After Reuniting with My Aloof Movie Queen Childhood Friend - Chapter 12

At night, the roadside neon lights flickered through layers of grease, struggling to stay lit.

On the street, a local drunk was throwing a fit, smashing a bottle against the exterior wall of a building as a shouting match erupted nearby.

Ji Youyi was placed into the passenger seat. She watched with a hazy gaze as Meng Xingshu, eyes downcast, fastened her seatbelt.

Meng Xingshu exuded a calm stillness and a faint, elegant fragrance. She seemed utterly out of place in this environment and equally incongruous with the alcohol soaked Ji Youyi. The contrast left Ji Youyi feeling momentarily dazed.

Perhaps because the surroundings had quieted down, her nausea felt slightly more manageable.

She took the initiative to roll the window down to the lowest setting and apologized, “I’m sorry, Sister Meng. I smell terrible. I’ve gotten you dirty.”

The stench of private dining rooms, smog, grease, and cheap booze, clung to her. Ji Youyi even disgusted herself.

Meng Xingshu, busy driving, didn’t answer. She merely spared Ji Youyi a glance before raising the window.

“Don’t close it!” Ji Youyi panicked and lowered it again.

The car was moving fast. The cold wind slapped her face like a stinging palm. She winced, squeezing words through the gaps in her teeth: “Let it blow… need to… clear the smell.”

Meng Xingshu’s voice was devoid of emotion: “I’m afraid the wind will blow away what’s left of your wits, and you’ll vomit in my car.”

Fair enough.

Ji Youyi allowed Meng Xingshu to raise the window until only a tiny crack remained, deciding not to push her luck.

In Ji Youyi’s own self-perception, she possessed an “invincibly likable” persona. She loved to smile and knew how to act cute. No matter where she went, from middle-aged aunties to toddlers and even stray dogs, there wasn’t a soul she couldn’t win over in a single move.

But Meng Xingshu was the exception.

This woman was difficult. She always wore a cold expression, told Ji Youyi her smile looked fake, and rarely took the bait in conversation.

It would be easier if Ji Youyi could just dislike her, but Meng Xingshu was stubbornly beautiful, had a lovely voice, smelled wonderful… and her embrace was as warm and soft as her overcoat.

Ji Youyi had never met someone like this. If social interaction was a series of solvable equations, Meng Xingshu was the hardest problem she had ever encountered, one she had been staring at for ages without finding the solution.

As the wind whistled through the crack, Ji Youyi leaned her head against the glass, watching her bangs flutter like wind chimes.

After a moment of silence, she heard the woman beside her speak.

“Did something happen? Why were you drinking so much alone?”

“Nothing happened. Just drinking with a location owner,” Ji Youyi replied. She was low on energy, but as soon as work was mentioned, she perked up and briefly explained the situation.

“Then why were you alone? Where was the rest of the crew? The producer?”

“I’m the producer too.”

Meng Xingshu paused. “The assistant director?”

“Don’t have one.”

“Assistant?”

“Can’t afford one.”

The answers came out too fast. The moment the words left her mouth, Ji Youyi regretted it.

She was trying to trick Sister Meng into joining the cast; showing off the production’s poverty was a tactical error.

She scrambled to damage control: “Sister Meng, our crew values a ‘lean’ structure, you know? We don’t have those cluttered positions. We put the money where it counts on the screen, to make the drama better. Since you’re driving and I don’t want to waste your time, let me tell you about the character…”

At a red light, the car stopped. Meng Xingshu turned to look at her, interrupting: “Today is the fifth day.”

Ji Youyi was baffled. “Fifth day of what?”

Meng Xingshu’s gaze was deep and dark. “You had your stomach pumped four days ago. You ate barbecue two days ago. Today, when they asked you to go to a social dinner, did it ever occur to you that your body wasn’t up for it? Why did you force it?”

Force it? Me?

With the alcohol fueling her emotions, Ji Youyi snapped instantly. “I’m the director! Planning for the crew is my job. Besides, there’s no one else. My screenwriter just graduated, and my lead actress just turned eighteen, neither of them can string a sentence together in front of strangers. If I don’t go, who will?”

