Chapter 26 Unmasking

Chapter 26: Unmasking

Since she had already returned, Su Mi went to the hospital in the afternoon to keep up appearances. This time, the old man was awake, and the female lead was busy tending to him at the bedside. He seemed to have forgiven the female lead and the male lead for their scandalous affair, as he looked to be in much better condition.

She had originally wondered if exposing the relationship between the female lead and the male lead would cause the old man to die of rage on the spot, but now she didn’t need to worry about that.

This old fool could accept his granddaughter having an affair with his fiancée’s brother, yet couldn’t forgive his own granddaughter for having a bad temper. What kind of messed-up logic was that? And he was always going on about rules and propriety—how could he have the nerve to even say those words?

"Sister..."

Su Ruanruan, who happened to be coming out, nearly bumped into the person at the door. When she saw Su Mi, she realized she had misspoken again and nervously lowered her head. "Sorry, Su... Big Sister Su. Are you here to see Grandpa? He just woke up. You can go in now."

Su Mi glanced at her. "Did he agree to strike you from the family registry?"

Hearing this, Su Ruanruan sneaked a look up, a hint of unease appearing on her face. "I... I’ve told Grandpa many times that I want to move my household registration back to the Liu family, but Grandpa..."

"He’s a dying old man—how can he stop you from moving your household registration?" Su Mi frowned slightly. "Can’t you ask Mom and Dad for the household register? Would they really stop you from returning to your biological family?"

Hearing this, Su Ruanruan seemed to have a new idea, but she quickly frowned again. "But with Grandpa in this condition, if I move my household registration behind his back, what if his blood pressure shoots up again?"

Su Mi simply stared at her expressionlessly. "You’re worried about his blood pressure, but have you ever thought about your biological parents? Don’t they long for you to return? Don’t they toss and turn at night, unable to sleep?"

Everyone has their own selfish motives. It’s one thing to admit it openly; that’s called being straightforward. But saying one thing and doing another is just hypocrisy. Wanting to stay while also making people think she’s staying out of filial piety—trying to have it both ways. Since when does the world work like that?

"I..."

Su Ruanruan’s eyes reddened. She glanced at the old man in the hospital room, as if making a decision. "I... I’ll talk to Dad in a couple of days about moving my household registration out of the Su family."

Now she could earn her own money. She didn’t need the Su family to take care of herself. As for whether Grandpa would get angry later, there was nothing she could do. Her presence had already caused a lot of unhappiness in the Su family. She couldn’t continue being so selfish.

Su Mi glanced at her but said nothing else, turning and walking away from the hospital room.

That’s what she said, but in the end, once the old man’s blood pressure spiked, the female lead would choose to stay. If she were truly determined to leave the Su family, she could have just done it first and explained later. What could the old man do to her after finding out?

But it didn’t matter. If she stayed, she stayed. It would be convenient for Su Mi to farm luck points, and she wouldn’t have to look for someone else later.

"You... you’re leaving so soon?" The steward outside couldn’t help but glance toward the hospital room.

Su Mi didn’t respond, heading straight into the elevator. There was no need to see the old man—she was afraid one word from her would finish him off. Then, instead of attending the Qi family’s birthday banquet, they’d have to hold a funeral at home.

After all, she didn’t have the habit of flipping tables at funerals. She still had some bottom line.

After returning home, in the evening, Sister Zhou suddenly sent over the rough cut of the variety show. This was just a preliminary edit. If the general direction was correct, they would proceed with this approach for the final edit.

She skimmed through a few episodes. The production team really had their work cut out for them, piecing together a cold, sharp-tongued persona for her from various fragmented clips. The conflicts were also focused on her and He Meimei, so Yang Yizhou’s fans wouldn’t attack her later.

But she wasn’t satisfied with this outcome. The promised mean and sarcastic persona shouldn’t end up as two women in a catfight. True equality meant attacking everyone indiscriminately.

