While they were whispering to each other, the “Sun and Moon Beauties” on stage—a name that felt like it could have appeared in some wuxia or fantasy novel from the last century, making Zhuang Chi wish she could find a hole to crawl into—had already gotten the microphones. Olivia took a step forward first, elegantly and gracefully raising the mic.
“Good evening, all my young friends. This is the first time I’ve attended such a banquet since coming to this country. It’s truly exciting.”
Surprisingly, she spoke fluent Mandarin.
“Of course.” Without waiting for anyone to ask, An Chen took the initiative to explain to the surprised Ling Jing and Zhuang Chi, “Princess Olivia is quite intelligent. I heard she’s especially gifted with languages. She probably made a point of learning our language when she found out she would be studying abroad here.”
“Lily and I will be staying here for a while. I, in particular, will be heading to St. Blaisedon to study on a chosen day,” she said, giving the crowd an angelic smile. “I hear some of you will be my future classmates. In that case, let’s get along by… depending on each other for survival!”
“…”
Why?
Zhuang Chi was baffled, not understanding why she suddenly had a life-or-death friendship with the princess. The people below the stage clearly didn’t understand either, and the atmosphere grew subtly stagnant. Zhuang Chi felt the crux of the problem must have been the word “xiang” where Olivia had suddenly paused. Ling Jing, however, lacked this awareness and turned to An Chen in confusion, asking, “What does the princess mean by that? Is there going to be a crisis later?”
She was basically treating An Chen as a convenient character who could answer any question. But this time, An Chen clearly didn’t know what was going on either. Zhuang Chi could almost see his pupils trembling with uncertainty. Perhaps out of some Alpha pride, however, he refused to admit he didn’t know and forced himself to rack his brains. “Y-Yes, that’s right. The princess might know some information we don’t have access to. Something big might happen later—”
“—You used the wrong phrase, sister. You probably meant to say ‘love each other dearly’.”
“Ah, thank you, Lily. I’m sorry, everyone. I meant to say let’s get along by loving each other dearly—oh, I used the idiom wrong again. Honestly, what am I like…”
The confusion below the stage instantly dissipated. Everyone broke into smiles, creating a soft atmosphere of “this princess is so cute.” And in this atmosphere…
“…” An Chen, whose explanation had been overturned halfway through, froze for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice sounded as if it were being squeezed through his teeth. “…I-It seems I was mistaken. She’s simply not that proficient with idioms yet…”
“What was that about? If you don’t know something, you should just say you don’t know. It’s not good to guess randomly. An Chen, you should reflect on your actions.”
He was even lectured by Ling Jing in a pompous, old-fashioned manner. Zhuang Chi looked at An Chen, whose face had turned pale and was trembling with restraint, and didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him.
She turned her gaze back to the stage. After her gaffe, Olivia seemed a little embarrassed. She spoke a few more words with a slight blush before concluding her speech and handing the microphone to Lily, who had just corrected her mistake. The slightly younger girl appeared to have a rather calm and taciturn personality; after a brief self-introduction, she said no more.
Olivia was undoubtedly a character with a significant role in the original book, but Lily… Zhuang Chi thought hard but couldn’t recall any memories associated with that name. It seemed she was likely just a background character with only a name in the book.
“—Alright, young people, now that you’ve met the beautiful princesses, let’s start the banquet as soon as possible. But before that, there’s one last thing…”
Uncle Gu mysteriously drew out his words, giving the crowd a gentle smile. “For the most important part of this banquet, the dancing segment, we will be using a ‘lottery draw’ to form dance partners in order to add a little fun.”
As his voice fell, the sound of wheels echoed from a nearby corridor. Waiters and maids wheeled in a long dining table covered with a white cloth, then, under everyone’s gaze, whisked the cloth away—
“…Medals?”
Small, glittering gold discs were arranged neatly on the table. Ling Jing craned her neck to see and said this blankly. An Chen, however, frowned and shook his head. “No, they’re number plaques.”
That’s right. Each plaque was engraved with a number. There were about a hundred people present, and a rough glance showed about the same number of plaques. No wonder they had to wheel in such a long table; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been enough space to lay them all out.
“The method of participation is very simple,” Uncle Gu said with a smile, ignoring the rising chatter from the crowd, his eyes filled with indulgence. “Out of my own selfishness, I’ll have my daughter be the first to demonstrate.”
Zhuang Chi’s heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously turned her gaze toward the corridor entrance.
Thanks to her quick reaction, she was the very first person in the room to see Gu Ximian walk into the light.
She wore a strapless long gown, softly enveloped in light gauze. A gradient of blue, from light to deep, spread from her chest to the hem like ink wash, as if the sky or the deep sea had been poured onto her flawless white dress, which she then wore.
The Gu Ximian whom Zhuang Chi hadn’t been able to contact since arriving, the one who, despite having seen her not long ago, still felt like a first meeting, the one whose beauty silenced the entire hall. This Gu Ximian raised her eyes, her gaze accurately traversing half the main hall to meet Zhuang Chi’s. Her eyes were clear and gentle, like a deer gazing at its reflection in the water.
In her original novel, she would have definitely spent countless words describing Gu Ximian’s beauty, Zhuang Chi thought. But now… she could only say that even if Gu Ximian suddenly grew enormous wings and flew away from here, she probably wouldn’t find it strange.
