Chapter 21: Invite Two Foreigners to Perform

Xia Xi understood; the grandmother's words, translated, were thanks for her saving their whole family's lives. She and her husband had come to China for tourism, choosing this city of Nancheng precisely to thank her, and they had brought a gift.

She understood, but Xia Xi was still doubtful: how had she saved a family's life?

Is this really not some large outdoor prank game? Where are the cameras? Xia Xi repeatedly confirmed: "Are you sure you're looking for me?"

"Let me speak." The old man pulled his wife aside, faced Xia Xi, took out his phone from his backpack, and showed her a photo: "No mistake, our house is one you personally designed."

Xia Xi looked at the villa in the photo; the familiar architecture immediately reminded her of everything: "Your son is Mr. Brown?"

The old man nodded excitedly and said yes.

Then there's no mistake.

Out of courtesy, Xia Xi invited them inside to sit.

When she initially provided the villa's design drawings, the person she dealt with was the son of this elderly couple, Brown; she had occasionally visited the construction site and bumped into the two elders, but her impression of them wasn't deep, and over time she forgot them.

As quitting time approached, everyone hearing the commotion stopped work, eyes full of gossip, gazing toward the hall entrance, only to see Xia Xi leading an elderly foreign couple in, chatting and laughing.

Everyone working here are top talents with good English; they understood the elderly couple's praise and thanks to Xia Xi.

According to their description, Xia Xi had helped them design the house; a month earlier, their pet's mischief caused a kitchen fire; it was deep night, the family slept soundly, and nobody noticed.

The fire burned for nearly an hour until the neighbor next door got up to use the toilet, smelled a smoky odor, then saw their house on fire, immediately called Brown's phone to report the fire.

Rescue personnel arrived, extinguished the blaze, successfully rescued the family; while investigating the cause, they miraculously found that several bedroom walls were intact, only the kitchen, devastated by the intense fire, was beyond recognition.

After professional investigation, the conclusion was that their fire prevention measures were perfect, even reserving an escape route. One could say that the person who originally designed this house saved their family's lives.

This time the elderly couple came traveling, asked their son, and learned that the designer who had helped them design the house, Xia Xi, worked at Bo Ya Design Company; thus they conceived the idea of thanking her in person.

After many attempts to find her, they finally met her in person.

Xia Xi invited them to sit in the office, brewed tea and brought it over; after hearing their full story, she felt a bit embarrassed and said: "Actually, the person most deserving of thanks is your son, Mr. Brown; in our conversation he emphasized that the family had two elders, three children, and a pet, that safety must come first, comfort could be secondary, so I put considerable thought into reinforced fire and electrical protections."

If the employer hadn't raised these requirements, she wouldn't have focused on this; as you know, merely sourcing top‑grade fireproof materials took considerable effort—some aren't available on the market—so she herself sought board suppliers and custom manufacturers, having them produce items to her specifications.

The couple exchanged smiles, and the old man said: "I've heard Chinese people regard humility as a virtue, Miss Xia, don't be humble—Brown also supports our expressing thanks to you in person."

The old woman took a box from her husband's backpack, handed it to Xia Xi with both hands, and said: "This is a small token from our family; we hope Miss Xia will like it."

"I really… can't accept this." Xia Xi waved her hand, politely refusing: "It's just what I should do as a designer; your satisfaction is the greatest affirmation for me; I cannot take the gift, please understand."

The old woman insisted on giving it to her, but Xia Xi firmly refused.

They pushed back and forth, deadlocked for a while; the old woman had a brainwave, tossed the box onto the table farthest from Xia Xi, and when Xia Xi went over to pick it up, she grabbed her husband and slipped away.

Xia Xi grabbed the box and chased out of the office, but the two spry elders had already vanished.

Someone curiously asked: "Xia Gong, is this the gift they gave you? What is it?"

Xia Xi opened the box and nearly had a heart attack: a jade necklace lay on black velvet, fully green, without a speck of impurity. She didn't understand these things, but to a layperson's eye it looked expensive.

As far as she knew, Brown was a boss who ran several restaurants.

Can running a restaurant really make that much money? To just pull out a jade necklace like that. Seeing Xia Xi's shocked expression, coworkers' curiosity exploded; one or two stood up, craned their necks to peek into the box, and in unison sucked in a breath, looking at Xia Xi with envy.

"Are foreigners always this generous?"

"Maybe they're big millionaires who don't care about this amount of money."

"Didn't you just hear? That couple said Xia Gong saved their family's lives—what's external wealth compared to life?"

"That's also quite generous—this is jade!"

"Suddenly I understand the meaning of being a designer—it's not just making others' homes beautiful and comfortable."

"Ah, when will I also get a generous client! Why are all the clients I encounter such idiots, always telling me how to design. Some things I say can't be done would ruin the structure, yet I get scolded for being incapable."

"Hahaha, that's reality."

Xia Xi stood there dazed, not hearing what others said, her mind full of how to return the item—this gift was too valuable, she absolutely could not accept it.

She still remembered Brown's address, but didn't know whether such a valuable item could be sent overseas by express… she sighed.

Gao Ge carried a cup to the tea room, passed Xia Xi, glanced at her lightly, and curled her lip in disdain.

In the tea room someone was brewing packet coffee—it was client manager Jiang Tian, a 1.8‑meter man with regular features, wearing a black suit and white shirt, always proper.

Gao Ge tore open a packet of flower tea, dumped it into her cup, went to the water dispenser for hot water to brew, and said in a sarcastic tone: "Someone just started work and already there's all this drama—how will we manage later?"

Jiang Tian sipped his coffee, raised an eyebrow, and asked: "Who?"

Gao Ge gave a 'heh', set her cup on the table, and chatted with him: "Besides that person, who else just started work?"

"You mean Xia Gong? I also heard what happened outside just now—it's quite moving."

"You believe that too?" Gao Ge wore an expression of incomprehension: "How could there be such a coincidence? She just started and someone shows up at the door to thank her and give gifts, even a jade necklace of that value—80% likely they hired actors to play a scene. She's smart, knowing to find two foreigners to act."

Jiang Tian looked astonished: "No way, Xia Gong doesn't seem like that kind of person. Besides, what would she gain?"

Gao Ge: "You still don't see it—let everyone think she's impressive. Look at those people outside: this morning they were skeptical of her as an airborne recruit, now they all idolize her. Mission accomplished."

Jiang Tian shook his head, unconvinced: "I still think you're overthinking."

Seeing Jiang Tian disagree, Gao Ge grew angry and blurted: "You men are just easy to fool! Seeing her face you can't walk away, right? Who knows how someone young rose to power—maybe by selling…"

Jiang Tian's eye twitched; he glanced awkwardly behind her—Xia Xi stood at the tea room doorway, expressionless, yet one could feel the cold aura she emitted.

Xia Xi did not consider herself a saint; she couldn't bear hearing people maliciously fabricate stories about her behind her back and remain unmoved.

She marched straight toward Gao Ge, killing intent radiating.

Jiang Tian swallowed saliva, instinctively stepped back to avoid being caught up.

He hadn't echoed Gao Ge's words from start to finish; on the contrary, he had spoken well of Xia Xi, hoping she would discern clearly and let him off! A loudspeaker broadcast: "The day after tomorrow we go V—I can finally add more chapters!!!"

(End of chapter)