She was so frightened that she hurriedly called the director.
"Director! Nan Xian and I aren't quitting the show anymore."
With Jiang Yunli gone, who knew how much traffic they would lose?
The director had been agonizing over whom to find as a replacement.
When Jiang Yunli suddenly changed her mind, the director was overjoyed.
But he still put on an expression of deep concern for Jiang Yunli.
"Ms. Jiang, weren't you feeling unwell? Won't continuing with the show affect your health?"
"It's fine," Jiang Yunli said. "I heard this shoot will be in my biological parents' village. Although they don't like me, I still long to have family around me."
The director wasn't much good with words, either.
After struggling for several seconds, he managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"If they don't treat you well, there's no need. You could try livestreaming, Ms. Jiang. Everyone there is family."
Jiang Yunli: "..."
The director's plan to film where Jiang Yunli's biological parents lived scared the life out of her.
She hurriedly found an excuse and dragged Ji Nanxian back, bags in tow.
When Shen Yunzhi learned that Jiang Yunli was coming back, she laughed with the system for most of the night.
The next day.
On the production team's way to the filming location, Shen Yunzhi took the initiative to chat with Jiang Yunli.
"Didn't someone leak your diagnosis of severe depression? If it's that serious, why are you still coming on the show?"
Jiang Yunli had fabricated it herself, then found someone to leak it.
At the time, she had only thought that the more serious it was, the better. It would win her fans' sympathy and cover up the collapse of her public image.
Who knew the director would suddenly go crazy and pull this?
It left Jiang Yunli somewhat speechless, unsure how to answer Shen Yunzhi for a moment.
Jiang Yunli could only stammer, "For now... I can keep it under control for now. After all, unlike my little sister, I don't have my family's support. I've already lost everything. Whatever people say online, I still have to focus on my career."
The moment Jiang Yunli said this, her fans were moved to tears.
[Now this is a truly independent woman, unlike certain people who only throw their weight around using their family background.]
[Boohoo, Yunli's been driven to this point and still works so hard for her fans.]
Shen Yunzhi didn't mind Jiang Yunli's veiled insinuations. She simply looked at her with pity. "Don't say you have nothing left. You still have your illness, don't you?"
Jiang Yunli: "?"
Everyone else in the minibus: "..."
The livestream viewers: ...
[I feel like Shen Yunzhi was insulting her, but I have no proof.]
[Hahaha, Jiang Yunli wanted to stir things up so her fans would harass Shen Yunzhi online, but Shen Yunzhi isn't scared in the slightest.]
[Shen Yunzhi's reputation is already in ruins. What the hell would she be scared of?]
[I'm really curious how old the people shipping the Jiang-Yunli and Ji-Nanxian CP are. Have they graduated from elementary school? How can they still be fans when Jiang Yunli is this fake?]
[I've always steered clear of fake innocent types like Jiang Yunli.]
Jiang Yunli's fans immediately started fighting with these people again.
[How much is Shen Yunzhi paying you per comment to smear Yunli? Can you add me to the group? Let's all make some money.]
[Right, right, you know everything again. A reality show that's only been livestreaming for a few days, and you've already figured Yunli out completely.]
[You label an independent woman vicious over this one incident. Just how much do you hate women?]
Jiang Fans knew they couldn't win against so many people, so they broadened their attack and took swipes at everyone.
They dragged everyone into it.
They even played the militant feminist card.
The other viewers: [Wow.]
[I think I can guess how old these Jiang fans are now.]
[Who attacked whom first? Who started labeling people first? Is Jiang Yunli the only woman? Shen Yunzhi's been smeared for years, but I haven't seen you hold back out of sympathy because she's a girl.]
[It's brainless idiots like these who poison the atmosphere these days.]
[It's obvious. Ji Nanxian admitted it to Xiao Yao himself yesterday: he has one woman in his arms while stringing another along. These people won't attack the one who benefits in the end, won't attack the man, and only dare to insult Shen Yunzhi.]
The comments erupted into another fight.
Inside the minibus.
The director was introducing their upcoming destination.
Caoli County.
One of the poorer impoverished counties in the country.
