Deep in the night, the yacht sailed into the open sea, surrounded by a deep blue silence adorned with starlight. The ball had ended, but its echoes lingered. Scattered guests still chatted on the deck, but in the very center of the dance floor, one person was conspicuously absent—the "mystery lady" who had taken the ball by storm.
At this moment, the protagonist of the ball, Tang Yu, stood by the dance floor, gazing down at the shoe on the ground.
A broken blue high heel, with a silver-blue metallic crystal buckle adorning the toe, its unique style memorable at first glance.
"This is the clue she left behind," Tang Yu murmured to himself.
His assistant, Xiao Lin, whispered from behind him, "Do we need to review the ball's surveillance footage?"
Tang Yu slowly shook his head. "No need."
"But Mr. Tang, someone might have snuck onto the ship tonight—"
"I know." He paused, his gaze turning cold as he looked at the distant horizon. "My father is indeed arranging some 'unmentionable' transactions. I sensed something was off. But that girl... she doesn't seem like his accomplice."
He gently squeezed the high heel, as if grasping something complex yet impossible to let go of.
Meanwhile, Li Hao had already changed back into his sailor uniform and was sitting in the yacht's lower lounge, holding his foot and gritting his teeth to suppress the pain.
"You broke the shoe?" Li Qing crouched down to examine the other clearly deformed high heel. "Tsk, did you run on a steel plate?"
"It stepped on me first," Li Hao retorted grumpily. "Your heel is thinner than my childhood stilts."
"But you sure danced with a lot of emotion."
"You dare say that! What did you even talk about with Tang Yu?!" A vein throbbed in Li Hao's temple. "He's clearly very interested in 'me'."
"How would I know?" Li Qing spread her hands. "Who knew your sister's charm was so great?"
"Where's the shoe?"
"Lost it on the dance floor."
They were silent for a moment.
Then Li Hao suddenly turned to Li Qing, his voice desperate: "Tell me, did you deliberately not wear the spare shoes?"
Li Qing spread her hands with an innocent expression: "The police station has a limited budget."
A week later, news about the ball appeared in major financial and gossip columns.
Who is Tang Yu's Cinderella? Mystery Lady Leaves Shoe Behind, Citywide Search for "Lost Beauty"Anonymous Investigator Appears at Masquerade Ball? Tang Qiming's Yacht Hides SecretsTang Family Ball Suspected of Illegal Transactions, Police May Have Intervened
The news images focused on the clearly photographed blue high heel, its strap still broken.
And Tang Yu, that same afternoon, issued a statement:
"I met a girl at the ball who captivated me. She left behind a special shoe. I want to find her—not for family interests, nor for my father's arrangements, but simply because I believe she deserves to be found."
This statement was like a pebble dropped into a calm sea, creating a huge vortex.
A few days later, Li Qing sat in the police station's archives room, scrolling through social media, secretly chuckling while poking Li Hao's shoulder.
"Look, the #BlueShoeGoddess topic has over a hundred thousand hotness points."
"Do you believe I'm going to go get that shoe back right now?"
"Too late. That shoe is probably already locked in Tang Yu's safe."
Li Hao slumped onto the table: "My only request now is that this damned shoe never appears again."
"Are you sure?" Li Qing's smile was meaningful. "The prince mobilized the whole city to find Cinderella. Are you sure you can escape?"
Li Hao's face instantly went pale: "What?!"
"Don't worry, I promise you, this time I'll prepare shoes that are the right size."
"You!... Is it too late for me to resign?"