The most beautiful space

33 Nobles

"Su Tong?" Even Xiao Qingyun, who was usually a shrewd and composed woman, was taken aback at this moment.

Su Tong had visited their home when she was a teenager. Later, when Su Tong was on vacation from university, she helped out at the family restaurant. Xiao Qingyun had seen her several times when she went to the restaurant to eat. To be honest, she quite liked her fair-skinned, clean-cut, and quiet appearance. Who knew that almost 10 years had passed in the blink of an eye? Her own daughter had matured and looked a bit older, while Su Tong, who had grown up, had changed so much. At this moment, she was only wearing simple home clothes, and her right hand was obviously injured, but her skin was as white as snow and her face was as beautiful as a flower. No wonder someone as powerful and talented as Xiao Yang would ask them to make this trip.

For a moment, he felt a pang of sadness and regret for his daughter, Xu Meixin, who was the same age as Su Tong.

Although Xu Wanghai was also amazed, he had been in officialdom for a long time and was more concerned about how to perfectly complete this mission. Fearing that Su Tong might refuse to go because of her beauty, Xu Wanghai quickly said in a kind voice, "Niece, let me tell you honestly, he is a young talent that even I, a minor official in the city who is doing quite well, have to look up to. He is indeed a rare and good man."

A glint flashed in Su Tong's eyes, followed by a smile completely different from her usual one. It held the obvious joy of a woman yearning for advancement and finding the perfect opportunity, instantly giving her a touch of down-to-earth charm. She covered her mouth as she accepted the exquisite invitation, opened it, and read the few simple lines of handwritten, elegant cursive script: "I cordially invite Miss Su Tong to my 29th birthday banquet on June 16th. I look forward to your presence at my humble abode in City C. It would be my greatest honor. —Xiao Yang"

Su's father has always been quite passionate about calligraphy. It is said that one's handwriting reflects one's character, and people who can write such beautiful handwriting cannot be disliked for no reason. Below is the specific address and date printed in the printout. Su Tong asked with a smile, "June 16th? That's great, I happen to be free recently."

Seeing Su Tong's overjoyed reaction, Xu Wanghai thought to himself, "No matter how good-looking she is, she still likes to climb the social ladder." The couple praised Su Tong to the skies and then pulled her aside to subtly hint at Xiao Yang's identity and background, meaning that Su Tong should seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so that everyone could benefit. In the end, the two, in high spirits, had lunch at the Su family's house before leaving.

At this moment, Qin Jing and Lin Shanshan are sitting in a high-end beauty salon in the capital, lying on massage beds receiving full-body skin care. Several beauticians are busy attending to them. In this private club, the two have shed their celebrity aura and are chatting like any ordinary pair of best friends.

"Hey, Qin Jing, it's been so long since filming wrapped up, aren't you going to take on a new role? Aren't you afraid that this nobody will be forgotten by the public in a few days?"

Qin Jing lazily squinted her eyes: "It doesn't matter. There aren't any good scripts right now, and forcing myself to act would only lower the public's impression of me. This drama is enough for me to live on for half a year." She gave a look, and her assistant brought her a cup of herbal tea with a straw. She took a couple of sips. "Stop talking about me, let's talk about your Xie Bingkuai. Didn't you go to see him?"

Lin Shanshan glared at her, "If I think I can find him back in the capital, why would I need to go to the city?"

Qin Jing, in a rather irritating manner, took two more sips of her flower tea, signaled to her assistant to stop, and then added, "That's right, if Second Young Master Xie doesn't want to be seen, who can find him? Hehe, goddess, be careful that your man isn't stolen away by that beautiful woman."

"No, that's impossible now." Lin Shanshan smiled. "Don't I know Xie Chengjing's personality? He's made of stone. No matter how beautiful a person is, it's impossible to make him understand in a day or two. After the party that day, I gave her photo to Xiao Yang. Have you heard of Xiao Yang from the Xiao family?"

Qin Jing nodded.

Lin Shanshan turned over, stretching out her arms to make it easier for the beautician to treat the inside of her arms. She gently closed her eyes as if she were asleep, but her red lips softly uttered a murmured sentence: "He is the one I love the most and the only one who can go against Xie Chengjing."

By June 16th, there were still 9 days left, which would be just enough time to free her right hand. Su's mother strongly objected to Su Tong attending so-and-so's birthday party, saying, "At worst, we'll just close the shop and stop operating!" The day after she said this, even the principal of the No. 1 Middle School in the city, who had been Su's father's colleague for over ten years and watched Su Tong grow up, brought it up. Things really weren't going to end so easily. Su's mother didn't usually act like she doted on Su Tong, but she was actually the most worried about her only daughter. She said several times that since the family still had some money, moving abroad wouldn't be a problem, she just didn't want Su Tong to suffer any grievances. But Su Tong didn't listen to her after several attempts. Children grow up and have to learn to make their own decisions, so she had no choice but to let Su Tong go.

These nine days were exceptionally peaceful for Su Tong. Even Xie Mingyuan, who seemed to have a crush on her in the city, didn't call once. Every day, the four of them, Su Tong, spent their time with her parents. With nothing else to do, Su Tong started learning how to make Chinese pastries from her mother again. Her mood improved somewhat, and she was quite happy to finally receive the things she had asked Xiao Hansen to buy.

