After Reuniting with My Aloof Movie Queen Childhood Friend - Chapter 28

Inside Lin Shan’s office at the Filmily headquarters building, a sweet, playful girl’s voice drifted out from the speakers.

“Ning Li chooses death because she has a noble faith and is willing to sacrifice herself for her career. Ah, I can’t do that. I’m far too superficial. My faith is just staying alive. Rather than pondering that, I might as well think about what to eat for a late-night snack in a bit.”

Leaning against the armrest of the sofa, Lin Shan was reviewing the latest reports sent in from various departments.

Hearing this, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “When she said she wouldn’t participate in the show’s promotions before, we shouldn’t have let her off the hook. With that mouth, that mindset, and her innate ability to trend on hot searches, failing to utilize her properly means losing out on so much free buzz.”

She waved her phone at Meng Xingshu. “Look, it’s already skyrocketing. Without spending a single penny, she’s going to dominate tonight’s trending boards again.”

Sitting in the middle of the sofa, Meng Xingshu watched the live stream quietly. It wasn’t until the camera cut to a different frame that she turned her expressionless face. “If she doesn’t want to participate, she doesn’t have to. We don’t lack this kind of traffic.”

“Yes, yes.” Lin Shan scrolled through the netizen comments flooding in at an exaggerated speed, her tone leisurely. “Boss Meng bought the show, so Boss Meng gets the final say.”

Meng Xingshu remained noncommittal. She pulled out her phone and began rewatching the playback. “Ruohan, have the law firm compile the live stream’s bullet comments from tonight. We are filing a lawsuit.”

Tapping away on her laptop nearby, Fang Ruohan immediately responded, “Understood. I’ve already arranged it.”

The program’s live-streaming platform was Filmily. According to standard procedure, to sue platform users, one had to either sue Filmily first or have Filmily initiate the lawsuit to obtain the users’ personal information.

Seeing his own company shoulder yet another legal case, Lin Shan fell silent for a moment. “Hold on, you two big sisters. Aren’t we all on the same team here? Do we really have to settle accounts so strictly?”

Meng Xingshu replied, “If you want to just give me the information directly, that works too.”

“How is that possible?!” Lin Shan nearly jumped up. “I mean, how about we just let it go? I’ll issue a statement from my end, ban the accounts that need to be banned, and stop making a bigger deal out of it. After all, it’s not a good thing. If it blows up too much, the higher-ups will invite us in for a chat over tea.”

“What’s the point of just banning accounts? They need to apologize,” Meng Xingshu said flatly.

“An apology doesn’t actually do anything. Do you really think they’ll be sincere?”

Meng Xingshu knew that, of course.

The people who used sharp blades to pierce her until she was riddled with holes would, at most, only be penalized with a negligible amount of compensation and a few completely insincere lines of apology.

This was, of course, of course, entirely unreasonable.

She lowered her eyes, masking the frantic surge of hostility buried deep within them.

Lin Shan was still trying to persuade her. “Besides, the outcome turned out pretty well. Most netizens are reasonable. It’s thanks to those anti-fans stirring up trouble, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been this easy to hit the hot searches. Look, Little Ji herself doesn’t even care.”

But Meng Xingshu cared.

“It wasn’t thanks to the anti-fans, it was thanks to her.” Meng Xingshu suppressed her emotions, standing up with lowered eyelids. “If she hadn’t handled it perfectly, tonight’s hot search would have been about a live-streaming accident on Filmily. That would impact the public’s perception of the platform’s user quality and the evaluation of the entire platform. Filing a lawsuit will help Filmily maintain its brand image. If you’re afraid of being called in for tea, display your stance by conducting a self-investigation first. No need to thank me.”

Lin Shan suddenly saw the light. “So that’s how it is. No wonder you’re being so proactive about managing these things.”

Fang Ruohan looked up at the eldest Miss Lin, who would eternally lack a single romantic bone in her body, and a flash of pity couldn’t help but surface in her eyes.

Meng Xingshu offered an “Mm” in response, her fingers habitually slipping into her coat pocket to check on something. As a familiar texture brushed against her fingertips, her icy expression finally softened a fraction.

“Shall we go grab some late-night snacks? My treat,” she suggested.

Ji Youyi truly did not care all that much, especially after stepping out of the studio and seeing Li Zhulan crying like an absolute fool, it made it impossible to dwell on it.

Li Zhulan had just finished wailing with the other fans in their group chat. She had originally managed to hold back her tears, but the moment she saw Ji Youyi walking out looking cheerful and perfectly fine, her tears started gushing out all over again.

Ji Youyi quickly pulled the girl into her arms. “Alright, alright, don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Li Zhulan was having a breakdown, wailing as she explained, “I didn’t want to cry!”

“Yes, yes, I know.”

Ji Youyi sighed inwardly.

