My Wife Became a Top Star After I Came Back from Quick Transmigration - Chapter 57

Confrontation?

“Heh,” Yi Meier sneered. “That’s easy for you to say. You think you can just confront it? Do you know how important reputation is in the entertainment industry?”

She brought up a certain male celebrity, though Lin Mo didn’t recognize him.

“How popular was he back then? Just because he announced his girlfriend, who his fans didn’t like, a huge chunk of his fans left. How many endorsements did he lose? He dropped from a top-tier star to a fourth or fifth-rate celebrity. Is that a price you can just ‘confront’?” Even though Yi Meier’s voice was steady, her agitation was clear.

Lin Mo, despite her limited knowledge of the entertainment industry, wasn’t fooled. She thought about it seriously, then countered, “He lost fans after announcing his girlfriend because his entire image was built on being an ‘imaginary boyfriend,’ wasn’t it?”

Yi Meier choked on her words and frowned. “Didn’t Xiong Jingjing say you had limited knowledge of the entertainment industry?” How could Xiong Jingjing, who’s been in this business for so long, have been so wrong about Lin Mo?

Lin Mo nodded. “Yes, my knowledge is quite limited. But for Qixi’s sake, I learned a little more.”

Yi Meier was speechless again. Lin Mo was curious. “Speaking of reputation, there are plenty of gay and lesbian celebrities in your industry who are still doing well. It seems that in this business, as long as you don’t break the law, reputation can sometimes destroy a person, but other times, it’s just something you can ride out by being a bit more low-key. Ultimately, you seem to have the ability to control public opinion.”

Yi Meier sat there, watching Lin Mo with a cold stare.

Control public opinion? Yes, that was standard practice in the entertainment industry. Who didn’t have a public relations team?

Lin Mo saw her expression and chuckled. “Let’s be frank, Miss Yi. Why don’t you be direct with me? What you really care about… After all, Xiao Xi isn’t here.”

Yi Meier scoffed, her attitude turning colder. “You’re not stupid. Let’s be direct then. Reputation truly isn’t my main concern. How much have we invested in Xiao Xi? How difficult was it to get her to her current position? Why should she take on a negative reputation because of you? It’s not like reputation is a completely insignificant thing.”

She paused, her eyes piercing as she stared at Lin Mo. “Besides, you left without a word and came back with debt. You didn’t offer any explanation. How about this, Lin Mo, you first tell me why you left back then?”

Before Lin Mo could speak, Yi Meier warned her again. “Don’t use the excuse about starting a business! No business requires a person to disappear for eight years. As long as you were still on this planet, what reason could you possibly have for vanishing without a trace? Not even a phone call? If you had left her with just a little bit of hope, she wouldn’t have lost the will to live during that time.”

Lin Mo was stunned into silence. Yi Meier finally felt a little bit of satisfaction and sneered. “No matter how I think about it, what other reason is there to explain your disappearance besides not liking her, looking down on her, and abandoning her? Why don’t you tell me? Let me see a reason that even I can’t think of. It must be a real tragedy.”

Lin Mo sighed. Yi Meier was Su Qixi’s biggest support all these years. The fact that Yi Meier could protect Su Qixi for eight years meant she truly saw her as family. Because she was family, she was so critical of Lin Mo now.

There were many guests in the courtyard. They strolled around, their eyes occasionally glancing up at the second floor. The noise downstairs stood in stark contrast to the silence in the room.

Seeing that Lin Mo had no words to retort, Yi Meier laughed with more satisfaction. “Can’t think of a reason?”

Lin Mo replied, “So, for you, the most important part is what comes next, isn’t it?”

Yi Meier stood up and walked over to her, her eyes filled with undisguised disdain. “Of course. From the beginning, Xiong Jingjing and I have only opposed you because you abandoned her. A mere 5 million yuan of debt is nothing to me.”

Lin Mo nodded. “You protected her very well.”

Yi Meier frowned. “You don’t need to tell me that. You hurt her completely. I know you risked your life to save someone yesterday, and I believe you’re a good person. But Lin Mo, what you’ve done for Xiao Xi isn’t enough.”

Lin Mo nodded. The satisfaction Yi Meier felt vanished again. She asked, confused and angry, “Why won’t you explain why you left back then? If your reason is good enough, I’ll support you two with both hands. She loves you so much that even Xiong Jingjing and I wouldn’t dare interfere too much. If your reason is sufficient, I know when to back off.”

