Chapter 17: Parent-Teacher Conference
On Monday.
Xu Si got up punctually at nine o’clock. She sat in front of the vanity mirror, applied light makeup, and made a point of using the brownish-red, French-imported lipstick Pei Zhen had bought for her. She then put on a custom-made long winter dress and long, dangling earrings. The ensemble was both appropriate and beautiful. At eighteen, her skin was radiant and glowing. After a final check to ensure everything was perfect, she opened her door and went downstairs.
Butler Ge came over with a tray, smiling broadly. "Miss, you look very pretty today."
Xu Si picked up the bitter coffee and took a sip without changing her expression. She looked down, stroking the hem of her dress. "It’s this dress that’s pretty. The students at Imperial Noble Private Academy have high standards. If I dress nicely, it’ll reflect well on Pei Zhen. When I was studying, there was a classmate from a less wealthy family who got in through special admission due to her excellent grades. She was ridiculed for a while because of her parents’ attire, but later, through hard work, the school sponsored her to study abroad."
It was a matter of professional ethics. Butler Ge couldn’t comment on his miss’s schoolmate’s story, so he took a small mirror and held it in front of Xu Si, squinting his eyes. "Miss, it’s not the clothes; it’s you who is beautiful."
Xu Si smiled. After drinking half of her coffee, she said with a laugh, "You don’t need to drive me today. I’ll take the car myself. My father’s sports car is still here, right? Have the driver bring it to the front door."
Hong Kong Island’s midwinter lacked the blazing sun, making warm attire quite suitable for going out. The entrance to Imperial Noble Private Academy was a grand display of ostentation, a stark contrast to the throngs of people in shopping malls. Here, it was a blatant congregation of luxury cars—simple and crude in its display.
Even so, when Xu Si tilted her head and stepped out of the eye-catching, red Ferrari supercar with its double doors, many people still cast astonished gazes her way.
"Isn’t that Xu Si, the orphan girl from the Xu Family?"