After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows-Chapter 82: Was it Really You?

Li Shuo looked at Jiang Xiyu as she walked down from the helicopter.

His gaze fell on the faint red marks still visible on her side face, and he sighed inwardly.

When the cub suddenly attacked, not only were the guests and the viewers of the live broadcast startled, he was too.

Perhaps because its life was saved by humans, he had only seen the little creature’s friendliness towards humans on camera before.

He never thought the little creature had this side.

Moreover, even if it sensed a threat, it would be more likely to claw at Xu Zhao or Yu Hui or Jiang Kaiyuan, those guys, than at a girl like Jiang Xiyu.

Yet, the little creature’s only injury was to Jiang Xiyu.

Should he say this girl is unlucky, or...

Another possibility he didn’t want to think about.

Before Jiang Xiyu came over, he had already extracted and reviewed the footage of her interactions with the cub throughout the day, but found nothing unusual.

But the absence of anomalies doesn’t mean nothing happened.

As a celebrity who lives under the camera almost daily, she would be adept at using small gestures to block the camera.

Regardless of what they might be thinking, both had to maintain their composure.

"It’s been tough these past few days, Teacher Jiang."

"I caused trouble for the production team and even made the helicopter, meant for fetching guests, come specifically for me. You know how important our face is for us artists..."

Li Shuo nodded with understanding and glanced sideways at his subordinates.

Soon, the luggage and phone, which were handed over before entering the jungle, were returned to Jiang Xiyu.

"Please check if any items are missing, Teacher Jiang."

Jiang Xiyu turned on her phone, which had been off for several days, and it froze for quite a while upon starting up.

Finally, when it returned to normal, a flood of messages poured in.

As expected, most of the messages from the past ten days were from Jiang Yuting.

Not having the time to read the content, Jiang Xiyu turned off the screen, checked the luggage with a password lock, and nodded, "No problem."

"That’s good. A vehicle will take you to the nearest airport, so I won’t keep you any longer."

Jiang Xiyu sensed a hint of coldness in Li Shuo’s voice towards her, making her a bit uneasy. She carefully recalled and confirmed that she hadn’t exposed anything under the camera, finally feeling somewhat reassured, she smiled and replied, "Director Li and everyone else, carry on with your work."

According to the original plan, the helicopter rented by the production team was supposed to take the guests from the jungle’s destination after filming was completed, and then head to the nearest airport.

But now, with only Jiang Xiyu leaving, there was no need for the helicopter to make a special trip for her.

Luckily, the vehicle Qi Chen and his group had rushed in was available, and Li Shuo borrowed it with Qi Chen’s consent.

As the car stopped in front of her, Jiang Xiyu reached for the door handle, noticing the ’Qingyuan City Rare Animal Protection Management Office’ official sticker on the vehicle’s body, and paused.

She then averted her eyes, bent down, and got inside.

When the car started, she clicked on Jiang Yuting’s avatar, but before she could scroll up to see the first unread message, an incoming video call from the other side came through.

After glancing at the focused driver in front, Jiang Xiyu pursed her lips and answered the call, wisely turning down the volume.

As expected, a loud voice blared from the phone, "Jiang Xiyu, you got scratched by a panda cub and you dare to quit, do you know how much loss this will cause us? Those fans who watched the live broadcast for you will be so disappointed seeing you quit first! We’re almost done filming, can’t you just endure a bit longer? You’re driving me crazy, do you know that? I’m trying to get you a big production role right now, and you just had to do this, lowering their impression of you—go ahead and drag me down!"

Jiang Xiyu couldn’t bear hearing the phrase ’dragging down’ at this moment.

During the jungle filming, even if no one said anything, she could sense from their other actions that she was the one dragging them down.

Especially after reorganizing teams, with Jiang Lingxi as a contrast, making her seem utterly incompetent.

The choice to harm the panda cub did have the intention of ruining Jiang Lingxi, but it was also a form of venting.

She was truly fed up with being unconsciously treated as a burden by others.

And now, hearing Jiang Yuting say she was dragging down again, Jiang Xiyu couldn’t hold back and interrupted, "Enough, it’s complicated, do you think I wanted to quit the show now?"

Jiang Yuting was taken aback, took a deep breath, "Then tell me, what’s so complicated? The injury on your face might heal before you even get home, others believe you’re quitting due to concerns of a scar, but I don’t buy it."

Jiang Xiyu closed her eyes.

Having Jiang Yuting as her agent had this downside.

Having grown up together, they both knew each other’s character from a young age. She could pretend so well that everyone believed this is who she really was, except Jiang Yuting, who knew her.

If not for her aunt’s favor...

Resisting the urge to hang up, Jiang Xiyu clenched her fist and replied through gritted teeth, "It’s because of Jiang Lingxi, okay? You watched the broadcast too, you must have seen how much she’s changed, right? I got nowhere with her this time, what’s the point of staying any longer!"

Jiang Yuting paused and suddenly let out a laugh.

Jiang Xiyu heard it, feeling baffled, "What are you laughing at?"

"Don’t shift the focus, Jiang Lingxi indeed changed a lot on this show, but you don’t have to quit now unless you believe something bad will definitely happen if you stay, especially something targeting you. We’ve grown up together, haven’t there been many such incidents? Wait, let me guess."

Being guessed correctly again, Jiang Xiyu turned to look out the window, considering whether to throw the phone out, when she heard the exact voice she least wanted to hear.

"The panda cub Jiang Lingxi saved from the snake’s belly was suddenly injured today. Be honest with me, was it you?"

Jiang Xiyu pressed her lips tightly without speaking.

She was still in the car provided by the production team; whether she admitted it or not, she shouldn’t talk about it here.

Hearing only the sound of the car moving and Jiang Xiyu’s current silence, Jiang Yuting gasped, "It really was you. Jiang Xiyu, you’ve truly outdone yourself, even daring to harm a national treasure, your guts are really growing!"

"What if I say I was forced to do it?"

"Do you think I would believe you?"