My Wealthy Ex-Girlfriend Knelt and Begged Me to Come Back [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 11

“You forgot what I said this morning. Tomorrow, you’re accompanying me to a cocktail party. That party is for the Group—it’s the launch ceremony of an important project team.”

“So, this afternoon, I need to inspect the venue. I can’t keep you company.”

Qiu Miaoran’s logic was meticulous, her reasoning clear—
she refused Ji Jiayu calmly and objectively.

Ji Jiayu made a soft “oh” sound, then nodded gently.
“Of course, President Qiu should put work first. I can amuse myself this afternoon—it’s fine.”

That Qiu Miaoran wouldn’t accompany her—
it was an answer she already knew, so why bother asking?

Was she hoping to hear a different answer?

“I’ll be going then.” Ji Jiayu stood up.

“Wait. There’s something on your hair.”

Ji Jiayu stayed still, and the person across the table leaned forward, reaching out her hand. Her fingertips picked up a strand of hair beside Ji Jiayu’s cheek and gently rubbed at it.

“It’s cream.” Qiu Miaoran pulled a napkin, carefully wiping away the pale mark that had smudged on.

That distant, aloof aura Qiu always carried when they first met—
it had faded quite a lot.

“Thank you.” Ji Jiayu said softly. The tips of her ears, just brushed by those fingers, had turned a little red.

That tiny hint of shyness made her look especially cute.

“I’ll have Assistant Li drive you.”

Ji Jiayu waved the little leather bag in her hand.
“No need, I’ll just call a ride-hailing car myself.”

“Alright.” Qiu Miaoran nodded. She got up and went to the front desk to pay, but her fingers were already flying across her phone screen, sending out a quick message

[Send a car for her.]

An hour earlier, while Ji Jiayu was still waiting at Lily’s Garden

Her phone buzzed with a new message.

[Chuchu]: Xiaoyu, are you still in Beijing?

Chuchu was Ji Jiayu’s university dormmate.

[Ji Jiayu]: I am, still in Beijing. Why?

[Chuchu]: Today’s Sunday, right? Wanna meet up? It’s been over a year—don’t even know if our whole dorm can still get together.”

[Ji Jiayu]: Can it be later? I’m still at lunch now.

[Chuchu]: No rush. We set it for the afternoon and evening. Can you come?”

[Ji Jiayu]: [/OK]

After lunch, Ji Jiayu took a cab to the address Chuchu sent her.

In the CBD shopping district, she wandered alone through stores selling clothes, shoes, and bags, then visited a small art exhibit.

An hour later, she arrived at a KTV on the top floor of the mall—
the place Chuchu had given her.

“Jiayu, long time no see!”

“It really has been. Over a year already since I saw you all…” Ji Jiayu sat down toward the back, nodding with a sigh. “Back then, when I moved out of the dorm, it was so rushed, I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

“What a pity, though. We never got to see what the department beauty’s girlfriend looked like before graduation—just how pretty must she have been to catch your eye…” Chuchu clicked her tongue.

“You never even gave us a single photo, so secretive. And today you didn’t bring her either? Still unwilling to let us see?”

Another girl chimed in, short-haired with a sweet round face in a Japanese style—Yin Su, another of Ji Jiayu’s roommates.

All of them knew Ji Jiayu liked girls, because back in junior year, she’d come out—
partly to fend off all those overly passionate male admirers.

At the time, same-sex marriage had just been legalized, and the news of the drama department’s campus beauty coming out exploded across the university confession wall, the film academy’s official Weibo hot comment section, the forums, and even on major anonymous boards.

Back then, Ji Jiayu had still been rather naïve, not fully aware of her orientation.
The so-called “mysterious girlfriend” her roommates spoke of—
it was that woman’s relentless pursuit that bent her.

Those around her only knew she had a girlfriend from the neighboring university, Peking University, but not who it was.

Her ex-girlfriend, Song Tingyu, was actually a top student beauty from the Peking University medical school.

But Song Tingyu never came out.
Before anything deeper happened between them, she had abandoned Ji Jiayu cleanly.

“We broke up,” Ji Jiayu bit her straw, sipping orange juice. The sudden sourness stung her tongue a little numb. “We broke up a year ago.”

“Sorry,” Yin Su murmured.

“Our bad,” Chuchu lowered her head, her voice hushed.

“It’s fine. Really. Looking back now, I don’t think I even liked her that much.” Ji Jiayu put down her glass.

“Not seeing each other again—that makes her a qualified ex.”

Besides, she should even feel grateful.

If not for Song Tingyu, how would she have discovered she liked women?

If not for her, how would she have realized that the feelings she could never let go of for her older sister… were actually love?

Ji Jiayu turned toward them, picking up the microphone.
“Not singing? Just the two of you?”

Knock, knock—

The door to the private room rattled, then cracked open.

A young girl poked her head in, long hair loose, eyes bright.
“Yo, everyone’s here already?”

It was Chen Mo, another roommate. By sophomore year she had already started working part-time at studios and film sets—ever the workaholic.

“Come in!” Chuchu called.

The door swung open. Chen Mo carried in a giant transparent gift box, setting it on the coffee table.

