Tuesday, 26 May 2026

RHTB 27




Chapter 27

The show was undoubtedly a great success. Huang Hui couldn't leave afterward. Many people surrounded her. Some flattered her, while others inquired about the designer's identity, all secretly hoping to recruit her into their companies.

Huang Hui answered all the questions evasively, but didn't reveal any important information.

Lu Bei dutifully stayed by Tang Yao's side, escorting her out after the show.

When many media outlets tried to find them, they discovered the two were no longer there.

Meanwhile, two trending topics quietly dominated the search rankings: Lu Bei appearing at the fashion show with an unfamiliar woman and the finale double-sided embroidered traditional dress, attracting widespread attention.

"Lu Bei and an unknown woman?! Oh my god, what happened? I'd rather believe I can break a boulder on my chest!"

"The dress is so beautiful, I wonder which famous designer it is."

"Who is this unknown woman? Why is the photo so blurry?"

"Is it Cheng An? Lu Bei and Cheng An had a rumored relationship before, and now that Cheng An is back, they've been photographed together again. I'm shipping them!"

"I won't accept anyone but Cheng An!"

"Everyone, let's be rational about this gossip. Doesn't anyone want to compliment the dress? It's so beautiful."

"The double-sided embroidery technique is so skillful. It's incredible. I wonder which anonymous master craftsman it is."

"I don't know why, but I feel like this unknown woman looks a bit like the guesthouse owner. Am I just obsessed with watching variety shows lately?"

"Upstairs, you're not alone! I feel the same way!"

"Don't guess wildly. How can a guesthouse owner be in this kind of situation?"

"But Lu Bei's eyes are so full of affection. You can practically see the threads coming out of his gaze."

...

Soon, the trending topic had tens of thousands of comments, all praising the dress or discussing who Lu Bei was dating.

During this time, because Cheng An appeared so frequently and the topic of Cheng An and Lu Bei also became one of the top trending topics.

Lu Bei was currently driving Tang Yao to the restaurant that Huang Hui had booked.

It was originally supposed to be an internal celebration banquet, but Lu Bei shamelessly insisted on attending.

Halfway through the banquet, an unexpected guest arrived: Cheng An, the recent talk of the town.

"Cheng An will be our partner in the next phase of our collaboration, so I'm introducing her to everyone," Huang Hui said.

A gasp rippled through the crowd. After all, she was a movie empress and her popularity was undeniable.

Cheng An nodded to everyone before walking over to Lu Bei and greeted him.

"Xiao Bei, long time no see," Cheng An said confidently. Her smile was bright.

Lu Bei nodded, his attitude neither warm nor cold. Cheng An seemed used to this and showed no sign of annoyance.

After her greeting, her gaze fell on Tang Yao.

"Hello there, I've heard Elder Brother Lu Nan mention you," Cheng An said with a smile, extending her hand to Tang Yao.

Tang Yao stretched out her hand. Her mouth beating her brain as she blurted out, "You're even prettier in person than on TV."

Cheng An chuckled, "You're so cute. No wonder..."

Tang Yao blushed slightly from her own abrupt praise and asked, "No wonder what?"

"Is Aunt Huang calling you?" Lu Bei suddenly interrupted their conversation.

Huang Hui was indeed calling Cheng An over. Cheng An nodded to the two of them and then turned to leave.

"Are you very close to Cheng An?" Tang Yao asked, somewhat envious, as she watched Cheng An's retreating figure.

"Not really, we just grew up together. She's closer to my elder brother," Lu Bei quickly replied.

Tang Yao nodded, but her admiration was fleeting. Soon, her attention was drawn to the delicious food at the celebration banquet.

Lu Bei dutifully stayed by her side, handing her tissues and bringing her water—small tasks that seemed perfectly natural to him.

During this time, the tall, thin man who had previously questioned Tang Yao approached with a wine glass.

The tall, thin man coughed lightly and raised his glass: "I'm sorry about before, but you really are very capable."

Tang Yao swallowed the small cake in her mouth and smiled at the tall, thin man: "I didn't take it to heart. I always prefer to let my abilities speak for themselves. Besides, I'm not very famous, so it's normal for you to doubt me."

Tang Yao's magnanimity made his previous suspicions seem petty. The man became even more silent, silently drank his wine, and turned to leave.

Just as everyone was happily celebrating, a piece of gossip quietly climbed to the top of the trending searches.

