My Aloof Husband Can't Stop His Devoted Affection-Chapter 284 - 277: Competition

Chapter 284: 277: Competition
The three of them finally arrived at a French restaurant that Yun Xi had booked in advance. The restaurant’s decor was extravagantly luxurious. As soon as the car reached the restaurant entrance, a waiter immediately came over to help open the car door and took the car keys to park the car for them.
Upon entering, another waiter stepped forward to take the cake from Cen Jin’s hands and helped her display the cake using a small trolley.
Once seated in the private room, the waiter had already served the dishes. Yun Xi knew that both Cen Jin and Ye Lingran couldn’t handle much alcohol, and since she would be driving later, she didn’t order any wine. Instead, she ordered a homemade beverage from the restaurant and raised her glass with a smile, "Thank you for celebrating my birthday with me today."
"No need to be formal, happy birthday." Cen Jin also raised her glass slowly and winked at her with a smile.
"Happy birthday."
The three of them raised their glasses together, clinking them lightly, and the crisp, pleasant sound echoed throughout the room.
While eating, Yun Xi received a few phone calls. They were all birthday wishes from friends and calls from her parents overseas. After finishing the calls and returning to her seat, Cen Jin smiled and asked, "Did your parents always live abroad?"
Yun Xi took a bite of salad, nodded, and looked at them with a puzzled expression, "Hmm, didn’t I tell you before?"
"Tell us what?" Cen Jin and Ye Lingran looked at her, utterly confused, not understanding what she meant.
"Then I probably didn’t mention it." Yun Xi laughed and explained, "It’s like this: my parents divorced about ten years ago. My current dad is a German. My mom married my current foreign stepfather when I was fourteen, so my mom has been living in Germany for years. My foreign stepfather is also remarried, but he doesn’t have children of his own; he’s quite good to me and my brother. After graduation, I’ve been living in the country, just visiting them occasionally, though we often do video calls."
After hearing this, Cen Jin and Ye Lingran widened their eyes in astonishment. Seeing how casually she spoke about it, they figured she wasn’t bothered by it at all.
Thinking for a moment, Ye Lingran asked, "Has your brother always studied in the country?"
"Yes, he did spend some time abroad before, but he drove my mom crazy and didn’t want to stay in Germany. So we had to send him back. Only two people can handle him: me and my brother Yun Qi."
Cen Jin pretty much understood their family situation now, realizing that their parents are mostly out of touch with things, and even her brother is managed by her and Yun Qi.
"Right, enough about my family, I have something really important to tell you, which I forgot to mention the last couple of times." Yun Xi said while eating, suddenly remembering the important matter, and quickly put down her chopsticks, took a sip of juice: "My brother got involved with an international bridal fashion magazine recently. They plan to hold a wedding dress design competition here in Nancheng around late February next year. The most important thing, besides the generous cash prizes, is the very tempting awards."
"Wedding dress design competition?" Cen Jin looked at her incredulously, full of confusion and disbelief.
"Yes, news will likely spread after the New Year, and the scale of the competition is quite large. This is an international award. Besides the gold award for wedding dresses, the winner can also become Master Made’s direct disciple, his first apprentice! They also have the chance to participate as the design leader for Milan Bridal Week and to collaborate with the Ranc international brand, boosting their own reputation and influence. Furthermore, the prize money is 500,000 dollars... There are three spots in total. Of course, the first-place winner can become Master Made’s first apprentice. The second place, except for not being Master Made’s first apprentice, gets a prize of 300,000 dollars with no other differences, and the third place will have a prize of 100,000 dollars and can join Milan Bridal Week as a designer. It would be greatly beneficial for their reputation. I think it’s a great opportunity, so I wanted to let you know. My brother has the information, and I’ll send it to you guys from my computer later. You can decide whether to participate. The competition seems to be divided into three parts, but the specifics aren’t announced yet. I got this information from my brother because the Voilet Group had a fabric cooperation with our company before and is close with my brother. They are also coming to Nancheng to host the competition and plan to collaborate with my brother, who will also be one of the judges. Besides my brother, the only other known judge at the moment is Master Made, and the other three are not yet clear."
Cen Jin and Ye Lingran listened in surprise. It’s undeniable that a competition like this is incredibly appealing to designers like them, especially with such tempting awards.
It’s well known that although Master Made is getting old, his reputation in the bridal design world is still remarkable. It’s quite impressive that the Voilet Group could invite Master Made over, considering he announced his retirement at fifty and stopped designing. His last bridal piece was auctioned at a staggering price of 1.7 million dollars at the time.
Cen Jin and Ye Lingran exchanged a glance and a smile, understanding each other’s meaning.
"But there’s still plenty of time, no rush."
"Yes, let’s talk about it when the news gets around." Ye Lingran nodded in agreement with a gentle smile.
