Chapter 82 What Does Her Face Look Like Now?

When Jiang Li spoke, his gaze was as sweet as pancakes drenched in maple syrup, and Xu An’an’s heart melted into a puddle along with it. She felt shy and wanted to bury her face in Jiang Li’s embrace. But as soon as she leaned in, Jiang Li held her shoulders firmly. She blinked, “What are you doing?”

Jiang Li replied, “You still have ointment on your face. Don’t get it on my clothes, or we’ll have to reapply it.”

He had rushed here in such a hurry that he’d ordered two tubes of ointment to be made as quickly as possible. Now, they were already running out and would have to wait for more to be delivered.

So the two simply stared at each other.

In the latter half of the night, Jiang Li brought Xu An’an back to the city, to her own home. He had already arranged for her to have a week off from work. Xu An’an wasn’t surprised—something this trivial was nothing to Jiang Li. Now, she was just waiting for Xu Wanwan to inform her of the next recording date for the show.

She hoped that by then, her face would be healed.

She wanted to return and take the show by storm!

As Xu An’an planned her revenge in her mind, her eyelids grew heavy, and she gradually drifted off to sleep, mumbling, “Just you wait, none of you will get away with this…”

Jiang Li came out of the shower just in time to hear her words. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Sitting down at the edge of the bed, he studied Xu An’an’s face carefully; the red marks were already fading. Yet a cold, murderous glint still flashed in his eyes.

…

Xu Wanwan had gained a legion of new fans and had managed to connect with Ning Xiyue. She felt her official debut in the entertainment industry was imminent.

She said gleefully, “Mom, joining this show was really the right move.”

“The whole internet is criticizing Xu An’an!”

“A few more episodes and she’ll be cyberbullied off the internet! Ha!”

Shen Ying and Mr. Xu were thoroughly satisfied; even the family business was thriving. Still, they couldn’t quite figure out why the production team favored Xu Wanwan so much.

Xu Wanwan herself found it puzzling.

But for now, their main concern was the engagement to the Jiang family.

“Mom, with Xu An’an’s face ruined, Young Master Jiang must be disgusted. He might break off the engagement any day now.” Xu Wanwan worried she might get caught up in it herself.

She could see clearly that Jiang Yu was very different with Ning Xiyue.

At the mention of this, Shen Ying frowned. “The medicine I gave you wouldn’t have disfigured her. How did it end up like this?”

Xu Wanwan felt guilty; she’d added a few extra ingredients on her own.

“She just has bad luck. Even the heavens can’t stand her seducing men with that fox-like face, so they used my hand to destroy it for good.”

Mr. Xu was furious when he learned this was the work of the mother and daughter. They hadn’t even consulted him, the head of the family! How dare they go behind his back!

He might not like Xu An’an as a daughter, but she was beautiful and could help him win over valuable business partners.

“Ying, An’an’s face can’t be ruined. See if there’s any way to save it.”

Shen Ying quickly devised a plan—this could help her keep Xu An’an in check. “Alright, I’ll create a new ointment that can cover up the red marks on her face.”

Mr. Xu nodded. “As long as it covers them, that’s enough.”

Xu Wanwan grinned smugly, eagerly anticipating the recording three days later.

…

Soon, the second round of the show’s recording arrived.

Because of Xu An’an’s poor performance in the first episode, the show opened to a wave of online abuse and ridicule directed at her; viewers didn’t want to see her at all.

But the director had other ideas—she was a traffic magnet. Bad publicity was still publicity, and hate brought in the numbers!

So, right from the start, the director decided to broadcast live, capturing each guest’s entrance for the viewers to critique.

Xu Wanwan was the first to arrive, as she’d arranged with Ning Xiyue.

The two officially joined forces.

On camera, they acted as though they were the best of friends.

The online comments were all asking if Xu An’an would show up. Everyone was curious about what kind of bizarre heavy makeup she might wear this time.

User A: “She must be so ugly, that’s why she acts out for attention!”

User B: “What can you do? The show needs a clown to set off Xiyue’s beauty!”

User C: “If her makeup is that bad, how awful must she look without it? I really don’t know where Xu An’an gets the nerve to come on the show.”

User D: “Xu An’an says, ‘Can’t help it, the show pays too well!’”

A chorus of laughter followed.

“Ah Yu, let’s sit over here.” Ning Xiyue, delighted by the comments, suggested to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu hadn’t wanted to participate in the second episode, but with Xu An’an’s face ruined, his desire to end the engagement grew even stronger. He’d never liked her, and if she couldn’t even serve as a trophy wife, what was the point? Now he was considering how to bring up breaking off the engagement to his grandfather.

Xu Wanwan sidled closer, “I texted my sister days ago to remind her of the recording time. I hope she shows up—if she doesn’t, what will we do if the show has to cancel?”

“How’s her face now?” Jiang Yu asked.

Xu Wanwan hadn’t contacted Xu An’an at all except for the notification about the recording. “Sigh, I messaged her, but she didn’t reply. She must be in a bad mood.”

Jiang Yu and Ning Xiyue exchanged a glance.

It seemed her face really was destroyed.

“Pei Yang isn’t coming either,” Guan Xiaoxiao said. “But the producers mentioned a new guest. Does that mean we’re still one short?”

Everyone was curious about the new addition. They’d heard it was someone significant.

Beep beep!

A car pulled up and everyone turned to look. It was an ordinary vehicle.

“It’s Xu An’an!”

Xu Wanwan was the first to exclaim, recognizing Xu An’an’s outfit.

Her expression darkened immediately.

In the past few days, Shen Ying had called Xu An’an, dropping hints about having ointment available, but Xu An’an seemed oblivious and didn’t respond at all.

Xu Wanwan scoffed inwardly. So you still dare to come, do you? Then don’t blame me for stepping on you to rise higher.

Under everyone’s gaze, Xu An’an walked over at an unhurried pace, a mask covering her face as if trying to conceal something.

Spotting the drama, the director quickly urged Xu An’an to take off her mask.

“We’re live now; the viewers are all concerned about you.”

Xu An’an nearly rolled her eyes on camera. Concerned? They just wanted to see how badly her face was ruined.

The others chimed in as well.

“It’s a live show, you have to show your face.”

“An’an, your face must be healed by now, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come, would you? Unless fame really means that much to you?” Ning Xiyue said innocently to the camera.

Instantly, the comment stream exploded with mockery, calling Xu An’an desperate for attention.

Xu An’an shot a cold glance at Ning Xiyue and, in front of the camera, removed her mask…