What Should I Do If the Aloof Movie Queen Is Too in Love With Me? - Chapter 2

Ji Youyi kept control of the rhythm and chatted quite a bit with Xu Pin’an.

With half a cup of hot water in her belly, Ji Youyi gained a general understanding of everything—from the black-hearted company to the current state of the entertainment industry, and even Xu Pin’an’s personal circumstances and her daughter with autism.

Seeing that she couldn’t extract more information, she stood up, sat beside Xu Pin’an, and reached out to put an arm around her shoulder, stepping on the company to praise the manager: “So, the truth is, the company gave up on me long ago. They feel that since I can’t make money anyway, they might as well push me out to be cannon fodder for the ‘Prince.’ And you, being warm-hearted and honest, are the only person in the entire company who cares about me, which is exactly why you were pushed out to deal with me.”

“But don’t worry, Sister Xu! I will talk to the company about the problems personally; I definitely won’t get you involved.”

As Ji Youyi spoke, she intimately took Xu Pin’an’s hand and sent her off with an amiable air. “By the way, Sister Xu, isn’t your girl still sick? I’ve taken up a lot of your time; go and get busy. Once this matter passes, I’ll treat you and your daughter to a meal.”

“Treating me to a meal? You’d better think about how to borrow the money for the contract termination fee first.”

Xu Pin’an walked to the door, looked at Ji Youyi’s paper-thin frame, and wanted to say something. But thinking of her own equally messy life, she ultimately said nothing, merely waved her hand, and left.

The moment she sent Xu Pin’an off, Ji Youyi rushed back to the bedside and gulped down a mouthful of water, forcefully suppressing a strong wave of nausea.

The taste of blood had already reached her throat, but she couldn’t vomit yet. This was an important prop for her next scene; it wouldn’t work if used too early or too late, as the final cut effect would be greatly diminished.

Time was tight. Ji Youyi didn’t hesitate; she grabbed a tissue, wiped her face clean, and prepared to leave the hospital.

She didn’t forget to take a look at herself.

Unexpectedly, her current appearance was almost identical to her previous self, only with less exposure to the elements and more meticulous care—she looked younger and much more fragile.

Clearly, the world she was currently in did not have the famous director Ji Youyi, nor was the country the China she was familiar with, but a “Country Z” that also used Chinese, making communication barrier-free.

This was an extremely similar yet completely foreign place. Perhaps, like many literary works, she had transmigrated into a book and inherited a rather unfortunate life.

But Ji Youyi didn’t think it was terrible. On the contrary, she thought the situation wasn’t bad and the problems weren’t too thorny.

Ji Youyi had checked the ID card and knew this body’s original owner was two months younger than her, so she gave her a nickname: “Little Ji.”

Little Ji was a young girl who looked somewhat timid.

She didn’t know how long she would stay in Little Ji’s body, but she hoped that before she left, she could help Little Ji solve as many problems as possible—that girl was so foolish; if she had to face this alone, she’d probably be eaten by capitalists until not even the bones remained.

The clothes she wore when she was admitted were nowhere to be found. Carrying her only asset—a phone—and wearing a hospital gown, Ji Youyi walked out the door.

The date in this world was exactly the same as her original world, and the climate was roughly the same.

At nine in the morning, a bright sun hung high in the sky, yet it couldn’t offset the chill of early spring.

The maximum temperature in March was only ten or so degrees. The thin fabric revealed its fragility the moment she stepped outdoors, and Ji Youyi broke out in goosebumps from the cold.

She struggled to maintain her composure. By the time she finished the discharge procedures, her jaw was aching from being clenched so tight.

The hospitalization fee had been advanced by Xu Pin’an. Ji Youyi sent a message to express her gratitude.

Xu Pin’an replied quickly: “I’m currently blocked at the main entrance; it’s crawling with paparazzi outside. I’m driving the company’s business van, so they think you’re in the car and have surrounded me. I called Manager Li; he said he’s decided to terminate your contract and wants you to come over to talk about the termination fee. Hurry up and think of a way to salvage this, otherwise, with your mountain of debt, you really won’t be able to survive.”

