Everyone in the Entertainment Industry Thinks I’m a Flirty Diva [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 29

Chu Xi went for another full-body checkup.

When she finally got the results, her hands were trembling.

Sitting on the hospital bed, she stared at the test report in her hands, lips parting as if to say something. But before the words could come out, tears plopped down.

Compared to the overwhelming joy and excitement she felt now, the anger over the misdiagnosis seemed trivial.

A simple case of superficial gastritis had been mistaken by her as pancreatic cancer, making her believe she had less than half a year to live and tormenting her for so long.

Chu Xi buried her face in the pillow, crying harder than the day she thought she had pancreatic cancer.

Only now did she realize that no phrase in the world was more beautiful than “false alarm.”

She still had a long life ahead of her. She wasn’t going to die. She really wasn’t going to die—sob, sob, sob.

Gu Mingjing watched as Chu Xi lay there, weeping with joy.

So this was the reason behind all her recent actions?

Gu Mingjing recalled Chu Xi’s unusual behavior that last day in the apartment—her red-rimmed eyes like a pitiful little rabbit, her small hands tugging at his sleeve as she tearfully asked if he could take fake wedding photos with her to visit her grandmother and fulfill her “final wish.”

She had told him she didn’t have long to live and begged for his help.

But he had assumed she was being unreasonable, greedy, and desperate to climb the social ladder as their contract neared its end—eager to become Mrs. Gu.

What had he done?

He had pulled his sleeve from her grasp and coldly warned her tear-streaked face, “We only have a transaction, not feelings.”

He had told her not to covet what wasn’t hers.

But now he realized—Chu Xi had never coveted anything of his.

She must have been disappointed. She had left, clean and decisive.

Gu Mingjing was instantly filled with regret. She had told him, but he hadn’t believed her.

Chu Xi finally cried her fill, wiping her tears on the pillow before sitting up, her nose red, hiccuping softly as she smoothed her messy hair. Then, she smiled through her tears.

Still, she felt this misdiagnosis hadn’t been entirely without its benefits. At least now she knew exactly how Gu Mingjing saw her—a plaything who didn’t know her place, trying to climb above her station. She knew now that expecting emotions from a capitalist was nothing but wishful thinking. That was why she had been able to break up with him so decisively. Otherwise, she might still be hesitating over this and that, remaining his hidden little mistress.

Gu Mingjing wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms right then, but he was afraid of startling her. So instead, he sat by her bedside and reached out to pat her back reassuringly.

“It’s okay now.”

Chu Xi instinctively flinched backward when she saw Gu Mingjing’s outstretched hand, leaving it hanging in the air.

After blowing her nose with a tissue, Chu Xi turned to face Gu Mingjing beside her, suddenly feeling another headache coming on.

She had only acted so recklessly in front of him before because she thought she was going to die—even slapping him once. If he really decided to hold it against her, she might end up dead even if she wasn’t supposed to be.

The thought that she was no longer his little mistress made Chu Xi feel incredibly lighthearted. Then she remembered—aside from saying, “Who told you you were going to die?”—what else had Gu Mingjing said to her?

He had asked, “Who said you were a mistress?”

If not a mistress, then what did he want her to be? Did he fly all the way here just to show some goodwill?

Gu Mingjing lowered his rejected hand, his expression serious as he looked at Chu Xi and asked, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Chu Xi’s lips parted slightly: …………Huh?

Gu Mingjing was certain now—he couldn’t let go of this former little mistress of his. Not only that, but she had him completely enthralled. So he asked again, this time with a faint smile.

Chu Xi’s brain was currently whirring at full speed, until finally, her CPU overheated and crashed with a bang.

Her first reaction was that she must have misheard. But when he repeated the question, she ruled out that possibility and started to think Gu Mingjing had lost his mind.

And quite methodically too—last time, he hadn’t ruled out the possibility of her becoming his girlfriend, and now he had progressed to outright asking her to be one.

Chu Xi’s face flushed red. After holding it in for a long while, she finally managed to ask slowly, “Didn’t you say… we were only about transactions, not feelings?”

Gu Mingjing hadn’t expected that response. He froze, utterly stunned.

