Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Shi Mengwan sat there with her hand tightly gripping her phone. Her heart was beating very fast.
She tried her best to maintain her calm, but it was very difficult. Love made one mesmerized, love made one dizzy.
She was blinded by love. She trusted Zhan Haoze completely and blindly.
Her heart felt as if it had been lightly stabbed by someone, and it hurt slightly. She felt a little uncomfortable. She put down her phone and covered her heart.
Every scene and every moment after she reunited with Zhan Haoze appeared in her mind one by one.
She pressed on the place of her heart to calm herself down and told herself: Shi Mengwan, you’re going to participate in the competition now.
These matters of love and love will be discussed when she csme back.
The plane landed. Assistant Xiao Ji and designer Tong Yan came over to pick her up.
This time, she was participating in the competition i the name of the studio. Apart from herself, she let Xiao Ji and Tong Yan come over to serve as the vanguards.
“Sister Shi, are you too tired from flying?”
Xiao Ji had arrived the day before. She had come early and arranged the car. Now that she saw Shi Mengwan’s pale face, she thought that she was too tired from the long-distance flight.
“Not bad. How have you guys been these two days?”
“Not bad.” It was Tong Yan who spoke. She had been here for two days and toured around. “It’s really a fashion capital. It’s still very rewarding.”
“En, as long as it’s rewarding. Let’s go back to the hotel first.”
Shi Mengwan composed herself in a few sentences. She wasn’t alone. She had more important things to do now.
After getting into the car, Shi Mengwan and Tong Yan talked about the competition again. This time, the venue of the fashion design competition was set in Paris, the fashion capital.
When Tong Yan arrived, there were already many participants. Designers from more than a dozen countries had gathered. Among the people who came, they had already gone through the preliminary competition.
Next was the semi-final and the final. Every competition had a theme. To complete the work, it had to fit the theme of the competition.
Then, among the works that fit the theme, the judges would pick the ten best. Then, the finals would be held among these ten people. The semi-finals and the finals would last for half a month. In other words, they would have to stay in France for half a month.
Shi Mengwan knew about this before. Although she didn’t know what the next two themes were, she was confident in herself.
Little Ji was booked in a hotel near the competition venue. Little Ji and Tong Yan were in the same room. Shi Mengwan’s room was next to theirs.
After entering the room, she signaled for them to rest for a while. She wanted to take a shower and change her clothes.
When the room door closed, Shi Mengwan was left alone. She finally didn’t have to hide her emotions anymore.
After throwing herself on the bed, Shi Mengwan’s mood became extremely low.
..
The afternoon of the second day Shi Mengwan arrived was the time to announce the theme of the semi-finals. After the announcement, all the contestants would be given three days to submit their competition works.
After three days, the judges would use one day to vote before announcing the names of the people who passed the semi-finals. After that, the time to submit their works for the finals was seven days.
The time given to the designers was considered short. Therefore, the organizing committee of the semi-finals didn’t require the participants to design a finished product. Instead, they only needed to draw a design sketch.
However, the final competition required the submission of the design sketch, the source of the design, and the finished product.
Of course, all the materials needed for the final competition were provided by the organizing committee.
When Shi Mengwan appeared in front of Little Ji and Tong Yan again, she was practically glowing.
She put on makeup and went to the organizing committee to fill out a form to retrieve the theme. This season’s theme was “sweet”.
When she saw this theme, Shi Mengwan felt a little dizzy. Right now, she couldn’t be sweet at all.
After she came to France, it wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of calling Zhan Haoze. She wanted to question him. What exactly was going on? How could he get engaged to another woman?
But her dignity didn’t allow her to ask.
She retracted her thoughts and looked at the requirements on the design theme. Shi Mengwan bit her lip.
Was it sweet?
Three o’clock was very tight, so tight that Shi Mengwan didn’t have time to think about why Zhan Haoze was engaged to another woman.
For the past three days, she almost never left her room. She spent every day drawing, drawing, and drawing.
Three days passed, and Shi Mengwan submitted her design draft.
Before the judges’ vote, Shi Mengwan, who was extremely tired, told Tong Yan and Xiao Ji not to disturb her. After that, she slept for the entire day.
