After Becoming a Film Queen, She Dumped Her Financial Sponsor - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Do You Want to Delete This Contact?

So, Qiao Sijin resolutely turned off her phone and slipped into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.

Staring at her disheveled reflection in the mirror, she leaned on the sink as beads of water dripped from the bridge of her nose. She grabbed a towel and wiped her face.

“That must’ve been a dream…”

That’s what she told herself, but in reality, Qiao Sijin was already racking her brain trying to remember at what point last night she’d done something so stupid.

With a heavy sigh, she decided to face the truth.
There was no running from it, especially with the day packed and a return to the set ahead—she had to get moving.

Li Ke would be picking her up soon.

After freshening up, Qiao Sijin stared at the phone lying quietly on the bed. For some reason, it felt like a demon waiting for her.

Her hand trembled as she reached for it.

Taking the phone in her palm like she was marching to her doom, she unlocked it.

The screen was still on that same moment from earlier: she had angrily and bitterly unliked all of Fu Qingyun’s posts during their breakup—only to like one again last night!

Aaaaaaahhh!
Could someone please save her? Qiao Sijin felt too ashamed to face anyone right now.

Should she unlike it again?

…No, that would make her look even guiltier. What was going on?

Qiao Sijin shook her head hard and decided to pretend the whole thing never happened.
Besides, Fu Qingyun probably didn’t even look at her Moments (WeChat timeline).
What did one little like matter?

When they were together, Fu Qingyun barely posted anything related to her personal life anyway.
That photo—Qiao Sijin had begged her to post it for ages. And what did she get in return?
A horde of love rivals swarming toward her.

Nothing else. Not even a shred of acknowledgment.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

Was her entire relationship with Fu Qingyun really just that shallow?
It was pathetic.

She couldn’t live like this.

Yet even as she was about to exit her Moments, her eyes lingered on that photo she’d liked by accident the night before.

The sea breeze was gentle.

Fu Qingyun was still so beautiful… and captivating.

As an actress, Qiao Sijin had never underestimated herself, nor had she ever been conceited. That’s how she’d achieved what she had today.

But Fu Qingyun… Fu Qingyun was the one person Qiao Sijin had ever felt jealous of, the one she’d secretly loved when she was young.

She was like a magnificent snow-capped mountain under the blazing sun—eternal, unshakable.

A black mark in her past? Fine. Let it be her black mark.

Qiao Sijin could only pray in her heart…

But then—she exited the Moments page and saw it.

Fu Qingyun had sent her a message.

Two words that struck like a soul-crushing blow:

“Good morning.”

Of course. Of course she’d seen it.

All the self-comfort and rationalizing Qiao Sijin had done to convince herself it didn’t matter… It all collapsed instantly.

Her scalp tingled, her toes curled into the floor. Even her ears and cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

She cursed herself.

Qiao Sijin, have some dignity.

Just because Fu Qingyun was a little nice to you, you’re going to wag your tail like some lovesick puppy?

Where’s your pride?

She absolutely couldn’t fall for that trick again.
Last time, she hadn’t had time to delete Fu Qingyun because she was too busy—working nonstop until she completely forgot.

This time, she wouldn’t be soft.

So, she found Fu Qingyun’s contact.

Tapped several times.

A confirmation screen appeared:

“Do you want to delete this contact?”

With almost no hesitation,

Qiao Sijin tapped “Yes.”

And just like that, all traces of Fu Qingyun vanished from her phone. Qiao Sijin finally felt a weight lift from her chest.

Once she deleted her, the embarrassment wasn’t hers to carry anymore.

Knock knock knock!

There was a knock at the door. No need to guess—Qiao Sijin already knew who it was. She set down her phone and walked over.

As she opened the door, a familiar face came into view.

Li Ke entered, raising a hand in greeting—time to start the day with energy.

Well… truthfully, she was dead tired. She’d basically pulled an all-nighter.

Why? Because she was about to fly into some remote mountains and had no idea when she’d next see civilization. So she’d spent the night clinging to the city’s nightlife.

“Boss… why do you have such dark circles too?”

Li Ke pointed to her own face, then to Qiao Sijin’s, clearly stunned.
Surely the boss hadn’t stayed up like she had?

“You have the nerve to ask me? Yours are worse.”

Qiao Sijin sighed as she looked at Li Ke’s eyes, which looked like someone had socked her.

“What’s wrong… Boss?”

Li Ke had already started packing for her. Fortunately, Sijin hadn’t brought much—just two days of rest before returning to set.

“Why the sigh?”

Li Ke asked carefully. Was her boss unhappy about going back to set today?

But from her experience, Qiao Sijin wasn’t the lazy type. In fact, she was one of the hardest workers she knew—employee of the year material.

“Well, I have this… friend… who, uh… accidentally liked a photo in the Moments of someone they already ended things with…”

Qiao Sijin stammered through the explanation. Li Ke frowned, immediately suspicious.

Clears throat.

“Ahem… Boss, this ‘friend’ wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”

Qiao Sijin froze.
Was it that obvious?

“Don’t worry about that—just answer the question.”

She brushed off Li Ke’s counter and refocus the topic.
Li Ke covered her mouth with her palm and nodded, signaling she wouldn’t pry.

Her voice came out muffled:

“Alright, Boss. Ask away—I won’t say a word.”

Smart woman. Lessons learned.

“And then the next morning, that person randomly sends you a ‘good morning’… What would you do?”

Li Ke thought for a moment, then cleared her head of any bias to answer sincerely.

“Boss, that clearly means your friend’s person… still likes her!”

It wasn’t rocket science.