"Then let’s eat quickly! I just wanted to let you know first, this steak is going cold. After eating, shall we go for karaoke?" Yun Xi raised her brows mischievously, her eyes darting between the two of them, testingly asking.
"Where do we go to sing?"
"Hehe, the biggest KTV in Nancheng, Yuehuang KTV, anyway, I’ve already booked a room!"
Ye Lingran chuckled, tilting her head helplessly, "Alright, you’re the birthday star today, you’re the boss. Cen Jin and I will keep you company to the end, okay?"
"That’s the spirit!" Yun Xi cheerfully raised an eyebrow, finished off the last piece of steak, and put down her knife and fork, eyeing the cake on the stand, "Let’s cut the cake!"
"Sure, you’re the birthday star, you cut it."
"Hehe, then I won’t hold back." Yun Xi, who already loved sweets, had long been drooling over the cake. Since Cen Jin had said so, she naturally wouldn’t refuse. She rubbed her hands together, stood up, walked to the cake, and deftly cut it into eight pieces, serving a piece each to Ye Lingran and Cen Jin. After watching them eat, she curiously asked, "Is it good?"
"Not bad." Cen Jin, also a fan of sweets, had developed a picky palate from living with Ms. Qin since childhood. Anything that made her say ’not bad’ must indeed be good.
Cen Jin’s ’not bad’ thoroughly piqued Yun Xi’s appetite, leading her to eat two large pieces of cake before finally giving up when she couldn’t eat anymore.
Ye Lingran wasn’t too fond of sweets and even finishing one piece was a struggle; she barely managed to eat half. Although Cen Jin loved sweets, her appetite was limited, and having just eaten a lot, she only ate one piece. Half the cake was still left, and Yun Xi, having a sudden idea, gave Cen Jin a look.
Cen Jin immediately understood and returned the look. Yun Xi then dipped her finger in the cake, took out her phone, started recording, and in one swift motion, turned around and smeared the cake on Ye Lingran’s face, then quickly dodged away. Seeing Ye Lingran’s bewildered expression, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Ye Lingran was stunned, feeling the cool sensation of the cake on her face. She glanced at Yun Xi with a mix of amusement and annoyance and grabbed some cake to chase after her, "Yun Xi, stand still."
"Hey, hey, hey, Ling Ran, when did you turn bad! I’m sorry, I’m sorry." Seeing Ye Lingran chasing after her, Yun Xi panicked, dodging while recording on her phone.
Sitting nearby, Cen Jin couldn’t help but laugh, thinking about how usually calm and gentle Ye Lingran rarely got so riled up. It seemed Yun Xi really did bring out her mischievous side.
In the end, the result was that the cake on Ye Lingran’s hand ended up all over Yun Xi’s face, and the room suddenly became lively. Yun Xi even complained that Cen Jin didn’t help her, shooting her a resentful look.
After Ye Lingran and Yun Xi cleaned up in the restroom, the three of them left the restaurant together and headed to Yuehuang KTV, which Yun Xi had mentioned earlier. On the way, Cen Jin sent a WeChat message to Jiang Baizhou, to which he only responded with a bland ’hmm’ since he was still working overtime.
By the time they reached Yuehuang KTV, it was already 8:30 PM. This KTV attracted many high-society individuals, particularly many rich second-generation heirs and heiresses, as well as a considerable number of gold diggers. The expenses here were quite high.
Led by a waiter, the three of them arrived at the VIP level on the fourth floor and entered a private room.
"Wow! As expected of the largest KTV, the decor is indeed quite luxurious! But just walking over here, it felt pretty chaotic!" Yun Xi glanced around, pursed her lips, then turned to the waiter at the door, "Bring two bottles of liquor and two bottles of soft drinks, and just some snacks too!"
After dismissing the waiter, the three sat down, and Cen Jin tilted her head and asked, "Yun Xi, what made you think of coming here to sing karaoke today?"
Yun Xi shrugged, "I’ve always wanted to come and sing karaoke, but no one ever wanted to come with me! You guys are always busy, or I’m busy. As for others, they’re just surface-level friends, and I didn’t really want to come with them. Originally, I booked a room at another KTV, but it was fully booked, so I had to settle for this one." As she spoke, she directly selected a song on the screen and picked up the microphone, "Since we’re here, let’s enjoy it. This song, does anyone know it? Sing along!"
Cen Jin quickly waved her hands, looking terrified, "No, let Ling Ran sing! Ling Ran sings well, I’ll pass."
"Ling Ran... "
Ye Lingran hesitated a bit before taking the microphone, looking at the big screen, and smiling, "This song... I’m not too familiar with it, only know the chorus."
"Then I’ll sing the beginning, and you sing the chorus."