Though what he’d said back then wasn’t exactly wrong when it came to the two of them, Chu Xi still felt a pang of disappointment recalling it. She lowered her head and murmured, “Thank you for coming to see me. But… I’m at a crucial point in my career right now. I’m not looking to date.”

Gu Mingjing’s lips moved, but no words came out.

One thought screamed in his mind:

He’d been dumped.

**

Fu Bai noticed that after the food poisoning incident, Chu Xi seemed like a completely different person.

Outwardly, she looked the same as before, but her entire demeanor had changed—there was a new brightness in her eyes.

The biggest shift, however, was in her work ethic. The old Chu Xi had been solely focused on making money, chasing quick cash over reputation, as if she planned to make a fortune and disappear. But now, she had relegated money to second place and was actually discussing long-term career strategies with him, saying that as an artist, she couldn’t just chase fast profits—she had to think ahead.

On the flight back to City B, a beautiful flight attendant was pushing a cart down the aisle, asking passengers what drinks they’d like.

Fu Bai ordered a cup of coffee, while Chu Xi, who hadn’t fully recovered from her illness, could only drink plain water.

Fu Bai took a sip of his coffee, then glanced sideways at Chu Xi, who was obediently sipping her water.

Finally unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, “Yesterday, you and Gu—”

At the mention of “Gu,” Chu Xi paused mid-sip.

Noticing her hesitation, Fu Bai bit back his words.

He didn’t know what had happened between Chu Xi and Gu Mingjing in the hospital room yesterday, but Gu Mingjing had emerged looking rather displeased.

Seeing Gu Mingjing’s dark expression had startled Fu Bai, who feared something might have happened to Chu Xi. Yet when he entered, he found her sitting there perfectly fine—just a little flushed, but otherwise unharmed.

Gu Mingjing had left that very night.

It was impossible not to wonder how Chu Xi had managed to send Gu Mingjing, who had traveled all that way, packing without so much as a scratch to herself.

Chu Xi knew exactly what Fu Bai was curious about and what he wanted to ask.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say that Gu Mingjing had asked her to be his girlfriend. Even if she did, no one would believe her—they’d probably think she was being vain.

Just like when her career had taken a nosedive, everyone assumed she’d been dumped by her sugar daddy.

Chu Xi sighed. “There’s nothing between us.”

Chu Xi’s flight details hadn’t been made public, so when she disembarked and saw a crowd gathered at the arrivals gate—many holding cameras—it was clear they were fans waiting for someone.

She certainly didn’t think they were there for her, merely noting that, judging by the turnout, it must be for some popular young idol.

Adjusting her cap and sunglasses, Chu Xi followed Fu Bai as they made their way out. Suddenly, someone bumped into her from behind, sending her stumbling forward. If not for Fu Bai blocking her path, she might have fallen.

“Sorry, sorry!” The person who’d bumped into her hurried to apologize. “Are you okay?”

It was a young girl wearing a backpack and a headband—likely fan merchandise—with another girl beside her, presumably her companion.

Chu Xi steadied herself and shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Let’s go,” Fu Bai said to Chu Xi. Just as they were about to leave, the girl peered closely at Chu Xi’s face behind the sunglasses and suddenly gasped in recognition. “You—you’re Chu Xi?!”

Her friend also pointed at Chu Xi excitedly.

Alarmed, Fu Bai quickly shushed them with a finger to his lips.

The girl immediately covered her mouth. Fortunately, the other fans were too focused on waiting for their idol to notice the commotion.

The girl hastily pulled out a notebook and pen from her backpack, whispering, “Chu Xi, could you sign this for me, please? Thank you. You’re even prettier in person than on TV.”

Chu Xi glanced back at Fu Bai, then smiled at the two. “Sure.”

After signing, the girls timidly asked if they could take a photo together.

Chu Xi didn’t refuse.

Thrilled with their photo, the backpack girl gushed, “Chu Xi, you’re so nice! Your fans must be super lucky.”

Chu Xi looked at the crowd of fans behind them and asked, “Who are you all here to meet today?”

“Sun Chen,” the girl said, her face glowing with happiness as she mentioned her idol’s name. “Originally, we were told his flight would arrive in the morning, so we came here to wait early. But when we arrived, we found out the flight details had been changed last minute—Chen Chen won’t arrive until this afternoon.”

