The Heiress's Game

The day that "Shining Life" officially announced that Gu Mingyue would be a special guest, the internet exploded like a spoonful of hot oil had been poured on it.

In the trailer, Gu Mingyue, dressed in a champagne-colored haute couture suit, slowly walks down a spiral staircase.

The backdrop is the villa's eight-meter-high living room, with the light from the crystal chandelier shining on her; every frame looks like it was directly cropped from a fashion magazine cover.

The caption reads only one line: "The top socialite in Da Hai City reveals her private residence and collection for the first time."

When the watermelon sent the link to the egg tart, it sent six exclamation marks in a row:

"Did you see this trailer?! Gu Mingyue!! The number one socialite in Dahai City!! She's actually on a variety show!!!!"

Egg Tart replied instantly: "I know!!!!" followed by a whole row of exclamation marks.

The two were so excited, it was like celebrating the New Year early. They agreed to watch the premiere together on TV that night. Watermelon ordered milk tea and Egg Tart ordered fried chicken, making it a truly special occasion.

On the night the show started, the screen was filled with comments from the very beginning.

The glimpse of the spiral staircase in the trailer was just an appetizer. When Gu Mingyue took the film crew on a tour of her walk-in closet in the main feature, the comments section exploded like fireworks – it wasn't just one walk-in closet, it was two floors.

One floor displays everyday clothing, while the other floor displays evening gowns and haute couture. A spiral staircase connects the two floors, with brass handrails and hand-woven Persian carpets on each step.

Her bag cabinets are arranged by brand and color scheme; Hermès bags cover an entire wall from light to dark, while Chanel bags occupy a separate wall.

The limited editions are displayed in a glass case with constant temperature and humidity. There is a cabinet dedicated to her collection of antique handbags, the oldest of which dates back to the 1920s.

Egg Tart's fried chicken hovered in mid-air, mouth agape, before she finally managed to squeeze out, "Her bag selection is more comprehensive than the entire department store on the first floor of our mall."

Xigua stared at Gu Mingyue's slender fingers on the screen. She was taking out several bags from the cabinet and introducing them to the audience, her tone as casual as if she were flipping through an old photo album.

"This Birkin was a birthday gift from my dad when I turned 25. The color was custom-made, and it took me two years to receive it."

I bought this Kelly bag myself when I went to Paris for a fashion show. It had just ended and hadn't been released to the public yet; the sales associate (SA) secretly gave it to me.

Her tone was gentle and appropriate, without any deliberate showing off; every word conveyed the message that "it's nothing."

The problem is that people don't actually do it this way.

The comments started to take a turn for the worse. First, a few sarcastic remarks drifted by—"Wow, this is the first time I've seen someone make flaunting wealth sound so refined and elegant."

Then more and more appeared, piling up on the screen—"She doesn't think she's showing off her wealth, because this is just her daily life. It's heartbreaking."

"This sense of superiority is ingrained in his bones; there's no saving him."

"I can't even afford one square meter of her walk-in closet."

"She's not here to appear on a variety show; she's here to open a luxury goods museum."

Watermelon, biting on its straw, stared at the screen showing Gu Mingyue standing in front of the rainbow-colored Hermes wall, and suddenly frowned:

"Don't you feel that she gives off a...pretentious vibe? It's like she's showing off, but she pretends that she's not showing off at all, and she also puts on a 'I'm having a hard time' look."

Egg Tart nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly the feeling!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the scene switched to the interview segment.

Gu Mingyue sat on the sofa, wearing a casual-looking cardigan that Xigua knew probably cost more than her monthly rent. Holding a cup of floral tea, she smiled at the camera and said:

"Actually, many people think that girls like me just buy things and do beauty treatments every day, and it seems like I don't have to worry about anything."

But actually, I work very hard. Once I worked overtime until 5 p.m., and Zongheng felt sorry for me, so he drove directly from the company to pick me up and told me to go home and rest.

At that moment, I felt that all the hardship was worth it.

The chat was silent for a moment, then exploded.

Watermelon nearly spat her milk tea all over the screen: "—Working overtime until 5 PM?!"

Egg Tart let out a sound that was somewhere between laughter and scream: "Five o'clock! I was still in my second meeting at six o'clock, and her husband came to pick her up at five o'clock!"

Her husband even feels sorry for her! My boss only sends me a voice message when I'm working overtime until 10 PM saying, "Put the proposal on my desk before 9 AM tomorrow!"