Lin Mo smiled, looking back at her. There was no anger in her expression, only a hint of relief. This gave Yi Meier, who was usually so confident about everything, a strange feeling. It was as if Lin Mo was very pleased with her attitude.

Yi Meier: “…” Does this person like being scorned?

Although she knew she didn’t have the right to interfere that much, her impression of Lin Mo was so bad that she couldn’t just stand by and let Su Qixi be with her without intervening. She also didn’t want Su Qixi to hate her. Over the years, she and Su Qixi had been roommates since college and were like sisters. Their relationship shouldn’t be ruined by someone like Lin Mo.

Yi Meier had tried to be as careful as possible in handling their situation. But Lin Mo was so difficult to deal with that their conversation ultimately reached a point of complete honesty.

This person isn’t going to go tell Su Qixi on me, is she? Yi Meier suddenly thought, frowning.

“I can’t give you the real reason. The only reason I can give the public is that I invested, it failed, and I was too ashamed to come back.”

Yi Meier: “…You must be kidding me!” ‘The public’? Does that mean there’s a different reason for me?

Lin Mo frowned and asked her seriously, “…How about the reason that I went fishing at sea for eight years?”

Even Yi Meier, with her steady temperament, was infuriated. “…Find a more believable excuse.”

Lin Mo rubbed her chin. “So that reason isn’t very believable? No wonder she was so angry.”

“Heh.” Yi Meier was speechless with anger. “…Then tell me the real reason.”

Lin Mo laughed heartily. “Fake reasons can’t fool people, and the real reason, no one would believe. If even Xiao Xi didn’t believe it, why would I be so foolish as to tell someone else?”

A cool breeze blew in from the balcony, carrying the scent of flowers. Lin Mo became a little more serious and said to Yi Meier, “You do what you have to do, and I’ll do what I have to do. I’m very happy to see how you’ve protected her. Even though you really don’t like me, I don’t dislike you at all. But to get her, I won’t back down for you. I think I should have that much confidence.”

Yi Meier gritted her teeth. “So you’re just going to act without a care?”

Lin Mo sighed, looking out the window, and said wistfully, “If I didn’t have any cares, our relationship wouldn’t still be so ambiguous.”

Yi Meier: “…Alright, then what are you worried about?”

Lin Mo let out a soft sigh. “I don’t know either. I’m curious myself.”

Before the system’s “bomb” explodes, Lin Mo is trying to tread as carefully as possible.

Yi Meier: “…” After all that, it feels like she was just toying with me.

In the end, the two parted on bad terms.

No, Yi Meier was the only one who left on bad terms.

Downstairs, the first batch of customers had finished their coffee and were lining up to pay and leave. Wu Qingqing and Qi Yushan were clearing tables in the front hall, and Li Xinling was sweeping the floor.

Li Xinling saw Lin Mo and Yi Meier coming down the stairs. While sweeping, she curiously looked over. She saw Lin Mo still looking gentle and refined, not showing a hint of annoyance. But Yi Meier, who was walking ahead of her, was frowning and looked upset.

Li Xinling was shocked. “!!!” This Lin Mo is too strong!!!

Su Qixi also saw them coming down and went to greet them. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, smiling. “Did you two have a nice chat?”

A gentle smile replaced the cold look on Yi Meier’s face. She said, “It was very nice.”

Su Qixi then asked softly, “Have you decided on a plan?”

Lin Mo also smiled gently. “We had a very intense discussion and decided to let things happen naturally.”

Yi Meier’s eyes widened. She slowly turned to look at her. Is that what we agreed on? It was true, they had talked about the reason for her leaving and had forgotten to discuss how to handle the future.

But, it’s not a big deal.

Su Qixi heard what Lin Mo said and felt that the result of their discussion was exactly what she wanted. She was overjoyed. Even though Yi Meier looked surprised, Su Qixi pretended not to notice.

She went to take Yi Meier’s arm, happily saying, “I’ll make you a cup of coffee!”

Yi Meier, infuriated by the two of them working in tandem, said directly, “I don’t want coffee from either of you. Just looking at you makes me annoyed.” She then sat down in a high chair across from Yun Yue and said to her, “You make me one.”

Yun Yue was a little surprised. She turned to look at Lin Mo and Su Qixi, and seeing Su Qixi’s pleading expression, Yun Yue calmly asked Yi Meier, “Of course. What would you like?”

Lin Mo turned and went behind the counter to make coffee for other customers. Yun Yue then focused on making Yi Meier’s drink.

