Huo Zheng asked confusedly, "Given the friendship between Susu and Sophie, it shouldn't be as serious as you think. If Sophie wanted to harm Susu, why would she have gone to such lengths to help her back then? I just can't figure it out."
"What kind of friendship do they have? How did Sister Gu and this Sophie become friends?" Shishi asked curiously.
Huo Zheng sighed, "You could call it a life-or-death friendship. Sophie, to help Susu..."
"What happened to her?" Shishi urged, seeing him trail off.
"Why are you asking about this? It's personal privacy. Why should I tell you?" Huo Zheng’s demeanor turned cold towards her again.
Shishi, however, said, "But my intuition is probably right. Everything she does behind Sister Gu's back is with ulterior motives. I'm worried about Sister Gu and the studio. You were a fashion model, and you know some of Sister Gu's clients. It would be best if you could quietly investigate."
"Alright, I'll ask. I hope it's not what you're thinking." Huo Zheng picked up the milk tea Shishi had bought and took a big gulp. To his surprise, it was a flavor he liked.
Shishi smiled slightly at his reaction. He was sitting directly in the sunlight, and he looked quite captivating as he drank his milk tea.
Huo Zheng suddenly asked, "How did you know what flavor of milk tea I like?"
Shishi's heart pounded. She tried hard to conceal her flustered state, saying, "Oh, I just picked one randomly. The one you're drinking is the signature drink at this shop."
Huo Zheng hummed an "oh" and his thoughts drifted back to Susu, wondering why all the troubles and bad things seemed to fall upon her.
Did Qin Tianyi truly protect his goddess? If Qin Tianyi couldn't, he could protect her himself.
It was just that Susu had always been indifferent to him, and he couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Shishi amusingly commented, "Are you sick? You don't pursue any of the many single young women, yet you insist on liking someone who is married. You think you're devoted, but to put it bluntly, you just want to break up someone's family. It's immoral!"
"Once you fall in love with someone, you can't control so much..."
Shishi didn't listen to his sophistry and interrupted him, "Immoral is immoral, no excuses!" She picked up her own milk tea and left the shop first, leaving Huo Zheng alone, thinking he needed to reflect properly.
Huo Zheng called out to her retreating back, "Nonsense, you little brat who doesn't understand love at all!"
...
Sophie didn't go to dinner with Susu but managed to take seemingly intimate photos of Susu meeting with Huo Zheng.
She returned to her office early and looked through the photos, thinking her photography skills were improving.
However, the key was how to make Qin Tianyi see these photos inadvertently.
Just then, a sponsor she knew through a previous client sent her a message, wanting to discuss the details of a fashion show and inviting her to meet that afternoon. She agreed immediately.
When she was studying design in Paris, she had dreamed of having her own fashion show, her own studio, and becoming a renowned designer.
She never imagined that she would actually be able to hold her own fashion show now, and she was very much looking forward to this personal exhibition.
In the afternoon, she asked Susu for leave, saying she was going to meet the sponsor.
Susu wanted to help her assess the reliability of the person and said, "Do you need me to go with you? I have experience with fashion shows and can help you."
"Don't worry, I can handle it myself," Sophie politely refused with confidence.
Susu didn't insist. Seeing her regain her usual confidence, she was happy for her and said, "Alright then, go home early. I'll wait for your good news."
Sophie smiled confidently and gave her a thumbs-up gesture.
After leaving the studio, Sophie went to the art gallery where she had arranged to meet the calligrapher and painter.
The gallery was located on a street of vintage buildings. She knocked on the gallery's closed door according to the house number.
Someone quickly opened the door for her. Standing outside, she felt the interior was dimly lit and didn't go in immediately. She asked, "Aren't you open during the day?"
The person who opened the door was a man wearing a hat that obscured most of his face, making it impossible to see his appearance.
He replied, "The gallery is only open on weekends. We don't receive visitors or buyers on weekdays."
Sophie said "oh" and poked her head inside, looking around. She didn't see the gallery owner who had approached her for fashion design earlier.
She had met the owner a few times; a refined middle-aged man with a scholarly air in his speech and demeanor.
"Is your boss here? He's the one who arranged to meet me."
"I know. He's waiting for you in his office inside," the man who opened the door said.
Sophie didn't hesitate and followed him into the gallery. Although the light inside was dim, the walls on both sides were hung with framed pictures, but the artworks themselves were hard to see due to the lack of light.
Soon, she followed the man to the gallery owner's office. This place was completely different from the outside. The windows were open, and the light was bright.
Sophie felt relieved, thinking that since the gallery wasn't usually open, they probably hadn't turned on the lights outside to save electricity.
She remembered the owner's surname was Yu, and his name was Yu Wei. She greeted him first, saying, "Hello, Mr. Yu. This outfit suits your temperament very well."
Mr. Yu was wearing a long gown with a medieval vintage style, which was designed by Sophie.
"It's mainly because your design is so good," Mr. Yu said with a smile, admiring a painting on his desk without looking at her.
She moved closer to Mr. Yu, wanting to see what painting was so captivating.
But as soon as she saw the artwork clearly, she blushed intensely and stepped back a few paces.
"What's wrong, Miss Sophie? Haven't you seen this kind of painting before?" Mr. Yu looked up at her.
Sophie replied awkwardly, "I have. Many ancient Greek sculptures and paintings used the human body as their subject matter, but I'm not very good at appreciating them."
Mr. Yu's smile took on a different tone as he looked at her. "I can teach you."
Sophie said "oh" and didn't want to look at such paintings with him. She said, "Mr. Yu, let's talk about my personal fashion show. If you invest and we cooperate, I can help advertise your gallery under the name of Biyi Studio, or we could combine fashion and calligraphy and painting..."
"Miss Sophie, there's no rush for that," Mr. Yu gave a signal to someone behind her and said, "I asked you to come here today because I want you to be my life model. The artwork painted with your figure would surely be beautiful."
"What did you say?" Sophie immediately turned around. She saw that besides the man in the hat, another man had appeared out of nowhere, and they had locked the office door.
Mr. Yu commanded, "Turn on all the lights."
The man in the hat obeyed and turned on all the lights in the office.
Mr. Yu then smiled at Sophie and said, "Stand under the brightest spotlight, take off all your clothes, and strike any pose you like."
Sophie was stunned for only a second. Not knowing who these men were, she lunged directly for the door.