Mo Kun smiled and said, “My little housekeeper, I won’t forget it since you’re always reminding me of it. But you also have to remember that you need to dress up as a man to go to the ball and cover your beautiful fairy-like face!”

Long Xi said, “I know, I know. You are so garrulous. Then I’ll hang up and do not interrupt your work. You are quite diligent as a boss, working overtime on Saturday, aren’t you?”

Mo Kun said with a smile, “I have no choice. These inventions are all brand new and the molds are never seen before. The technicists have never been exposed to similar products. Therefore, I have to do it myself. Mistakes are not allowed! Otherwise, the whole batch of products will be defective, causing heavy losses to me!”

Long Xi said with a smile, “When everything is on the right track, it will be fine! Cheer up! A kiss! Uhm—”

Mo Kun also blew a kiss to her through the phone and then hung up, smiling.

He felt his tiredness of the whole day vanishing with Long Xi’s kiss blown to him.

When it was nearly six o’clock, Long Xi got dressed before the mirror.

It was a fancy dress ball. According to Lord Mo Kun’s will that she had to dress up as a man, she dressed herself up like the villain role, Yoichi Takato, who was the Underworld Puppet Master in her favorite whodunit manga, Case Files of Young Kindaichi.

Yoichi Takato was also a magician. The costume Long Xi wore was the outfit of him as a magician.

Black magic hat, white shirt, black magician robe, black trousers, white socks, black shoes, and a black mask. The outfit looked quite unique.

She took the subway to the Yulin High School and attracted many people along the way. She was particularly appealing for the kids who looked at her curiously, and she smiled at them without exception.

As she went into the school, she found all kinds of pumpkin lamps hanging over everywhere. There were different expressions on the faces of the pumpkin lamps—some were smiling, some were worried, some were crying, and some were angry…

Long Xi couldn’t help but smile. It looked like the chubby Internet meme we used frequently. The decoration must have been set with consideration and efforts.

The candles standing in the pumpkin lamps were emitting orange light which lit up every corner quietly. The light flickered with the breeze, looking like little vigil ghosts.

Varieties of ghosts, fairies, devils, and gods had jammed the whole playground.

A pale-faced zombie was trying to please the gorgeous Egyptian demon queen while the Night’s King coming out from A Song of Ice and Fire was discussing how to fill out the form of intention for college entrance examination with the White Lady. What made Long Xi feel the most curious was how the headless horseman had dressed himself up.

Long Xi’s outfit seemed quite plain compared with theirs.

Long Xi walked into the auditorium with excitement. It was the first time she had come to a fancy dress ball. She knew that the ball was held by Principal Deng Zhao who insisted on hosting the activity regardless of all the disapproval.

Principal Deng Zhao thought there should be an opportunity created for students to release their stress since the burden on their shoulders was too heavy! Although many people, including the two vice principals, disagreed, Principal Deng Zhao still did it!

Long Xi was quite grateful to Principal Deng Zhao! This was what was called humanistic education!

On the walls of the auditorium, there were witches, black cats, and skulls made by paper pasted. The various dark-toned light added to the weird atmosphere in the hall.

There were long tables set on the side of the auditorium, on which there were high owl croquembouche, chocolate gravestone mousse cakes, “bloody hand-of-ghost” steaks, ghoul fondant cakes, German blood sausages, spicy lamb chops with glossy greasy light glowing. Of course, there were also the most popular Halloween pumpkin pies, caramel apples, and colorful juice. All looked appetizing and delicious.

Long Xi caught sight of the couple dressed like the ones in Avatar and walked over with a smile.

She naughtily patted the shoulder of Yu Lanjie who was sitting on a wheelchair. Yu Lanjie turned back but did not recognize her, so she asked with a smile, “Who are you?”

Long Xi conjured up a champagne rose within her hands and presented it to Yu Lanjie.

Yu Lanjie smiled and gave her a warm hug, saying, “Little Xi! How do you know that I love blue rose the most?”

Long Xi said, smiling, “If I even do not know it, how could I be your confidante?”

Yu Lanjie took the blue rose and said, beaming, “Today I am indeed your blue friend—’boyfriend’!”

Long Xi touched her painted blue skin and said with a smile, “You two sacrifice a lot for it!”

Yan Wangchuan said, smiling, “It’s such a rare opportunity to indulge in ecstasy! How could we waste it? We will even perform on the stage later!”

“Performance? Well, Yu Lanjie! Now you have no girlfriend since you have a boyfriend, huh? You even didn’t tell me about it!” Long Xi pretended to be angry and poked Yu Lanjie on her face.

Yu Lanjie answered shyly, “It was him who didn’t allow me to tell you. He said it would be a little surprise for you!”

“He? Which one? Who’s he?” Long Xi looked around to find the “him” deliberately although she knew exactly who he was.

Yu Lanjie covered her face shyly.

Yan Wangchuan gave a big smile and said openly and naturally, “Xiaolongnv, he is me! It’s my idea. Blame me, please, if you want to.”

Long Xi waved her left hand a little and conjured up a white jade flute. She handed the flute to Yan Wangchuan with a smile and said, “Your birthday present! Happy birthday!”

Yan Wangchuan took the flute and said, smiling, “You still remember that I am a flute player?”

