After Reuniting with My Aloof Movie Queen Childhood Friend - Chapter 27

Ji Youyi was immensely satisfied with this answer.

She didn’t even know what she was so satisfied about, but she was satisfied nonetheless.

Once the satisfaction passed, she began to consider reality.

Returning to their previous topic, she said, “As for me, it doesn’t really matter if the paparazzi snap photos. But what about you? Will it affect you?”

“It won’t.”

“It won’t affect your… domestic harmony?” Ji Youyi asked cautiously. “That, cough, family member of yours, he doesn’t mind?”

On such an important day like a birthday, leaving one’s significant other behind to run off to work and even getting caught on camera by the paparazzi, who wouldn’t mind?

If only this caused a fight between her and Meng Xingshu… Cough, wait, that wasn’t right. It seemed she had left out the word “not.”

Meng Xingshu looked at Ji Youyi, as if emphasizing something. “She is not my family.”

“Oh, right.” That made sense. After all, they weren’t married yet, so she really couldn’t be counted as such.

Ji Youyi savored Movie Queen Meng’s attitude toward this clarification, it was cold, dismissive, and even carried a trace of disgust. Did that mean there was a possibility of a breakup?

Wonderful! Break up quickly!

This time, Ji Youyi truly had no ulterior motives, she simply wanted to see a scumbag get dumped. On what grounds did villains escape Heaven’s retribution and get to keep such an incredible lover?

The longer they spent together, the more Ji Youyi discovered that Meng Xingshu was, at her core, an incredibly gentle and kind person.

Even though the two of them were just ordinary friends or perhaps couldn’t even be called friends, merely barely clinging to the title of colleagues. Meng Xingshu took great care of her.

If she treated a colleague like this, Meng Xingshu must treat her cherished ones even better, just like her performance as the gentle and detached elder sister, Ming Yu, in the movie Eye of the Wind, who existed as an eternal white moonlight in the hearts of the public.

Ji Youyi liked that segment very much too.

In fact, due to some childhood experiences, Ji Youyi had once felt a bit averse to stories about sisterly bonds. She never filmed family dynamics in her own movies, and when analyzing films, she would quickly skim past them.

Yet, looking at those scenes in Eye of the Wind, she felt a genuine warmth from the bottom of her heart. She would even specifically look up fan edits just to watch them again.

The only explanation was that Meng Xingshu’s acting was simply too phenomenal.

Film critics all said that the early part of the movie was Meng Xingshu playing herself. Therefore, Ji Youyi guessed that Meng Xingshu must love Meng Xiao very, very deeply.

Though for some reason, during this afternoon’s livestream, the vibe between the two of them felt completely different from what she had seen in the movie…

Thinking of that livestream, Ji Youyi’s expression instantly turned solemn. “Teacher Meng, if you have time, it’s best to visit your sister’s set more often. That crew can’t go on like this.”

That drama was Meng Xiao’s debut work. A first project held immense significance for an actor. If it performed well, it would ensure a smooth career path at least in the short term, otherwise, it would be hard to say.

Ji Youyi was not one to poke her nose into other people’s business, but since Meng Xiao was Meng Xingshu’s beloved younger sister, Ji Youyi still wanted to offer a warning.

“That crew is simply not a crew that wants to achieve good results!”

Ji Youyi stated her conclusion first, then began to list the problems she had spotted from the livestream one by one, her speaking speed quickening as she went on.

Meng Xingshu listened half-heartedly, her gaze falling on Ji Youyi’s opening and closing lips as her thoughts gradually drifted far away.

Ji Youyi’s pronunciation and diction were exceptional. Even when speaking rapidly, she could distinguish primary points from secondary ones, and every single word was crystal clear.

Yet, in a livestream from six months ago, “her” shyness had been painfully visible. In a web drama she participated in a year ago, “she” couldn’t even articulate casual, slice of life lines clearly.

Mindset can grow, and line delivery can be trained. All performances, whether good or bad, could be summarized in one phrase. “She was pretending.” But what about experience?

Ji Youyi understood the operations of film and television projects very well, to be precise, she understood the operations of movie projects very well.

Dramas and movies shared commonalities, but they also differed in many ways.

From her communications with Ji Youyi over the past two months, Meng Xingshu could tell that Ji Youyi’s production experience was highly mature, and it came almost exclusively from movie projects.

But could her past experiences really have allowed her to accumulate such expertise?

How did she learn it? And when?

That night when she trimmed her nails, she had panicked for a long time after exposing her clumsiness. So, was the person who originally did the nail art really her?

But if it wasn’t, why did Chen Xi change her name to “Ji Youyi” after reaching adulthood?

Why did it have to be these three characters, featuring the “most formidable” character Yi (One)…

Clearly, looking at Chen Xi’s life experiences, she had absolutely nothing to do with these three characters.

According to the information gathered, this name had been proposed by Chen Xi herself.

When she debuted and changed her name, the company had consulted a fortune teller for her, who came up with a different name. Yet Chen Xi, who had always been submissive, expressed stubborn persistence for the first time, resolutely demanding the use of the three characters “Ji Youyi.”

Why?

If the “Chen Xi” from before the age of five was her, and if the person who changed “Chen Xi’s” name was her…

Then who was Chen Xi? And during the period when Chen Xi existed, where had she gone?

Meng Xingshu’s gaze shifted upward, landing on the tiny mole on the tip of Ji Youyi’s nose.

That mole was entirely unfamiliar, she was certain she had never seen it before.