The more viciously netizens cursed, the more it would trigger the original host’s emotional knots. That way, she could lose it every day. Even a mosquito’s worth of meat was still meat. Bit by bit, it might add up to six hundred. She couldn’t rely entirely on the male lead and the second male lead—that was too passive. She needed to seek new opportunities.

So she told Sister Zhou to edit according to the original mean and sarcastic persona, without deliberately avoiding anyone. Highlighting her conflicts with Yang Yizhou was fine—after all, he had many fans, so the curses would definitely be harsh.

Hearing her request, Sister Zhou fell silent for a moment but ultimately agreed.

After hanging up, Su Mi went to the gym and trained for two hours, then took an early bath and went to bed. She slept until noon the next day. Her parents were already waiting downstairs for her to eat, and this time, the female lead was also there.

Since they were going to the Qi family’s birthday banquet later and there was only one invitation, the female lead could only attend as the Su family’s second daughter. Perhaps worried that Su Mi would be unhappy, Su Min kept trying to lighten the mood during the meal.

"I’ve watched you grow up since you were little. No matter what, you’re like our own child. Since you’ve decided to marry Qi Xi, you need to be mentally prepared. If you don’t like him, your dad and I won’t force you. Even without a marriage alliance with the Qi family, it won’t affect both companies. I don’t want you to agree hastily now and regret it later." Mrs. Su suddenly looked seriously at Su Ruanruan.

The latter was stunned for a moment, then stared down at the rice in her bowl, picking at it as if she wanted to say something but didn’t know how to begin.

Su Mi finished half her bowl of rice before seeing the female lead nod, her face a knot of conflict. "I... I know what to do."

Sometimes she really couldn’t understand the female lead’s way of thinking. Just because the old man liked it, the female lead had to get engaged to Qi Xi?

But the problem was, she had never intended to marry the second male lead from the start. Why wasn’t she speaking up now? Was she waiting for her, the female supporting role, to expose them in public? Was this the so-called irresistible force of the plot?

Forget it, forget it. She’d just follow the plot. Once the task was triggered, she’d expose the relationship between the male and female leads in public. That level of causing a scene should earn her a decent amount of luck points.

"As long as you’ve thought it through. Although Qi Xi lacks manners and is impulsive, as long as you like him, your dad and I will respect your choice." Mrs. Su said calmly.

Logically speaking, given how he publicly insulted Mimi, she could never accept him as a son-in-law. But she didn’t want to play the villain who breaks up a couple. As long as he visited less in the future, it would be fine. But if he continued to be disrespectful, she wouldn’t mince her words as the elder.

"Thank you, Mom and Dad. I... I’m full. I’ll go change now." Su Ruanruan suddenly put down her chopsticks and stood up to go upstairs.

Watching her retreating figure, Su Min nervously glanced at his daughter, only to find her eating calmly without any sign of anger.

It seemed his daughter had been recuperating well lately. He always said there was no reason for his daughter to hit people out of the blue—she was perfectly fine at home. It must have been because those people said something too cutting.

And Dad too, always comparing Ruan Ruan and Mimi. How could anyone talk like that? Of course the younger generation would be upset.

After finishing the meal, Su Mi also went upstairs to change. Custom-made clothes were indeed different—they looked slim and neat, but the inner lining was actually very loose, not hindering her movements at all.

Seeing that she liked this style, Mrs. Su didn’t say much, just gave her a pair of ruby earrings to accessorize.

The banquet was held at a hotel in the city. By then, the hotel had already been booked out. Inside and out, only countless luxury cars and elegantly dressed, dignified socialites could be seen.

As soon as they entered the hotel lobby, people immediately gathered around, their words filled with teasing. "How rare to see Chairman Su bringing both his daughters out today. They say daughters are their parents’ little comforters. Chairman Su is truly blessed to have two such outstanding little comforters."

"Yes, I wonder when we’ll get to drink to your daughter and the Qi family’s second young master’s wedding wine. Let us share in the joy then."

More and more people gathered around, their flattering and ingratiating words endless. Su Mi maintained a smile without speaking.

"Not at all. This is up to the young people to decide. We elders can only offer some guidance." Su Min smiled warmly, gesturing for others to enter the elevator first.

