After Becoming a Film Queen, She Dumped Her Financial Sponsor - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: She’s in Her Twenties—Why Call Her “Little Baby”?

“What are you thinking about? Zoned out like that?”

Qiao Sijin tilted her head and waved her fingers in front of Li Ke’s face, wondering what she was daydreaming about this time.

“Nothing really. Boss… are you sure it’s okay to say things like that?”

The public might not know who Qiao Sijin’s first love was, but—aiming those words straight at President Fu like that, surely someone perceptive would be able to pick up on it.

“If I’m not scared, why are you scared?”

After all the years they’d shared a bed, Qiao Sijin knew very well that Fu Qingyun wouldn’t fly into a rage over something so trivial.

That woman never really cared about her career anyway—whether she won awards or not didn’t matter to the ever-busy President Fu, who was always off to some far-flung corner of the world.

“Well, that’s true.”

“I mean, if Fu Qingyun does come to settle scores, she probably won’t smash me with a brick, right?”

“And besides, it’s you and Fu Qingyun who had a falling-out, not me and her.”

Her lighthearted, unfiltered words actually made Qiao Sijin laugh.

She reclined back into her chair again.

“A woman is most beautiful when she has no emotional entanglements. Take a few nice photos for me—I want to post something on Weibo.”

She had already moved on.

It was just a woman—someone insignificant. Last lifetime she had cried and begged and still hadn’t earned even a single glance from Fu Qingyun.

A heartless jerk like that—what was there to miss?

“You’re the best, Boss.”

If even Qiao Sijin wasn’t scared, then why should she be?

Li Ke obediently took Qiao Sijin’s phone and crouched down to take a few pretty photos. As weird as the squatting pose looked, the pictures turned out great.

Click. Click. A few shots later, Li Ke patted the dust off her pants and stood up.

“All done. What do you think? Pretty good, right?”

As a professional assistant, she had even paid for a photography workshop. And clearly, the money wasn’t wasted.

“Not bad. I’ll send you a red envelope later.”

Qiao Sijin accepted the phone, flipped through the photos one by one, and gave Li Ke a thumbs-up.

She selected a few that she liked and immediately uploaded them to her Weibo, not even bothering with filters or editing.

Just checking the engagement box.

…

Ye Ke slowly brought the car to a stop and looked out the window—right outside the office building.

“President Fu, we’ve arrived.”

Meanwhile, Fu Qingyun was leaning back in her seat, eyes closed in thought. At the sound of Ye Ke’s voice, she opened her eyes.

“Got it.”

Just as she was about to step out, she heard the sound of Ye Ke refreshing her social feed. Normally, Fu Qingyun wouldn’t care, but today, she suddenly paused mid-step and glanced at Ye Ke’s phone screen.

Ye Ke didn’t even notice—usually, once Fu Qingyun arrived, she’d get out on her own. Ye Ke just had to be ready to pick her up at night. As a good assistant, her phone stayed on 24/7 for emergency calls.

Otherwise, she was free to slack off and scroll to her heart’s content.

But this time, when the expected sound of the car door closing didn’t come, she got suspicious. She looked up—and locked eyes with Fu Qingyun.

“P-President Fu… I wasn’t looking at anything!”

She frantically turned off the screen, wanting to crawl into a hole and disappear.

“I saw it.”

That gaze was intense and piercing.

It had only been a fleeting glance, but Fu Qingyun had to admit—she was still drawn to Qiao Sijin, still captivated by her.

She was still that stunning beauty, as breathtaking as the first time they met.

If Fu Qingyun hadn’t spoken, it might have been fine. But now that she did, Ye Ke felt like her soul was about to leave her body.

Was she about to die at the hands of her boss for liking her boss’s ex’s photos?

She was this close to posting an SOS online:

Help! My boss caught me liking sexy photos of her ex! What do I do?! Urgent!

“I really just… stumbled across it while scrolling… I swear, I didn’t mean to see it!”

Well, since she’d been caught, there was nothing to do but own up to it. Ye Ke looked like she’d resigned herself to her fate.

“Let me see.”

To her shock, Fu Qingyun asked to see the photos. Ye Ke hadn’t expected that. With trembling hands, she passed over her phone.

Could she maybe get reimbursement if President Fu suddenly smashed her iPhone 15 Pro Max to pieces? That seemed like an important question.

The phone was already unlocked with Face ID. Fu Qingyun browsed through the photos carefully. Sure enough, the mountain backdrop in the pictures was from the set Qiao Sijin had been filming on recently.

She was sprawled lazily across a chair like some seductive fox spirit, bewitching and ethereal. Despite the cold weather, Qiao Sijin was dressed lightly, one shoulder bare, smiling gently at the camera.

Fu Qingyun knew this was part of her job, just her daily grind. But when she scrolled through the comments—hundreds of fans cheering—her brows furrowed.

“Awww! Kisses, little baby! You’re the cutest! Always a goddess!”

She’s in her twenties. Why the hell are they still calling her “little baby”?

“Wifey, wifey, I love you! I’ll love you for ten thousand years! Like a mouse loves rice!”

Wifey?! Is that something you just shout out to anyone? A mouse loving rice—what kind of nonsense metaphor is that?!

“I love you, Xiaojin! Be with me, okay? I’ll love you forever!”

Throwing around “I love you” like it means nothing. That’s not real love.

Ye Ke noticed her boss’s face darkening by the second and silently folded her hands, praying furiously.

Please, please don’t blow up. And if you do blow up, please don’t take it out on my poor, innocent phone.

“Here.”

“Your face is practically on top of me.”

Fu Qingyun felt her emotions spiraling out of control. She returned the phone and decisively looked away.

She got out of the car, but those ridiculous fan comments still echoed in her mind, bringing a strange bitterness with them.

She realized—maybe she had truly never paid attention to what Qiao Sijin had been busy with all this time.

Whatever resources Sijin wanted, she would just assign someone to get them. She’d never actually looked into anything herself.

Curiosity is like Pandora’s box—once opened, it won’t close again. Fu Qingyun had never been much of a phone user, replying only when absolutely necessary.

Because of her father’s poor health, she’d taken over as heir very young. She had been incredibly hard on herself.

Most desires had faded away. If she wanted something too much, she forced herself not to think about it—eventually, the desire would fade.

She’d convinced herself that it wasn’t that important, that she didn’t really want it after all.