The next afternoon, Feng Ping went to go fulfill her appointment with Yi Eryang. He requested for her help because there was a charity auction happening soon where the proceeds would go towards protecting the environment, so many celebrities and wealthy people were invited. Because Yi Eryang received a great response from his Paris fas.h.i.+on show that also happened to revolve around the theme of being environmentally-friendly, he was the first choice for designer, but since there wasn't enough time, he had no choice but to seek help.

Arriving at the office, she saw the promotional material for this event and flipping it open, the first page was the guest list. Reading down the long list, she hardly knew any of them, although amongst the celebrities she at least knew Xia Yao and three or four of the top singers. In the socialites section she saw Tang Mingxuan and became confused, “I never heard that Tang Zhan had an illegitimate daughter?”

Yi Eryang sn.i.g.g.e.red, “She's Ah'Nan's younger cousin, his gugu‘s daughter.”

“Her surname is also Tang?”

“She follows her mom's surname. Tang da xiaojie's(1) father pa.s.sed away when she was little, and since she was so young, it couldn't be helped that some things were done a little absurdly, *cough*…a couple of years ago she emigrated outside the country and became much more low-profile. The Tang family also doesn't like to mention this matter very much either. However,” Yi Eryang switched to an exaggerated tone, “you actually don't know who Tang Mingxuan is, you're definitely an alien, more specifically, a male alien.”

The last sentence made Feng Ping laugh, “A male alien?”

Yi Eryang helplessly sighed, “Anyone who takes even a glance at the gossip column knows about this, much less women.”

Feng Ping could only remind him, “I'm a foreigner, I haven't been here very long…”

Yi Eryang: “Please, information is pa.s.sed around so quickly these days.”

Feng Ping refuted, “Please! Is it a crime to not look at the gossip column?”

Yi Eryang laughed, “It's not a crime, just weird. I firmly believe that gossiping is a woman's innate ability.”

Feng Ping nodded her head in agreement, “That's true. I used to love gossiping as well, but I switched interests in the recent years.”

“I'm curious as to what you gossiped about in the past?”

“Clothing, food, men, whatever women usually gossip about I would too…”

Speaking quite carefreely, she quickly flipped through the rest of the promotional material and went back again to the first page with the guest list. The first name on the socialites list was Zhou Xinzhu, there was also Wu Nianzhen, Yu Manwen, Fang Junyi, etc. Because of Tang Jianan, she was somewhat knowledgeable about Yu Manwen and Wu Nianzhen. The Yu family was in the entertainment business and the Wu family was in the restaurant business, both were second to none.

“This Zhou Xinzhu…”

Hearing this name Yi Eryang let out a sigh, “She's a really bothersome client. Her evening dress must be creative enough, trendy enough, and original enough. Although she's really generous with her money.” Switching the topic, he smiled, “Can't offend the young miss of a rich family.”

“Oh?”

Yi Eryang raised his thumb, “She's the daughter of the wealthiest person in our city.”

Feng Ping was surprised, “Hm, isn't the richest tang Zhang?”

Yi Eryang laughed, “You still believe in the Forbes ranking? The financial information released to the public isn't reliable. In reality, there are many extremely wealthy people that aren't even on that list; they prefer to stay hide out in the mountains as if there are debt collectors trying to chase them down—” As he spoke, he lightly smacked the booklet in her hand, “charity organizations.”

Feng Ping couldn't stop her lips from raising and nodded, “That makes sense.”

Yi Eryang lamented, “Regardless, it's good as long as they have money, I'll be able to make enough to live off of for several generations…”

Feng Ping laughed, “Are you in need of money?”

Yi Eryang widened his eyes, “Who detests making more money?!”

Feng Ping threw away the booklet and smiled, “Let's not talk about this anymore, get to work.”

Yi Eryang immediately led her to a large room filled with trash. There were empty cans, boxes that used to store drinks, old newspapers, etc. Seeing it, Feng Ping couldn't help by gasp in surprise.

“I was thinking of using recyclable materials to create an evening gown.”

“This is quite creative.”

“Use trash to promote protecting the environment.”

“Will you have enough time?”

