C17 Chapter 17

Du Yawei snapped back to herself, smiled faintly, and held out her hand to greet Saang Shijuan. “Hello, I’m one of the up-and-coming fashion designers recently selected by VE magazine. It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Saang.”

Saang Shijuan glanced at Du Yawei and gave a slight nod of his raised chin in acknowledgment, but the hand tucked in his pocket never moved.

Du Yawei’s hand hung stiffly in the air, and the atmosphere turned awkward.

Zhong Xinyi felt the awkwardness too. When she saw Du Yawei pull her hand back with an embarrassed smile, she quickly leaned in and smoothed things over in a low voice. “Um, Mr. Saang’s kind of a germaphobe.”

Du Yawei smiled lightly, showing no sign of displeasure.

What right did she have to be upset?

He was a man who stood far above everyone else, almost like royalty. The fact that he had acknowledged her at all already felt like unbelievable luck. And yet, just now, she had actually dared to imagine shaking his hand.

It was her own fault for thinking he might be gentle. They were from completely different worlds.

With a smile, Zhong Xinyi changed the subject. “So, Yawei, what did you enter in the competition this time?”

Du Yawei came back to herself and pointed to the clothes on the models as she began her introduction. “These outfits are my entries for the competition. I named the collection ‘Clouds Over the Capital.’ It’s adapted from the qipao, redesigned for a modern look that really suits younger people. See the mandarin collar and the diagonal front closure…”

Du Yawei spoke with focused enthusiasm, and Zhong Xinyi listened carefully. Off to the side, though, Saang Shijuan was clearly not interested. His gaze drifted around backstage until it landed on Xia Bing’s back—and then he couldn’t look away.

Xia Bing was bent over, adjusting a model’s outfit. Her graceful figure curved with effortless elegance, as if it held some kind of pull, and Saang Shijuan’s gaze sank helplessly into that soft, slender silhouette.

Five years ago, she hadn’t had this much feminine charm. She’d been slim, almost delicately bony, especially that tiny waist that fit perfectly in one hand. The exquisite feel of it seemed to linger from just yesterday, buried deep in the furthest corners of his memory, impossible to forget. And every time he thought of it, it drove him a little mad...

“...Shijuan, Shijuan!” Zhong Xinyi’s sultry voice snapped Saang Shijuan out of his thoughts, a faint note of resentment in her tone. “What are you looking at?”

Saang Shijuan turned back, his expression unchanged, his voice cool. “Nothing.”

“Really?” Zhong Xinyi frowned slightly, her gaze instinctively following where Saang Shijuan had just been looking.

Saang Shijuan asked flatly, “Did you need something?”

“Hm? Oh, right.” Zhong Xinyi pulled her gaze back and looked at Du Yawei’s designs, smiling sweetly. “What do you think of Yawei’s work? Do you think she can stand out in the preliminary round?”

Only then did Saang Shijuan give the outfits Du Yawei had designed a proper look.

He didn’t know much about fashion design, but he had seen every outfit Xia Bing had ever designed.

Even if you’ve never done it yourself, that doesn’t mean you can’t recognize the real thing.

Compared to Xia Bing’s work, these clothes really weren’t anything special.

With a faint scoff, Saang Shijuan gave his blunt first impression of the collection without the slightest courtesy. “It’s a mess.”

Du Yawei froze, then a surge of anger shot through her.

It was one thing for him to be rude to her personally, but to judge the pieces she had worked so hard on like that—

Clenching her teeth, Du Yawei let her rising anger override any concern for his status and fired back at once, “Oh? Since you say that, Mr. Saang, I assume you must know quite a lot about fashion design. But if my work looks like nothing but a mess in your eyes, then I suppose no designer here has anything that would meet your standards!”