"Don't tell me you like him?"

Yu Nian instinctively looked down at his clothes.

They were hardly designer brands, but he had made sure they were clean and neat.

Yet in the eyes of these high-society people, they could only be called shabby.

Still, Yu Nian wasn't about to feel inferior over that. If the other man looked down on him, well, he didn't like the man either.

He slowly sat down in a corner and watched Qin Yu go off to talk to someone else. Qin Yu had probably already forgotten that he'd just told him to wait.

Whatever. It was Qin Yu's birthday today. He could be magnanimous and let it slide.

Yu Nian saw some people picking up small plates and choosing desserts from the table, which reminded him that he'd barely eaten that evening.

I'm already here. Might as well eat.

He picked up a plate, chose a few pretty little cakes, and brought them back to eat at his leisure.

The cakes were sweet, soft, and delicate, made with the finest ingredients. They were worlds apart from the ordinary cakes sold elsewhere.

Yu Nian ate two or three in a row. Their sweet fragrance lingered in his mouth, washing away the unpleasantness from earlier.

"Hey, I hear you go to the same university as Qin Yu?"

The jarring voice shattered his newly improved mood.

Yu Nian looked up and saw Xie Lingfeng standing across from him with his arms folded. Meanwhile, Qin Yu had already started chatting with yet another group of friends.

Qin Yu really had forgotten him completely, hadn't he?

"I'm talking to you!"

Yu Nian frowned slightly, his tone turning cool despite himself. "Didn't you already find that out just now?"

Xie Lingfeng snorted. Looking at the half-eaten mess of a cake in his hand, his eyes filled with even more disdain. "I don't care what tricks you used to get in here. I'm warning you: stay away from Qin Yu. He's not someone you can set your sights on!"

Yu Nian put the fork in his mouth and pursed his lips around it to take off the cream, then looked at him curiously. "You're so afraid of me getting close to Qin Yu. Don't tell me you like him?"

Xie Lingfeng stared, seemingly unable to believe his ears. "What did you say?"

Looks like he's a little hard of hearing, too.

Xie Lingfeng had heard him perfectly well. He simply couldn't believe it. "Don't assume everyone's mind is as filthy as yours. You think that face of yours is enough to marry into the Qin family? Dream on."

Yu Nian neither cowered nor swaggered. "You don't get to tell me how my mind works, but I've already seen how little class you have."

"You-" Xie Lingfeng snapped in anger. "Do you have a death wish?"

"I just like telling the truth." Yu Nian scooped up another small spoonful of cake and savored it unhurriedly. "Let me make one thing clear first. If you hit someone here, I'm not the one who'll be embarrassed."

The hand Xie Lingfeng had just raised froze in midair, then slowly lowered.

Furious, Xie Lingfeng shot him a vicious glare. "Let's see how long you can keep looking so smug."

Yu Nian watched him storm off, utterly baffled.

What's wrong with this guy?

He didn't dare confront Qin Yu, so all he could do was bully someone like Yu Nian, who had no family status or connections. In the end, he was just picking on an easy target.

Yu Nian abandoned the cakes and moved on to the fruit section.

The beautifully arranged platters held brightly colored, plump, juicy fruit, much of it out of season. There were several varieties of each fruit, some of which Yu Nian had never even seen before.

The strawberries in front of him alone came in more than just deep red. There were orange, pink, and white ones too, all with clear, pure colors, differing in richness of hue and variety.

Yu Nian recognized only one pale pink strawberry. Qin Yu had brought him a box before, saying they'd been flown in from where they were grown in Japan.

They were very sweet, and of course, very expensive.

Then there were the mandarins, mangoes, and peaches beside them, along with enormous lychees and cherries, among other things. Yu Nian had never seen many of those varieties either.

The fresh, sweet scent of fruit wafted toward him, but resentment still simmered in his chest.

Fine, ignore me. I'll just treat this as a chance to eat and drink for free. Everything I eat is a win.

He soon put those unpleasant feelings aside and, like a little hamster, circled the long table alone, devoting himself to the fruit.

Only when he was nearly full did something occur to him.

Looking up, he saw everyone gathered in twos and threes, each with their own social circle. They all seemed to know one another already.

Yu Nian walked past them and heard conversations about either some new luxury release or the latest limited-edition sports car.

Whenever someone noticed him, they looked him over before quietly moving away.

Yu Nian gave up on trying to approach them and strike up a conversation.

They moved in different circles. There was no forcing his way in.

The only person he knew here was Qin Yu.

But Qin Yu...

Qin Yu was elegantly sipping drinks with those wealthy young men and women, his face flushed with pleasure. As Yu Nian watched, the corners of his mouth slowly sank.

It's his birthday. He's just busy. It's normal that he doesn't have time for me, right?

Even as he told himself that, it still felt as though a heavy stone was lodged in his chest, leaving him stifled.

"Brother Yu, it's your twentieth birthday today, and we don't get to gather like this often. Here's to a happy birthday and everything going your way. We'll always be brothers. Come on, everyone, let's raise a glass!"

Surrounded by admiring friends, Qin Yu was getting a little giddy from the alcohol. He raised his glass. "Come on, cheers!"

Everyone raised their glasses in celebration, cheering and laughing.

Watching them, Yu Nian didn't want to stand out too much, so he picked up a glass of red wine from a tray and stepped forward to join the toast.

He wasn't even sure whether his glass touched Qin Yu's. All he remembered was having his feet stepped on twice, without anyone noticing.

Yu Nian returned to the sofa and looked down at his shoes. His white sneakers were a little dirty.

He took a wet wipe and bent down to clean them.

"Ah Yu, you're still single, if I remember right?"

Yu Nian went briefly still. The wet wipe lingered on his shoe a little too long, slowly releasing moisture.

"My older sister came back with me this time after studying abroad. She's around our age, too. I think you'd make a pretty good match. How about I introduce you two sometime?" The speaker was Xie Lingfeng, the very man who had insulted him earlier.

"Hey, Second Young Master Xie, don't think I don't know what you're up to. You just want Qin Yu as your brother-in-law, don't you?!"

"Hahaha, I'm thinking of Ah Yu's happiness here. Look, he's already twenty. The rest of us have partners, and he's the only one still single. Shouldn't I help keep an eye out? Save him from being targeted by some shady nobody. Don't you think?"

As he said it, he deliberately glanced toward Yu Nian.

Yu Nian's clothes were ordinary, but that was precisely the problem. Everything he wore was cheap, making him stand out among all these rich people.

It was obvious who those words were aimed at.

Quite a few people turned their eyes toward him, their looks shifting from curiosity to loaded interest, then finally to haughty scrutiny.

Faced with so many humiliating stares, even someone as composed as Yu Nian couldn't pretend not to notice. But Xie Lingfeng hadn't named him. If Yu Nian stood up to argue, wouldn't he only be admitting the words applied to him?

Besides, this was Qin Yu's event. Nothing Yu Nian said would carry as much weight as a single word from Qin Yu.

After all, they'd already decided he was here to climb the social ladder. No matter how much he explained, it would only sound like excuses.

Yu Nian straightened up, no longer noticing whether he'd cleaned his shoes. He looked only at Qin Yu.

He thought Qin Yu would say something, at least while he was being humiliated in front of so many people.

But all he saw was Qin Yu's unfocused gaze and drunken expression as he waved a hand in amusement. "You guys worry too much. But I don't like anyone older than me. Not even by a year."