Ji Youyi hated being told she couldn’t do something.

Years ago, she was the type of person who could break a leg in the morning, get a cast at noon, and be back on set by the afternoon. Everyone praised her for being tough.

It was just a few drinks. What was the big deal?

“Then did you tell anyone before you went?” Meng Xingshu asked. “The time, the location, the people involved? What time you’d likely finish, or if someone was coming to pick you up? You go alone, and what if you pass out? What if something happens? Your ‘little screenwriter’ and ‘little lead actress’ might not know how to talk, but have they not learned how to pick up a person?”

This woman… she’s actually being sarcastic with me!

Dizzy, Ji Youyi closed her eyes and tried to defend herself: “It was after their work hours. I didn’t want to bother them. Filming all day is exhausting.”

The person beside her let out a very faint sigh. “…At the very least, find a reliable friend.”

Ji Youyi mumbled, “I’ve only been here a short while. I don’t have any friends.”

“What about Fang Ruohan?” Meng Xingshu’s face was expressionless. “Didn’t she tell you she’s been in D City these past few days?”

You call her ‘baby’ constantly, go for barbecue when your stomach hasn’t healed, post nine photos grid together, and like each other’s social media posts every day, yet you forget her at a time like this.

Ji Youyi’s consciousness was fading, but she didn’t forget to grumble one last point: “I know my limits… I can get home safely by myself.”

“And right now?”

“Right now… because you’re here…”

Curled into the seat, Ji Youyi’s voice trailed off as she fell asleep.

She tucked her chin into the collar of the coat. The upper half of her face, visible above the fabric, was pale and exhausted. Her brow remained furrowed in a lingering expression of discomfort.

Meng Xingshu watched her, remembering the first moment she saw Ji Youyi at the restaurant.

There had been bright red blood at the corner of her mouth, trickling down to her chin. Her face was as white as paper, her whole body swaying like a thin sheet of parchment that could tear at any moment.

It had caused a momentary, sharp panic.

Now that the panic had subsided, a lingering fear crept up, settling in Meng Xingshu’s chest as a ball of frustration.

It had been a long time since Meng Xingshu experienced such a volatile shift in emotion, so long it felt foreign. But before she could even identify the feeling, that frustration vanished without a trace, dissolved by those five simple words: “…because you’re here.”

The light turned green. Meng Xingshu withdrew her gaze, rolled the window up tight, and started the car.

The medical facilities in D City weren’t great, so Meng Xingshu drove to the nearest hospital. Since it was late and the crowds were thin, she parked directly in front of the emergency building.

The area was wide and empty. A gust of wind caught the hem of her black clothes; the cold was biting.

Meng Xingshu took off her trench coat and draped it over Ji Youyi. “We’re here.”

The sleeping girl gave an unconscious hum and nuzzled her cheek against the back of Meng Xingshu’s hand, showing no sign of waking up.

The hand adjusting the collar froze for a second. A warm, itchy sensation traveled from the back of her hand straight to her heart.

Meng Xingshu’s eyelashes fluttered. She withdrew her hand, picked the girl up in her arms, and walked into the hospital.

Li Zhulan hadn’t been able to reach Ji Youyi all evening. She assumed the director had gone to bed and didn’t think much of it, staying up late to polish the script. Unexpectedly, she received a message from Director Ji in the middle of the night.

Ji Youyi: [The dialogue here is a bit clunky. Simplify it further.]

Li Zhulan immediately placed a video call. “Xiao Ji Baby, save our lead actress! She’s been moping all night… Wait, why are you in the hospital?”

Li Zhulan stared at the white hospital bed on her screen, dumbfounded.

“Stomach trouble. Just getting an IV drip.” Ji Youyi was still looking at the new title page Li Zhulan had written, marking it up as she asked, “What’s wrong with Wen Yang?”

Ji Youyi’s previous assessment of Wen Yang’s acting had been polite. If she were being honest, there was only one word for it, a disaster.

Before joining the crew, the manager, Yeye, had enrolled Wen Yang in an acting class. Wen Yang had indeed completed the course.

However, the teacher’s level must have been abysmal. Wen Yang had learned nothing but a set of mechanical, formulaic acting “templates,” which had effectively smothered her natural spark as a teenage girl.

