After the Breakup, the Crazy Movie Queen Clings to Me Every Day (GL) - Chapter 11

In the company practice room, the manager stared at the two people in front of him with anger and worry. “What should we do?

*****

“What are we going to do? Someone from a powerful family stole your debut spot. You two can just sit on the back burner until you’re old and gray.”

Wei Yixi shrugged, her red hoodie looking like a ball of fire. “Even if we agree to sleep with a big shot, there’s still the risk of being replaced by someone new.”

The manager was furious. “Even if you didn’t agree to sleep with him, that’s no reason to be sarcastic to him on the spot. Do you have a death wish?”

“The guy’s forty or fifty years old and still wants to mess with Jingli. How could I not get mad? We’re not getting ahead by selling ourselves; we’re getting ahead with our talent, okay?”

“You still want to argue? If you don’t want to be messed with, couldn’t you have handled it more gently? Did you have to curse him out and humiliate him?”

Wei Yixi was speechless and lowered her head defiantly.

“This is your future,” the manager said, her gaze landing on Lan Jingli. In the sunlight, the girl’s skin was so translucent she seemed even more pristine and aloof. “I sent you to talk with CEO Shu last time, but you missed your chance. Did you not connect with that person either?”

She didn’t want to sell out her artists, but they had offended someone you couldn’t afford to offend in the industry. If they didn’t find an even more powerful backer, their already uncertain future was even more precarious.

Lan Jingli shook her head firmly, smiling faintly. “Just assume my aspirations are too high, my life is as thin as paper, and I’m bringing this on myself.”

She didn’t want to beg or plead, or even sweet-talk Tan You into helping her. It had nothing to do with saving face.

She liked Tan You and wanted an equal, clean relationship. How could she tarnish this hard-won, long-awaited reunion with money and personal gain?

Wei Yixi patted Lan Jingli’s shoulder in support. “Even if we’re short on money, there are plenty of honorable ways to earn a living.”

Seeing their united front and righteous indignation, the manager stomped her foot in exasperation and laughed bitterly.

“That person has deep connections in the industry. You two better be ready. Either go and get on your knees to apologize, or get ready to be blacklisted before you even debut. You won’t even have a chance to work behind the scenes.”

After saying this, the manager left without a backward glance, leaving the two of them to stare at each other.

“Looks like we’re finished this time,” Wei Yixi said with a big laugh. “Let’s go get some food to celebrate?”

“Seems like that’s all we can do. What else is there?”

They went to a congee shop they frequented and called their other trainee friend. They ordered three home-style dishes. The prices were reasonable, and the portions were generous.

However, just as Lan Jingli sat down and took a bite of her shrimp congee, a Rolls-Royce pulled up outside the shop. Auntie Wan stepped out unhurriedly, walked into the shop, and smiled at the three of them.

“I apologize for interrupting your meal.” Auntie Wan looked at Lan Jingli. “She’s waiting for you. Can you go now?”

“Now?” Lan Jingli was clearly surprised. “I’m still eating with my friends.”

“Miss can wait for you for another hour.”

“Okay,” Lan Jingli said, hesitating for a moment before apologizing to her friends. “I’ll go first. I’ll find you when I get back.”

“Go on, go on,” Wei Yixi said with great understanding.

After the luxury car carrying Lan Jingli drove away, Wei Yixi’s brain finally started working normally again.

“Oh my god, did you see that? The license plate was Cloud-7. A single-digit license plate. The average person can’t get a plate like that.”

The other trainee was also in shock, her lips slightly parted. “Didn’t Jingli say the sister she was dating was a regular person?”

“You think that’s a regular person?”

They stared at each other and said in unison.

“Maybe she’s being kept?” Wei Yixi shrugged.

“Don’t say that. Jingli said she was in love with someone she had liked for a long time.”

Wei Yixi sighed, looking very experienced.

“Someone with that kind of money… It doesn’t look like a normal relationship.”

“Then you should ask her about it next time.”

*****

Meanwhile, Lan Jingli was taken directly to a separate building in the mountain villa.

Tan You glanced at Lan Jingli, then her gaze returned to the golden koi in the fish tank.

“They sent me clips of you singing and dancing,” the woman said, chatting in an unhurried manner. “It seems your company’s intensive training has been effective.”

As the ultimate big boss of Yunshu Entertainment, layers and layers of hierarchy away, Lan Jingli knew that if Tan You wanted to, she could know everything about her.

