After the Flash Marriage, My Ex Who is a Movie Queen Keeps Flirting with Me - Chapter 17

Ming Jiyue remained silent, wordlessly refreshing her Weibo page and scrolling through the flood of new comments. The more she read, the colder her expression became, as if coated in a layer of frost.

The assistant standing beside her barely dared to breathe.

Soon, her manager’s call came through.

“That Liu Fan really knows how to ride the coattails of others! If he put this much effort into acting, he’d have been famous long ago.”

The manager was equally disgusted by Liu Fan’s tactics, but couldn’t resist scolding Ming Jiyue: “I told you to keep a low profile, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened—the vultures have already started circling.”

Ming Jiyue’s mood soured, her tone sharp: “I posted my Weibo. It’s her who’s clinging to me. What does it have to do with me?”

“Am I supposed to stop posting on Weibo just because someone might try to piggyback off my fame?”

The manager choked on her words.

“I’m sorry, Sister Chen,” Ming Jiyue said, softening her tone as she rubbed her temples. “Have the studio issue a statement to clarify things.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” The manager laughed bitterly. “We can’t just say you’re single and not dating anyone, can we? And we can’t directly deny being a couple with Liu Fan—that would be a slap in the face! We’re not at the point of burning bridges yet.”

Ming Jiyue understood the dilemma, feeling even more helpless. “Then what should we do?”

“Let the heat die down on its own. It’ll only be a few days,” the manager sighed. “They didn’t name names. It’s clearly a coordinated effort by hired trolls to stir things up. You said it yourself last time—responding just gives them the attention they want.”

Ming Jiyue frowned, remaining silent.

The manager pressed on, “Haven’t we dealt with countless clout-chasers before? If you scrutinized every rumor, the gossip accounts would have you linked to dozens of ‘exes.’ You’d exhaust yourself trying to debunk them all.”

“This is different,” Ming Jiyue said firmly.

“How so? They’re all using the same tactics.”

Ming Jiyue didn’t reply.

Before she was married, she hadn’t cared about the rumors. Let them spread whatever lies they wanted—it was all fabricated anyway.

But this time, it was Jiang Wanyu, her wife, who had visited her on set. Others might not know, but she refused to let anyone else claim this moment.

She wanted to post a Weibo update, flaunting her affection for her wife. What’s your business, you irrelevant bystander, trying to horn in on our moment?

The thought alone made her bristle.

After a moment of silence, the manager spoke again, “Liu Fan’s people apologized. They said he didn’t realize you’d posted that Weibo when he made his own, and the content happened to be similar. They don’t know who bought the trending topic, but they’re withdrawing it immediately.”

“Is it really that coincidental?” Ming Jiyue rolled her eyes. “Would she really be willing to take down the trending topic? Ask her if she’ll remove it tomorrow, or is she planning to keep it up until the day after? Is she going to buy a new one as soon as this one drops?”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” the manager warned.

“What nonsense?” Ming Jiyue scoffed. “Last time, she only dared to buy a low-ranking trending topic. Now she’s going straight for number one? Next time, will she try to drag me into a live broadcast and sell me off?”

“Oh, wait, she won’t get the chance. Make sure she never sets foot on set again. No cameos, nothing. Forcing her way in this time really gave her a taste of success.”

“Didn’t we warn her before? How dare she do this again?”

“I did warn her,” the manager said, exasperated. “I personally contacted them. They were incredibly polite, but who knew she’d be so stubborn?”

Ming Jiyue’s voice turned icy. “I’m genuinely baffled. Why is she so desperate to latch onto me? Who gave her the audacity?”

The manager found the tactic equally repulsive. “She probably thought the visitor was one of your friends whose identity you couldn’t reveal. Plenty of people try to pair up with you for clout, but you’ve always ignored them. She just posted a Weibo update; you’d likely ignore it as usual. Even if there’s an issue, the marketing accounts are the ones making the claims, not her.”

Ming Jiyue took a deep breath.

“I checked the marketing accounts that posted about this. They’ve all been consistently promoting Liu Fan’s content, so there’s likely a collaboration.”

“Let’s just endure this for now. She’s getting a free ride this time, but we’ll be more careful in the future. This will blow over quickly. We won’t cross paths again, so she won’t even have the chance to piggyback off you.”

“This is all temporary. Your relationship with Wan Yu isn’t ready to be public yet, so we need to be patient. Once we find the right opportunity to announce it, this whole mess will resolve itself. Then we can really slap her in the face.”

The manager spoke earnestly, “I know you’re angry, and I hate dealing with this kind of crap too. Who wants to be used like that? But these things happen all the time in the industry. It’s impossible to prevent them all.”

