Even as a "normie," I'm completely oblivious to it.

Seeing these people who clearly looked like big shots, they all checked their invitations with the bodyguards at the door before confidently walking through the gate.

Xiao Meng panicked even more.

What...what should I do? Although I'm dressed more elegantly than usual—it's a light, airy dress my mom chose, adorned with lots of ribbons and with a hem that reaches my ankles—it's still not a formal gown. Will it embarrass Yuzhe...?

No… I can’t think like that! Yu Zhe said that we should just participate naturally and not overthink it!

Moreover, judging from the level of this banquet, Yu Zhe's invitation to me must be quite rare. Could it have some special meaning, or perhaps... he only invited me personally...?

"Huh? Isn't this Luo Xiaomeng?"

Lost in thought, Xiao Meng turned around at the sound and saw that the speaker was Qin Ruoke walking towards them, holding an invitation that was exactly the same as hers.

Okay, the little girl is overthinking it.

52. How impressive!

Ugh... To be honest, I'm a little sad. It's so awful. I was just having wild thoughts, and now I'm facing reality. Is this what life is all about?

But! That's perfectly fine! Love is something you take one step at a time!

Besides, Qin Ruoke is here now, which is perfect because she has company. Xiaomeng was a little hesitant to go in earlier, but now that Qin Ruoke is here, they can go into the venue together.

Please guide me, expert!

"Luo Xiaomeng, what are you thinking about? Why are you standing here without moving? Oh, by the way, were you also invited by Yu Zhe?"

"Ah...oh right! What a coincidence, hahaha."

Xiao Meng then took a closer look at Qin Ruoke in front of her. She was wearing a simple coffee-colored coat with a matching plaid skirt. Judging from her legs, she was probably wearing thick black tights, since it was a cold day.

This was the first time Xiaomeng had ever seen Qin Ruoke wear a skirt. Before, she always wore school uniforms, or at most, casual clothes.

This outfit is simple yet formal, casual yet dignified.

She looked down at herself again, and cried out, "Waaah! This outfit is just like a Lolita dress, it's not formal at all, it's so childish! Mom, you've ruined me!"

Qin Ruoke had no idea why she suddenly looked a little dejected, so she specifically asked, "Do you have something to do outside? Why don't we go in together?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, please come with me!"

However, even Xiao Meng could deeply feel the change in Qin Ruoke. In the past, she was self-willed and would never ask others if they wanted to join, but now she has become more considerate of other people's feelings.

Did Yu Zhe really do that? He truly lives up to his reputation as my prince!

Just as the two were discussing going into the villa, they suddenly heard a loud noise.

Turning around, I saw a lot of people behind me and suddenly stopped, simply because a luxury car had arrived.

The person who stepped out of the luxury car was none other than Qi Xinye, the eldest daughter of the Qi family, dressed in a red dress and protected by several bodyguards.

As the second-ranked family in Fenghai City, her arrival undoubtedly attracted the attention of the other attendees at the banquet.

To be honest, Qi Xinye knew that Xiao Zhe didn't like to dress formally. If she could, she would like to wear her usual clothes, but given her status as the eldest daughter of the Qi family, she certainly couldn't wear casual clothes like Xiao Meng and Qin Ruoke.

Although this red dress is a very conservative style, it really suits her. Combined with her elegant gait, it exudes the air of a well-bred lady from a prestigious family.

Of course, her father, Qi Yi, was also walking in front of her.

Many people wanted to come over and talk to them, but no one could get close thanks to the bodyguards.

Qi Xinye truly lived up to her reputation as a wealthy heiress. She politely waved to the people around her, as etiquette was one of her strengths.

But no one knew that all she could think about right now was: I want to see Xiao Zhe, I want to see Xiao Zhe, I want to see Xiao Zhe… Please don’t block my way, move aside…

Before long, the Qi family's group passed through the gate and entered the villa.

"Wow...that's the older sister who came with Yuzhe at the sports meet...she's so cool..." Xiaomeng really exclaimed.

I think it's amazing. Qi Xinye's state of mind is something that can't be imitated. It's an innate quality that is constantly developed through training.

Qin Ruoke certainly agreed with this: "Indeed, after all, the people around Yu Zhe are definitely not ordinary. Moreover, I know a little about that one. She seems to be the eldest daughter of the Qi family, and she and Yu Zhe seem to be childhood sweethearts."

"Hey... childhood sweethearts... their relationship must be really good."

Oh no, this little girl is starting to feel envious again.

This time, Qin Ruoke saw through it and spoke out, otherwise who knows how much longer this silly little girl would have wasted.

"Alright, stop overthinking. Some things you can't have even if you envy them. Right now, the priority is to get inside and meet up with Yu Zhe."

"That's true... Okay, let's go in."

There was a queue at the entrance. At this moment, Xiao Meng suddenly looked curiously at the invitation in Qin Ruoke's hand: "Speaking of Qin Ruoke, can I take a look at this invitation?"

"Sure, what's up?" Qin Ruoke handed the invitation to Xiaomeng.

After comparing her invitation with her own, Xiao Meng returned it to Qin Ruoke.

"Look," Xiaomeng opened her invitation and held it up in front of Qin Ruoke, "our invitations actually have different messages, and they're both in Yuzhe's handwriting."

"Hmm? This...it seems so, which means..."

Xiao Meng summed it up for her: "This really was written by Yu Zhe himself! And it's different for everyone, he really put a lot of thought into it... Hmm? Qin Ruoke, are you listening?"

"Yes, I'm listening."

What to do? I'm so happy.

