“Madam Yu.”
Jiang Ruo turned towards the door only to see Lily smiling at her as if she did not make her wait for over two hours. She gritted her teeth as she forced a smile on her lips. All throughout the years that she stayed in this neighborhood, Jiang Ruo had never been disrespected like this. “Hi, Lily… is it alright for me to call you Lily?” she immediately asked.
Calling Lily Madam Zhou is something that she is very uncomfortable doing. This was mainly because of the fact that Lily is almost half her age. Moreover, she believed that she is superior to Lily simply because she is older and has stayed in this place longer. Calling her Madam would only make them equals.
In terms of seniority, Jiang Ruo is considered the senior. Suffice to say, Lily should respect her in this neighborhood.
“No problem.” Lily’s smile becomes even more brilliant. “To be honest, I was not comfortable with the name. I mean… no offense, but the word Madam is for the older women. Definitely not for me.”
Jiang Ruo held her breath. Was she insulting her age? However, she decided to let this go, for now. “Then good,” she eyed Lily’s perfect brows and flawless makeup as she wondered why she was so late. Was she really doing something very important?
But what could someone like Lily do? Her research told her that Lily is taking a break from her business because of what happened earlier this year.
“First… let me apologize for being late. I was actually not expecting a visitor, so I already scheduled some very important matters.” Lily said. The absence of sincerity in her voice made Jiang Ruo frowned. This was the exact opposite of what Lily showed her the first time that she came to see her.
She immediately wondered if this was because of what happened at the birthday party. “No worries. I was actually very idle, and it was partly my fault for not announcing my visit in advance. Plus… the view from here is spectacular.” She eyed the sea of buildings that is visible from the terrace.
“Hmmm. May I know what brings you here?” Lily asked.
“Oh! I already told your secretary about this. Here…” she handed a pink envelop that was about the size of Lily’s hand. “This is the formal welcome letter from the community.” She gave a gentle smile. “It was also an invitation… for a tea party.”
“A tea party?” Lily was immediately reminded of the tea party that she used to watch when she was younger. For some reason, a pink dressed barbie with her perfect smile and meticulously arranged hair stuck in her mind. “With all the women in living in this neighborhood?”
Lily used to wonder how the wives of rich people spend their time. This should be one of their ways to save themselves from boredom, right? She recalled her childhood with Tang Lingyun.
If her memory serves her right, she did not remember the woman being invited by tea parties like this. Was it because… Tang Lingyun and Qin Mo were not rich enough? Lily then thought about her grandmother Lilian. For some reason, Lily didn’t remember her say about parties like this too.
Maybe it was because her grandmother seldom attends events that are not related to business. Moreover, Lilian rather talk about war strategies and how to apply this in business than the newest gossip in town.
“Yes. In fact, I am the President of our little community of housewives.” Jiang Ruo’s words brought her back from her stupor. She watched as Jiang Ruo covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled. It was an extremely elegant move, something that takes a lot of practice and getting use to. “We do this every month and would change venues every month. This is when we… women show off their closets or our latest collections of jewels that our husbands bought for us.”
“Oh… that sounds… fun?” Lily said as she faked a smile. Fun? That is not her definition of fun. In fact, she thought events like this are extremely boring. This is an absolute waste of her precious time!
To Lily, time is money, and wasting her time idling and talking about bags and shoes is an absolute waste of money!
“So… are you going to join us?” Jiang Ruo asked. “Of course we would understand if you declined but… this tea party is actually the second tea party that we are going to do this month. This was specially scheduled to welcome you to the community.”
Lily only nodded as she opened the envelope. Inwardly, all she wanted was to curse and maybe tell Jiang Ruo that her Gucci silk scarf does not go with the color of her long dress. She urged herself to read the contents of the card.
“Twelve women?” she uttered when she saw the names at the back of the card.
“Oh! Those are our permanent members. As you can see… most people who own a place in The Peak also have properties elsewhere. They don’t actually stay in this place and would only visit for vacation.” Jiang Ruo explained. “These were wives of businessmen and politicians who settled in Hong Kong and Mainland China. But don’t worry, I believe three more women will join us. They are from abroad and will stay in this neighborhood for a couple of months. So… it will be fun.”
Lily didn’t miss the excitement in the older woman’s voice. “You said… the venue changes every month?”
“Oh! Yes… I was actually here to talk to you about this matter as well.” Jiang Ruo gave an awkward smile. “If it’s not too much trouble, the other women are very interested to see your collection of dresses. I mean… after the gift last night. Everyone was very interested to see if you have other jewels from your friends.”
“So… you wanted to have the ‘tea party’ here?” Lily wanted to confirm.
“Yes. I hope that is alright with you. If not… then you don’t have to worry, I will tell them about it. I �� I mean… everyone heard that you took a break from your job. So we thought… maybe we will help ease your boredom by doing the tea party.”
Lily shook her head inwardly. “I’m sorry… but I have to decline this time.” She uttered, completely surprising the woman opposite her. “I have not met all these women and to be honest… I am not very comfortable in letting strangers walk inside my home.”
…….
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