Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

After receiving Ji Yu’s communication, staff members from Dream Chasing 100 quickly headed down.

After all, Meng Rendong was the primary investor for the entire show. If something bad happened to her while attending a program dinner, and the news got out, would investors dare to go out without ten bodyguards in the future?

Someone quickly informed Wang Luoshui. Director Wang was about to contact people when the manager of Haidilao, alerted by the commotion, came over and kindly offered her assistance.

Wang Luoshui remembered that Ji Yu was with Meng Rendong. Her mind raced, and she instantly realized that if she brought people down openly and with great fanfare, and some people deliberately sensationalized the event, the headlines would be awful:

“Shock! A-Class Member of Dream Chasing 100 and Investor Found Together…”

“Ji Yu’s Sponsor is Actually…!”

“A Deep Dive into How Little-Known Entertainment Stars Climbed the Ladder”

If one or two photos of Ji Yu and Meng Rendong together were taken, given the current popularity of the Dream Chasing program, the topic could trend on hot searches for a long time. Ji Yu and Meng Rendong would truly be bound together as gossip fodder.

Wang Luoshui snapped back to reality. After politely declining the manager’s help, she turned to the employees following her. She only selected two or three who had been with the team for a long time and weren’t prone to causing trouble. She instructed the rest to wait near the fire exit and told her assistant to mention the situation to Qi Feng, asking him and the other mentors to keep the trainees calm and prevent anyone from running out to watch the commotion.

Then, she personally led the selected staff members down the fire escape. The heels of her high shoes made a continuous clattering sound on the narrow stairs. Annoyed, she pulled them off and carried them in her fingers, leaving only a thin layer of sheer stockings on her feet.

When she rounded the corner and saw the situation on the second-floor landing—

Wang Luoshui was startled at first. She crossed the remaining steps in a few big strides. She ignored Ji Yu, who was half-squatting next to Meng Rendong, and fixed her anxious gaze on Meng Rendong:

“What happened to you?”

“Did something happen?”

Meng Rendong shook her head lightly, only managing to utter a few words: “Old problem, a headache.”

Wang Luoshui, however, felt something was wrong. Why would Meng Rendong, for no reason, avoid the Haidilao and mall elevators and choose to use the fire escape?

The stairwell was obviously rarely cleaned. There were discarded cigarette butts in the corner, and she knew without looking that the bottom of her feet must be completely black from the thick dust on the floor. Given Meng Rendong’s pampered status, why would she choose such a secluded stairwell?

She subconsciously turned her head to look at Ji Yu.

Ji Yu had just collected her emotions. Facing Wang Luoshui, she forced down the disappointment in her heart and managed a smile. She said to Wang Luoshui: “I… just heard there’s a popular milk tea shop downstairs. They have a salty cheese foam flavor, so I got a craving. I found the mall elevator closed, so I wanted to sneak down through the fire escape to buy one. Who knew I would run into President Meng here…”

Wang Luoshui stared fixedly into Ji Yu’s eyes, and as she met her gaze—

She saw Ji Yu’s slightly damp eyelashes.

Clearly, Ji Yu had just cried.

Coupled with her past relationship with Meng Rendong, Wang Luoshui instantly concluded that something else must have happened here. However, she couldn’t guess the specifics immediately. Moreover, Ji Yu was a highly regarded trainee in the program, so Wang Luoshui nodded, only saying:

“I’ll let it go this time.”

“But this is the second time you’ve left without notifying the production team, Ji Yu.”

The second sentence carried a warning tone, which Ji Yu naturally understood perfectly. Wang Luoshui was not an overly unreasonable director. On the contrary, the meeting before the show had made Ji Yu aware that Wang Luoshui was a person with a gentle personality and meticulous habits.

But this didn’t mean Wang Luoshui would tolerate anyone challenging her rules repeatedly.

Ji Yu silently clenched her jaw. She knew the answer Wang Luoshui wanted to hear: she wanted her to stop trying to break the show’s rules as long as she was on the program.

But…

What about Si Tian?

Sweat beaded on her forehead, as if she were battling with herself. One voice urged her to give up, saying it would be easier to just go find Si Tian, as the stage was for her anyway.

The other voice countered, But what if Si Tian sees it? You promised so much before, saying you would stand on this stage to give her strength, wanting to save her. What good is it if you quit first?

Just as the internal tug-of-war intensified, Meng Rendong suddenly coughed lightly.

