Reborn to outshine My Ex and His White Moonlight
Chapter 176 I Will Take Your Place

Chapter 176: Chapter 176 I Will Take Your Place

Throughout the journey, Lin Zhiyi could clearly feel that two sets of eyes had stopped staring at her from behind, making her feel much more relaxed.

The jewelry exhibition was set up in a national cultural museum located in a suburban town. The building boasted over a hundred years of history and was preserved quite well inside and out.

To avoid damaging the quaintness of the building, no red carpet had been laid out, and even the press conference took place with a group of people standing under an open-air courtyard.

Everyone was shivering with cold, yet they still had to maintain an elegant smile on their faces.

Xue Man joked that this was called dedicating oneself to art, but who knew how many heat packs were stuck under the dresses.

After the press conference ended, everyone moved into the warm interior venue.

The theme of this exhibition was culture and nature.

Right from the entrance were various creatively designed exhibits.

In addition to the luxurious jewelry fixed in display cases, there were jewels displayed in various forms.

Leaves and blooming flowers made of gradient gemstones, a large blue and white diamond fireworks necklace under the stars, and various jewelry butterflies suspended by fishing lines in a crisscross pattern.

Lin Zhiyi was admiring them when Xue Man’s voice pulled her back to reality.

Xue Man introduced the man before them to her and Song Wanqiu.

"Zhiyi, Wanqiu, this is Mr. Li, the organizer of this jewelry exhibition. Nearly every renowned jewelry designer at home and abroad is acquainted with him."

Before Lin Zhiyi could offer polite greetings, Song Wanqiu shouldered her way through, stepping forward to take Mr. Li’s hand.

"Hello Mr. Li, I’ve long admired your reputation. My name is Song Wanqiu."

She emphasized her own name.

Mr. Li immediately grasped her intentions and said with a smile, "The fiancée of Third Young Master, it is I who should have long admired you."

After a brief handshake, he subtly let go of Song Wanqiu’s hand without another word.

Song Wanqiu stiffened slightly.

Seizing the moment, Lin Zhiyi stepped forward with a casual smile. "Hello Mr. Li, I often hear President Xue praise you for your discerning eye. Seeing it in person today is even more astounding. I was so engrossed just now that I must have looked foolish."

Mr. Li’s eyebrows raised with pleasure, "What’s your name? It seems I haven’t seen you before."

"Lin Zhiyi. I just joined President Xue’s studio."

Rather than letting others remember her as someone’s someone, she preferred they remember her by her name.

"Lin Zhiyi, hmm... I have some distinguished guests arriving later, would you care to join us?"

"It would be an honor."

Lin Zhiyi nodded in acknowledgement.

Mr. Li surveyed her from head to toe with a slight surprise, "This gown is..."

Xue Man interrupted softly, "Mr. Li, it seems your assistant is looking for you?"

"I’ll leave first then, see you later." As Mr. Li was leaving, he didn’t forget to compliment Lin Zhiyi, "This gown is custom-made for you, truly fitting."

Lin Zhiyi was somewhat puzzled, what custom-made?

But outwardly, she still smiled cooperatively, "Thank you."

After seeing off Mr. Li, before Lin Zhiyi could ask about the gown, Xue Man had already gone off to find some friends.

She turned around helplessly, only to catch Miss Song’s unpredictable gaze, inexplicably chilling to the core.

Lin Zhiyi didn’t want to have any confrontations with Song Wanqiu in such a setting, so she took the opportunity to excuse herself to the restroom.

After washing her hands, she looked up to touch up her makeup, but the sudden appearance of Song Wanqiu’s figure in the mirror startled her.

Lin Zhiyi composed herself and ignored her, retouching her lipstick.

As she was about to leave, Song Wanqiu raised her hand and viciously blocked her way.

"Sure enough, a bitch begets a bitch, always knowing how to please men."

By now, Song Wanqiu couldn’t bother to feign tenderness and grace anymore.

Lin Zhiyi pointed calmly at the mirror, "Miss Song, watch your character, it wouldn’t be good if someone saw you like this."

The calmer she was, the more enraged Song Wanqiu became.

