Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil
chapter-86

The judges eliminated the lowest scoring player. The usually ranked first or second Emily fell to fifth place, and Hayden was ranked second to last and almost had to pack his bags. When he and the lowest scoring player stood in front of Bonnie awaiting their sentence, he almost fainted on the spot.

He never thought he would be in such an embarrassing position.

When he returned to the villa, he went out of control, he turned over the fridge for all the beers and started a binge drink. The contestants saw that he was in a bad mood and unanimously distanced themselves from his anger.

Zhou Yun Sheng went back to his room and took a bath, then he stayed by the second floor staircase handrail, overlooking the living room. He was now playing a Romeo that ‘desperately loved’ Hayden, he couldn’t abandon him in disregard like the others, whatever the outcome, he had to try and comfort him.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t you see everyone beat it in the opposite direction? You know already, Hayden has very thin skin, he may try to hurt you.” Ivana tried to pull him away by his arm.

Zhou Yun Sheng sincerely thanked Ivana in his heart, but he showed a struggling expression, “B-but he’s so pitiful now, he can’t find his way. I have to help him. If I’m sarcastic again, maybe he’ll perk up.”

“Yeah, right ah, he’ll perk up with a roundhouse kick to your throat! Don’t you see even Emily is making herself scarce? That girl has more sense than you, you blockhead!” Ivana poked his forehead.

Zhou Yun Sheng hesitated, then he heard a shockingly loud noise come from the living room. They quickly looked down and saw that Hayden had angrily thrown his beer can at Romeo’s TOP1 picture, shattering the frame’s glass, then he shaped his hand into a finger gun and made a shooting motion at Romeo’s poster.

The frame’s outer light was cracked, the light bulb blinked a few times, then completely shut off.

Zhou Yun Sheng exposed a timely shocked and depressed expression, his blue eyes filled with tears, his pale face nearing transparency. He couldn’t believe that Hayden would treat his picture like this, if he himself stood in front of him, wouldn’t he be killed?

Ivana also reached this conclusion, she quickly dragged the ‘scared’ little boy into her arms and patted him in comfort, “Don’t be sad, don’t be afraid, he wouldn’t dare hurt you. He’s a poser bastard that can only use your picture to vent his anger. He just wants to blame you for his own mistakes. He’s a fucking coward! Fuck, how can you fall in love with such an asshole! How the hell is he worth it? That helpful hand was just a polite charade. You blockhead, wake up already!”

Ivana’s hug tightened as she got more frustrated, then she finally just grabbed the boy’s shoulder and shook him.

Zhou Yun Sheng pushed her away and ran back to his room to hide under his blanket, presumably crying his heart out. John fought against his desire to lift up the quilt and comfort him for a long time, but he had to uphold the principle of authentic recording, so even though he wanted to help, he couldn’t.

Zhou Yun Sheng? Crying his heart out? Don’t joke around.

He was so pleased from seeing Hayden follow his predicted path, that he almost fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but he didn’t forget to squeeze out a few drops of crocodile tears.

So, when Ivana opened up his quilt, she saw the scene of a boy who’d ‘desperately cried himself to sleep’, his red eyes and nose looked very pathetic.

“There are so many good men in the world, why must he like Hayden? He could like Mr. Acheson, ah he probably couldn’t land him, but at least Mr. Acheson wouldn’t hurt him.” Ivana rubbed her short fiery red hair, her expression distressed.

Seeing this scene on the monitor, Gustav first smiled and nodded, then fiercely frowned. What do you mean Romeo can’t land Mr. Acheson? How does he know if he doesn’t try? Come on, try and get closer to me Romeo, you will find that my heart already belongs to you!

The crew leader walked in to meet him mumbling at the screen, looking very agitated. Both froze in shock, then Gustav quickly restored his noble and humble appearance and asked, “Was everything handled?”

