"Yes, that's her." Feng Lan forced an awkward, strained smile.
The entire group pivoted their attention toward Qiao Meixia, their judgmental eyes zeroing in on her relaxed, unpretentious clothes.
"Really, Feng Lan, you should teach her how to dress with some basic decorum. People are going to talk if she walks around looking like that." Another woman remarked with thinly veiled condescension.
The rest of the circle murmured in agreement, sharing identical looks of disapproval.
Trapped in front of her peers, Feng Lan had no choice but to nod along, though her chest burned with quiet humiliation.
"She is still adjusting to urban family life after growing up elsewhere. She will pick up proper habits eventually." Feng Lan defended defensively, trying to brush off her daughter's appearance as a minor, passing phase.
