Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 86
by Little PandaAmusing Ourselves to Death
Manager 23
Queen
Xin Lan gripped her neck, and her hand began to tighten.
Shen Yun widened her eyes, her face full of terror.
In that gradually blurring sensation, she felt Xin Lan take out her phone.
Xin Lan released her grip, watching as Shen Yun collapsed limply onto the ground.
Shen Yun gasped heavily, greedily breathing in fresh air, that near-death feeling still lingering as she fearfully looked at Xin Lan.
When she saw what was playing on Xin Lan’s phone, her face turned even more ashen.
“Look at that choking mark on your neck, how obvious it is. If you walk out and get photographed, the media reports will be everywhere. You could cry and accuse your manager of abusing you,” Xin Lan smiled at Shen Yun, her eyes devoid of mercy, “but tell me, what would the media say if I release this?”
“Popular starlet’s hidden s*xual fetish, enjoys asphyxiation for pl*asure – how’s that for a headline?”
“When your image crumbles, do you think I’ll buy water army for you? Of course I will. I’ll have them talk about your sleeping-your-way-to-the-top history, how you tried to seduce a CEO but got slapped by his legitimate wife, spread some fabricated stories about escort services – do you think you can recover from that?”
Xin Lan smiled sweetly, looking absolutely beautiful.
With each word Xin Lan spoke, Shen Yun’s face grew paler.
She knew all of this would become reality.
She would be thoroughly destroyed.
Her eyes took on a bloodshot tinge, looking at Xin Lan as if gazing at an evil spirit.
She reached out to grab Xin Lan’s phone but was kicked to the ground by Xin Lan.
Xin Lan withdrew her foot and put the phone back in her pocket.
“You should be more sensible.”
Shen Yun clutched her head and let out a shriek, her face contorted.
“If you ruin me, you won’t have it easy either!”
“The one who was with me before was you! It was you!”
“So what? I’m just a pitiful pawn you used to climb up. I haven’t done anything wrong. Since your debut, I’ve worked wholeheartedly – everyone can see that. Can you ruin me? No, you can’t. You’ll only add a halo of sympathy around me, and perhaps my career will reach even greater heights.”
Xin Lan spoke unhurriedly, looking at Shen Yun with pity in her eyes.
“What exactly do you want?”
Shen Yun tried to calm herself down, but her face still showed undisguisable panic.
Her heart was filled with intense fear and unwillingness – the person before her was too powerful, too unfamiliar, and held her weakness in their hands, controlling her vital point.
“I don’t intend to do anything to you. Don’t look so panicked. As long as you behave and don’t try any tricks, I naturally won’t make things difficult for you.”
As if.
Shen Yun tugged at the corner of her mouth, completely unconvinced.
“I’ve secured a new drama for you – a big production, period drama.”
Shen Yun looked at Xin Lan suspiciously – she had just been choking and threatening her, how could she be so kind as to get her a good script?
“I’ve already said we’re on the same side when it comes to interests. Why don’t you believe me? Could it be that you’re so degraded that you only feel better when I torture you?”
Xin Lan said with slight surprise, making Shen Yun’s face flush with humiliation.
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t stand seeing me do well? What’s this – giving me a sweet jujube [甜棗 | tián zǎo | metaphor for a reward after punishment] after beating me with a stick?”
Shen Yun wasn’t one without pride – Xin Lan’s condescending, favor-bestowing manner made her secretly hate her, but she was helpless.
Right now, her only resource dependency was Xin Lan. Earlier, Xin Lan had seemed determined to destroy her, but now she was acting differently. She really couldn’t figure out what Xin Lan wanted to do.
If revenge was the goal, she could have released that video long ago and used the water army to spread rumors, but she hadn’t – she only brought these things out now to threaten her.
And after the threats, she still provided resources. Could it be that she really wasn’t planning to freeze her career?
Could it be that this time when Lan Rui snatched the role, Xin Lan truly knew nothing about it, and it wasn’t her doing?
Shen Yun sensed something was wrong but couldn’t make sense of the logic.
Xin Lan watched Shen Yun standing there dumbfounded, knowing she had likely believed her words.
Shen Yun was a difficult person to describe – shameless yet righteous, suspicious of everyone, selfish and self-serving, putting benefits above all. She could endure anything for profit – even though Xin Lan had just insulted her, her attitude improved as soon as she heard about the drama.
People always like to judge others by their own standards. Since Shen Yun prioritized benefits and could endure anything, she believed what she was told.
But she didn’t know that some people would rather “kill a thousand enemies even at the cost of eight hundred self-injuries” [寧願殺敵一千，自損八百 | nìng yuàn shā dí qiān, zì sǔn bā bǎi | idiom meaning willing to sacrifice oneself to defeat the enemy].
Of course, for Xin Lan, those weren’t even considered losses.
She hadn’t even started tormenting Shen Yun yet – this was just letting her have a small sweet dream before shattering it. Who knew Shen Yun’s mentality would be so fragile that she couldn’t handle even this much.
