Airport.
“Uncle, which hotel did you book?”
Xie Dingyuan: “Hausenrigg.”
“You too?” Zhong Ziang was slightly surprised.
“Is that strange?” The man showed no expression. “In Heipa, there’s only this one five-star hotel.”
Heipa was the name of the town.
“Seems like it…” Usually when his uncle went on business trips, Sheng Yiming arranged everything, and anything less than five stars was dismissed.
“What about you, staying in this one?” Xie Dingyuan asked calmly.
“Yeah! This is the hotel designated by the IPhO organizers. Hehe… Lin Shumo and the others are staying there.”
“I don’t think it’s because of Lin Shumo.” His words carried a hint of chill.
Unfortunately, Zhong Ziang was carefree and didn’t notice.
“Of course not! I came for my fiancée… uh… future fiancée! Hehe…” Mentioning Jiang Fuyue, Zhong Ziang couldn’t help but grin foolishly.
Xie Dingyuan glanced at this fool and walked ahead with a cold face, taking long strides.
“Hey! Uncle, wait up! Let me catch a ride—” Zhong Ziang grabbed his luggage and caught up.
Xie Dingyuan quickened his pace.
Zhong Ziang: “?”
Why does Uncle seem so strange?
…
The next day was also the last day of the competition, mainly for the awards ceremony and closing ceremony.
Early in the morning, Huo Fanjin was already up and about, but not for herself… she was fussing over Jiang Fuyue.
“Captain, don’t open your eyes! We’re almost done!”
“Wait, I feel like the eyeshadow isn’t bright enough. Let me add more!”
“Should I use ‘I shall not die but live, and shall declare the works of the Lord’ red or ‘a man sees a rotten tomato and wants to bite it’ red for the lipstick?”
Huo Fanjin was in a dilemma.
Jiang Fuyue’s mouth twitched. “Just do whatever, no need to fuss.”
“How can I not fuss?!” Huo Fanjin was like an agitated cat, her tone suddenly rising. “You represent our Chinese team, the face of our nation! Anyone else can afford to be casual, but not you!”
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
“I must show the world that our Chinese genius is not only brilliant but also stunningly beautiful. It’s best that as soon as you step out, you dazzle them with your titanium alloy dog eyes.”
Jiang Fuyue calmly remarked, “I think that’s more fitting for you.”
Huo Fanjin herself was quite the beauty.
With curly hair and striking features, she was always proud and self-assured, like a peacock that perpetually kept its feathers open.
Although Jiang Fuyue also had striking features, her temperament was colder. People often noticed her pride before her beauty.
Huo Fanjin, on the other hand, was truly stunning.
If one wanted sheer beauty, Huo Fanjin was more suitable than Jiang Fuyue; that was undeniable.
But…
“Who wants to look at me? Just a silver medal. The first person to go on stage for the award will always get the most attention! No, this blush needs to be more pronounced, and the lighting should complement the makeup…”
Finally, after nearly an hour of fussing, Huo Fanjin clapped her hands. “Done!”
With that said, she adjusted her mirror.
Jiang Fuyue looked at her reflection in the mirror, the makeup was bright but not heavy, quite delicate.
Her naturally curled eyelashes; eyeshadow in shades of pumpkin mixed with earth tones, clearly defined layers; the eyeliner enhancing her originally three-point charm to a five-point charm, yet not appearing vulgar, but rather cold and enticing.
Her hair was pinned up, revealing her slender swan-like neck.
The wine-red dress she wore matched perfectly.
As for the lipstick…
Huo Fanjin ultimately chose the “I shall not die but live, and shall declare the works of the Lord” red, full lips with a fiery color that exuded charisma.
Bang, bang, bang—
“Are you ready?” Fang Canyang knocked on the door. “Professor Yan is urging us; there’s only half an hour left until we enter the venue.”
“We’ll be right there!” Huo Fanjin replied.
Then, she quickly drew her eyebrows and applied lipstick, ready to go out.
Jiang Fuyue raised an eyebrow, as if to ask: Is that all?
Huo Fanjin replied, “Oh, today you’re the protagonist. If you look good, I look good, and our entire Chinese team looks good. Hehe.”
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
Opening the door, a large bouquet of pink roses unexpectedly appeared before Jiang Fuyue’s eyes.
She took a step back and saw who it was. “Zhong Ziang? What are you doing here?”
“Hehe… I’m here in D Country for tourism and happened to be in Heipa. I heard that IPhO is being held here, so I came over to take a look. I’ve already greeted the team leader,” Zhong Ziang explained.
Jiang Fuyue was half-believing.
However, Zhong Ziang didn’t give her extra time to think. “Professor Yan and Lin Shumo have already left; it’s just you two left. Since I have a car, I’ll give you a ride. Let’s hurry; we might be late.”
Sure enough, Jiang Fuyue stopped hesitating.
Once in the car, Zhong Ziang naturally handed over the flowers. “Hold these for me; I’m driving.”
With that, he handed them over to the back seat without looking back, then started the engine and drove off.
Glancing through the rearview mirror at the roses placed beside Jiang Fuyue’s seat, Zhong Ziang felt a bit regretful that she hadn’t held them in her arms, but at least he had handed them over!
Hehe…
On his second glance, he couldn’t help but steal a look at the girl’s face.
He had noticed when the room door opened that Jiang Fuyue had actually put on… makeup!
Sure enough, a fairy is always a fairy, beautiful without makeup, even more beautiful with makeup.
Zhong Ziang’s heart pounded—thump, thump—
Suddenly, “Are you looking at me or the road? Focus on driving.”
“…Oh.” Zhong Ziang sulked.
Huo Fanjin turned her head away, suppressing a laugh.
“You brat! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to!” Zhong Ziang clenched his teeth.
He might not dare to argue with Jiang Fuyue, but that didn’t mean he could tolerate Huo Fanjin.
“Blah blah blah, I just laughed; come and hit me!”
“Tsk, you’ve become so arrogant after transferring for just one semester, huh? Fine, we’ll settle this when we’re back in China.”
Zhong Ziang, Huo Fanjin, and Lin Shumo were high school classmates, well… “once upon a time.”
“Enough already. You transferred to Linhuai; still want to bully me? No way! Now that I have Sister Yue covering for me.” With that, she hooked Jiang Fuyue’s arm.
Chin up, full of pride.
Zhong Ziang almost stopped the car to perform an on-site lesson in being a person. But unexpectedly met Jiang Fuyue’s gaze and, um…
Never mind.
“Well then, I haven’t looked around. Let’s focus on driving! Yeah, focus on driving…” He wiped his sweat.
“Hahaha… Zhong Ziang, you’re getting what you deserve today, aren’t you? Unexpectedly, Sister Yue, you and he also became classmates. Is this called ‘ape dung’? Hehe.”
Zhong Ziang: “Otherwise, would it be called ‘chicken sh*t’?”
Huo Fanjin: “Can you not be so disgusting…”
They drove all the way, and finally, the three of them entered the venue hall in the last ten minutes.
Zhong Ziang followed.
Huo Fanjin blocked him, arms crossed, eyes scrutinizing. “Spill it. Are you here for Sister Yue?”
Zhong Ziang glanced at her, then looked not far away, where Jiang Fuyue had been led to sit in the center of the first row.
“Yeah! What are you looking at? Your eyeballs are about to fall out.”
“Exactly.” Zhong Ziang suddenly spoke up. “I came for her.”