She looked at Wang Luoshui. Although her lips were pale from the pain, she still wasted energy to defend Ji Yu: “The first time was because I wanted her to help me with something… this time she came out and happened to save me… Director Wang.”

Hearing this, Wang Luoshui, despite her good temper, felt an urge to roll her eyes.

Help you with what the first time?

Help you give up even more thoroughly?

If Meng Rendong hadn’t looked so miserable right now, Wang Luoshui definitely wouldn’t have let the matter slide easily. Now, she could only say to Meng Rendong irritably: “Does your head not hurt anymore?”

Meng Rendong exhaled a long breath. Wang Luoshui asked where the ambulance was now. After Ji Yu answered, she waved her hand at Ji Yu, “You go back first. I’ll handle the rest.”

“The second public performance is the day after tomorrow. Focus on preparing your stage. Don’t disappoint the people who like you.”

Ji Yu listened silently and nodded softly.

She should have realized it long ago. Since stepping onto this stage, and gaining the affection of the first person, her efforts and struggles were no longer just for herself. Having decided to become an idol for others, she had to bear the responsibility of an idol.

Rain or shine, as long as she planned to walk onto that stage, she had to prepare for it with all her might.

Twenty minutes later.

Meng Rendong lay in the ambulance, undergoing various preliminary checks.

Wang Luoshui had made several phone calls to the associate director, assistant, and others. Seeing that Meng Rendong was now wide awake and constantly looking her way, she subconsciously said:

“Alright, I won’t hold this against her anymore. Just close your eyes and rest honestly.”

After thinking for a moment, she couldn’t resist adding: “I asked you to get checked out at the hospital before. Did you completely ignore my advice?”

The more Wang Luoshui spoke, the more she felt this was the case.

She wanted to mock herself, “The emperor is not worried, but the eunuchs are,” but seeing Meng Rendong lying here alone, knowing her family situation and how she had failed to reconcile with her former partner several times, and had been treated as a substitute for so long, she couldn’t even manage the self-mockery. She simply lowered her head to look at her phone, out of sight, out of mind.

Meng Rendong subtly curved the corner of her lips, knowing her friend was concerned about her. But closing her eyes made the headache worse. All her attention was focused on the source of the pain, making the sensation more obvious. It was better to talk about something else to distract herself.

Especially now, after seeing Ji Yu, for some unknown reason, the pain had significantly subsided compared to the initial splitting headache. At least she felt the pain was within her tolerance.

However, being in pain for too long always made one a little irritable.

So she initiated conversation with her friend: “Luoshui.”

Wang Luoshui was sending messages to the program team’s public opinion department. After all, an ambulance showing up was no small matter. Usually, the sound of a siren passing on the road would cause people to crane their necks. Moreover, the mall where the ambulance arrived tonight was where the Dream Chasing 100 trainees were dining. She didn’t believe unscrupulous gossip media would let go of this chance to write sensational news, so she asked her subordinates to be prepared.

Anyway, it was late now, and no one had taken pictures of Ji Yu and Meng Rendong in the stairwell earlier. They could simply say that a staff member suddenly became ill, and the official statement would set the tone.

As for some trainees’ fan clubs using this to stir up trouble, claiming the production team mistreated their idols, criticizing Dream Chasing 100 as a black-hearted production team—the whole routine of distressing fans to solidify their support—she couldn’t be bothered with that.

Hearing that Meng Rendong still wouldn’t quiet down while lying on a hospital bed, she raised her head irritably and said: “What is it now?”

Seeing her usually gentle friend so angry, Meng Rendong suddenly felt reluctant to cause her more trouble, so she settled down and said casually: “Nothing.”

Wang Luoshui: “…”

She didn’t believe Meng Rendong was that boring. After finishing her tasks, she put down her phone and said: “What, is your headache severe?”

Meng Rendong answered conservatively: “It’s alright.”

Wang Luoshui knew she was being stubborn and enduring the pain for appearances. She sighed and said again: “We’ll be at the hospital soon… I think you should get a thorough check-up. You kept injuring your head a few years ago, remember? It might be a lingering aftereffect from that time.”

Meng Rendong glanced at her: “Why do I feel like you’re subtly hinting at something?”

For example, implying there’s something wrong with her brain?

Wang Luoshui: “…Be serious.”

A faint smile appeared in Meng Rendong’s eyes.

