After the Agreement, the Aloof Movie Queen is Chasing Me All Over the Internet - Chapter 10

After all, Shen Qing was still her teacher.

“Shen Qing!” Du Yaozhi bolted upright, a sharp cry escaping her lips.

Her chest heaved violently, and her back was drenched in a cold sweat that trailed down the curve of her shoulder blades. Instinctively, she touched the corner of her mouth. Aside from the natural texture of her lips and a slight lingering tension, there was no wound.

Yet the stinging sensation from that kiss in the dream had felt disturbingly real.

Du Yaozhi took several deep breaths, struggling for a long moment to anchor herself back in reality. She kicked aside the heavy duvet and noticed her pillow lying on the carpet. It had likely been too stuffy last night; she must have smothered her face with the pillow, leading to shortness of breath and triggering such a nightmare.

Moreover, there was the matter of what Shen Qing had said to the media.

Getting a beauty mark in the exact same spot as hers? Saying she used to love her?

Perhaps she was overthinking it. It was probably just a styling choice.

Du Yaozhi clutched her chest until her breathing steadied. She leaned over to retrieve the pillow, tossed it back onto the bed, and padded toward the bathroom in her slippers. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she hopped into the shower to rinse away the sticky residue of the night’s sweat.

Half an hour later, Du Yaozhi sat before the mirror with a towel draped around her neck. Her skin, glowing and pale after the hot water, looked luminous as she began blow-drying her hair. Droplets of water clung to the ends of her strands. As the dryer hummed, she tilted her head, her fingers lightly raking through her long hair in the warm breeze. In the reflection, her nose was still flushed from the heat, and her soft eyes looked exceptionally striking.

“Why are you living together?” “Are you two a couple?”

Du Yaozhi’s movements froze. The hairdryer had gotten too close, scorching her hand. She hissed in pain, shaking her hand to cool it down while quickly pulling the dryer away.

Was it normal to dream about an ex-girlfriend like that?

She paused, lost in thought, beginning to doubt her own sanity. She switched off the dryer, set it on the counter, and picked up her phone. With some hesitation, she tapped into a popular search platform—one where, supposedly, any question could find an answer.

Du Yaozhi typed in a few words.

[Hello! What seems to be the problem? Feel free to tell me, and I’ll see how I can help] A little robot mascot popped up, asking politely.

[I had a nightmare. I dreamt about my ex-girlfriend. I dream about her often.]

Robot: [Understood. The user has submitted: “Frequent nightmares about an ex-girlfriend.” I will analyze the psychological context of these nightmares to provide a response. Do you remember what your ex-girlfriend did to you in the dream?]

Du Yaozhi pondered for a moment before typing: [She kissed me.]

Seeing the search interface spinning in a loading loop, she thought about it further and added: [And she bit me.]

The loading icon stopped spinning immediately.

Robot: [Dear user, I currently do not have a specific function to answer this question. I suggest you visit the Community Forum. Based on the keywords “Dream,” “Ex-girlfriend,” and “Kiss,” I have found similar threads and expert advice for you. Hope this helps]

The top thread was almost identical to Du Yaozhi’s situation, someone asking what to do after being kissed by an ex in a dream.

Curious, Du Yaozhi clicked on it.

[Top Expert Tip: Kiss her back! Let her know who the real master of the dream is!]

Du Yaozhi’s finger flicked the screen so fast it was a blur. She exited the app instantly and deleted it in one fluid motion.

What kind of garbage platform is this?! Telling me to kiss her back?

Would that even work?

Do they think I’m an idiot?

She was both flustered and annoyed. After searching such a bizarre question, she was certain of one thing: she wouldn’t be searching for anything online for a long time. Absolutely not. And she definitely wouldn’t be looking at Shen Qing’s face on the trending searches again!

Once her hair was dry, she pulled it back into a simple ponytail, tucking the stray hairs behind her ears. She sat on the bed, ready to dive back into work. If she didn’t keep a close eye on Huasheng, who knew what kind of nonsense they’d bury in the PR drafts?