“I don't, so I'll only make one. Since you also think that this is a good idea, then it should be able to satisfy Zhou Xinzhu's demands…”

“It'll definitely knock everyone else's socks off.”

Hearing this Yi Eryang couldn't help but reveal a look of pride.

Feng Ping was curious, “I'm just wondering why Xia Yao didn't come to find you, since regardless, Tang Jianan is the one foot the bill, isn't it?” She smiled in spite of herself.

Yi Eryang also smiled, “She only recognizes Jennifer.”

Feng Ping pursed her lips, “What a shame, Jennifer believes that she's a third-rate actress.”

Yi Eryang jerked, “Speaking of that, I wanted to ask you this on the plane last time too. That skirt of Jennifer's looked very beautiful, why did you say it was a third-rate product?”

Feng Ping laughed, “Because Jennifer has a weird quirk. She'll never sell something that's truly first-rate. Also, she has very high standards; she thinks that while there are many rich people in this world, there are very few that can match up to her clothes. If you're one of her good friends, there's a chance that you might be able to own one or two of them, but those won't have tags on them.”

Yi Eryang's face was full of shock, “I've never heard of that, how do you know?”

Feng Ping's face was full of mirth, “Didn't I say it earlier, I was an avid gossiper in the past.”

“I feel like it's not very true?”

“Hehe, it's just gossip, you don't need to treat it as the truth. Let me see your designs…”

“Alright!” Yi Eryang took her to look at the designs.

During the following week, everyone in the office was working overtime, and Feng Ping pulled several all-nighters with them as well. Such a beautiful woman turned into a panda due to staying up late. Yi Eryang felt guilty and seeing that the project was pretty much complete, he let her go home to rest.

Feng Ping truly was tired and grabbed her large canvas bag with her as she went home. However, she didn't go back to her apartment, instead she took a cab straight to s.h.i.+guang Hotel.

There, she had her own designated room with her own room service, so she would be able to peacefully rest.

Entering the lobby, she went straight into her personal elevator. That elevator was near the elevators for VIP guests, and as she dazedly turned a corner, she b.u.mped into someone. Because she was sleepy, her legs didn't have much strength and she shakily took two steps back before she sat on the floor, letting out a grunt in spite of herself. Raising her head, she saw that she b.u.mped into a man wearing a leather suit and sungla.s.ses that weren't able to hide his handsome facial features.

Before he could react, the two people behind him spoke up first, one hurriedly asked him, “Yi, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

The other looked like a sissy(2) and started scolding her without even taking a breath, “This lady, what's wrong, are you blind or do you just not look when you walk, do you know who you just b.u.mped into, which company's reporter are you, let me tell you, don't even think about interviewing our Yi for the rest of your life…” Specks of spit fell onto her face.

“Reporters these days really are everywhere.” A tall, slender, and cold woman wearing sungla.s.ses mocked her, and then held on to the man's elbow, leading him away, “Yi, if we don't leave now we'll be late.”

The sissy turned his nose up at her and made a ‘hng' sound before turning around and followed them out.

Feng Ping felt helpless, she was tired to the point where she couldn't even muster up the strength to speak. She could only admit to her bad luck. Crawling up, she patted her b.u.t.t, and got on the elevator. When the elevator doors just opened, there was already a personal employee waiting for her. Her first sentence was, “Go look at the VIP list to see if there's a girly-looking man and immediately kick him out.”

Consequently, a scandal was reported that night: Tonight, the well-known manager Ren Yao accompanied the celebrity Han Yi who is under the same company to a business event. After the event finished and he returned to s.h.i.+guang Hotel, he was notified that he had been kicked out and had been blacklisted, never able to live in this hotel ever again. This is the first time such a situation has happened, and Ren Yao was furious, believing that it was a great insult to him and demanded an explanation. In the end, the host spoke without a hint of humor in his voice, ‘society is evolving and people are becoming more civilized. perhaps one day a person's character will be like money, maybe one day it will even replace money to be the key indicator of measuring how we live our lives.”

(1) da xiaojie: Literally ‘big miss'. The oldest daughter of the current head of the household.

(2) sissy (娘娘腔): It's usually meant to refer to a male who acts and/or speaks like a female (i.e. high-pitched voice, exaggerated hand gestures, etc.)