After Divorcing the Scummy Alpha Movie Queen, I Became Extremely Popular - Chapter 9

What I Want is a Mutual Lifetime Mark

Tan Jizhu watched Luo Jingyun muttering to herself and asked, bewildered, “What are you talking about?”

“Tan Jizhu, do you really think I had Sun Kexin fired from the crew just because I was jealous?”

“Isn’t that the case?” Tan Jizhu countered. “Have you forgotten the things you’ve done before?”

“Yes, I admit I’m possessive and I get jealous, but I have never caused trouble for others solely for that reason!”

Tan Jizhu looked as if she had heard something hilarious. “The things you’ve done… are they few? If I hadn’t insisted, you would have fired Sister Zhu Li and Sister Deng Mei long ago!”

“I just felt the two of them weren’t that professional! I wanted to replace them with a more experienced manager and assistant for you! I was doing it for the sake of your career!”

“So what if they aren’t ‘professional’? The two of them have fought alongside me since I entered the entertainment industry. Do you think a simple word like ‘unprofessional’ can just swap them out? They are the people who understand me best!”

Luo Jingyun argued in her own defense, “You said not to change them, and I didn’t force you to change them later, did I?”

Tan Jizhu dismissed this as a mere excuse. “Wasn’t that only because both of them are Betas, and they’re married? You only allowed them to stay by my side because you felt they weren’t a threat anymore.”

Luo Jingyun let out a laugh. “Please, even if those two were Omegas, I wouldn’t do anything to them.”

Tan Jizhu didn’t want to hear any more of this. “The events have already happened; don’t make these meaningless hypotheses.”

“I still have confidence in myself.” Luo Jingyun lightly stroked the hair at the side of her neck and said, “If I were truly so petty to that extent, would I have to be jealous of every Omega in the world?”

“…” Tan Jizhu didn’t know what to say, because Luo Jingyun indeed had the capital to speak such words. She thought back carefully; in their past experiences, Luo Jingyun had indeed been jealous when others got a bit too close to her, but aside from Sun Kexin, she had never actually fired anyone else.

Tan Jizhu asked, “Then wasn’t firing Sun Kexin because you were jealous?”

Luo Jingyun pulled out the evidence she had gathered and handed the phone to Tan Jizhu. “See for yourself.”

Taking the phone, Tan Jizhu quickly scanned the content and looked up in shock. “This? Is this real?”

Luo Jingyun crossed her arms. “Sun Kexin’s family was investigated by the police for embezzling public funds. The reason she looked familiar to me the first time I saw her was because I had seen her and her family at a banquet before. I commissioned Mother Xian to help me investigate; the case has already been decided, and the judgment can be found online. Although Sun Kexin didn’t commit a crime herself, as a beneficiary of the crime, appearing on the big screen is truly excessive. I had the crew fire her to prevent trouble before it happened. Once this kind of thing is exposed, any work she appears in will definitely be boycotted. Do you really want the past few months of your hard work to go down the drain?”

“I…” Tan Jizhu realized her mistake and lowered her head to apologize. “I’m sorry, I misunderstood you.”

This apology came a bit late for Luo Jingyun. Because of such a misunderstanding, she had been robbed of the chance to spend their third wedding anniversary properly.

Luo Jingyun felt a dull ache in her heart, as if hundreds of needles were constantly pricking it.

“Tan Jizhu, since you knew about this on the day it happened, why didn’t you come to confront me?”

“I… I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

In truth, Tan Jizhu had been afraid that Luo Jingyun would escalate her grudge against Sun Kexin because of her, but she couldn’t say that, or it would cause an even greater misunderstanding.

Luo Jingyun guessed the truth from Tan Jizhu’s expression. “Were you afraid I would drive Sun Kexin to a dead end?”

“…”

“Tan Jizhu, am I really such an unreasonable and troublesome person in your heart?” Luo Jingyun pushed Tan Jizhu’s shoulder, questioning her: “Would you rather ignore your partner of three years for the sake of a colleague you haven’t known for long?”

“I’m sorry, this is all my fault,” Tan Jizhu said. “I messed up the third anniversary, I’m truly sorry. If you don’t mind, I’m willing to give you compensation. I’m sorry.”

The successive apologies did not make Luo Jingyun’s anger dissipate. She snapped, “Tan Jizhu, can’t you say anything else besides ‘I’m sorry’?”