Consequently, Ji Youyi hadn’t scheduled any scenes for Wen Yang that afternoon. Instead, she planned to let the girl digest the character first before giving her hands-on coaching the next day.

Wen Yang poked her head into the frame, looking anxious. “Director Ji, I sent you my character biography and you just replied ‘Get some rest, good luck tomorrow.’ What does that mean?”

Ji Youyi’s eyes crinkled as she waved. Her tone was gentle. “It means exactly what it says, go to sleep. Go recharge your batteries. You’re going to have a hard time tomorrow!”

It means it was a mess, Ji Youyi thought. Her head was thumping, she didn’t want to type another word and would have to brute-force the coaching tomorrow.

After coaxing Wen Yang to bed, Ji Youyi was sending her revisions to Li Zhulan when she heard the screenwriter insisting on coming to the hospital.

“What are you coming here for?” she rejected immediately. “I’m fine. I’ll head back once the drip is done.”

“I’m pulling an all-nighter on the script anyway. Staying in the room will wake Wen Yang up. I might as well go to you. Plus, talking face to face is more efficient.”

Ji Youyi reconsidered. She was planning to use every trick in the book to “recruit” Meng Xingshu once she returned. Having the screenwriter there might make their ragtag team look more professional.

“Alright, come over then.” Ji Youyi sent the location and cautioned, “My ‘civilian’ friend is here too. We’ll be talking about the contract soon, so be prepared and on your best behavior.”

“Roger that!”

Li Zhulan grabbed her laptop and hailed a taxi straight to the hospital.

At 1:00 AM, the VIP ward was quiet. Li Zhulan stepped out of the elevator and tiptoed toward the nurses’ station. She happened to see two people walking toward her.

One was in a white lab coat, clearly a doctor.

The other was a tall young woman, dressed entirely in black, wearing a black mask that revealed only a pair of perfectly shaped eyes.

The two were speaking in low tones about a patient’s condition as they brushed past Li Zhulan.

Li Zhulan felt as if she had been nailed to the floor. Her gaze followed the woman in black, from the front, to the side, and then to her back as she disappeared down the corridor.

Three seconds… five… ten. Li Zhulan stared at the empty hallway, taking a long time to recover from the shock.

She whipped out her phone and frantically searched Weibo, Douban, and fan groups.

M-Meng Xingshu?

She actually saw Meng Xingshu! AHHHH! She was going to lose it! She’s even more beautiful in person!!

Fans knew Meng Xingshu was in D City recently, accompanying CEO Lin on a project visit. But why was she here?

A new movie?

Heavens! A new project!

It had been two years! Meng Xingshu hadn’t filmed anything in two years! Do people know how the fans have suffered?!

Li Zhulan practically floated into Ji Youyi’s hospital room. She was incoherent, her mind filled with Meng Xingshu’s face. “Xiao-Xiao-Xiao Ji! Do you know who I just saw? Meng Xingshu! AHHH, it’s Meng Xingshu! Waaaah!”

She was so excited she was nearly crying. “When I decided to enter this industry, I thought I might run into stars, but I never dared to dream of her! That’s Meng Xingshu! My childhood goddess!! AHHH, she’s too beautiful! I’m dead!!”

The name sounded familiar.

Ji Youyi thought about it. Oh, the scumbag’s girlfriend. The top-tier movie queen, the “eight hundred million dollar love nest” heiress.

Great family, great career, shame about the brain rot and poor taste in men.

Ji Youyi was curious. “How old is she? How can she be your ‘childhood’ goddess?”

Ji Youyi had seen famous actresses in her old world throw their lives away for love as they got older, so she assumed Meng Xingshu was of a certain vintage.

“She’s 28, same as me,” Li Zhulan sighed, clutching her heart. “I was in high school when I saw her first movie. She had just debuted. I even skipped evening self-study and went to an internet cafe to learn how to bypass the firewall just to see the true ending of that film. I almost got caught by the dean.”

“Then why ‘childhood’ goddess?”

“You don’t understand! A woman is a youth until she dies!!”