Almost at the same time, the KTV’s random playlist suddenly switched songs—

🎵“I am a little goldfish, living in a pond. Swimming here and there, never quite content… Day after day, until I reach the sea.” 🎵

Ji Jiayu’s lips parted. “Is this…?”

A cake?

“Surprise!!”

“Happy birthday, Xiaoyu~!”

“Our little goldfish, be happy!!”

The three girls cheered together, as the children’s song “Little Goldfish” played over the speakers.

All the voices tangled together, noisy and warm.
This—this was what a birthday should feel like.

And it suddenly hit Ji Jiayu: she was still alive.

How wonderful.

Her vision blurred. Her eyes stung. Even her nose turned sore.

She bowed her head, rubbing at her eyes with a finger.
“You… still remembered?”

“Of course! You always got so many gifts every year. When you weren’t around, they’d get sent to the dorm instead—every time, the cake stuffed us full.”

“Quick, make a wish.”

Ji Jiayu pressed her palms together, closed her eyes, and made a wish.

A wish she’d never dared think of before—
a foolish yearning.

When she opened her eyes again, she blew out the candles.

They cut the cake together.

She sniffled, scooping up a small bite with her spoon. It was matcha mille crêpe—sweet cream and the faint bitterness of matcha melted together on her tongue.

Everyone was here. Everyone was doing well.

“This time you’re the latest again.” Chuchu pulled a bottle of white wine from the ice bucket, poured Chen Mo a glass. “Drink as penalty.”

They nibbled on fruit platters and seeds, belting songs loudly, like old times.

Chuchu sat on the table, microphone in one hand, singing sad love songs.

“So how about you now? Doing okay?” Chen Mo leaned closer to Ji Jiayu. “Still planning to make it in the entertainment industry?”

“I’m doing fine. Switched to a new agency. I still… want to stay in the industry.”

Her alcohol tolerance was low. Her eyes flushed faintly red, shimmering as she smiled across the table at Chen Mo.

“What, do I look like I’m not doing well?”

That single glance made Chen Mo’s heart skip a beat.

In just half a year, Ji Jiayu seemed to have become even more feminine—
just one look, and even a straight girl’s heart could stir.

“Uh—no, I didn’t mean that.” Chen Mo hurried to explain. “If I remember right, you were the only one in our dorm chasing a career in showbiz. The rest of us switched fields.”

Yin Su had gone into commercial photography and advertising.
Chuchu, who studied sound recording, now taught herself editing and became a video creator.
Chen Mo, a directing major, ironically joined a newspaper.

Their degrees and eventual paths didn’t quite match.

“Mainly, not everyone can survive in the entertainment circle. Maybe we just didn’t have the talent,” Chen Mo laughed, with a hint of self-mockery. “We didn’t have your perseverance.”

“It’s because… I’m stubborn.” Ji Jiayu’s voice softened. “I want the person I love to see me. I want to follow in her footsteps.”

There’s a saying online, widely spread, perfectly suited to her—

Some walls, you have to smash your head against yourself, to finally give up.

“No way, you’re chasing a star??”

“Not a star. Just an ordinary person…” Ji Jiayu’s lips curled upward. “Though not ordinary, really.”

Her sister shone brighter than any star in the sky—
how could she be ordinary?

Only—she had lost her.

On the table, Chuchu’s voice drifted with the song:
🎵 “Suddenly, I miss you. Where are you now? Are you happy, or hurting?” 🎵

Suddenly, I miss you. Where are you?

Could you come back to me?

Ji Chen… my most beloved sister.

The KTV was dimly lit. Suddenly, her phone lit up, bright against the dark.

[Qiu]: Where are you?

[Ji Jiayu]: Out playing.

[Qiu]: ……

[Qiu]: I told you at noon, you need to come home early tonight. Tomorrow starts early.”

[Ji Jiayu]: Mhm.

But it was only 9 p.m.

[Qiu]: Where are you now? Who are you with?

She waited a few minutes before replying.

[Ji Jiayu]: All girls, my college classmates. Don’t worry.

All girls.
That made Qiu Miaoran even less at ease.

Her eyes fixed on the phone screen.
The hand resting on the desk suddenly clenched, slamming down hard.

Bang—
A dull, heavy thud.

The desk lamp shook violently.

Assistant Li, who had just entered to give her a report, jumped in shock.
What now? Which major project had collapsed this time?

“Wait a moment.” Qiu Miaoran lifted her arm, adjusting the gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. A faint blue gleam flashed across the lenses. “I’ll deal with this first.”

Her grave expression made Assistant Li even more nervous…

She lowered her head, fingers tapping quickly—

[Qiu]: Send me a photo. Right now. Take one, show me who’s there.

A faint suffocating pressure—
the kind that belonged to someone in control.

Ji Jiayu straightened, glancing around quickly to assess the situation:

Two bottles of sweet white, a dozen beers.

Her dormmates’ alcohol tolerance wasn’t great. Now, Chen Mo was clutching half a bottle, leaning heavily on Yin Su, while Chuchu clutched the mic with one hand and wrapped the other around Chen Mo’s thigh, wailing out-of-tune lyrics.

And now Qiu Miaoran was demanding a photo, to check up on her.

But…

Her drunk straight-girl roommates—
right now, they looked more lesbian than real lesbians.

Any random snapshot would look ridiculously indecent.

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