The tense, head-to-head confrontation between the two instantly heated up the atmosphere in the entire venue.
People are naturally drawn to gossip—especially when it involves two beautiful women.
The big screen began cycling through categories: ethnic dance, jazz dance, bel canto singing, crosstalk comedy…
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the rapidly rotating words, until the speed gradually slowed down and landed on a category no one had expected.
Sword dance!
Xiao Meng’s smile froze. How could it be this?
She had confidence in all the other categories. After all, she had trained in dance for over ten years—her fundamentals alone were enough to crush Yun Li, a complete outsider.
But sword dance required the body to be like a swimming dragon and as light as a flying swallow, with every movement needing strength and precision.
Although Xiao Meng had solid basic training, over the years she had mostly been performing soft, trendy dances in front of cameras and rarely exercised seriously.
As a result, her movements were now soft and lacking any sharpness or force.
She started to panic. If only she hadn’t spoken so confidently earlier. Now everyone knew she had proposed the condition herself—she couldn’t back out.
Just thinking about it made her feel suffocated.
Still, she quickly adjusted her mindset. Dance and sword dance both contain the word “dance”—perhaps elegance mattered more than sharp, forceful technique.
Meanwhile, Yun Li didn’t notice Xiao Meng’s inner calculations. Instead, she seriously began warming up.
Once she felt her entire body heat up, she stopped.
As the music slowly began, Yun Li picked up the sword and smoothly executed a sword flourish.
She danced with the sword—her posture upright and graceful, yet light and agile. The blade in her hand shimmered with cold light as it moved.
Under the reflection of the sword light, her figure appeared and disappeared in a mesmerizing rhythm, leaving the audience dazzled.
Finally, the music ended. Yun Li sliced through the air with a final strike, pointing the sword directly at Xiao Meng.
“I’ve shown you my humble skills.”
As the performance ended, thunderous applause erupted from the audience.
Perhaps they hadn’t known who Yun Li was before today—but after this, they would all remember this woman: beautiful, yet genuinely talented.
As for Xiao Meng—she was on the verge of tears.
She had still held onto a trace of hope, but now that Yun Li had finished her performance—and done it so flawlessly—she knew she couldn’t win.
But the situation had already reached this point. It wasn’t something she could simply stop.
In the end, Xiao Meng fell straight backward, producing a sharp thud.
Yun Li: …
She couldn’t help but think: no wonder Xinyu and Xiao Meng were friends—the way they fainted was exactly the same.
With the previous experience from Xinyu, no one even bothered to react this time. The host didn’t rush over, and the audience didn’t gather around. Yun Li even noticed some people calmly continuing their drinks and conversations.
Awkward. Extremely awkward.
Looking at Xiao Meng on the ground, her eyelids trembling and her body sweating nervously, it was obvious she wasn’t actually unconscious.
Honestly, this level of shamelessness—Yun Li couldn’t compete with it.
As Xiao Meng continued lying there, the air-conditioning even seemed ready to give her “cadaveric spots.”
Eventually, Yun Li walked over kindly.
She grabbed Xiao Meng’s hand and pressed hard on her philtrum.
Hard. Again and again.
After three full minutes of pressing, Xiao Meng finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Ah!”
She screamed out, and her act completely collapsed.
She looked toward the host for help, but the host didn’t even glance at her.
She scanned the crowd—her only subordinate, Xinyu, had already been taken away, and everyone else either didn’t know her or had conflicts with her.
There was not a single person willing to help.
Remembering the conditions she herself had set, the makeup removal was bad enough—but “never streaming again” was essentially a death sentence for her career.
For a top-tier streamer like her, that was catastrophic.
Thinking of all the consequences, Xiao Meng felt dizzy—this time it was real.
“I brought a basin of water and a towel just for you,” Yun Li said calmly, also handing her a bottle of makeup remover.
Xiao Meng completely broke down and tried to attack Yun Li, but Yun Li dodged easily.
“Xiao Meng, you were the one who set the rules. Why are you refusing to accept the result now?”
The host finally spoke—but not in a tone Xiao Meng liked.
“Yeah, don’t tell me you can’t afford to lose?”
“Wow, today we even got a live clown show.”
The audience also couldn’t stand her behavior and began criticizing her.
Xiao Meng’s eyes turned red, and she finally broke into tears—but no one sympathized with her.
In the end, she had no choice but to reluctantly and humiliatingly wash off her makeup.
Her real face was gradually revealed to the public.
Yun Li froze. Had she not witnessed it herself, she would have thought it was a different person entirely.
Xiao Meng’s originally fair complexion had turned dull and yellow, her face covered in dense freckles. Her nose, once delicate and upturned, had become flat—likely heavily contoured with makeup.
“Good lord, a full-on transformation,” a spectator from the audience muttered.
That comment seemed to trigger Xiao Meng. She screamed wildly:
“Don’t look at my face! Get lost!”
After lashing out at the audience member, she turned her anger toward Yun Li.
“It’s all your fault! If it weren’t for you, none of this would’ve happened!”
She shrieked and splashed makeup remover toward Yun Li. Before Yun Li could react, a basin of water followed.
Then—pain.
Xiao Meng grabbed a towel and scrubbed Yun Li’s face violently. The rough fabric stung.
But after all that, aside from Yun Li’s face turning slightly red, nothing had changed.
“How is that possible?” Xiao Meng staggered back, unable to accept it. “It must be the makeup remover!”
Though she tried to stay defiant, she knew deep down—the remover was strong.
Then Yun Li’s face…
Completely bare skin?
Sharp intakes of breath echoed through the venue.
Everyone had known Yun Li was beautiful—but no one expected her to be this beautiful.
At this moment, Xiao Meng truly regretted everything.
Why did she ever provoke her?!
……
On the second floor, overlooking the entire hall.
SSX finally stopped laughing and observed the situation seriously.
“Hey, wasn’t the film your company invested in called Youth, That Little Thing?”
Chen Xuan, who was addressed, finally recalled it and nodded repeatedly.
SSX raised a finger: “Reserve me a spot in that film.”
“Got it, bro,” Chen Xuan replied happily, already imagining meeting Yun Li on set.
Huo Qianyun coughed. No one noticed.
He coughed again. Still no one noticed.
He coughed for two full minutes—finally, someone noticed him.
Chen Xuan frowned and quickly stepped away. “If you’re sick, go get treated. Don’t infect me.”
“I’m not sick. Just give me a role too,” Huo Qianyun said plainly.
Chen Xuan rolled his eyes hard. “Get lost.”
“I’ll give you that sports car you liked last time.”
“Deal!”