Ji Youyi’s reaction was too flat. Li Zhulan, who was practically vibrating with energy, needed an outlet. She opened Weibo.

Not wanting to leak Meng Xingshu’s private schedule, she could only post a full screen of “AHHHHH” and a screaming groundhog meme to vent her excitement.

Once she finished, she looked up at Ji Youyi and suddenly remembered something.

As a seasoned gossip-monger, Li Zhulan had heard rumors about Ji Youyi before joining the crew.

Ji Youyi’s personality was so vivid it often overshadowed her looks. In reality, she was stunningly pretty. Her skin was pale, her face delicate, and her features were as refined as a doll’s, especially that tiny red mole on the tip of her nose, which added a touch of bright elegance to her vibe.

People often have a bias against that kind of beauty. This was why, when Ji Youyi appeared on that travel variety show in February, netizens tore her apart before she had even done anything.

Li Zhulan never believed the “homewrecker” rumors, mostly because Meng Xingshu’s fans didn’t even believe the rumors about Meng and Zhou Wenchen.

No photos of them together, no official confirmation, every article was just “according to an insider.” It was clearly just a failing actor trying to boost his own profile. Disgusting.

However, Li Zhulan had seen snippets of the show. Ji Youyi’s… well, “kindness” toward Zhou Wenchen had been visible to the naked eye.

Such a good girl, how could she be so blind?

Li Zhulan used to just feel a vague pity, but after meeting Ji Youyi, her heart ached for her.

Worried that Ji Youyi might have a grudge against Meng Xingshu because of Zhou Wenchen, she asked cautiously, “Xiao Ji… do you… dislike Meng Xingshu?”

“No. I don’t even know her.” At most, I just think her eyes are broken, Ji Youyi thought, but she didn’t say it.

She didn’t want to dwell on the topic, she was focused on the second female lead. “My civilian friend is getting my medicine. She’ll be back soon. How about you explain the script to her first, and then I’ll pitch the project?”

“Okay!” Li Zhulan was relieved to change the subject. She opened her laptop and noticed a trench coat draped over Ji Youyi that definitely didn’t fit the director’s usual style.

Li Zhulan asked mischievously, “Is that coat your friend’s? Wow, it looks expensive. Her family must be well-off. Is she really willing to join our crew?”

Ji Youyi thought for a moment. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Sister Meng seems very generous. She should be easy to trick… I mean, easy to collaborate with.

Just then, there were two rhythmic, light knocks on the door. A person pushed the door open and walked toward the bed.

Ji Youyi’s eyes lit up. She waved. “Sister Meng, you’re back just in time. Our screenwriter just arrived.”

“Don’t move around. You’ll dislodge the needle.”

The incredibly familiar voice coming from behind made Li Zhulan wonder if someone had turned on the TV and happened to be playing one of Meng Xingshu’s movies.

Her fingers froze over her files.

The woman in the black shirt walked around to the other side of the bed. Her trench coat was still draped over Ji Youyi’s shoulders; the two of them shared the same scent.

She took off her mask, letting it dangle from her finger, and leaned over to check Ji Youyi’s IV needle. Then she picked up the infrared thermometer from the nightstand and scanned Ji Youyi’s forehead.

Looking at the number, the woman frowned. “Why is the fever still not breaking?”

“Oh, it’s fine.” Ji Youyi waved her off and started the introductions. “Sister Meng, this is our crew’s screenwriter, Li Zhulan. Teacher Li.”

“Teacher Li, this is my fri… Teacher Li? Hello? Are you still there?”

Ji Youyi looked at Li Zhulan, whose mouth was shaped like a perfect ‘O’. Failing to wake her up, Ji Youyi laughed it off to smooth things over. “Sister Meng, I told her to be prepared, but you’re just too beautiful. You’ve stunned our screenwriter into a daze.”

Li Zhulan’s finger was unconsciously pressing down on the ‘A’ key. Amidst the heavy silence, her document was being filled with a literal screen of screams.

She shifted her gaze with immense difficulty from Meng Xingshu to Ji Youyi, her eyes conveying the most complex question of her life.

You didn’t say THIS was the kind of preparation I needed! AHHHH?! AHHHH!!!