Especially when she thought of how Chen Jin watched her like a prisoner last night, she found it even harder to swallow her resentment.

Lin Zhiyi, however, didn’t want to deal with her and moved past her to leave.

Who knew that Song Wanqiu, mad as she seemed, would pull an eyebrow knife from her clutch and lunge at Lin Zhiyi.

Fortunately, Lin Zhiyi noticed Song Wanqiu’s movement through the opposing mirror and timely dodged to the side.

But Song Wanqiu took the opportunity to grab her shoulder strap and forcefully slashed at it.

Thunk, thunk...

A string of beads scattered across the floor.

The gown, which relied on the shoulder straps for support, slid downwards.

Lin Zhiyi could only hold her chest and hastily step back several paces.

Song Wanqiu lifted her proud neck, scoffed, and threw the eyebrow knife into the trash bin, then her expression changed, feigning surprise.

"Oh no! Zhiyi, how could you be so careless? How can you face anyone like this? You’d better just rest up and not embarrass President Xue. I will stand by Mr. Li’s side on your behalf."

With that said, she raised her eyebrows, smiled, and left the bathroom.

It was only after Lin Zhiyi clutched her gown tightly that she realized Song Wanqiu’s intention from the beginning wasn’t to harm her but merely to ruin her gown so she couldn’t show her face.

There was no time to think further; she immediately crouched down to pick up the beads, hoping to still fix the situation.

However, the building was a cultural relic, and even the bathroom preserved the original brickwork to the greatest extent, so many beads disappeared into the crevices of the floor tiles.

She found no more than a dozen or so beads which were insufficient to repair even one shoulder strap.

At that moment, footsteps approached from not too far off, and Lin Zhiyi could only clutch her gown and leave first.

She wanted to find a secluded room to deal with the gown first.

Such a good opportunity, she absolutely could not let it go to Song Wanqiu.

But in her haste, Lin Zhiyi accidentally bumped into a six or seven-year-old boy as she turned a corner.

"Ouch." He lay sprawled on the ground with a little bamboo basket.

Lin Zhiyi quickly freed one hand to help him up, "Sorry, little friend, where does it hurt?"

The boy, dressed in the local ethnic garments, looked up, "Wow, aunty, you’re so pretty."

Lin Zhiyi was taken aback, and didn’t know what to say.

Just then, a woman carrying things ran over.

"Ah Jie, didn’t I tell you not to run around? There’s a big event at the museum today, we mustn’t disturb others."

The woman looked quite exhausted, but she seemed very kind.

"Miss, I am sorry, the child doesn’t understand."

Lin Zhiyi shook her head and explained, "It was I who accidentally knocked the child down, please check if he’s injured anywhere, I can compensate for any medical fees."

Upon hearing about medical fees, the woman’s eyes tightened, and she hastily put down what she was carrying to check the child.

"You little rascal, with your father half-dead, can’t you be a little more careful?"

Lin Zhiyi thought she was just conveying her concern for the child and didn’t mind.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed what the woman was carrying—it was fabric.

The color was exceptionally beautiful, and under the sunlight, the fabric’s quality shone through.

"Big sister, this fabric is..."

"It’s a unique dye fabric of our area. The museum director is kind and buys our fabric to make handicrafts for the tourist spots, it helps us earn a little money."

As she spoke, the elder sister brushed the dust from the knees of the child.

Lin Zhiyi touched the fabric and quickly said, "Big sister, I’ll take this fabric, I’ll pay you triple the price."

The sister hesitated a bit and asked, "Really?"

Lin Zhiyi immediately pulled out her phone and opened the payment app, "Big sister, just enter your account number and the amount."

It was only after the phone chimed to confirm the payment that the sister dared to believe it was true.

"Sister, what are you going to do?"

"My dress is ruined, I want to use this fabric to make some alterations..." Lin Zhiyi pointed to her chest.

The sister examined Lin Zhiyi’s figure, reached into her bag, and pulled out a sewing kit and even a foldable pair of scissors.

"Thought it was some big deal, no need to worry, every woman in our town can sew, it’s quick work. Stand still, I’ll do it for you... it’s what they call ’tailor-made’ on the internet!"