After some polite back-and-forth, he finally entered with his wife and daughters, while others quickly followed, trying to say nice things to build good relations.

They all said the daughter the Su family had just taken back had mental issues, but she seemed perfectly normal to them—and quite a pretty girl too. It wasn’t as exaggerated as the rumors. If she really had mental problems, would the Su family bring her out?

Upon entering the banquet hall, Su Mi also greeted uncles and elders along the way. If others didn’t provoke her, she certainly wouldn’t curse randomly. She wasn’t a psycho.

"This must be your daughter? What a pretty and delicate girl. She’s about the same age as my son. You young people should get to know each other and make friends when you have the chance. It’ll be livelier when you hang out together." A middle-aged woman in a brown cheongsam suddenly looked at her enthusiastically.

Su Mi smiled slightly. "Certainly, when there’s a chance."

It was all just superficial politeness. After today, the other party probably wouldn’t have such thoughts anymore.

"Mimi is a bit slow to warm up. It’s better to let things take their natural course." Mrs. Su smiled, taking her daughter’s hand.

People around looked at Su Mi with curiosity. Some had seen her before, but the image of her wearing sportswear and kicking Qi Yun last time was too deeply etched in their minds. For a moment, they couldn’t connect the polite, pretty girl before them with that person.

But what was most puzzling wasn’t that she hit people, but that she had beaten up Qi Xi surrounded by bodyguards and even kicked Qi Yun. That wasn’t something an ordinary person could do. This Miss Su’s abilities were truly hair-raising.

"Aunt Su, Uncle Su."

At that moment, Qi Xi, wearing a brown suit, immediately came over. Even though he saw Su Mi, he didn’t show much disgust, simply ignoring her and turning his gaze to Su Ruanruan. Looking at the exquisite and lovely girl, a flash of attraction couldn’t help but appear in his eyes.

"My parents are still busy. Why don’t I take Aunt and Uncle to their seats first?" he said enthusiastically.

Su Min gave a faint smile, "That won't be necessary. I'll take Mimi and the others to greet your grandfather first."

At this, Qi Xi nodded in agreement and enthusiastically led the way, though his eyes kept drifting to Su Ruanruan.

She avoided his gaze, her eyes searching the crowd instead, but she didn't see the person she was looking for.

"I'm not much of a talker, so I won't go. You all go ahead," Su Mi suddenly stopped walking.

She was about to cause trouble at the birthday banquet later; how could she go visit the host now? Forget it, she still had some shame.

Hearing this, a flicker of mockery crossed Qi Xi's face. This crazy woman at least knew her place.

"Then wait here for us. Call if anything happens," Mrs. Su immediately whispered a reminder to her daughter.

Perhaps a bit worried about leaving her daughter alone, but considering Su Mi hadn't had an episode in a long time, Su Min could only let her stay by herself for now.

Watching them disappear down the corridor, Su Mi found herself a seat and sat down. She had to wait until both the male lead and the Second Male Lead were present to trigger the mission so that the luck points would increase more. No matter what, that idiot Second Male Lead was definitely getting the green hat today.

"Isn't that the Su family's crazy girl? She looks decent, but pity about her brain."

"Do you really think she could beat up Young Master Qi like that? Maybe Young Master Qi got beaten by his brother and was too embarrassed to admit it, so he made up a story."

"But I heard she beat up Young Master Qi's brother too…"

Su Mi looked up from her phone and saw a few slick-looking men not far away shooting glances her way. They spoke just loud enough for her to hear, probably thinking it didn't matter even if she heard.

"You actually believe such nonsense? If she could beat up Young Master Qi's brother, I'd eat shit standing on my head today!"

"Alright, alright, let's drop it. Didn't Young Master Qi say to be careful around her?"

Su Mi glanced at the desserts on the table, then picked up two small cakes and walked over.

"Are you friends of Qi Xi?" she asked politely.

The men exchanged glances. One with charming, upturned eyes raised an eyebrow dismissively and looked her up and down. "Yeah? What's it to you?"