As the afternoon approached, Huasheng sent over the PR draft again to confirm the release time, continuing until Du Yaozhi was finally satisfied.

**

At 3:00 PM that afternoon, Huasheng Entertainment’s official Weibo account suddenly posted a statement announcing the termination of Du Yaozhi’s contract.

[Huasheng Entertainment V: After friendly negotiations, our company and Ms. @DuYaozhi have mutually agreed to officially terminate our partnership as of today.

We express our sincere gratitude to Ms. Du Yaozhi for her hard work. As of this announcement, both parties have properly completed the handover and settlement of all matters during the partnership period. There are no outstanding disputes or payment issues. This is hereby stated.]

The announcement was timed for a weekday afternoon when engagement is typically low—it was intended to be a quiet exit. However, because the subject was Du Yaozhi, who had recently been at the center of a media storm, it was instantly snatched up by sharp-eyed netizens and marketing accounts.

The hashtag #DuYaozhiContractTermination began to climb organically, and the discussion heated up.

[Terminated?? Wasn’t there a month left? What’s the move here? Getting kicked out the moment she goes viral for being “black-and-red”?]

[Wait… is there some massive scandal brewing at Huasheng?]

[Lmao, you guys don’t get it? Huasheng obviously couldn’t stand this drama queen anymore. They’d rather lose the last month of profit just to kick her out before she causes more trouble for her seniors.]

[Can the person above leave our Shen Qing out of this?? Our Qing-bao is doing just fine on her own.]

[She definitely found a bigger “sugar daddy.” She’s a “resource player” through and through. With a big backer, she isn’t afraid of anyone.]

[Not afraid of anyone? Her resources have all dried up, and she’s been fired! She’ll probably start livestreaming to sell snacks soon, haha!]

[Is it just me? Huasheng didn’t block her? And the timing is so specific—terminating right after hitting the trending searches. Could she have done this on purpose?]

[Bro, how is that possible?? A D-list flop like Du Yaozhi has that kind of power?? You’re joking. If she were that capable, she wouldn’t be in this position today. Aside from her face, which of her works is actually good?]

[Her work sucks because Huasheng kept casting her in “dumb-sweet” roles, right? But her character is genuinely trash.]

Top Comment: [How did we get to “character”? Stop slandering her. I saw those trending photos; nothing was clear! It was all marketing accounts making stuff up. Is she not allowed to walk down the street? Maybe she and Shen Qing are actually on good terms in private?]

[What?]

The moment Shen Qing was mentioned, the comments section exploded. A massive wave of Shen Qing’s fans flooded in, aggressively attacking the original poster. Within minutes, the thread had hundreds of replies.

[Are you insane???]

[I suggest you delete this! Don’t use our Shen Qing for clout! Who wants to be on “good terms” with your girl?!]

[Is the OP a paid bot for Du Yaozhi? Your account isn’t even six months old. Stop trying to whitewash her.]

The original poster, now fuming, shot back: [Are you done with your mindless charging? Aren’t you afraid of making your idol look bad?? I’m telling you! Not only am I NOT deleting the comment, but I’m also shipping them now! Just to spite you.]

[What ship??? You don’t mean Shen Qing and]

[Holy crap.]

The direction of public opinion suddenly turned bizarre, and both sides went strangely quiet for a moment. The fans knew that if they kept fighting, the “black material” would start looking like “shipping fuel.” That was unacceptable.

Eventually, someone stepped in: [Break it up, break it up. She’s terminated her contract. That’s her business; it has nothing to do with us.] [Exactly, irrelevant.] [Moving on, nothing to see here.]

With no other high-engagement controversy to latch onto, Du Yaozhi’s termination went relatively smoothly.

Du Yaozhi let out a breath of relief and prepared for the next step. Simply leaving her agency wasn’t enough to save her reputation. She needed a new manager a professional, reliable, independent manager.

