Yu He entered wearing a formal dress, holding a small pot-bellied pig in her arms.
"Pfft." Someone couldn't help but chuckle.
Then, the crowd silently parted, making way for Yu He to face Ye Zisu.
That's right, the two were wearing the exact same formal dress!
However, Ye Zisu was far inferior to Yu He in terms of height, complexion, and temperament.
The same dress, worn by two people, had one effect: one person, elevated by the attire, seemed like a mortal ascending to the heavens; the other, naturally beautiful, was an ethereal fairy herself.
Ye Zisu felt a pang of jealousy as she watched Yu He stand opposite her, looking like a celestial being.
Despite being a high-quality imitation, the dress on Yu He made it look as if it were custom-made for her, radiant and dazzling.
Ye Zisu gritted her teeth, but the resentment vanished as she thought that the show was about to begin.
Yu He saw the dress on Ye Zisu and instantly understood why she had given her a dress.
She stroked the pig's head and whispered in its ear, "Remember what I told you? Go."
Saying so, she bent down and placed it on the ground.
As soon as the pot-bellied pig touched the ground, it scurried away to find a hiding spot.
The onlookers, eager for drama, paid no mind to a pig.
"Yu He, where did you buy this dress? The imitation is quite convincing," Lan Jiaojiao said, scrutinizing Yu He.
She was the daughter of the Lan family and one of the invited guests of the Gu family.
"Imitation?" Yu He replied coldly.
Lan Jiaojiao scoffed, "This dress is called 'Unique Angel,' and it's a discontinued item! There's only one in the world. If the real one is on Su Su, what else could the one you're wearing be but an imitation?"
"Jiaojiao, why bother talking to her? She's just a country bumpkin adopted by the Ye family. She wouldn't know luxury brands. If it weren't for the Ye family, she'd never have the chance to attend such a high-class banquet in her life," someone advised.
"She might not understand luxury, but she's wearing the same dress as Su Su to Young Master Gu's celebration banquet. What are her intentions?" Lan Jiaojiao sneered.
At these words, the onlookers began to whisper amongst themselves.
The Ye family's adopted daughter, wearing the same dress as the Ye family's legitimate daughter to her fiancé's celebration banquet, could be seen as merely seeking attention, considering the wealthy and influential guests invited by the Gu family.
However, it could also be interpreted as an attempt to steal Ye Zisu's fiancé!
"Jiaojiao, don't say that about Yu He. She just doesn't understand luxury and wanted to dress presentably for the banquet. She was probably tricked into buying a counterfeit," Ye Zisu said, feigning sisterly affection as she approached Yu He. "Yu He, why didn't you ask me to help you choose when you bought the dress? Then you wouldn't have..."
Her unspoken words, coupled with Yu He's cold demeanor, made people suspect more.
The Ye family's adopted daughter was ungrateful and heartless, truly a country girl with a petty mind, and full of herself.
"Are you sure the one you're wearing is the genuine article?" Yu He asked, her gaze clear and cold, looking at Ye Zisu's hypocrisy.
"Hahaha, your question is too funny!" Lan Jiaojiao burst into laughter.
The onlookers joined in, their laughter echoing. In their circles, most were loyal fans of Madame Boudoir, rushing to buy each new season's collection.
Unless it was a discontinued item they couldn't get.
Even then, they wouldn't buy imitations.
Because they represented their own families, and being exposed would bring shame not only to themselves but also to their entire families and companies.
They also knew that Ye Zisu had bought many Madame Boudoir dresses before, and there was no way she would wear a fake to her fiancé's celebration banquet.
"Madame Boudoir's haute couture pieces have their logo engraved on every accessory."
This exquisite craftsmanship was precisely why Madame Boudoir's haute couture was so favored by affluent families.
Yu He said this, then reached out and tugged forcefully at Ye Zisu, pulling off a sequin from her dress.
Ye Zisu was caught off guard, but what surprised her even more was that the sequins on her dress came loose, scattering all over the floor with a rustle.
Her face turned pale in an instant, and she quickly covered the damaged area, her mind reeling. How could this happen?
"There's no logo," someone said, picking up a sequin from the floor.
"I don't have one either," another person added.
"No! Impossible!" Ye Zisu cried in disbelief. She looked at several sequins and diamond settings, and all of them lacked a logo!
Her mind went blank. She yanked at Yu He's skirt, desperately checking the sequins.
Every single one had a logo!
How could this be?!
She had clearly given Yu He an imitation, so how did it become the real one?!
Had it been swapped?
"You..." Ye Zisu pointed at Yu He, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Someone confirmed that the dress Yu He was wearing was the real "Unique Angel," and their gaze towards Ye Zisu changed.
So, the clown was herself all along.
"Me what?" Yu He chuckled. "We agreed to wear imitations together, but I secretly wore the real one?"
In truth, Yu He didn't care about luxury brands. She preferred the qipaos her grandmother made for her.
It was just that the day she took the dress from Ye Zisu, Qin Beiting happened to see it.
At the time, Qin Beiting had disdainfully thrown the dress into the trash and brought her an identical one this morning.
Yu He had simply done a quick online search for the logo on the dress and understood everything.
Ye Zisu stared, her eyes wide with disbelief. She had gone to great lengths and expense to find this dress, so how could it be fake?!
And how could Yu He afford the real one?!
"Presumptuous!" a man's voice boomed at that moment.
The onlookers instinctively made way as a boy, about eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a fitted white suit, strode over with a stern expression.
"Brother Ze," Ye Zisu's eyes welled up as she saw Gu Ze arrive. She bit her lower lip, tears glistening in her eyes, looking utterly pitiful.
Seeing her, Gu Ze's heart softened.
"Su Su, don't be afraid, I'm here. No one will bully you," he said, taking off his suit jacket and draping it over Ye Zisu.
Then, he turned to Yu He, and for a moment, he seemed unsure. "You're Yu He?"
She was so different from what he had imagined.
"Who are you?" Yu He asked indifferently.
These three words almost made everyone present stumble.
Seriously, attending someone's celebration banquet, and not knowing who the host is!
"He's the young master of the Gu family, Gu Ze, Ye Zisu's fiancé," someone in the crowd reminded her.
Yu He sized up Gu Ze.
His appearance was passable, perhaps a 7.9 out of 10, not even a third as handsome as Qin Beiting.
Ye Zisu's taste was, well, just that.
Gu Ze was momentarily speechless. He felt Yu He was doing this deliberately!
But who could tell him what Yu He looked like?
Ye Zisu had complained about Yu He to him countless times, but had never shown him a photo.
He had imagined Yu He to be ugly, dark-skinned, and a toad lusting after swan meat.
Completely unlike this stunning, cold beauty.