“Yes, the damaged lights and electrical appliances have been replaced, and the bill has be sent directly to Mr. Brown. Bonnie is currently talking with Hayden to help him learn to control his emotions. Boss, what do you want to do with the footage we shot?”

Hayden’s background was still very tough, and the crew leader was unsure of Mr. Acheson’s attitude towards him.

“Don’t deal with it, play it uncut.” Gustav had already given the Brown family face, he wouldn’t give them a second chance. Even without someone else’s push, Hayden would destroy himself on his own.

The fourth episode broadcasted at prime time the next day, and the ratings had risen 2 percent from the last episode. Romeo’s rapid increase in online votes showed that millions of viewers watched just for him.

The audience couldn’t have imagined that Romeo’s life experience was so tragic. When the other players had sat in front of the camera to talk about their own childhood suffering to win sympathy, he was often the most silent one. Then he hid all his painful past in a few understated words.

This made the older audience members grab a napkin to wipe their tears, then his and Ivana’s ‘if only you were a woman/man’ dialogue made them laugh heartily.

They were totally obsessed with the teenager.

The cat enthusiasts screamed when they saw him imitate the folded-ear cat, they were anxious to kidnap him out from the TV set and pet him, then his photo with the little leopard made them feel a direct shock to their hearts.

The two little beast’s identical panic-stricken eyes shattered the hearts of an unknown amount of audience members.

“Oh no, I can’t bear it, please don’t look at me like that!” This was the common thought of most of the audience. When the teenager’s shots appeared on the big screen, they almost wanted to cover their faces and moan. The young man was fragile but strong; he was pure, sometimes melancholy and sometimes cheerful; he was seemingly oblivious, but often so sensible. He was a complex of contradictions, with unparalleled appeal.

The Wildlife Conservation Association put his photo on their official website that night and raised a large amount of money at a staggering rate. They had thought that reaching 70,000 was good, but they didn’t expect Mr. Acheson to actually donate a million in his own name, which made them ecstatic.

Unlike Romeo’s fanatical pursuit, Ariel and Hayden were shot down by the audience.

Although the program didn’t explain the real reason for Ariel’s departure, there were still many viewers who guessed the truth. Ariel was Valentine Brown’s model, in order to keep her job, she would certainly want to help Hayden fight off opponents. She even wanted to shave Romeo’s soft platinum hair, which made the audience very angry, but Romeo’s ‘human-faced white egg’ self-ridicule made them unable to pick between laughing and crying.

The boy was so naïve that people didn’t know what to do with him.

Valentine Brown’s personal website received tens of thousands of letters of complaint, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, he had to fire Ariel. As the Brown family had huge influence in the fashion circle, Ariel could only swallow her punishment and didn’t dare seek the help of other big companies.

To make things worse, she’d repeatedly asked Romeo to believe in her professional vision on the show, saying that his shaved head would be more fashionable, when the truth was quite the opposite.

Taste was the key to whether or not a person could stand in the fashion circle. If everyone agreed that you have no taste, then sorry, the fashion business would be closed for you. Ariel’s job offers fell sharply, her fashion sense was ridiculed by her peers, and she was grilled by several designers.

They wouldn’t hire a model with such bad taste to show off their clothing, it would lower their brand. Ariel plunged into an unprecedented predicament, she was willing to sell her soul to turn back time, all so she could fiercely refuse Hayden’s unreasonable demands. Hayden ruined her career!

Contrary to Ariel’s circumstances, the designers who watched the show had a very deep impression of Romeo, his unique temperament inspired their creativity. Before the teenager was even famous, he was already the muse of several big name designers.

At the same time, Hayden’s muscle flexing behavior on the bus was ridiculed by the audience, calling him ridiculously arrogant for wanting to fight with Acheson. The picture of the little monkey in pain in his hand made everyone feel disgusted, and when he smashed Romeo’s poster, the audience was first frightened, then they erupted in anger.

“Hayden has violent tendencies, the program team should quickly eliminate him, or he will hurt Romeo!”

“Keep him away from my precious little kitty!”

