Song Siyang : “…”
His heart was full of rejection.
What kind of joke was this? He was a well-known figure at school—lots of people recognized him… No, even if no one knew him, he still couldn’t wear women’s clothes!
His parents would definitely kill him.
He refused outright: “No way, I’m not wearing it!”
Lu Xi shrugged. “Then there’s nothing I can do. Only the women’s outfit is left. If you don’t want it, you’re out.”
Song Siyang panicked. “How can that be? I—I…”
Lu Xi looked at him with a teasing smile. “So, are you in or not?”
Song Siyang : “…”
Of course, he didn’t want to wear women’s clothing! But this was kind of fun—walking on the catwalk as a male model! He had never tried this before.
Besides, recently, his Brother Heng had been getting closer to Xu Jiaming. They played basketball together, gamed together, and Xu Jiaming even tutored Xie Heng Heng. They were practically becoming best bros.
And him? At most, he was just Xie Heng’s troublemaking friend. The two of them together did nothing but embrace their roles as academic slackers. Even his own parents praised Xu Jiaming for being studious and polite, telling him to learn from Xie Heng and spend more time with Xu Jiaming.
That left him feeling frustrated, deeply sensing his parents’ disdain.
When Xie Heng suddenly decided to take studying seriously, Song Siyang initially thought it was just a passing whim. He figured it wouldn’t last more than a few days. But unexpectedly, Xie Heng stuck with it, determined not to stop until he improved by at least fifty ranks in the midterms.
Calling Xie Heng to play basketball or game? Out of ten times, five times Xie Heng refused. If he kept asking, Xie Heng even got annoyed, saying he was getting in the way of Xie Heng’s progress.
“…”
Song Siyang felt like he was being left out. Gritting his teeth, he decided to follow Xie Heng to tutoring sessions, and even made the painful sacrifice of offering up one of his limited-edition jerseys.
Now, the two were supposed to be male models together. If he didn’t participate, wouldn’t that mean getting excluded again?
He was so frustrated his face scrunched up.
Lu Xi smiled knowingly, a look of mischief in her eyes.
Song Siyang felt even worse.
Of course, he could tell she was deliberately teasing him. But looking at Lu Xi’s bright, cheerful face, he just couldn’t bring himself to get mad.
Honestly, sometimes when he saw Lu Xi, he had a hard time remembering she was Xie Heng’s stepmother. She was just too young. She looked more like an older sister, or rather, a gorgeous older sister.
Song Siyang was a self-proclaimed face control, and a hopeless one at that.
That time Lu Xi had visited their school, quite a few classmates were struck by her beauty. Some even whispered that if Lu Xi were a student, she’d undoubtedly be the school beauty. Song Siyang secretly agreed.
And she was impressive too!
In the Xie household, she was practically the one calling the shots. If Song Siyang got bullied, he had no choice but to suck it up.
With a bitter face and a hint of a whine, he said, “Is there really no other outfit? Anything but women’s clothes, pretty please, Aunt… No! Pretty Sister?”
Lu Xi : “…”
Uh, what?
Being called ‘Pretty Sister’ by a teenage boy was, of course, flattering, but wasn’t this guy a little too lively?
Xie Heng’s face instantly darkened, and he smacked Song Siyang on the forehead. “Shut up! If you want to act cute, go find your own Mom!”
Ouch!
Song Siyang clutched his head and wisely shut up.
But after a second, something felt off… Find his own Mom?
Huh?!
But he wasn’t talking to Xie Heng’s Mom now!
Lu Xi frowned slightly, her ears ringing from the noise. “Alright, enough. Let me think.”
Having a bunch of teenage boys in the house made for a lively atmosphere, but it also meant a lot of commotion.
Boys were just rowdier than girls. Lu Xi felt relieved that she only had Xie Heng. If she had two kids, and both were boys, handling them would be unbearable. Unless, of course, one was an older sister or a younger sister.
Xie Heng glanced at Lu Xi and noticed her growing irritation. His lips tightened unhappily, but he still obeyed and quieted down.
She didn’t like the house being too noisy.
Lu Xi thought for a moment. “If you don’t want to wear women’s clothes, fine. I’ll think of something else.” She paused, then shot Song Siyang a cool glance. “Even if you wanted to wear it, you can’t. It’d be a waste of my design.”
After all, she had designed a beautiful girls’ school uniform. Having a tall, broad-shouldered, nearly 1.8-meter-tall guy wear it would be pure eyestrain.
Song Siyang : “…”
Was there anything more embarrassing than wearing women’s clothes?
Yes, being deemed unworthy of even wearing them.
Ignoring the three boys, Lu Xi returned to the study, sat down, and after some careful thought, picked up her pen and quickly sketched a new design on the board. Her expression relaxed a little.
Although the competition only required four designs, it didn’t say additional designs weren’t allowed.
Lu Xi thought to herself, since other parents were hiring ghostwriters for their designs and the school didn’t interfere, then if she submitted four plus one, the school would have no reason to reject them.
She sent the newly completed design draft, along with the other four, to the assistant Lin Yun had hired for her. The assistant would be responsible for contacting the garment factory.
Lu Xi requested urgency and meticulous attention to detail. She had a bit of an obsession when it came to clothing, so much so that even when shopping for clothes, she would scrutinize the tailoring. Even a single misplaced stitch could affect the overall look.
Fortunately, the assistant, Wei Ning, was experienced. She had worked for a design brand for two years and knew the industry well. With just a few simple instructions from Lu Xi, she understood what needed to be done.
