A Washed-up Movie Queen's Divorce Strategy [Rebirth] - Chapter 36

Ming Lang leaned against the wall, eyes closed in deep thought. Xu Luyang found it strange and asked, “President Ming, aren’t you going in?”

“On such a good day, she probably doesn’t want to see me,” Ming Lang opened her eyes and said, “Let’s go.”

“But…” Xu Luyang wanted to persuade her further, but Ming Lang had already strode away.

Xu Luyang followed behind, thinking to herself: Getting discouraged over such a small loss of face… you deserve to fail at chasing your wife.

After Ji Chenli finished her call with Tao Yuan, she originally wanted to play with her phone, but recalling the mess of things she’d seen online earlier, she lost interest. She turned on the TV to watch the news instead.

After half an hour, she didn’t see Tao Yuan, but someone else arrived.

Her current ward was on the fifteenth floor. Logically, nothing strange should appear outside the window, but some things defy common sense—for example, five minutes later, Han Xinyuan appeared on the balcony railing.

Ji Chenli’s ward was private and came with a small open-air balcony, probably about half a meter wide. Han Xinyuan, dragging her broken arm, scrambled over the railing. She pressed against the glass door like a zombie, waving at Ji Chenli. Behind her, a sparrow occasionally flew past.

However, Han Xinyuan didn’t have as much luck this time. The sliding glass door from the balcony was locked from the inside, and since Ji Chenli was on bed rest and couldn’t get up, Han Xinyuan was forced to sit outside and wait. It was the season when the warmth was just beginning to fight the chill; the cold wind on the fifteenth floor howled. Han Xinyuan, prioritizing style, was only wearing a thin sweater and cropped pants with half her ankles exposed. She shivered violently on the balcony until Tao Yuan finally arrived and let her in.

“Chen-chen, who is this? She looks familiar.” Tao Yuan whispered in Ji Chenli’s ear, shielding her mouth and looking at Han Xinyuan as if she were a total idiot.

“Her name is Han Xinyuan. She’s… a celebrity.” Since Tao Yuan didn’t recognize her, Ji Chenli didn’t want to explain their grievances, so she gave a vague introduction.

Hearing she was a celebrity, Tao Yuan assumed she was one of Ji Chenli’s industry friends. Her attitude became polite as she smiled at Han Xinyuan. Having spent over ten minutes in the wind, Han Xinyuan’s nose was nearly frozen. She sat by the heater clutching a cup of hot water and shivering. Ji Chenli asked, “Hasn’t your movie started filming? Why are you running here instead of being on set?”

“My hand… is like this. There aren’t any scenes for me right now,” Han Xinyuan stammered, shaking her cast. “I just… just wanted to see you.”

Ji Chenli said in surprise, “On a great day like today, why aren’t you looking for Ming Lang to celebrate? Why come to me?”

“So you… you also know today is… my birthday?” Han Xinyuan couldn’t speak smoothly, but she didn’t forget to give a cheeky grin.

Tao Yuan was startled. “Miss Han also has a birthday today?”

“Huh?” Han Xinyuan was a bit dazed.

“What a coincidence. You and Chen-chen share the same birthday.” Tao Yuan sat with a little girl on her lap and asked Han Xinyuan what year she was born. Upon learning they were born on the exact same year, month, and day, she felt even more fond of her and warmly invited her to stay for dinner. Han Xinyuan, who had sneaked out on an empty stomach, readily agreed.

Han Xinyuan was delighted to learn of their shared destiny. She hovered around Tao Yuan, asking all sorts of questions. Tao Yuan, unaware of the history between them, was eager to spill all of Ji Chenli’s secrets, even mentioning her bed-wetting and crying fits as a child. Han Xinyuan laughed heartily.

Tao Yuan had brought six orphans with her: five little ones and one older teenager who helped carry things. She brought four food containers filled with her specialty dishes. Han Xinyuan, despite having only one usable hand, ate with gusto, her face glistening with grease. Ji Chenli watched with a dark expression, biting her chopsticks. This is the ‘Elegant Young Lady’ her fans talk about? In comparison, my ‘vicious second lead’ persona is a total injustice.

