This was the original host’s body, so Huo Ning was still somewhat affected by it and couldn’t see too deeply into the fate of her relatives.  

But as she was looking at Song Zhen, the other woman was also staring at her.  

The gaze was so intense that even someone as composed as Huo Ning couldn’t help but cough lightly.  

“Cousin, why are you looking at me like that?”  

Song Zhen’s eyes curved into a smile, bathed in a gentle warmth.  

“I’m just happy for you—your skin condition is finally cured.”  

“Our Ningning has always been a beauty since she was little.”  

She studied Huo Ning’s features carefully. She had noticed long ago that her cousin’s facial structure was delicate and refined, but the thick red sores on her face had made it impossible for others to see past them.  

Huo Ning caught the implication in her words and subtly raised an eyebrow.  

“Since I was little? Was I good-looking as a child?”  

Song Zhen gave her a strange look. “How could you not have been good-looking as a child?”  

“Have you forgotten? Before you turned seven, your face didn’t have all those weird blemishes. Back then, anyone who saw you would praise how pretty you were.”  

“In contrast, Huo Zhenting’s illegitimate daughter, Huo Baiwei, was completely unremarkable—the kind of person you’d lose in a crowd.”  

Huo Zhenting was Huo Ning’s father. By all rights, Song Zhen should have addressed him as “uncle.”  

But ever since her aunt, Song Wan, passed away and he couldn’t even wait half a year before moving his mistress and their illegitimate daughter into the family home, Song Zhen had lost all respect for the man.  

Especially after Huo Ning fell ill and her face became covered in red rashes—Huo Zhenting acted as though his own daughter didn’t exist, too busy indulging in romantic escapades with his mistress.  

At the time, the Song family had utterly despised Huo Zhenting.  

But back then, the Song family’s business had been hit by one disaster after another. They could barely keep themselves afloat, let alone spare the energy to look after Huo Ning.  

Living with the Huo family, at least Huo Ning remained a young lady of privilege, wanting for nothing.  

If she had lived with the Songs, she might have faced days of hunger—after all, at the time, even the Song family’s ancestral home had been repossessed by the bank.  

From these fragments of conversation, Huo Ning caught a whiff of something unusual.  

She smiled and looped her arm through Song Zhen’s. “Cousin, I fell seriously ill last month, and my memory’s a bit muddled. Why don’t you tell me more about what I was like as a child?”  

Song Zhen froze, then immediately grabbed Huo Ning’s arm, scrutinizing her carefully.  

Huo Ning chuckled. “I’m already cured—met a great master who helped me.”

Song Zhen’s focus was on the fact that Huo Ning had been ill, so she didn’t pay much attention to the mention of a “great master.”  

Seeing that Huo Ning seemed perfectly fine now, she finally relaxed.  

Still, Song Zhen couldn’t shake her concern, her brows furrowed tightly enough to crush a fly.  

“Ningning, maybe you should get checked out again? When you were seven, you had a really severe illness, and ever since then, your health hasn’t been great—you’d get a fever every couple of weeks.”  

Song Zhen suspected it had left lasting damage.  

Otherwise, why would the rashes on Huo Ning’s face worsen with each episode?  

Huo Ning lowered her lashes, her gaze flickering slightly.  

When she looked up again, her eyes were cool, carrying a chill that felt out of place in the sweltering summer heat.  

From her cousin’s words, she had pieced together quite a bit of information.  

Before her mother’s death, the original host’s face had been unblemished. Yet within half a year, she had fallen seriously ill, developing karmic sores—sores that had plagued her for years, right up until her despairing suicide.  

Even the Song family, once a prominent wealthy clan, had somehow spiraled into decline.  

Meanwhile, the Huo family had flourished, climbing higher and higher in Jiangcheng’s elite circles.  

If there wasn’t something shady behind all this, Huo Ning would eat her own head!  

Suppressing her thoughts, she continued fishing for more useful details under the guise of casual conversation.  

She asked offhandedly, “Cousin, you said earlier that Huo Baiwei was unremarkable as a child?”  

From her observations, Huo Ning could tell that Song Zhen was an open, broad-minded person who didn’t dwell on trivial matters or gossip.  

But when it came to Huo Baiwei—or rather, any member of the Huo family besides Huo Ning—she harbored deep hostility.  

Not out of jealousy, but out of sheer disdain for their actions and contempt for the characters of Huo Zhenting and his daughter.  

Song Zhen looked surprised.  

Ningning really had changed a lot.  

In the past, whenever Song Zhen criticized Huo Baiwei, Huo Ning would frown and cut her off, urging her to let go of her “prejudice.”  

But this time, Huo Ning showed no sign of defending Huo Baiwei at all.  

The shift struck Song Zhen as both strange and deeply satisfying.  

Ningning was finally done shielding that white lotus! 

Song Zhen seized the opportunity and quickly added, “Yes! Listen, you should really stay away from Huo Baiwei. I suspect she’s bad luck for you.”  

“Think about it—before she came to the Huo family, you were perfectly fine. But within half a year of her arrival, you started getting sick, while she just kept getting prettier. Her puffy monolids turned into deep, glamorous double eyelids, her bulbous nose became delicate and sculpted, and her sallow skin somehow turned porcelain-white. It’s downright creepy.”  

So creepy that Song Zhen had wondered if Huo Baiwei had gotten plastic surgery.  

But there was no evidence of that.  

“And don’t you think there’s something off about her? Online, she plays up this ‘sunshine sweetheart’ persona, but every time she smiles, it gives me chills.”  

“Plus, every female celebrity who’s ever competed with her either ends up disfigured or dies in some freak accident. And every male star who vies for the same roles eventually falls head over heels for her and willingly hands the opportunities over to her! Even the most irresistible femme fatales don’t have that kind of effect!”  

Song Zhen shuddered involuntarily after saying this.  

It wasn’t like she was deliberately slandering Huo Baiwei.  

The changes in Huo Baiwei’s appearance were something she’d witnessed firsthand.  

And it wasn’t just her—plenty of people online had noticed how female competitors met with misfortune while male rivals became hopelessly devoted to her.  

The difference was, while some found it unsettling, they still ended up forgiving Huo Baiwei because of her looks.  

Which only made the whole thing weirder.  

“Beauty is supposed to be subjective. Whether it’s people or objects, some will find them attractive while others won’t. But Huo Baiwei’s face? It’s universally adored—no exceptions.”  

Huo Baiwei had zero online haters.  

Even rival fans couldn’t bring themselves to criticize her.  

Even on male-dominated forums, where female celebrities were usually torn apart with ruthless misogyny and nitpicking over every flaw, Huo Baiwei received nothing but praise.  

If she were exceptionally talented, that might make sense.  

But the truth was, she couldn’t sing, couldn’t dance, and couldn’t act—her only asset was her face.  

Sure, the entertainment industry was lenient toward good-looking people, but since when had it been this lenient?  

After listening, Huo Ning lowered her eyes slightly, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.  

As expected—Huo Baiwei was definitely not what she seemed.