When Wei Ning opened the email and saw the designs, she was momentarily stunned.
These are… school uniforms?
She hesitated, unsure if Lu Xi had sent the wrong files, so she made sure to confirm.
Lu Xi quickly replied : [That’s right, they’re school uniforms.]
Looking closer, Wei Ning noticed the logo of Mingli High School on the clothes.
Mingli High? She had only heard about it. It was the best high school in the city, with sky-high tuition fees. Graduating from there practically guaranteed a bright future. Half the students were academic elites destined for top universities, while the other half were second-generation rich kids who, even if their grades weren’t great, could still get overseas degrees and return home to inherit their family businesses.
Wei Ning wasn’t sure what was going on. She had only been at this job for two days and knew little about Lu Xi, except that her boss was young, beautiful, and rich. She had assumed Lu Xi was just a wealthy single woman.
She quickly set off to take the measurements of the models Lu Xi had arranged.
When she saw the address Lu Xi had sent, Wei Ning froze for a moment.
This was the city’s most expensive villa district!
Her rich boss lived here? Her boss really was loaded!
Wei Ning suddenly felt like she had made the right career move. This job had potential! At least she wouldn’t end up like in her last job, where the boss went bankrupt midway and escaped while leaving her with three months of unpaid wages.
Still, something seemed odd.
Why were the models being measured at Lu Xi’s house instead of a studio?
She didn’t think too much about it and arrived at the villa district. The door was opened by a housekeeper.
“I’m looking for Ms. Lu. I’m her assistant, Wei Ning.”
The housekeeper hesitated for a moment before letting her in. “Madam is upstairs. Please have a seat in the living room first.”
Wei Ning : ?
—Madam?
Wait a minute—was her boss married?!
Sitting in the spacious and luxurious living room, Wei Ning was still processing the shock of her young rich boss getting married so early. She was so distracted that she didn’t even take in the grandeur of the villa.
Before long, Lu Xi came downstairs.
Wei Ning quickly stood up and gave her an awkward but polite smile. She didn’t want to stare at her boss, but she still couldn’t help her eyes lighting up.
Every time, Lu Xi’s beauty was breathtaking!
Having such a stunning boss definitely boosted workplace motivation.
“You’re here. Have a seat, I’ll have them come down,” Lu Xi said, sitting calmly on the opposite sofa.
Wei Ning : “Them?”
Lu Xi : “Mm. The models. You just need to take their measurements.”
Wei Ning grew even more curious. What kind of models are staying at Lu Xi’s house and need to be called downstairs?
Then, Lu Xi turned to the housekeeper. “Go call Young Master and Xiao Xu, Xiao Song downstairs.”
Wei Ning : Young Master?
Before she could make sense of it, a series of hurried footsteps echoed from upstairs. Moments later, three teenage boys entered the living room.
Wei Ning stared, stunned for a few seconds.
They were all ridiculously good-looking!
Especially the two on the left!
One had dyed-blue hair, exuding an air of cold arrogance. He was the tallest, incredibly handsome, but gave off the intimidating vibe of a rebellious school delinquent.
The boy beside him had a completely different aura—calm, refined, and intelligent. The kind of person who screamed ‘academic genius’ straight out of a school drama.
As for the last one, he was also good-looking, but for some reason… he seemed a little goofy? Like he was perpetually confused about something?
Wei Ning’s heart pounded.
This was a feast for a face control!
Where on earth had Lu Xi found these walking clothes hangers? They were going to look incredible in school uniforms!
The blue-haired boy, Xie Heng, ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the unfamiliar woman on the sofa. He asked Lu Xi, “Why did you call this Young Master down here?”
Wei Ning : …So this was the Young Master?!
The servant addressed Ms. Lu as ‘Madam,’ while the boy referred to himself as ‘Young Master,’ but no matter how hard Wei Ning tried, she couldn’t figure out their actual relationship.
Lu Xi’s gaze lingered for a moment before she glanced at Xie Heng.
He immediately lowered his eyes, his expression subtly tensing.
Ignoring him, Lu Xi turned to Wei Ning and said, “It’s these three. Take their measurements.”
Xie Heng was momentarily stunned—he didn’t quite understand what she meant.
With the task at hand, Wei Ning pushed aside her curiosity, took out a measuring tape, and approached the three boys.
As soon as Song Siyang heard that measurements were needed, he got excited. He was the first to step forward, eagerly stretching out his arms. “Come, come! Measure me first!”
He didn’t even care what Lu Xi wanted him to wear, as long as it wasn’t women’s clothing.
Thanks to his cooperation, Wei Ning finished measuring him in less than three minutes and recorded the data.
Two remained.
The other two frowned at her, their expressions tinged with reluctance.
Wei Ning hesitated. “Who’s next?”
Hands in his pockets, Xie Heng nonchalantly looked left, then right, then up at the ceiling—anywhere but at her.
He looked exactly like a slacker in class trying to avoid being called on by the teacher.
Xu Jiaming let out a quiet sigh and resignedly raised his hand. “I’ll go.”
Wei Ning blinked rapidly, struggling to suppress the smile tugging at her lips.
Oh. My. God.
A boy who voluntarily raised his hand to answer a question? That was way too adorable.
Wei Ning felt a surge of joy, almost floating.
But she was a professional. No matter how delighted she was, she wouldn’t let it interfere with her work. And since Xu Jiaming was also cooperative, she quickly finished measuring him.