Chapter 9: Osmanthus Rice Balls p2
Mi Hongdou’s new laptop died.
She had just been poached by Qiong Yu and hadn’t had any collaborations with her idol of many years, and then her idol retired. Mi Hongdou wanted to throw a bucket of paste on Dajin Entertainment’s face! The two consecutive statements caused an uproar in the entertainment industry. There were fierce arguments, and it was hard to tell who were real fans, anti-fans, or paid posters. Mi Hongdou turned off her computer and felt exhausted. Her hatred for Zhang Zijing deepened. Later, when she had the good fortune to become friends with Ji Junxin, the scumbag’s name never came up in their conversations. Fortunately, Qiong Yu had issued the statement cutting ties, so Mi Hongdou didn’t have to collaborate with Zhang Zijing.
But there were still awards ceremonies and gatherings where Mi Hongdou would see Zhang Zijing and Jiang Duo. Every time, she had to try her best to ignore them. Mi Hongdou was already very famous at that time, much more famous than Zhang Zijing, who relied on rumors for hype. A media outlet once took a photo of her holding a wine glass, ignoring the couple’s friendly smiles, and walking past them with an expressionless face. Then they put her on the cover with the headline “Famous and Arrogant, Ignores Others.” God knows how much self-control Mi Hongdou had to exercise to walk past them with an expressionless face instead of splashing wine on their faces.
The more Mi Hongdou adored Ji Junxin, the more she hated Zhang Zijing. That feeling of seeing Zhang Zijing at the buffet table and losing her appetite, wanting to throw food at his face, made Mi Hongdou understand the anger of a true die-hard fan. Yes, Mi Hongdou called this violent urge to hit someone the anger of a die-hard fan. The next day, several other media outlets’ covers were bought by Qiong Yu and published Qiong Yu’s statement from long ago about cutting ties with Dajin, Zhang Zijing, and Jiang Duo, along with the date of Mi Hongdou’s signing with Qiong Yu. They also called out the magazine that accused Mi Hongdou of being a diva with the four words, “Don’t pretend you’re blind.”
Qiong Yu was so high-profile, repeatedly slapping them in the face. It seemed like another fight was about to start. Mi Hongdou was ready to roll up her sleeves and fight to the death with her main account. Unexpectedly, Ji Junxin’s Weibo, which hadn’t been updated in more than two years since her retirement, suddenly updated with just two words: “Thank you,” followed by a tag of Mi Hongdou’s main Weibo account. Everyone with eyes could see what happened two years ago. Those who couldn’t see it gradually found the right direction in the posts that were spreading over the years. As for those who were blind, let them stay blind.
Ji Junxin’s “thank you” at this time instantly became the top trending topic. Many fans commented below, saying that they felt sorry for their goddess, that she should take care of herself, and that they were waiting for her to come back.
As for that magazine and the scumbag, needless to say, Mi Hongdou didn’t have to do anything. Just her and Ji Junxin’s fans could destroy them.
Although she had now been reborn ten years in the past, Zhang Zijing and Ji Junxin had only been working together for a little over a month, and they probably hadn’t filmed many scenes together yet. Everything had not yet happened. However, Mi Hongdou’s dislike for Zhang Zijing was already deeply ingrained, almost instinctive. Mi Hongdou knew it wasn’t good, but perhaps this was the pride of a die-hard fan. I will never forgive the scum who hurt my goddess!
Enduring her disgust and acting together was already very difficult. It was better when she couldn’t see him, she could still try to immerse herself in the role. But as soon as she saw Zhang Zijing’s face, that face still trying to show deep affection, Mi Hongdou wanted to hit him. How could she possibly act shy, flustered, and look down with affection? She had really overestimated her endurance. Even though nothing had happened yet, she still hated him so much.
She could collaborate with Ji Junxin, and in such a cute script. Mi Hongdou had momentarily forgotten the difficulty of acting opposite Zhang Zijing, and so her debut was a tragedy.
After two more NGs, Mi Hongdou could hardly face the frowning Director Pan. The onlookers were whispering, and a few laughs could be heard. Even if she couldn’t hear clearly, Mi Hongdou could guess what they were saying. She was someone who had been inserted into the cast halfway through, and now she had so many NGs. If she were an onlooker, she would also think that this person had no skills and only got the role because of her connections. She would probably be quite disdainful.
Mi Hongdou couldn’t get past this scene, and she couldn’t immediately change everyone’s perception of her. She was at a loss for a moment.
“It’s okay. A few NGs in the first scene for a newcomer is nothing. Once you find the feeling, it will be easier later. Is there anything you don’t understand about this scene? You can tell me, and we can discuss it.” Being NGed more than ten, almost twenty times by a newcomer, Zhang Zijing was quite annoyed.
But he had just seen Ji Junxin arrive, and next to her seemed to be Qiong Yu’s boss, Qiao Rubai. This stupid newcomer was stuffed in by Qiao Rubai. He couldn’t throw a tantrum anyway, so he might as well build a good relationship with her. Qiong Yu’s future was much brighter than Dajin’s. Zhang Zijing thought this and softened his expression even more, like a caring older brother, ready to comfort the newcomer and show Qiao Rubai what a virtuous actor he was.
Mi Hongdou felt like she had found the secret door hiding the truth, just one step away from seeing Qiao Rubai’s motives. Mi Hongdou was lost in thought, and the caring older brother Zhang Zijing was left hanging, not getting any response from the person in front of him who was looking down, lost in thought.
It was really embarrassing. Zhang Zijing suppressed his anger, pretending nothing had happened, and returned to the door. Only his clenched fist revealed his true feelings at the moment.