“Romeo, oh my sweet Romeo, why don’t you love me instead?” [Attached was a photo of a handsome man]

Because of their excessive love for Romeo, the audience felt more and more hatred for Hayden, the sent in complaints were overwhelming the program group. Hayden had a sharp decline in net votes, and was left with only a few thousand votes.

At the moment, Gustav’s desk was lined with several business letters and a lot of complaint letters.

Bonnie fiddled with a letter and bitterly opened, “Egou, Marcel, YSL … … all the world’s most famous fashion brands, and they all want to invite Romeo as their debut model? I’m now the undisputed top female supermodel and I have never been so enthusiastically pursued. Holy crap, even Valentine sent a letter, and I thought he would hate Romeo for Hayden’s sake.”

Hearing this, Gustav was upset, he sneered, “He fancies Kitten, in all kinds of ways.”

Bonnie understood in seconds. Valentine was gay, his marriage with Susan was purely to fool Brown family’s old man, this was an insider secret. Romeo was so charming, how could he not catch Valentine’s attention?

“I think you need some good luck. The person you fancy is now the world’s darling.” Bonnie smiled in schadenfreude.

Gustav gave her a vicious stare, he realized that he needed to act fast, otherwise, his Kitten would be taken away by someone else.

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The program team arranged the contestants’ itinerary very closely. The fourth round was followed by a few days of rest, then the fifth round of competition began. The challenge was to get into a beach air ball, and walk from one end of the swimming pool, smoothly to the other. Note, they not only had to maintain balance, they also had to walk with beautiful poise.

The players heard Eureka’s explanation and shouted out a tragic cry. When that thing hits the water, it rolls around, who can stand up?!

“Go and get a swimsuit, be happy I was kind enough to not make you walk in high heels.” Eureka’s face was serious, but her heart was mirthful. Her mischievousness was not inferior to Jeffrey’s.

Swimsuit? Kitten will wear a swimsuit? God! Gustav’s nose felt itchy, and he quickly raised his head and blocked it with a paper towel. His was filled with images of his fluffy Kitten’s tender body. He even fantasized about the size and color of Kitten’s most intimate parts.

Pink, it must be a lovely pink. His heart was pounding furiously while a hint of blood dripped from his nose.

“Oh my God, Mr. Acheson, you have a nosebleed!” Eureka lowered her voice and exclaimed.

Gustav quickly dodged the camera’s focus, and wiped his nose while waving his hand. “There’s been a lot of troubles in the program group recently, and the complaints are flooding in. I’m a bit anxious.” He gave Eureka a ‘you know’ look.

Acheson has always had a noble and gentle image, vulgar rumors and scandals never came near his name. Eureka completely didn’t suspect that his thoughts were actually in a lewd direction, so she felt deep sympathy for him. The nosebleed quickly stopped and the two chatted for a while, then the contestants finally came out.

Gustav hastily searched out Romeo, then quickly turned around to look elsewhere, his heart pounding 80beats per minute, about to explode. He never imagined that the thin looking Kitten actually had such a hot bod, mermaid line, chest muscle, abdominal muscles, he had everything a male model should have, but his beautiful lines was comparable to a sculpture. His skin was as white and smooth as milk, his hair looked softer than the vast majority of the female contestants’ hair, and he shined under the sun, like flawless Oriental jade.

He wanted to find a luxurious box to add this piece of jade to his collection, but he had to restrain himself.

Ivana crept up to the young man’s side and poked his strong abdominal muscles, her face had an admiring expression. Zhou Yun Sheng also poked her abs back, a woman with abs or a man with abs, which one was more a curiosity?

They were enjoying their playing around, and the cameramen were in an oblivious frenzy to record them, but Gustav’s face was black. If he didn’t know that Ivana was a lesbian, he would’ve wanted to separate the two.

“Start the game.” He motioned to Eureka to get things going.