Tan Jizhu simply repeated, “I’m sorry.”

“Fine, stop saying ‘I’m sorry.’ I don’t want to hear it.”

After saying this, Luo Jingyun did exactly what Tan Jizhu had done that day—she left the other person behind, returned to the guest bedroom she didn’t usually stay in, and slammed the door hard.

This was the first time Tan Jizhu had seen such a cold expression on Luo Jingyun’s face. In front of her, Luo Jingyun was always smiling, acting spoiled from time to time, stomping her feet when unhappy, or huffing with her hands on her hips like a little teapot.

What should she do?

She had always been the one being coaxed; now that their roles were reversed, Tan Jizhu actually didn’t know what to do.

Should she wait for Luo Jingyun to cool down on her own?

No, that would be too much of a jerk move.

Then continue apologizing? But Luo Jingyun wouldn’t let her say “I’m sorry” anymore. She wasn’t the type of person who knew how to act cute either; she couldn’t exactly grab Luo Jingyun’s arm and swing it back and forth.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Inside the guest bedroom, Luo Jingyun collapsed directly onto the bed. She didn’t know how to describe her feelings. Over these few years, she felt she had been good enough to Tan Jizhu, prioritizing the other woman in everything, and doing her best to change whenever Tan Jizhu pointed out something wrong.

Tan Jizhu didn’t like her using connections, so she only made introductions and never interfered further. She investigated Tan Jizhu’s partners in advance, which indeed involved a desire to weed out love rivals, but more than that, she wanted to keep watch for Tan Jizhu and isolate risky artists ahead of time.

It turned out that all she had done was seen by Tan Jizhu as nothing more than petty jealousy.

A long-absent flame of rage surged up. Luo Jingyun thought to herself: this time, if Tan Jizhu didn’t come to find her voluntarily, she wouldn’t be the first to bow her head like she used to.

Having made her decision, Luo Jingyun lay listlessly on the bed. However, after tossing and turning for a long time, she couldn’t fall asleep. Her hands reflexively felt around her, but she couldn’t find her phone.

Damn it, she had given the phone to Tan Jizhu and forgotten to take it back. Luo Jingyun scanned the room; she didn’t stay here often, and it was only cleaned on a schedule, so there was nothing here she could use to kill time.

So annoying! The first thing she would do after getting her phone back was buy a chain and hang the phone around her neck from now on!

Staring boredly at the ceiling, Luo Jingyun didn’t know how much time had passed. Just as she was about to drift off, a sudden knock came at the door.

“Jingyun, can I come in?”

It was Tan Jizhu!

Hearing the other’s voice, Luo Jingyun sat up with a start. However, remembering the resolution she had just made to give Tan Jizhu a lesson, she lay back down.

“I’m coming in.”

Tan Jizhu spoke to herself outside the door. Luo Jingyun hurriedly pulled up the covers and closed her eyes, feigning an air of indifference as if she were already asleep.

Tan Jizhu’s footsteps were absorbed by the carpet. Luo Jingyun listened for a long time but couldn’t tell if the other person had actually entered. Just as she was hesitating whether or not to open her eyes, Tan Jizhu spoke again.

“Jingyun.”

Yep, she’s in. Don’t react. Pretend to be asleep.

“Jingyun,”

The mattress beside her dipped slightly; Tan Jizhu seemed to be sitting on the edge of the bed watching her. Should she roll over? Would that seem too deliberate? Forget it, forget it—just stay still and see what happens.

“Jingyun, I know you’re not asleep.” Tan Jizhu reached out and brushed the hair covering Luo Jingyun’s face behind her ear.

“!” How did she know?

“The frequency of your eyelashes fluttering is wrong. It’s too frequent. A person who is truly asleep wouldn’t be like this.”

My god, could Tan Jizhu hear her inner thoughts?

“Jingyun, I know you’re still angry with me. If you don’t want to see me, then I’ll just talk to you like this.”

What? Just saying it directly like that?

Tan Jizhu spoke as if to herself, “I’m sorry, Jingyun. It was my mistake. I shouldn’t have instinctively assumed you had Sun Kexin fired because you were jealous, and I shouldn’t have lost my temper on our third anniversary without saying anything. I left early from Auntie’s house today; it was my lack of manners. However, Senior Shi Dong and I really were just talking about work, and the photos were snuck by paparazzi at the airport. Of course, I know it’s late to say these things now. Whatever compensation you want, I can give it to you.”

