Chapter 4: It’s Okay to Feel Sorry for Her

Qiu Chao wasn’t signed to any company at the moment. Her long-term collaborator was still a foreign firm.

Her work had just wrapped up, and under her guidance, the team had mapped out a development plan for her future.

Good scripts were getting rarer by the day. Many of her contemporaries from the industry had either gone abroad or returned home to shoot TV dramas and variety shows.

Two years ago, Qiu Chao had joined a foreign variety show out of obligation.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t close to any of the other guests, and the editing had been a disaster. She’d rather break her contract than stick it out, and the media had blown the incident out of proportion. Ever since, she’d steered clear of variety shows altogether.

A few days earlier, her manager Mai Chen had been in a car accident. The woman was still recovering in the hospital, under the impression that Qiu Chao had truly gone back to her hometown for some quiet time with her little sister.

But the moment she woke from her coma and could check her phone, she saw her client topping the hot search lists.

QiuChaoJoiningAWorldStartingAnew#

SpecialGuestQiuChao#

ReplacementGuestQiuChao#

Mai Chen nearly dragged her battered body right out of the hospital. The nearly forty-year-old manager—ethnically Chinese—had been handling Qiu Chao’s entire international career. She didn’t look particularly youthful to begin with.

She hurriedly called Qiu Chao, only to find that the rebellious star wasn’t picking up. The call got redirected straight to Qiu Chao’s head assistant, Xia Yuanyuan.

“Mai Chen: Where’s Qiu Chao?”

They pushed her back onto the bed. She’d only been back in the country briefly before the accident while negotiating Qiu Chao’s work, and this work injury was way over the top. Mai Chen had nearly received a critical condition notice.

Having married her girlfriend abroad, the manager took a deep breath. But with the medical staff watching her closely, she couldn’t unleash her fury.

The post-anesthesia pain started creeping in, and her voice sounded like she might flatline any second.

Xia Yuanyuan hurriedly soothed the frantic Mai Chen. “Mai-jie, Mai-jie, don’t worry! Sister Qiu’s at the spa getting some care right now.”

Mai Chen was thirty-seven this year, five years older than Qiu Chao. She’d watched the woman claw her way up from the start.

The rumors painted Qiu Chao as a seductress who couldn’t live without men—all nonsense.

Only the core team knew the truth: beneath that straight-girl packaging lay her unwavering devotion to her sister-in-law.

Even Mai Chen had been fooled at first. The beauty had a flawless face that drew anyone in, man or woman, with that innate air of fragility.

But while she was easy to date, she was hard to bed. Qiu Chao had a string of rumored boyfriends over the years, but as she herself put crudely, it had been “eight hundred years since her last opening.”

And if she did open up, she’d at least feast for a few days.

Now, with the online storm raging, Mai Chen clutched her phone with her one good hand, trembling as she stared at Qiu Chao’s exploding Weibo.

@QiuChao: A promise is a promise! I’m coming to your world~//

What promise? As her manager, why didn’t I know anything about this?

And what was this “your world” nonsense?

A World Starting Anew was the variety show you swore you’d turn down.

Who was it that vowed to avoid any hint of scandal?

Looks like you’re just seizing the chance now that your ex-fiancé’s in a coma and his little sister is running the show.

If she weren’t firmly on Qiu Chao’s side—and privy to the whole backstory—Mai Chen would’ve rolled her eyes and called her cheap.

Who was it that said, “She’s just a woman—sleep with her once and I’ll be over it”?

They’d slept together already, and Qiu Chao had buckled down on her career afterward without issue. Now that she was at the peak, was she circling back to an old flame?

Well, not exactly circling back, since that Yan girl didn’t seem all that fond of Qiu Chao anyway.

Perhaps because Mai Chen had gone silent for so long, Xia Yuanyuan thought she’d been stunned into anger.

She rushed to add, “Actually, this isn’t such a bad thing. Sister Qiu was planning to develop back home anyway, and she’s already at her peak. There isn’t a female star out there who can overshadow her right now.”

Xia Yuanyuan even sighed, as if trying to make the best of it. “Just let her have her fun.”

Mai Chen: “Have you forgotten we still need to partner with a management company once we’re back?”

Mentioning that gave Mai Chen a headache. Qiu Chao’s star power was high, but she was in a weird in-between spot.

Her fame in the country was Spring Festival Gala nomination level, but she lacked a major breakout hit domestically in recent years. Qiu Chao had already claimed the highest acting accolades an actress could get; everything else depended on her whims.

She’d made enough money, swept all the major awards like Best Actress. But now her teenage rebellious streak, long dormant, had reignited.

