What Should I Do If the Aloof Movie Queen Is Too in Love With Me? - Chapter 18

The banquet ended. After sending the dead-drunk Li Zhulan back to the hotel, Ji Youyi hailed a taxi and headed toward the creative park near the Film City.

Wrapping filming only meant the shooting phase was complete; after this, the drama would enter post-production, including editing, dubbing, and more.

The crew was poor, the actors were green, and the staff’s technical skills were limited. Inevitably, there were various flaws during the filming process that needed to be polished in post-production.

Ji Youyi had saved quite a bit of money in the early stages, which she could now spend on post-production to give the entire drama a good final touch.

But in the creative industry, the gap between the minimum and maximum quality is always vast. To ensure quality and quantity, she had to follow through personally for the entire process.

Sleeping on set during filming, sleeping in the office during post-production—how could living conditions not be considered a step up?

Ji Youyi sat in the office chair of the rented editing room for several all-nighters, finally completing the rough cut four days later.

The gaunt-faced editor, sporting two massive dark circles, went home to sleep. Ji Youyi sent the rough cut to the investor and began pondering the fine cut.

However, a call from YeYe soon came through. On the phone, Wu Buxing showered her with praise: “Teacher Ji, haha, I’ve watched this drama, and it’s very good!”

Ji Youyi didn’t know what he was up to. He finished watching such a long video in just a few minutes?

“Here’s the thing, Teacher Ji. Is it convenient for you to come to H City today? I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

It seemed he wanted to discuss things that weren’t convenient to communicate over the phone.

Every industry has gray areas, and in the film and television industry, this area is even wider and broader.

Ji Youyi had a bad premonition. Her expression cooled as she closed the complex material list on her computer screen. She stood up to stretch her stiff body, her tone carrying a smile: “Sure, I’ll be waiting.”

Her premonition was accurate.

Across the desk, Wu Buxing smiled without reaching his eyes: “Teacher Ji, you’ve worked hard during this time. I called you here today to tell you that we’re adding a few new people to our crew.”

The paper of the project proposal still carried the warmth of the printer. Ji Youyi saw a row of names on it:

“Producer: Guo Chang”

“Director: Quan Xinrong”

“Screenwriters: Pang Fei, Li Zhulan”

New producer, new director, new screenwriters—all stranger names she hadn’t even heard of before filming, yet they all popped up now that the drama was finished.

Ji Youyi entered the film industry at age five, kneeling outside her master’s door for an entire night in the heavy dew before being accepted.

In the beginning, though the work was simple and the positions low, perhaps because her master protected her, she always got a credit whenever she contributed effort. Later, as she became more famous, distributors were eager to watermark her name onto movie posters.

She also knew that big directors in the industry often lent their names to small productions for money, but those were big directors, and it was agreed upon beforehand. The person who actually directed the film would take an assistant director title to gain experience, rather than being erased entirely.

To put it more bluntly—one could understand not getting a credit for a good project, but for a small project with a 3-million-yuan investment, what was there to fight over?

But times had changed. Even if it was just a 3-million-yuan project, if Ji Youyi was to be discarded after the work was done, what could she do about it?

Absolutely nothing.

“Why wasn’t there an appointment to meet first?” Ji Youyi’s expression was normal. “Meeting in the editing room is fine too. It just so happens that the fine cut is about to start, and the editor can’t do it alone. I’ve been exhausted for a few days; I’ll brief them on the work and then head back to rest.”

The new director had just finished negotiating the price with Wu Buxing and left this office a few hours ago. Since they had paid to have their names credited, they naturally wouldn’t do any work. How could Wu Buxing possibly let them meet?

“Teacher Ji, we still have to trouble you with post-production. If you don’t do it, our contract won’t be easy to sign.”

As he spoke, he handed over a contract, speaking plainly: “You know very well what your reputation is like. It’s not that I want to replace you, but your name being credited would ruin the reputation of our drama. You say the drama is filmed well, but when the audience sees the opening—Tch, filmed by Ji Youyi, bad luck, not watching! What a pity.”

“And, I’m also considering your difficulties. I heard you seem to be very short on money? The contract we signed before gave you too little salary. How about we void the previous one and sign a new one?”

Wu Buxing tilted his chin, signaling Ji Youyi to look at the new contract, and said slowly, “If you sign it, you can get double the money. But if you don’t… you’ll have nothing.”

Ji Youyi’s acting contract was with Wan Tao, and she couldn’t get a penny from it. Later, when the crew reorganized and she served as both producer and director, YeYe offered her a salary of 150,000 yuan.