By the time Tang Yao and the others saw it, the celebration party had already ended and she was sitting in Lu Bei's car taking her home.

The gossip continued to gain popularity and netizens expressed their opinions in the comments section.

Tang Yao clicked on it and saw that it was nothing more than saying that the final dress was similar to the Chen Family's dress. There were also claims from insiders that the final dress was a modified version of the Chen Family's clothing.

Photos of the two dresses were repeatedly compared online.

"No way, the final dress is clearly much prettier than the previous one."

"I thought they looked similar when I watched the live stream yesterday. No way, I really liked the final dress."

"Although the final dress has double-sided embroidery, plagiarism is plagiarism, unforgivable."

"Everyone, be rational while watching this. Things probably aren't that simple. Let's wait for an explanation from H Clothing."

Although there were still quite a few rational netizens, due to the influence of online trolls, many people went to H Clothing's account to hurl insults or questions.

"Don't worry, Aunt Huang can handle it." While waiting at a red light, Lu Bei also took out his phone and saw the trending topic. Clearly, he wasn't worried at all.

"I just think their way of trying to ride the coattails of someone else's popularity is disgusting." Tang Yao pouted.

The stolen goods weren't as good as the original and they were even trying to extort money.

However, Huang Hui wasn't one to suffer in silence. She quickly launched a counterattack.

The counterattack was genuine and fierce, completely different from the previous allegations made by a supposed staff member.

From the destruction of her first finale outfit, to the arrest of the cleaning staff, and finally the cleaning lady's statement, every step pointed to the other party plagiarising H Clothing.

Netizens were in an uproar again, praising H Clothing for its courage in immediately fighting back after being wronged.

The netizens who had been making a fuss about H Clothing shifted their focus to the official Weibo account of Chen's Group, questioning their shamelessness.

The internet was in chaos, with online trolls trying to whitewash the situation, but the netizens weren't buying it.

Chen's Group had no choice but to disable comments.

However, they soon received a lawyer's letter from H Clothing and were forced to issue an apology.

But that was a story for later.

Lu Bei dropped Tang Yao off at the hotel and watched her enter before driving away.

His fingers tapped on the steering wheel, seemingly in a good mood.

This good mood lasted until he got home. Lu Nan sat in the living room, typing on his phone. Hearing the noise, he looked up at him.

A smile played on his lips: "What's making you so happy?"

"Nothing," Lu Bei replied.

Lu Nan chuckled, clearly unconvinced.

He hadn't expected his younger brother to be so boyish when interested in someone. He'd practically bounced right in and thought no one else would notice.

...

After returning to the hotel, Tang Yao took off her dress, removed her makeup, and comfortably laid down on the lounge chair on the balcony.

These past few days had passed and she missed her guesthouse more and more.

Meanwhile, in a courtyard house somewhere in the capital, Ji Mingquan's friends were gathered in the courtyard, drinking tea and chatting.

Everyone was usually busy, so it was rare for them to get together.

After drinking tea for a while, Ji Mingquan mysteriously told them he had something good to show them.

"What good stuff could you possibly have?" The friends, used to teasing each other, didn't hold back.

"Yeah, old Ji, just show us what you have. We're not young anymore, no need for all this mystery."

Ji Mingquan didn't answer the question, but simply led everyone to the greenhouse.

"Haven't we already seen all your flowers? What's so special about them?" one of them asked, puzzled.

"Right, I recently got a potted 'Jade Plant.' It's not a top-tier specimen, but it's still quite rare. When are you all going to take a look?"

Ji Mingquan chuckled, his smile full of disdain.

Soon, the group arrived at the greenhouse.

The temperature and humidity in the greenhouse were specially adjusted, creating the perfect environment for plants to thrive.

The plants were all carefully tended and individually placed, clearly treasured.

Ji Mingquan led them through a maze of turns. Once they reached the very back, he stepped aside to show them the flower in front of him.

"This...this is..." One of them took a quick step forward, but then stopped, afraid of startling the flower in front of him.

"Ghost-faced orchid?! Such good quality? And there are three flowers too! Old Ji, where did you get such a good thing?"

"Old Ji, you're not being fair. Having such a channel and not introducing it to us."

Ji Mingquan pushed the group away: "Stand back a bit, don't scare my treasure."

The others glared at him. But thinking that if they had such a good flower, they'd probably be even more extravagant than Ji Mingquan, they let it go.