And she’d jumped into this new variety show without a word of discussion.

Xia Yuanyuan: “It doesn’t really matter for a big sis like her.”

The assistant on the other end of the line was a bit younger but had been with Qiu Chao for years.

Qiu Chao might not be young anymore, but everyone close to her knew she had a childish side.

Some people’s teenage innocence came laced with sex appeal—Qiu Chao had never had a delicate little white flower phase.

Fans online adored her mature big-sis vibe, saying she was perfect for those older-woman-younger-woman romance tropes.

Little did they know that some people just looked stunningly mature but were immature and petty at heart, having buried those traits early after enduring too much hardship.

Xia Yuanyuan: “After all, she’s liked Miss Yan for so many years. Gotta let her live out her dream once, right?”

Mai Chen’s head throbbed even more. The Qiu Chao she knew had nothing to do with lovestruck fools. She was ruthlessly pragmatic, grabbing whatever she wanted.

Even with men fawning over her, she’d weigh their worth before entertaining them.

Calling her mercenary might undersell her shrewdness; deep down, Qiu Chao wasn’t one to cling to emotions.

She was a merchant mature beyond her eighteen years.

So what was this? A belated rebellion?

Mai Chen: “What about her schedule for the show? The contract? The pay?”

She was losing it. “None of this has gone through proper channels to me. Who even decided this?”

Then she let out an “oh,” the sound sending chills down Xia Yuanyuan’s spine.

Mai Chen: “Miss Qiu decided it herself. Looks like she really doesn’t need a manager anymore.”

Xia Yuanyuan: “Mai-jie, you’re on death’s door and still thinking about work?”

The assistant sighed. “Sister Linna’s already on her way. She should land at the hospital this afternoon.”

Mai Chen let out an “ah.”

Xia Yuanyuan said with genuine heartache, “I think you can take a break from work lately. Sister Qiu said she’ll find a new manager and give you six months of paid medical leave.”

Mai Chen: …

So I wake up from a coma and nearly get fired?

Mai Chen knew Qiu Chao inside out, and she was well aware of her own condition.

Xia Yuanyuan: “Mai-jie, don’t be sad. Paid vacation is great! I’ve been up all night just working.”

Mai Chen: “What’s Qiu Chao doing at the spa?”

Xia Yuanyuan fell silent for a long moment. “She said she got fucked raw and needs to recover properly.”

Mai Chen: …

She hadn’t even dared to ask who Qiu Chao had hooked up with.

But with the hot searches flooding everywhere, it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

Even from abroad, Mai Chen had heard that warning loud and clear: Don’t fall for Yan Muyu.

Yan Muyu, former chief photographer at Hree magazine.

She wasn’t as famous as a star, but her work outshone her name. Every top-tier A-lister had landed an exclusive shoot with her.

Her lens always captured something soul-stirring.

Privately, many saw a Yan Muyu shoot as the golden ticket to A-list status.

After she left Hree, her bookings skyrocketed. Without connections, you couldn’t snag an exclusive.

And with Yan Muyu’s model-worthy looks, plenty knew her tastes and were eager to offer themselves up.

It was common in the industry—sleep with her, no harm done. Plus, she came from a good family, aced her job, and rumor had it she was great in bed.

Thoughtful too; even exes after formal relationships raved about her.

Any downside to that?

Mai Chen took a deep breath. “Tell her to take it easy. Don’t want her ending up in the hospital from sexual exhaustion and hair loss, getting papped.”

Xia Yuanyuan had a steady boyfriend and knew all about these lesbian circle ins and outs, but curiosity got the better of her. She lowered her voice. “Mai-jie, do you guys really go at it until you pass out?”

Mai Chen felt subtly shaded but couldn’t snap. She just muttered, “How should I know?” and hung up.

Xia Yuanyuan grumbled, “So stingy.”