Later, she was woken up by the sound of knocking on the door. She got up and looked at the time. It was already night.
She slept for a while, and her spirit recovered quite well. It was just that she felt hungry after sleeping for too long.
She thought that she would go downstairs and have something to eat later, but there was a knock on the door again.
She thought it was Little Ji or Tong Yan. She didn’t expect that when she opened the door, the person standing outside was Wan Xianyang.
“It’s you?”
Shi Mengwan had just woken up. Her hair was messy and her clothes were a little wrinkled. In such a state, it was completely inappropriate to meet guests.
She resisted the urge to close the door and took a small step back.
“Good evening, Mengwan.”
“Hello.” Shi Mengwan’s expression didn’t look so good. “What’s the matter?”
Wan Xianyang stood at the door. “Aren’t you going to invite me in for a while?”
“It’s not very convenient.”
Shi Mengwan’s words were a little rude, but from Wan Xianyang’s expression, it was obvious that he had specifically come to find her.
“OK. It’s fine.”
Wan Xianyang wasn’t angry. He put his hand behind his back and put it forward.
There was a beautiful heart-shaped batch of roses. Shi Mengwan felt a little awkward.
“Wan Xianyang, I…”
“Flowers for a beauty.” Wan Xianyang forcefully handed the flower to Shi Mengwan. “You haven’t eaten yet, right? If you don’t mind, how about having dinner with me?”
Shi Mengwan wanted to refuse, but Wan Xianyang said slyly.
“I asked the waiter, and they said that you haven’t come downstairs all day. You haven’t ordered food, so you should be hungry, right?”
Shi Mengwan frowned, but Wan Xianyang seemed to know what she was thinking.
“I’m sorry, I’m a bit presumptuous, but the owner of this hotel is a friend of mine, so he gave me some convenience.”
His attitude was quite sincere. Shi Mengwan couldn’t even find a reason to refuse him.
“No rush.” Wan Xianyang was quite gentlemanly. “I’ll wait for you.”
As he spoke, he took a step back. Indicating for Shi Mengwan to help herself, he gently raised his hand with a faint smile on his face.
Shi Mengwan closed the door with some hesitation. She looked at the large bouquet of roses in her hand and placed it on the coffee table.
After staring at the bouquet for almost a minute, Shi Mengwan suddenly smiled.
Forget it, it was just a meal. Moreover, Wan Xianyang was Huo Jinyao’s childhood friend. She would have a meal with him and explain things clearly.
Even if she wasn’t with Zhan Haoze, she didn’t have the intention to start a new relationship for the time being.
She cleaned herself up as quickly as possible and changed her clothes.
When Shi Mengwan came out of the room, she wasn’t surprised to see Wan Xianyang’s amazed gaze.
“How about a French meal?”
Wan Xianyang suggested. Shi Mengwan felt that it would be too long, but Wan Xianyang smiled. “You came to France to participate in the competition. I think you haven’t tried the authentic French food during this period of time, right?”
Shi Mengwan didn’t. She found that Wan Xianyang was indeed a businessman. His flawless mannerism was even better than Xiao Qi’s.
“Let’s go. I know a Michelin restaurant that tastes pretty good. It’s nearby.”
Half an hour later, Shi Mengwan and Wan Xianyang sat in the restaurant.
The environment in front of them was pretty good. Shi Mengwan had been nervous these days, but because of the elegant environment, she had relaxed somewhat.
“I accidentally found this restaurant when I came to France before. Later on, whenever I came to France, I would definitely come.”
Shi Mengwan heard Wan Xianyang speak French to the waiter quite fluently. Her French wasn’t very good and she could only understand some simple greetings.
“Do you often come to France?” He spoke French so fluently.
“Often.” Wan Xianyang nodded and leaned closer. “Do you know why?”
Shi Mengwan shook her head. She knew that Huo Jinyao had a high net worth. His friends weren’t simple people either.
“I told you last time that our family is in the antique business. You know that our country has lost a lot of treasures over the years, so every time there’s an auction, I’ll come over.”
Shi Mengwan looked at Wan Xianyang and changed her opinion. “I didn’t know that you were so patriotic.”
“How should I put it? Those patriotic overseas Chinese are very dedicated to these things. So I’ll do my best.”