The comments section has completely gone crazy—"Working overtime at 5 PM???"

I'm usually still eating lunch at 5 PM!!!

"Comparison is the thief of joy. I work overtime until 3 a.m., and all my mom does is ask me why I'm not married."

"Does she have some misunderstanding about the word 'hard work'?"

"It's not flaunting wealth, yet it's more like flaunting wealth. It's not faking, yet it's more like faking wealth."

"I suddenly think Chen Cui is much more lovable than her. At least when Chen Cui works overtime, she really is working overtime."

Xigua leaned back on the sofa, holding her milk tea cup, watching the overwhelming barrage of complaints in the live chat. She suddenly realized that those who had envied Gu Mingyue before were probably feeling the same way as her now.

Gu Mingyue probably genuinely didn't think she was showing off her wealth, nor did she think there was anything wrong with saying "working overtime until 5 pm," because that's just how her world is.

Her standard of hard work is being picked up by her husband at five o'clock when the sun is still out. Her workload consists of saying a few words in front of the camera, "I am very independent," and then returning to her dream castle.

This unconscious sense of superiority is more uncomfortable than any deliberate flaunting of wealth.

Before the premiere even ended, "Gu Mingyue working overtime until 5 a.m." had already become a trending topic.

Someone took a screenshot of the entire view of her walk-in closet and made it into a nine-grid image; someone else turned every word she said into an emoji.

Watermelon and Egg Tart exchanged a glance, then simultaneously picked up their phones and started posting on Weibo.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night. The milk tea is finished, the fried chicken is still warm, and the real show is just beginning.

Gu Mingyue's good friend Liang Shumin came to visit immediately after the show aired.

She was carrying a box of almond cookies that Gu Mingyue loved, her face bearing a complex expression that said, "I've finished watching, but I don't know where to begin criticizing."

Gu Mingyue was leaning back on the sofa applying a face mask when she saw her come in. She ripped off the mask and threw it into the trash can.

"Did you see it?"

"I've seen it." Liang Shumin placed the almond cookies on the coffee table, sat down opposite her, and hesitated before speaking.

"That editing—they did it on purpose!"

Gu Mingyue felt extremely wronged. "How did they cut me?"

Flaunting wealth, showing off, feeling superior—do I need to flaunt my wealth?

Only those who lack things flaunt their wealth. I've grown up in this kind of environment, and those things are just part of my daily life. Why would I flaunt them?

Do you expect me to deliberately cover up my bag cabinet when I take pictures of my own home?

And that thing about working overtime until 5 a.m.—I clearly had a cold that day!

I felt dizzy all day, and Zongheng left work early to pick me up to go to the hospital for a check-up. I waited for him on the sofa wrapped in a blanket. He drove forty minutes from the company to pick me up.

What did they edit it into? They edited it to make it look like he felt sorry for me working overtime until 5 a.m.! They even used my hospital visit as a publicity stunt and framed me. Are they even human?

After listening, Liang Shumin paused for two seconds, then took a deep breath:

"I knew it would be like this. When you said on the variety show that you worked overtime until 5 a.m., I felt something was off—when have you ever worked overtime?"

"You understand me!" Gu Mingyue practically slapped her thigh.

"But those people online don't understand! They've given me a nickname now: 'Gu the socialite who gets off work at 5 PM'!"

They said I was showing off, that I was out of touch with reality!

But I really was sick that day. I said, "Zongheng will pick me up at five o'clock to go to the hospital."

The variety show portrayed me as working overtime until 5 AM; isn't that malicious editing?

Liang Shumin reached out and patted her arm, her expression full of genuine indignation: "Don't be angry, that's just how netizens are, they just watch the show and then move on."

Those who truly know you know what kind of person you are—if you really wanted to flaunt your wealth in front of the camera, would you really need to only film a few walls?

"You could just open a safe, take out a few antique jewelry pieces, and that show could be renamed 'Treasure Trove' on the spot."

Gu Mingyue was finally amused and laughed. She leaned back on the sofa, picked up a cushion, hugged it to her chest, and sighed.

"Mingyue," Liang Shumin said softly, "you shouldn't have taken this variety show in the first place."

Companies like WanYu will do anything for traffic. Going there is like throwing yourself to the wolves.

Gu Mingyue pursed her lips and did not reply.