Young Master Qi get hospitalized by this girl? Don't make me laugh. Might as well say the sun rises from the west.

"I don't make a habit of making people eat shit," Su Mi said abruptly, smashing the cake into the man's face while maintaining a polite smile. "But if you really want to, you can take a left to the restroom."

Suddenly covered in cake, the man froze on the spot, as if this had never happened to him before. The others around were also stunned, but they quickly recovered, advancing on Su Mi angrily.

"What do you mean? Don't think we won't hit you just because you're a woman. How dare you compare yourself to Su Ruanruan? No wonder Young Master Qi didn't want to marry you. Who would want a country bumpkin bitch like you?"

"Ding! Key plot triggered!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the speaker suddenly doubled over and was kicked flying three or four meters, startling everyone nearby.

"Of course he's not worthy of marrying me. Our Su family doesn't need a good-for-nothing son-in-law!" Su Mi grabbed another man by the hair, her expression dark. "Birds of a feather flock together. Maggots always gather in groups—no wonder you came in here yapping about eating shit. I should've reserved you a table in the restroom to keep you from polluting the air with your filth."

The man in pain swung a fist at her head, but the next moment, he was kicked two meters away by her high heel. A wave of agony shot from his gut, and he immediately clutched his stomach, gasping for breath, unable to speak from the pain.

He only gritted his teeth and snarled when he noticed the pointing and staring around him, "You… you… just wait…"

The others instinctively took a few steps back, seemingly recalling Qi Xi's warning. They didn't dare to step forward, so they hurried to help the man on the ground. "Lunatic, she's really a lunatic. No wonder Qi Xi didn't want her. A tigress like her will probably never get married."

As soon as he finished speaking, the speaker suddenly clutched his stomach and staggered back, glaring angrily at Su Mi. But remembering how she had kicked someone flying, he could only shut his mouth, his face flushed red.

"Lun… lunatic, right?" another man muttered.

Su Mi backhanded him with a slap. "You think you can push your luck? Feeling left out because you didn't get hit?"

"You…" He covered his face, glancing at the strange looks from the crowd and then at his friend on the ground, before quickly retreating.

A wise man knows when to yield. If there were still doubts about Qi Xi's story, everything was clear now. What normal person could kick someone that far? No wonder Young Master Qi was hospitalized for half a month.

"Can't you fucking help me up?!" the man on the ground snarled through gritted teeth at his companion.

Glancing at Su Mi, the men seemed too afraid to approach, so they waved a waiter over to help him up.

This is fucking unbelievable. Is Qi Xi sure this woman came from the countryside? She's more like a veteran just back from the battlefield.

But what could they do? They couldn't beat her, and she had the Su family backing her. No wonder Qi Xi took his lumps silently.

The waiter broke out in a cold sweat, set down his tray, and, with another waiter, dragged the two grimacing men away.

"Ding! Host's luck points +30!"

Listening to the mechanical voice in her head, Su Mi expressionlessly walked through the crowd to the restroom to wash her hands. Of course, she needed to wash after touching maggots—otherwise, it'd be like touching shit.

But it was still good. Even a mosquito is meat. At least it's a start after two months. Luck points are hard to come by these days—every bit counts.

Birds of a feather flock together. What good could come from hanging out with an idiot like the Second Male Lead? Young Master Qi? That guy is indeed missing a brain.

Shortly after leaving the restroom, she saw the banquet hall buzzing with noise, everyone pointing and whispering about something. Even if she had hit someone, their reaction seemed a bit slow.

But when she entered the banquet hall, she was stunned to see an explicit scene playing on the large screen.

In an empty corridor, a man in a crisp suit pinned a girl in a princess dress against the wall. They were pressed close together, and as they spoke, the man lowered his head to kiss the girl's lips, followed by a passionate make-out session. The girl, flushed and breathless, pushed him away, but the man still held her waist reluctantly, his face filled with undeniable possessiveness.