Not a top herself—what’s the harm in asking?

~~~

The next day, A World Starting Anew released the poster featuring Qiu Chao as the special guest.

The entire office building buzzed with excitement over her arrival.

The trainee guests were still in the midst of live recording, so the building was mostly staff.

Yan Muyu had visited the hospital that morning. Yan Kai’s condition hadn’t improved. Being the weekend, she’d also picked up her nine-year-old niece, Yan Tianxing.

The little girl spent her days glued to games.

Even visiting her own dad meant drawing gacha pulls at his bedside. Yan Muyu always felt a strange familiarity watching her niece’s desperate pulls.

Though no one could quite replicate Shen Tianqing’s rotten luck.

Yan Tianxing drew a few hundred times with nothing to show for it and got mad. She shut off the game and glanced at the weather outside.

Her eyes landed on the billboards featuring female stars.

She asked Yan Muyu, “Little Aunt, that Meng Heng—did she join your variety show?”

Yan Muyu was stopped at a red light, replying to a message from her assistant.

Seeing Qiu Chao’s name made her mouth ache. She woke up that morning to find it still burning.

Had Qiu Chao sprinkled chili powder down there?

“Yes.”

The woman in the driver’s seat of the sports car sported a head of blonde hair, though her black roots had already started growing in at the scalp, giving the black-and-gold mix an uneven look at first glance.

Yan Muyu’s hair was that awkward medium length, caught right in the limbo between short and long. She had simply pulled half of it back, letting a few strands drape over her chest. Paired with her earrings that caught the light and flashed dazzlingly, she looked anything but ordinary.

After all, she really resembled one of those characters who had stepped straight out of a comic book.

The Yan Family home was a quiet place. Yan Kai was perpetually swamped with work—five days off in an entire year would be a miracle.

Yan Tianxing’s mother had entered a business marriage with Yan Kai. There had been no love between them, and they divorced after five years.

The child split her time between her father and mother.

That changed last year when her mother remarried, prompting Yan Tianxing to move back into the Yan Family home with Yan Kai.

Even though it was her biological father, Yan Tianxing spent most of her time glued to Yan Muyu. The Yan Family estate was simply too vast, and Yan Muyu had little taste for living there full-time. She preferred the penthouse suite in one of her own hotels or crashing at an apartment for a few days.

Yan Tianxing would rather do her homework in that suite than endure the chill of the empty Yan Family mansion.

If she compared the two, Yan Tianxing felt like Yan Muyu was the one who had truly raised her.

Of course, everyone said her little aunt was a wild one—a woman of a certain age who still hadn’t settled down and married.

Yan Tianxing figured that was just fine. Marrying like her parents had only led to divorce anyway.

And her mother’s new marriage didn’t seem any happier; she clearly didn’t care much for that uncle.

So why bother getting married at all?

Yan Muyu noticed Yan Tianxing staring at her and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

Her earrings looked like they might pierce right through her lobes. The early autumn air called for a loose button-down shirt layered under an even baggier knit sweater—a perfect reflection of her free-spirited nature.

Kids these days didn’t even look like kids anymore. Elementary schoolers had grown up too fast.

At least, Yan Tianxing had devoured more than her share of romance comics. She fixed her gaze on Yan Muyu’s lips for a good long while.

“Little Aunt, did you get a new girlfriend?”

Yan Muyu nearly swerved into the wrong lane.

She corrected course with a sharp turn, merging onto the main thoroughfare. Their destination was Whale Entertainment’s headquarters.

Even as the nominal Young Boss Yan, she still had a backlog of meetings to plow through, plus Qiu Chao’s contract troubles.

Shen Tianqing—who was laid up in the hospital—had made a point of calling just to rib her about jumping in headfirst without tying up the loose ends first.

Unfortunately, the spayed little stray cat came with her own baggage, so Yan Muyu couldn’t be bothered to hold a grudge.

“No.”

Yan Muyu shook her head. In the rearview mirror, her reflection stared back—a face that had never passed for the wholesome, girl-next-door type.

She was undeniably beautiful, but there was always something roguish about her, like she belonged to the shadowy side of things.

Her almond-shaped eyes slanted with a rakish allure. Even when she squinted from her mild nearsightedness, it came off as a flirtatious glance. And as she matured, that aura only deepened.

She was like a shimmering mirage on the horizon—beautiful, but ultimately leaving anyone who chased her with nothing to show for it.

Yan Tianxing let out an “Oh.” “I thought you were finally ready to settle down.”

“You’re too young to get it,” Yan Muyu said.

The little girl jumped in before she could finish. “Too young to understand love?”

Precocious as ever, she added, “As if you know anything about it.”

The blonde driver let out a chuckle. “Oh, I know plenty. That’s exactly why I’m so free and easy about it all.”

She pulled the car to a stop and ruffled her niece’s hair. “When you start dating, just enjoy the ride. Don’t go wasting your pity on men.”

“I’m only nine,” Yan Tianxing shot back. “Anyone who’d date me has to be some kind of creep.”

Yan Muyu flashed a brilliant grin and slung an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Hey, I’m just sharing my wisdom here.”

“What about women, then?” Yan Tianxing pressed.

“You can feel sorry for them,” Yan Muyu replied. “But don’t let them walk all over you.”

She heaved a long, drawn-out sigh. “Your little aunt knows exactly what kind of mess she is.”