The brand's salon event was held in the afternoon.
In Gu Ran's poll, more fans had chosen the white dress. However, after trying it on, Gu Ran found the white one didn't fit quite right—the waist was a bit loose—so she ended up wearing the green one and carried a small black bag.
Although it wasn't an overly formal occasion, she still curled her hair and applied makeup more meticulously than usual.
Checking her social media feed, she noticed Yuan Mengxuan and her clique of fair-weather friends were also going today, already posting their outfits and invitations online.
This was quite normal, though. They were all high-level VIPs, delighting in appearing at various social gatherings big and small. An event like the H brand's annual VIP salon was the perfect place for them to legitimately gather, gossip, and socialize.
Gu Ran didn't feel particularly awkward about it. Even though she didn't attend their girls' gatherings, it didn't mean she was avoiding them or cutting off all contact; there was no need to deliberately steer clear of the same events.
Gu Ran arrived at the venue by premium ride-hailing service.
The brand's salon followed a certain schedule, with the product showcase saved for the end. It began with guests mingling over tea and pastries. The brand director for H's Greater China region was present, surrounded by many people chatting and taking photos.
Guided by a server into the banquet hall, Gu Ran saw everything was decorated in H brand's signature style: orange accents and the equestrian logo, with the air filled with the scent of H's most classic perfume. It smelled lovely.
Gu Ran took a breath of the fragrant air and stepped into the hall.
Guests were clustered in small groups chatting. Gu Ran recognized many familiar faces. Without any particular desire to go over and catch up, she found a sofa in a corner and sat down, intending to quietly enjoy the refreshments and her phone. However, it wasn't long before someone spotted her.
"Long time no see, Gu Ran."
"Gu Ran, you're here today too."
A wave of perfume suddenly washed over her. Gu Ran looked up to see Yuan Mengxuan and her clique standing before her.
They appeared warmly friendly, settling intimately onto the sofa beside Gu Ran without waiting for an invitation.
Gu Ran scooted further in. It wasn't polite to shoo them away directly, so she forced a smile and greeted these fickle friends who had switched sides faster than anyone.
Just like before, even though their words were laced with hidden barbs, they maintained a surface-level civility.
One of the girls raised her champagne flute. "Gu Ran, I watched your livestream. You're so good at playing that 'Spirit Realm Jianghu' game. Could you carry me next time?"
Gu Ran: "..."
Are you sure the livestream you watched showed me being good at the game?
Another girl pulled out a photo on her phone. "You look so beautiful in this ad. I wanted to debut too, but my family wouldn't let me. I'm so jealous of you."
Gu Ran gave a dry laugh, unsure how to respond.
In the past, these girls had also been politely distant to her, offering congratulations when they heard she was getting married. But Gu Ran knew they'd turn around and call her a "consolation prize canary" behind her back. Only today could Gu Ran clearly sense their flattery held a ring of genuine sincerity.
Still, having this chattering group around wasn't entirely boring. Gu Ran replied intermittently, waiting for the product showcase to begin.
One of the girls went to the restroom and returned as if she'd discovered fresh gossip. "Guess who I just saw?"
"Who?" someone asked.
The recently returned girl, still catching up on the intricate web of gossip and rivalries—even struggling to match names with faces—seemed to have become a bit oblivious after her time abroad. "Qin Wenyi is here too."
The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet.
After announcing her news, the oblivious girl noticed the lack of reaction and asked blankly, "Why is everyone so quiet?"
Gu Ran felt the sidelong glances of everyone subtly focusing on her.
She lowered her head and focused on eating her petit four.
A quicker-witted girl stepped in to diffuse the awkwardness, pulling the oblivious one down to sit. "So she's here. So what?"
Ever since Ji Shiyu left with Gu Ran at the last birthday party, the situation had become clear. The recent news about the "inappropriate pursuer" had left everyone bewildered. Even Ji Shiyu's assistant had posted a thinly-veiled dig at a "dead ex" on social media. Anyone with a brain knew which side to stand with now.
Gu Ran just felt a bit dizzy from the mix of perfumes around her. She put down her plate and stood up.
"Gu Ran, where are you going?" someone asked.
Gu Ran: "Just for a walk. You all chat."
The banquet hall was decorated with some H brand display items, each under a transparent glass dome on a slowly rotating platform with soft, delicate lighting.
Gu Ran browsed the displays casually until she heard a voice: "Gu Ran."
She looked up to see Qin Wenyi standing before her with a smiling face.
She always seemed to wear that smile, never appearing angry, which was why everyone liked her. Whatever she said with that smile was presumably without malice.
She used to stand before Gu Ran just like this, smiling, telling everyone who didn't know, "This is Driver Gu's daughter from the Ji family. It wasn't easy for her to get into this school. Don't bully her; be nice to her."
Then everyone would nod, looking Gu Ran up and down with the curiosity of encountering someone from another world. "The driver's daughter, huh."
Gu Ran never wanted to stay under those openly scrutinizing gazes. She wanted to leave, but Qin Wenyi would pull her back, smiling, saying, "Stay, we'll all be nice to you. You probably don't get to eat things like this often. Stay and try some."
In those moments, with everyone egging her on, leaving would seem ungrateful. The driver's daughter would be seen as ill-mannered and uncouth, unworthy of Qin Wenyi's kindness and good intentions.
So she would sit down, holding a piece of expensive cake she supposedly never got to eat.
But she never wanted that cake.
Gu Ran pulled herself from those memories, her gaze towards Qin Wenyi now distant.
"What is it?" she asked flatly.