Qin Ruoke carefully smoothed out the invitation again. This piece of paper... I'll cherish it from now on.

The Su family was quite efficient in checking the invitation letters, and the procession moved forward quickly.

Only a few minutes had passed when they arrived at the two of them.

The person in charge of checking the two people's invitations was a maid from the Su family.

When she saw the two of them, she was initially surprised, but quickly returned to normal.

The maid was quite puzzled. So many people had passed through here, all dressed in formal attire, except for these two, who seemed to be dressed very casually. For a banquet of the Su family's caliber... were you sure you hadn't come to the wrong place?

As a professional maid, she still smiled and said, "Distinguished guests, please show me your invitations."

Wow...it's a real maid.

This was Xiaomeng's first time meeting a real maid, and she was a little nervous, trembling as she handed over the invitation.

Qin Ruoke was with her and followed her lead, handing out his own invitation.

The maid accepted both invitations and politely brought them to her for inspection.

then.

She was stunned.

These... these are different from the invitations we just received. Those were all printed by the Su family, but these two are handwritten and clearly different from the previous ones!

She immediately remembered what Miss Yu Che had instructed her that morning: "My brother has some friends coming over tonight. Be polite and don't talk back to them, or my brother will definitely be unhappy."

The name Su Yuzhe, signed at the end of the invitation, stood out prominently.

The people in line behind were puzzled as to why the line suddenly stopped.

Xiao Meng and Qin Ruoke, the parties involved, were even more puzzled. Why did this maid suddenly freeze?

Is it possible that this invitation alone isn't enough to get in...?

But to everyone's surprise, the maid took a clean and decisive step back, followed by a deep 90-degree bow, and then spread her left arm, palm up, pointing towards the door.

"Please come in, ladies! Please walk straight ahead for 800 meters from the auditorium. Young Master Yu Zhe is waiting there!"

The people in the queue who were closer to this side were quite surprised. They didn't expect that the two young girls in front of them were so important!

"Okay... okay, thank you." Qin Ruoke quickly took the invitation from the maid and led Luo Xiaomeng through the door.

Although she had expected it, Qin Ruoke didn't realize that Yu Zhe's invitation would actually have such a big effect, so she hurried to the venue before it caused any commotion.

Xiao Meng was startled. She had just come to her senses when she realized, "Good heavens! I was just worried about whether I could get in, and now I'm a VIP?!"

53. General (Bonus Chapter)

After that, the entry process continued in an orderly manner, but those still outside knew that the Ouyang family, the third largest family in Fenghai City, had not yet arrived.

At this moment, the Ouyang family's convoy stopped not far from the Su family's villa.

Elisa pushed the little lychee sitting next to her out the door: "That's about it, only one kilometer left. You'll have to walk the rest of the way yourself."

"Huh? But I don't know the way."

"Just use your phone to check the navigation. It's only a five-minute walk. You'll be there in no time."

Little Lychee really felt so miserable, and even started to doubt whether she was her biological child.

Thinking about this, she even asked, "Mom, am I your biological child?"

"I wish it weren't true. Unfortunately, you are indeed my biological child."

Besides, there must be a reason why I let you walk there yourself. You're such a silly girl.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ouyang Yan, the head of the Ouyang family, said with a wry smile, "Xiao Sha, why don't we let Li Zhi sit in the car a little longer? There's a wall outside the Su family villa, so no one will see her get out of the car there."

"Don't say that." Elisa gave him a speechless look. "This child is spoiled and can't endure any hardship. Isn't it all because you spoiled him?"

No, Little Lychee is upset. What does walking there have to do with being able to endure hardship... Don't underestimate her just because she's not smart; she has a good grasp of this logic.

I understand it clearly.

Perhaps noticing Xiao Lizhi's confusion, Elisa leaned out of the car window and held up a finger, instructing, "Listen, Lizhi, look at your clothes, and then look at mine."

Little Lychee knew without looking that she was wearing her usual fluffy, bright white down jacket, while her mother was wearing an extremely gorgeous purple gown.

Moreover, everyone in the front and rear convoys, whether they were relatives of the Ouyang family who had branched out, or the maids and housekeepers responsible for taking care of them, was dressed in formal attire.

"Do you understand?" Elisa sighed. "Because your brother Yuzhe prefers to dress casually, we let you come in this outfit. But our Ouyang family is not like the Su family. They are deeply rooted, while we are still in the development stage, but we are not small in scale. This is very awkward. If you come in with us in this outfit, given your status, people will just say that we don't know the rules."

“If you come with us, everyone will be able to guess who you are. But if you go by yourself, probably no one will recognize you. Anyway, once you get inside, just stick with Yu Zhe.”

This is the truth. The Ouyang family has not had an easy time in the past few years. The fact that they have reached their current scale is largely due to the good interpersonal relationships that Ouyang Yan has built. At this time, the Ouyang family was still very concerned about what their peers would say.

This time, Ouyang Yan smiled helplessly, put his hands together and said to Xiao Lizhi, "I'm sorry, my dear daughter, you'll have to make do this time. Just walk over by yourself. Your mother has thought things through very well. This is also a way of considering the family's situation."

“It’s fine for me to walk there by myself…” Little Lychee understood now, but there was still something she didn’t understand. “But if that’s the case, why did you make me wear these ordinary clothes? We have plenty of formal wear at home. You’re clearly risking what others will say…”

"Silly child," Elisa smiled. "If it can create an opportunity for you and the person you like to pursue your own happiness, what is this little risk? Well... I'm just trying to avoid it as much as possible."

"mom…"

Tears welled up in my eyes. It's true, I really am their biological child.