Eureka gave a simple account of the rules then let the players get into an air ball one by one. In order to restore his reputation, Hayden went up first, but the challenge didn’t go as smoothly as he’d imagined. After just two steps he fell, only to stand up and fall again, in short, as long as he moved a little he would immediately roll around in the ball.

Finally, he could only crawl from one end of the pool to the other, rolling in the air ball in embarrassment. The rest of the players laughed like crazy, they even openly pointed to his crawling butt and mocked him. Anyone could see that Hayden’s popularity among the contestants was falling rapidly.

Emily covered her face, mortified, and Zhou Yun Sheng was staring at the rolling air ball, revealing a ‘worried’ expression.

With Hayden as the precedent, the next players tried to proceed with care, but no one could successfully walk from one end to the other. When Ivana’s turn came, Zhou Yun Sheng grabbed her arm and whispered, “Go fast, step on the same seam every step, it’ll help you keep your balance.”

Ivana nodded and quickly walked according to his instructions, although she staggered a bit halfway, she walked to the end without falling. Zhou Yun Sheng followed next. He didn’t speed, he walked like he was leisurely walking through a garden, he even had on a bright smile. When Ivana finally set foot on the edge of the swimming pool, she looked back at him and went ashore.

They came out of their air balls, and laughed and hugged each other.

“You don’t want to go over and hug them?” Gustav was pissed that the judge with him today was the serious Eureka. If it was Jeffrey, he would’ve rushed to the two and high five and hug them in celebration, then, Gustav could naturally walk in to join them and give his Kitten a celebratory hug, even enjoy touching his milk smooth and delicate skin.

Unfortunately, Eureka completely didn’t understand her boss’ heart, she waved dismissingly, “Nah, serious indifference is my thing.”

Can you break character into a more enthusiastic person today? Gustav wanted to make this suggestion, but he eventually held back. He couldn’t go over and embrace Kitten alone, it would cause a lot of trouble for him.

Emily was very calculating, while the others went into the pool, she stood by to carefully observe and learn from their experience. Seeing Ivana and Romeo’s wonderful performance, she felt the solution closing in on her, and after a little practice, she walked out confidently. She walked so gracefully, full of sophistication, like a Queen waving in a parade to hundreds of millions of admirers. Her thin string bikini almost couldn’t support the fullness of her bouncing chest.

The male contestants stared. They had to admit that Emily was the most attractive female player, and also the candidate most likely popular to win.

“This woman is very good, I expect great things from her.” Eureka pointed to her back and said.

Gustav lightly glanced at her and commented, “She has great potential and she can become a good model. But her body is too sexy, once she shows some skin, onlookers can’t help but feel ‘I’m looking at porn’. She’ll only be used to sell sex. In the high-end market, she’ll have difficulties gaining a firm foothold. Romeo is better for the job.”

Eureka nodded, “You’re right, she has a good temperament, but compared to Romeo, she comes off as vulgar. Romeo is the most pure and ethereal boy I’ve seen in my life. He could wear the most common clothes to the most high- end, no matter how high-end, and can make it work. Of course, now’s too early to make a conclusion. We have to wait and see his next performance.”

Eureka’s generous praise greatly pleased Gustav. Seeing the teenager facing his direction, Gustav couldn’t help but raise his chin and smile at him.

Emily and a few other female players stood close to Zhou Yun Sheng and a misunderstanding started. Red faced, the girls whispered amongst themselves, “Is…Is Mr. Acheson looking at me?”

“No, he’s looking at me.”

“You’re all wrong, he’s watching Emily. Which one of you can say you’re more attractive than Emily?” Emily’s friend (minion) Daphne retorted.

Emily slapped Daphne’s back, her face showing a shy expression. She had no doubt that Mr. Acheson would be interested in herself. When she started developing at the age of 12, she realized that she was a stunner and could easily attract any man around her.

