Chapter 16 - An Ordinary Little Crow

After sensing the woman’s wishes from her memory orb, Wu Yaya flapped her wings in annoyance.

“Daddy, she wants to go back to the showbiz and clear her name. But how would she make a comeback with her face? Being ugly is the biggest sin in showbiz. Being as ugly as her would be absolutely unforgivable!”

The little crow closed her eyes, unwilling to recall the woman’s grotesque face. It reminded her of a famous case of failed cosmetic surgery she came across on the internet. This Korean woman had cooking oil injected into her face, resulting in swelling that made her look like an electric fan.

The curtain fig knew exactly where his daughter was going with this. He chuckled and said, “You can use your own face instead of hers. However, you should adjust your features. So people can easily tell you’re Jin Jinxi, and a completely different person.” 

“Yay! I’ll be on my way then.” The little crow flapped her wings happily after getting her way.

She spun on the spot on her tiptoes and transformed into a tall woman with a dashing figure in a blinding white glow.

Her raven-black hair cascaded like a thick mist over her shoulders. Her small face was hidden behind this excessively lush, seaweed-like mane. She had Jin Jinxi’s features, only it looked like everything had been refined and enhanced meticulously by a masterful hand in some editing software.

Generally speaking, a beautiful face usually possesses a particular eye-catching feature, be it a pair of alluring eyes, a chiselled nose, a pair of delicate lips, or a facial structure befitting a sculpture.

There must be breathing room as well. You can’t have every feature stand out equally. That would be too much. This theory is applied in makeup, too. If you have extravagant eyeshadow, you should go for muted brows. With vivid red lips, you’ll want a sheer foundation. In short, you need a balance of intense and subdued and a variety of visual textures.

No one would wear thick, untrimmed brows with smoky eyes, plaster-on vampire foundation, and top it off with blood-red lips.

No human looks like that, only a ghost—and a grudgeful spirit at that. No one would willingly present themselves like that, unless for specific looks such as those found in fashion shows.

Yet, the woman standing under the tree bore a face where every feature screamed for the onlooker’s attention. She had skin as white as the fresh snow at the start of winter and lips as red as the autumn sun. The slightly upturned tail of her large, round eyes carried a seductiveness, while her black eyes were incredibly clean. A cute nose sat atop a perfectly oval face, where her soft cheeks added a touch of youthful innocence to her radiant beauty.

There was no doubt: she was beautiful, an extravagant beauty. There wasn’t a single flaw on her face—pretty in almost an aggressive way. Even then, it wasn’t the vulgar glamour that strained the eyes of onlookers.

Her beauty didn’t need room for breathing. There was no need to soften anything. 

It was beyond human understanding, something closer to a feral beast tearing its teeth into anyone around her.

Seeing such a face unprepared would certainly draw astonished gasps from some people.

What was weaponizable beauty if not this?

Currently, Wu Yaya was drawing both the attention and gasps from passersby as she slowly made her way to the entrance of the park and called for a cab.

The driver was stealing glances at her through the rearview mirror the entire trip, and almost ran into the car in front of them several times.

“Mr. Driver, please keep your eyes on the road, not me,” The ruby-lipped woman teased with a smile.

She didn’t mind the heated stares. It was all her fault. Who did she have to blame but her own beauty! To put it boldly, she had never seen anyone better looking than her. Mind you, her current face was based on Jin Jinxi’s, so it’s nowhere as stunning as her actual appearance.

Ordinary it may be, but it was enough to get by in the showbiz.

The client’s voice was smooth, while Wu Yaya’s own voice was a bit grainy. The blending of their voices produced fascinating chemistry.

The moment the driver heard this sweet voice laced with a touch of magnetic undertone, his ears burned.

He never knew he could get drunk on someone’s voice. It was like liquor that had aged for centuries—sweet, crisp, and fiery.

The strong liquor went straight to his head, making his mind spin. Judging from his flushed neck and cheeks, he might not have lasted much longer had they not arrived at her destination hotel.

He clutched the bills the woman paid him with, eyes trailing her blankly as she walked away.

Then, when her figure stepped into the hotel lobby and disappeared from view after a turn, he finally carefully stored away the money in his glove compartment, but not before taking a great sniff at the sweet paper.

Now that he was no longer feeling heady, he smacked his forehead in realization and muttered, “Wait, no! She looks so familiar! Is she some kind of celebrity?”

———

Wu Yaya hurried to the room Jin Jinxi was staying in.

After locking the door, she made her way to the giant closet and pulled open the doors that were left cracked. She peered inside and shook her head regretfully.

Jin Jinxi’s body was still curled up inside the closet, her neck hanging on the crossbar by a belt. Her face had gone purple, and all warmth had left her body. Fortunately, she had hung up a “Do Not Disturb” sign outside the door, for the housekeepers would’ve found her already.

