Tang Yuanyue was going to take Xia Xiaolan to the auction.

Du Zhaoji was also heading to the same place.

Tang Yuanyue went to the auction to pursue a girl, while Second Young Master Du was going for business – clients had all sorts of peculiar interests, and some people just liked antiques. Though Du Zhao couldn’t relate, he had to respect others’ preferences.

With this, Ye Xiaoqiong’s “vacation” came to an early end.

When Ye Xiaoqiong returned to the company, she discovered that in just two or three days, the secretarial office had completely changed its staff.

Someone also told her that she was able to return thanks to Vivi pleading with the Second Young Master on her behalf.

Ye Xiaoqiong suppressed her unease and thanked Xia Ziyu.

Xia Ziyu smiled sweetly, “I didn’t do much, just boldly spoke a few words of justice.”

Really?

Ye Xiaoqiong felt she shouldn’t doubt the other party, but after Vivi’s intervention and the complete staff change in the secretarial office, something felt odd to her.

She was called back because Du Zhaoji needed her.

However, since this auction was in the evening, it counted as overtime for Ye Xiaoqiong.

Shortly after, an assistant came specifically to instruct, “Second Young Master wants you to prepare appropriate clothes, the occasion isn’t so formal.”

So that extremely expensive professional suit dress wouldn’t work?

Ye Xiaoqiong had to prepare clothes after work, and Xia Ziyu approached her: “Xiaoqiong, I can help you choose, let me come along!”

“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?”

“Not at all! To be honest, I’m a bit scared. Second Young Master suddenly replaced everyone in the secretarial office, you’re the only one I know who’s left.”

Xia Ziyu linked arms with Ye Xiaoqiong, applying neither too much nor too little force – unless Ye Xiaoqiong forcefully shook her off, it wouldn’t be easy to break free.

This was true indeed.

Only the two of them remained as female staff in the secretarial office.

Everyone knew that Ye Xiaoqiong returned because of Xia Ziyu’s “pleading,” so Ye Xiaoqiong couldn’t be too harsh and accepted Xia Ziyu’s request to shop together.

Xia Ziyu spoke in a gentle voice, offering Ye Xiaoqiong many suggestions.

The dress was chosen with Xia Ziyu’s help – though both were from the mainland, Xia Ziyu’s aesthetic sense was considerably better than Ye Xiaoqiong’s.

Xia Ziyu also invited Ye Xiaoqiong to visit her home sometime. Given the expensive rent in that area and Xia Ziyu’s usual attire, Ye Xiaoqiong guessed her family must be quite well-off back in the mainland.

She wondered why Xia Ziyu came to Hong Kong.

“Xiaoqiong, why did you come to Hong Kong?”

While Ye Xiaoqiong was curious about Xia Ziyu, Xia Ziyu was even more curious about her.

She wanted to understand why Ye Xiaoqiong had earned Second Young Master Du’s favor. Regarding English proficiency, Xia Ziyu had also worked hard and could now handle daily conversation, though she was weaker in reading and writing. Ye Xiaoqiong was different, excelling precisely in reading and writing… Was that the only difference?

Xia Ziyu couldn’t believe it.

The previous secretarial staff all had Hong Kong education credentials – how could their English be worse than Ye Xiaoqiong’s?

Yet only Ye Xiaoqiong received such regard.

When Xia Ziyu asked about her background, Ye Xiaoqiong remained composed: “I came looking for relatives, but when I arrived, I found out they had already moved away. I could only find work in Hong Kong while continuing my search.”

Since she didn’t probe into Xia Ziyu’s affairs, Xia Ziyu couldn’t press further either.

Watching Ye Xiaoqiong get into the car parked by the roadside wearing her new dress, Xia Ziyu maintained her smile until even the car’s rear lights disappeared from view.

“Could it be that he’s tired of rich fare and wants to try something simpler?”

She thought for a moment, went home, and washed off her makeup, leaving her face bare.

People used to wearing makeup usually can’t accept their bare faces.

There are always some dark circles, uneven skin tone, or other issues.

Xia Ziyu touched her face – the traces of plastic surgery had faded, and she looked alluring with makeup.

Considering Du Zhaoji’s age, what if he didn’t like alluring women but preferred pure and simple ones?

Xia Ziyu applied her learned skills and did her makeup again.

Pure and pitifully beautiful.

She looked somewhat like Xia Xiaolan.

But Xia Xiaolan only stood out back in the mainland – she was just as out of place in Hong Kong.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t feel she could navigate Hong Kong society.

She brought Bai Zhenzhu along to the so-called small auction with Tang Yuanyue.

It wasn’t as luxurious as she had imagined. The venue was someone’s villa, with men and women gathered in small groups chatting – it looked more like a cocktail party.

Bai Zhenzhu wore a suit and stayed by Xia Xiaolan’s side; strangers wouldn’t know she was a woman.

“They sell antiques here?”

Antiques were just old bowls and vases, plus old tables and chairs – things that became valuable once they were old enough to earn the label “ancient.”

After Xia Xiaolan’s long explanation, that’s all Bai Zhenzhu understood.

Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t appreciate old bowls and vases… Xia Xiaolan didn’t like them either. She lacked that cultural foundation and didn’t want to pretend to like them.

Yet her chosen profession required certain artistic aesthetic sensibilities.

Xia Xiaolan had always known she was lacking in this aspect, but she had managed to get by before. It wasn’t until working on Tang Yuanyue’s renovation plans that she felt she needed to seriously develop this capability.

It wasn’t just about learning art – her understanding of beauty would be reflected in her work.

In the design field, one couldn’t rely solely on being ahead of trends for an entire career.

She could “copy” decoration styles and architecture she had seen before, but to improve further, she needed real skill of her own.

With this mindset, Xia Xiaolan came to attend this auction.

It would be best if she could buy suitable antiques within her budget, but even if not, she could gain experience.

For instance, right now she was focusing on this villa’s interior decoration, which naturally differed from the strong modern technological style of Tang Yuanyue’s villa. Xia Xiaolan paid attention to these details.

She didn’t know how many people were paying attention to her!

There are no secrets in high society. Tang Yuanyue deliberately leaked the news about breaking off his engagement with He Zhitong, and it spread everywhere in no time. Now he suddenly appeared at an auction with another woman – how could people not misunderstand Xia Xiaolan?

But Xia Xiaolan was completely unaware.

She didn’t know about the broken engagement, and having no close acquaintances in Hong Kong, no one warned her to avoid suspicion.

Had she known, Xia Xiaolan would never have attended with Tang Yuanyue.

Still, she was sensitive enough to notice the strange looks from those around her. If they were looks of amazement, she was immune to those by now, but these were different.

“Mr. Tang, has something happened that I don’t know about?”

Tang Yuanyue smiled apologetically, “I thought about it and realized Zhitong and I might be better as friends. I proposed breaking off the engagement, but I didn’t expect the news to spread so quickly throughout Hong Kong. It seems they’re misunderstanding your role… I’m so sorry, shall we go somewhere else? We don’t have to attend the auction; we might find some good items at a pawn shop.”

Really?

Why didn’t you say so earlier?

Xia Xiaolan saw several women approaching, and the leader looked rather familiar:

“It’s probably too late to leave now.”