Chapter 20

Chapter 20 Masquerading In Sheep's Skin

Inside Mu Xia's room.

Mu Xia felt neither unhappy nor unsettled in any way as she surveyed the modestly decorated interior of the hotel room.

Never mind that she had temporarily fallen out of favor with Situ Hai, her very presence had already thrown this family into disarray, and amidst the ensuing chaos, she reckoned that she would surely find the truth which she sought!

The ceremony would begin in half–an–hour.

Before leaving the room behind, Mu Xia went before the mirror to straighten out her disheveled hair.

The girl staring back at her in the reflection looked unbelievably fetching, coltish and acquiescent, but only she herself knew this to be a mere facade.

A wolf masquerading in sheep skin bit faster, more incisively and viciously, and left no chances for its enemies.

The ceremony started half an later.

The venue for the ceremony was extravagantly luxurious, with the aroma of coffee from the sampling stations of the various sponsoring roasters saturating the air inside.

Situ Qingshan picked up a cuppa the moment she entered and took a whiff from it before tilting her head toward Situ Hai. "This is pretty good, smells full–bodied. And judging from its form, reckon that it should be from… Colombia."

The sponsor at the side approached appreciatively when he incidentally overheard her. "You've a good eye, Miss. Our beans are indeed sourced from Colombia. Miss, you are wearing a uniform, you should be from the Crown Coffee Academy, is it possible that you come here to get the certificate?"

Situ Qingshan nodded shyly answered, "Yes, I am."

"Great!" The sponsor's eyes lit up and he said, "Our brand is now looking for an brand ambassador. I wonder if you have any intentions, miss?"

Situ Qingshan asked in surprise, "Really? Can I?"

The other party directly handed over a business card. "This is my business card. I hope that after the ceremony, the miss will appreciate my offer and chat with me."

Situ Qingshan did not agree immediately, but turned to Situ Hai and asked, "Dad, is it alright?"

When the sponsor saw Situ Hai, he immediately praised. "So you are the father of this young lady, sir, you are really lucky to have such a beautiful and capable daughter."

The sponsors praised Situ Hai with ecstasy and forgot to refute that Situ Qingshan was just his "adopted daughter".

"If you want this opportunity, Shanshan, go try it."

"Mmmm. Sir, let's get in touch when the time comes." Situ Qingshan finished speaking, but did not wait for the sponsor's response.

The man's effusive praise for Situ Qingshan made Situ Hai's heart swell with joy as he looked proudly at her.

While Situ Qingshan was basking in her moment of glory, she lifted her head to see that sponsor looking absolutely mesmerized by Mu Xia.

Situ Qingshan had no doubt that the man would start drooling were he to carry on ogling, and that irked her to no end.

Although Situ Qingshan was a little over twenty just as Mu Xia was, the former still came across as a young lass who had yet to shake off her own girlishness.

In a few more years, there would be no telling whether Situ Qingshan herself would even be fit enough to be a complementary leaf to the ravishing rose that Mu Xia could become.

The very thought of that had Situ Qingshan gnashing her teeth and wishing for Mu Xia to disappear.

She thought that a country girl like Mu Xia should not show up and mess up her life like this!

Situ Qingshan took two steps to her left to block off the man's line of sight, and harbored deviousness in her eyes when she picked up a cup of coffee in the same motion.

She shoved the beverage into Mu Xia's hands and said, "Have a taste of their coffee too, Xia. I thought it's rather decent."

Before Mu Xia could respond, Situ Qingshan pressed a hand to her own mouth as if she had hit upon a realization. "I forgot that you've always stayed in the countryside… so you must not have taken coffee before, haven't you?"

The sparkle vanished from the sponsor's eyes behind her. He was looking for an ambassador for his company and had thought Mu Xia's outwardly appearance fit the bill.

It did not occur to him that she was from the countryside and had not even drank coffee before.

As lovely as the girl was, he deemed her unsuitable, or even undesirable, as a brand ambassador since such an appointment would likely be received negatively by netizens.

Mu Xia paid little heed toward Situ Qingshan's comments and only wished to taste it for herself.

The result of her sampling drew a frown from her. "Too bitter."

As fragrant as the coffee smelled, it was too acrid to the taste buds and apart from the bitterness, there was little complexity to the aftertaste – The quality was not all that Situ Qingshan made it out to be.

Situ Qingshan snatched the cup back from Mu Xia, adamant in the view that it was Mu Xia who did not understand coffee.

「What does a countryside bumpkin like her know about coffee?」

Mu Xia's response was exactly as Situ Qingshan anticipated, and that greatly pleased her. The latter then turned to the sponsor apologetically. "I'm sorry, mister. It's not that your coffee isn't good, but my sister here doesn't know how to appreciate it."

The man became more certain than ever that Mu Xia, who did not understand his product at all, should not be up for consideration.

Once again, he regarded Situ Qingshan smilingly. "That's okay, since not everyone is a coffee lover. In that case, I'll be taking my leave. Good day, ladies."

The sponsor nodded at Situ Qingshan before turning away.

Situ Hai was thoughtful as he watched the man depart, believing his younger daughter to be far more capable than his elder girl.

Afraid that Situ Hai might be upset, Mu Xinyue purposefully chided, "Really, Shanshan. Why did you have to let your sister drink coffee in front of so many people?"

