Stop There, Daddy

The National Fashion Design Contest was nearing, so Wen Shuyue had to speed up. Every day she spent a lot of time collecting information about the development of fashion, and she stayed up late designing new garment. She did not want to disgrace MK during the contest.

The day for the preliminary contest soon arrived. Wen Shuyue, though lacking self-confidence, knew that she must appear to be self-assured. She went to the venue for the contest wearing a simple but elegant milky while long dress which she designed herself.

The venue for the contest was an entertainment hub that was pretty famous in the city. Wen Shuyue had just gracefully walked through the door when she overheard people’s discussion, but clearly they were not talking about her.

“Is that Chang Ning, the founder of s&k?”

“No wonder they say she’s a legend. Her temperament is so unique.”

“She’s entered this contest as well. That’ll make it more difficult for us to win a prize, right?”

“Well, winning a prize in this competition has always been difficult. Obscure designers like us should feel lucky we get to come here.”

“Alas. You’ve got a point.”

Wen Shuyue did not mind them discussing it. As a fashion designer, she naturally cared more about the garment. Chang Ning was still wearing bright red lipstick, her hair short, looking sharp. Her clothes were different from what she had worn during their previous two meetings. Chang Ning had worn a long eye-catching skirt during their first meeting and a raffish professional outfit during their second meeting.

This set of clothes of Chang Ning’s was a perfect combination of Gothic and punk styles, but it did not strike people as obtrusive. It boasted Gothic aristocracy and romance as well as mutinous punky charm. Its color was fairly dark but very punky. It lent her a sort of handsome allure.

Wen Shuyue liked Chang Ning’s design style very much. As one of the best designer specializing in Gothic and punk styles, Chang Ning struck her as very admirable.

As Wen Shuyue was enjoying the beauty of the design, Chang Ning walked through the door haughtily. She was about to walk past Wen Shuyue. Her eyes were fixed ahead, as if she had not noticed Wen Shuyue, emanating a queenly air.

“Miss Chang, we met again.” Wen Shuyue didn’t mind Chang Ning’s disregard for her. She greeted Chang Ning on her own account.

Chang Ning halted to look at Wen Shuyue’s smiling face. “I didn’t bargain on seeing you here,” she said apathetically.

Wen Shuyue looked rather awkward, feeling humiliated. After two seconds of silence, she recovered herself and said mildly, “Well then, I wish you good luck.”

With that Wen Shuyue held out her hand, intending to shake hands with Chang Ning, but the instant she held out her hand, she wished she hadn’t. There were so many people watching. If Chang Ning refused to shake hands with her, she would be terribly embarrassed. Besides, there was no telling what Chang Ning would think of her offer to shake hands with her. Wen Shuyue awkwardly kept her hand in mid-air, looking at Chang Ning smilingly, hoping that the latter would respond.

Chang Ning impassively gazed at Wen Shuyue for a few seconds and then slowly reached out her hand to hold hers. Wen Shuyue was relieved. She felt that Chang Ning finally took a liking to her, but she was terribly wrong. Chang Ning just shook hands with her as a token of courtesy and then immediately released her hand and walked into the contest area.

Wen Shuyue withdrew her hand embarrassedly, gave a resigned shrug and walked toward Chang Ning, intending to focus on the contest.

The preliminary contest was a simple competition. All the contestants needed to do was design a piece of clothing suitable for their respective models. Wen Shuyue was fairly lucky. Her model was a homely girl, and the girl was tall and slim, so almost all descriptions of clothes would suit her. However, Wen Shuyue did not take it lightly. The kind of fashion design needed to match the model’s temperament and provide a foil for the model’s most attractive body part so as to impress the judges.

Minutes ticked away. Wen Shuyue, after familiarizing herself with her model’s features and figure characteristics, began to design a garment for her. She decided to design something that could set off the slenderness of her model’s waist and her well-proportioned figure. The sleeves and shoulders of the garment would be baggy to make the model’s charm stand out in an asymmetric way. She would design the other parts in different ways as well. For example, her model’s bosom was not ample, so she would make the dress low-cut and add a bowtie to the collar. She would also have her model wear a pendant to obscure the upper part of her revealed chest to make it more tantalizing.

After handing in her design, Wen Shuyue distinctly saw the judges bob their heads. They were clearly very pleased with her design. Though having won the preliminary contest, Wen Shuyue was not very excited. Apart from anything else, she was a MK president who had returned from a foreign country. Moving into the quarter-final was not something worth celebrating.

Wen Shuyue turned to look at Chang Ning. Chang Ning’s design, unsurprisingly, was excellent. She had designed a Gothic outfit for her model. It overshadowed all other contestant’s designs. Wen Shuyue had always known that her chances of defeating Chang Ning were slim.This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

The preliminary contest was soon over. Designers who had some fame scorned the preliminary contest. When the contest was over, they directly drove off, so there were few people left in the venue.

Wen Shuyue slowly collected her things and then headed for the door. The venue had fallen silent. Only some staff members were cleaning the hall. Wen Shuyue had scarcely reached the door when she saw He Siming coldly leaning against his Rolls-Royce, staring fixedly at her.

Wen Shuyue frowned slightly when she saw He Siming coming to pick her up. She walked up to him and asked, “Why are you here?”

“I’m here to pick you up.” It had never occurred to He Siming that Wen Shuyue would be unhappy about him personally coming here to pick her up. His tone of voice was somewhat frigid.

“This is a public place. You might get photographed picking me up.” Wen Shuyue failed to notice the displeasure on He Siming’s face, so she kept giving voice to her thoughts.

He Siming, annoyed, grabbed Wen Shuyue’s hand and jerked her into his embrace. Feeling her struggling in his arms, He Siming placed his hand onto her head and said, “Don’t move. Take it easy. There’s no paparazzi around here.”

Wen Shuyue obediently stopped struggling. Staying in He Siming’s embrace, she slowly reached out her hands and wrapped her arms around his lean muscular waist. The two of them enjoyed the rare romantic moment, both feeling contented.

Barely two minutes later, when He Siming thought that their hug would never end, Wen Shuyue gently broke free from his embrace and, looking at him, smiled, “This is a public place. You should mind your manners, Mr. He.”

He Siming couldn’t help but let out a chuckle and turn to look at the nearby scenery. Amid the breeze, He Siming leaned his slim-figured body against the car. Wen Shuyue could see the contours of his perfect muscles beneath his shirt and his suit jacket. His long legs were crossed. She could clearly see his lean and sturdy thighs. That, combined with his sharp-contoured face, made Wen Shuyue feel that it was a pity He Siming was not pursuing a career as a model.

Chang Ning walked out just in time to see that scene. Her eyes lit up and she hurried up to He Siming.

Wen Shuyue heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind her. She turned aside and saw Chang Ning hastening toward them. She watched curiously.

Ming Ning ignored Wen Shuyue and walked directly to He Siming. She asked with interest, “Would you like to be my model?”

Wen Shuyue obviously had not expected Chang Ning to be so direct. She looked at He Siming, wondering how he would respond to such a raffishly beautiful woman.