Li Tiantian's husband, Xiao Hansen, used to be involved in organized crime, but now he's laundered his money and runs a legitimate business in Shanghai. However, he still has extensive connections in the underground market. Su Tong had previously called Xiao Hansen to ask him to order some goods: powerful stun guns and chemical sprays—items that wouldn't cause any real harm but could easily subdue an adult man. The quality of these items in the underground market varies greatly; some are good enough to subdue several large men, while others are either completely ineffective or even deadly. Xiao Hansen hadn't been able to procure a batch of high-quality smuggled goods for Su Tong before she went to the city, but he had managed to send them over: two stun guns and two small, seemingly ordinary bottles of spray, costing nearly 2000 yuan. According to Li Tiantian, this new type of spray is incredibly powerful, and she even gave her son, Xinxin, a bottle to carry with him at all times.

On the afternoon of the 16th, a personal shopper delivered a complete outfit to Su Tong: a gorgeous and exquisite light blue strapless mermaid-style long dress, a pair of limited-edition blue Hermes strappy high heels, and most luxuriously, a light blue gemstone necklace called "Angel's Tears," which is quite famous internationally, along with a pair of matching sapphire earrings. It was practically a case of being completely pampered; Su Tong didn't even have to prepare anything for her birthday party, and her generosity was astonishing from the start.

Based on the inquiries made by Su's parents over the past few days, and the revelations made by Xu Wanghai and his wife when they were intentionally or unintentionally trying to curry favor with Su Tong, Xiao Yang has basically been sketched out as a promising young man.

Born into the Xiao family, one of only two powerful families that held sway since the founding of the People's Republic of China and remains at the heart of the nation's power structure, Xiao Yang's grandfather currently serves on the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. His father, Xiao Feijun, the eldest son of the Xiao family, is the current Party Secretary of a municipality directly under the central government, while his uncle, Xiao Feijun, is the current Vice Governor of H Province. The family is not only a deeply entrenched political family in Beijing, but also possesses a strong and formidable presence in the municipality and province of Beijing. Xiao Yang himself graduated from Beijing Q* University with a Master's degree in Sociology and currently serves as the First Party Secretary of X County under the municipality of Beijing. His official photo shows him as handsome and upright.

When searching for information about Xiao Yang's family members on a computer, the message "According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, some search results are not displayed" always appears, which is exactly the same as the result of Su Tong's private search for Xie Chengjing.

That evening, Su Tong was picked up directly from the airport by a driver sent by Xiao Yang, and then taken directly from the airport to a villa owned by the Xiao family in C City, near the river. This villa was extremely famous in the entire C City and was known as the White Queen Castle. Nominally, it belonged to one of Xiao Yang's uncles who was in the real estate business. In reality, this large, pure white English-style building was Xiao Yang's coming-of-age gift and was occasionally lent out for banquets in the highest social circles of C City.

Xiao Yang's birthday banquet was clearly not on the same level as Su Wen and Xie Chengde's wedding reception. This was evident from the various luxury cars parked in the courtyard of the White Queen Castle and the waiters whose every move exuded perfect etiquette. The white Maybach sports car worth over ten million yuan that Xiao Yang sent to pick up Su Tong at C City Airport was driven by a driver in a black suit who was so well-trained he was almost stiff, remaining completely unfazed even in the presence of a beauty like Su Tong.

At the entrance of the lobby, past the invitation, the young and handsome doorman in a white suit glanced at Su Tong through the car window. Having seen many celebrities before, he was immediately stunned by her beauty.

When Su Tong slowly walked into the room, trailing her long skirt, everyone's attention was drawn to her. Dressed in light blue, she resembled a mermaid princess from the deep sea. Despite her indifferent expression and calm eyes, she was so beautiful that she seemed like a fragile bubble, too distant and unreal.

The banquet had just begun, and some influential political and business figures, as well as some of the more famous celebrities who had been invited, had not yet arrived. However, when Su Tong entered, almost everyone who had arrived foresaw that the female guests who were about to arrive would be overshadowed.

When Xiao Yang received Lin Shanshan's call, saying that a stunning beauty had appeared in H province, Xiao Yang became interested. After all, although Lin Shanshan was now in the entertainment industry, her father was not an unknown figure in Beijing. She had some contact with people of Xiao Yang and Xie Chengjing's social class since childhood. Xiao Yang had always known that Lin Shanshan was quite beautiful, but she was even more famous for her high self-esteem. This was the first time he had praised another woman's appearance like this. When Lin Shanshan said that Xie Chengjing was infatuated with her, Xiao Yang took another look at the few candid photos of Su Tong and was already determined to have her.

But when he actually saw Su Tong in her gorgeous attire, he couldn't help but exclaim from the bottom of his heart, "God has created such a flawless creature. Well then, he, Xiao Yang, is the most outstanding man in the world, and he deserves the most beautiful and ethereal lover in the world."

As soon as Su Tong entered the hall, a man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, dressed in a dark blue suit, greeted her. His handsome eyes held a captivating smile, and although his features were exactly the same as the ID photo found on Baidu, he possessed a pure masculine charm that could mesmerize almost any woman. Xiao Yang smiled slightly, as if reuniting with a long-lost lover, and gently bent down to take Su Tong's hand, lightly kissing the back of it. His cool lips touched briefly before parting, and he said like a medieval nobleman, "You've finally come, my Su Tong."

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update today. I'll add an extra chapter tomorrow or the day after to celebrate making it onto the homepage and receiving a featured post! Hugs to all my lovely readers! ╭(╯3╰)╮ 166 Reading Network