Chapter 24: The Twin Beauties of Mo City

The significance of an "Eve’s Invitation" was far more substantial than Su Ziceng and Sister Mu had imagined. It was not just a mere piece of note. On the same day the invitation was issued, Wen Maixue’s personal assistant, along with every other young girl in the world, received a list of attendees for the ball. The list detailed the background of each attending girl, including a series of information from their birth to before they reached adulthood. Some people’s information was worthy of a captivating serialized novel. Su Ziceng’s, however, was only a micro short story. Yet, it was this mini-article that caused a huge uproar. "The standard of the ball is really getting lower," Wen Maixue, while riding a horse, commented. Her light brown riding outfit accentuated her 1.6-meter height and also highlighted her soft curves more prominently. She had ivory-white skin and silk-like long hair. Although her face was not deeply profound like mountains and waters, it had the classical elegance of an ancient small Eastern bridge and flowing water. It was for this reason that Lady Eve, a renowned Western noblewoman, could not help but commend endlessly. "Are you still planning to attend then?" Pello, holding one hand on the Arabian horse and the other sifting through the horse’s mane. The fluffy mane brushed through his fingers, making the horse comfortably neigh. Mounted on its back, Su Ziceng also bent down, lovingly wrapping her arms around the horse’s neck, her delicate features showing a petulant charm after a compromise: "Grandpa is really looking forward to me attending the ball; I’ve already signed a sponsorship contract with Dior, and besides, I’m also looking forward to dancing with you." The Eve Ball, due to Lady Eve’s affection and respect for the girls, granted each attending girl sufficient rights, one of which was to bring their male companion. For the well-prepared Wen Maixue, a distinguished male companion was undoubtedly more dazzling than the most precious jewelry dress. As for the less-informed Su Ziceng, she didn’t even have time to worry about the matter of her male companion. She had enough problems to worry about already, such as her outfit and, not to mention, Su Qingzhang. Su Qingzhang found out about this through a message relayed by Secretary Wang. As a businessman engrossed in making money, his first reaction upon hearing about the Eve Ball was that it was merely a farce, and the protagonist of the farce was none other than the currently missing Su Ziceng. Without thinking, he scolded Secretary Wang, who had informed him. When Secretary Wang was about to make the call to decline the invitation, the Su Family’s secretarial office had already received the prestigious but not so lengthy list of invitees to the dance, including the daughter of the former president of the United States, the granddaughter of a European shipping magnate, and the niece of the Arabian king. Secretary Wang felt somewhat unsettled. Following this, major media outlets of Mo City, including the mainstream reporting teams from Country Z, all stationed themselves in Mo City. The news prominently marked, "The Beauties of Mo City: Wen Ruixue and Wen Maixue and the Su Family’s Treasure: Su Ziceng." The reports on Wen Maixue mainly focused on her initiating a charity fundraiser in Africa, with an illustration showing Wen Maixue smiling as she donated a set of jewelry. As for the reports on Su Ziceng, they depicted the approachable young lady delving deep into the middle and lower classes, experiencing the life of commoners, with a background image set in the "Admiration" store where Su Ziceng was diligently helping a customer choose clothes. After more than a month, the Su family finally located Su Ziceng. Regardless of how much Su Qingzhang and Secretary Wang racked their brains, they couldn’t imagine that Su Ziceng would hide in Zone 5, a place she had never stepped foot in for over seventeen years. So, when seeing the photo of Su Ziceng dressed in a T-shirt and Su Ziceng not even wearing sunscreen, Secretary Wang felt a pang in his nose, pleading in front of Su Qingzhang, "Chairman, look how tough the young lady has it; let’s not hold it against her. Please bring her back early." Chang’s mother and daughter also wore strange expressions. Just two months ago, Su Ziceng had been a girl crying and demanding a luxury sports car with a thick layer of makeup; then suddenly she turned into what the media called a rapidly ascending nouveau riche of the second generation. What Chang Chi cared more about was the invitation to the Eve Ball; she also knew that only Wen Maixue in the whole of Mo City and even in the whole country had received another invitation. She knew that the obscure Su Ziceng might ascend to become a socialite and lady like Wen Maixue through this ball. Chang Chi was dead set against believing that Su Ziceng would voluntarily experience civilian life; she was determined to tear off Su Ziceng’s pretentious mask in front of the public. "Experience civilian life?" Hang Yishao saw that piece of news in the newspaper days later than others, and it was even brought to him by that Jade Girl Star. Xuan Yv pouted her lips, complaining that Mo City’s two "socialites" had grabbed the headlines that were supposed to promote her new song. Hang Yishao had no time to console her and quickly skimmed through the ridiculous report in the newspaper, observing the extremely low-resolution image that made Su Ziceng’s face look almost pixelated, yet her black T-shirt was notably memorable. "Ah, I remember now; she’s that young girl from 'Admiration' who didn’t know how to use the POS machine." Xuan Yv’s not-so-sharp brain had finally figured it out: "She doesn’t look that good either, just a nose and two eyes, nowhere near as pretty as me. She’s just lucky to have been born into a family of nouveau riche." "Get out of the car," Hang Yishao, hearing the label "nouveau riche" and annoyed by the thought of a once youthful Jade Girl turned into a noisy fly, ordered. He inexplicably developed a sense of shared enmity with Su Ziceng. The woman beside him must have her brain shifted to her chest; didn’t she realize that one of the most famously known "nouveau riche" in Mo City was sitting right next to her? The car sped off, and up till being ditched, the Jade Girl Star couldn’t figure out why her young boyfriend would suddenly lose his temper. She didn’t know that, to some extent, Hang Yishao saw Su Ziceng as part of his own ranks. He could ridicule her vulgarity or say she wore the guise of landscape paintings but hid the essence of oil paintings underneath, yet he would never allow others to declare his childhood friend as worthless, as it was tantamount to belittling his own standards. When Hang Yishao, driven by a sense of kinship love, was driving the car to take a closer look at his former childhood friend depicted blurrily in the newspaper, other curious journalists and guests gathered outside "Admiration." On the glass door of "Admiration," which wouldn’t necessarily close even on public holidays, hung a "Temporarily Closed" sign. So journalists, including Hang Yishao and Secretary Wang and his group, failed to find Su Ziceng. By the evening, when everyone had dispersed, a tall figure approached "Admiration." He glanced through the glass at the empty cashier, knowing well that after this banquet of socialites, Su Ziceng would never return to "Admiration," a fact Sister Mu and Pello were well aware of. Pello, holding the hastily made ’Closed’ sign hanging on the door, muttered to himself, "I wonder, has she already realized the biggest challenge she is about to face?"