My Wealthy Ex-Girlfriend Knelt and Begged Me to Come Back [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 51.1

In the early summer morning, the air was slightly warm. The petite girl on the bed turned over, the soft thin blanket kicked into a crumpled mess.

“Beep, beep” the phone rang.

Her thick eyelashes fluttered, and the little toes sticking out from under the blanket wiggled.

Ji Jiayu woke up. She hummed softly, reached out to rub her eyes.

Light flooded in, and her vision slowly went from blurry to clear. Her head still ached faintly from the hangover. She looked around.

Thank goodness, Lin Qiaoxuan and Song Tingyu were somewhat reliable last night.

She was in her own bed, not waking up in some strange place…

Ji Jiayu slowly sat up, lowered her head slightly, and scanned downward.

Ah… she hadn’t changed clothes last night! She was still wearing yesterday’s shirt dress!

The dress was made of cotton and was wrinkled from being slept in all night.

The sake had a strong kick. She’d accidentally drunk too much last night, practically blacking out.

She vaguely remembered fainting near the door last night, and then a neighbor came over to help her up. Could she have been mistaken?

How strange.

And last night, she seemed to have a remarkable dream. In the dream, she actually took the initiative to kiss her older sister!

The most crucial thing was that the other person didn’t push her away!

How embarrassing…

Ji Jiayu’s cheek flushed slightly. She stepped into the bathroom in her slippers and began to wash up.

“Tap, tap” a knock sounded on the door.

Who could it be?

With a toothbrush in her mouth, Ji Jiayu walked over with a “tap, tap” of her slippers to open the door.

Her assistant, Xiao Yao, walked in, holding a sticky note. “Xiaoyu, how come there’s a note stuck on your door?”

Ji Jiayu was puzzled. “What note?”

After all, the security in the complex was very good, so no one posting small ads should have been able to sneak in, right?

Assistant Xiao Yao read the handwriting on the sticky note:

“Remember to double-lock the door when you leave. The key is on your shoe cabinet.”

Xiao Yao handed the sticky note to Ji Jiayu. “Xiaoyu, did you… leave your key in the door last night and forget to take it out?”

And then the neighbor helped her take the key out?

Ji Jiayu held the sticky note and saw that the handwriting was long and slender, with strong, vigorous strokes. It was a very familiar handwriting, as if she’d seen this person’s writing somewhere before…

She turned her head and saw the key chain resting on the shoe cabinet. With the toothbrush still in her mouth, she gave a vague “ah,” picked up the keys, and put them back in place. “Maybe?”

“You have an audition today,” Assistant Xiao Yao took out a small notebook and read Ji Jiayu’s schedule. “You also have an awards ceremony soon. We’ve been nominated, you know!”

Ji Jiayu, who was about to change, stopped when she heard the word “nominated,” tilted her head slightly, and looked at her. “What nomination?”

Assistant Xiao Yao’s pen danced in her hand, and her eyes seemed to light up.

“The Huaguo Outstanding TV Series Golden Magnolia Award! Congratulations! ‘Mu Qingyu’ actress, Ji Jiayu, is about to win Best Supporting Actress!”

Ji Jiayu corrected her, “It’s been nominated for Best Supporting Actress…”

She hadn’t won yet!

As a career fan, Assistant Xiao Yao couldn’t contain her fervent, sincere heart!

—She had watched Xiaoyu grow up little by little! From only being able to shoot inner pages for a dual-person magazine and having roles snatched away at auditions, to later getting her own endorsements,

And now, she had been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress at a TV series awards ceremony!

This feeling was exactly like a trainee she had raised in a survival show finally about to debut!

Assistant Xiao Yao was so proud of her little Xiaoyu cub!

“I don’t care, I think this award is already ours,” Assistant Xiao Yao put away her notebook.

“Our Xiaoyu must be dressed beautifully then, strive to outshine everyone, and win Best Supporting Actress!”

Ji Jiayu smiled. “You’re getting happy already? It’s just a nomination, it might not be mine…”

“You came too early today. Wait a bit, let me finish washing up and change clothes.”

Forty minutes later, Assistant Xiao Yao drove Ji Jiayu to the audition location, Chengda Film and Television Tower.

In a corner of the basement parking lot, a car was parked.

Assistant Xiao Yao murmured,

“The drama that Producer Cheng and Director Zhang are collaborating on—their previous collaboration won multiple international nominations. This drama is definitely going to win big awards, too. But, I hear the competition for roles is quite fierce, and some people are bringing their own investment to get cast. I wonder what kind of competitors we’ll run into later…”

“I’m… I’m a little nervous. Even though the audition isn’t for me. I should’ve had Sister Rong come over to back you up. I can’t handle big scenes.”

Assistant Xiao Yao pulled out the car key, nervously rubbing her hands.

“How about I ask Sister Rong to see if the group’s top management can approve an investment into this film?

“Should we bring some investment in for once?! You’re on a hot streak, it’d be bad if someone snatched your position again…”

If she really wanted to pull some strings, she wouldn’t need the group’s top management to inject capital.

Ji Jiayu could just mention it to her biological mother, Lin Wan. That amount of money would be a small matter for her.

But she didn’t want to.

Ji Jiayu’s lips curled up, and the corners of her eyes curved into a beautiful arc. Though she was the one auditioning, she comforted her assistant instead.

“Small scene, stay calm, just be yourself,”

“Even if I don’t get cast as the lead, and I can’t get the first billing, we can still aim for the second billing, can’t we?”

It was indeed a small scene.

After all, no melodramatic romance drama could be more outrageous than Ji Jiayu’s life.