She had done a significant amount of preparation for this. Her target was a woman named Gong Lin. Gong Lin didn’t come from a traditional media background; she had pivoted into the industry ten years ago out of pure passion. Frustrated by how big agencies exploited artists and prioritized short-term buzz over long-term development, she had resigned to start her own independent studio.

Gong Lin wasn’t like Jing Ping, the type of elite manager with an Ivy League degree and a wealthy background who could easily land Vogue covers or luxury brand ambassadorships. Instead, Gong Lin was obsessed with the work itself. With years of deep roots in the industry and a “craft-first” philosophy, she had the connections to build a solid platform for her artists. She was a classic, work-oriented manager.

Du Yaozhi knew Gong Lin had a fierce drive for success. However, her career had recently stalled because of a talented young actress who looked like she was “blessed by the acting gods” but insisted on taking shortcuts with big companies. That actress had been too idealistic, refusing to fight for roles, and was eventually forgotten after a mediocre variety show appearance.

This failure was Du Yaozhi’s opportunity. Gong Lin needed an ambitious artist, and Du Yaozhi needed high-quality roles to flip her public image. They were a perfect match.

Just as Du Yaozhi was about to send her self-recommendation to Gong Lin, she received a message.

[Sister Xiao Lin: Yaozhi, do you have a moment for a call?]

Seeing it was Gu Lin, Du Yaozhi didn’t hesitate to dial the number.

“Hello? Sister Lin,” Du Yaozhi said. “What’s up?”

“Oh, thank heaven! I finally reached you! I’ve been so worried,” Gu Lin sighed in relief on the other end. “If I hadn’t seen that termination statement, I would’ve thought you’d gone missing.”

“I didn’t go missing. I was just having BBQ with Zhou Yue last night. I got the times mixed up, otherwise, I would’ve loved to catch up in the car,” Du Yaozhi smiled.

“You little brat, making ‘hitching a ride’ sound so poetic!” Gu Lin teased before getting down to business. “Alright, no more playing around. Listen.”

“Have you not logged into your main Weibo account lately? Someone sent you a message, and you didn’t even notice.”

A message?

Du Yaozhi’s throat tightened. “Who? It’s not”

“Bingo. It’s the PR team from Baoli. They want to invite you to their new product gala next month. They sent one invitation to your Weibo and another to your… well, your former company.”

Gu Lin didn’t beat around the bush. “You didn’t reply, and the company didn’t react. When the PR saw today that you’d terminated your contract, they panicked. The PR manager came rushing to me since we’re close.”

“Inviting me? To the Baoli Gala?”

Du Yaozhi couldn’t believe it. Her reputation was currently in the gutter, and she was at the center of a public relations firestorm. Why would a brand like Baoli invite her?

“Of course! They were quite serious about it, too. They said you’re one of their ‘important guests’ and insisted on checking your interest first!”

Du Yaozhi was stunned. Her? An important guest?

Seeing no response, Gu Lin assumed she was just shocked by the sudden stroke of luck and added comfortingly, “Don’t worry. I’ve been in this game a long time, when your buzz is high, brands will naturally come knocking. It’s normal; they need the conversation and the eyeballs. Don’t be too nervous!”

Gu Lin didn’t realize that Du Yaozhi wasn’t nervous, she was suspicious.

“Thanks, Sister Lin,” Du Yaozhi said calmly. “Could you send me the PR’s contact info? I’ll give her an answer as soon as possible.”

“No problem!” Gu Lin replied cheerfully. “My job here is done. If you go, let me know. I’ll bring you a gift.”

“Okay.” Du Yaozhi nodded with a serious expression and hung up.

The Baoli Gala inviting her? Right at this moment?

Du Yaozhi’s brow furrowed. This style of “fixing things” behind the scenes had Shen Qing’s fingerprints all over it.

After all, Shen Qing was still her teacher.

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