Yun Yue was a very distant person. She rarely got screen time on the show and was a presence that could easily be forgotten. As an investor, Yi Meier knew about Wu Yu as well. After all, they were once a CP with a lot of potential, and Yi Meier had invested in their show back then.

To be honest, a person like Yun Yue would be difficult to remember if she weren’t in a CP.

But now, sitting across from her, Yi Meier watched her with her head down, concentrating on her work. The soft sunlight cast a halo around her, giving her detached demeanor a bit of warmth.

Actually, in real life, this person isn’t bad at all, Yi Meier thought.

Taking the coffee from Yun Yue, Yi Meier asked casually, “How do you feel about the show?”

Yun Yue was taken aback. After Yi Meier went upstairs, she had heard from Qiu Mingyi that Yi Meier’s parents were big shots in the entertainment industry and that she was their only daughter. But instead of entering the industry, Yi Meier started investing in entertainment projects. Her eye was so sharp that almost every project she chose made money.

After making her first fortune, she started expanding her businesses. In the ten years since college, she had become a legendary figure in the entertainment industry.

It was hard to believe that such a powerful person was Su Qixi’s college roommate. She was only 30 and was truly a successful businesswoman.

Someone so powerful asking for her feelings made Yun Yue feel a little overwhelmed. But she rarely expressed her emotions, so even now, she just calmly replied, “It’s very good. Everyone is very nice.”

Yi Meier nodded. “That’s good. Record the show well. I’ll take you all out to dinner when it’s over.”

Yun Yue: “Thank you.”

Yi Meier nodded again and said no more. She took a sip of her coffee and looked at Lin Mo, who was skillfully working nearby, frowning slightly. Then she looked at Su Qixi, who was following behind Lin Mo. She saw Su Qixi smiling up at Lin Mo, her eyes filled with love that was completely undisguised.

Yi Meier sighed dramatically and said in an irritated voice, “What a big, beautiful flower, completely ruined by a pig.”

Yun Yue made a little gasp and followed her gaze to Lin Mo. Then, a sudden smile bloomed on her face. Late autumn is coming, and the end of the line is about to be drawn.

As an observer, Yi Meier seemed to have suddenly glimpsed a different kind of scenery.

Yun Yue said, “Lin Mo is very good. She’s especially good.” She looked at Yi Meier, and for once, she was brave enough to say, “She’s different from others. Being with her, you’d feel a special sense of security.”

Yi Meier raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean by security?”

Yun Yue tilted her head in thought, then answered seriously, “Look at Senior Su. She’s smiling so brightly. I think that’s security. When Senior Su is with you, she’s also happy, which means you give her a sense of security. Everyone can provide another person with a certain crucial emotion, but it’s hard for anyone to provide every kind of emotion. You might think you’re protecting Senior Su, but it could be a different kind of harm.”

Yi Meier was taken aback by what she said. She couldn’t help but look back at Su Qixi. Her smile was so radiant. It was true that she could also make her happy and carefree. But just as Yun Yue had said, perhaps Lin Mo could provide Su Qixi with something she couldn’t.

Am I killing off a chance for her to be happy?

But even while she was reflecting, Yi Meier still put on a tough front. “…You all are so sympathetic that it makes me look like the bad guy. Out of sight, out of mind. I’m leaving.”

With that, Yi Meier took one more sip of her coffee, left a review of “It’s not good,” and then left the restaurant.

Su Qixi raised her foot to chase her, but Lin Mo stopped her. “You wait here. I’ll go see her off for you.”

Su Qixi: “Huh?” But isn’t she my friend?

After Lin Mo said that, she followed Yi Meier outside. Su Qixi didn’t follow because new guests came in, so she had to get back to work.

Meanwhile, Yi Meier saw Lin Mo coming out to see her off and scoffed. “Why are you seeing me off? You should let Xiao Xi come! What’s our relationship that you need to see me off?”

Lin Mo smiled, walked over to her side, and looked around.

Sigh, she looks so sneaky!

Yi Meier really felt that she looked down on Lin Mo. What did Su Qixi even like about her?

Lin Mo saw that no one was around and leaned in close to Yi Meier’s ear, asking softly, “I forgot to ask you upstairs. Do you know why Xiao Xi wanted to go to a private cinema?”

What?

This question completely stumped Yi Meier. “…What the heck?”

Lin Mo saw her reaction and was a little disappointed. “You don’t know either? I asked Xiong Jingjing, and she didn’t know.”

Yi Meier bit her lip, then asked, “She said she wanted to go?”

Lin Mo nodded. “Yeah, I’m not entirely sure why, and it’s hard for me to perform if I don’t know.”

