Chapter 19: A Painful Youth

Yan Muyu hadn’t expected the car ride to the airport to still be live-streaming.

She had planned to catch up on sleep once they got in the car, but instead, the back seat was filled with questions from a booklet about the variety show—pages upon pages of them.

She and Qiu Chao sat on opposite sides of the rear seat, with a sponsored product display placed in the empty space between them.

Compared to the relaxed, natural vibes from the other guest pairs, every viewer who tuned in was caught off guard by the tense atmosphere between Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao.

Yan Muyu glanced at one of the questions before handing the booklet to Qiu Chao.

“You go first.”

Qiu Chao reached out to take it and asked, “Can I skip some?”

Yan Muyu was just about to point out that the production team hadn’t said they had to answer everything when the car speakers crackled to life with the director’s voice the next second—

“Young Boss Yan, you have to answer them.”

Yan Muyu let out a sigh. “Can’t I at least nap through these endless forty minutes?”

Director: “Sleep however you want once you’re on the plane.”

Yan Muyu nodded and peered out the window at the blazing sun, which only made her feel sleepier.

“Qiu Chao first. I’ll wrap it up.”

She let out another yawn, prompting Qiu Chao to ask, “What time did you crash last night?”

Yan Muyu: “Around four, I think.”

Qiu Chao: “What kept you up so late?”

Yan Muyu: “My niece wouldn’t come home. Had to sweet-talk her into it.”

【I’m even more embarrassed now.】

【The niece is Yan Kai’s daughter, right? So by that logic, Qiu Chao kinda…】

【Is Qiu Chao heading back to Whale Entertainment to play stepmom??? Please no!】

Qiu Chao let out an “oh.” “She looks super cute.”

Yan Muyu sighed again. “She’s a total clinger.”

Her voice trailed off languidly, and right on cue, the speaker chimed in with the director’s reminder—

“Please answer the questions on the paper.”

Qiu Chao: “We can pick and choose, yeah?”

Director: “That’s right.”

Qiu Chao flipped through the pages and found the questions all sharp and probing. Hers delved into ancient scandals—stuff that would send Mai Chen into a rage if she saw it.

But Mai Chen wasn’t her manager anymore. Qiu Chao slid the pages back toward Yan Muyu, yanking her out of her closed-eye meditation and ignoring the clear irritation in her brows and eyes. “Manager, can I answer these?”

Yan Muyu had only skimmed it before, so she took a closer look now.

She reached to take the paper, but Qiu Chao held it aloft instead of handing it over.

The angle made it easy for Qiu Chao to lean in close, her lily-of-the-valley scent overwhelming Yan Muyu’s senses.

Qiu Chao seemed completely unaware that from the front camera’s view, it looked exactly like she was kissing Yan Muyu.

【If we couldn’t switch camera angles, I’d swear these two are smooching.】

【Any pair is possible, but manager-artist is surprising enough. Kissing would trash the old sister-in-law history.】

Yan Muyu had produced A World Starting Anew in the past, so she knew variety shows came with scripts.

This one surely had one too, but the production team hadn’t given her any heads-up.

These questions were brutally pointed, with zero prep for the talent. Even a legit manager would struggle.

But she wasn’t just Qiu Chao’s manager—she was the boss of the production company.

Yan Muyu tsked. “These are okay to air?”

She snatched the paper from Qiu Chao’s hand with brute force and shoved her back into her seat.

Yan Muyu read aloud: “Did becoming famous overnight at eighteen mean you’d never know a peaceful life again?”

“You auditioned for the lead in McGee’s Little Island, which required six hours of manual labor a day. Real or just for show?”

“Rumors say you grew up wealthy. Any actual experience living in the countryside?”

She skipped the rest.

But the first question alone was a minefield. Qiu Chao’s breakout fame at eighteen had been dogged by endless doubts.

Not about her skills, but her romantic entanglements.