When beauty is so excessive, one can’t help but feel she doesn’t belong here. And then, some things become jarring in contrast to her, like the splendidly decorated background that felt clamorous, or the unadorned black choker that Gu Ximian still wore around her neck.
Zhuang Chi didn’t know if others felt the same way, or if it was just her who couldn’t suppress such a thought, causing her to press her lips together tightly.
…It was like a shackle binding a swan.
“So that means,”
Gu Ximian, who had captured everyone’s eyes and voices, spoke at this moment, looking indicatively at the stage. “I can choose a number first?”
“Yes,” Uncle Gu nodded happily. “Choose the number you like, Ximian.”
She nodded slightly, her gaze shifting to the long table. With almost no hesitation, she walked over and picked up the plaque that read “Number One”.
“This one, then,” she said softly, holding up the number plaque to look at it. “It’s a very good number.”
“Mm.” Uncle Gu watched her with a grin, only turning his head back after a long moment. “Just like that, everyone chooses a number they like. Then, in about half an hour, you will come up to the stage in numerical order to draw your dance partner. Of course, if you’ve already been drawn by someone with an earlier number, you’ll skip this step.”
“From everyone’s perspective, if you’re someone who really wants to draw your own partner, you should try to choose a number as low as possible. But there’s no guarantee—after all, the only guaranteed number has already been taken by Ximian.”
It was unconcealed favoritism, but no one in the audience raised any objections. He then turned to the princesses. “Next, the princesses may choose their numbers. Any number is fine, except for Ximian’s number one.”
…Sigh, it sounds like he’s worried Olivia will snatch Gu Ximian’s number. Zhuang Chi closed her eyes. That’s not it, Uncle Gu. The reason she’s staring so intensely at Gu Ximian is probably because of ‘love at first sight’.
“Ah, my apologies,” Olivia, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Gu Ximian since she appeared, snapped back to reality as if waking from a dream. She gave an abashed smile and, after some hesitation, walked to the table. “…Then I’ll choose this one. Number eighteen. It’s my lucky number.”
Lily then chose number nineteen, next to her sister’s. With that, the demonstration was more or less complete. Uncle Gu announced that everyone could now go and get a number plaque at any time, and then he stepped down from the stage.
Zhuang Chi watched as the children of wealthy families gradually gathered around the long table, forming a circle. She didn’t plan to squeeze in and fight for a number just yet. She sighed, feeling a little weary, and whispered to Ling Jing and An Chen beside her, “It feels very flashy, but it doesn’t have much practical use… Huh? Where’s Ling Jing?”
“She rushed over long ago.”
An Chen said, pointing toward the crowd in the distance. Zhuang Chi followed his finger and, sure enough, spotted Ling Jing’s figure in the most crowded area. She seemed to be agonizing over her choice of number, her expression as serious as if she were deciding the course of her life.
“…” Zhuang Chi’s lips twitched. She sighed. “…It doesn’t matter which one you take. In the end, who you get matched with still comes down to luck.”
“Indeed, luck is the main factor.” An Chen rarely agreed with her, but after a moment of silence, he added, “…But it’s not just about relying on luck.”
…Speaking of which, Zhuang Chi blinked and turned to look at him. An Chen was supposed to be the lucky one chosen by Gu Ximian tonight, right? Why did he sound like there was a hidden meaning in his words…?
“Let’s not talk about that for now,” An Chen said, clearly having no intention of explaining. He shifted his gaze away from the long table. “As for why they’re using this method to find dance partners… everyone here can probably guess to some extent, so I’ll explain it to you as well.”
“It’s for Princess Olivia.”
“Although Her Highness the Princess is beautiful and has a gentle personality, she has a well-known… small problem. She seems to have little interest in romance,” An Chen said tactfully. “According to the customs of A Country, royalty should have their engagements settled before the age of 16. But Princess Olivia still doesn’t have a fiancé, and even when meetings are arranged with people of suitable status, they always end up developing unfavorably.”
“Because of this, the King of A Country, who dotes on his daughter, seems to have set his sights on her having a romantic encounter while studying abroad. And that’s how this banquet came to be.”
“You’ve probably noticed it too. All the participants in this banquet are around our age. It’s likely that this roundabout lottery rule was created so that Princess Olivia wouldn’t be too resistant to the idea.” An Chen shrugged. “To put it simply—this banquet is a ‘large-scale blind date’ centered around the princess.”
“…”
A blind date. Zhuang Chi repeated it in her heart. So that’s what it was. That’s what Gu Ximian meant. It’s Olivia’s blind date, not Gu Ximian’s…
…No, no, no, what am I getting relieved about? Zhuang Chi scrunched up her face. The level of trouble hasn’t decreased by much. And speaking of Gu Ximian, shouldn’t I go say hello to her now? After all, I haven’t been able to contact her since I entered, but—
Zhuang Chi glanced in Gu Ximian’s direction. With great effort, she managed to catch a glimpse of a deep blue hem through a gap in the crowd, only for it to be blocked the next instant.
As expected of the female protagonist, she was immediately surrounded. It felt like everyone present was either gathered around the long table or surrounding Gu Ximian. Thinking that going over now would probably just cause trouble for Gu Ximian, Zhuang Chi temporarily dismissed the idea. She looked again at the long table, which seemed relatively empty around it due to its length, sighed softly, and decided to go and grab a random one—
Buzz buzz.
Suddenly receiving a message at a time like this, Zhuang Chi paused and took out her phone to look.
【Gu Ximian: Take number 49.】
“…”
Huh?
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