To the surprise of both Jiang Muyun and the curly-haired girl, Yan Yu showed no signs of panic or suppressed tears when faced with the stain on her chest.
She simply lowered her eyes to look at it, then calmly pulled a tissue from the small round table nearby. She dabbed at the edges of the stain with light, unhurried movements.
“It’s fine,” she said, looking up at the curly-haired girl, who was still in the middle of her performance. “Don’t worry about it too much. This is my own dress, not a rental.”
“Y-your own?” The exaggerated expression on the curly-haired girl’s face froze, as if she had heard a fairy tale. “Miss Yan, you… you don’t have to force yourself! We all know that clothes like this—”
“That’s right, Yan Yu, there’s no need to push yourself…” Jiang Muyun added hypocritically.
“Miss Jiang, I’m not forcing myself; this truly is my own dress,” Yan Yu interrupted, turning her gaze toward Jiang Muyun, whose expression was shifting uncontrollably. “Can we just let this matter go?”
Let it go?!
Those four light words pierced through Jiang Muyun’s heart like a needle.
Her brain buzzed as a surge of rage flared up within her.
How could they just let it go? This was nothing like what she had planned!
According to her script, Yan Yu should be pale with fright right now, heartbroken over this “borrowed” astronomical-priced dress, and too terrified to ask for compensation. She should be forced to swallow her resentment, looking at them with those timid, sorrowful eyes.
Then, Jiang Muyun would “magnanimously” forgive Yan Yu’s clumsiness or offer a fake compensation, trampling over Yan Yu’s last bit of pathetic dignity.
But what was Yan Yu doing now?
With a nonchalant “it’s mine” and “let it go,” she had brushed away the scene Jiang Muyun had so carefully prepared, as if she were merely dusting off a shoulder.
That calm, ripple-less gaze even made Jiang Muyun feel like her own smugness and her friend’s acting were as ridiculous as a clown’s performance.
It was the feeling of throwing a punch into a pile of cotton, only for the other person to ask if your hand hurt. It left Jiang Muyun feeling suffocated and livid.
What she hated most was Yan Yu’s unpredictable behavior and that “I can’t be bothered to argue with you” attitude!
Clouded by emotion, Jiang Muyun forgot to maintain her usual gentle image and took a large step forward.
“Yan Yu! What are you trying to pull in front of me?!” She glared into Yan Yu’s face, trying to find a crack in her mask. “Don’t think I don’t know your family situation! It’s not that I can’t afford to pay you back, but you don’t need to put on this act for me! You—”
“No, Miss Jiang, you misunderstand. I’m not acting.”
Yan Yu shook her head gently, interrupting her increasingly heated accusations.
“Misunderstand?!” Jiang Muyun was almost laughing from anger, her chest heaving. “Do I have to expose every bit of your background before you’ll admit it? You…”
She didn’t finish her sentence because Yan Yu’s gaze had drifted past her shoulder toward another direction.
Jiang Muyun instinctively turned her head, and her heart immediately sank.
Su Qinghan had finished his conversation elsewhere and was now walking toward them with a furrowed brow.
Clearly, her raised voice and agitated posture had successfully caught the attention of Su Qinghan and many of the surrounding guests.
Yan Yu, however, was in a good mood.
Perfect.
She thought to her herself.
The audience—especially the most important one—had been drawn over.
The more spectacular the scene and the higher the attention, the more points and rewards she could harvest from this “suffering substitute forced to endure in silence” drama.
Jiang Muyun realized this too, and a flash of panic crossed her face.
The last thing she wanted was to appear unreasonable in front of Su Qinghan. She took a deep breath, trying to adjust her expression back to her gentle, “white lotus” mask.
“Muyun,” Su Qinghan had reached them. His gaze lingered for a moment on the conspicuous stain on Yan Yu’s chest, and his frown deepened. “What happened?”
Jiang Muyun opened her mouth, intending to use her specialty—a tone half-aggrieved and half-considerate—to deliver some “green tea” remarks.
“Qinghan, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
A soft but clear voice rang out before she could speak.
It was Yan Yu.
Jiang Muyun turned in shock. She saw Yan Yu looking up at Su Qinghan with a tilted face. Those usually quiet eyes were now perfectly filled with a layer of glistening tears, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
“It’s all because… my legs are bad. Muyun’s friend kindly came over to toast with me, but I… I couldn’t stand up, and my movements are clumsy. I caused her to accidentally spill the drink on me.”
She lowered her head, looking at her ruined dress, her voice dropping even lower and filled with helplessness.
“I knew that in my condition, I shouldn’t have come to an event like this to trouble everyone… and now I’ve caused a mess and made everyone unhappy… I’m sorry, truly sorry…”
The pity in her tone and the humble posture of taking all the blame were executed perfectly.
Especially when she mentioned her legs, she instantly painted herself as the ultimate victim, making the perfectly healthy Jiang Muyun and her friend look like overbearing bullies.
“Hey! Yan Yu! What nonsense are you talking about?!”
Jiang Muyun’s face turned red with rage.
She was dumbfounded by this ability to twist black into white and strike first!
She was the one who was “victimized” by Yan Yu’s reaction, yet in a heartbeat, it became Yan Yu’s fault for “bothering” them?
“Don’t you dare—”
“Muyun!”
Su Qinghan interrupted her sternly, his tone laced with obvious impatience. “Today is your birthday; you should be enjoying the banquet. Since Yan Yu has already said that, stop being so petty with her.”
“No! Qinghan! Let me explain! I wasn’t being petty! She—” Jiang Muyun was so anxious she became incoherent, trying to grab the conversation back.
“Muyun,” Su Qinghan looked at her flushed face, his voice heavy. “I know you might have opinions about her, but since you were the one who invited her today, show some grace as a hostess. Stop causing a scene.”
Hostess’s grace? Causing a scene?
Jiang Muyun’s mind went blank, as if she had been struck by lightning. She couldn’t believe her ears!
It was clearly Yan Yu who was acting, playing the victim, and lying through her teeth!
How did it turn into her, the birthday girl, being the one causing trouble and lacking grace in Su Qinghan’s eyes?!
She felt a lump of air stuck in her chest, unable to go up or down, nearly exploding from the pent-up frustration.
She whipped her head around and glared fiercely at the curly-haired friend who had come up with the stupid toasting idea. The girl was now standing there dumbly, unable to say a word. Jiang Muyun’s eyes were so fierce they could practically spit fire.
It’s all because of this idiot! Good for nothing but ruining things!
The curly-haired friend flinched under the glare, shrinking her neck. Her lips trembled a few times, but in the end, she didn’t dare utter a single word.