Just then, Wang Luoshui continued the topic: “Why exactly were you there? Rendong, be honest with me. Are you still entangled with her, and the headache is from anger after she rejected you again?”

Meng Rendong: “…”

The smile in her eyes instantly froze.

Then, just as Wang Luoshui was about to treat this speculation as fact, Meng Rendong sighed as she opened her mouth: “In your eyes, am I the type of person who can’t take rejection, and even lacks grace, desperately clinging to an ex, trying to force someone to be with me?”

The nurse sitting nearby glanced over when she heard this.

She seemed surprised to hear such juicy gossip.

Wang Luoshui caught the implied meaning in Meng Rendong’s words. She looked at her in surprise, then seriously thought about it and said: “You certainly weren’t like that before.”

Meng Rendong narrowed her eyes: “Hmm?”

Wang Luoshui seriously pondered her behavior in recent years and subtly motioned to her: “But since that incident… I feel like you’ve changed a lot.”

Meng Rendong knew she was referring to the Chu Jianyu incident.

She looked at the nurse beside her and didn’t want to mention Chu Nanxing here. After all, Chu Nanxing was a celebrity, big or small, on the show now, and there might be her fans around. Meng Rendong planned to explain everything to Wang Luoshui in detail after they transferred to her private hospital. So now, she spoke vaguely:

“Anyway, tonight’s incident has nothing to do with her.”

“I really was accidentally rescued by Ji Yu.”

Wang Luoshui looked at her with suspicion.

Meng Rendong couldn’t be explicit at the moment, so she steered the conversation back to Ji Yu: “Oh, right, what about the matter I asked you to help me with last time?”

In the stairwell earlier, Meng Rendong was genuinely sincere in wanting to help Ji Yu contact her friend who looked a lot like her.

Because she was too curious, and too unconvinced.

She wanted to give up completely. She wanted to know what kind of excellent person could make Ji Yu so deeply attached.

But Ji Yu might not have wanted to have any more connection with her, or perhaps she was afraid Meng Rendong would do something inappropriate. She just sniffled and politely and courteously shook her head:

“No need.”

“Thank you, President Meng.”

“This is my own business. I’ll find another way.”

Meng Rendong was naturally disappointed to hear such a response. After all, she had been so generous, even suppressing her reluctance and possessiveness for Ji Yu.

Just as she wanted to explain her intentions to Ji Yu, she heard footsteps running down the stairs from above. It was clearly Wang Luoshui and the production team coming for her, so the conversation had to be dropped.

Fortunately.

She had prepared a backup plan with Wang Luoshui.

Wang Luoshui couldn’t recall for a moment: “What?”

Meng Rendong gazed at her, about to speak, when a light bulb went off in Wang Luoshui’s mind. Immediately, her face darkened. She looked up and down at Meng Rendong with a look that pitied her misfortune and resented her lack of drive.

Meng Rendong: “?”

Wang Luoshui took a deep breath and affirmed strongly: “You are!”

Meng Rendong: “What?”

Wang Luoshui completed the sentence: “I’ll answer you now. You are the type of person who can’t take rejection, and even lacks grace, desperately clinging to an ex, trying to force someone to be with you.”

Meng Rendong: “…”

Her expression changed.

Wang Luoshui’s eyes were filled with blatant mockery, as if saying to her:

Don’t think I don’t know your purpose in asking about Ji Yu’s crush. Give up. I won’t watch you sink deeper into this mire anymore!

At the same time.

In the Haidilao restaurant.

Seeing Ji Yu return with two staff members trailing behind her like little shadows, Ling Lan looked at them in confusion but didn’t think too much of it. She pulled Ji Yu over quickly and said:

“Are you okay? Why were you in the restroom for so long?”

“Can you still eat? There are still some hand-pulled noodles in the pot. They’ve been cooking for a long time, and they taste good. Should I scoop some up for you?”

Ji Yu smiled. She didn’t explain that the two staff members were there to keep an eye on her so she wouldn’t run off again. Accepting Ling Lan’s kind offer, she replied that she was fine and asked her not to worry. Then she took the bowl of noodles Ling Lan scooped for her. During this time, Ling Lan noticed that the sauce bowl she had prepared for Ji Yu was now cold, with a layer of oil solidified on top. She quickly moved the bowl away, reminding her not to eat from it anymore.