In the past, managing a production crew was like leading a class of high school seniors, time was tight, the workload was heavy, and there were always a few who loved to skip class or pick fights. Now, leading a crew felt like running a kindergarten, as soon as this one stopped crying, that one would start, and after coaxing this one, she still had to soothe the next.

Right as she was comforting her, the lounge door was pushed open. Seeing the newcomers, Ji Youyi greeted them with some surprise, “Hello, President Lin. Hello, Teacher Meng. Fangfang, what brings you guys here?”

Fang Ruohan made a sorrowful face. “We just finished working overtime. We heard things had just wrapped up on your end too, so we came to wallow in our shared misery.”

Ji Youyi let out a laugh. Noticing Meng Xingshu walking toward her, she accepted the two tissues being handed over.

“Thank you.” Ji Youyi took the tissues, folded them twice, and patted them onto Li Zhulan’s face, teasing, “You’re done for, Teacher Li. Wake up, you’re making a massive fool of yourself, your goddess is here.”

“What?” Sobbing, Li Zhulan snapped her eyes open. The tears clumped in her eyelashes were wiped away, and through her thick 1200 degree lenses, she suddenly realized three more people had entered the room.

Ji Youyi, who was closest to her, kept an arm around her while smiling and wiping away her tears.

Meanwhile, Meng Xingshu stood right by Ji Youyi’s side. Sensing her gaze, Meng Xingshu shifted her eyes away from Ji Youyi to look at her.

Meng Xingshu stood a good half-head taller than Ji Youyi, her right shoulder resting just behind Ji Youyi’s left shoulder, her body tilted slightly. From Li Zhulan’s perspective, the two of them looked as though they were intimately leaning against one another, entirely harmonious.

It was her CP! They were such a perfect match! Bless them!

But… but why did the motherly vibes feel so overwhelming right now?

Li Zhulan suddenly got a bizarre sense of déjà vu. She felt exactly like a crybaby toddler whose two young, beautiful, and deeply in love mothers were patiently coaxing her…

Her cheeks instantly exploded into a deep crimson. Twisting her body, Li Zhulan hurriedly escaped from under Ji Youyi’s arm. “Don’t, don’t, don’t mind me! You guys carry on, carry on!”

Ji Youyi let out an unkind laugh and explained to Meng Xingshu, “Teacher Meng, she’s a long-time fan of your films, the hardcore kind who likes you immensely. That’s why she got shy the moment she saw you. Please don’t mind her.”

“It’s fine.” Meng Xingshu took a piece of candy from her pocket. Tilting her fingertips slightly, she proffered it to her, asking softly, “Want one?”

Ji Youyi’s glass like eyes instantly lit up. “Thank you!”

Taking the candy, Ji Youyi unwrapped it and popped it straight into her mouth. Her bright eyes naturally crinkled as the sweet flavor spread across her palate.

Watching her, the hand resting by Meng Xingshu’s side curled almost imperceptibly. Her chest grew slightly warm, and her voice dropped even lower. “President Lin said that as a token of both appreciation and apology, she wants to treat everyone to a late night snack. Would it be convenient for you to grace us with your presence?”

Almost everyone in the traveling group held a fair amount of fame within the entertainment industry. There were capital bigwigs, fresh industry rising stars, and a towering figure of a Movie Queen.

Consequently, the dining location chosen was a high-end restaurant with exceptional privacy.

Sucking on her candy, Ji Youyi looked out the car window at the brilliant lights illuminating the top of the building. She couldn’t help but marvel that encountering tonight’s absolute mess of an incident was actually worth it, it allowed their production crew to ruthlessly fleece Filmily for a grand meal.

The top floor terrace had been reserved entirely. The group of seven sat around the dining table.

Wen Yang had originally wanted to sit next to Ji Youyi, but her positioning was a step too slow. By the time she reached the table, Li Zhulan and Meng Xingshu had already taken up the seats to Ji Youyi’s left and right. She had no choice but to settle for the next best option and sit directly opposite Ji Youyi.

The people at the table were chatting merrily, but she couldn’t find a way to chime in. After listening quietly for two minutes and seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she lowered her head and pulled out her phone.

Her phone had been vibrating the entire way there, both her boss and her manager had sent her a barrage of messages.

[I told you to keep your guard up against her but you didn’t listen. This woman’s calculations are truly something else. I should have realized earlier, didn’t she write that kind of plot for herself precisely for a day like today? And you’re still speaking up for her? Pig brained, to be this stupid. Do you think she hasn’t snatched enough of your spotlight already? From now on, you are not allowed to prompt her during interviews! Do you hear me!] …

[Where are you? Did you die? Answer me!]

It took scrolling through several pages of similar remarks before she finished reading them. Wen Yang replied with a brief Understood to each before putting her phone away again.

