Chapter 18

After Tong Zhichen’s introduction, all the guests’ eyes turned to Jiang Manwen, filled with various complex expressions—evaluation, curiosity, surprise, shock, and admiration.

Since Tong Zhichen and Jiang Manwen had a secret marriage, this was the first time everyone saw Jiang Manwen.

The Jiang Manwen in front of them was dressed in a very fashionable and stunning manner. Her beautiful face was adorned with a faint smile, and her every gesture exudes femininity. She truly embodied delicacy and softness to the fullest, leaving everyone stunned.

It wasn’t surprising that Tong Zhichen couldn’t recognize this person as a fake Jiang Manwen. They couldn’t tell that Jiang Manwen had transitioned from a man and undergone cosmetic surgery to become a woman.

Everyone couldn’t help but think of the previous case—Si Xiang—and couldn’t help but marvel at the power of gender transition and plastic surgery, which could completely change someone into another person.

“Hello, Miss Jiang. We’re all new friends of Mr. Tong,” one of the guests greeted.

“You look completely different from what we imagined.”

“……”

Of course, Jiang Manwen knew these people—every guest from Tong Zhichen’s recent variety show. They were all influential, with identity, background, and fame, making them excellent targets for potential connections.

With a faint smile, Jiang Manwen asked, “How am I different?”

One of the guests replied, “You’re more beautiful than we imagined, with a certain feminine charm. Mr. Tong really has good taste.”

“Hehe.” Jiang Manwen chuckled at their compliments. Anyone would feel happy to hear good things about themselves, and she was no exception. “Thank you. You all aren’t what I imagined either.”

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Manwen put on a thoughtful expression before saying, “You’re all so modest and gentle. You don’t seem as lofty as I saw you on TV. Right now, you all seem like gentle little lambs.”

Qiao Chuchu couldn’t help but mutter to herself: 【That’s the wrong description. You look more like lambs ready for slaughter, with people eyeing you like a big hunk of meat. It feels pretty unpleasant.】

Qiao Cen, standing beside her, nodded heavily in agreement. It was indeed unpleasant—who would want to be seen as a piece of meat?

Jiang Manwen: “???”

What was that sound? She heard a strange noise. Looking around, she didn’t see anyone speaking, and the confusion in her eyes deepened.

The others seemed normal, as if they didn’t hear the sound.

The crowd: We’re not deaf, we’re just used to it~

Jiang Manwen asked tentatively, “Did you just hear some strange noise?”

Everyone shook their heads, “No, what strange noise?”

This response left Jiang Manwen at a loss. She shook her head. “Nothing, I might have misheard.”

However, the expression of her assistant, Du Lan, clearly showed confusion. She had obviously heard it too.

Du Lan secretly nudged Jiang Manwen in the waist and mouthed something to her. Jiang Manwen understood. Since she wasn’t the only one hearing things, there was no problem.

Just as Jiang Manwen relaxed, the strange sound came again.

Qiao Chuchu, while eating dessert, was so shocked by the gossip that she almost dropped her dessert on the ground.

【These two are really something. A man transitions and undergoes surgery to become a woman, then comes to the wealthy elite circle to make money, and still isn’t satisfied. Now, they bring their lover along to flirt and scout for the next unlucky target. Unfortunately, everyone here is a target. What I admire most is that they even rely on their friendship status to show off their love in front of everyone. The key point is, Tong Zhichen hasn’t noticed the affair between these two. What a poor fool, silently ^[1]“lighting a cigarette” is a figurative expression, often used to convey a sense of calm or resignation in response to something troubling or difficult.lighting a cigarette for him.】

Qiao Cen looked at Tong Zhichen with pity in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that such a top-tier celebrity would go through something like this. How big must the shadow in his heart be?

Tong Zhichen: “…”

The shadow is big enough to crush him!

Jiang Manwen and her assistant, Du Lan, turned pale as they heard the strange sound again.

Damn! What is this weird sound? How do they know their biggest secret? If this secret is exposed, their scam career would be over!

So who is making that sound?! They looked around but didn’t see anyone speaking.

Fortunately, the people around them seemed normal, and it appeared they couldn’t hear the strange sound. If they could just find the person who made the sound and deal with them, the crisis would be over, right?!

But as soon as this thought crossed their minds, they both felt an invisible force tighten around their necks. The air grew thin, and they couldn’t breathe. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn’t break free.

“Cough, cough, cough—” They coughed desperately, but nothing changed. It only made breathing more difficult.

Everyone was confused by the sudden situation. Just moments ago, they seemed fine. What happened?

Tong Zhichen, in a symbolic gesture of concern, asked, “Manwen, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me!”

“Cough, cough, cough—”

Jiang Manwen couldn’t make a sound. Her eyes rolled back, and she nearly suffocated.

Du Lan, beside her, was in a similar state. She seemed to have figured something out and suddenly felt better. She hurriedly leaned over to Jiang Manwen‘s ear and whispered, “Don’t think about it. Don’t think about anything. Let go of your previous thoughts.”

Jiang Manwen followed her advice, and the pain in her throat disappeared. She took deep breaths of long-awaited fresh air, finally coming back to life.

This experience left them both in a state of fear. But just thinking about it—could they not just eliminate the other person? Who exactly were they dealing with?

Qiao Chuchu watched their situation, feeling it was very familiar, as she had witnessed something similar with Si Xiang before.

【Looks like they’re trying to harm me again, but the system will protect me. I can just sit back and enjoy the gossip.】

What even is this “system”?

Jiang Manwen and Du Lan were on the verge of breaking down from the sound. The situation seemed to be spiraling out of their control.

—

Everyone was experienced and had been in social circles long enough to manage their expressions well. Despite being shocked, curious, and eager to know what would happen next, they hid their emotions.

So, Jiang Manwen and Du Lan didn’t notice anything was wrong. They pretended to be calm and said, “Thank you all for taking the time to come to my promotion party. I’ve prepared a few activities for everyone. Feel free to eat, drink, and have fun. Don’t be shy, treat this place like your own home.”

The guests: “Don’t worry, we will.”

Qiao Chuchu: 【Treat it like home? Well, don’t. They’ll take it seriously, because they really want to treat you like family, just like replacing Tong Zhichen’s real wife with a fake one who’s hiding beside you. This kind of thing would break anyone, it’s a hundred times scarier than any horror movie I’ve ever seen.】

The guests: !!!!!!!

The guests: Pfft, pfft, pfft! What we just said was all nonsense!

Jiang Manwen: “!!!!!!!!”

Why does this sound keep happening?! How does she know she’s fake?!

Does Tong Zhichen know?

She immediately looked at Tong Zhichen. His expression lacked the usual smile, but everything else seemed the same, so he probably didn’t know, right? If he did, he wouldn’t treat her with such a gentle attitude.

Jiang Manwen forced a smile. “Excuse me for a moment, I need to arrange the program.”

She called Du Lan and walked away with her.

Qiao Chuchu continued flipping through the gossip, and when she looked at it, she was shocked.

【Let me see what kind of program it is—oh my god! They’re really bold! They actually dared to bring in a group of scammers disguised as performers and lead them into the villa to pick out their targets!】

【This is terrifying! I need to warn everyone to prepare for this crisis!】