I See Roses

I See Roses – Chapter 41

Her steps were light and airy, like treading on clouds.

Even though she knew that she should restrain herself, she couldn’t help the corners of her lips curling up.

Just a second ago, Ming Si was cursing and calling Liang Xian names in her mind, but now, her anger had dissipated like smoke.

The only special one?

Suppressing the little smug feeling in her heart, her hand unconsciously fell from the door. Not knowing what to say, she managed a simple, “Oh.”

Sensing that she wasn’t that angry, Liang Xian also withdrew his hand.

Leaning against the doorframe, he raised an eyebrow playfully, “Can you tell me why you were upset just now?”

He always cared about why she was in a bad mood, but at this moment, Ming Si didn’t want to talk about it. She casually dismissed it, “It’s just… because of a small matter.”

Afraid that Liang Xian would see through her if he continued to probe, she quickly adjusted her expression and tightened her tone a bit, “Don’t think too much. I was just asking casually. Well then… I have to get up early tomorrow. If you have things to do, go ahead. If not, rest well.”

She said it was like telling the other person to kneel and bid farewell, but she retreated faster than anyone else. After saying those words, she slammed the door shut with a bang.

Liang Xian: “…”

Was she successfully appeased, or not?

He stood in place, gazing at the tightly closed bedroom door, recalling the change in Ming Si’s expression throughout the evening like flipping through a book. The final image froze on the faint blush on her cheeks as she hastily closed the door.

The next day, Ming Si indeed had to wake up early.

In two more days, it would be the day of the Merald Jewelry Design Finals. Although she had participated in various competitions of different scales before and wasn’t usually stage-frightened, this one was different because it was linked to the world-renowned jewelry designer, Mr. Merald. The significance was unique.

Merald was born into a family of silverware craftsmen, with ancestors who had been skilled artisans exclusively serving royalty, including several generations of kings and queens from various countries. Nowadays, Merald was a well-known luxury brand for tableware, having a history of over a hundred years.

Surprisingly, Merald himself abandoned the family business and took up jewelry design instead.

At the age of 25, he founded the Merald Jewelry brand, and now, after 35 years, Merald had become a globally renowned luxury jewelry brand, beloved and admired by female celebrities, wealthy wives, and even royalty.

Most of his design works were kept in private collections, and only a few pieces were auctioned, fetching prices of no less than seven figures.

On his 50th birthday, Merald announced that he would hand over Merald to his apprentices and live in seclusion.

The successor of Merald was an ambitious person, and in recent years, the brand’s influence had been continuously growing.

Coinciding with Merald’s 35th anniversary, in order to expand its influence, he decided to hold this design competition under the brand’s name. The finals would be held through a competitive submission process, and the winner would become a specially invited designer for Merald. The winning design from the finals round would be used to create a top-grade emerald from the Muzo mining area in Colombia, which would be sold as the winner’s creation.

The finals would take place in Venice, the birthplace of Merald himself, and Merald would personally attend the event.

Ming Si stumbled upon this news by chance. In fact, there were many jewelry competitions held under the brand’s name, and she wouldn’t normally participate in such events of a general scale. However, she had studied Merald’s works seriously during her university days and was fond of his seemingly simple yet deeply profound style. Almost at a glance, she could tell whether a piece belonged to him or other designers under Merald. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was a small fan of his.

After learning about his seclusion, Ming Si was disappointed for a while. She had never imagined the possibility of meeting him in person.

From another perspective, this competition was also her attempt to resist Cen Xinyan’s interference, a way of showing that she only accepted success, not failure.

After tidying up, as she passed by the guest room’s door, she subconsciously glanced inside.

Last night, after hearing Liang Xian’s words, her whole body seemed to be filled with pink bubbles of excitement. On one hand, she kept warning herself not to act like an infatuated girl and remain composed. On the other hand, she couldn’t help but carefully recall every subtle expression of Liang Xian in her mind, hoping to find evidence that he liked her too.

Though her rational mind told her it was unlikely.