Surrounded by Ling Lan’s overwhelming kindness, Ji Yu didn’t know how to react, so she focused on eating the noodles seriously.

At the same time, she asked with concern: “Did you… eat enough?”

Ling Lan showed her the empty sauce bowl, smiling especially happily: “Of course! Actually, when I came alone before, I always felt there were so many condiments here and wasn’t sure what flavors to choose. I ended up adding a bit of everything, and the taste was always strange.”

“Luckily, you guided me this time. This is truly my favorite flavor! If they hadn’t confiscated our phones, I would definitely write this down in my notes so I don’t forget it next time I eat hotpot.”

Ji Yu chuckled and said to her: “Then just call me next time you eat hotpot, won’t you?”

This was a roundabout way of telling Ling Lan that she wanted to maintain contact with her after the show ended.

Ling Lan nodded vigorously in agreement, her eyes filled with even greater joy.

By the time Ji Yu finished her noodles, the dinner gathering was almost over. At the table, a girl from the same group rubbed her full belly, looking wistfully at the unfinished watermelon. Alas, she couldn’t eat any more.

Qi Feng at the mentors’ table glanced at the time. After contacting Wang Luoshui and learning that Meng Rendong was undergoing examination, he arranged for the girls to return on the bus. Given the incident with Meng Rendong, keeping the girls outside any longer would increase the risk of unexpected events. It was better to bring them back to the hotel for closed-door practice.

While riding the bus.

Ji Yu noticed that Chu Nanxing had gone to sit next to Jiang Lianque.

She asked Ling Lan, seemingly casually: “By the way, is Lianque okay recently?”

Ling Lan made an “Um” sound, recalled for a moment, and replied: “No, why do you ask?”

Ji Yu looked again at the area where Chu Nanxing and Jiang Lianque were sitting together. Unable to discern anything more on the surface, she retracted her gaze and replied: “Just asking randomly. It’s fine if she’s okay.”

Ling Lan nodded, half-understanding.

It wasn’t until they returned to the classroom—

Ji Yu continued practicing with Rong Bai and the others until past five in the morning. Some were extremely tired and prepared to sleep for two hours before returning to practice. Rong Bai, feeling too sweaty, also returned to her room to shower.

The people from both groups gradually left, until only Chu Nanxing and Ji Yu remained in the classroom.

Ji Yu had somehow gotten an eyelash in her eye while dancing. After rubbing it for a long time, she couldn’t get it out, so she squinted and walked toward the restroom outside.

The sound of the faucet was running.

Ji Yu leaned close to the mirror, removed the eyelash from her eye, and then blinked several times, feeling uncomfortable. Just as she turned to leave, she ran right into Chu Nanxing, who was coming to the restroom.

As they passed each other, Ji Yu slowly stopped her:

“Chu Nanxing.”

The other woman seemed a little surprised by her initiative. She stopped at leisure, crossing her arms and watching her in the hallway. The cameras in the hallway weren’t close to them, and Ji Yu’s voice was low, so their conversation couldn’t be recorded.

In the midst of Chu Nanxing’s waiting posture, Ji Yu added softly:

“If you don’t want people to know, don’t do it.” ( If you want nobody to know, you must do nothing.)

Unexpectedly, Chu Nanxing showed no fear upon hearing this. A hint of amusement even appeared in her expression. Then she said softly: “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Ji Yu recalled Meng Rendong’s appearance in the stairwell and made her words clearer:

“You met Meng Rendong in the fire escape tonight, didn’t you?”

The smile on Chu Nanxing’s face slightly faded.

She subtly studied Ji Yu, a sense of vigilance rising in her mind. She seemed to be trying to figure out what unknown secret Ji Yu held, or whether Ji Yu was aware of her own leverage.

Seeing that Chu Nanxing finally took her words seriously, Ji Yu didn’t press the matter further. Instead, she said:

“Some things were originally going to be yours.”

“But if you reach out and snatch them too early, you might miss them.”

She knew that Chu Nanxing and Meng Rendong would end up together in the story.

But perhaps because she knew that Chu Nanxing, the female lead, was illegitimate and undeserving, she couldn’t tolerate her using such messy means to force Meng Rendong to comply.

“And—”

“Stay away from Jiang Lianque.”

Ji Yu warned.

Certain that Chu Nanxing had registered her words, Ji Yu began to walk back toward the dance studio, her figure disappearing around the corner.