“It’s okay. Singing is alright, but acting is so difficult.”

Tan You smiled. “You can take your time. Have you been busy with work lately?”

“It’s alright,” Lan Jingli said, shaking her head as she thought of the manager’s furious expression from earlier. “It will be a little less than before.”

“You should be very busy if you’re about to debut.”

“The company has other plans.”

This led Tan You to ask smoothly, “Other plans?”

“There’s other work, so…” Lan Jingli didn’t want to complain to her.

She could have told her everything. A single word from Tan You could have solved the problem.

But she didn’t want to.

The woman sprinkled the last bit of fish food, then meticulously wiped her hands. The walls of this specimen room were lined with black velvet, which seemed to absorb all light and sound, making the space feel like a secluded, eternal night.

“You’re not having any trouble, are you?”

The question made it clear that she knew Lan Jingli was in trouble.

Tan You played with Lan Jingli’s long fingers, which had been washed and disinfected three times upon her arrival. The white, jade-like bones were tinged with red, giving them a captivating purity.

She gently brought the girl’s fingertips to her lips, sucking and biting them, as if she was trying to dig out Lan Jingli’s heart again to savor all her joys and sorrows.

Lan Jingli was silent for a moment, enduring the growing numbness in her body. She looked at the koi desperately swimming but forever trapped in the fish tank, trying her best to stay clear-headed.

“Sister, I can handle it myself.”

“Lan Jingli,” Tan You said, calling her by her full name for the first time.

The woman stood up and looked down at her for a while, then said in an understated manner:

“I asked, and you said you don’t want to talk about it. So I’ll assume you don’t want to, and I won’t ask again. It’s impossible for me to investigate in secret.”

Lan Jingli understood what Tan You meant: don’t play hard to get or say something you don’t mean. The woman didn’t have the patience for that.

“So I’ll ask one more time. What kind of trouble are you in? If you don’t say, then don’t ever say it.”

“Sister, I don’t want to do this,” the soft, seductive scent of her body was gone too quickly, and Lan Jingli felt a sense of loss. She looked deeply into Tan You’s eyes. “Can you let me solve this on my own?”

Tan You’s cold, snow-like face held a strange, chilling smile. “Very well.”

She didn’t like it when her people were bullied. Lan Jingli’s pointless pride should be broken, crushed, and turned to dust.

A little bit of pride was charming, but too much was simply naive.

Lan Jingli watched the woman take out her phone and tap on it a few times. Then, without another word, she elegantly and calmly began to make a specimen at her workbench.

A thin, white snake skeleton wound and twisted on a pure black piece of paper, its forked tongue looking like it was biting a vibrant, fiery red butterfly.

In another bottle of dark blue liquid, a different small, green snake coiled.

They were all so lifelike, they gave the impression they could come alive at any moment.

Lan Jingli stood frozen, feeling Tan You’s occasional, scrutinizing glance.

She felt like a child being punished by a teacher. She didn’t dare to breathe too loudly, as if a silent confrontation was taking place in the specimen room, with no clear winner or loser.

Auntie Wan came in and out from time to time, bringing a bitter-smelling traditional medicine. Seeing the flush in Tan You’s eyes and on her lips, she knew that another episode had started.

“Miss, please have your medicine first.”

The woman held a slender silver knife in her hand. Her face was pale and tired from enduring the pain for too long, her skin a snowy white.

Her long, dark eyelashes fluttered like peeled, white lotus seeds—pure and beautiful, but with a deep, unspoken bitterness inside.

“Just leave it.”

After Tan You drank the medicine, Lan Jingli carefully stepped forward and offered her a piece of milk candy. “Sister, is it bitter? Want a piece of candy?”

The woman’s fair face was already flushed with a rose-like color from not taking her medicine in time. Her soft, supple lips were as beautiful as a rose, and her eyes were moist and red.

“If you’re a good girl, I’ll give you anything.”

“But I want to do it on my own.” Lan Jingli was still so stubborn.

Tan You’s cold, beautiful face seemed to lose control for a moment because of her illness, but she still said gently:

“Li-li, a friend of mine saw you dancing and wants you to teach her.”

“Your friend?” Lan Jingli was a little surprised. Tan You’s friends weren’t ordinary people. Did they really need her to teach them how to dance? “What’s her name?”

“Wei Xueyin. Please take good care of her for me,” the woman said, her eyes were as clear as water. The seriousness of her request was more moving than any love poem.