When they were young, they truly couldn’t stand each other and often quarreled over trivial matters.

As they grew older, she didn’t remember much about some things, but in high school, they ended up in the same class and even became desk mates, which increased their interactions.

Back then, Liang Xian liked to annoy her first and then come to coax her later.

Sometimes he’d buy her a lychee-flavored lollipop, other times he’d help her with math problems, then he would simply smile, “Not angry anymore, huh?”

The ways teenagers show goodwill are varied and casual, with no deeper meaning. Probably because she was his childhood friend, when she was upset, he felt obligated to come and coax her.

It was similar to how Cheng Yu and the others would try various ways to make her laugh when they saw her unhappy.

But it didn’t mean they all liked her romantically.

“Si Si, I’m in big trouble.”

“I’m about to join a new crew; the lead actress this time is that trash Feng Shiru. Sob, sob, I just finished the project meeting, and my mindset collapsed.”

“Do you think it’s okay for me to prepare some mustard oil and chili water? Would that be too malicious…”

In the evening, the plane arrived at Venice Airport on time.

Although it was a rainy November, Ming Si was lucky that Venice had a clear, blue sky today, with a crimson sunset hanging in the horizon, creating a rainbow-colored halo in the field of vision.

The air was cold but pure.

After leaving the airport, the cold wind blew on her. Ming Si wrapped her light windbreaker around herself and handed her bag to the hotel concierge. She stepped onto a private boat in high heels.

As she sat by the window, the rest of the bodyguards dispersed, keeping their distance.

The shuttle boat slowly headed towards the location of the hotel.

She adjusted the sunglasses on her nose bridge and repeated, “Feng Shiru?”

“Yes,” Lin Xijia nodded and covered her phone with her hand. “It’s the one who betrayed you. I heard she had surgery to her eyelids, but it looks quite natural, and she appears even more pitiful. You haven’t seen her since high school graduation, right?”

There were several points in this series of words that were infuriating.

Ming Si casually placed the sunglasses on the table, “I met her at a banquet some time ago. The brand invited her to sing a song.”

Lin Xijia was surprised, “She can sing? Is she good?”

Ming Si answered straightforwardly, “Didn’t listen.”

“Then did she try to talk to you or something?”

Lin Xijia: “…”

It was an answer that perfectly suited a young lady’s temperament.

“But speaking of which, she hasn’t changed at all over the years, always trying to draw the attention of men to herself. It makes me so angry!”

Lin Xijia also held a grudge against Feng Shiru, so there was no joy in seeing her old classmate again after all these years.

She felt nauseous every time she saw Feng Shiru putting on a fake smile during the project meeting. It gave her goosebumps all over.

In addition, Lin Xijia had become much more outgoing over the years and was no longer the timid girl she used to be. She felt even more at ease when facing Ming Si, so she couldn’t help but vent her complaints.

“She said, Please give me guidance, but I don’t want to teach her anything.”

“The assistant director’s eyes were almost glued to her. Do these men all fall for this coquettish act?” Lin Xijia couldn’t understand it at all. She noticed that Ming Si seemed silent for a while, so she called out, “Ming Si?”

Ming Si suddenly came back to her senses.

“I… wasn’t paying attention,” she said absently. Through the bright and clean porthole, she could see the blue-green seawater, with cold white waves rippling. Ming Si asked subconsciously, “Do all men like this type?”

“Huh?” Lin Xijia was stunned, “Y-yes, I think so? They all like the cute and gentle type… But why are you asking about this?”

Fifteen minutes later, the connecting boat arrived at the main island of Venice, entering the port and soon navigating through the winding waterways.

Due to personal reasons, Ming Si didn’t like water and instinctively avoided such places.

She had traveled all over Europe before adulthood and revisited Italy with a few of her close friends from her major during her study abroad. Although she had been to Italy, she never had much interest in Venice.

However, at this moment, perhaps because of the fine weather, or maybe because she was feeling restless and eager to divert her attention, she found herself looking at the scenery while leaning against the green leather seat cushion.

