Mommy, don't be afraid, I'll bring you blind boxes and scam you out of a wealthy family to

Xiao Wenli rubbed her eyes, but didn't show her usual sweet smile.

She didn't notice the subtle expressions on the adults' faces. Her little hands were still holding the lifeless wooden snake. She was dejected, and even the little tuft of hair on her head drooped down.

Her uncle carried her to the middle of the adults, placed the wooden snake on his lap, and she pursed her lips, looking somewhat disappointed.

"What's wrong?" Old Master Duan spoke first, his tone restrained, his gaze sweeping over his eldest son with his usual displeasure. "Did you suffer some injustice outside?"

He adjusted his tone: "Is the toy not fun?"

The old man has tried his best to soften his attitude, but he's not quite adept at showing concern yet.

The little bundle of milk shook its head.

Duan Hetong didn't say anything, but took the obviously upset little girl from him and let her lean against him, gently patting her back with his palm.

Wen Li buried her face in his shoulder, her voice muffled: "Li Bao... can't do it."

"What can't you do?" Duan Shimi sat down beside him, seemingly having reconciled with her father and brothers. "Is it related to that wooden snake?"

Wen Li nodded and handed her the wooden snake.

The wood carving passed around among the adults, but it remained lifeless, looking like just a piece of scrap material that had been casually carved out.

Wen Li sniffed: "Chirp chirp, is it broken... The little mole is looking for things for Grandpa, and the eraser can help Uncle, but it can't do anything."

She wanted to help Gugu too, but she couldn't do anything.

The adults looked at each other, none of them understanding what the little mole and the eraser were all about.

But the little guy's frustration was obvious.

Duan Hetong returned the wooden carving to Wen Li, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Perhaps it's just not the right time to use it yet."

Wen Li believed Baba's words most: "When?"

Duan Hetong treated this purely as a child's toy: "Wait until you use the right method."

Method... Method...

It's not about touching the snake's head, nor is it about putting the snake on the design draft.

So, how else can it be used?

Soak it in water? Roast it over a fire?

Hmm, kids shouldn't play with fire.

Grandpa Duan instructed, "Let's eat first."

The family walked toward the restaurant.

No one noticed that the wooden snake left on the coffee table suddenly raised its head.

-

Despite his cold words about "not causing trouble for the Duan family," it's always been clear how protective Tan Shitong is of his family members.

The vast Duan family empire quietly sprang into action. The customs public relations department contacted media channels overnight, and Duan Hetong also leveraged considerable of his personal influence, using "cross-cultural exchange" as a pretext and an irresistible sponsorship amount as the underlying incentive to make a deal with the Golden Feather Awards organizing committee—

The final on-site defense and award ceremony for this year's Golden Feather Awards will be held in Tan City.

Duan Hetong was silently warning everyone: if the Duan family suffers injustice outside, then the Duan family will bring the battlefield back to their own territory.

The dinner held on the eve of the defense was at a top-tier hotel owned by the Duan Group.

The hall was filled with the fragrance of fine clothes and the clinking of glasses.

Duan Shimi changed into a splashed ink silk dress. The irregular hem of the dress flowed in layers, making her already noble and aloof aura even more compelling.

What's even more eye-catching is the little bundle of milk in her arms.

A creamy white cheongsam, a gray-blue shawl, and rabbit-shaped buttons, like soft little clouds that have fallen from the sky.

This is the only children's clothing piece in Duan Shimi's new Chinese style series. When designing it, she never expected that the little model for the first time would be her own child.

This was the second time Wen Li had attended a cocktail party with the Duan family. This time, she was not afraid at all, but rather curiously looked around.

She held a wooden snake in one hand and her baby bottle in the other, her big, dark eyes blinking, eliciting exclamations of "So cute! So cute!" wherever she went.

The beautiful girl and adorable child were undoubtedly the focus of the entire event.

The two had just walked through the corridor when they bumped into Iris, who was surrounded by a group of overseas media with their cameras and microphones.

...What a small world!

Iris is wearing that new Chinese-style haute couture gown that she copied from Duan Shimi's collection today.

She was enjoying the spotlight, but the moment Duan Shimi appeared with the mysterious baby in her arms, all the media cameras turned to her:

"Ms. Duan, are you appearing today to directly address the plagiarism controversy?"

"Mia, who is this child?"

"There are rumors that you brought your child to the event to gain sympathy and obscure the alleged theft of ideas. How do you respond to this?"

"Is this child wearing a new piece from the same collection that you haven't yet revealed? Wouldn't you call that a provocation?"

"Ms. Duan, is it true that Iris was once your student?"

—The flashes of light flowed off her like water, which infuriated Iris.

"I really didn't expect you, Mia, to have the nerve to show your face here." Iris stepped forward, holding a wine glass, her foreign language filled with disdain. "You Asian designers are always like this, not only is your art murky, but your private lives are also like this..."