Shen Yunzhi was sitting right beside An Zhizhi, who asked her, "So you used to live in Caoli County?"
After blurting it out, An Zhizhi realized something sounded wrong. "..."
Xiao Yao froze, remembering that Shen Yunzhi had said those words before.
He also asked Shen Yunzhi, "So you're really from Caoli County?"
Shen Yunzhi looked baffled. "Yes. Is there a problem?"
Xiao Yao suddenly felt somewhat relieved. "So you weren't insulting me before."
Shen Yunzhi smiled. "Not quite. I really was insulting you then."
Xiao Yao: "?"
[Pure hatred duo! Go to war!]
[Rival lane! Attack!]
[I don't know why, but I love watching these two attack each other. It's so much fun.]
An Zhizhi had rather low emotional intelligence and wasn't good at accommodating others.
Since she was curious, she asked bluntly, "Shen Yunzhi, why do you always like showing off your wealth?"
Shen Yunzhi said, "I don't want to either. Maybe I caught an illness during those years living in an impoverished county."
An Zhizhi stared blankly. "Huh? What illness?"
Shen Yunzhi said, "Poverty."
An Zhizhi: "..."
Shen Yunzhi's voice sank. "A lot of my friends and relatives back in the village left because of that illness."
Although An Zhizhi's family was rich, she wouldn't say something as ignorant as "Why don't they eat meat?"
She immediately imagined a whole series of cases: people unable to afford food, freezing to death in winter or dying of heat in summer, and having no money to treat their illnesses.
An Zhizhi even felt a little sorry for her and comforted Shen Yunzhi. "My condolences."
Even the viewers began to sympathize with what Shen Yunzhi had been through.
After all, Caoli County's poverty was known throughout the country.
Who knew Shen Yunzhi would add, "They didn't go far, though. They're working on construction sites in the next county."
"..."
"..."
[...]
Hey, you...
I...
She...
[Suddenly sees this → shocked → loses interest → deep in thought → tags a friend → completely satisfied.]
[Everyone else wakes up refreshed; Shen Yunzhi wakes up deranged.]
[This line really suits Shen Yunzhi: she's already been tormented into this state, so just let her have her way.]
That one line from Shen Yunzhi amused quite a few people on the bus.
For once, the production's atmosphere of pure hatred became a little more harmonious.
Sitting in the back row, Ji Nanxian stared darkly at the back of Shen Yunzhi's head.
What Ji Nanxian had told Jiang Yunli was that he needed to spend more time with Shen Yunzhi.
But his father's instructions were completely different.
He wanted Ji Nanxian to do everything possible to please Shen Yunzhi before they married.
If Jiang Yunli learned the truth, wouldn't she explode?
Ji Nanxian's father had no intention of letting this engagement fall apart.
In the past, Shen Yunzhi had been a deeply devoted, groveling admirer.
So the Ji Family had never worried that Shen Yunzhi would break off the engagement.
They had even indulged Ji Nanxian's continued entanglement with Jiang Yunli.
But things were different now.
Even Ji Nanxian's father had realized that Shen Yunzhi seemed somewhat different, and he had ordered Ji Nanxian to win her favor.
But Ji Nanxian didn't believe Shen Yunzhi had truly had a change of heart.
He only wondered whether Shen Yunzhi was still angry about what had happened at the birthday banquet and was playing hard to get with him.
Make Ji Nanxian try to please Shen Yunzhi? Impossible.
He absolutely couldn't swallow his pride like that.
Ji Nanxian had been furious lately.
After all, he had never suffered such humiliation in his life.
But his father had already given him an ultimatum and had even frozen all his cards and memberships.
If he didn't please Shen Yunzhi, even paying for a meal would be difficult now.
Ji Nanxian took a deep breath.
When they reached the transfer point, the production team's minibus couldn't go any farther into the mountains.
They needed to switch vehicles and find a more skilled driver. After all, the mountain road running along the cliff edge wasn't easy to drive.
Everyone on the production team was busy transferring equipment.
Ji Nanxian noticed that the cameras weren't pointing toward Shen Yunzhi.
So he walked over to him.
Before you continue