After Transmigrating into a Novel, I Am in a Relationship with My Scummy Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother - Chapter 34

Shu Yueqing stared at the trending photos on her phone. Seeing Huo Qingzhuo clutching her waist with blood seeping through her fingers sent a surge of anxiety through her. She desperately wanted to call and check on her, but she hesitated, fearing she might interrupt Huo Qingzhuo’s medical treatment.

After much deliberation, she decided to call Lao Jiu instead.

Lao Jiu used to handle everything regarding Huo Qingzhuo personally. However, ever since he had secured a proper manager for her, the boss had become a total “hands-off” manager. He was so swamped with scriptwriting that he rarely had time to keep up with Huo Qingzhuo’s daily updates.

When Shu Yueqing’s call reached him, Lao Jiu was still in a complete daze, knowing nothing of the incident.

With Lao Jiu proving useless and no one else she could trust, Shu Yueqing found herself at a loss for contacts.

“Are there any projects in City A that require a business trip recently?” Shu Yueqing asked, turning her gaze toward her assistant.

The assistant, buried in work, looked up at her boss blankly. “President Shu, didn’t you just go there a while ago? The project in City A isn’t that critical; there’s no need to visit again.”

Shu Yueqing stared at the assistant, but the other woman showed no sign of taking the hint or changing her tune.

Closing the documents on her desk, Shu Yueqing withdrew her gaze. “Tell the driver we are going to City A today. It’s been a long time since I’ve visited A University.”

Assistant: ???

With a head full of question marks and a glance at the current time, the assistant found her boss’s actions increasingly baffling. Since graduation, her boss had never set foot back in A University. Why the sudden urge to visit now? They’d probably arrive after dark.

Still, an employee knows their place. After contacting the driver, the assistant quietly packed her things. “President Shu, would you like me to accompany you?”

Shu Yueqing initially intended to refuse, but remembering previous events, she changed her mind. “Yes, come along. Also, we’ll be visiting a patient on the way. Prepare some gifts.”

She spoke naturally and casually, then recalled their previous meal together—Huo Qingzhuo preferred sweet flavors and loved desserts. She added, “She likes sweets.”

The assistant… the assistant felt like things were getting weirder by the second.

While Shu Yueqing was making her overnight preparations, Huo Qingzhuo had already finished having her wound dressed. She was back in a hospital bed, leaning against the headboard and eating light congee. She looked toward her assistant. “What did the production crew say?”

“They investigated. It was an equipment failure. It was an old piece of gear; a section of the padding was worn down. When you performed that mid-air rotation, a piece of metal inside sliced through the fabric and cut you. The crew is hoping to settle this quietly.”

The assistant was also angry. Although the wound wasn’t life-threatening—just a surface cut that bled a lot—it was the crew’s responsibility. Yet, they only wanted to hush it up.

“How ‘coincidental,'” Huo Qingzhuo remarked. When she had checked the wire harness earlier, she had felt something was slightly off, but the buckles were fine and sturdy, so she hadn’t overthought it. She hadn’t expected the flaw to be there.

“What do you mean ‘coincidental’?” The assistant didn’t quite catch her drift.

“The timing of the harness failing is very convenient,” Huo Qingzhuo replied, scrolling through the trending topics on her phone. Her fans had already begun questioning the production crew. “Has the PR started?”

The assistant’s phone buzzed. She quickly opened it and handed it to Huo Qingzhuo. “I just received a message from Ms. Xu. This is the PR draft. We’ve also reached an agreement with the crew.”

As expected of professionals, they were highly efficient.

Huo Qingzhuo checked the text for any issues, edited the post according to the draft, and then posted a selfie to reassure her fans.

The statement didn’t blame the props. Instead, it claimed that during a high-difficulty move, a slight mishap led to a scratch on her waist. It stated the injury was minor and urged fans not to worry.

As soon as Huo Qingzhuo posted, the production crew members rushed to send their regards publicly, putting on a perfect show of concern that left no room for criticism.

Huo Qingzhuo had always known that a celebrity and their fans were deeply intertwined. Since her past life, she had placed great importance on managing her fan base. She preferred a steady group of loyal, rational fans over a horde of “crazy fans” who could be more dangerous than anti-fans and ruin a reputation.

The benefits of this management were evident now.

While many marketing accounts were trying to stir up drama by blaming the crew, Huo Qingzhuo’s fans remained rational, simply questioning the crew without attacking them. As for the marketing accounts, after Huo Qingzhuo’s post went live, they were swiftly reported into silence.

Because the resolution was so peaceful, the topic quickly dropped off the trending list.

Subsequently, Shuimu Entertainment continued to soothe the fans by releasing professional photos from Huo Qingzhuo’s previous events. With the star herself offering comfort and beautiful photos to admire, the production crew played along by buying a trending spot for her photos as a form of compensation.

With the PR team handling the follow-up, Huo Qingzhuo didn’t have to worry. As night fell, she was about to have dinner when Lao Jiu called.