She straightened the stolen oriental charm she wore, making no attempt to hide the arrogance and discrimination in her eyes: "The judges will not tolerate a plagiarist who uses his illegitimate daughter for publicity."

The moment these harsh words like "illegitimate daughter" and "plagiarism" were uttered, even the media, which were originally far away, swarmed over like sharks smelling blood.

Duan Shimi frowned slightly and blocked Wen Li's eyes in front of the bright light.

Facing Iris, she showed no shame or anger, nor the intense reaction Iris expected. Her expression remained calm: "Iris, you submitted the draft first, but haute couture is a craft, not a PowerPoint presentation to fool laymen."

"...What do you mean?"

"This streamlined shape is a binding technique I created myself. Even when you were still in the studio, I never showed it to you. The design you stole didn't include this part. To achieve the desired effect, I had to use the old method of forcibly sewing the mother-of-pearl on."

Duan Shimi smiled gently.

"The tighter you wrap this thread, the more fragile it actually is."

Iris's expression changed: "Don't try to use this as a gimmick!"

Duan Shimi raised an eyebrow: "Really? How about we ask the media to give us a close-up shot so we can see if your so-called 'highlight' will crumble at the slightest touch?"

The ingenious craftsmanship seemed to slap Iris's arrogant sense of racial superiority in the face.

Amidst the continuous clicking of camera shutters, Iris stubbornly tried to argue, "Don't exaggerate. Everyone's used fritillaria before, how much could it be—"

"Huh?!"

Amidst the sparks flying in the air, a tender, childlike voice rang out.

Wen Li peeked her little head out from her aunt's arms, tilted her head, and stared in confusion at the shiny lines on Iris's body.

Iris was indignant, and her tone towards the child became extremely harsh: "What are you looking at!"

Wen Li found herself holding an opened blind box. She took out a palm-sized retro metronome, the pointer at the top swinging rhythmically left and right.

The little ones didn't care about the adults' sarcastic remarks. Grabbing the metronome, they clapped their little hands excitedly to the beat.

*Snap.* *Tap.* *Snap.* *Tap.*

pat-

Almost at the exact same time, the streamlined line on Iris's shoulder suddenly snapped!

Iris's usual haughty expression suddenly froze.

pat-

The first mother-of-pearl fell off and crashed to the ground in full view of everyone.

"This...this is impossible..."

She screamed, forgetting all decorum, and frantically tried to cover her shoulder.

pat-

As the metronome and the little pear beat more and more enthusiastically, in the global live broadcast, the rising haute couture designer Iris, with her mother-of-pearl flowing lines starting from her shoulders, seemed to obey the command of the little pear, breaking off a section downwards with each beat!

"Stop filming! No filming allowed!"

Iris panicked completely, screaming as she tried to block the media's cameras while protecting her clothes, completely unsure which was more important.

A series of expensive mother-of-pearl beads, large and small, fell onto a jade plate, creating a chaotic and disorderly noise.

The pale white silk dress, now without support, became misshapen and disheveled.

Iris's anger quickly turned into panic, and finally into a forced silence.

In just two minutes, all that was left on her was a tattered rag.

The entire audience was so shocked they were speechless!

The metronome was still working tirelessly, and when the little milk ball saw that all the shiny pebbles had fallen off, it shrank back into its aunt's arms.

In an eerie silence, only little Wenli pointed at the pale-faced Iris and said in a childish voice, "Gugu, Auntie's beautiful dress is ruined..."

Duan Shimi knew that Iris's binding method wouldn't last long, but she didn't expect karma to come so quickly.

She had a vague feeling that it might be related to Wen Li, but she couldn't find any concrete evidence.

But no matter what, the little girl really helped her vent her anger.

Iris's face was half ashamed and half terrified as she collapsed to the ground in despair.

Amidst the crackling flashes of camera lights, Duan Shimi stood high above, her expression not only calm but also filled with pity:

"Iris, you became my apprentice. Do you remember the first lesson I taught you? You can imitate the lines of the design and the shape of the clothes, but the talent and inspiration that truly gives haute couture its soul—no one can copy that."

"See, now you've realized it, haven't you? You simply can't live up to my principles."

After saying this, she hugged Wenli and gracefully turned to leave.

A large group of media outlets were left snapping photos like madmen, while Iris, having lost face at the dinner, became the laughingstock of the industry.

-

Away from the bombardment of spotlights, the corridor finally gained some peace and quiet.

Duan Shimi stroked Wen Li's soft, long hair, then couldn't help but nuzzle her little face: "You truly live up to your reputation, you really are our family's little lucky star."

However, this is not the end of the victory.

Duan Shimi glanced at her watch; there were less than 30 hours until the final defense.

The war without gunfire has only just begun.

Duan Shimi was lost in thought, pondering a strategy, while Wen Li was also staring blankly at the wooden snake.

The R-grade blind boxes I opened today helped GuGu. This even more powerful SSR still didn't work.

The little dumpling was disappointed and wanted to put it in the warehouse.

Just then, the wooden snake seemed to come alive and soared into the air—