Rebirth of the Fashion King

Chapter 60 My mother... wants to see you.

Li Xun's pencil stopped on the paper, and he frowned.

I drank too much water and now I need to go to the toilet.

This kind of physiological interruption is really annoying, especially when you're in the right state of mind.

Images kept popping into my head, one after another, and my hand speed couldn't keep up, while my bladder started to protest.

He put down his pencil and stretched his wrists.

My knuckles are a bit stiff. I've been drawing for several hours straight, and some lead ash has smudged between my right index and middle fingers, onto the inside of my wrist, and then onto my cuff.

As he stood up, he accidentally bumped the corner of the table, and several sheets of sketch paper slid down with a clatter. He immediately bent down to pick them up, stacked them in order, and placed them under the paperweight.

The paperweight is a frosted crystal with the double C logo engraved on it. It was a little gift from Virginia last year. Li Xun actually has many gifts from them, but the one from the big boss, Alan, seems to be the most expensive.

As he reached the door, he remembered his phone was still on the table. He hesitated for two seconds, then went back to get it.

The screen is lit.

  

It's not the lock screen; it's a text message.

The sender's name in the message is "茜茜".

The time was 22 minutes ago.

"Remember to call me back when you're not busy, I have something important to tell you~"

Li Xun stared at the text message for three seconds.

The last syllable also has a tilde.

They're quite cute.

My thumb pressed the dial button.

嘟—

The phone was answered before the second beep had even finished.

"Feed?"

'

Liu Yifei's voice came through the receiver, lowered slightly, as if she were speaking while covering the phone.

The background noise was very quiet, unlike outside.

Li Xun's lips unconsciously curled upwards.

"Busy?" he asked.

"No, no." Her voice immediately brightened and became much more cheerful.

"I'm in my room, I just finished putting on a face mask."

"You're wearing a face mask and still answering the phone?"

"I came over as soon as I heard the vibration," she said matter-of-factly. "Are you finally done?"

"Okay, let's take a break." Li Xun changed his posture, putting his other hand in his pocket.

"What do you want?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

It was just a fleeting moment, very light, but Li Xun caught it.

"Well—it's nothing serious." She paused for a beat, "It's just—tell me what you did today?"

Li Xun laughed; she had actually learned to be roundabout.

They're quite smart.

"I'm drawing design sketches," he replied. "I've been drawing them since this morning, for quite a while."

"You've been drawing all this time?" she asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Did you skip meals again?"

"Of course I ate it."

"What did you eat?"

"sandwich."

"It's sandwiches again." Her voice broke down.

"Li Xun, can't you be a little kinder to yourself? What's so great about sandwiches? Go downstairs and eat there yourself. There are so many restaurants on Cambon Street."

"I don't have time today, really."

"You—" She choked for a moment, then said angrily, "Watch out or I'll beat you up!"

Two seconds later, there was a rustling sound, as if she turned over in bed, buried her face in the pillow, and then, as if she suddenly remembered something, let out an "Ah".

"Oh, right!" she said, "I almost forgot about the important thing."

Li Xun waited for her to speak.

"It's just—" she stammered again, "My mommy—"

'

Li Xun raised an eyebrow.

Liu Xiaoli.

He went over the name in his mind.

Liu Yifei's mother was a dancer before becoming her agent.

He didn't know much about this Liu's mother in his previous life, only that she was very strict with Liu Yifei and that she basically handled all of Liu Yifei's career matters in the early stages.

After Liu Yifei returned from her birthday party, she mentioned a few words to him, saying that her mother had asked him many questions.

Should I see him now?

"What's wrong with your mommy?" he asked deliberately.

"She—" Liu Yifei's voice trailed off, "She wants to see you."

After saying that, there was complete silence on the other end of the phone.

It was so quiet that Li Xun could hear her breathing, a little fast and shallow, as if she was holding her breath and waiting for his answer.

Li Xun did not speak immediately.

He's thinking about things.

Meeting the parents.

Is this progress considered fast?

But on second thought, it didn't seem so unexpected.

Liu Xiaoli is her mother. Liu Yifei debuted at the age of fifteen and has come this far thanks to Liu Xiaoli's support. In the entertainment industry, it would be impossible for a single mother to make it with her daughter without some skill and ability.

Her daughter is with a guy named Li Xun; she can't possibly ignore it.

How could she feel at ease if she didn't see him/her?

Li Xun could certainly understand.

"Li Xun?"

Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while, Liu Yifei panicked a little, and her voice became tense.

"You—you don't want to go?" she asked cautiously. "It's okay. If you think it's too soon, I'll tell my mom to wait. And my dad knows too—"

"No," Li Xun interrupted her.

"what?"

"I didn't say I didn't want to go," he said. "I'm thinking about the timing."

"----oh."

Her relieved voice came through the receiver, and it was very clear.

Then there was a rustling sound, probably from rolling around on the bed.

"You scared me to death—" she complained, "Why didn't you say anything for so long?"

"Thinking about things."

"What are you thinking about?"

What should I bring when I meet your mother for the first time?

Liu Yifei remained silent.

Her cheeks flushed red all the way to her ears, then she buried her face in the blanket, leaving only her eyes showing, her phone pressed to her ear, her fingers clutching the corner of the blanket.

After a long pause, she whispered, "No need to bring anything—my mommy doesn't care about these things."

"It's not good to meet empty-handed," Li Xun said. "What does your mother like?"

"She—" Liu Yifei thought for a moment, "She likes to drink tea, and—she likes to listen to opera? I think so."

Li Xun made a mental note of it.

Tea. Opera.

"What perfume does she usually wear?" he asked again.

"Perfume?" She paused for a moment, "It seems to be—the Hermès Garden series? No, I think there are others too, I can't remember clearly, she has quite a lot of perfumes—"

"No need, I understand."

"Are you going to give her perfume?"

'

"We'll see," he said, not giving a direct answer.

"When? When would your mother like to meet?"

"Saturday? You should have time then, Sunday is fine too."

Liu Yifei lay on the bed, swinging her legs up and down.

"Saturday afternoon, I think. I'll probably sleep in on Saturday; I've been staying up quite a bit this week."

"Okay, I'll tell Mommy."

The old lady was busy with her own affairs in her office, but she was waiting for someone to come in; she had been in this state for the past two days.

He waited and waited, until a pile of design drawings were produced, but Karl Lagerfeld still hadn't received them.

In terms of timing, Friday is the meeting for the proposal.

This kid should come looking for him soon.

This shouldn't be happening!

The old lady put down her pen and then picked up the internal phone.

Has Rhine ever been to your place?

-

"No, I saw him come out just now. I thought he couldn't hold it in anymore and went to find you, but he just went to the bathroom."

Virginia's tone was very serious.

"Looks like we can't wait any longer. Let's see the answer on Friday."

"I want him to truly succeed. Do you really think he can do it without our help?"

Virginie was somewhat helpless in the face of the old lady's question.

"Didn't you trust him a lot before? Why the change of heart today?"

"That's different, I—" Karl Lagerfeld was interrupted by Virginia before he could finish.

"What's different? Are you afraid that Rhine really doesn't need you? You've called three times today, Carl. You weren't like this before."