“Goodbye, Jin Jinxi.” 

“I will fulfill your dying wish. I will let you leave as a clean person, just like how you came into this world.”

With the sounds of that promise, the woman’s bloodshot eyes closed gently. Her grimacing face eased into peace.

All she wanted at the end of her twenty-some years of life was to be “unmarred”. Marrying her idol had been her fortune, but it ultimately became the hell that destroyed her.

Wu Yaya emptied Jin Jinxi’s suitcase and put her corpse in there.

The woman had stayed in Korea for two months and directly settled into this hotel after returning. So, it was natural that the suitcase she carried would be big enough to fit an adult human easily.

She would hand the corpse to the curtain fig once it was dark out, and he would deal with the aftermath. There wouldn’t be any ceremonious rituals, since there was no greater end to a living being than to turn into ash under holy light.

After all that, the little crow started checking her client’s phone.

Just then, the little glass rectangle buzzed and chirped. It was from “Emi”.

Emi was Jin Jinxi’s manager and the very person who instigated her to get plastic surgery in Korea.

Wu Yaya lifted an eyebrow and picked up the call.

“Didn’t you say you want to end the contract with our company? Mr. Liu has agreed. But in exchange, you must participate in this variety show,” Emi stated coolly.

After returning from Korea, the company demanded tens of millions in breach-of-contract damages from Jin Jinxi for failing to protect her appearance. For celebrities, every inch of their bodies was a commodity. Companies make their artists sign contracts to protect these assets. In the case of a failed cosmetic surgery, especially when the surgery itself was not approved by the company, the artist would face substantial compensation claims.

Even the divorce money she received from her ex-husband was nothing compared to what she had to pay. So, she tried to play the sympathy card and begged the company to terminate her without the penalty. She also asked Emi to negotiate with the executive.

When the cold executives and the washed-up celebrity finally reached a mutual agreement, it was decided that she would attend a variety show in exchange for a clean escape from the company’s grasp.

But her face was already ruined. How is asking her to show up on screen with her monstrous face, which would grant her nothing but backlash from her former audience all over the country, any different from asking her to take her own life?

It seemed like this manager wasn’t as trustworthy as Jin Jinxi believed her to be.

Wu Yaya sneered, but kept her tone meek and pitiful, “What variety show? I- I can’t show my face in front of a camera! You know what I look like now, Emi-jie.”

“This show is called ‘How Have You Been?’. You know of it, right?” Emi ignored her words.

Wu Yaya fell silent.

Her manager thought she was stunned by fear, but in reality, she was looking through her client’s memories.

Ah, yes, “How Have You Been?”, a variety show featuring divorced couples. Which meant not only would Jin Jinxi have to attend, but her beloved ex-husband would be there, too. He was the person she would rather die than see again.

She didn’t want to see him, but someone was forcing her to. Better yet, he’d be seeing her disfigured face. He’d surely empty his stomach’s contents right in front of the cameras. As for Mu Chen’s fans, they’d be applauding and celebrating their divorce loudly.

That must be the result the mastermind was hoping for.

“Is Liu Ruxu the one behind this?” Wu Yaya cut straight to the point.

Liu Ruxu was the mistress. It had only been a year since her debut, yet she quickly rose to fame under Mu Chen’s protection and guidance and was already on the doorstep of the B-listers.

With Mu Chen behind her, she had considerable say in the company as well. The company would relent if she agreed to waive Jin Jinxi’s penalty.

This was a special treatment that Jin never had, even when she was still Mrs. Mu.

Emi paused for a moment before answering, “This decision came from the executives. You have no choice, you know? You could at least score some good money one last time with this show. We’re trying to help you here.”

The manager was careful not to leak anything condemning, in case Jin Jinxi was recording the call.

Her worries were unfounded, however, since Wu Yaya didn’t need such tactics to turn her life around.

“You went out of your way to contact the plastic surgery clinic for me, and even appointed the so-called top-tier surgeon. Don’t tell me it was Liu Ruxu who orchestrated all this? Did you two conspire to ruin my face?” The little crow did not shy away from assuming the worst of people.

After all, some hearts were darker than her feathers. 

Jin Jinxi, in her depression, might have overlooked how odd it was for the Emi who barely paid any mind to her to suddenly start bugging her about getting plastic surgery, but Wu Yaya wasn’t blind to it.

There was definitely something up with this manager.

Emi’s breathing grew heavy for a moment before lashing out, “Watch what you say! It was an accident that your plastic surgery failed. It has nothing to do with me! You must’ve gone mad, putting the blame on others. Was this all not your own doing?”

A smile formed on the little crow’s face. The truth couldn’t have been clearer. She had nothing else to ask.

“I’ll take it. Send over the contract along with the separation letter,” she said lightly.