This current contract was a supplemental contract for her role as the female supporting character Ning Li, offering 300,000 yuan.

Ji Youyi laughed: “I am indeed short on money, but I’m not short on this little bit. However, your drama is quite lacking in promotion, isn’t it? As a former colleague, I can send you guys onto the trending searches.”

Wu Buxing drank his tea unhurriedly: “Teacher Ji, one must be content. As a newcomer actress, how high a salary do you want? I know you owe a lot of money, and I truly want to help you. How about this—I have some connections in the circle. If there are any good crews in the future, I’ll definitely recommend you. Money isn’t easy to earn these days; if you don’t make more friends, how will you get projects in the future, right?”

Twenty days ago, he couldn’t find anyone to take over the mess and wanted to withdraw investment, but now he has connections in the circle?

Probably gained from selling the drama, wasn’t it!

Taking the drama she made and filmed to exchange for money, connections, and power to check her background and resume, then coming to act tough in front of her!

One must listen to words in reverse. Ji Youyi knew Wu Buxing wouldn’t recommend her to anyone; on the contrary, he was threatening her—if they had a falling out, she shouldn’t think about getting into any good projects in the future.

Ji Youyi gave a light sneer, said no more, and turned to leave.

When she reached downstairs, Wu Buxing’s phone called again. She simply muted her phone and hailed a taxi back to D City.

Her posture as she left was overly cold and calm, which actually made Wu Buxing panic.

Looking for her so urgently was likely because he was worried she had some unknown trick up her sleeve or would really go online to expose the truth in a fit of rage.

But in reality, the chips in Ji Youyi’s hand weren’t as heavy as he imagined.

What did she have?

No family, no company, no fans, no fame—she didn’t even have the most important thing: money.

Not only did she have none, but she was also heavily in debt.

She was the unfilial child who fled her family, the tainted artist whose contract was terminated by her company, and the 18th-tier flop cursed by netizens. She was like a street rat everyone wanted to hit. If Wu Buxing wanted to remove her credit, how could she resist?

A small 3-million-yuan project could make the stingy YeYe offer a 150,000-yuan hush fee—it seemed Wu Buxing had found a good buyer and the price offered was not low.

If the platform was optimistic about this drama, they would protect it. And the producer, director, and screenwriters who could afford to buy credits, while not necessarily powerful or wealthy, were definitely stronger than her.

In contrast, what Ji Youyi possessed was nothing more than the archives of her filming.

She could release the materials and publicly confront the drama side, perhaps exchanging the crew’s scandal for her personal traffic.

But.

But that wasn’t just her personal archive.

It was the day-and-night effort of all the cast and crew.

It was Wen Yang’s breakdown when he couldn’t act the character.

It was Li Zhulan’s tears.

It was the flying streamers.

It was the high spirits at the wrap banquet when someone said drunkenly: “I’ve been filming for thirteen years and finally going to make it. Once this drama airs, this will be my representative work. Want to hire me for a film later? Look at your great-aunt’s skill, add more money!”

But negative public opinion would crush a drama.

She didn’t care about being a rat.

But she didn’t want to destroy the ordinary people’s cake.

In the taxi, Ji Youyi closed her eyes.

The carriage swayed, and waves of dizziness and nausea surged. She hadn’t rested properly for too long; her whole body was exhausted, yet she still couldn’t fall asleep.

When she arrived in D City, the sky was already pitch black. Ji Youyi didn’t go to the editing room but went back to her rental.

She just remembered that her house, which she only renewed for ten days, had expired a few days ago. Surprisingly, the landlord didn’t come to urge her for money this time—truly a good person.

Ji Youyi sent an apology message to the landlord on WeChat, intending to renew for another ten days, and then have a good sleep. After waking up, she would think about how to reply to Wu Buxing.

She got off the car, dragged her exhausted body along the dark road toward the Home Guesthouse, but suddenly felt a sharp sting from her scalp.

Someone grabbed her hair from behind.

She was startled and was about to resist, but the person was prepared. Another hand quickly pinned her shoulder and dragged her into a blind spot of the surveillance cameras.

Inside the Home Guesthouse.

The landlord, who was scrolling through short videos, looked up and noticed that the girl who had been squatting at the shop entrance for many days was gone.

That girl was also a worker in the Film City. For the past dozen days, for some reason, she had returned punctually before 9:00 PM and squatted at the shop entrance until 2:00 or 3:00 AM.

But since she was a tenant, the landlord couldn’t really drive her away.

She guessed the girl was waiting for Ji Youyi.

Ji Youyi hadn’t been back to stay for a few days. One day in the middle, perhaps because she hadn’t caught her, the girl even came to ask the landlord about Ji Youyi’s situation.