Shi Mengwan nodded. She wasn’t familiar with Wan Xianyang, and he didn’t mention anything about the past. He only mentioned some things that he had encountered at the auction.
This was a field that Shi Mengwan had never come into contact with before, so it was quite new to her. For a moment, she actually felt that listening to Wan Xianyang’s words was quite interesting.
French cuisine had been famous for a long time. During the meal, Shi Mengwan didn’t feel bored.
And because she hadn’t been able to relax her nerves from rushing to sketch pictures, she felt much more relaxed because of this delicious meal.
Coming out of the restaurant, Shi Mengwan looked at Wan Xianyang and thanked him very seriously, “Wan Xianyang, thank you.”
“Thank me for what?” Wan Xianyang looked at her with a mischievous smile in his eyes. “Thank me for treating you to a meal? There’s no need to thank me. You can treat me tomorrow.”
“Sure.” Shi Mengwan didn’t reject him. She should have invited him back.
“The weather is pretty good today. Do you want to go for a walk?”
Shi Mengwan wanted to reject him, but Wan Xianyang made a gesture of inviting her. She thought about it for a moment and followed him.
“Okay.”
The temperature in Paris was still very low at this season. It was only a little over ten degrees Celsius.
It was already over thirty degrees Celsius in Lin City, yet Paris was so cold. Shi Mengwan really wasn’t used to it.
Tightening the jacket on her body, Shi Mengwan thought about how she would have to stay here for a few more days, and her mood became unhappy.
“Mengwan.” Wan Xianyang took off his trench coat and was about to put it on her.
Shi Mengwan was shocked, and her body instinctively took a step back.
Wan Xianyang stopped in mid-air with his clothes in his hands. He looked at Shi Mengwan, as if he knew that what he did was out of the blue.
“Sorry, I just thought you might be cold.”
“I’m not cold.” Shi Mengwan felt that it was time for her to clarify things with Wan Xianyang.
“Wan Xianyang.” She stood at the intersection and looked at Wan Xianyang’s face under the streetlights.
Seriously speaking, Wan Xianyang wasn’t bad-looking, he was well-off, and he was a good person.
But feelings were something that couldn’t be explained clearly sometimes.
“Wan Xianyang, I know that it’s not appropriate for me to say this. Maybe you’ll think that I’m overthinking things, but I really want to say that the two of us aren’t suitable.”
Wan Xianyang didn’t expect her to be so direct, so he was a little surprised. After the surprise, a faint smile appeared on his face.
“Are you rejecting me?”
“I guess so.” Shi Mengwan nodded. “I just don’t want you to waste your time on me.”
“You’re not me. How do you know that I’m wasting my time?”
“But I don’t like you.” Shi Mengwan said it directly. Her personality was like this. She was blunt and got straight to the point.
Wan Xianyang took a step forward and looked at Shi Mengwan’s face.
Before he came, he specially looked for Su Qingsang and asked a lot of other people. For everything that happened today, whether it was what flowers he sent or where they went to eat, he had carefully arranged everything.
But he didn’t expect such an outcome.
“You don’t like me, but I like you. I think that’s enough. Maybe one day, you will like me?”
“That’s impossible.” Shi Mengwan said it with absolute certainty.
Wan Xianyang looked at her. “You have someone you like?”
“Yes.”
“Do I know him?”
“No.”
Wan Xianyang looked at her and suddenly said, “Don’t tell me you deliberately made up such a person just to make me give up?”
“No.” Shi Mengwan didn’t want to say more. “No matter what, I have someone I like. I can’t forget him in a short time, so don’t waste your time on me.”
“There’s a problem with your reasoning.” Wan Xianyang waved his hand. He didn’t take her words to heart at all. “If I don’t succeed with you in the end, that would be a waste of time. But what if I moved you in the end and you end up with me? That would be worth it. How could it be a waste of time?”
“Wan Xianyang?” Shi Mengwan was rendered speechless by his words.
“Alright, it’s getting late. I’ll send you back to rest.”
“Wan Xianyang.”
“Let’s go.” Wan Xianyang obviously didn’t want to listen to her, so Shi Mengwan didn’t say anything else.
