Shadow and Light: The Bride Who Clicks Her Way to Love-Chapter 398 - 411: The Bar, Revealing the True Face

Xia Ling’s performance in front of the camera was also very natural. For her, most scenes were shot in one take. Her looks and temperament were excellent, resembling an enchanting fairy in front of the lens, so beautiful that one could forget to breathe. Su Xingyu was mesmerized, not even realizing the passage of time.

Two hours later, Xia Ling’s team wrapped up, but for Su Xingyu, it felt as though only a moment had passed.

Xia Ling changed out of the brocade trench coat she wore for the shoot—this year’s most fashionable style, luxurious to the extreme, perfectly matching her flamboyant personality.

She walked up to Su Xingyu, extended her slim, fair hand to hold Su Xingyu’s hand, and smiled, "You’ve been waiting long, haven’t you? We’re done! Come on, come on, let’s go have a drink at Ah Kun’s bar!"

Su Xingyu stood up with a smile and really got into the car with her, driving all the way to a bustling section of the city.

They arrived in front of a towering skyscraper.

Xia Ling directly pressed the elevator for the top floor, taking Su Xingyu inside.

The top floor was a bar, which Su Xingyu had heard of before, the famed "Moonlight," one of the most high-end bars in the city.

"Isn’t it beautiful here," Xia Ling said as she ordered two drinks from the bartender and sat with her by the revolving glass window, from which you could overlook the city’s night scene, the twinkling lights sprawling like the gleam of the ocean, boundless and intoxicating. "This place," Xia Ling took a sip of her drink, gesturing with her hand, "is Ah Kun’s establishment—Feng Kun, my music producer, who’s really amazing. His taste is impeccable; everything from the décor to the drinks in this bar is top-tier. Xingyu, two years ago when the bar opened, I wanted to bring you here, but unfortunately..."

Her voice trailed off at this point.

Su Xingyu knew what she regretted, and gently clinked her glass with hers, "It’s a pity back then you thought I had burned to death in that big fire, right?"

Xia Ling nodded and then lifted her sparkling eyes to glare at her: "How dare you say that! Why haven’t you contacted me all this time? What’s really going on?"

Su Xingyu lowered her gaze, gently swirling the glass in her hand, and after a long pause, sighed.

"I..." In the soft background music of the bar, she spoke quietly, "I didn’t want to be found by Lu Shifeng."

"Didn’t want to be found by Lu Shifeng?" Xia Ling quickly understood, "Your man really is a lunatic, a psychopath!"

Those adjectives were ones Xia Ling had used to scold Lu Shifeng years ago, and they were indeed quite fitting.

Su Xingyu smiled wryly, picked up her glass to drink, and the delicate rim of the glass gently touched her mask. She suddenly realized she hadn’t taken it off yet.

Xia Ling also noticed, subtly lifting her chin to point at her mask, "Why have you been wearing that?"

Su Xingyu glanced at her; that stunning face was as beautiful as a fairy, with exquisite features, dainty lips and nose, crafted so perfectly that even the creator would be envious. But her own appearance was worlds apart from Xia Ling now, as if they belonged to entirely different realms.

"Xiaoling..."

"Xingyu, what’s wrong?" Xia Ling’s voice was filled with concern.

Su Xingyu looked into her clear eyes for a long time, gently sighing and making up her mind.

"Four years ago, it was Zhuang Heng who started the fire. She used a lighter to disfigure me," Su Xingyu said.

Xia Ling was her close friend. If there was anyone in this world she could confidently reveal her wounds to, it would be Xia Ling.

She wasn’t worried Xia Ling would be disgusted or mock her; that girl was so pure-minded.

What she was worried about was something else—would Xiaoling be frightened if she revealed her masked face?

From across the table, she looked at that girl, beautiful as a fairy.

The girl was staring at her in disbelief, exclaiming, "What?! You’ve been disfigured?! Oh my god, Xingyu..." Her voice trembled and trailed off into the air, standing up in agitation, knocking over the cocktail glasses on the table. Her hands trembled as well, reaching out as if wanting to remove Su Xingyu’s mask, but hesitated and stopped, "You..."

"I’m fine; I’ve gotten used to it over the years." Seeing Xia Ling’s cautious demeanor, Su Xingyu spoke to reassure her.

But Xia Ling wanted to cry, "You’re in so much pain, yet you’re comforting me!"

"Okay, okay, I won’t comfort you. I’m really used to it." Su Xingyu said helplessly, with a bitter smile, as she placed her fingers on the edge of her mask, her eyes earnestly looking at Xia Ling, "Xiaoling, I want to drink with you, so I will take off the mask. But my face beneath the mask is really scary, think it through if you really want to see it. If you don’t want to, I won’t drink, I can just chat with you instead."

"I... want to see it!" Xia Ling said through gritted teeth.

Not only did Su Xingyu want to drink with her, but she also wanted to drink with Su Xingyu. They were good friends, and no matter what, they should face everything together. It wouldn’t make sense for her to mind a friend’s face being damaged.

Su Xingyu knew she would answer like this. In this life, she might have misjudged many people, but she was grateful that she never misjudged Xia Ling.

She slowly took off her mask, revealing the ugly scars on half of her face to Xia Ling.

Pain flashed across Xia Ling’s eyes, followed by anger: "Your face was ruined by that awful woman in such a terrifying way?! Xingyu, just wait, I’ll make sure she ends up the same way!"

Saying that, she turned to rush towards the door.

"Xiaoling!" Su Xingyu quickly grabbed her.

"Don’t stop me!" Xia Ling was emotionally charged, struggling to shake off her hand, "Your face is completely destroyed because of her! How could she do this, be so excessive! I must help you burn her back!"

"Xiaoling!" Su Xingyu’s heart was racing with fear, somewhat regretting revealing the scar to Xia Ling, not expecting such a strong reaction. She held on to her tightly with all her might, saying, "Listen to me! Going after her will only dirty your hands! It’s not worth it for someone like that! I hate her too, I want revenge too, but I have more important things to do! Xiaoling don’t be impulsive, if you really want to help me, don’t go now!"

"She’s simply a demon!" Xia Ling still wanted to push forward, but her strength diminished.

Su Xingyu realized she had been persuaded, swiftly holding her more securely, patting her gently on her slender back, "I know, I know..."

Gradually, Xia Ling stopped struggling in her embrace, instead holding her back, starting to cry softly, "Xingyu, Xingyu... how did it come to this..."