Ji Chenli lay on the bed, unable to move, relying on Tao Yuan to feed her. Seeing Han Xinyuan eating so greedily, she became annoyed. “Hey, stop eating.”

“What’s wrong?” Han Xinyuan was happily gnawing on a braised pig trotter. She flashed a greasy grin at Tao Yuan. “Sister Tao Yuan, your braised trotters are amazing. They’re way better than the ones my family’s chef makes!”

Han Xinyuan’s family chef was a master class cook. Tao Yuan assumed the young lady was just being polite and smiled without a word. But Ji Chenli was very unhappy. “My sister made those for me. You’re not allowed to eat them!”

Tao Yuan was busy feeding Ji Chenli and looking after the other children. Hearing Ji Chenli’s unreasonable outburst, she scolded gently, “Chen-chen, don’t talk nonsense. Is that any way to treat a guest?”

She thought to herself: Ji Chenli and Han Xinyuan, both in their twenties, act more like children than the orphans I brought.

Seeing Ji Chenli’s dark face, Han Xinyuan wiped her mouth and put down the trotter. “Fine, I won’t eat.” She looked quite pained. Tao Yuan was caught between laughter and tears, shooting Ji Chenli an awkward glare. Ji Chenli just rolled her eyes and stayed silent.

Han Xinyuan thought to herself: It’s just a pig trotter, why be so stingy? To shake off the people Ming Lang sent to tail her, she had scaled walls and climbed trees. Finally, to bypass the guards at Ji Chenli’s door, she had literally climbed up from the fourteenth floor—all just to see her once. Yet Ji Chenli was “repaying her kindness with a bite.” The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She decided to ignore Ji Chenli and play with the kids instead.

Ji Chenli had never realized it before, but Han Xinyuan was a natural with children. She bonded with them quickly. Seeing the kids loved her, Tao Yuan’s opinion of her improved further. She advised Ji Chenli, “I think Miss Han is a good person. Don’t be like that to her.”

Ji Chenli used to be the “leader” of the kids herself. Now that she couldn’t move, Han Xinyuan had usurped her position. It was a total hostile takeover! She snorted, “Good person? Sister, don’t be fooled. She’s full of bad schemes.” The more she thought about it, the more indignant she became, and she whispered a report to Tao Yuan: “The last time I fell in the water and got hospitalized? She was the one behind it!”

“It was her?” Tao Yuan’s face immediately turned cold. “Then I’ll kick her out.”

“Sister, this is between us. Don’t worry about it.” Ji Chenli pulled Tao Yuan’s wrist. “Don’t you have things to do at the orphanage? Go on back, don’t linger here.”

“No way. She had the nerve to come here after doing that? See if I don’t give her a piece of my mind…” Tao Yuan rolled up her sleeves, ready to go to battle.

“Don’t! Sister, let’s not start trouble.” Ji Chenli finally managed to persuade Tao Yuan to take the children back to the orphanage, and to take the birthday cake back to share with everyone.

Tao Yuan truly did have work at the orphanage—especially the one-year-old “little bean” she didn’t trust with anyone else. She hesitated. “Should I leave a piece of cake for you?”

Ji Chenli smiled and waved her off. “You know I don’t care for that stuff. Take it back; there’s barely enough for the kids as it is.”

Once Tao Yuan and the children finally left, Ji Chenli wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed in relief. This birthday was exhausting. She then remembered Han Xinyuan was still in the room. “How did you get in?”

“Didn’t you see?” Han Xinyuan was happy Ji Chenli was finally willing to talk. she picked an apple from the fruit basket and took a bite. “Climbed through the window.”

“This is the fifteenth floor!”

“Are you worried about me?” Han Xinyuan smiled. “It’s fine. There’s an awning on the fourteenth floor to break a fall; I wouldn’t die. I originally came to hear you say ‘Happy Birthday,’ but I didn’t expect it to be your birthday too.” Han Xinyuan ate her apple and sat on the edge of the bed as if she owned the place. She leaned in close, squinting her eyes with a smile. “Did you look at Weibo?”