The stories claimed that right after turning legal, she was worldly beyond her years—fuzzy boundaries with the director, an open fling with the male lead. Then she betrayed her powerful benefactor, earning vicious payback: yanked from an upcoming film, desperate enough to throw herself at Yan Kai.

Traces of those old tabloid smears still lingered online.

Wilder tales painted her as a family-groomed “tool,” auctioned off before adulthood, passed from hand to hand. Paired with high-school photos where her face looked innocent, gaze still childish, but her figure prematurely developed.

As if superficial judgments like that could validate prying into someone’s private life.

【Can you even ask that?】

【Ballsy as hell!!】

【Qiu Chao’s with Whale Entertainment, so probably prepped for the show?】

【Straight savage.】

【Not even a fan, but those scandals feel seared into my brain, like they really happened…】

Yan Muyu: “Who keeps a normal life after blowing up overnight?”

She roughly turned to the second page. “She snagged a Golden Award off McGee’s Little Island. Questioning if the labor was fake? Actors aren’t actual farmhands.”

Her tone was even, but the mockery was unmistakable.

“Promo is promo. Every movie hypes itself up. You gonna call it malicious faking?”

Her hand clenched the pages, drawing more camera focus than her face—and more appeal.

Barrages lit up: perfect screenshot material, great for quick sketches, and so on.

“Grew up wealthy?”

Yan Muyu nodded. “Wealth doesn’t come in tiers; it leaps bounds. So, ever spent time in the sticks, or at least daydreamed about it?”

She whipped her head toward Qiu Chao, who suddenly locked eyes with that cool, emotionless gaze and froze.

Yan Muyu turned back. “Yeah, probably.”

Even while answering for her, she couldn’t resist sniping: “Garbage questions. Who came up with this?”

【Help… she’s got this total boss energy now. Night and day.】

【Maybe not as strangers after all…】

【Qiu Chao almost became her actual sister-in-law. Gotta know the dirt, right?】

【Qiu Chao looks kinda spaced out.】

【Aren’t the crew freaking? Boss roasting them live!】

The speaker stayed dead silent in response.

Yan Muyu scoffed and moved on to her own questions.

“What’s it like being Miss Qiu Chao’s manager?”

Yan Muyu: “A headache right out the gate.”

“Ever imagine yourself living the rural life?”

Yan Muyu: “Nope. Never planted rice in paddies, never worked the fields, sure as hell can’t build a fire to cook.”

Her answers were clipped and rapid-fire, zero effort to hide her impatience.

【Lmao, that boss-level swagger.】

【Someone explain why she’s Qiu Chao’s manager. Her old one was a pro! The one who got hitched abroad?】

【Yeah, her manager: Ivy League type, lesbian. Rumors she crushed on Qiu Chao, outed herself as a Pillow Princess… so scholarly and reliable, yet a bottom? Shattered, I still peg her as a top.】

Yan Muyu took a deep breath. “Why’d I become Qiu Chao’s manager?”

She let out a cold laugh. “Why’s this one bolded like I gotta spill?”

The director didn’t dare utter a word, inwardly bawling.

She’d dreaded this moment when the script got initial approval.

Dragging the boss out for promo duty—Young Boss Yan was way chiller than Big Boss Yan, but nobody was spineless!

Yan Muyu: “I’ll just say it straight.”

She turned to Qiu Chao.

Qiu Chao sat off to the side, her gaze seemingly glued to Yan Muyu the whole time.

A simple turn let Yan Muyu meet her eyes “just right,” falling into those famously soulful, seductive depths.

Even Qiu Chao’s blinks oozed charm, and she amped it up with a few extras.

Yan Muyu: “Tone it down.”

【Definitely not strangers. That vibe.】

【Or too familiar?】

【No way!!!】

【How’s anyone immune to Wife Qiu Chao’s flirting!!】

Qiu Chao: “You could bend over and say it too.”

She flashed a grin.

【Oof, straight savage—calling Yan Muyu a lesbian on purpose?】

【Haha, cheeky! Thought Qiu Chao was all gentle and straight-laced.】

【Yan Muyu’s skin is flawless pale!】

Yan Muyu: “Qiu Chao blackmailed me into taking the job.”