Along the coast were residential areas of the main island, with Italian-style old houses painted in bright orange or red, arranged in a scattered and orderly manner. The sea level was almost level with the ground, while the blue-green sea shimmered with sparkling ripples.

Amidst the sound of waves, faint laughter and cheers could be heard.

It truly was a beautiful little city floating on the emerald waves.

The hotel concierge who came to pick her up found an opportunity to strike up a conversation, smiling and telling her romantic local legends in English.

Turning a corner, the landmark hotel building came into view.

Ming Si took a nap in her suite and then went out for a stroll.

As the night fell, the nearby seawater reflected the white moonlight, creating a serene atmosphere. The temperature was lower than in the morning and Ming Si didn’t bring many warm clothes this time. She spotted a luxury shopping mall not far away and walked over in her high heels.

Along the way, she brushed past many people.

The English proficiency in Italy was low, so all she heard were unfamiliar words in her ears. People chatted warmly in groups of three or two, couples held hands and happily shared the same scarf.

Suddenly, Ming Si’s footsteps paused, and she turned her head to gaze at the distant night sky.

It might sound a bit hopeless to say it out loud, but she was thinking about Liang Xian.

The next day, the connecting boat was waiting downstairs early in the morning and successfully took Ming Si to the competition venue.

Yesterday, the sun was shining brightly on the main island, but today the weather had turned gloomy. The sky seemed to have cramped up significantly, making it hard to breathe.

Ming Si heard the hotel concierge muttering something about the weather, so she asked, “What?”

The hotel concierge paused for a moment and switched to English, saying, “Perhaps the rainy season is coming.”

Sure enough, after the six-hour-long competition, the sky had turned as dark as ink. The picturesque Venice had already put on a different face.

Unlike the gentle rain of the rainy season in the Jiangnan, the rain in Venice came fiercely, falling in large droplets and making a loud noise as it hit the surface of the gondolas moored at the shore. Even the boats swayed from the impact.

People shouted loudly.

High splashes of water shot up from the ground.

Just standing in the lobby, Ming Si felt the sea breeze and the moisture hitting her face.

It was as if her entire breath was filled with it.

Although she had put on a thin cashmere coat, she was still shivering from the cold.

To make things worse, her phone had run out of battery without her realizing it. Ming Si had no choice but to return to the front desk of the exhibition hall.

The front desk helped her dial the number of her hotel.

However, with this weather, there was no way for a connecting boat to come pick her up, so they could only send someone on foot.

Ming Si rarely found herself in such a sorry and helpless state. She sat in the lounge on the first floor, enduring the discomfort of her breathing and trying to calm herself down.

Outside the large glass windows, the sky was dim and the heavy rain poured down, accumulating on the ground and continuously flowing towards the sea.

It seemed as if the boundary between the sea and the shore had disappeared.

Under the leaden sky, the entire city seemed to be teetering as if it were the end of the world.

Would she make it back?

Ming Si lowered her head, resting her chin on her elbows, feeling uneasy.

At one point, a strange thought popped into her mind——

If someone could bring her back right now, she would give up on Liang Xian, that dog man, and stop liking him.

Suddenly, a pair of short black leather boots appeared in her sight.

Italian handcrafted custom-made, with the black straps casually tied, giving them a masculine feel. Rainwater fell along the cold and rigid lines of the boots, forming small puddles.

Ming Si’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

She slowly lifted her head, and for a moment, everything in front of her seemed surreal.

She even had the impulse to reach out and slap herself.

But Liang Xian didn’t give her that opportunity.

He stepped forward and squatted down in front of her.

“Why didn’t you have the bodyguards carry you back?” he spoke softly.

His voice was deep, blending into the dim sky, making people feel reassured.

Ming Si sullenly replied, “I forgot.”

In fact, she didn’t like strangers touching her.

“Well, fortunately, you forgot,” Liang Xian responded with a slight smile, his gaze drifting up to look at her, “Otherwise, I might get jealous.”