But a guess was just a guess, if she offended a tenant, she would be the one losing out. She didn’t want to stir up trouble, so she didn’t tell Ji Youyi and the others.

Now the girl outside was gone, and not long ago Ji Youyi had sent her a message saying she was coming to pay the rent… Surely she wouldn’t be that unlucky?

The landlord’s heart skipped a beat.

She always wanted to avoid trouble and didn’t like getting involved in things. Usually, when she encountered something, she just pretended not to know.

When she took the money, she hadn’t thought that something might actually happen. If she had known, she shouldn’t have taken that 20,000 yuan!

Now it’s great—she took the money, and if anything really happened to the girl, how would she explain?

The landlord cursed in her heart, found the phone number the other person left for her, and dialed it.

Inside the cramped, narrow alley, only a few rented rooms upstairs had their lights on, casting a bit of light down.

Ji Youyi was pushed against the wall, her back of the head slamming hard against the damp wall. The mud-like wall powder crumbled and rolled down, slipping into her sweater along her neck, ice-cold.

She was hit so hard she saw stars, enduring the pain to speak quickly: “The money is all in my left pocket. There isn’t much cash, but I can go withdraw more.”

She didn’t know the person’s purpose and could only guess it was for money. But robbing for money in such a poor place seemed a bit too lack of ambition.

As expected, the person wasn’t interested in her money.

The person was sturdier than her, dragging her away from the wall and then slamming her back viciously. Her skull hit the wall with a dull thud, followed by another wave of dizziness.

After a series of filthy curses, the person questioned: “Afraid now? Why weren’t you afraid when you were mooching off an innocent male artist’s traffic?”

Ji Youyi understood: Okay, it’s entertainment industry drama.

Encountering this in such a place, it was highly likely that an extreme fan who hated her had found out her address. This road was too dark; walking into it from a brightly lit area, she hadn’t noticed someone hiding at the side at all.

Her fragile neck was gripped tightly by the other person, making it difficult to speak: “Calm down, listen to my explanation. That was all the company’s arrangement. The company was hyping it up for popularity. In fact, I’ve always kept a respectful distance from him and didn’t want anything to do with him.”

“Do you think I’m stupid or blind?” Qiu Xiaoya pinned down Ji Youyi’s upper body, extended her foot to kick her leg hard—once, then again—and the hand choking her neck tightened further.

She had waited over ten days to catch Ji Youyi, and her hatred for Ji Youyi had grown explosively during the wait, wanting to vent it all out at once.

“You were the one using him! You saw he was famous and shamelessly stuck to him to mooch off him. When you couldn’t, you used suicide to morally kidnap him and forced him into depression!”

Ji Youyi pulled her neck back, trying to seek more breathing space, but was instead forced tighter and tighter.

Her breath was nearly cut off, and she could only follow the other person’s words, saying intermittently: “He’s… ill? I didn’t know. When did it happen? Can you show me?”

Ji Youyi didn’t understand fan psychology well enough.

She originally thought they would be more inclined to share. Hearing such a question, they would start presenting evidence, such as taking out a phone to show her a news report or something.

She wanted to use this to distract the person and take the opportunity to escape, but she didn’t expect it to completely enrage her instead.

Qiu Xiaoya thought of Zhou Wenchen tearfully recounting his story in the livestream. She hated Ji Youyi so much her eyes turned blood-red, and both hands choked Ji Youyi’s neck.

Sharp nails embedded into the neck skin, and traces of blood flowed out.

“You still have the face to ask!” Qiu Xiaoya was completely frantic, and her cursing became increasingly sharp, “You murderer, shameless b!tch, you should just die! I’ll make you act cheap, I’ll make you harm people, I’ll choke you to death, I’ll choke you to death and see how you can harm anyone else!”

Thinking that a top star earning hundreds of millions a year would be harmed by her, a person with a million-yuan debt—Ji Youyi simply couldn’t understand this logic.

When Ji Youyi was a director, there was no competitive relationship with stars. After becoming a famous director, she was even the object that fans of various stars prayed to collaborate with.

This was the first time she had directly faced this kind of hatred from a fan.

Fortunately, although she didn’t understand fans, she had rich experience in resisting being beaten.

Being choked and dragged, her head repeatedly hitting the wall, she was almost unconscious and suffocating.

The intense pain made her subconsciously want to curl up.

But she couldn’t.

She couldn’t curl up, couldn’t be afraid, couldn’t allow herself to perceive pain and fear, and couldn’t be dominated by her body’s instincts.

Only someone who doesn’t feel pain, doesn’t hurt, and isn’t afraid can escape again and again.