Ji Youyi had no intention of salvaging it.

She wasn’t ignorant of the state of the entertainment industry—it was a place where if you had 1.5 out of 3 points in talent, looks, and effort, you could rake in money.

Little Ji had a bit of exposure in the circle, yet she managed to end up with a mountain of debt. Aside from her own reasons, there were bound to be problems with the company. Therefore, not terminating the contract was the real death sentence.

She didn’t tell Xu Pin’an the specific plan. She simply replied with a few words and asked a nurse for the location of the side exit, then headed that way.

While the paparazzi were being lured to the main gate, she had to make her escape.

Bypassing the green belt behind the inpatient building, the people became sparse. The path leading to the side exit was narrow, about two people wide. Without the buildings to block it, the cold wind scraped against Ji Youyi like a knife. While shivering and hurrying along, she opened a ride-hailing app.

The operation was very similar to her original world. She set the destination effortlessly and clicked to place the order.

A prompt popped up on the screen:

“Account has been frozen.”

Ji Youyi changed the payment method, but the result was the same.

She had to go back and open each payment app to check.

According to the statistics, Little Ji currently owed a total of over 5.3 million yuan, much of which consisted of high-interest online loans. On average, the daily interest alone was over 2,000 yuan.

And because she had been unable to pay the interest for a long time, all accounts under her name had been frozen. Thus, her current disposable assets were zero.

Ji Youyi checked the bank records.

Logically, artists are paid per event, but Little Ji’s only income was a 5,000 yuan monthly transfer from Wantao. Meanwhile, all her expenses—including housing for work, travel, makeup, hair, and meals—had to be paid out of her own pocket.

In an entertainment industry where even small supporting actors and minor influencers drive luxury cars and live in mansions—5,000 yuan.

For someone who didn’t even reach the tax threshold and didn’t pay into social security or housing funds—5,000 yuan.

For someone who had to use it for food, clothing, housing, transportation, and repaying 80,000 yuan in monthly interest—5,000 yuan.

Who wouldn’t be desperate?

While auditing the accounts, Ji Youyi discovered that several of Little Ji’s massive loans eventually flowed back to her own management company, though she didn’t know under what pretext.

She gave a cold laugh and switched to WeChat, trying to find more evidence. Her finger scrolled twice and clicked on a chat box.

The time was one week ago.

Manager Zhang: “It’s as I said before; a few million isn’t even enough for me to spend in one night. I can help you pay it back easily. Everything is like this; it looks troublesome, but it’s really just a matter of a word from me.”

Little Ji: “Oh. I’ll think about it.”

Manager Zhang: “I can give you time to consider, but you should know that while you are very beautiful, the entertainment industry isn’t lacking in beauties. If you’re unwilling, plenty of people are.”

Little Ji: “Okay.”

And then she swallowed the pills.

That was her answer.

Ji Youyi felt a surge of blood rush to her head. The screen before her and the scenery ahead all blurred into two clouds of darkness.

Fang Ruohan was deeply regretting her decision.

This hospital was not the private hospital they usually collaborated with; it was just close to the Meng family estate, and with low foot traffic in the middle of the night, she thought they’d check here first before deciding whether to admit her or transfer her.

She never expected that a celebrity would be sent here after swallowing pills in a nearby hotel early this morning. Right now, the hospital was surrounded by paparazzi.

If it were anyone else, it wouldn’t matter, but this minor star happened to have some connection to Meng Xiao.

“I really can’t wait for Meng Xiao to return to the country immediately.” The more Fang Ruohan thought about it, the more disgusted she felt. “The ‘True Heiress’ returns, the ‘True White Moonlight’ debuts—let the whole entertainment industry just explode!”

Meng Xingshu’s return to the Meng family house last night was a private trip, with only Fang Ruohan following as an assistant. While shielding Meng Xingshu toward the parking lot, Fang Ruohan talked about the news she had just heard.

