Soon, the waiters ferried dish after dish from the carts to the table, steam curling up like white silk. The resident foodie was twitching like a cat before fish, but the golden-haired Little Loli suddenly remembered a problem, and it was serious. “What do I do about this veil on my face…”
Helpless, Little Loli speared a tiny square of cake like a sparrow pecking grain. With her other hand, she lifted the veil a finger’s width. She opened her cherry-red mouth, and ah-woo, the bite vanished like snow on a warm stone. “Is this really my fate, this tragic…” The cake melted on her tongue like spring rain. The fragrance flowed along her lips like a small stream. Yet her mood stayed overcast like a sky before storm. For a foodie, having delicacies in front of you and being forced to nibble is like a thin knife tracing your skin, opening cut after slow cut.
Her so-called dad at her side had already read her heart like a clear pond. Before the golden-haired girl tried a second bite, he leaned close and breathed in her ear, “Baby, when this is over I’ll take you to a real feast. Don’t force yourself now.” “Ugh… can you not be so gross? I’ve got goosebumps.” Little Loli shivered like a cat with its fur rubbed backward.
Still, with that promise, Little Loli set down her chopsticks, unwilling as an autumn leaf, and sat unmoving, still as a pond. Those who had hoped to catch a glimpse beneath the veil while she ate sighed like lanterns going dim. She never raised her chopsticks again, only sat there like a statue, so they had no choice but to face their own plates.
An hour later, the host took the stage again like a bell cutting through fog. “Dear guests, next is the long-awaited ball. Please choose your partners and enjoy the night at center stage. Cue the music!” The background music swelled like a tide, and the lights swayed with it like ripples across a lake, scattering brightness into every corner.
Hands soon found hands. Men and women streamed into the dance floor like birds settling on a branch, plenty of them young. Business balls are for weaving webs, and the young were out there casting lines like fishers at dawn. Some had already settled on fiancées and fiancés, so of course they paired up and began to dance.
More and more stepped into the floor like snowflakes gathering into a drift. “Huh, where’s the classic trope where someone drags me out to dance…” Little Loli propped her chin on one hand against the table, thoughts drifting like kites. Just then, a hand reached toward her. “Hello, beautiful lady. Would you honor me with a dance?” The voice was familiar, and yet it scraped like sand. Ou Xiangyang stood there in a sharp suit like armor, a halo painted on, and somehow he still reeked like a flower left in stale water.
“Look, look, the deputy mayor’s son is inviting the Hongli chairman’s daughter.” “Oh wow, she’s lucky.” “Yeah, seize that chance and you might soar.” Nearby merchants buzzed like bees. With Little Loli’s keen ears, every word was clear as a bell. “Uh, I was joking. Don’t make it real…” she muttered, a cloud of black lines in her head. “Again, this. Whether I accept or refuse, it’s a thorny path…” Her exquisite face hid behind the veil like the moon behind clouds. Then, another hand reached out. “Hello, beautiful miss. Would you grant me the honor of a dance?” Cai Wenbin appeared, bowing in a noble arc like a willow bending to wind, his posture lower than Ou Xiangyang’s by a head.
The circle around them rippled into an uproar. “Heavens, even the Chamber President’s son is inviting that girl.” The decked-out young ladies bit their lips like rainy plums, their eyes spitting sparks. They wished the invitation had landed on them like dew. “Damn, what’s so good about her? Hiding behind a veil to play mysterious. Probably just a pretend-innocent slut.”
Ou Xiangyang slanted a glare at Cai Wenbin, anger burning like a coal. Cai Wenbin didn’t flinch. He kept smiling at the big eyes beneath the veil, as if he could see through mist to stars.
“Is this what you wanted?” Seeing the hint of pleading in his eyes like a lantern in wind, Little Loli pouted. In the end, she lifted her hand and set it in his like a petal on water. Cai Wenbin held it as if it were jade, gentle as first snow, and step by step drew her toward the center of the floor. “Damn it!” Ou Xiangyang ground his teeth till they might crack, his face hot as a slapped cheek.
His hand at his side clenched and unclenched like a tide. “Just you wait.” He strode out of the hall, vanishing down the corridor like a shadow at dusk. The crowd exhaled in surprise. “She refused the deputy mayor’s son and chose the Chamber President’s son. Well, you can’t afford to offend either.” Sighs drifted like smoke. So young, and already caught in hard choices—what a bitter joke. Her father only sat quietly to one side like an old pine in wind. He couldn’t step in. He could only watch, though the lead on stage was his own daughter.
“Hey, hey, this was your plan?” Little Loli leaned in and whispered to Cai Wenbin, her breath light as tea steam. “Couldn’t find a better chance. Public face-slap is good enough,” Cai Wenbin said, scratching his head, sheepish as a boy with ink on his fingers. He knew he’d taken advantage. “Forget it. Consider this dance your payment.” “Why the veil, though?” “None of your business.”
Soon they were dancing, light as swallows over a lake. Even the other couples slowed, then drifted aside like reeds parting, because tonight the true leads were this boy and girl.
“You’re really good, Xiaoxue.” Cai Wenbin hadn’t expected the golden-haired Little Loli to move with such polish, like a blade hidden in silk. “Right back at you.” Then he slipped in a sweeping spin, bold as a gull riding a gust, and Little Loli followed. Mid-spin, the veil fluttered up like a banner in wind. For a heartbeat her face shone naked to the air, moon-clear, then the veil fell back like clouds drawing closed. Everyone who caught that glimpse froze like statues. The girls who had begrudged Xiao Qianxue fell silent. The difference was heaven and earth.
Only Cai Wenbin kept that elegant smile, already used to the golden-haired Little Loli’s peerless looks, and still, it struck like thunder. Their dance ended before long. Applause burst like summer rain, and many even rose to clap.
Under all those gazes, they sat together in the front seats like two cranes by a stream. “Cai Wenbin…” A sweet voice drifted over with a thread of grievance, soft as willow fuzz. “Ah… um… about that… I’m sorry for what just happened. I didn’t mean it.” Even the usually rock-steady Cai Wenbin was suddenly scratching his head, words tumbling like pebbles. “Really sorry. I know you like quiet, but I drew too many eyes to you. I didn’t think it through.” “It’s fine. I’m used to it. Special days, special rules.” Little Loli waved it off like brushing away dust.
Then Cai Wenbin lobbed the question that made her temples throb. “Xiaoxue, can I ask… why does one of your eyes look a little red?”
