian Fei hadn't been so utterly incompetent, the inheritance of the pancake company would probably have been...
Jian Bing's intuition was correct.
Looking at his 250-pound daughter, Mr. Jian saw a reflection of his younger self—the same gluttony, the same lack of ambition, and even the exact same weight.
He still remembers the embarrassing incidents he caused in bed during his college years because of his excessive weight, and the time he was forced to lose weight.
Now, in Jian Fei, he seems to see his own unrestrained and reckless youth again.
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