Chu Xi vaguely recalled that Sun Chen was a popular idol who had recently debuted from a talent show. “You’ve been waiting for quite a while, then.”

The girl smiled. “It’s okay. As long as we get to see him, it’s worth it.”

Chu Xi chuckled. Just then, Fu Bai, who had stepped away earlier, returned with a few drinks in hand. He handed them to the two girls. “Here, you’ve been waiting so long—have something to drink.”

The girls were visibly moved, looking as if they were on the verge of switching their fandom allegiance to Chu Xi right then and there.

But before they could even take the drinks, screams erupted from the other side: “Chen Chen is here!”

In the next second, the two girls dashed off, joining the surge of fans rushing forward.

Chu Xi glanced at the untouched drinks in Fu Bai’s hands and smiled. Under normal circumstances, it might have seemed rude, but when it came to seeing an idol, every second counted. She understood.

Over by the crowd, assistants, bodyguards, and the manager scowled as they cleared a path for the person in the middle, constantly shooing away the excited girls who held up their phones and cameras, their faces alight with joy.

The crowd wasn’t even that big—this wasn’t some globally famous superstar, far from warranting such aggressive crowd control. Chu Xi could still vaguely make out Sun Chen through the fans—walking forward with his hands in his pockets, sunglasses on, not as tall as she had imagined.

She shook her head and was about to step away when something slid across the floor toward her.

A phone.

Whose phone was this?

Fu Bai picked it up and saw the screen was shattered into pieces.

He looked around, and soon, the two girls came running back, hand in hand.

It was the same girl from before.

Fu Bai handed over the phone. “Is this yours? The screen’s broken. How did it end up so far? Did someone push you?”

The girls took the shattered phone, their mood visibly dampened. “Thank you.”

Assuming they were upset about the broken screen, Fu Bai offered the untouched drinks again. “Don’t worry, you can just replace the screen. Here, take these.”

Only then did the girls realize they had left the drinks behind in their rush. They accepted them, glancing at Chu Xi and Fu Bai. “Thank you… really, thank you.”

Their tone lacked the excitement one would expect from fans who had just seen their idol.

Chu Xi was puzzled. Their idol didn’t seem too bad-looking aside from being a bit short, so why weren’t they happy after seeing him? However, she kept the thought to herself and didn’t ask. Instead, she simply said goodbye to the two girls.

Returning home, Chu Xi shook her head to dismiss thoughts of Gu Mingjing and recalled the scene of her brick-carrying fans welcoming her at the airport last time. She chuckled.

Now, the Brick Brigade was planning to order toy bricks—realistic one-to-one replicas—from a toy factory as official fan merchandise. That way, they wouldn’t be confiscated by airport security the next time they came to see her.

Chu Xi thought the headbands the two girls wore today were nice too—convenient and cute. By the way, what was the name of the person whose fans greeted them at the airport today? Sun Chen?

She opened Weibo and casually searched for Sun Chen’s name, scrolling through related posts.

The first few were performance clips from Sun Chen’s talent show appearances. The most recent post, published just ten minutes ago, wasn’t fan-promoted content but an official statement from Sun Chen’s studio.

An official statement? Did something happen? Chu Xi clicked to read it.

It seemed to be about today’s fan greeting at the airport. The first line read, “We hope fans will prioritize personal safety and support rationally.” It then criticized the crowding at the event and urged fans to stay rational and protect Sun Chen’s safety.

Chu Xi was baffled and couldn’t help but scoff at the content.

Had the crowd at the airport really been that chaotic?

Sure, there were quite a few people, but it wasn’t nearly as exaggerated as the statement made it sound.

Anyone reading this would think he was some mega-popular star.

With a wry smile, Chu Xi read to the end—only to find that the statement specifically mentioned her!

Though her name wasn’t stated outright, it was clearly referring to her.

The statement cited an incident where a certain female celebrity’s fans had brought bricks to greet her at the airport, causing chaos and panic as they chased her, ultimately requiring intervention by airport police. It warned Sun Chen’s fans to learn from this negative example.

Motherf—!

Chu Xi was so furious her kidneys ached.