Their tone was full of envy and amazement, which made Ji Mingquan extremely proud.

"The owner doesn't usually sell these flowers, but seeing my sincerity, she sold me one pot." Ji Mingquan said after leaving the greenhouse.

"Why wouldn't she sell them? Can't we offer a higher price? As long as the quality is good."

"The owner isn't short of money. Her whole yard is full of good stuff." Ji Mingquan lowered his head and blew on a tea leaf. He certainly couldn't tell them that he'd pestered her relentlessly to get that potted plant. Let them fret about it themselves.

...

The next day, with nothing much to do, Tang Yao decided to wander around and buy gifts for everyone.

There were many large shopping malls in the capital, and Tang Yao chose the closest one.

She had bought two potted plants and had plenty of cash on hand, so buying luxury goods was no problem.

She chose the relatively common X brand.

X brand offered clothing, cosmetics, and jewelry—a fairly comprehensive selection.

She wore a simple t-shirt and sneakers and had her hair in a ponytail, looking like an ordinary student.

So when she entered the X store, the sales clerk only glanced at her before lowering her head to attend to her work.

Tang Yao didn't mind. She browsed on her own, feeling more comfortable without anyone following her.

She looked around and finally settled on a diamond bracelet, which sparkled beautifully under the light.

“Can you show me this?” Tang Yao asked, pointing to the bracelet.

After a while, no one answered.

She looked up. The sales clerk was wiping the counter on the other side with her back to her.

“Excuse me, can you please show me this?” she called out again, raising her voice to the sales clerk's back.

The sales clerk reluctantly approached, slowly putting on white gloves. “This bracelet is worth 158,000 yuan. It's a new arrival. Are you sure you want to see it?”

Tang Yao nodded. “Yes, I'll take a look.”

With a hint of impatience, the sales clerk took the bracelet out of the display case.

“Be careful. Any damage will be charged at the original price,” the sales clerk said curtly.

Tang Yao ignored her, her gaze fixed on the diamond bracelet. The specially cut diamonds were quite beautiful.

The platinum chain complemented them perfectly.

She looked up and the saleswoman's disdainful gaze met her eyes.

Tang Yao wasn't angry. She beckoned to the only girl with the bun hairstyle who had been friendly to her earlier.

"Excuse me, can you please wrap up three of these diamond bracelets and one matching necklace for me?"

The girl was new and seemed somewhat incredulous, pointing to herself.

Seeing Tang Yao nod, she quickly ran over.

"Wait, Ma’am… I’m the one who’s serving you." The saleswoman standing in front of Tang Yao was stunned for a moment before quickly recovering, and spoke.

This time, her tone was much gentler.

Tang Yao smiled slightly, "No need, I prefer her service."

The sales clerk knew she was in the wrong. She opened her mouth a few times but couldn't utter a word. However, the commission for an order worth hundreds of thousands was substantial and she couldn't swallow her anger. Finally, she could only glare fiercely at the girl with the bun hairstyle.

Although the girl with the bun was new, she wasn't weak or easily bullied and immediately glared back.

The girl with the bun helped Tang Yao pack the items. The original sales clerk stood at the counter for a while and then suddenly walked towards the checkout.

After all the items were packed, the girl with the bun led Tang Yao to the checkout counter.

The girl behind the counter took out a receipt for Tang Yao to check before paying.

Tang Yao's gaze immediately fell to the bottom of the list, listing the name of the sales clerk who had handled the transaction.

"Are you called Xiao Li?" Tang Yao asked.

The girl with the bun hairstyle paused for a moment and then replied, "No, my name is Huang Xiaoxiao."

Tang Yao's gaze instantly became meaningful.

"The customer clearly asked me to pack her order. How dare you steal my sales!" Huang Xiaoxiao shouted angrily.

The sales clerk standing to the side blushed instantly, a wave of embarrassment washing over her. Her eyes widened as if she wanted to devour someone.

Just then, a middle-aged woman walked out. Her metal badge read "Manager."

"Ma’am, what's going on?" the manager asked, coming out after hearing the commotion.

Tang Yao calmly and without embellishment recounted the facts. The manager glanced at the sales clerk before giving Tang Yao a slight bow, saying, "I'm sorry for the unpleasant shopping experience."

At the end, she gave Tang Yao a small accessory before seeing her out.

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