Chapter 1019: I’m Not Betting

Pei Jingyu’s invitation letter was used to invite her mother, Madam Ren.

Pei Ziheng’s mother passed early, while he was too young and had yet to marry. Thus, Madam Ren had been taking care of the Pei family’s matters. She could be regarded as the actual matriarch of the family. For events such as the flower ball, a woman of such seniority was needed to carry things out.

As such, she could only invite her mother and not any other sisters.

But Pei Ziheng’s circumstances were different—now that the elders of the Pei family were all present, he could use his invitation to bring another sister along. He could find a suitable match for her sister and form alliances with other families through her marriage.

But he did not do it.

Instead, he brought along an orphan who had no ties to the Pei family.

Who was Xia Ling even? Count on her to form alliances for the Pei family? Ridiculous!

Pei Zhenyuan’s face darkened. He turned to Pei Jingyu and Pei Jingshan and said, “You don’t have to accompany me anymore, go walk around by yourselves and call Ziheng over.”

The two girls understood his intentions instantly. Grandpa wanted to have a word alone with Big Cousin.

Pei Jingyu smirked. It must be because of that brat Xia Ling! Grandpa was definitely going to reprimand cousin and get him to kick her out!

She nodded politely and walked over to Pei Ziheng with her sister.

Pei Ziheng was in the midst of a conversation with the director of another conglomerate. Xia Ling was standing by his side, holding onto his sleeves and getting distracted by the surroundings. Suddenly, she said softly, “Look, Pei Jingyu and Pei Jingshan are here.”

Pei Ziheng brought her out today as an outing, but he could see that Xia Ling was getting a little restless from all his socializing. After hearing that they were here, he respectfully apologized and parted ways with the director. He then turned towards the Pei sisters.

Pei Jingyu was in an elegant gown and gave off a prim and proper aura. “Big Cousin, Grandpa is calling you over. He is at the pavilion over there,” she said to Pei Ziheng without even looking at Xia Ling, as if she was non-existent.

Pei Ziheng looked in the direction of the pavilion and roughly figured out why Pei Zhenyuan was looking for him. He said to Xia Ling, “I’ll be back in a moment. You can play around by yourself. If you run into any trouble, just say that you are with me.”

“Okay.” She nodded obediently as he walked away.

Now that Pei Ziheng was away, Pei Jingyu sneered. “Little beggar, do you even belong here? Stop embarrassing the Pei family and get out of here.”

Xia Ling was not intimidated by her. “Didn’t you say I wouldn’t be able to enter? Look at where I am now! Some people like to act all high and mighty. Hmph, isn’t it just a flower ball? What’s so special about that?” She had already heard from Nanny Zhou about the ball. According to Nanny Zhou, Brother Pei skipped the ball for many years as he thought it was too much of a hassle.

If Brother Pei disliked the ball, it must mean that it was nothing much.

Pei Jingyu was enraged. This brat knew nothing!

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Pei Jingshan chimed in. “What’s special? No wonder you are a beggar, you know nothing. From what I see, Big Cousin must have brought you here to see you embarrass yourself! No guy will pick you for the ‘Summer Belle’ contest later. Hahaha, how interesting that would be.”

She smirked as if she found it funny.

Xia Ling was stunned. “What Summer Belle contest?”

“You mean you didn’t know?” Pei Jingshan explained to her out of pity. “This ball is named the Summer Belle Flower Ball for a reason. Every year, girls from the various families will showcase their talents at the contest. The bachelors will each get a flower to vote for their favorite girl. The girl with the most flowers would be that year’s ‘Summer Belle’.”

She added, “Last year’s Summer Belle was Sister Jingyu.”

A restrained smirk appeared on Pei Jingyu’s face. The title of Summer Belle was not easy to attain. To rise above the other girls, one had to do well in all aspects—in terms of their family background, etiquette, appearance, and talents. It was not easy to win the votes of the bachelors.

“How about that, little beggar,” Pei Jingyu said proudly and taunted her. “Didn’t you say that it’s nothing special? How about you try out for it?” She was sure that no matter how pretty Xia Ling was, she would not be able to get the title. This was a matchmaking ball for the rich and powerful families. Those flowers in the hands of the bachelors, they were not given out freely. Apart from the bachelors’ personal tastes, the more important factor was the girl’s family background. Giving the flower to the girl meant that the bachelor was interested in marriage and forming an alliance with the family.

Xia Ling’s family background was insignificant compared to the other girls. No matter how pretty she was, it would not have helped.

In last year’s contest, Pei Jingyu was honestly not the one with the best talent. However, she was best after her family background and other aspects were taken into consideration. Only then she was able to win the votes of the bachelors.

Xia Ling did not know these unspoken rules about the contest. The arrogance of the two sisters enraged her and she said stubbornly, “It’s just the Summer Belle Contest, I will be able to win it easily.”

“Hahahaha!” Pei Jingshan burst out laughing.

Guests from the neighboring tables heard the commotion and looked over.

Realizing the unwanted attention on them, Pei Jingyu cautioned. “Jingshan, watch your demeanor.”

Pei Jingshan came to a sudden realization. She reverted to the posture that Teacher Gao had taught them and gracefully stopped her laughter. However, she was still looking at Xia Ling with despise.

Pei Jingyu said, “You want to be the Summer Belle? That’s great, very ambitious. Why don’t we have a bet? If you cannot win the contest, leave the Pei family.’

The stakes were high, Xia Ling did not let her anger take over. “I’m not betting.”

“Why, are you afraid?” Pei Jingyu sneered. “You are indeed an orphan, all you do is embarrass yourself.”

Xia Ling retaliated. “You are the embarrassing one!!”

“Then why do you not dare to bet with me?”

Xia Ling bit her lip and did not reply. If the bet only involved her, she would have taken it. However, her sister Xia Yu was still hospitalized. If she left the Pei family, Xia Yu would be forced to leave too.

“I refuse to bet!” She said.

“Coward.” Pei Jingyu said.

“In my opinion, she is leeching on Brother Ziheng.” Pei Jingshan mocked. “Little beggar, it’s fine if you don’t dare to bet with us. Leave the ball now and we will not bother you. Otherwise, I will tell everyone that there is a beggar here fantasizing about becoming the Summer Belle!”