My Wealthy Ex-Girlfriend Knelt and Begged Me to Come Back [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 26

One minute later, her phone buzzed with a new message

[Qiu Miaoran]: 1903

She had sent the room number.

A few minutes later, at the door of Room 1903, Ji Jiayu knocked.

When she pressed on the door, she realized it wasn’t locked.

The other had left the door open for her—waiting for her to come.

Ji Jiayu walked in, closed the door behind her, and locked it.

Inside, the heavy smell of smoke choked her, making her cough, “Cough, cough…”

She raised her hand, white slender fingers pressed against her flushed lips, coughing softly as she walked closer and closer. Stopping at the edge of the bed, she looked at Qiu Miaoran with tear-brimmed eyes, reddened from the smoke—looking pitiful, fragile.

Qiu Miaoran sat on the edge of the bed, knees bent, leaning forward slightly, a slender lady’s cigarette pinched between her index and middle fingers.

On the nightstand, the ashtray was filled with cigarette butts.

She had smoked a lot—clearly in a bad mood.

“Miaoran…”

Ji Jiayu wanted to tell her not to smoke—it was bad for her health.
But the words never came out.

—She was just a kept lover. What right did she have to say such things?

Qiu Miaoran shifted sideways, her arm pressing against the neat quilt behind her.

“Come here.”

She patted the space beside her, signaling Ji Jiayu to lie down.

The smoke was too thick, making Ji Jiayu’s eyes water and nose burn. Her amber eyes were filled with unshed tears, looking both wet and innocent, “Miaoran, I don’t want to tonight. I have to join the crew tomorrow morning. I want to sleep early…”

“I won’t touch you. You’ll do it yourself. Let me watch.” Qiu Miaoran glanced at her. Her slightly upturned phoenix eyes, shadowed by a few strands of fallen hair, looked darker, colder than usual—chilling.

Born into a prestigious family, educated, refined—Qiu Miaoran had never spoken vulgar words.

But this time, she did. For the first time ever.

“It’s not like it’s your first time. With your ex-girlfriend—you never did this?”

She already knew who Song Tingyu was. She had known long, long before Ji Jiayu herself knew.

She had known that Song Tingyu was Ji Jiayu’s ex-girlfriend.

But she had never said it aloud—until now.

“Mm…” Ji Jiayu’s eyes welled up, shaking her head again and again. “I haven’t.”

She wore a silky white camisole, the satin gleaming faintly, her skin even fairer than the fabric. Her trembling shoulders made her look like a helpless little goldfish stranded on the shore, quivering with fear.

Qiu Miaoran’s lips parted slightly. She reached out, tapping the cigarette against the ashtray, ashes falling, smoke curling upwards again from the glowing tip.

“Do it yourself. Afterward, sleep.”

She was angry.

Though her expression was calm—her features still elegant and beautiful, lips pressed tightly, her phoenix eyes fixed like icy blades—she was clearly furious.

That cold stare seemed to suck the air out of the room, pressing down with suffocating weight.

Ji Jiayu’s bare shoulder shivered under the oppressive gaze. She obediently sat down at Qiu Miaoran’s side, then curled up and lay down.

“No…” Her voice was small, hesitant, like a bird’s faint whimper.

Qiu Miaoran’s voice was low, steady, “Miss Ji usually knows how to tease me, doesn’t she?”

“Hurry.”

She was impatient now. The fury beneath her refined exterior cracked through—revealing the violence and dominance hidden deep within her bones.

Chilling.

A so-called ascetic, yet she could say things like this.
A girl thought to be shameless, blushing scarlet with shame instead.

The faint rustling of fabric sounded.

Qiu Miaoran remained fully dressed, collar still buttoned to the top. One arm braced on the pillow, the other holding her cigarette. She leaned slightly, lowering her gaze, watching closely, studying every inch of the girl before her—serious, almost as if observing a delicate experiment.

Her phoenix eyes, usually so sharp, grew hazy, a mist of desire clouding them. Her lips parted slightly, exhaling smoke, veiling the scene before her in a shifting fog.

…

Near midnight, Ji Jiayu awoke from her dreams.

Too hot.

She tilted her head up and realized—Qiu Miaoran was holding her too tightly.

The woman’s arm shifted slightly around her.

Ji Jiayu swallowed hard and dared not move. The humiliation of earlier was still vivid—under that polished exterior, the suppressed desire, once released, was terrifying.