Qin Wenyi smiled. "I didn't expect to run into you here. What a coincidence."
Gu Ran: "Not really."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the gazes of the fair-weather friends already converging on the two of them, their excitement for drama barely contained.
Faced with Gu Ran's distinctly unfriendly attitude, Qin Wenyi's smile stiffened slightly.
She really was different from the timid girl she used to be.
Qin Wenyi thought of Assistant Xu's social media post that had made them all a laughingstock, and that news about the "inappropriate pursuer."
Ji Shiyu was courting Gu Ran with a high-profile, even humble posture, unafraid of any judgmental looks.
A shadow passed through Qin Wenyi's eyes, and her fingers tightened around her wine glass.
She knew she had no chance left. Perhaps from the moment Ji Shiyu chased after Gu Ran when she returned, or maybe even earlier, from the moment Ji Shiyu broke up with her.
But the one who came after shouldn't have been Gu Ran. She wasn't worthy.
She still remembered the time when she was with Ji Shiyu, all eyes were on her—envy, flattery—it felt like she had everything.
It was during that time she noticed Gu Ran, the driver's daughter whose beauty was hard to conceal. She heard Ji Shiyu warn the classmates who were bullying Gu Ran.
Ji Shiyu probably didn't like Gu Ran back then. For him, it was perhaps just a matter of not being able to stand by, after all, she was his family driver's daughter. Yet, for some reason, at that moment, she was suddenly overwhelmed by a strong sense of crisis.
Especially when she discovered Gu Ran secretly watching Ji Shiyu play basketball. She couldn't miss what was in Gu Ran's eyes when she looked at Ji Shiyu.
But what right did Gu Ran have to like Ji Shiyu?
She was just a driver's daughter. She didn't even deserve to be at this school.
She deliberately got close to Ji Shiyu in front of her, deliberately introduced her to others, reveling in the feeling of watching her evade, suffer, and feel utterly humiliated.
Qin Wenyi didn't know why she was so fixated either. Perhaps it was because around that time, she had just discovered she wasn't an orphan; she was merely lost by accident. She had biological parents, parents who lived in a mountain hollow, farmers who toiled with their faces to the soil and backs to the sky. They found the Qin family, wanting to reclaim their daughter.
She screamed for the bodyguards to drive that disgusting couple away. She was the young lady of the Qin family, the privileged, noble Qin family young lady. Her boyfriend was Ji Shiyu. Gu Ran wasn't even worthy of shining her shoes.
Now, Qin Wenyi looked at Gu Ran.
No matter what happened with Ji Shiyu, even if she and Ji Shiyu had parted ways, Gu Ran—she didn't deserve to be at the school back then, and she didn't deserve to be here now, let alone be with Ji Shiyu.
Qin Wenyi's face immediately regained its smile.
Old friends meeting, there were many things that had happened over the years to catch up on.
She raised a toast to Gu Ran: "I didn't expect to run into you here today. By the way, how is your father's health lately?"
Gu Ran lowered her gaze briefly, not touching the wine Qin Wenyi offered.
She was reminding her again, making sure she didn't forget who she was. Wanting to see her evade, be humiliated, flee in disgrace.
"My father passed away," Gu Ran replied.
Qin Wenyi put on a surprised expression, seemingly about to offer a few words of comfort, but Gu Ran continued: "He was still the Ji family's driver before he passed. Are you satisfied?"
Qin Wenyi's expression stiffened.
Gu Ran faced the person before her.
She had endured for so many years, disliked for so many years, and suffered for so many years over the phrase "it's just that Qin Wenyi isn't here anymore." Today, facing this person again, she finally had no reservations, no psychological burden, stating her disgust clearly: "My father was a driver, but so what? No matter who he was, I loved my own father. I entered Yingde rightfully, arranged by the Ji family. Today, I came here with an invitation. If you think I'm not worthy, there's no need for your veiled sarcasm here. You're so noble—back then, you could have gone to the school to have me expelled, told them a driver's daughter wasn't fit to attend Yingde. Today, you could also have someone escort me out, say I have no family background and don't deserve to stand here."
Gu Ran raised her voice. Quite a few people heard the commotion and looked over.
"But you don't have that power. Because deep down you know what kind of person you are and how absurd it all is. You can only repeatedly belittle me, using my insecurity to contrast and uphold your own haughty status and self-esteem."
"Unfortunately, you miscalculated today. I'm not that child anymore who let you toy with and humiliate me."
Gu Ran suddenly let out a light laugh, looking at Qin Wenyi's pale face: "If we really want to talk about it, aren't you an adopted daughter too? Which of us is truly nobler than the other?"
Qin Wenyi's mind went blank for a moment.
From the day she was adopted by the Qin family, the Qins never mentioned she was adopted. Later, no one mentioned she was adopted. The people she met later didn't even know about her being adopted, and she absolutely never told anyone this fact. Over time, she seemed to have forgotten this identity, forgotten that many years ago, a shabby couple had once come looking for her.
It wasn't until the Qin family's recent marriage alliance discussions that she was once again made aware of how harsh and realistic the aristocratic families in this circle could be. The other party repeatedly took issue with her status as an adopted daughter—adopted is different from biological. Faced with her being merely adopted, they hesitated again and again.
Qin Wenyi looked at the glass of red wine in her hand. Her most sensitive secret laid bare, she momentarily seemed to lose all self-control and reason.
She threw the wine at Gu Ran.
But in the next second, a sharp pain shot through her wrist, the glass clattered to the floor, wine splattering everywhere.
Qin Wenyi cried out in pain from her wrist.
Ji Shiyu looked at her coldly.