The girl left behind in the corridor let out a soft laugh after a long silence—

She watched the direction Ji Yu had left in, and replied very softly and slowly:

“Who do you think you are?”

You’re only getting this screen time because of Meng Rendong’s misplaced affection.

Not everyone will become Chu Jianyu.

Thinking this, Chu Nanxing scoffed and added: “Imposter.”

“What?”

Inside a private hospital.

Wang Luoshui, who had accompanied Meng Rendong during the transfer, looked incredulous after hearing Meng Rendong’s brief explanation of the events.

Meng Rendong sighed softly: “I know you find it strange, but I can’t figure it out either.”

She couldn’t figure out why seeing Chu Nanxing caused a headache.

Even though the other person hadn’t done anything.

Even stranger, after the headache made her pass out, when she woke up, Chu Nanxing was gone. If Ji Yu hadn’t appeared, Meng Rendong estimated she would have had to endure the pain in the stairwell until it subsided, or until the mall’s property management inspected the fire escape door the next day.

Wang Luoshui opened her lips, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back. She raised her hand to press her head.

“Why does your story… make it sound like Nanxing has some kind of witchcraft?”

However, the results of Meng Rendong’s recent scan were right in front of her.

No problems.

Very normal, very healthy.

The doctor could only attribute her headache to stress and a nervous condition, as no cause could be found.

Meng Rendong now felt that something was amiss whenever she thought of Chu Nanxing. But this was only her own guess, and she couldn’t convince Wang Luoshui, so she proactively said:

“I might be overthinking it, just a coincidence.”

But the coincidence was too bizarre.

The headaches always occurred when Chu Nanxing was present.

And she couldn’t clearly remember what happened during those times.

Wang Luoshui waved her hand and countered: “No… how can there be such a coincidence in the world? There must be something wrong here.”

Perhaps because of her excellent memory, she recalled things that happened when she, Yan Xi, and Chu Nanxing were together in the past.

But Wang Luoshui didn’t voice it out, because suspicion required evidence, and she couldn’t speculate about the supernatural here.

Finally, she could only say: “Forget it. Don’t think so much late at night. You should rest.”

She started to leave, but Meng Rendong called her back:

“Wait.”

Wang Luoshui: “?”

Meng Rendong looked at her intently: “You still haven’t told me the name of the person Ji Yu likes.”

Wang Luoshui: “…”

She’s still obsessed with that?!

She muttered “Infatuation blinds the mind” in her heart, then sat down by Meng Rendong’s bed, intending to earnestly analyze the extremely low possibility of successfully winning Ji Yu back.

Before Wang Luoshui could speak, Meng Rendong suddenly interrupted her: “Luoshui, have you ever seen Ji Yu cry?”

Wang Luoshui: “Huh?”

She couldn’t immediately connect with the topic.

Meng Rendong looked at the pitch-black window outside, her gaze fixed on the night, as if her sight could penetrate the darkness and see the person she cared about.

After a long while, she said: “I have.”

Meng Rendong retracted her gaze, looking at the snow-white sheets on the bed, and said softly: “She didn’t cry when she broke up with me. She didn’t cry when talking about those terrible past experiences. I’ve hardly ever seen her look that desperate.”

“But—”

“Because she can’t find that person, she has broken down and cried twice.”

Saying this, she looked up at Wang Luoshui. There was no determined edge in her eyes, no resentment when mentioning a ruthless ex, only the tenderness that appeared when talking about the person in her heart.

Wang Luoshui heard her say: “I don’t want to see her cry anymore.”

“Just do this favor for me. Tell me that name, okay?”

Wang Luoshui: “…”

She sighed heavily, helplessly saying: “If you had been even one-tenth as clear-headed when you were with her as you are now, you wouldn’t have absolutely no chance right now—”

She paused.

Wang Luoshui stopped complaining.

She hadn’t asked Ji Yu this question. After all, her status was awkward. Bringing it up to Ji Yu would either be for show effect or for Meng Rendong herself, and Ji Yu definitely wouldn’t say anything.

So, she had investigated.

Thinking of the investigation results, Wang Luoshui said: “I didn’t ask her, I just helped you look into her friends in the industry, especially those related to girl groups, and those who had bad experiences later on. Excluding others, I can indeed give you a name…”

Meng Rendong gradually held her breath.

Then, Wang Luoshui looked at her and said, word by word:

“Si Tian.”

“The name of her friend is Si Tian.”