She had experienced fighting for food, drink, and clothes in an orphanage; mutual deception and utilizing each other’s bodies for comfort and shared beds with different dreams with a CEO; separation from and reunion with her birth mother; and reconnecting with her long-lost childhood sweetheart sister…

Compared to her tragic life, an audition was just a tiny scene!

She definitely had to stay calm for this little scene.

The audition site, a conference room in the office building of the Chengda Film and Television Tower.

“Xiaoyu… I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

A familiar female voice came from behind.

“Teacher Yalan.” Ji Jiayu stopped and saw a familiar face in the second row near the aisle.

It was Feng Yalan.

Feng Yalan, as a top-tier popular actress, had indeed worked with Ji Jiayu before, on the previous TV series, ‘Why Does the Bright Moon Shine into the Gutter?’.

Before filming, the female lead role that Feng Yalan played was originally Ji Jiayu’s, but later, Feng Yalan parachuted in and took the female lead.

After ‘Why Does the Bright Moon Shine into the Gutter?’ was filmed, overwhelming press releases spread—Teacher Feng Yalan was busy traveling back and forth between Beijing and Shanghai, while the newcomer, Ji Jiayu, was arbitrarily altering the script, and the recent popular young actress, Chen Yiying, was spoiled and unprofessional.

Later, when the TV series aired, ‘Why Does the Bright Moon Shine into the Gutter?’ made it to the top three trending searches three times that week.

Feng Yalan, however, was criticized for bad acting, and her sole fans, the “Lan fans,” awkwardly attacked the newcomer. Her team bought off marketing accounts and frequently stepped on the newcomer to hype themselves up…

Ji Jiayu, on the other hand, with the role of “Mu Qingyu,” dominated major editing websites.

Various editing UP-host screamed—

“Beautiful killer! Sister is killing me! Hiss…”

“She’s slaying, Little Fish Sister is slaying! Hehe… Sister…”

“My pants flew off~ Little Fish Sister, whip me hard!”

“…”

Finally, the “sugar daddy scandal” involving Ji Jiayu broke out. Although the company had dealt with the public relations and the main person had come forward to clarify, the Lan fans still repeatedly brought it up on Weibo Super Topics. The two fan bases fought fiercely on Weibo and Douban.

After those few fights, logically, if they weren’t rivals, they at least had the hostility of fighting for a position.

But Ji Jiayu didn’t say anything, and Feng Yalan didn’t show anything openly.

Feng Yalan looked at Ji Jiayu like an ordinary senior who cared about her junior, with an amicable smile on her lips. “I didn’t expect that we’d have a chance to work together again,”

“Xiaoyu, are you here to audition for ‘Cui Ying’ this time? I think… you’re quite suited for this role. You’re very cute…”

This movie was a dual female-lead film. One of the female leads had already been internally decided by the director team as Best Actress Wei.

And the character “Cui Ying” that Feng Yalan just mentioned was the female lead’s classmate, only considered the third female role…

“Cute” really didn’t fit Ji Jiayu.

Feng Yalan’s meaning was indirect, subtly hinting that Ji Jiayu was suitable for the “third female role.”

Ji Jiayu gently shook her head, the corners of her rosy lips hooking up, and her shallow eyes curved into an arc, a sweet smile spreading across her delicate face. “No, I’m not auditioning for ‘Cui Ying’,”

“I’m here to audition for the female lead, ‘Wei Jiajia’.”

The smile on Feng Yalan’s face immediately froze. How could this woman be so oblivious?! A production team like this would surely win awards in the future…

How could they use a budding, eager-to-be-famous newcomer like Ji Jiayu?

Feng Yalan leaned back slightly in her seat, gently stroking her hair with one hand. Her voice was slow, as if she regretted it. “Ah, what a pity, I thought we’d have a second chance to work together~”

“Honestly, your strength is very high. I’m a very laid-back person, and I really don’t want to compete with strong juniors like you,”

“I’m so envious of you newcomers, you’re all so proactive and full of drive, rushing over to try when there’s an audition opportunity… Unlike me, honestly, if Director Zhang hadn’t strongly insisted, I wouldn’t have wanted to audition. I really just want to relax.”

The point of these long sentences was to hint that she, Feng Yalan… was the seed contestant strongly requested by Director Zhang.

Feigning humility before boasting, praising in the open but criticizing in the dark.

Ms. Feng, you are a “Level 10 Versailles” genius!

Ji Jiayu: “…” She hated people who showed off the most.

“Teacher Yalan is also very strong, but did I really work with you?”

Ji Jiayu lowered her eyebrows, the corners of her eyes smiling like crescent moons. She leaned forward with her slender wrist, her fingers painted with bright red nail polish cupping her mouth, seemingly feigning embarrassment as she looked at Feng Yalan.

“Oh… I forgot,”

“Teacher Yalan is too busy, running between Beijing and Shanghai during the same filming period. I hardly ever saw you on set~”

The word “ne” at the end, slightly rising in tone, sounded very clever, pointedly bringing up the fact that “Feng Yalan frequently used body doubles and was absent from the set.”

Feng Yalan laughed awkwardly twice. She was an old hand in the industry, and her words were naturally watertight. Even when being ridiculed, her expression didn’t change, and she smiled politely. “Haha, what are you joking about, Jiayu?”

She reached out and patted the seat next to her, her movements a bit stiff. “I really want to work with you again. Come on, sit here.”

Ji Jiayu slightly raised an eyebrow. “I prefer to sit alone, sorry.”

She turned around and walked towards the back row.

In the moment they passed each other, Ji Jiayu spoke in a volume only the two of them could hear.

“But I don’t want to work with you~”

—And, I want to beat your head in, kick your leg until it breaks, smash your silicone chest, and let you know that even a newcomer cannot be casually stepped on, awkwardly criticized, or used as a stepping stone by you.

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