After all the contestants were finished, Eureka pointed at Ivana, Zhou Yun Sheng, and Emily pausing between each point, hanging the audience’s appetite, then she announced, “Today’s champion is Romeo. His speed, gait, and expression was impeccable. He walked on the water as if he was walking on a towering runway. Ivana and Emily, you guys did a good job, but you were obviously afraid and anxious of falling, so I have to deduct a point.”

Ivana hugged the boy and squealed, the other players also sent their sincere or false congratulations, only Emily and Hayden’s expressions were very ugly. But Emily’s lasted for only a moment before she put on a neutral expression, while Hayden didn’t even bother to cover it up.

On the way back, Hayden unsurprisingly spent the whole ride complaining about Zhou Yun Sheng, trying his best to humiliate him. Zhou Yun Sheng endured until his eyes reddened, but this time, he wasn’t pretending to be sad, he was feeling real anger. He really wanted to string Hayden up by his toes.

He buried his face in Ivana’s arms and exposed a gloomy expression. It seemed it was time to kick Hayden out.

Emily secretly prayed that the two would start a fight, so they could both violate the show’s rules and be eliminated. With Romeo removed as her rival, her supermodel path would go more smoothly. Yes, she’d finally realized that Romeo was a threat.

But unfortunately, Romeo retreated. Not to mention using his hands, he didn’t even let out a word to refute, this made Emily feel very disappointed.

Back at the villa, the TV screen showed the players’ challenge scores. Romeo was ten, Ivana had nine points and Emily had nine points. These three top players from the last episode looked like they could easily one up each other, but overall, Romeo was a dark horse that was mostly likely to replace Emily as the potential winner. Emily’s proud appearance couldn’t match up to Romeo’s pure and ethereal appearance.

That night, Zhou Yun Sheng was still the first to hit the pillow and sleep, while the other players had sleepless nights.

The next day, the players got up and discovered a card on the TV, it said – It takes courage to work with the big leagues.

The best guess was that the program group had invited a current hot supermodel in the business to participate in today’s photo shoot. Who would it be? Man or woman? With this expectation in mind, the players went into the studio and saw Bonnie and Gustav Acheson standing side by side.

They instantly understood the supermodel they would cooperate with today, both men and women raised their hands and cheered.

Bonnie smiled appreciatively, “Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like you’ve guessed it. Yes, today your partner is me and Mr. Acheson. Not only will you be free to choose which one of us you’ll collaborate with, but you’ll also pick the fashion you and your partner will wear and the set. You have to be careful though. Whether your photos are good or bad depends entirely on your personal taste. As a model, taste and vision is the key factor that decides how far you can walk in the fashion circle.” Bonnie and Ariel didn’t get along, so these words were undoubtedly a dark jab at Ariel’s misfortune.

Gustav’s smile stiffened at her words, he glanced at her then nodded to the players. Don’t judge him by his graceful and relaxed posture, in reality, the palm of his hand was damp with sweat. Because of Bonnie’s no-go, he wasn’t allowed to arrange a mandatory partner for the players, so he couldn’t guarantee that Kitten would pick him.

Kitten likes men, he shouldn’t refuse me. But he said I was too far away from him, so to prevent himself from being tempted or to not make anyone suspicious, he is very likely to choose Bonnie. God, please make him choose me! Gustav prayed in his heart while giving the players his most charming smile.

The female players suddenly flushed in extreme excitement.

Ivana was not interested in men, she was already eyeing Bonnie, but she pulled Zhou Yun Sheng to the side and turned his head to look up at the handsome Mr. Acheson. Zhou Yun Sheng glanced at him, then very ‘dedicatedly’ gazed at Hayden.

This made Gustav regret his greed, he was anxious to immediately refund the Brown’s family sponsorship then ruthlessly eliminate Hayden.

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T/N:

Mermaid line- This has been in almost every chapter, but it might not be a familiar term. It’s another name for V-line.

If I look at her in a different light, Emily’s the type of shoujo heroine I would read about. Tough, sassy, confident and not a goody two shoes. Unfortunately, she’s also the perfect shoujo bully.