Situ Qingshan's appeared quite indignant. "It just slipped my mind…"

Situ Hai waved it off. "The girl had always been forgetful, but Xia, how could you tell the sponsor in his face that his coffee was bitter? You've really embarrassed me back there!"

With her head bowed, Mu Xia lowered her gaze apologetically. "I'm sorry, Dad. Don't be mad…"

"Bah, forget it!" Situ Hai looked away in annoyance before he regarded Situ Qingshan. "It's almost time, so you should go prepare yourself backstage. Dad and Mom would be waiting out there for you to receive your prize."

"Okay, Dad." Situ Qingshan smiled pleasantly and waved to Mu Xinyue before she took her pass backstage, while Mu Xia followed Situ Hai and Mu Xinyue to the gallery.

Whether by accident or intent, Mu Xia found herself left far behind by a Situ Hai who looked like he was trying to keep his distance from something repugnant, acting as if they did not arrive together.

Well, that was her dad. A good father who would happily toss her aside once she no longer proved useful!

Mu Xia's eyes darkened in wistfulness, albeit for a second, but she kept her own emotions in check and continued walking pliantly behind Situ Hai.

The ceremony commenced shortly after they were seated.

The number of visitors on the day was more than usual, primarily because of the presence of Ye Sijue as one of the guest-of-honors this year.

Many had fought tooth and nail to secure a slot at the event just for the opportunity to get close to him.

Finally, the guests emerged after the introduction by the host; starting with one of the founders of Crown Coffee Academy, followed by a renowned barista in the industry, and then Rain Evans, who Mu Xia ran into earlier on the plane.

Last but not least, the host welcomed in the final guest. "Please put your hands together for the CEO of Ye Group, Ye Sijue!"

The rapturous reception at the mention of his name ignited went far to illustrate that more than half of the crowd were here for him.

Those mounted video cameras were promptly directed toward the door leading backstage. At the end of the ceremony, the technicians would edit the footage and post it onto Crown Coffee Academy's official blog.

The documentation of the ceremony each year would receive extra attention largely because of Ye Sijue's expected appearance.

When Ye Sijue strolled unhurriedly to the front of the stage to greet the audience, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar face.

「Is that... Xia?」

His gaze lingered upon her for awhile before pulling away. He then extended a bow to the people gathered in the seats. "Hello everyone, I'm Ye Sijue."

The applause from the audience grew ever more fervent.

Seeing the positive response from the audience, the host called after him while he was about to take his place amongst the other guests. "Look at the crowd, Young Master Ye. Why don't you share a few more words with us?"

Ye Sijue considered turning down the invitation, but could not help but agree when his thoughts came to that someone seated in the gallery.

He cleared his throat and unprecedentedly added, "It's an honor to be able to attend the awar at the invitation of Crown Coffee Academy. Today, I shall be announcing the brand ambassador for Midnight Coffee Café after the prize–giving."

These words which were amplified by the sound system reached the ears of Situ Qingshan backstage and sent her heart racing. Her eyes lighted up as though she would be accelerating to the highest point in her life within the next second.

Becoming an ambassador for Midnight Coffee Café meant that she would be able to meet with Ye Sijue in–person quite often, and that could only help her secure a role in Song Qingming's new film and catapult her into the upper echelons of society–pure icing on the cake.

The very notion of that made Situ Qingshan grip her fists tightly. Being the champion meant that the role of brand ambassador was surely hers for the taking!

Meanwhile, at the front of the stage.

The host warmed up the crowd and sent Ye Sijue to his seat before inviting the presiding judge Rain Evans onstage.

Rain Evans was all smiles and glanced ambiguously in Mu Xia's direction before he turned to regard the audience. "Thank you, everyone, for taking time away from your busy schedules to attend the competition…"

After some opening statements, he went on straight to the matter at hand. "Now, we shall announce the results of this round of competition, starting with the second runner up…"

With the second and third placed prizes handed out, Rain took a pause before he declared, "Congratulations to our champion, Situ Qingshan!"

Backstage, Situ Qingshan held her breath before she elatedly walked onstage amidst thunderous applause.

A blushing Situ Qingshan then received the winner's trophy from Rain.

Made of pure gold, the trophy was quite hefty inside her hands, but she felt like she was riding on cloud nine

"Thanks, everyone. Thank you, Mr. Evans. And I'd also like to extend my gratitude to my parents for their continued support. I'll promise to keep working hard!" Situ Qingshan was almost choking up with emotions,

At that moment, Rain said, "Now, let's invite Young Master Ye onstage to announce his choice for brand ambassador."

Watching Ye Sijue step up only made Situ Qingshan even more antsy, so much so that she nearly forgot to hand the microphone over to him in the process.

Ye Sijue began when he took over, "I'm going to keep this brief and get right to the announcement."

Eagerness as well as nerves consumed Situ Qingshan. Looking inside her open palm, she found that there was already a veneer of sweat on it.

「Here it comes. Here it comes!」

The pivotal moment of her life!

Without even glimpsing at Situ Qingshan, Ye Sijue's eyes hovered over Mu Xia for a second before he said, "And the brand ambassador is… Xia. Ms. Mu Xia."

(there will be extra scenes from the raws from this on)