Yi Meier looked at her blankly. “Per… form?”

Lin Mo was surprised by her reaction. She looked at Yi Meier and asked, “Why are you blushing?” No, why is a CEO blushing?

Yi Meier gritted her teeth. “That pervert! I won’t let her get away with this.” As a mother figure, she now felt as if her daughter, who didn’t know any better, had found a punk and wanted to run away with him.

Yi Meier left, muttering to herself.

Lin Mo: “…” A pervert? Sometimes she really didn’t understand what was going through their heads, but then, without even trying, she seemed to get it.

No, does that thing really have that purpose?

Isn’t it just a place with few people?

Lin Mo pulled out her phone. After a moment of hesitation, she opened a search bar and looked up “private cinema.”

[—Mingcheng XX District High-End Private Cinema, clean and comfortable. Package A, 588 yuan. Snuggling, kissing, hugging, bears can be touched, black stockings can be worn]

Lin Mo: “…” Ah?

I should have just searched for it from the start! I would have known what Su Qixi meant and wouldn’t have had to go around asking everyone!

Now… everyone knows.

Of course, the webpage also had a “Package B,” which was even more explicit. Lin Mo shook her head, tossing the “yellow waste” out of her mind, and turned to go back.

At this moment, Yun Yue was tidying up the coffee cups on the counter. The few fans who had wanted to cause trouble had backed down because of Yi Meier’s warning.

Su Qixi was looking at the new order list. Her high school part-time job experience had made her very quick. But as one group of customers left and a new group came in, they placed too many orders at once, and Su Qixi was getting a little flustered.

Seeing Lin Mo return, she waved her over. “Come here, quick, quick!”

Lin Mo found her frantic state amusing. She walked around the counter to her side. Su Qixi handed her some of the orders. “Quick, help me with these.”

Lin Mo nodded. She looked through the coffee orders on the list and asked, as if it were a casual thought, “I’ll talk to the director in the next couple of days, and we can go out to have some fun?”

Su Qixi was in the middle of making coffee. Hearing this, she casually nodded, her eyes focused on the measuring cup, not forgetting to ask, “Did you think of where you want to go?”

Lin Mo’s eyes curved into a smile. She leaned down and spoke close to Su Qixi’s ear, her warm breath making Su Qixi tingle.

—”Yes, that cinema you mentioned last time. I’ll look for it.”

Crash! The cup in Su Qixi’s hand dropped to the floor. The sound startled everyone, but Su Qixi seemed frozen. She blinked, and her beautiful face slowly turned bright red, so red it looked like it was about to bleed.

[Ahhhhhhh, what did Miss Pig say?!] [Oh my goddddd, did she just flirt with her? How did she do it? Teach me!] [They’re getting so real, sob sob sob.] [What do you mean ‘getting real’? They’ve always been real.]

Lin Mo looked at the shattered ceramic cup at Su Qixi’s feet and calmly asked, “Why are you so flustered? Didn’t you suggest it last time?”

Hearing this, Su Qixi let out a huge sigh of relief. She patted her head and said, “Oh, I forgot. Hahahaha.”

Lin Mo’s eyes, clear as a spring, showed a helpless smile that was still warm and comforting, easily drawing people in. Seeing Su Qixi’s forced composure, Lin Mo couldn’t help but tease her. “I’ll look in the next few days. I’ll find a good one…?”

Su Qixi spun around and grabbed Lin Mo’s hand. She said loudly, “I’ll look! I’ll look!” She was absolutely going to find the most legitimate movie theater possible.

Don’t say anything else, it’s too embarrassing!!!

Lin Mo thought for a moment and nodded. “Alright, I’ll leave it to you then.”

Su Qixi let out another huge sigh of relief. Seeing that Lin Mo wasn’t talking about the cinema anymore, she finally relaxed.

Lin Mo: “You should look for a cinema that’s showing your movie. Then we can watch it together.”

Su Qixi’s face turned red again.

Watch… together?

That actually, that doesn’t sound bad!

Su Qixi gently nodded and whispered in response, “Okay.”

[Ahhhhhhhh.] [They’re going to watch a movie together.] [And it’s the movie Su Su starred in.] [Sob sob sob, there’s nothing more romantic in this world than watching your movie with you.] [The ultimate proof of love!!!! My Kirin CP will never disappoint me.] [The summer love is so good to ship, sob sob sob.] [So why is Su Su blushing?] [Hehe, you know, a dark movie theater… you get it!] [Ah, I got a sweet moment! Thanks, boss!!!]