She said it deadpan blunt, and Qiu Chao nodded right along. “Fits the online gossip: I’ve got dirt on your family, so I signed with Whale Entertainment through my tears.”

Her eye makeup was impeccably sharp, morning sunlight threading gold through her hair.

Her red lips parted in that same soft, velvety tone from before: “I was feeling boxed in, and then my manager had her accident. Perfect timing to make the demand.”

Emboldened, she reached out and clasped Yan Muyu’s paper-gripping hand.

Her palm warm against Yan Muyu’s knuckles. “That’s how it went, right, Young Boss Yan?”

【Why am I getting all heated watching this.】

【Boxed in? Sure.】

【Nah, this rules. Whale Entertainment’s prez stuck managing for her ex’s sister, all reluctant and forced. Peak bliss.】

【Did they really have something on Qiu Chao?】

Yan Muyu pulled away Qiu Chao’s hand. “Watch your image.”

Qiu Chao retracted her hand and let out a hum.

Yan Muyu said, “I’m done answering. I’m going to sleep.”

She tossed the paper aside, fished an eye mask out of her pocket, and slipped it on, looking like she wouldn’t give a damn even if the sky came crashing down.

Qiu Chao examined the questions closely once more.

Yan Muyu’s earlier answers lingered in her mind.

She’s speaking up for me.

Even if it’s just because of her current role.

But she spoke up for me all the same.

Qiu Chao was absolutely thrilled. She fired off a message to Mai Chen.

—Mai Chen-jie, did you watch the live stream?

—Yan Muyu spoke up for me. She knows my past inside and out.

—You think she actually keeps tabs on me behind the scenes?

—Looks like I still have a shot at making her mine.

…

Mai Chen was laid up in the hospital, so feeble she needed help just to eat. Her Polish girlfriend was two years older but somehow looked less mature than Mai Chen. Right then, she pinned down the fidgety Mai Chen and switched off the live variety show playing on the TV.

Mai Chen grumbled, “Darling, I’m pissed.”

Her girlfriend replied, “Qiu deserves a shot at love too. You can’t keep treating her like a kid.”

Mai Chen shot back, “But she’s crushing on a total sleaze with the worst rep imaginable!”

Her girlfriend said, “I’d worry about anyone else, but not Qiu.”

The woman with her naturally platinum blonde hair smiled as she added, “No one can resist Qiu’s charm for long. And didn’t you say she’s been hung up on her for years?”

“You have to admit, after everything she’s been through, still carrying that seventeen-year-old spark? That’s pretty damn rare.”

Mai Chen’s Polish girlfriend was also her old college senior. Mai Chen was the picture of steady reliability at work, but right now she was pouting like a sulky child.

Mai Chen insisted, “Some people just never learn how to love anyone.”

Her girlfriend shook her head. “That’s what I thought too, before I met you.”

With a smile, she nodded toward Mai Chen’s phone, urging her to reply to Qiu Chao.

Qiu Chao sent another message—

Mai-jie, I’m so happy! It takes me back to that year…

Mai Chen went numb. Here we go again.

She was sick to death of Qiu Chao’s emo summer romance tale from when she was seventeen.

It checked every box: KTV nights, bar-hopping buddies, street brawls, spoiled rich kids, high school drama, study abroad—the works.

Throw in an abortion, and it’d be a dead ringer for one of those gut-wrenching domestic teen flicks.

Only problem? The leads were two girls, so no accidental bun in the oven.

They hadn’t even hooked up back then. Hell, one of them didn’t even know Qiu Chao’s name.

It was all in Qiu Chao’s head—a full-on fantasy high, her teenage heart turning some clichéd crush into a vow of eternal devotion.

Yan Muyu was clueless and hadn’t bothered to remember Qiu Chao’s name.

Mai Chen took a deep breath and sent back a voice message.

Qiu Chao, riding in the car, tapped it open and had it converted to text—

“Look how pathetic you are right now!”