Pei Cizhou’s gaze dropped to the tip of her pert nose and the full, rounded center of her lips.
Qiuyun shrugged. “Obviously, I’m going by psychological age. Just like Young Master Pei’s psychological age doesn’t seem to be seventeen either.”
“Eighteen.” Her lips opened and closed, forcing him to look away as he emphasized, “I’ll turn eighteen on the ninth of next month.”
Qiuyun’s eyes curved with amusement. “That still makes you seventeen.”
“……”
Feeling stifled, Pei Cizhou stood up and turned to ask, “Are the clothes altered?”
“Almost.”
Before long, the tailored dress was brought over, and Stylist Xie accompanied Qiuyun to change.
The altered gown fit better—more exquisite, more perfect. Its neckline rested precisely at the middle of her neck, while the slight padding of the shoulders followed the line of her neck and shoulders downward, narrowing along her toned, slender arms until it reached her delicate wrists. From there, it traced a waist and hips even slimmer than the golden ratio, before flowing into a fishtail skirt whose length, angle, and flare were all impeccably proportioned.
The minimalist, almost austere outfit, paired with that breathtakingly beautiful face, suited her perfectly. Though understated, the dress brought out the noble, cool elegance of her features to the fullest.
When Qiuyun saw that Pei Cizhou remained silent, she walked gracefully over to stand in front of him. “It doesn’t look good, but there’s no helping it. There isn’t enough time to change.”
Pei Cizhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed repeatedly. He turned his head away and called over the Ruan family’s steward.
“Put these on.”
He opened the first exquisitely carved golden-silk nanmu box. Inside lay a set of beautifully crafted jewelry.
“This is…” Qiuyun glanced at it. “Jadeite?”
Pei Cizhou picked up the earrings and put them on her. “Is there anything Miss Qiu doesn’t recognize?”
Qiuyun tilted her head slightly to make it easier for him. “I’m not an encyclopedia.”
“This is jadeite.”
“Oh.”
As he worked, he explained, “Jadeite is also a type of jade. It was introduced to China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and for a time replaced Hetian jade as the representative of high-end jade jewelry.”
“……”
No wonder she had no impression of it. So it had only reached China during the Ming and Qing dynasties—and from the sound of it, it seemed to have become fairly well-known?
To avoid giving herself away, Qiuyun simply shut her mouth and said nothing more.
Once the earrings were on, Pei Cizhou opened another box and took out a matching jadeite ring. The sixteen-millimeter cabochon was set in a platinum band surrounded by diamonds.
“Which finger?”
Qiuyun held out her left index finger, but Pei Cizhou put the ring on her middle finger instead. “The cabochon is large. It looks better on the middle finger.”
“……”
Then why had he asked?
Next, he opened another carved nanmu box and took out the jadeite bangle inside.
“There’s more?”
The bangle was a standard size 54. Pei Cizhou slipped it onto her wrist. “Of course. How could the jewelry be incomplete for a banquet like this?”
Fine.
Qiuyun gave up resisting.
Finally, there was a matching strand of jadeite beads, each sixteen millimeters in diameter. Worn over the black gown, it fell to precisely the level of her collarbones.
Once the complete set of jewelry was in place, the originally plain black dress gained several touches of emerald green, adding a restrained yet unmistakable air of luxury.
Well, wearing jewelry to an evening banquet was unavoidable. Compared with what her madam would wear, these few simple pieces were already remarkably low-key.
Qiuyun picked up her handbag. “Let’s go.”
Pei Cizhou extended his arm. “Mm.”
?
Qiuyun didn’t understand what he meant. She simply walked around him and left.
Pei Cizhou chuckled and quickly followed.
They took a helicopter to the neighboring city, where it hovered over the helipad on a cruise ship.
“Are you all right?” Pei Cizhou asked softly, turning his head.
Qiuyun, dizzy, leaned against his shoulder. “Barely. Have we arrived?”
“Mm.”
Following the instructions from the ground crew, the pilot descended and landed smoothly on the ship.
After taking a moment to recover, Qiuyun used Pei Cizhou’s arm for support as she stepped down. The two of them stood inside the windscreen and followed the staff’s directions quickly to the elevator.
Daniel was waiting at the elevator entrance. He took Qiuyun’s handbag and placed it in a velvet pouch for safekeeping.
The elevator descended into the interior of the cruise ship.
After her feet touched solid ground and she had walked a few steps, Qiuyun finally felt the dizziness begin to fade. She accepted the mint lemonade offered by a server nearby and said quietly, “Thank you.”
Pei Cizhou looked over with a beaming smile. “You’re welcome.”
After drinking some of it, Qiuyun recovered a little. She placed the glass on a tray and tried to withdraw her hand from his arm.
“I was talking to the server.”
Pei Cizhou held her wrist down and refused to let go. He gestured for her to look down. “The carpet is soft. Don’t trip.”
Qiuyun shifted her gaze and first saw the crystal chandelier hanging in the very center of the five-meter-high, luxurious main hall. Tens of thousands of crystal pendants formed the shape of a diamond as they descended from above, dazzling her eyes.
“Watch your step.”
Pei Cizhou gently pressed the back of her hand and led her down the spiral staircase nearby.
The main hall was enormous. At the stage in the center, a ballroom dance performance was underway. Scattered around it were groups of guests, some seated and others socializing—roughly forty or fifty people in all.
As Qiuyun descended with him, she inexplicably felt that people were looking at her neck and wrist, either openly or out of the corners of their eyes.
Once they reached the hall, Pei Cizhou didn’t bother socializing with anyone else. He led her straight to their seats.
There were fifteen tables across and three rows deep, forty-five tables in total. Their seats were at table A06, just one table away from the central A08.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be about attracting investment?” Qiuyun asked.
Pei Cizhou snorted. He leaned back grandly, spreading both arms across the back of the leather sofa. “Do I look like the kind of person who would beg others for anything?”
Especially at a place this obsessed with extravagance, where people fawned over the powerful and trampled on the weak, others should naturally be the ones scrambling to curry favor with him.
“……”
Qiuyun turned away expressionlessly, desperately pressing her lips together to keep from laughing.
She couldn’t wait to see the look on the Little Devil’s face after she brought out the calligraphy hanging on Xianyu.
It was bound to be spectacular.
But honestly, when he put on this lofty, disdainful air, people really did come over eagerly to exchange business cards.
Daniel clearly understood President Pei’s style as well: polite, courteous, and distant enough to keep people a thousand miles away, with the bar set impossibly high. It wasn’t until the assistant from table A05 came over to deliver a business card that Pei Cizhou gave a haughty nod and allowed Daniel to accept it.
“……”
Qiuyun was speechless.
Was he really only going to become an adult on the ninth of next month? His schemes were as numerous as if he had already become some kind of spirit.
Before long, the guests gradually arrived.
Then the side door opened, and three or five assistants and secretaries in suits hurried in, surrounding a young man.
When he passed table A06, the man paused briefly. Qiuyun somehow felt that he glanced at her. But by the time she tried to confirm it, he had already continued on and taken his seat at the central A08 table.
“Tsk.” Pei Cizhou stood up, blocking her view. “Why are you looking at him?”
Qiuyun was speechless. “He was looking at me first.”
“Oh.” Pei Cizhou’s gaze dropped. “My brother was probably looking at your jewelry. These are pieces from Chengyuan’s private collection, so it’s normal that he recognized them.”
“Your brother? The President Ruan who funded your company?” Qiuyun asked in surprise.
“Mm. He’s my maternal uncle’s second son, Ruan Siheng.”
