Chapter 36: 15th Birthday

On the day of Su Ning's 15 birthday, she was awoken by a pair of comely au pairs she had briefly met yesterday when the trio arrived at the villa. She was still groggy as she was dressed and made-up by the two chatty ladies. After 2 hours of 'beautification', Su Ning was clothed in a beautiful off shoulder knee length dress. The bustier corset top was nude colored covered with handmade flower embroidery stretching down the light blue tulle skirt. Her hair was loosely curled and braided in a half updo. The makeup applied on Su Ning was light and natural just serving to enhance her already delicate features.

"You look really beautiful, Young Miss."

"The dress was specially chosen by Young Master Lin."

"My, your skin is so fair and soft."

"You barely need any makeup, Young Miss"

The two au pairs chattered as they helped Su Ning prepare for the party.

'Ai what is Lin JinYan thinking? I thought we would just spend the day relaxing and eating at his villa." grumbled Su Ning. However she is unable to voice out her discontent seeing how the two ladies seem to be enjoying the whole process of dolling her up. Instead she sent some texts to her parents and Grandma Gu indicating the group arrived safely at the villa and will be having fun with her friends today.

When it was finally time for her to descend the stairs and head to the garden where the event was set up, another surprise awaited her. At the bottom of the stairs stood Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan both dressed in custom made black and white tuxedos, respectively. The young men looked extremely handsome and Su Ning actually felt her heart skip a bit as her gaze met theirs. 'Aii, what are you doing heart? These are kids, you are a 29 year old lady' she reminded herself internally. Su Ning walked down the stairs gracefully and placed one hand on each of their outstretched ones. And she let herself be escorted to the garden by these two outstanding young men.

However, when they arrived at the garden, Su Ning could only gasp in surprise at the sight before here. The entire garden was decorated in splendor with flower walls and round foliage arches and twinkling lights hanging from the trees. A quartet was playing on one corner and a pianist accompaniment on the other. There were tables set up with beautiful floral centerpieces and in the middle of the venue stood an 8 tiered cake. Servers were also walking around with drinks and hors d'oeuvre. Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan had really outdone themselves. The garden must have been decorated while she had slept.

The guests had arrived earlier and were already waiting for the entrance of the birthday girl. Many had stood awestruck at the sight of the fairly like beauty walking alongside the two equally good looking teens who were from the most prominent families in Y City. Su Ning quickly caught sight of Lin Youqing and Lin Miao in the crowd and exchanged greetings with them. The two were also gifted party dresses by Lin JinYan so they could comfortably enjoy the occasion. Apparently, a couple of close friends from her old alma mater Chang Yue were also in attendance. So Su Ning felt relieved that her two good friends will not feel ill at ease at the event. However, there were many guests that she couldn't recognize and Lin JinYan mentioned that they were children from other noble families attending M Academy. Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan then proceeded to introduce her to her future schoolmates.

Su Ning's heart felt really warm and she could feel her eyes reddening. 'It feels really good to be cared for,' she thought. On impulse, she thanked both Lin JinYan and Gu YuChen with a kiss on the cheek causing both to blush. Su Ning couldn't help but laugh at their innocent response not noticing the bystanders' awestruck looks. They don't even know which is more shocking, that the elegant but aloof Lin JinYan had allowed a girl to kiss him or that the cold and stoic Gu YuChen would actually blush in response to a simple kiss on the cheek. Barely given enough time to regain composure, they were hit by the astounding sight of the angellike beauty laughing at Lin JinYan and Gu YuChen who in turn just smiled tenderly at the girl.

The guests had begun snapping photos with their phones and soon the M Academy forums were on fire with images of the trio. These posts topped the forums.

- New school flower of M Academy, Su Ning

- School Princes Lin JinYan and Gu YuChen has chosen a princess

- Fairy like beauty Su Ning to attend M Academy

- Su Ning, Beauty treasured by School Princes Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan

Of course, one's happiness is often a source of envy for others. That is the case in Chang Yue and it is the same even in a prestigious school such as M Academy. There were people that were unhappy with all the attention Su Ning is receiving from Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan.

- Why are they treating her like she is something special?

- I heard she is just the daughter of the housekeeper.

- So what if she's a little pretty, does she deserve to monopolize Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan?

- She must be providing them some sort of service to get this treatment. I don't believe she is innocent at all.

Qing Mei, who had not been invited to the party, began to like these disparaging posts on Su Ning.