Ji Chenli shot her a sidelong glance. “I knew it was your doing.”

“I just wanted to ride the earthquake hype. How was I to know netizens were so creative?” Han Xinyuan winked her left eye at Ji Chenli. “But seriously, after hearing them talk, we really do have a lot of CP feeling, don’t we? Since you’re divorcing A-Lang anyway, hey, why don’t we just get together?”

“…” Ji Chenli figured Han Xinyuan must have hit her head in the earthquake. “Do you have actual business? If not, get out.”

“I do have business.” Seeing Ji Chenli change the subject, Han Xinyuan slumped against the bed in disappointment. She stopped eating her apple and said listlessly, “I came to say goodbye. The movie starts filming; the location is in the Northwest. I probably won’t be back for several months.”

After surviving a life-and-death situation together, Han Xinyuan’s hatred for Ji Chenli had diminished, replaced by an inexplicable sense of closeness. She thought she could be friends with Ji Chenli; based on the fact that Ji Chenli saved her life twice, this was a friendship that would definitely pay off. However, before she could improve her standing, a movie had come calling.

Han Xinyuan was serious about her acting career and wanted to succeed on her own merit. Naturally, she wouldn’t miss a script that was a guaranteed award-winner. She had accepted without a second thought, but the schedule was tight, so she hurried to say goodbye. Friends could wait, but a chance at fame was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Ji Chenli knew the movie was 72 Hours. She wasn’t surprised and replied flatly, “Have a safe trip. I hope you sweep the Best Actress awards.”

“That’s it?”

“What else?”

Han Xinyuan lowered her head in disappointment. “Fine, I’ll take your blessing.” Her eyes darted around, and she added, “Hey, Ji Chenli, do you really want to divorce Ming Lang?”

Ji Chenli looked at her, not understanding why she was asking.

“We’re life-and-death friends now. How about I give you an idea?”

A spark of interest appeared in Ji Chenli’s eyes. Encouraged, Han Xinyuan continued, “I’m telling you, with someone like Ming Lang, going head-to-head is useless. Even though she looks like she has a heart of stone and is immune to both soft and hard tactics, soft is always better than hard.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“Do this,” Han Xinyuan leaned into Ji Chenli’s ear and whispered a long string of advice. Ji Chenli’s brow furrowed deeper as she listened. “Will that really work?”

“Absolutely! Don’t I know Ming Lang? I’ve used this move on her for years!” Han Xinyuan spoke with great excitement.

“Then… I guess I’ll try.” Ji Chenli was skeptical.

“Right, I’m off. It’s a deal—if it works, you have to treat me to dinner. I want Sister Tao Yuan’s braised pork elbow!”

“Get lost! She’s my Sister Tao Yuan, you’re not allowed to call her that!” Ji Chenli turned to glare at her.

Because Han Xinyuan was still whispering in her ear, when Ji Chenli turned her head, their noses brushed lightly. There was a tingling sensation. Han Xinyuan twitched her nose, and as their gazes met, she thought Ji Chenli’s eyes were sparkling—when she was angry, she actually looked a bit playful and cute.

Han Xinyuan felt a strange itch in her heart. Startled by this unprecedented feeling, she hopped away and sprinted out of the ward as if fleeing.

“…” What’s with the sudden shyness? Ji Chenli noted she had never seen Han Xinyuan act so bashful across two lifetimes.

With everyone gone, the ward returned to silence. Ji Chenli thought about everything that had happened and found it unbelievable. She actually felt that Han Xinyuan wasn’t as annoying as she had imagined—provided her advice actually worked.

Ji Chenli hadn’t had such a lively birthday in a long time. Despite the presence of the annoying Han Xinyuan, she was happy. She lay on the bed humming a little song until nightfall covered the landscape outside. When Ming Lang walked in, Ji Chenli didn’t even show much surprise.

Actually, in the days since returning to C City, Ming Lang hadn’t appeared before her often. Based on experience, Ji Chenli didn’t think she had suddenly developed self-awareness; she was probably just too busy to come and find trouble.