The two of them walked back along the road. Wan Xianyang looked at the hotel building not far in front of them. His attitude was much better than yesterday, when they were about to reach the hotel. Shi Mengwan suddenly tripped over something and looked like she was about to fall.
Wan Xianyang caught her in time.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Shi Mengwan steadied herself. She was glad that she didn’t wear high heels today.
“Thank you.”
“Mengwan, you don’t have to be so polite towards me.”
Wan Xianyang was serious for a while, then he started to act casual again.
Shi Mengwan seemed to be used to him like this, so she wasn’t surprised.
She stood properly and didn’t reject Wan Xianyang when he said he wanted to send her back to her room.
“Mengwan, can I still come to see you tomorrow?”
“I have something to do tomorrow.”
Tomorrow was the announcement of the shortlist. Only ten people could be shortlisted.
And a week after they were shortlisted, she could bring two assistants to the specially arranged venue for the final contestants.
Whether she could be nominated or not, she wouldn’t know until tomorrow. If she could, then she would naturally be busy.
If she couldn’t, then she would really be free.
“It’s okay, I know you’re here for the competition. I can wait for you to finish the competition.”
Shi Mengwan didn’t reply. After saying goodbye to Wan Xianyang, she entered the room.
She walked to the sofa and sat down. Looking at the large bouquet of roses, her emotions were very complicated.
She couldn’t help but think of Zhan Haoze again. During the time she had been with him, Zhan Haoze had never given her roses.
She sighed in her heart. In fact, it didn’t matter what he gave her. It was only at this time that she could tell that Zhan Haoze really didn’t have her in his heart.
Otherwise, why would he be engaged to another woman?
She got up to take a shower and rest. There was a knock on the door. She thought it was Wan Xianyang who had returned. Without much hesitation, she went forward and opened the door.
When she saw the tall figure outside the door, she closed the door without thinking.
However, she was still a little slow. Zhan Haoze entered the door before she closed it.
Trying to push him out, Shi Mengwan pushed hIM without saying anything. Zhan Haoze pulled her hands into his arms with ease and turned around.
When the door was closed, her body was pressed against the door.
Shi Mengwan was anxious. She raised her foot and kicked Zhan Haoze. Zhan Haoze held her hand and tried to block her foot. She struggled so hard that he was caught off guard and was kicked by her.
After the kick, Shi Mengwan exerted more strength and raised her other foot to kick him.
Although she wasn’t wearing high heels, she was wearing a pair of pointy shoes today. It was very painful to the kick.
Zhan Haoze was kicked twice by her. When she was about to kick him for the third time, he lifted her body up.
He took three steps and carried her body to the side of the bed before throwing her down again.
The soft bed made Shi Mengwan’s body bounce a few times. Just as she stabilized herself, she raised her foot and kicked at his body again.
“Shi Mengwan, what are you doing?”
Even Zhan Haoze couldn’t help it and pressed down on her body. He pressed her tightly and didn’t let her move.
He held her hands together and staring into her eyes, he raised them above his head.
“What are you doing?”
He had been very busy recently. When he had some time to look for her, he realized that Shi Mengwan wasn’t at home.
She had gone abroad to participate in some competition.
“Am I making a scene? Yes, if I make a scene, you can go look for that person who doesn’t make a scene.”
Shi Mengwan stared at him with a gloomy expression in her gaze. “Zhan Haoze, get lost. I don’t want to see you.”
Zhan Haoze’s brows were tightly knitted together. He saw the anger on Shi Mengwan’s face and seemed to be a little puzzled. “You’re angry that I haven’t come to see you during this period of time?”
“Who’s angry?” Shi Mengwan didn’t want to say more to him. “I don’t have time to be angry with you. Move aside. I said I don’t want to see you.”
“Shi Mengwan?”
Shi Mengwan closed her eyes. Yes, she should have understood long ago, from how Zhan Haoze called her by her full name. He always called her by her full name.
Did he really have feelings for her? Did he really like her? Did he really love her?
“I’ll say it again. Zhan Haoze, get out of here.”
As she spoke, she struggled to get one of her hands out and she took the cell phone from her pocket. “If you don’t leave now, I’ll call the police.”
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