I had no idea there were so many rules for attending a dinner.
It even required bringing a female companion... If a man has no wife or girlfriend, does he have to rent one?
It wasn't until Ji Chen drove me to a private manor hidden among the green trees on the outskirts of Beijing that I realized what a grand banquet it was.
Today, Ji Chen didn't drive Si Jiangchen's luxury car. Instead, he drove a low - key Mercedes. As we drove along the long tree - lined avenue, the towering trees on both sides were decorated with neon lights that looked like meteor showers.
I looked out of the window curiously. Bai Wei sat far away from me, as if afraid of being affected by my naive look.
The car drove along the tree - lined road for about ten minutes before we saw a paved parking lot with a musical fountain in front. There were already many cars parked in the square. Although it was already midnight, there were still many elegantly dressed men and women walking along the path full of ground lights behind the fountain towards a three - story European - style building not far away.
"This is the mansion of Sheng Shixun, a famous ancient architecture expert in Beijing."
Ji Chen didn't park the car in the outer parking lot. Instead, he drove us further into the garden.
"Ji Chen, what are you doing?"
Bai Wei craned her neck to look at the resplendent building. Under the flickering lights, it was like a mirage in legend, making people yearn for it.
"Why don't you take me there?" Bai Wei questioned.
"General Manager Si wants to take Miss Du to the guest rooms at the back."
As he spoke, Ji Chen skillfully parked the car.
Only then did I notice that we had arrived in front of a small white building shaded by bamboo groves. Ji Chen opened the car door. "Miss Du, General Manager Si asks you to change your clothes here and then go to the banquet in front."
"… Uh."
I felt a twinge of nervousness when I heard the word "banquet".
However, seeing Bai Wei's contemptuous look out of the corner of her eye, I pinched my palm hard. What was there to be afraid of?! It was just a banquet with more people!
Moreover, who would recognize me in this kind of place?
Since Si Jiangchen wasn't afraid of losing face, why should I be?!!
Summoning up my courage, I followed Ji Chen into the small white building.
Immediately, two young girls in uniforms came to greet us. "Assistant General Manager Ji, is this General Manager Si's female companion?"
"Yes, thank you both for your hard work." Ji Chen smiled amiably. "This is Miss Du, Du Xinghe."
I nodded to the two girls, and their smiles became even sweeter. "We will do our best with Miss Du's makeup."
"Don't make it look gaudy."
Bai Wei, standing behind me, crossed her arms over her chest. With a cold and aloof smile in front of others, she said, "Make her look decent. If she makes our Cold Fir Capital lose face, you'd better think about your jobs in the future."
The two girls glanced at each other and quickly accompanied with a smile, "Don't worry, Miss Bai. Just now, General Manager Si sent someone to deliver the evening dress. We will definitely do our best to make Miss Du..."
Seeing the two girls being so respectful to her, Bai Wei seemed to be in a better mood.
"Take me to the dressing room."
She said imperiously, "I need to touch up my makeup."
I was taken by a makeup artist with a small dimple when she smiled, who introduced herself as "Lulu", to change into the evening dress.
She took me to the dressing room on the second floor. There were two big cardboard boxes on the table with their lids already opened. Inside was a long dark - blue velvet dress. It was very proper, even the collar was a small standing collar, with a small pear - shaped drop - pearl pendant as a little decoration.
Finally, I let out a sigh of relief.
The design that didn't expose the chest or back gave me a sense of security.
"Miss Du, this evening dress suits you so well."
Lulu helped me zip up the invisible zipper at the back. She admired me up and down and said with a smile, "I was really worried when General Manager Si's driver delivered the dress. Velvet is hard for ordinary girls to carry off, and it requires a very good figure... Unexpectedly, this dress seems to be tailor - made for you. General Manager Si must know you very well!"
"Uh..."
I felt my face inexplicably flush at her words, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Fortunately, Lulu was very considerate. Seeing that I didn't respond to her topic, she took out a pair of high heels of the same color from the other box and helped me put them on. The shoes were made of lambskin, soft and very comfortable. There seemed to be twinkling rhinestones on the leather of the shoe surface, like starlight.
"Perfect. Now let's go to the dressing room and put on a light makeup for you. That will be stunning enough."
Lulu opened the door and bumped into Bai Wei, who had just redone her makeup.
"… You…"
She subconsciously frowned. "How could you have such a dress?"
"Come on, I don't have such luxury items."
I complained in my heart. Did this evening dress look that cheap? Was it something I could afford?!
"The dress suits Miss Du very well." Lulu said with a smile.
"It's so ugly!" Bai Wei's voice even became shrill. "What an old - fashioned style. It's so embarrassing! Who wears this kind of material nowadays?!"
"I think it's nice."
I stroked the soft fabric on my chest. "This was sent by Si Jiangchen. If you think it's inappropriate, tell him."
After saying that, I reached out and took Lulu's wrist. "Let's go. Help me put on makeup."
"Okay... Yes!!"
Lulu didn't expect me to be so tough and refute Bai Wei's face in front of her.
Almost everyone in the upper - class circle knew that Bai Wei had returned from abroad to work in Si Jiangchen's company to pay off her father's debts. She never concealed her feelings for her boss.
As the saying goes, "When a woman chases a man, it's like separating by a piece of gauze; when a man chases a woman, it's like separating by a mountain." This time, the dinner party hosted by Mr. Sheng Shixun, an old gentleman, to raise funds for the restoration of ancient buildings clearly stated on the invitation that "bring a female companion to enter".
When the invitation was sent to Cold Fir Capital, everyone thought that Si Jiangchen would bring Bai Wei to the dinner.
Just when people thought that Bai Wei was going to end Si Jiangchen's title of the eternal diamond bachelor in Beijing, an accident happened.
Si Jiangchen asked Ji Chen to pick me up from the hospital and even prepared the evening dress.
The two little makeup artists looked like they were looking forward to a good show. They stole a glance at Bai Wei and took me to the dressing room.
Actually, I didn't need much makeup.
Except for my pale lip color, my eyebrows and eyes were very well - defined. I didn't even need eye makeup.
Lulu just applied a thin layer of blush and lip gloss on me, then pulled up my long hair into a slightly drooping bun and decorated it with a hairpin inlaid with six pearls.
"Miss Du, you look just like a beauty in an ancient painting."
Lulu and the other girl looked at me in the mirror and sighed sincerely.
"Jiangchen... Why did you do this?!"
From the corridor outside, Bai Wei's angry voice faintly came. "Isn't that evening dress an antique? Didn't you even forbid your sister to touch it? Why did you take it out for her to wear?!"