“What happened this time?” Lao Jiu sounded like he was eating, his voice muffled.

Huo Qingzhuo knew that Lao Jiu didn’t believe it was an accident either. In truth, neither did she. But without evidence, digging further offered no benefits. The entertainment industry was a mix of truth and lies; being too pedantic often led nowhere.

“An accident,” Huo Qingzhuo decided, defining the nature of the incident.

Lao Jiu understood. “Alright, got it.”

Hanging up, Huo Qingzhuo sent her assistant to get food while she leaned back against the headboard to rest with her eyes closed.

She was used to this. In this life, she had Lao Jiu and Xu Lan to fight for her interests. In her previous life, she had endured countless hidden arrows alone. This was nothing.

The sound of the door opening made her open her eyes. To her surprise, it wasn’t her assistant. The person walking in was the last person she expected to see: Shu Yueqing, who was supposed to be in City H.

“President Shu? Why are you here?” Huo Qingzhuo adjusted her posture, glad she had washed her face and applied a touch of makeup before the photo earlier; she looked reasonably healthy.

“I happened to be in City A for business and saw you were injured on the news, so I stopped by. How are you?”

Shu Yueqing sat in the chair by the bed and signaled her assistant to place the gifts on the nightstand.

“It’s nothing serious, just a scratch. I’m sorry to have put you to the trouble of coming here, President Shu.”

Huo Qingzhuo was naturally happy Shu Yueqing had come. More importantly, she saw a flicker of genuine distress in Shu Yueqing’s eyes—something that hadn’t been there during her previous two hospitalizations. It proved that her standing in Shu Yueqing’s heart was not static.

“That’s good to hear. Rest for a few more days. I’ll speak to the production crew for you.”

Since Huo Qingzhuo always acted as if nothing was wrong, Shu Yueqing didn’t believe it was just a “scratch.” There had been too much blood in the videos for it to be minor.

“There’s no need, President Shu. The filming schedule is tight, and I don’t want to delay everyone. Besides, most of my action scenes are finished. What’s left is simpler and won’t be affected.”

In the past few days, her scenes had indeed been mostly action-heavy. Her character, Qing Dai—the former master of the Qing Sect—was now set to mentor the leads before eventually sacrificing herself to save the sect.

There were essentially no more wire-stunt scenes and very few fights left. Her current injury wouldn’t hinder her return to the set.

Shu Yueqing recalled how Huo Qingzhuo had discharged herself and disappeared the next day twice before. She realized there was no arguing with her.

Just then, Huo Qingzhuo’s assistant returned with dinner. She froze upon seeing Shu Yueqing and her assistant in the room.

“By the way, President Shu, have you eaten? Would you like to join me for a bit?”

When Huo Qingzhuo asked, she didn’t actually expect her to stay. Even in this private hospital, the canteen food wasn’t great. She assumed Shu Yueqing wouldn’t touch such simple fare.

To her surprise, Shu Yueqing agreed quite readily.

Huo Qingzhuo looked at her with a bit of embarrassment and asked her assistant to buy two more portions of the best food available.

“Xiao Zheng, go with Xiao Li,” Shu Yueqing instructed her own assistant.

Assistant Xiao Zheng, who had been confused since leaving the office, finally realized what was happening. Though the reality was hard to process, her professional instinct not to get in the boss’s way was deeply ingrained. She agreed immediately and left with Xiao Li.

Huo Qingzhuo and Shu Yueqing were left alone in the room with the two original meals. They were simple and identical.

Shu Yueqing looked around and awkwardly tried to pull up the bedside table to set out the food.

Huo Qingzhuo watched her move, her brow furrowing with worry. Seeing the formidable CEO struggle with a small hospital table was nerve-wracking. She was genuinely afraid the table would tilt and dump the hot congee onto her, causing a second-degree burn.

“Let me do it,” Huo Qingzhuo said, reaching out to steady the crooked table. She efficiently arranged the two meals.

This was truly the first time Shu Yueqing had done something like this. She thought it would be simple, but the flimsy lunch boxes were uncooperative, and the table seemed to have a mind of its own.

“Take it slow, don’t strain your wound,” Shu Yueqing said, now possessing a clear understanding of her own limitations as she watched how the utensils behaved perfectly for Huo Qingzhuo.

“There. It’ll be a while before they get back. If you don’t mind, President Shu, you can have this portion. It’s the same as mine—quite light.”

She placed the chopsticks in front of Shu Yueqing. Having observed her before, she knew Shu Yueqing preferred light flavors and should find it palatable.

Shu Yueqing sat in the chair and met Huo Qingzhuo’s gaze. She hadn’t eaten since noon and was indeed hungry. She didn’t stand on ceremony. “Alright then. They can eat the two portions they bring back.”

“Right, let me call Xiao Li and tell them to just eat at the canteen so they don’t have to carry it all back.”

Shu Yueqing agreed, and Huo Qingzhuo made the call, telling the assistants to return after they had finished their own meal.