Chapter Sixty-Five: Injured Year After Year by Accident

When the live broadcast ended that day, even though Su Wan-ning had not yet decided on all the featured products, her sales still ranked first among the four families.

Yin Shanshan was alone in a room with her agent, a heavy air hanging between them. Spread out on the table were the day’s streaming figures, and Yin Shanshan’s voice burned with fury.

“What’s going on here? Sales are dropping day by day, even the viewership in my stream is falling—what are you all doing? Where’s the operations team?”

Her agent lowered her head slightly. “Shanshan, please don’t worry. We’ve been selling the same cosmetics all along, but lately fans seem more interested in skincare products. Maybe tomorrow we could—”

“What, you think I should stoop to selling those off-brand products like Su Wan-ning? Didn’t you see how Yu Xin and Feng Rui tried to copy her today, and ended up being torn apart in the comments?”

Ever since Su Wan-ning had made a veiled jab at Yu Xin for copying her product selection during a live stream, many fans picked up on it and flocked to Yu Xin’s and Feng Rui’s streams to make sarcastic remarks.

“Shanshan, maybe we need a different approach. I noticed Su Wan-ning’s stream is filled with affordable skincare aimed at broke college students. Why don’t we go the high-end, luxury route? I have connections with a couple of brands—”

Meanwhile, in another room, the director’s team was reviewing the day’s sales data. Chen Rui couldn’t hide the grin tugging at his lips as he stared at the numbers on the screen.

“Director Wang, this Su Wan-ning is really something. I thought selling those products would get her nowhere, but she’s topped not only today’s sales but also the live commerce leaderboard!”

But Wang Zan couldn’t share in his excitement; he merely waved the contract he’d privately signed with Su Wan-ning.

“Don’t celebrate too soon. Take a look at the commission rate she’s giving us.”

Curious, Chen Rui leaned over. When he saw the figure written in black and white on the contract, his eyes widened and his voice rose in disbelief.

“What? Five percent? That’s outrageous! Director, we can’t sign this!”

Wang Zan gave a bitter smile. “I already did.”

He’d had no choice; Su Wan-ning had threatened to terminate her contract that day. If they didn’t accept her terms, she would simply leave the show. Given her streaming skills and fanbase, she could easily continue her success elsewhere.

But for the show, things were different. Aside from Yin Shanshan, Yu Xin hadn’t performed as well as expected, and Feng Rui was becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Without Su Wan-ning, the show probably wouldn’t survive much longer.

“But this is too much. None of the other guests have such a low commission rate. Even Yin Shanshan gives us ten percent—what makes Su Wan-ning so special?”

Chen Rui frowned, his words dismissing Su Wan-ning as if she were worthless.

A timid intern responsible for tallying the numbers spoke up. “But, Director, even with the lowest commission, Su Wan-ning still brought in the most profit for us today.”

Chen Rui stared in disbelief.

Wang Zan kept smiling bitterly. “You hear that? That’s what bargaining power and ability look like.”

The next morning, everyone received a piece of news: Su Wan-ning had landed an endorsement deal with the Ming Shang brand.

Ming Shang’s official announcement hit the trending topics, stirring up the most anger in the brand’s previous spokesperson, Yin Shanshan.

“What’s going on? Didn’t you say you were still negotiating for the next product line’s endorsement with them? How did it suddenly go to Su Wan-ning?”

The agent looked helpless. “I just confirmed with their rep. Their boss was suddenly impressed by Su Wan-ning’s sales ability and signed her directly for a premium fee. We didn’t get a word of warning, so—”

“Enough!” Yin Shanshan’s brow furrowed tightly, her freshly done makeup twisting her features into a grimace.

At that moment, someone knocked at the door. “Shanshan, the director wants to see you.”

...

That morning, all four families were led by the director to an expanse of artificial sand.

“They’re building a new chicken farm here. The sand piled up over there is for construction, donated by our sponsors, so today we’ll use it for games.”

The director explained the rules: each family would draw lots to choose one of four different tools. Then, starting from the top of the sand slope, they would slide down using their chosen tool. The first to reach the finish line would win a dish for lunch.

Feng Rui drew first and excitedly chose the largest basin for Mingming to sit in.

Next, Yin Shanshan picked a large board, Su Wan-ning chose a tire, and Yu Xin ended up with a yoga mat.

“One more reminder: the sand pile is quite high. The crew has taken safety precautions, but please, everyone, be careful.”

Each family’s tool was big enough for both mother and child, but Su Wan-ning had only two tires. She had no choice but to let her two children go first.

“Ready—”

Yin Shanshan crouched down, glancing sideways at Su Wan-ning, who was gripping the two tires tightly. A thought crossed her mind.

“Go!”

At the director’s signal, all the mothers let go, helping push their children for a quick start. Yin Shanshan subtly shifted her board’s direction. Mingming, being tall, accidentally kicked Nian-nian’s tire as he lost control of his feet.

Yin Shanshan quickly corrected her board’s direction. Nian-nian, the youngest and smallest, was already anxious. After being kicked, she lost her balance completely and tumbled out of the tire, rolling down the sandy slope.

“Nian-nian!”

Su Wan-ning screamed, but it was too late—Nian-nian rolled straight down the hill. Thankfully, Sui-sui, quick on her feet, held onto the tire, preventing it from hitting her sister.

The scene descended into chaos as everyone rushed over. Nian-nian burst into tears.

Su Wan-ning ignored everything else, racing down the sand to her daughter.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to kick her...”

“Enough.”

Wang Yazhou and Yin Shanshan’s voices cut through the noise, but Su Wan-ning paid them no mind, immediately checking Nian-nian for injuries.

The frightened child was taken to the town hospital. Su Wan-ning, with Sui-sui by her side, watched the replay of the livestream on her phone, but couldn’t find any evidence that Yangyang had kicked Nian-nian.

Her hand trembled as Qin Jingchen called.

Su Wan-ning sighed and answered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t take good enough care of the children.”