Lin Mei's voice was sharp and piercing, like glass scratching across a blackboard, instantly attracting the attention of the people around her. The originally lively banquet hall seemed to have been paused, and everyone's eyes fell on Dai Shiya in unison, with scrutiny, curiosity, and an undisguised desire for gossip.
Dai Shiya tightly grasped the wine glass in her hand, her fingertips turning pale. She knew that Lin Mei was deliberately embarrassing her, wanting her to lose face in front of everyone. She took a deep breath, trying to control the surging emotions in her heart, and warned herself not to show her weakness in front of Lin Mei.
She raised her head and looked directly into Lin Mei's malicious eyes, with a slight arc at the corner of her mouth: "Ms. Lin, you are joking. Why can't I come? Is this club owned by your family? You can come, but I can't?"
Lin Mei obviously didn't expect Dai Shiya to refute so calmly. She was stunned for a moment, then sneered: "Dai Shiya, why are you still pretending to be noble? Do you think others don't know what you did? You..."
Lin Mei wanted to continue speaking, but was interrupted by a deep male voice: "Enough, Lin Mei, don't forget what occasion this is."
The person who spoke was a man in his 50s. He was slightly overweight, wearing a well-tailored suit, and his gestures revealed a sense of majesty. He was the founder of this socialite club - Mr. Wang.
The appearance of Director Wang forced Lin Mei to shut her mouth, but a hint of pride flashed in her eyes. She knew that Director Wang had always had a prejudice against Dai Shiya, and today's drama had just begun.
Sure enough, Director Wang turned to look at Dai Shiya, frowned slightly, and said with a bit of displeasure in his tone: "Ms. Dai, I always thought you were a person who knew the rules, but I didn't expect..."
He paused, glanced sharply at Dai Shiya, and said word by word: "I don't want to see people with questionable morals in such a high-end social occasion."
Dai Shiya's face turned pale. She opened her mouth and wanted to explain, but was interrupted impatiently by Director Wang: "You don't have to explain, I..." Dai Shiya's face turned pale. She opened her mouth and wanted to explain, but was interrupted impatiently by Director Wang: "You don't have to explain, I don't want to listen!"
Director Wang did not give Dai Shiya any chance to defend herself. He believed Lin Mei's one-sided words and had already labeled Dai Shiya as "morally corrupt". He waved his hand in disgust and ordered the security guard standing by: "Take her over there, don't let her get in the way here!"
Two burly security guards stepped forward and without saying a word, they grabbed Dai Shiya's arms, one on the left and one on the right, and forcibly took her away from the central area of the banquet hall and pushed her to a secluded corner.
"Let me go! I didn't do anything wrong!" Dai Shiya struggled hard, but to no avail. She could only watch herself being trapped in the corner, surrounded by cold walls and strange looks.
Director Wang's action undoubtedly gave Dai Shiya a loud slap in the face in front of everyone, making her lose face. The people who were originally curious and inquisitive about her had their eyes subtly changed at this moment, and the whispering voices were like the tongue of a poisonous snake, which penetrated into Dai Shiya's conscience and crushed her remaining self-esteem.
"Did you see that? That's the illegitimate daughter of the Dai family. She's really not presentable enough!"
"I heard that she would do anything to fight for the family property, even plotting against her own relatives!"
"How can such a person have the nerve to appear in a place like this? It's really embarrassing!"
Lin Mei stood in the crowd, looking at Dai Shiya's miserable appearance, with a triumphant smile on her face. She picked up a glass of champagne, shook the liquid in the glass, walked gracefully to a socialite, and sighed with regret: "Oh, what a pity, Miss Dai could have had a very good future, but unfortunately..."
She didn't say anything more, but the implication in her words was self-evident. The people around her echoed her words, and their contempt and ridicule for Dai Shiya became even stronger.
Lin Mei cleverly took advantage of Wang Dong's prejudice against Dai Shiya and easily achieved her goal. She wanted to make Dai Shiya completely dead in the social circle, with no chance of recovery.
On the other side of the banquet hall, Wei Qing witnessed all this. She was extremely anxious and wanted to go through the crowd to help Dai Shiya, but was blocked by two men who suddenly appeared.