She used her willpower to force herself to sense her surroundings, quickly outlining the environment in her mind and planning an escape route.

After more than twenty consecutive days of hard work, her body was already exhausted. Her strength couldn’t match the person opposite her. If she wanted to escape, she had to rely on technique.

First, step hard on the other person’s little toe. The pain would disrupt the person’s rhythm of attack and loosen the grip on her. At the same time, take the opportunity to squat, using the rapidly lowering center of gravity to break free from control.

Wall dust was the best available tool. There should be plenty piled up at the base of the wall. Grabbing a handful and throwing it at the other person’s eyes could create a larger escape window.

Then just run—burst out all her energy to escape. She was good at that.

The Home Guesthouse was just a dozen steps away. The landlord must be at the front desk. As long as she reached the lobby, she would be safe.

There was one more very important point. The person blocking her was premeditated, and it was likely she carried a controlled knife, only forgetting to use it during her emotional breakdown.

Therefore, she couldn’t easily disturb this state. The entire set of actions must be swift and smooth, so the other person wouldn’t think of or have time to take out a knife.

Ji Youyi thought very clearly, but from start to finish, she never considered the option of calling for help.

A person’s first reaction to violent conflict is avoidance. The biggest effect of shouting “help” is to remind the attacker that one intends to run.

And to those passersby, those words might not even be as effective as “fire!”

Furthermore, this extreme fan’s emotions had reached their peak, her curses louder and louder.

In a guesthouse with such poor sound insulation, it was impossible for no one in the building to hear. Yet no one pushed open a window to see what was happening—

Perhaps they had looked, and then closed it again.

No one would come to save her. Never.

But it was fine, she never needed anyone!

Ji Youyi finally gathered enough strength. She found the perfect gap when the other person was violently shaking her. Just as she was about to implement her plan, the heavy pressure on her suddenly disappeared, and a sharp wind carrying the scent of flowers blew against her face.

Ji Youyi leaned against the wall, gasping for air. When she looked up again, she saw the extreme fan had been knocked to the ground.

A familiar figure squatted to the right. Her left knee was down, pinning the other person’s legs. Her right hand captured both of theirs, and her left hand gripped the throat, pinning the person firmly against the wall by the neck.

The person in her hands was pinned so tightly they couldn’t move. Their eyes were wide, their mouth open but unable to make a sound—a complete manifestation of suffocation.

The person spoke, her voice cold and deep, like ice blades hanging over the other person, as if eager to stab down viciously and pierce them in the next second: “Tell me, who are you going to choke to death.”

The hem of her black trench coat fell to the ground, stained with dust.

Ji Youyi was dazed, her mind blank for a moment.

But she had no time to think carefully, or even to consider why Meng Xingzhu would appear here. she hurriedly ran forward to stop her: “You, you, watch your strength! Just control her, don’t hurt her!”

Excessive defense leads to jail time!

She reached out her left hand, only to realize she was trembling.

Her slightly trembling hand gripped Meng Xingzhu’s left hand. Her four fingertips tried to slip into the side of the palm, and her thumb gently stroked the back of Meng Xingzhu’s hand, as if comforting Meng Xingzhu, and also as if comforting herself.

Two cold hands pressed together, transferring body temperature, actually creating a bit of warmth.

Meng Xingzhu’s reason returned slightly, and she gradually loosened her left hand.

The person on the ground regained her breath and immediately burst out cursing: “Orphan Ji Youyi, b!tch thing, whole family dead, ancestral grave dug up, self-directed and acted pill-swallowing incident, harming innocent male colleague. You sl*t thing, you should go to hell!”

“Keep your mouth clean.” Meng Xingzhu’s thumb and fingers opened wide, gripping the other person’s jaw, and said coldly, “If you insist on speaking, then I can only dislocate your jaw.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Be good, let’s stay calm! Don’t be angry, don’t be angry!” Hitting someone would lead to detention!

Ji Youyi swallowed hard, suppressing her uncontrollably trembling voice, and tried to comfort Meng Xingzhu, “Thank you for standing up for me, but we aren’t angry. She didn’t say anything wrong; I really don’t have things like family and ancestral graves. Don’t be impulsive, don’t be misled by her words. Come, listen to me—let’s split the work. You control her, and I’ll call the police.”

Meng Xingzhu turned her face slightly, her eyelids lowered. Ji Youyi finally heard her tone soften: “I already had Ruohan call the police; she’s also on her way.”

“That’s great. I’ll go ask.” Ji Youyi spoke as positively as possible. Opening WeChat, she indeed saw that Fang Ruohan had been calling her. She quickly answered and reported that she was safe.