Perhaps because Tan Jizhu’s delivery as a professional actress was so solid, Luo Jingyun felt the offer sounded very tempting, and it met her previous condition that Tan Jizhu must bow to her before she would forgive her. This was the first time Tan Jizhu had taken the initiative to coax her.

Luo Jingyun didn’t want to miss this rare opportunity. She continued to keep her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, wanting to see if Tan Jizhu would offer any additional compensation.

“Alright, I know you don’t really want to talk to me yet. Go to sleep then. I’ll head out first. Let me know whenever you’ve thought of it.”

Once Tan Jizhu finished speaking, Luo Jingyun felt the dip in the mattress disappear. After a few seconds, the bedroom door opened and was closed.

? Tan Jizhu just left like that? This was different from Luo Jingyun’s plan. She didn’t react for a moment.

Was she supposed to tell Tan Jizhu later what compensation she wanted? Saying it would prove she was indeed faking sleep. But not saying it felt like such a loss!

Oh no, she overplayed her hand!

Luo Jingyun was a bit annoyed at her own affectation, having wasted such a good opportunity for nothing.

“Ugh, so annoying!” Luo Jingyun threw off the covers and sat up. “So annoying… ah…”

Luo Jingyun’s words caught in her throat. She looked up and saw Tan Jizhu standing by the door like a straight stalk of bamboo.

“…” Luo Jingyun coughed awkwardly. “Jizhu, didn’t you leave…”

A smile blossomed at the corners of Tan Jizhu’s mouth as she asked, “Weren’t you sleeping?”

“…” Luo Jingyun lied. “I… I just woke up.”

“It’s good that you’re awake.” Tan Jizhu said considerately, “Since you were sleeping just now, you might not have heard what I said. But it’s okay, I’ll say it one more time.”

“Regarding what happened before, I was wrong. I misunderstood you, I’m sorry. Jingyun, I hope you can give me a chance to make amends. I will agree to whatever conditions you propose. Of course, since this is ultimately a matter between the two of us, I still hope you can help clarify the scandal between me and my Senior today. The Houtu Awards are coming up soon, and I want to win fair and square.”

Wait, there wasn’t a request for clarification just now.

Luo Jingyun was a bit unhappy. “After all that, your ultimate goal is still being afraid that Chen Shidong will be misunderstood.”

“It’s not that. You said before that I never show off our affection. We can use this opportunity to let the public know we are still together. Think of it as me making up for the regret of our anniversary.”

Luo Jingyun calculated. If they clarified, it wouldn’t just be an explanation for Chen Shidong and Tan Jizhu; it would also prove that she and Tan Jizhu were still together. It would let the netizens who didn’t know the truth know they were still legal partners and hadn’t divorced over property division issues. It was a win-win. Luo Jingyun decided to stop while she was ahead.

“Fine. Since you’ve apologized to me so sincerely, I’ll forgive you.”

Tan Jizhu walked quickly to the bedside and asked, “Then what compensation do you want?”

After a moment of hesitation, Luo Jingyun said, “I want… a lifetime mark.”

Tan Jizhu said, “Didn’t we agree that if I won the Houtu Award, we would do a lifetime mark?”

“What I want is a mutual lifetime mark.” Luo Jingyun continued to add to her demands. “Furthermore, you just mentioned the condition of having me help clarify things, so I don’t want any more restrictions on this.”

Tan Jizhu pressed, “Jingyun, do you not want restrictions, or do you think I won’t win?”

Luo Jingyun was silent for a moment. “I think you have the strength to win the award, but the competition this year is very fierce. Your opponents include Chen Shidong, who won last year. I can’t guarantee 100% that you’ll get it. Jizhu, even you can’t guarantee that 100%, can you?”

As for whose arms the award would eventually fall into, Tan Jizhu indeed did not know.

The room fell silent for a while. Luo Jingyun leaned forward and hugged Tan Jizhu’s shoulders. “Jizhu, a mutual lifetime mark is a very big deal. I hope we can decide it for ourselves.”

Tan Jizhu hugged Luo Jingyun back and said softly, “Okay. After the Houtu Awards end, regardless of whether I win the Best Actress award or not, we will perform a mutual lifetime mark.”