“Didn’t Meng Xiao find a popular star to manufacture a scandal with? That star has a young girl in the same company who is head over heels for him and clung to him constantly on the show. The press releases sent by the Meng family used too many paid shills; the guy’s fans couldn’t control the comments and couldn’t vent their anger, so they turned around to bully that little girl. The flaming was horrific.”

“Last night Meng Xiao dropped more ‘bombshells,’ buying seven pages of layout to talk about her giving the star a luxury mansion—just like before, using that nauseating title ‘Eldest Miss of the Meng Family’ to mislead everyone. Now the whole internet assumes you gave it. I’m so furious; I don’t even want to go online until she returns. I beg her to hurry up and debut so she can take back everything that belongs to her!”

“Anyway, that girl saw the news last night and was heavily triggered. She probably felt her romance was hopeless in this life, so she swallowed pills to commit suicide. She was just saved.”

Meng Xingshu wore a hat and a mask. Her calm, waveless eyes only looked straight ahead, as if she wasn’t listening.

Fang Ruohan was long used to this cold attitude, but it didn’t dampen her enthusiasm for gossip. She was about to continue when she heard hurried footsteps behind her.

Turning around, she saw a person in a hospital gown holding a phone, rushing toward them in a panic, looking like they were about to collide.

“Hey, hey! What are you doing!” Fang Ruohan’s first instinct was that it was a sasaeng fan, and she reached out to block her.

Ji Youyi was walking fast, and her brain was deprived of oxygen. Her vision was going black, and she didn’t notice people in front of her. Hearing the voice, she braked abruptly.

Her already weak body couldn’t withstand the inertia and tilted forward uncontrollably. She stumbled and nearly fell, but fortunately, a hand caught her in time.

The person beside her had a soft yet strong arm and carried a pleasant, faint floral scent. Ji Youyi instinctively leaned back, squinting her eyes to try and relieve the pain and dizziness in her head. “Thank… you.”

She intended to say thanks, but the moment she opened her mouth, she could no longer suppress her violently convulsing stomach. She vomited suddenly, and the phone in her hand flew out as she lost her grip.

The air fell into a brief silence.

The reddish-black bloodstains on the ground were startling. Fang Ruohan watched, despair in her eyes.

This is a scam, right? This is definitely a scam?!

She had indeed reached out to block her, but she hadn’t touched the person at all!

Wait, no, bad, bad—Teacher Meng touched her when she helped her.

Her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.

She didn’t know if this scene had been caught by paparazzi. There should be cameras nearby. To prevent the media from writing nonsense later, she had to find someone to pull the surveillance footage immediately.

She was opening her contacts to scroll when she heard a familiar, slightly cool voice say: “Tissue.”

Fang Ruohan paused but reacted quickly, hurriedly pulling a pack of pocket tissues from her bag and handing it over.

Ji Youyi was still dizzy and her vision was black; she could only see a blurry image. She took the paper: “Thank…”

“Don’t, don’t talk anymore,” Fang Ruohan stopped her in time.

Blessings of the Great-Grandmother, she was truly afraid the girl would continue vomiting blood.

Ji Youyi nodded obediently, opened the tissue, and pressed it against her mouth.

A hand reached out from the front left, holding something. Ji Youyi squinted to identify it, guessing it was the phone that had just flown out.

The screen was still lit, showing green and white blocks of color—at a glance, it was that chat record that had made her faint with anger.

Ji Youyi felt another surge of nausea. She turned off the screen, took back the phone, and her voice came out muffled through the tissue: “Thank you.”

Meng Xingshu’s gaze slid past the phone screen and landed on the person opposite her.

The girl looked very thin, wearing a blue-and-white striped hospital gown, her black hair slightly messy, framing a face the size of a palm.

Her eyes were large and bright, the corners slightly upturned. The sunlight made her fair skin look almost translucent, making the small mole on the tip of her nose look exceptionally crimson.

She was indeed very beautiful.

Even in the entire entertainment industry, she was exceptionally beautiful.

Meng Xingshu looked at Ji Youyi thoughtfully and parted her lips: “You’re welcome.”