Ming Jiyue’s voice was muffled, but her tone finally calmed down. “I understand.”

The manager breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll remind Liu… his team to be more careful. I’ve also arranged for the studio to handle the situation. It’ll blow over soon, so don’t let it get to you. After all these years in the industry, getting worked up over something like this isn’t worth it. Stress causes wrinkles.”

Ming Jiyue chuckled softly, her tone finally lightening. “What’s that supposed to mean? You think I’m getting old?”

“Old? Who doesn’t know our Best Actress Ming is only twenty-eight, as beautiful as a flower, and looks like she’s barely in her early twenties?”

Ming Jiyue was pleased by the compliment. “Alright, I get it. You guys can go back to work now.”

Due to the sudden incident, Jiang Wanyu hadn’t left yet and had temporarily returned to the hotel.

Ming Jiyue stood by the table, holding her takeout, before finally speaking, “About the Weibo post…”

“I know,” Jiang Wanyu interrupted. “My assistant told me.”

Ming Jiyue’s fingers twitched as she hesitated. “She was vague about it. It’s hard to clarify the situation, and Sister Chen thinks we should just let it blow over…”

Jiang Wanyu sat down at the table and helped open the takeout container. “Yeah, that’s the right approach. It’ll pass.”

She smiled. “Let’s eat. I really have to leave after this.”

Jiang Wanyu acted so naturally, so generous and understanding, completely sympathetic to Ming Jiyue’s approach. Ming Jiyue should have felt relieved, but the more Jiang Wanyu acted this way, the more suffocated she felt.

The more Ming Jiyue thought about it, the angrier she became. It was Jiang Wanyu who had visited her on set, her wife. Why should someone else take credit for it? She hadn’t done anything wrong—why should she swallow her anger?

Her voice was heavy, her chest tight with suppressed emotion. “But I posted that for you.”

Jiang Wanyu smiled. “Knowing you posted it is enough.”

Ming Jiyue’s heart warmed, filled with both gratitude and a bittersweet ache. “Mm.”

She texted her assistant to come and take Jiang Wanyu home when a Weibo notification popped up about Liu Fan visiting her on set.

Ming Jiyue casually clicked on the article, which was from a marketing account.

The article was comprehensive, first analyzing the previous photos of Ming Jiyue kissing someone on the street and concluding it was Liu Fan. It then asserted with unwavering certainty that Liu Fan had visited Ming Jiyue on set, citing their back-and-forth interactions on Weibo. Finally, it included a less than two-minute clip of the two sharing screen time in their collaborative film.

During the film’s release, Liu Fan’s team had invested heavily in online marketing to promote their “CP” pairing, but Ming Jiyue had completely ignored it. Now, with the real-life drama being amplified, the effect was doubled. Many fans were eating it up, shipping the two actresses and digging up “hidden clues” like their “synchronized Weibo posts” and “matching outfits.”

Holy crap, I didn’t believe it before, but this looks kinda real!

I never expected this! Best Actress Ming, who’s been focused on her career for seven years, actually got taken by Liu Fan! And they’re even showing off their relationship publicly! Ming Jiyue must really like her! If Ming Jiyue chose Liu Fan, she must be amazing! Don’t stop me, I’m shipping them!

Jiang Wanyu lowered her head to eat when she suddenly heard a chuckle from across the table.

Puzzled, Jiang Wanyu asked, “What’s so funny?”

Ming Jiyue’s lips curved into a smile, but her expression was far from pleasant. After glancing at her phone again, she picked up her chopsticks. “Nothing. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

Her demeanor remained perfectly normal, and Jiang Wanyu assumed the matter was settled. But just a few minutes later, the assistant pounded on the door, shouting from outside, her voice cracking with panic.

“Sister Ming! Sister Chen… Sister Chen wants you on the phone! She-she-she-she said… she’s going to kill us both!”

Jiang Wanyu frowned. “What’s going on?”

Ming Jiyue remained calm. “Nothing. I just posted another Weibo update.”

Liu Fan had indeed taken a risky gamble, betting that Ming Jiyue wouldn’t care or wouldn’t dare to intervene. That was the only reason he’d dared to act so brazenly.

Unfortunately for him, he had severely underestimated the importance of the person visiting Ming Jiyue on set.

She could tolerate a lot, but when Jiang Wanyu was involved, that was where she drew the line.

Jiang Wanyu opened Weibo and saw Ming Jiyue’s latest post: a retweet of a marketing account’s fabricated story about her alleged romance with Liu Fan.

@MingJiyuevv: Professional relationship. Show some respect.

Weibo exploded once again.