Chapter 4 of "The Exchange Student Chasing Dreams"

　　A week later, Xia Meng finally finished that "horrible" birthday gift. Looking at the girl's gloomy expression as she walked out of the study, as if possessed by a demon, Lu Bin could hardly bear to look. After she finished her meal, the butler handed her a letter.
　　"Miss Xia, Mr. Lu, this is a birthday party sent by Mr. Matt," the butler said respectfully, adding that if she confirmed her attendance, he would have custom-made formal wear for the party.
　　Lu Bin kindly suggested that, guessing that the other party's true intentions weren't the birthday party, a polite refusal would be the best course of action. Unfortunately, although Matt had anticipated this outcome, and knowing Xia Meng's personality to some extent, he added a sentence to the back of the invitation: "Dare to accept? A challenge, brave Chinese girl?" Next to it was a wicked smiley face.
　　Upon seeing this, Xia Meng slammed her hand on the table: "Go! I have to go!"
　　Wearing a sky-blue floral dress and sporting the hairstyle of the older sister from *Frozen*, Xia Meng felt that even going through fire and water would be worth it.
　　Lu Bin thought it was a rare treat for Xia Meng to have such a charming and delightful side, and it would be a real shame not to attend the party, so he decided to play the role of her protector.
　　Matt's villa was located in a noble garden in a wealthy area of Paris. The scenery was beautiful; after driving into a wall of roses, along a red-brick driveway, there were circular fountains, green lawns, and exquisite pavilions on both sides... All of this made Xia Meng not only marvel at the privileged life of the wealthy, but also appreciate the innate romantic temperament of the people there.
　　Unfortunately, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, romance or gentility ultimately requires a rude and shameless person as a contrast.
　　Just as they were invited into the banquet, Matt sprayed Xia Meng and Lu Bin with a can of cola the moment they entered, leaving them covered in water. Although Lu Bin immediately shielded Xia Meng, he could only ensure that the girl's face remained unharmed.
　　Xia Meng angrily thought, even if it was a trap, at least some etiquette should be observed. How could she be so disliked for such a despicable act?
　　Lu Bin pulled out a handkerchief and carefully dried the cola juice from Xia Meng's hair. His gentlemanly gesture, along with his unfamiliar handsome face, attracted the attention of the girls at the banquet. Occasionally, one could hear some people excitedly asking the name of this suddenly appearing handsome young man from the East.
　　"Xiao Meng, are you alright?" Lu Bin asked with concern.
　　Xia Meng's big eyes were about to cry, but in the next second, they turned ruthless.
　　Under everyone's watchful eyes, the girl stomped hard on the host's foot with her leather boot and said fiercely, "Where's the restroom?"
　　Matt, seeing Xia Meng's murderous expression, could only give way to her amidst the cheers of the "traitors" who had rapidly become fans of Xia Meng's domineering nature.
　　Looking at her miserable state in the restroom, Xia Meng regretted her actions, thinking how much better it would have been if she had listened to Lu Bin's advice. Did she really want to fit into that group? She asked herself dejectedly, a deep sense of defeat making her realize her mistake.
　　“Actually, Matt never teased girls before.”
　　A blonde, blue-eyed girl with a playful short haircut appeared in the mirror. Xia Meng held back her tears and quickly greeted her.
　　“Xia Meng, right? My name is Monica.” Monica said warmly, and soon two girls who looked and dressed very similarly to her stood out from behind her. The one with shoulder-length hair was called Rachel, and the other with waist-length hair was called Phoebe. They each gave Xia Meng a hug.
　　“We are triplets from the next class, and we met you on the first day,” said Rachel with shoulder-length hair. “We’ve always hoped to become your friends, would you like to?”
　　Xia Meng was instantly flattered and it took her a while to happily answer, “Yes.
　　” “What did you mean by that just now?”
　　“I’ve known Matt since I was little. Although he used to be very grumpy, he was very gentlemanly towards girls in many situations,” Monica replied.
　　Xia Meng immediately gave her a “Are you kidding me?” look.
　　"So we're guessing, could it be because of Mary?"
　　Mary is the heiress of the mansion Xia Meng currently lives in, the granddaughter of Professor Thomson, the mansion's owner, and also a French girl who went to Yilin as an exchange student.
　　Xia Meng certainly knows her, although they've never met. However, after moving into the mansion, she received a call from Mary, who was clearly very familiar with her, proactively asking for her QQ number. They added each other as friends online, and afterwards, the two often chatted about their lives, becoming close confidantes.
　　Xia Meng learned that Mary's birthday was coming up soon and even carefully prepared a special birthday gift to send to her.
　　"I asked Mary, and she said it's impossible," Xia Meng said definitively. She had previously suspected that Matt might dislike her because he had feelings for Mary, which was why he had swapped identities with Mary. But Mary denied this.
　　Hearing Xia Meng's words, the three sisters' faces darkened, as if they were hiding some unspeakable secret.
　　Finally, Phoebe cautiously looked around to make sure no one else was there before speaking, "Xia Meng, we're here to tell you that Matt designed a lot of traps for you... Write them down, but whatever you do, don't let him know we told you!"
　　At the banquet, the boys were chatting, playing games, and dancing in small groups, while Lu Bin was
　　surrounded by a bunch of girls. Of course, Xia Meng had already noticed that Lu Bin was sending her a distress signal, and the three sisters volunteered at this moment.
　　"Xia Meng, let us protect him!" the three sisters said in unison.
　　Looking at the anger emanating from them towards those girls, Xia Meng more or less understood one of the real reasons they were helping her. Unfortunately, she really couldn't pay attention to Lu Bin at the moment, because a short boy who often followed Matt was approaching her.
　　The boy handed her a cake, and Xia Meng smiled and took it, found Matt's location, took a few steps to him, and handed him the cake—"Bang!" The cake was instantly smeared all over Matt's face.
　　"Thank you for the treat," Xia Meng said sweetly.
　　Next, all the schemes originally designed for Xia Meng fell on Matt instead: he was dragged by Xia Meng and doused with ice; he was pushed against a wall covered in superglue; he was voted the unluckiest guy of the night and made to perform a wailing performance.
　　Finally, after receiving a glass of orange juice from a girl planted by Matt, Xia Meng secretly switched it with Matt's. About minutes later, because of the drink laced with laxatives, Matt never showed up again for the second half of the party.
　　By then, most of the girls at the party had started to gravitate towards Xia Meng because of the three sisters, and even Matt's gang of friends were having a great time. Amidst the laughter, Xia Meng remembered Monica's words. Although she didn't know the reason, it was Matt's house after all, and it was his birthday, so she asked Lu Bin to play "Ode to Joy" on the keyboard as a blessing for Matt.
　　In the bedroom, Matt heard the piece, and even rearranged it to blend with the birthday song. He heard everyone singing "Happy Birthday Matt," and he even knew it must be the Chinese girl's doing, and of course, the person playing the instrument was definitely the Chinese boy. Matt covered his face in the unlit room, smashing a portrait of himself with his parents to pieces.
　　"Happy Birthday? To hell with it!"