Watching someone… like that, so close—while still holding a burning cigarette—without a shred of shame.

A depraved elegance.

In the end, Qiu Miaoran indeed never laid a hand on her. Instead, she had leaned down to taste her lips… with all the lights bright, leaving nothing hidden, Ji Jiayu stripped bare, while Qiu Miaoran remained fully clothed.

Her humiliation magnified to the extreme.

Like an object—a possession—that could be unzipped, displayed at her owner’s whim, without choice, without refusal.

And then the system’s voice—

[Life Points +2]

Clearly, Qiu Miaoran was satisfied. But for Ji Jiayu, it was unbearable humiliation.

She didn’t like it.

She didn’t like Qiu Miaoran.

…

The Global Technology Summit.

First-row, left-hand seats—the highest position in the room.

Qiu Miaoran sat in the fourth chair from the left.

The seat to her right was still empty, a nameplate resting on the table: Rentai Medical.

“President Qiu,” a young man bent down, holding out a folder with a fawning smile. “This is our project’s draft… if you have time, please take a look?”

Qiu Miaoran pushed the folder aside with one elegant motion, her gaze cold.

“Please follow procedure. All documents go to my company’s VC department.”

“And—don’t block my desk.”

The man flushed with embarrassment, clutching his folder, “Sorry, I’ll leave right away.”

As he walked off, a middle-aged man slipped into the seat, sliding over a gold-embossed business card.

“President Qiu, this is my card. Our company is at the seed stage, we’re seeking Series A funding…”

Qiu Miaoran glanced at the card but didn’t take it.

“Excuse me,” someone interrupted, tapping the table lightly. “This is my seat.”

The middle-aged man quickly stood up. “Sorry, I’ll move.”

Song Tingyu stepped in, taking the seat to Qiu Miaoran’s right.

“President Qiu, we meet again.”

Qiu Miaoran turned her head, eyes shifting from Song Tingyu to the nameplate—

It read Director Song, not President Song.

“Where’s Song Zheng?”

“He had other business. From now on, I’ll be handling this project.” Song Tingyu raised a brow slightly, looking at the faint shadows beneath Qiu Miaoran’s eyes.

“Didn’t rest well last night? You’ve got dark circles.”

【Tsk tsk, must’ve lost sleep after seeing me so close with Ji Jiayu at the hotel…】

Song Tingyu gloated inwardly.

Qiu Miaoran’s voice was flat, detached, “Director Song, I suggest you focus on your own matters.”

【Laughable. Can’t manage her own mess, yet still thinks of stealing others’ people.】

…

The summit began.

An old physics professor from the Academy of Sciences gave the opening talk.

“Some people think they’re fermions and others are bosons, as if the world only consists of those two kinds of particles—that without them, others would lose the whole world. But in reality, you’re just a medium. Without you, people just vibrate through another medium.”

The professor’s joke, borrowed from the internet, drew laughter.

Qiu Miaoran smiled faintly, turning toward Song Tingyu.

“Director Song, back in the country only to be sidelined from core leadership? Playing middleman in outsourced projects. Quite a grind, isn’t it?”

“Why cling to something with no future?”

【Neither your family nor Ji Jiayu needs you. Like a medium—without you, no one loses the world.】

Song Tingyu’s smile froze. The professor’s words, mixed with Qiu Miaoran’s, carried another meaning entirely.

“And what is a quantitative change leading to qualitative change?” The professor laughed. “Be a spare tire for one person, you’re just a spare. Be a spare tire for a thousand people—suddenly they’re your spares!”

“The funniest thing is—some people don’t even know they’re a spare tire, and still think they’re gravity itself, that no one can escape them!”

The hall roared with applause.

Song Tingyu clapped along, her smile sharp, “Yes, President Qiu, you’re the core of your group. Who could ever escape you? You’re like gravity itself…”

【Hah, and she really thinks she’s gravity.】

“Cough, cough…” Qiu Miaoran’s hand tightened around her water glass. She actually choked.

…

When the seminar ended, the organizers invited participants to dine together at the hotel.

“No need,” Song Tingyu declined politely. “I have private matters—need to discuss further with President Qiu.”

Turning to her, she asked, “So, may I treat you to dinner?”

“You’re Rentai’s new project lead. Indeed, we should talk.” Qiu Miaoran nodded.

…

In a casual restaurant in the CBD, Nancheng.

Qiu Miaoran glanced at the dishes, brows lifting slightly. “Director Song, this is your treat?”