Su Mi froze on the spot. This… she didn't have such an explicit video…

"Isn't that President Qi and the Su family's second daughter? Isn't Su Ruanruan engaged to Qi Xi? This… this is just too…"

"This is utterly disgraceful. Qi Yun is engaged to the Huo family, yet he's sneaking around with his own brother's fiancée behind his back. This… this is incest!"

"That Su family's second daughter looks so innocent, but who knew she'd do something like this? She's not even married yet and she's already cheating. What would happen after marriage?"

"Qi Yun doesn't seem like a good person either. He's engaged to the Huo family—Miss Huo is such a dignified and proper young lady—yet he's secretly fooling around with his brother's fiancée. I think the Qi family's morals might be questionable."

The crowd buzzed with gossip, pointing at the looping video. The entire banquet hall was in an uproar, as if no one could believe that Qi Yun, who usually kept his distance from women, was this kind of person, and that the pure and lovely Su Ruanruan would get involved with her fiancé's brother. It just goes to show, you can't judge a book by its cover.

Even though the wealthy circles can be messy, incest is still a rare scandal.

"Don't just blame the Qi family. Doesn't the Su family have issues too? Raising two daughters like this—one with mental problems, the other with moral problems—no wonder Old Master Su fell ill from anger."

"Looking at their clothes, this was clearly during the last engagement banquet. They were sneaking around while getting engaged? What kind of behavior is that?"

Seeing the scene on the screen, Su Ruanruan instantly turned pale and stumbled back two steps, only to be steadied by Qi Yun in time.

He glared darkly at his assistant. "Find out who released this."

Seeing the video, Qi's parents felt their heads buzzing, their blood pressure skyrocketing. But having weathered many storms, they quickly ordered the video taken down and shot questioning looks at their eldest son.

Meanwhile, Qi Xi clenched his fists, seeming on the verge of exploding. Without a word, he charged up to Su Mi. "It was you, wasn't it?! How could you be so vicious?! If you have a problem, take it out on me! What did Ruan Ruan ever do to you that you'd slander her like this?! Are you even human?!"

"Ding! Key plot triggered!"

Su Mi frowned and reached out to pat his cheek. "Have you been eating too much shit? If there's something wrong with your brain, go get a CT scan. Don't come out here scaring people."

"You think I slandered her? Why don't you take the video to a technician for verification yourself?! You keep accusing me of slandering her. If your Qi family is so poor you can't even afford a check, I might just toss you a few coins."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she approached Qi Yun, whose face was dark with anger. "Come on, President Qi, tell everyone there's nothing going on between you and my sister Su Ruanruan, that you love Miss Huo, and that you've never had feelings for my sister."

Hearing this, Su Ruanruan couldn't help but glance at the man behind her, a hopeful look in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Su Min stood there, his mind buzzing, never having imagined that his well-behaved and sensible daughter could do such a thing!

It's not like I never asked for her opinion—how could she secretly hook up with Qi Yun behind my back?! Where would this leave the Su family's reputation?!

"You crazy woman, what nonsense are you spouting?! How could my elder brother possibly have anything with Ruan Ruan?! It must be you stirring up trouble!" Qi Xi glared at her furiously, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Su Mi slowly turned her head, then slapped him aside and kicked him for good measure. "You still haven't learned your lesson, have you? I told you to get out of my way when you see me. Are you deaf?"

"President, the video was leaked, and the surveillance was turned off. We can't find out who did it," the assistant hurried over, holding a USB drive.

Su Mi suddenly stepped forward and snatched the USB drive. "If someone deliberately fabricated facts to slander my sister's reputation, our Su family will definitely not let whoever did this get away with it. Whether this thing is real or fake, we just need to find a technician to verify it."

After saying this, she took out her phone and called Sister Zhou, asking her to send over several technicians.

"What on earth is going on?!" Mr. Qi suppressed his anger as he looked at his eldest son.

The latter merely stared darkly at Su Mi, then signaled his assistant to retrieve the USB drive.

The assistant stood there with a grave expression, thinking to himself that the president was putting him in a difficult position—he was no match for this Miss Su.