All traceable records of Chen Xi began after the age of five. Her identification documents were processed in April of her fifth year, and even in the photo from back then, that mole was already present.

Pigmentation naturally accumulates with age, it was common for new moles to appear as one grew up despite not having them in childhood. However, within a mere three months window…

Meng Xingshu had far too many questions. They crammed themselves into her hollow shell, forcing her to turn them over and over in her mind, leaving her sleepless night after night.

But she couldn’t ask, because she lacked the appropriate status to do so.

Asking would only bring panic and distress to Ji Youyi.

Thus, all the less crucial doubts were thoroughly suppressed, ultimately condensing into a single question.

To achieve today’s maturity, how much hardship did she have to swallow along the way?

Completely oblivious to her student’s zoning out, Teacher Ji finished her painstakingly earnest analysis of the crew’s issues, took a breath, and prepared to lecture on the next section.

She reached out to grab the soda water on the coffee table, but the bottle was picked up ahead of her. Meng Xingshu loosened the cap and handed the water to her.

“Thanks.” Ji Youyi took the water, moistened her throat, and continued, “And about your sister, she shouldn’t have chosen this kind of traditional historical drama. Your sister has zero foundation, and the crew is irresponsible. What can she possibly portray? If nothing else, you should primarily focus on your sister…”

“Director Ji,” a clear, cool voice lightly called out, interrupting Ji Youyi.

Ji Youyi was right in the middle of a passionate explanation. Hearing this, her hand, which was gesturing mid-air, froze. She blinked her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Thank you for letting me know. It’s very useful.”

Meng Xingshu was well aware that the project had issues. If there were no issues, how could she have let Meng Yuting take over?

Meng Xingshu didn’t mind chatting about this with Ji Youyi, she wished to hear Ji Youyi speak more but that title sounded incredibly grating to her ears, so she could only lightly deflect the topic.

“Ruohan said you’re trending on the hot search. She sent me some screenshots. Do you want to take a look?”

“Ah.” Ji Youyi raised her hand, tilted her head back, and gulped down a mouthful of soda water. She paused, then raised her hand and tilted her head back again to gulp down another large mouthful. “Sure.”

In reality, she didn’t want to look.

Knowing you’re being cursed at and directly facing the curses were two entirely different things. In her original world, she rarely used social media, and after transmigrating into Little Ji, she naturally wanted to use it even less.

She was a normal person. How could she not have emotions when being attacked? Therefore, ever since March passed, she had never logged into Weibo again.

There were so many people who hated her online. She didn’t possess some kind of bizarre hobby, so why should she rush to watch people revile her?

Ji Youyi drank two more mouthfuls of water, and slowly fished out her phone with her left hand.

Before tapping on the images, she kept chanting in her heart. Money! Everything is for the sake of making money! It’s just getting cursed at, it’s not like they’re stealing my money!

Then, her finger froze.

Fangfang truly lived up to her reputation as the Movie Queen’s all powerful assistant, even the screenshots were organized cleanly and beautifully.

There were three images in total, all formatted and arranged uniformly.

At the very top were the hot search rankings: #JiYouyi was at No. 5, #Libao! Good! was at No. 14, and #BirthdayLimitedDreamTour was at No. 37.

Below them were individual real time trending discussions.

【Has everyone finally discovered this hidden gem of a girl? [Crying] I fell straight into the pit back in March because of the script-reading session photos. After falling in, since there was no new material, I could only dig into her past, and the more I dug, the more I loved her [Crying]. Back then, the antis were still super numerous. It’s unbelievable that so many people could harbor such deep hatred toward an ordinary young girl. Fortunately, she endured it.】 …

【Libao is good! Jibao is even better! They are both Mama’s good babies! I’m so jealous of those who met her offline, sob sob [Frustrated]. Little Ji doesn’t update her Weibo, there are no production stills, no official updates, and you can barely find her in the behind the scenes clips. Before entering the fandom, I really didn’t expect to be starved like this. Can our good baby please stop copying everything from Teacher Meng, hey!】 …

【Her hands are so deft! Woman, exactly how many surprises do you have that this Emperor doesn’t know about? .jpg She is also so beautiful. As expected, a serious woman is the most charming; it’s really hard not to fall in love [Fainting]. The more I look, the more I like her. After several failed attempts to soul-transmigrate into Teacher Meng, I’ve already placed an order [Doge]. Just waiting to wake up tomorrow morning to receive the flowers sent by Little Ji~】 …

Ji Youyi read through every single Weibo post in the screenshots word by word, dazing out for a few seconds.

This kind of content was meant to be looked at secretly in hiding. After reading it, since no one would find out, one could just pretend they hadn’t seen it.

But with someone sitting right next to her at the moment, Ji Youyi felt she had to say something.

She rubbed her nose and commented, “Kids nowadays have such strong personalities. They even choose high-intensity mode when stanning celebrities.”

The opposing side was a top star, after all. What if they launched a fandom war!

“Kids with such strong personalities… are there still…” Meng Xingshu was looking at Ji Youyi’s homepage. “…over a million of them?”

“Really?” Ji Youyi scratched her head, logging into Weibo to check for herself.

She had looked at it once when she first transmigrated in March. Little Ji’s account had only 30,000 followers, and at least 29,900 of them had followed her just to make it easier to leave hate comments.

And now, 30,000 had transformed into 1.33 million. Ji Youyi refreshed the page, and the number jumped to 1.34 million.