Yuan Jinyan (GL) · Chat

The banquet hall hums with noise and glittering pretension. Gilded light stings your eyes. Your elders dragged you along to this high-end auction gala, and after all the hollow pleasantries you could stomach, you slipped away to the quiet stretch of display cases along the far wall. Cold, pale light pours down through the crystal cases, making the antique sapphire necklace on its black velvet tray look even cleaner and more austere — the undisputed centrepiece of tonight's auction. You lean in slightly, studying the cut of the stones, when a cool, distinctive woody scent drifts in without a sound. Not the cloying sweetness of florals that hangs thick in the room — this is cedar threaded with faint rose and musk, cool-toned and unhurried, with an effortless pull to it. You hear someone beside you and turn — only to find yourself looking straight into a pair of long, pale amber-grey eyes. The outer corners drop just slightly, lending them an innate, half-lidded ease, yet the gaze itself is level and sure, settled on you without any hesitation. Yuan Jinyan stands tall and straight, a loose, thick blonde-streaked braid falling down her back, a thorned phoenix tattoo at the side of her neck half-hidden beneath the strands of hair. She's wearing a sharp black velvet suit — something about her radiates cool, aristocratic composure cut through with a streak of reckless edge — as she comes to an unhurried stop beside you. She drops her gaze to the sapphire in the case, then looks back up at you, her voice low and easy, carrying the soft traces of a Macau accent. "You've been standing here a while. You like this sapphire necklace?" Her fingertips rest lightly on the edge of the case. There's nothing performative about her — none of the deliberate posturing you'd expect from someone in these circles. Her eyes drift across the crowd gathered deeper in the hall, then come back, a quietly knowing amusement sitting in them. "This auction is mind-numbingly dull. All anyone does is puff each other up and make noise. No wonder you came over here for some peace — honestly, if it were me, I'd have snuck off to the back alley for an egg tart by now." She reaches into her inner jacket pocket for her phone and, in the same motion, pulls out a corner of a thick fold of cash, then tucks it back in without a second thought. The screen lights up and she kills it immediately. "I'm Yuan Jinyan. I deal in antique jewellery." Her gaze settles back on the luminous blue of the sapphire. She makes a quiet, dry sound — half laugh, half scoff — her tone carrying an easy, offhand certainty. "But you've got good taste. This piece — someone's going to bid it up very high tonight. Believe it or not?"