Song Tingyu picked up a piece of Korean fried chicken glazed with amber sauce, dropping it into her small porcelain bowl. “President Qiu doesn’t like it?”

“It’s not that. I’m just surprised. I didn’t know Director Song liked sweets.”

“I didn’t, originally. You know, eating this is like stuffing garbage into your stomach.” Song Tingyu bit into the chicken, the crisp crunch echoing.

She swallowed, wiped her lips slowly with a napkin. “But Jiayu likes it. Back in college, she couldn’t live without desserts. Even if she skipped meals, she had to have sweets. We came to this place once—she loved the food here.”

“That was in college. Past tense,” Qiu Miaoran said coldly. “Time gone doesn’t return. Why live in lies of the past?”

“Better to look at the present—and the future.”

She lifted her water glass, sipping bland water more tasteless than their conversation.

Song Tingyu sneered, “President Qiu, you know nothing about Jiayu’s youth. What right do you have to talk about her future?”

“How do you know I know nothing?”

Her hand tightened around the glass, trembling slightly, water rippling.

“Freshman year, she earned the national first-class scholarship, joined drama club. Sophomore year, her play won awards—she switched to performing arts, rebuilt her credits from scratch. Junior year… she was with you. That’s when I stopped watching.”

After Song Tingyu entered Ji Jiayu’s life,

Qiu Miaoran had lost something precious—her claim over her.

So she drowned herself in endless lovers, trying to numb herself.

“You… you investigated her?” Song Tingyu’s brows knit. “Who gave you the right?”

Qiu Miaoran’s eyes lowered slightly. “Whether I did or not—none of your concern.”

“Do you know what she was like after you left? Last year? She almost died in a car accident…”

“A car accident?” Song Tingyu whispered. “How…”

“She was running to the airport—to chase you, Song Tingyu.” Qiu Miaoran’s voice cut like ice. “If not for you, she would never be like this now.”

“She lay in neurosurgery’s intensive care unit for six months. In a deep coma.” Qiu Miaoran sighed faintly.

Song Tingyu’s fingers tangled in her hair, eyes wide, gaze vacant. “Neurosurgery? That project… could it be…”

Before she finished, the screech of a chair cut her off.

Qiu Miaoran adjusted her charcoal-gray skirt suit.

“Song Tingyu. Shut your mouth.”

She stood, phoenix eyes dark, red lips cold and sharp.

“What you owe her—your Song family will repay, piece by piece.”

Ji Jiayu was hers now. Any harm—she would collect back in full.

With that, she turned and left.

Leaving Song Tingyu alone, deaf to the world, sitting in silence—her chest aching, her body hollow, as if stripped of her very ribs.

…

That same day, the drama How the Bright Moon Shines on the Ditch began filming, releasing official styling photos.

Originally a small web drama with little buzz, it suddenly climbed into trending searches.

#HowTheBrightMoonShinesOnTheDitch begins#
“I gave my heart to the moon, yet the moon shines only on the ditch. Meeting you—is it fate, or a fleeting ripple?”

@Feng Yalan #FengYalanSuperTopic# @Yu Hu @Ji Jiayu @Chen Yiying @Xu Miaomiao

…

Inside Qiushui Entertainment’s office—

“Something happened! Big news!!” someone rushed in.

“Sis Rong, bad news—Ji Jiayu’s in trouble!”

“Calm down. I’ve seen it.” Manager Rong, a seasoned agent who had managed many A-list stars, stayed composed.

“First, contact Ji Jiayu. Ask if the news is true. If yes—we issue a public apology. If not—we find out who’s behind the smear, and take them to court!”

She dialed a call, “Hello, Xiaoyao? You saw it too, right?”

“Is Ji Jiayu on set? Don’t disturb her yet…”

…

On Weibo, under the drama’s hashtag, fans flooded the page—

【Ahhh, Yalan looks stunning! The brightest of all in the photo!】

【Yalan’s new drama, I’m in!! Can’t wait for her stills!】

【Yiying!! Ahhh, our princess slays!!】

【Wow, the second and third girls from the left look gorgeous! Especially the second one—never seen her before! A hidden gem!】

【But no one’s talking about the big scoop? Your hidden gem girl—turns out she’s a Beijing “socialite,” a well-known escort…】

Another trending topic surged:

#Ji Jiayu Beijing “Socialite” Debut#
Marked with the bright red “explosive” tag, views skyrocketing.

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