The police arrived very quickly. Before Fang Ruohan reached the scene, they were already met by the police.

The out-of-control fan continued to curse all the way until her mouth was covered and she was taken into the car first.

A gentle-faced police officer helped Ji Youyi walk out slowly: “Do you want to rest a bit?”

Such a small scene.

Ji Youyi shook her head and sweetly refused the thin blanket the officer wanted to put on her: “I’m fine, thank you, sister.”

She turned her head and saw Meng Xingzhu following behind her, her head slightly lowered, wondering what she was thinking.

Ever since Meng Xingzhu’s sudden appearance tonight, her behavior had been a bit strange. She was actually very worried about Meng Xingzhu’s state.

She leaned in front of Meng Xingzhu, flashing a bright smile: “The big star is my great savior today. I’m especially, especially grateful to you.”

“Do you know? At that moment, you were like a fairy—descending from the sky with the light of justice.”

She gestured a circle with her hands, “But the fairy descended to the mortal world too hastily today and forgot to wear a mask. What should we do? There might be mortals coveting your beauty.”

Ji Youyi put her hands behind her back and tilted her head at Meng Xingzhu with a smile.

Meng Xingzhu didn’t answer, but just quietly raised her eyes and looked at her.

Their eyes met. Ji Youyi then discovered that Meng Xingzhu’s eyelids were red due to bloodshot eyes.

The pitch-black gaze was deep and heavy. Standing in the night in her black clothes, she seemed as if she would dissolve into the darkness at any moment.

Ji Youyi suppressed her surprise and continued to smile to lighten the atmosphere, “Aren’t you going to put it on? You might be photographed. If you get on the social news, your management company will go crazy. Whoosh! They’ll scold you to death!”

Meng Xingzhu didn’t say a word. Her gaze slowly moved down from her pale face, finally landing on her neck.

With the help of the police lights, she could clearly see the red and purple marks, wounds, and bloodstains on her fair neck. They were choked out by someone’s bare hands.

The storefront she had taken over a few days ago was nearby, but perhaps it was still a bit far. It still took three minutes from receiving the call to rushing over.

As soon as she arrived, she saw her being choked by the neck, her head slamming hard against the wall, while she was so helpless she couldn’t even struggle.

At that moment, all the violent tendencies hidden in her blood surged out. Meng Xingzhu finally understood what she was thinking when she caught the swaying Ji Youyi at the restaurant last time.

In a trance, there seemed to be a tender child’s voice coming from her ear, wailing loudly, standing in a classroom where no third person could be found, describing to the late-coming her the scene she hadn’t seen with her own eyes:

“…She… she just grabbed her, pinned her against the wall, choked her neck, slapped her, kicked her, and… and kept hitting her head with a dictionary…”

After eighteen long years, the faces in her memory had blurred, yet this crying sound still visited her dreams every day, telling her over and over again.

So she imagined it over and over again, over and over again.

Meng Xingzhu’s throat moved slightly, and she spoke softly. Between her bitten tongue, the smell of blood overflowed: “…Yiyi.”

“Huh? I’m here.”

The murmur in her ear wasn’t very clear, and the address was too intimate, making Ji Youyi suspect she had misheard.

This person actually let out a disgusted “Yee,” right? Disgusted that her metaphor was too greasy?

Well, that’s true—she’s a director, not a screenwriter!

But she replied quickly and leaned a bit closer to Meng Xingzhu, continuing the previous topic, “Forget it, I can’t leave someone in danger. Where is your mask? I’ll help you get it. In the bag?”

Meng Xingzhu was wearing a large trench coat, the front naturally open, and the hem swaying slightly in the breeze.

Ji Youyi shamelessly reached out, patted the stained hem, and then reached for the trench coat pocket.

Director Ji believed the script she wrote was perfect:

Someone as cold as Meng Xingzhu doesn’t like being approached. With such an overstepping action, she would surely push her away.

Pushing her away was the right thing to do! At least give some reaction instead of maintaining this heavy appearance.

Ji Youyi looked up at Meng Xingzhu. After smilingly putting both hands into Meng Xingzhu’s pockets on both sides, she indeed saw Meng Xingzhu move.

Meng Xingzhu raised both hands—pushing her away actually required both hands? Was she that annoying??

But immediately after, those hands went past her body, with one palm on her shoulder and the other on her waist.

Then, she tightened her grip.

the faint fragrance suddenly became rich, carrying burning body temperature and a beating heart, captured by her five senses without any gap.

And she, too, was captured by Meng Xingzhu—

She was hugged by her.