Huang Yan's birthday party was held at the X Hot Spring Hotel, just a twenty-minute hovercar ride from Wang Tianwei's house.
It was just past six o'clock, and some guests had already arrived.
Huang Taihe was in a private room chatting with people from the military. Lin Xue was watching her son play in the hotel's recreation area, deciding not to enter the main hall too early.
The long tables in the banquet hall were laden with a variety of exquisite foods and pastries for the guests, while nutrient solutions were kept in a freezer in the corner.
Service robots wove through the crowd, offering fine wines and beverages.
Huang Yan stood in a corner on the second floor, overlooking the entire venue. He tossed a coin in his hand, caught it, and rolled it across his four fingers.
Didn't they say they had arrived? Why weren't those two coming in?
He absolutely could not let Jian Jingyu drink too much today. That guy would definitely be going back to the old mansion with him tonight, and if he dirtied the floors of the old mansion...
Just as he was thinking this, a familiar figure entered through the doors of the banquet hall.
Wang Tianwei had her hair pinned up at the back, with swept bangs framing one side of her face. Paired with her pure black dress studded with rhinestones, she exuded a somewhat unapproachable aura.
She was carrying a rather large, square velvet bag. Although it didn't perfectly match her outfit, it wasn't glaringly out of place either.
She darted around the hall in her high heels looking for someone, completely oblivious to just looking up...
Huang Yan was debating whether to call out to her directly or send her a message. Unexpectedly, his brief hesitation allowed someone else to beat him to it.
"Wang Tianwei!?"
A young man with slicked-back hair called out to her, looking back and forth in disbelief at the girl whose appearance and aura were completely different from half a year ago.
"Why do you look like this!?"
If it weren't for the distinct half-dyed white hair and her signature height, he almost wouldn't have recognized her!
However, letting her black roots grow out this much without a touch-up didn't seem like her style. He hadn't heard of Yida Technology going bankrupt. Could it be she couldn't even find a salon on the planet Shuomo?
"Why didn't you tell us you were transferring schools? You didn't even reply to our messages later. Didn't you know everyone was worried about you?"
Wang Tianwei maintained her serious expression.
...Who is this?
She had a vague impression of him, but nothing concrete.
He seemed to be one of the members of the little clique that used to love leading the original owner of this body astray. What was his name again!?
"...Hello."
She really couldn't remember. He probably wasn't anyone important.
Elk found her pretentious behavior extremely irritating!
She was just a boy-crazy airhead, so why was she putting on an act? Who on the Tianshu Planet didn't know what kind of person she was?
"You're here today... Does that mean Fu Xingyuan is coming too!?
My, my, this outfit won't catch his attention! We haven't seen each other for a semester, and your taste has really gone downhill."
He seemed to be giving advice, but his eyes were filled with blatant malice.
Well, her memory was correct.
The original owner had maintained exaggerated, heavy eyeliner for years, along with brown and black lipsticks that didn't suit her at all... and it was all initially instigated by this group of people.
Wang Tianwei mimicked his manner and looked him up and down.
"Your taste is just average too. I forgot to ask, you are..."
"Wang Tianwei! You!!"
"Wang Tianwei?"
A surprised female voice came from diagonally ahead, interrupting the guy with the slicked-back hair.
Wang Tianwei sighed.
She had lived the good life at Qilin for too long and had forgotten how infamous she used to be on Tianshu Planet...
If she had known, she would have waited for her parents and Wang Kaiyu to finish talking with their acquaintances before coming in together.
Wang Xian's first instinct was also to look at her hair color. Then, she struggled to find any trace of resemblance to her cousin in the somewhat pretty girl standing before her...
"Why are you here!?"
Elk naturally knew this was Wang Tianwei's cousin, Wang Xian. Having just been interrupted, he had nowhere to vent his anger.
"Miss, if she's here, she obviously received an invitation from Taihe! What other reason could there be? Don't tell me she snuck in by herself!?"
Wang Xian glared at the brown-haired guy.
"When did I ever speak to you?"