Director Pan didn’t care what they were doing. He didn’t believe that he couldn’t get this scene right. The previous shots were so good, how could they fail at the last look?
If once didn’t work, then they would do it again. He waved his notebook and called for another take!
Hearing Director Pan’s voice, Mi Hongdou could only temporarily put aside those messy thoughts. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes, looked at Director Pan, and then suddenly froze.
Ji Junxin was holding a piece of peanut candy, taking small bites, and holding a tissue underneath to catch any crumbs. She didn’t expect this candy to be so fragrant. As soon as she arrived, she smelled the aroma from the place where the crew usually put snacks. Fortunately, she had a good sense of smell. Otherwise, if she had just wandered around with Qiao Rubai, she would have missed out when she came to film tomorrow. It was crispy but not hard, sweet but not greasy, and had a faint osmanthus fragrance that she loved. She heard from the crew that the candy was brought by the newcomer who was playing the empress, Mi Hongdou.
Ji Junxin thought that since she was already here, she might as well watch the newcomer’s first scene. The peanut candy was so delicious that she couldn’t put it down. Just as she stood behind the director, she saw the little empress on the bed looking at her, seeming a little dazed. Uh-oh, did she find out that she ate too much of her peanut candy?
Ji Junxin licked the peanut candy crumbs from the corner of her mouth and smiled a little embarrassedly.
Mi Hongdou stared at Ji Junxin behind the director. Unlike the mature woman from many years later, the Ji Junxin of this time, the Ji Junxin who had not been hurt, was full of kindness and a bit of innocence. Even her smile was much more genuine than when she was familiar with her. At this time, she had not yet detached herself from the world, had not yet pushed everyone out of her heart. Mi Hongdou suddenly understood Qiao Rubai’s purpose for letting her join the crew. It must be!
To let her mess up Zhang Zijing and Ji Junxin’s relationship, to protect the cute goddess, to fulfill her mission as a die-hard fan!
Qiao Rubai suddenly sneezed in the back. But she wouldn’t know that Mi Hongdou had already guessed half of her intentions.
Right now, she was looking at Jiang Duo, who was getting her makeup done not far away, with an ambiguous look in her eyes. Young, delicate, truly a white lotus.
Perhaps Qiao Rubai’s gaze was too direct. Jiang Duo seemed to notice it. Taking advantage of the makeup artist’s pause, she turned around, saw that it was Qiao Rubai, and smiled generously, “President Qiao, you’re here to check on the newcomer? It’s so late, you must be tired. I have some sweet soup here, would you like a bowl to warm up?” Before Qiao Rubai could answer, Jiang Duo got up and quickly poured a bowl, walked over, and handed it to her.
Jiang Duo was quite pure-looking, and now she was acting so naturally, just like she was talking to a regular colleague, without any hint of flirting.
“Thank you.” Qiao Rubai was about to refuse, but when she saw what was in the bowl, she changed her mind, took it, blew on it, and drank it in one gulp. “Is there any more?
I didn’t eat enough tonight.”
Qiong Yu’s Qiao Rubai was cold and difficult to get along with, but Qiong Yu had a bright future. In the past month or so, Qiao Rubai had come to the set several times, but always with Ji Junxin. Jiang Duo hadn’t had a chance to chat with her. Now, she didn’t expect the sweet soup to be so effective. There were rumors from inside Qiong Yu that Ji Junxin was a foodie. That was why she always had food on hand, hoping to get on Qiong Yu’s good side.
So, the boss of Qiong Yu was also a foodie? Jiang Duo poured bowl after bowl, and Qiao Rubai drank bowl after bowl. The bowls weren’t big, but the thermos was quite large. Soon, Qiao Rubai finished the whole thermos.
“Thank you for the treat.” Qiao Rubai finished eating, wiped her mouth, and left, leaving Jiang Duo, who was stunned by her appetite and forgot to chat, behind.
Hmph, osmanthus rice balls, how clever. It wasn’t store-bought osmanthus honey. There were no stems, only petals. It must have been homemade. The small rice balls also had sesame filling, and the soup was thickened with lotus root starch. One mouthful was full of the fragrance of osmanthus, sesame, and lotus root. It was indeed delicious. But, Qiao Rubai touched her round, full stomach, it was too much. One more bowl, and she probably wouldn’t have been able to finish it.
It was all because of that stupid foodie Ji Junxin. If it weren’t for her, would she have had to risk her life to finish this pot of soup?
In her previous life, everyone knew that Ji Junxin retired from the entertainment industry because of Zhang Zijing and Jiang Duo’s marriage. But only Qiao Rubai, who had been childhood friends with Ji Junxin, knew that the one who had been with Ji Junxin was Jiang Duo, not Zhang Zijing. Unfortunately, she was too stupid back then. She thought that as long as Ji Junxin was happy, it was okay. Jiang Duo encouraged Ji Junxin to go along with the rumors about Zhang Zijing to cover up their real relationship. It was their private matter, so she didn’t interfere. As a result, Zhang Zijing became popular, and Jiang Duo said that she had always only liked men, that she was pregnant with Zhang Zijing’s child, and that she hoped Ji Junxin would forget about them. That was it.
But since she had returned to ten years ago, she wouldn’t let Ji Junxin fall in love with Jiang Duo. No, she wouldn’t let Jiang Duo have a chance to seduce Ji Junxin. Even if Ji Junxin still fell in love with a woman, that person couldn’t be Jiang Duo again.
Qiao Rubai patted the peanut candy in her pocket that she was holding for Ji Junxin. This one was very good.
Leave a Reply