After Becoming a Film Queen, She Dumped Her Financial Sponsor - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Don’t Tell Me They’re Getting Back Together?

The shoot had gone on for nearly a week.

Due to the production’s needs, Qiao Sijin had gotten a few shades darker from the sun—she now looked just like a high schooler fresh off a grueling military training camp.

Dark enough to resemble someone who’d just come out of a coal mine.

But Qiao Sijin didn’t mind. What concerned her more was an upcoming interview she had to record, which was related to the award-winning film she starred in.

This had already been reported to the director in advance, so he understood and cleared a few days in her schedule. They’d shoot landscape inserts and other exterior scenes in the meantime.

“Good lord, let me take a look at you, our little treasure. You’re barely distinguishable from the stray dogs and cats outside our office building,” Tao Yi joked.

“Truly a pitiful sight.”

Despite her words, Tao Yi couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

“All right, Tao-jie, if you want to laugh, just go ahead,” Qiao Sijin sighed dramatically, sprawled out on Tao Yi’s black office couch like a deflated balloon.

“This is what a professional actor must endure. It’s called dedication to the craft. I’m sacrificing for art.”

Tao Yi covered her mouth, trying to suppress her chuckle, then handed over a stack of organized documents from her desk.

“This is the address for tonight’s magazine interview dinner. I’ll have Li Ke accompany you. You all know each other—just some chief editors.”

“Dinner tonight, interview shoot tomorrow morning. By the day after, I’ll book you a flight back to the set.”

Qiao Sijin already knew about the dinner—it fell under normal work-related socializing, so she hadn’t canceled it. But she wasn’t planning to drink much.

After all, she had to be up early for the interview and was looking forward to a nice beauty nap in the afternoon.

She had her schedule perfectly arranged and was honestly impressed by her own time management skills.

“Got it. I’ll head out in a bit,” she said, grabbing her bag and stepping out in heels.

…

Meanwhile, not far away, crouched by a trash can and hidden in a bush with dried leaves stuck in her hair, Xu You put down her camera and frowned at the person who just stepped out of a car.

She looked familiar, oddly so.

Xu You zoomed in with her lens, focusing on the figure’s face—then she saw clearly who it was.

Dressed in a finely tailored suit, posture elegant, even the slightly loosened collar looked expensive.

“It’s… Fu Qingyun.”

This spot was a frequent haunt of celebrities, but occasionally it attracted financial elites as well, so seeing Fu Qingyun here wasn’t that strange.

Xu You snapped several pictures in a row. After all, Fu Qingyun and Qiao Sijin were no longer involved—she wasn’t breaking any loyalty rules by digging up some juicy gossip about him.

If anything, she was doing her best friend a favor. This was justice served.

She’d already put her phone on silent—standard protocol for paparazzi. Leg cramps from squatting too long? Common. Loud phones giving away positions? Rookie mistake.

Xu You nudged a coworker kneeling beside her. “Scoot a bit, make room. Gotta document who’s coming and going from this fancy place tonight.”

“Which celebrity brought a boyfriend? Which socialite brought a girlfriend?”

This could be a goldmine of exclusive content.

Just as she was happily snapping away, another figure stepped out of the black van Fu Qingyun had arrived in—a woman in a flowing white designer dress.

It was a piece from Troy’s haute couture line. Very pricey.

From just a glimpse of the hem, Xu You’s heart skipped a beat.

No way… was Qiao Sijin here too?

Her mind spiraled—were these two… getting back together?

She trusted Qiao Sijin’s character. If she had made up her mind to leave Fu Qingyun, then the odds of reconciliation should be zero.

But… what if Fu Qingyun was pressuring her? Using his power to force her back into a cage, turning her into his secret canary again?

That wasn’t impossible.

Rich people could be twisted. Even someone as stunning as Fu Qingyun might have skeletons in the closet.

And Qiao Sijin had been the perfect example of that kind of entrapment once.

“Goudan, help me keep an eye out,” she whispered to the man in the black hoodie beside her, carefully pulling her phone from her pocket.

She had to ask Qiao Sijin directly—did she know Fu Qingyun was here?

What if they both got drunk and something happened? All of Qiao Sijin’s progress would go down the drain.

“Boss… that might be tricky,” Goudan whispered back, a massive mosquito perched on his nose, swollen with bl00d.

“Achoo!”

Unable to hold back, he sneezed loudly—startling a flurry of leaves in the bushes.

The guards at the venue immediately became alert and turned toward the noise.

Xu You sprang up instantly, yanked her coworker with her, and bolted like mad.

“Hey! Get them!”

The guards pulled out batons and charged toward the bushes.

Xu You ran like she was sprinting for free food at the college cafeteria, tapping into every ounce of athletic ability. If they caught her, she was done for.

“What was that sound?” Qiao Sijin paused, high heels clicking, phone in hand, and looked toward the noise. But the night was pitch-black. She couldn’t see a thing—only the dim glow of streetlights overhead.

“Was that just in my head?”

Maybe it was from staying up so late lately—no sleep in the morning, no nap at noon, no rest at night, even tossing and turning till dawn.

She really needed to get her health in check.

Otherwise, she might just drop dead from exhaustion.

“Probably nothing. The guards said it was likely stray dogs,” Li Ke said, having just parked the car. She led Qiao Sijin toward the entrance of the venue, where the magazine’s dinner was being hosted.

“I see…”

“Oh, come on, Boss. Let’s just go in—I’m starving here.”

They’d been swamped all day, and Li Ke hadn’t eaten a single hot meal yet.

“Fine.”

Still glued to her phone, Qiao Sijin only shoved it into her purse at the last second before the elevator doors closed.

Forget it. No point overthinking it now.