"What? Are you afraid people will find out you look down on your own cousin? Then you should do a better job pretending!"
As the two of them were at each other's throats, Wang Tianwei suddenly became the one nobody was paying attention to!
She quietly retreated from the battlefield.
Just like that, excellent! You guys continue, don't mind me!
The optical computer on her wrist vibrated. It was a message from Huang Yan, telling her to ignore those two and come straight up to the second floor.
Looking up, she finally saw the birthday boy in a white suit standing upstairs, waving at her.
Not going to lie, he looked quite dashing!
But she hadn't found Jian Jingyu yet...
While she hesitated, a boy in a formal suit carrying a massive bouquet of flowers entered the hall, dodging the chandelier and instantly attracting everyone's attention.
"Who is that?"
"Is he holding fake flowers? Don't tell me that's a birthday gift for Young Master Huang!?"
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. Whose kid is this?"
Wang Tianwei's eyes lit up, and she immediately hurried over to her friend.
"Goldfish!"
"Sister Zebra!"
"Where did you get such a huge flower!?"
"I asked my dad to get it for me! This is an eternal flower, shipped from another planet! It will never wither. Looks good, right!?"
"It's beautiful!"
Wang Tianwei couldn't help but reach out and touch it.
Even though it was an eternal flower, for whatever scientific reason, the bouquet didn't look dry at all. The petals actually felt a bit moist!
It was indeed very novel. Sir Huang will definitely like it!!
"You just carried something this big right in?"
"I saw everyone else holding gifts, and I felt it wouldn't be good to walk in empty-handed."
"I thought the same... The stuff is right here!"
Wang Tianwei said as she held up her black velvet bag and shook it.
On the second floor, Huang Yan's mouth fell slightly open, his brain short-circuiting for a moment.
That bouquet that was almost as tall as Wang Tianwei... Was that supposed to be for him!?
Didn't he tell these two not to do anything extra!!!
Jian Jingyu adjusted the angle of his optical computer, took a picture, and sent it to their small group chat.
"We've arrived at Sir Huang's birthday party, Lyra! We'll play it by ear later, so be ready to answer a video call at any time!"
"...Received!"
Wang Tianwei looked around for a more spacious spot.
Huang Yan's ominous premonition grew stronger. He couldn't wait for them to come up!
He took the stairs two at a time, grabbing each of them by an arm.
"Sir Huang, pictures! I want to take a few more pictures! I haven't even gone to your photo booth yet!"
"My hair! My hair!"
Huang Yan's expression didn't change as he spoke to the guests who were staring at them in surprise.
"Please enjoy yourselves. The banquet officially begins at seven. I need to head upstairs for a moment."
The two of them were dragged upstairs wailing, leaving the guests on the first floor either shocked or amused.
"Hmph, it seems your cousin is more popular than you. Otherwise, why didn't the young master of Taihe say a single word to you?"
Hearing this, Wang Xian glared at Elk.
"Did Huang Yan speak to you? You're from a third-rate family, stay away from us Wangs!"
"You!"
Elk stared angrily at Wang Xian's back as she walked away. If looks could kill, she would have been pierced through!
But at this moment, Wang Xian was indeed feeling quite upset...
Wang Tianwei is here, which means Third Uncle and his family must be here too?
Ever since Third Uncle overheard what she said, his family had moved out of the old estate. This year, they even forgot to send her a birthday gift... or was it on purpose?
True, she despised Third Uncle's decision to abandon the military for the business world, but how could he just cut off her mecha maintenance card!?
Her father was a lieutenant in the First Military District, and she herself was an A-class combatant!
Without the maintenance card, it wasn't exactly a crippling blow to their finances, but the upkeep for the family's three mechas was still a painful expense for her parents. They definitely wouldn't indulge her in freely modifying her mecha anymore...
She had originally planned to use Wang Tianwei as an opening to smooth things over and yield to Third Uncle's family. Who would have thought the girl would completely ignore her!?
So what if she knows the eldest young master of Taihe!? A boy-crazy fool will always be a boy-crazy fool!