Long Xi said, “How can I forget? And… Here! Break a leg in your art exam! Good luck with everything!”

She stretched her hand back behind Yan Wangchuan and seemed to pull out a glass bottle filled with lucky stars right behind his head.

It took her a whole night and a whole morning to fold these lucky stars, and there was a sentence of blessing or inspiration on each star. And these sentences of inspiration were more commonly known as “Chicken Soup for the Soul”.

Yan Wangchuan’s eyes were a little wet and his hands trembled slightly as he took the bottle with lucky stars.

He said, “Thank you, Xiaolongnv! I will always keep our friendship in my mind!”

Yu Lanjie suddenly said, “Here come Xiaolu and Weiwei.”

Long Xi turned around and saw Xiaolu, who dressed as a medieval prince, and Weiwei, who dressed as Snow White, coming into the hall hand in hand.

Xiaolu’s temperament fitted quite well with his medieval European aristocratic costume. He even wore the golden wig of that era, looking even more like a prince!

Weiwei herself looked quite like a beautiful maid walking out from the cartoon. Now she dressed up as Snow White, with the princess crown on her head, wearing a white princess dress, and she looked exactly like the Snow White appeared in the movies. There was no wisp of a strange feeling when you looked at her in costume.

Surprisingly, Xiaolu recognized at first sight that the magician wearing a mask was Long Xi. He said, smiling, “Master Xi, why are you dressing as a man? See? The others are dressing up so beautifully!”

Long Xi said with an air of helplessness, “I have no alternative. You know that ‘aged vinegar jar’, ‘the great devil’, in my home, don’t you? He likes to be jealous so much! I’m afraid that if I dress up too beautifully, many boys will invite me to dance together. If he knows about it, then I will…”

Xiaolu said, smiling, “He didn’t come today, anyway. Why are you being so ‘cock-pecked’?”

Long Xi stuck her tongue out and said, “You don’t know his ‘power’! Though he is not here, he knows clearly what is happening here!”

At the thought of the “body punishment” from Mo Kun, Long Xi couldn’t help getting goosebumps all over.

Xiaolu asked, “Have you got the reply from the reality fashion show of French Storm Runway man’s clothing?”

Long Xi said with a little disappointment, “There’s no reply. I guess I am not selected?”

Xiaolu said, “Then why not phone them and ask about it?”

Long Xi said, “Forget it. If I am selected, they will make a long-distance call to inform me. I heard nothing about the fashion show after such a long period of time, so I should have already known the result.”

After Weiwei saw Long Xi, she was quite indifferent to Long Xi. Now she heard what Long Xi had said, she even cracked a smile of schadenfreude.

Long Xi was talking with Xiaolu, so the two were not aware of the biting smile on Weiwei’s face. However, as Yan Wangchuan, the one who was always circumspective and careful and paying attention to details, was standing beside and observing, he noticed the expression on Weiwei’s face.

Xiaolu was a little anxious, saying, “It is true that the eunuch is anxious while the emperor is not! Give me the phone number! I will call them for you!”

Long Xi knew that he did it out of his warm-heartedness, so she told him the phone number. Xiaolu walked to the door of the auditorium at once and made a long-distance call to the headquarters of the reality fashion show of French Storm Runway man’s clothing.

After Xiaolu hung up and heard what they said on the other end, he knitted his brows tightly and seemed to be considering something.

Suddenly, a girl with blonde hair came over and greeted him with enthusiasm.

Xiaolu took a closer look and recognized her, Hua Yanyan.

She wore a small red hooded velvet cloak and a piece of strapless tight clothing, which looked like a dress of the medieval European maidservant without the skirt, thus making it look more like a one-piece swimsuit. A pair of black filar translucent tights with grids clung on to her long legs.

She wore a purple-black lipstick with smoky eyes.

Xiaolu, who was famous for his frankness, said immediately, “Why are you dressing up like this?”

Hua Yanyan swayed her body and said with a smile, “Don’t you think I am extremely gorgeous and sexy? Just now there was a boy complimenting me on my dressing!”

Xiaolu said straightforwardly as he had a nature of outspokenness, “It looks quite dreadful actually. It seems like… the scary adult version of Little Red Riding Hood?”

Hua Yanyan smiled softly and said, “Come on! Xiaolu, do you have a dance partner? May I be your dance partner?”

She had always been thirsty for such a handsome and rich boy like Xiaolu. But she was quite vexed that she had no chance to get close to him in daily time.

Before Xiaolu could give an answer, Weiwei had walked over, taking his arm, and said with one-hundred-percent certainty, “He has had a dance partner, and he has had a girlfriend already! It’s me, Wei Wei!”

Hua Yanyan was not a gentlewoman at all. She retorted fiercely, “Huh? Showing off? Who are you! Aren’t you a loose woman? Do you really believe that I know nothing about your disgusting stories?”

“What, what are you talking about!” Weiwei’s whole body was shivering. What Hua Yanyan said punched her on the most painful place of her heart.

With a strong chivalrous sense of justice and the belief that one should help the weak against the brutal, Xiaolu said immediately to Hua Yanyan, “Hua Yanyan, if you have no solid evidence, please do not gossip about the nonsense!”