"Sorry, Miss Wei, you can't go in." One of the men said expressionlessly, his tone unquestionable.
Wei Qing recognized the two people as those around Lin Mei, and immediately understood everything... Wei Qing took a deep breath, tried to suppress her inner anxiety, forced a smile on her face, and said to the men in front of her: "You two, I just want to go over and say hello to my friends. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to stop me like this?"
The man remained calm and said in a cold tone, "I'm sorry, we are just following orders. Please don't embarrass us, Miss Wei."
Wei Qing knew that it was useless to confront these people head-on, so she had to think of another way. She rolled her eyes, and a plan came to her mind. She deliberately raised her voice and said, "Okay, since you won't let me go, then I can only shout loudly for her to come over. I hope I won't disturb you."
After saying that, Wei Qing pretended to call Dai Shiya's name. The two men's faces changed slightly. They knew Lin Mei's purpose very well. If Wei Qing really called Dai Shiya over, it would only make things worse.
One of the men quickly reached out to stop Wei Qing and said in a low voice, "Miss Wei, please calm down. We will let you pass right away."
A barely perceptible smile appeared on Wei Qing's lips; she knew she had made the right bet.
However, at this moment, Dai Shiya didn't know that Wei Qing was trying to get close to her. She stood alone in the corner, surrounded by all kinds of eyes, some curious, some contemptuous, some mocking, but not sympathetic.
Dai Shiya felt bitter in her heart. She knew that her first step in the social circle was extremely difficult. Director Wang's public humiliation and Lin Mei's instigation made her the target of public criticism.
But she didn't give up, she told herself that she couldn't be defeated like this. She carefully observed the people around her, trying to find a breakthrough.
Suddenly, her eyes fell on a piano in the corner of the banquet hall, and an idea quickly formed in her mind...
"Everyone, please allow me to play a song for you. Thank you for coming."
The melodious piano sound echoed in the banquet hall, and Dai Shiya's fingertips flew, playing a classical piece fluently. The sound of the piano was sometimes high-pitched and passionate, and sometimes low and gentle, as if telling her mood at the moment, and also seemed to prove her strength to everyone.
At the end of the song, there was sparse applause in the banquet hall, but most people remained silent. Dai Shiya was not discouraged. She knew that if she wanted to change the impression of herself in everyone's mind, she would need to make more efforts.
After the club activities, Dai Shiya and Wei Qing walked out of the venue side by side. The night breeze blew away the noise and the smell of powder in the banquet hall, but it could not blow away the haze in Dai Shiya's heart.
"Shiya, don't be sad, they don't understand you." Wei Qing held Dai Shiya's hand and comforted her softly, "You played very well today. I believe that one day, they will see your talent and hard work."
"I know." Dai Shiya forced a smile. "I'm just thinking about what to do next. Mr. Wang's public humiliation and Lin Mei's instigation have made me a target of public criticism. If I can't make changes at the next charity dinner, I will be completely abandoned by the social circle."
Wei Qing frowned slightly. She also understood that the charity dinner was Dai Shiya's last chance. Lin Mei and Director Wang seemed to be waiting to see her make a fool of herself at the dinner.
"What are your plans?" Wei Qing asked.
"The theme of the charity dinner is to focus on rural education. I plan to start from this aspect and do something truly meaningful." Dai Shiya's eyes flashed with determination, "I want everyone to know that I, Dai Shiya, am not a rich girl who only knows how to be jealous, but a loving and responsible person."
The charity dinner is coming soon, and Dai Shiya and Wei Qing begin to make careful preparations. They want to showcase their unique charity ideas at the dinner to attract more people's attention. However, when they start to contact relevant charities, they find a frustrating fact...
"How could this happen?" Wei Qing looked at the information in her hand with a frown, "Almost all charity projects related to rural education have been monopolized by Lin Mei in advance."
Dai Shiya's face darkened. She had already anticipated that Lin Mei would not let her turn over easily, but she didn't expect her to be so ruthless.
"It seems that we have no choice but to find another way." Dai Shiya took a deep breath, a gleam of light flashed in her eyes, "Notify everyone to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow morning."