The warm, yellow light fell intimately over the face of the person opposite her. Wen Yang watched silently, occasionally lowering her head to take a sip of water to mask her perhaps overly direct gaze.

Ji Youyi didn’t notice that Wen Yang had been watching her.

Since she brought the crew along to eat with the client, she had to keep an eye on things the entire time, responding to a few words over here, and chiming in over there.

Once the food was served, she could finally roll up her sleeves and dig in fiercely. She picked up a piece of spiny lobster with her fork and was about to pop it into her mouth when she suddenly remembered that a certain Teacher Meng was sitting right next to her.

Little Comrade Ji’s gaze crept to the right, and as luck would have it, she locked eyes with Teacher Meng.

Meng Xingshu raised an eyebrow slightly, looking somewhat puzzled. “Do you need my help?”

“No, no, not at all.” The bad student resigned herself to her fate, picking up her knife to start cutting the lobster meat into pieces.

The chatting on the left was rather loud, so the person on her right leaned in a fraction closer. A clear, gentle voice fell right by her ear. “The lobster meat is a bit tough, let me cut it. Could you help me taste the caviar egg white to see how it is?”

The distance… felt a little too close.

For some unknown reason, Ji Youyi didn’t dare look to her right. She merely shot a swift glance to her left.

Next to her, Li Zhulan and Li Anran already had their heads huddled together, looking perfectly normal. Therefore, she and Meng Xingshu… probably weren’t that close either.

Ji Youyi’s fingers tightened around the handle of her knife unconsciously. Handing over the cutlery and the plate, she said with a smile, “Alright then.”

Articulate fingers took the dining plate and placed it back on the table. Ji Youyi watched Meng Xingshu lift the knife and fork with elegant, beautiful movements. Yet, she somehow found herself wondering if the spots Meng Xingshu’s fingers were covering still retained the residual warmth of her own fingertips.

Just like how she had merely leaned in slightly to say something in her ear a moment ago, yet that subtle scent of perfume continued to linger around her…

No! What was she doing? Why on earth was she thinking about that!

A big star needed to manage her diet and couldn’t eat just anything, which was why she had to trouble her to help test the dishes. In return, she was shredding the lobster meat for her, was there anything wrong with that?

There was absolutely nothing wrong with it!

Ji Youyi cast aside her stray thoughts, highlighting the dish tasting task in her mind. She launched a fierce assault on the egg white piled high with caviar, swallowing it down in one gulp before realizing she hadn’t actually registered the taste.

“Is it good?” Meng Xingshu asked.

Ji Youyi smacked her lips. “It’s alright.”

She really hadn’t tasted it properly, but it was easy enough to swallow anyway.

“Then it must be average. Help me try the foie gras next?”

This time, Ji Youyi was cautious. Placing it in her mouth, she pressed it between her tongue and the roof of her mouth. The smooth, dense texture exploded within her oral cavity, and the rich aroma of fat flooded out along with it.

Ji Youyi pondered carefully for a moment. “It’s delicious.”

She didn’t know how else to describe it, but it was delicious regardless.

Observing her expression, Meng Xingshu’s eyes curved slightly. “Try the cod next?”

Ji Youyi went through dish after dish to help Meng Xingshu test them, filled with endless sentiments regarding the big star’s dietary management.

With so much delicious food around, she couldn’t eat more than a few bites and could only select the absolute best dish to consume. How pitiful.

By the time she took back her own lobster after finishing the testing, Ji Youyi was already full.

The lobster meat was indeed a little tough. Even though it had been cut into incredibly fine pieces by Meng Xingshu, swallowing it still wasn’t as smooth as the other dishes.

After finishing a plate, Ji Youyi went to grab a piece of Basque cheesecake to soothe her throat, this was her absolute favorite dish out of everything she had tried tonight.

Holding her beloved little cake as she sat back in her original spot, Ji Youyi realized for the first time that at some point, they were the only two left at the dining table.

The terrace had plenty of leisure areas. Li Zhulan and Li Anran had claimed one corner, while the other three were drinking and chatting in a different section.

Only Meng Xingshu hadn’t moved an inch, sitting by her side from start to finish.

She was slowly and unhurriedly eating the black cod that she had ultimately chosen for her. Sensing her gaze, a pair of pitch-black eyes lifted, looking back at her.

Under the serene night sky, the evening breeze carried a slight warmth, brushing against Ji Youyi’s ears and face. Those eyes were deep and tranquil, yet they seemed to harbor a hidden, surging torrent.

Ji Youyi’s heart suddenly picked up its pace.

She abruptly lowered her head, wolfing down the cake in two or three bites. Standing up, she said to Meng Xingshu with a playful grin, “Teacher Meng, I’m full! I’m going to go find our screenwriter to nag her about the script.”

With that, terrified that Meng Xingshu might offer to “go together,” she hastily added, “I can just go by myself, take your time eating!”