Chapter 39: Miss Dai, I’m Really Fine

Dai Feng walked up to Yan Yu and stopped in front of her.

She swirled the champagne glass in her hand slightly, her gaze landing on Yan Yu’s composed face, getting straight to the point.

“Hello. I know who you are. You’re… Su Qinghan’s friend, Yan Yu, right?”

Friend?

The word stirred a flicker of mockery deep in Yan Yu’s heart.

She lifted her eyes to meet Dai Feng’s gaze, a perfectly polite smile on her face. “Not really a friend… more like an acquaintance. But today, Miss Jiang personally invited me to her birthday banquet.”

“Miss Jiang?”

Dai Feng’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly, a trace of understanding flashing in her eyes, followed by faint disdain.

Jiang Muyun would be “kind” enough to invite Yan Yu?

Anyone with half a brain could see it was just to call her to her own turf, to show off, compare, and even humiliate her in front of everyone.

This kind of petty, bullying trick that little girls used to throw their weight around was beneath contempt and revealed a narrow-mindedness.

She looked at Yan Yu, who was sitting in a wheelchair before her.

Her complexion was better than the rumors suggested, but the underlying frailty was still evident. Her frame was thin, and she sat quietly in this corner, out of place amidst the surrounding glamour.

‘Hmph, Jiang Muyun.’

Yan Yu, an ex-girlfriend who was already physically limited, had long since stepped aside—she didn’t even count as an obstacle anymore. And yet Jiang Muyun still had to press so hard, as if she wanted to finish her off completely.

Thinking this, the already limited goodwill she had toward Jiang Muyun dropped a few more notches.

Along with it, she felt an indescribable… perhaps a subtle sense of kinship with the seemingly submissive Yan Yu before her.

“Alright,” Dai Feng pulled back her thoughts, her tone becoming more direct. “But Miss Yan, I still want to add a word of advice. Sometimes, constant yielding and tolerance won’t earn you sympathy or mercy from others. Instead, it might make them push even harder. For certain things and certain people, you still need to have your own boundaries and learn… to protect yourself.”

These words came off a little abruptly, even a bit too deep for a superficial acquaintance.

But that was Dai Feng’s nature. Whenever she saw something she couldn’t stand, she didn’t mind offering a word or two of advice.

Whether the other person listened or not was beyond her concern.

Yan Yu was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, as if she hadn’t expected this unfamiliar young lady to say such things to her.

Then, the curve of her lips deepened. Her calm eyes looked at Dai Feng, and her voice was soft and gentle, tinged with uncertainty. “Miss Dai… suddenly saying these things to me… are you concerned about me?”

Concern?

Dai Feng was caught off guard by the question.

She just couldn’t stand Jiang Muyun’s behavior and said what came to mind. It wasn’t really concern… at most, a bit of meddling?

“It’s not concern,” Dai Feng averted her gaze and took a sip of her drink. “I’ve just seen a lot of things, so I mentioned it offhand. Don’t take it to heart.”

“Regardless, thank you, Miss Dai.”

Yan Yu’s voice was still soft, but the gratitude in it sounded sincere.

She lowered her head slightly, that fragile look stirring something in Dai Feng’s heart again.

‘This girl… doesn’t seem as timid or clingy as the rumors suggest. At least, her eyes are clear.’

Just then, someone not too far away waved in her direction and called out, “Dai Feng! Over here!”

Dai Feng looked up and saw a few friends from her circle. She withdrew her gaze and nodded at Yan Yu. “My friends are calling me. Let’s chat another time if we have the chance.”

“Mm, go ahead, Miss Dai.” Yan Yu gave a slight nod and watched her turn around and leave briskly.

This entire scene was observed without missing a detail by Jiang Muyun not far away.

Her brows were already furrowed tightly enough to crush a mosquito.

‘Dai Feng!’

Su Qinghan’s childhood friend—impenetrable, unyielding, backed by a powerful family, and carrying a bit of a wild streak!

Jiang Muyun had never liked Dai Feng. She thought she didn’t act like a proper wealthy young lady—her gaze was too sharp, her words too direct, and she always treated her with indifference.

On a daily basis, she often made casual jabs at Dai Feng in front of Su Qinghan with remarks like, “Girls should be gentler, you know” or “Miss Dai seems to hang out with a questionable crowd,” subtly belittling her. This had also led to frequent arguments with Su Qinghan.

Even so, she was well aware of Dai Feng’s family status and didn’t dare to push too hard.

But now, Yan Yu actually dared to talk to Dai Feng?

Judging from their exchange, though it was brief, it seemed… more than just polite small talk?

What right did that poor substitute Yan Yu have to speak with Dai Feng?

What qualifications did she have to appear within Dai Feng’s social circle?

A wave of intense discomfort and anger surged up in Jiang Muyun’s heart.

In her opinion, someone of Yan Yu’s status, who had been “graced” with an invitation to such an occasion, should act like a true invisible person, or like a backdrop to showcase Jiang Muyun’s generosity and magnanimity, obediently shrinking into a corner and fading away.

How dare she?

How dare she speak with someone of Dai Feng’s level? Did she deserve it?

The more she looked, the more her chest tightened. Yan Yu’s calm face now seemed especially jarring to her.

She took a deep breath, quickly adjusted her facial expression, suppressed the displeasure, and put on her sweet smile again. She gave two eager friends beside her a meaningful glance.

The three of them, holding their wine glasses, gracefully walked toward the corner by the window.

“Oh, Miss Yan!” Jiang Muyun stopped in front of Yan Yu, her voice crisp with a hint of hypocrisy. “I didn’t expect you to actually come! I was worried… that inviting you like this might make you unhappy, or that you would mind the things between Qinghan and me, so you wouldn’t grace us with your presence.”

Her tone was intimate, but her words carried hidden thorns.

Yan Yu set down her juice glass and slowly looked up.

Under the lights, her face was fair and clean, her gaze calm and undisturbed. She looked at Jiang Muyun without any particular expression—neither jealousy nor humility.

She simply replied calmly, “Miss Jiang overthinks things. That you invited me was your kindness. I won’t hold onto things that are in the past.”

Her tone was even, even polite.

But this excessive calm caught the next set of consoling words Jiang Muyun had prepared, stuck in her throat.

Not a single one of the reactions she had anticipated—Yan Yu’s possible embarrassment, forced composure, or feigned strength—appeared.

Jiang Muyun’s smile froze for half a second, then she flashed an even brighter grin.

“Haha, that’s good, that’s good! I’m glad Miss Yan doesn’t mind. I’ve been worried about it all this time…”

As she spoke, following her pre-planned script, she let her gaze drop, preparing to examine Yan Yu’s attire with feigned concern and casually comment on it. She intended to use a gentle tone to convey implications of shabbiness, cheapness, and imitation, hoping to provoke a reaction from Yan Yu.

However, when her eyes truly fell upon the pearl-white evening gown Yan Yu was wearing, all the sharp words she had prepared instantly got stuck deep in her throat.