Chapter 524: Beauty and Love, a Deadly Addiction

It seemed she had noticed Xiao He's gaze. Li Hanyue glanced away for a moment, then raised her hand to cover her face and began to sob softly.

Xiao He could only stand and step aside to wait.

A few minutes later, Li Hanyue had calmed herself again. Only then did she clear her throat and speak in a hoarse voice, “I'm very sorry for causing you all so much trouble. I'm also very grateful for your help.”

“May we talk now?”

Police Officer Zheng produced his badge, waved it in front of Li Hanyue, and said, “I'm Police Officer Zheng, the one who called you before. This is my identification.”

Police Officer Zheng’s words successfully surprised several people at the scene.

Xiao He understood then—no wonder Police Officer Zheng had suddenly come to Qin City.

Apparently, they had come specifically for Li Hanyue.

Li Hanyue kept her head down and did not answer.

Xiao He turned to go but heard Li Hanyue say, “Please, could you stay?”

He paused, looked back at her, and realized she was looking straight at him.

There was a pleading look in Li Hanyue’s eyes. “Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

Xiao He, curious as well, walked to the side, pulled out a chair for Police Officer Zheng, then stood with Little Jin.

“What happened at the scene?”

Police Officer Zheng went straight to the point. “We just detained Xiong Qi. He claimed you fell on your own, but the surveillance footage is very clear. The evidence is conclusive.”

“Now we want to hear from you, as someone directly involved. What are your thoughts?”

“S-sorry.” Li Hanyue bowed her head, stammering, “I thought he would at least help me because of what we once had... I didn't expect that from the start, I was the one who was wrong.”

“Hehe, how ridiculous...”

She covered her face and began to sob loudly.

This whole matter started with a trip three years ago.

Back then, Li Hanyue had been badly shaken by the Zhu Third Brother incident, so she decided to take a year off from school to travel and clear her head.

During that time, she met a travel vlogger, Lu Xiaoqian.

Lu Xiaoqian was a carefree girl who traveled constantly and ran an account mostly about travel. The two hit it off, so they finished the final leg of the trip together.

After returning to Beijing, Li Hanyue resumed her studies and kept in frequent contact with Lu Xiaoqian. Through their back-and-forth, they became close friends.

A year later, through Lu Xiaoqian's introduction, Li Hanyue met Lu’s boyfriend, Xiong Qi.

Xiong Qi was also an internet celebrity who specialized in relationship content. His usual videos were analyses of dating scams and emotional submissions. In his videos and live streams, his persona was that of a considerate big brother, a friend to women, someone who could spot scummy men, tear apart bad guys, and speak up for women.

Li Hanyue was attracted to his maturity and gentleness. After only a few days of knowing each other, they quickly entered into a relationship.

But no one realized she had fallen into an abyss from the beginning.

“I really liked him, I liked him so much... but his job meant he was always in contact with other women. Sometimes he would even fly overnight to comfort girls who had been cheated or dumped online. That always made me feel terribly uneasy... But they all said it was because I was too jealous and overthinking...”

Whenever she spoke of what had happened, Li Hanyue would shiver involuntarily.

“Eventually, for whatever reason, my mindset deteriorated. I felt guilty for being jealous, but I also couldn't bear to let him go to others—”

Until one day, Lu Xiaoqian went to a cosmetic clinic recommended by her company and had a successful procedure. She then began praising cosmetic surgery’s benefits to Li Hanyue every day, tying beauty to the survival of Li Hanyue’s relationship, and, together with Xiong Qi, pressuring her and creating anxiety about her looks…

So Li Hanyue had her first successful cosmetic procedure.

She was cautious at first and only had minor corrections. The doctor improved some facial flaws; the results were visibly noticeable, and the overall beauty payoff was excellent. Li Hanyue even won a lead role, and her boyfriend grew more enamored.

But cosmetic surgery can be addictive. Once you start, you face endless repairs and enhancements.

Sometimes people don't even know whether it's the anxiety lying on the operating table, the thrill of seeing a more beautiful reflection in the mirror, or the pride from receiving positive feedback from others—these emotions mirror drugs, intoxicating and even addictive.

Unconsciously, Li Hanyue's mentality changed drastically.

At that time no one could wake her up. She was surrounded by a friend who urged her to keep going, and a boyfriend who continuously applied manipulative emotional pressure.

So—

If work stalled, it had to be because she wasn't beautiful enough, so she underwent more procedures.

If love faltered, it was because she wasn't beautiful enough, so she underwent more.

If life went wrong, it was because she wasn't beautiful enough, so she underwent more.

Until a surgery failed, the doctor vanished, Lu Xiaoqian cut off contact, and her boyfriend left, Li Hanyue finally realized what foolish things she had done over the years.

But it was already too late.

Her surgically altered face no longer suited the big screen. The lead role scripts she had once gotten were rejected. The connections she had squandered while obsessing over love and friendship had dried up. Even director Hou Rongxuan, the only person willing to reach out, could only barely get her a cameo lasting a few minutes.

At that moment, Li Hanyue laughed at her own foolishness.

But it was too late.

She had paid a high price for cosmetic surgery—her beauty, her money, her career, her health, and even her family.

Li Hanyue’s parents had always opposed her undergoing cosmetic surgery and had opposed her relationship, but back then she didn’t listen at all.

So now she had nothing left.

...

When she mentioned “Rongding Media” again, Xiao He's brow twitched.

Wow, Rongding Media again!

“Later I learned there are many people like me, and that Lu Xiaoqian was never a good person. The clinics she introduced were all unscrupulous shops. If a surgery failed, they would immediately close and run, then rebrand and keep using Lu Xiaoqian’s channels to attract new clients.”

“Lu Xiaoqian approached me with ulterior motives from the start!”

As she spoke, fury burst in Li Hanyue’s eyes. “Of course I wanted to expose all of it! Expose that company and warn others not to follow my path—”

“Rongding Media is the mastermind behind all of this!”

Li Hanyue clenched her fists, tears shining in her eyes. “But... I failed.”

“Their water army was too powerful. I’m insignificant; I wasn’t a match for them. Instead I was cyberbullied and had all kinds of private information dug up. The evidence I had turned into proof that I was slandering them. Lu Xiaoqian ghosted me, and the only person who knew about what happened was Xiong Qi, but he... hehe, I was so stupid. They were in cahoots from the start. How could he possibly stand up to verify things for me...”

At that point Li Hanyue covered her face and sobbed in pain.