Fortunately, she hadn’t completely broken down yet – her mentality could still be pulled back, ready for another breakdown.
This was Xin Lan’s plan – playing her once wasn’t enough. She had to let her experience the ups and downs of life a few more times.
“Pack up, come with me.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Do you want the cleaners to come in and see how a big star like you has wrecked this place?”
Shen Yun paused slightly, then nodded.
She went to the bedroom, didn’t take anything, just touched her neck while looking in the mirror.
There was a bruise there, silently telling the story of what had just happened.
She felt fearful now – Xin Lan had looked like she really wanted to strangle her to death.
How could she have such strength? No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t break free.
She had never felt death so close before.
If she had known it would turn out like this, she should never have provoked Xin Lan.
Back then, she had been afraid that if she relied on wealthy patrons, she would quickly be discarded, having no autonomy and easily becoming a plaything. To avoid such an ending, she had targeted her manager instead.
She was already bisexual, and with girls, there was no worry about pregnancy, no concern about excessive activity affecting her condition. In fact, she had been very successful, if it weren’t for what happened before…
Shen Yun felt irritated and cursed at that small-time actress who had seduced her – as for the name and face, she had long forgotten them.
She took a silk scarf, wrapped it around her neck, then fixed her hair and touched up her makeup.
When she came out, she was still that dazzling star, showing no trace of dishevelment.
Ling Jiu: She’s like a cockroach.
Xin Lan: I don’t remember teaching you to insult cockroaches like that.
Ling Jiu suppressed a laugh, happily going through the routine of leaving comments to mock Shen Yun on her account.
The new drama Xin Lan found for Shen Yun was a palace drama.
It was about a palace lady’s rise to power, comparable to Wu Hou’s [武後 | wǔ hòu | Empress Wu Zetian] ascension story, but different, as the female protagonist’s tactical skills weren’t as high as Wu Hou’s.
The female protagonist starts as a small cabbage [小白菜 | xiǎo bái cài | meaning naive and pure], constantly walking the path between being favored and being schemed against, before turning dark later, following a path of bloodshed.
It looked like a good script, after all, Xin Lan had gotten Shen Yun the female protagonist role.
Sitting in the car looking at the script, Shen Yun was still somewhat incredulous. Her throat still hurt – could Xin Lan really be this kind?
“This role hasn’t already been promised to someone else, has it?”
Shen Yun gripped the corner of the script tightly, speaking with great uncertainty.
“I’m not sure. I can only fight for opportunities for you. Whether you get the role depends on your ability. If someone wants to snatch it, there’s nothing we can do.”
Shen Yun frowned, her previously high spirits dampening somewhat.
“If every actor was like you, worried about role-snatching before even auditioning, we might as well all quit acting.”
Xin Lan gave a cold laugh, and Shen Yun’s heart skipped a beat hearing it.
Remembering that Xin Lan still held leverage over her, Shen Yun immediately fell silent and continued reading the script with her head down.
Xin Lan turned the steering wheel, feeling somewhat regretful – if Shen Yun were a man, she would have beaten her countless times by now.
This was the script she had carefully selected for Shen Yun, and of course she would get the female protagonist.
Once she entered the production, there would naturally be things that would make her suffer.
Moreover, this drama might not even make it to production.
Xin Lan felt somewhat pleased thinking about her arrangements.
After dropping Shen Yun off at another house under her name, she left without lingering.
Every minute and second spent with Shen Yun felt like a waste of life.
Only after seeing Xin Lan’s car drive away did Shen Yun finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She put the script aside, removed the silk scarf from her neck, and cursed Xin Lan with the most vicious words she could think of.
If only she would die in a car accident on the road, then she wouldn’t have to feel such terror and fear.
After venting her emotions in frustration for a while, she composed herself, took the phone kept in this house, and began dialing her contacts.
Ling Jiu immediately reported her actions to Xin Lan, but Xin Lan was unconcerned.
It would be a miracle if Shen Yun actually succeeded.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Xu Fang called her.
“What’s going on with that starlet of yours? Why is she suddenly asking me to dinner?”
Xu Fang was the company CEO, a diamond bachelor. Many men and women wanted to get close to him, but he wasn’t someone without principles who accepted everyone. This person was still his capable assistant, and also his sister’s former crush Xin Lan’s subordinate, so Xu Fang was confused.
“She lost a role to someone with financial backing. She’s had it too easy, hasn’t experienced any setbacks.”
Xin Lan spoke casually, making Xu Fang laugh.
“Just for that?”
“Mm, how did you respond to her?”
“My assistant took the call – no appointment, definitely not happening.”
Xin Lan smiled, knowing it would be like this. Xu Fang would give her face, and naturally wouldn’t get involved with Shen Yun.
After ending the call with Xu Fang, Xin Lan called Zhou Qinqin and the others.
Shen Yun sat dejectedly on the sofa, like an ant on a hot pan, frantically going in circles but completely helpless.
For a moment, her mind was full of thoughts, yet empty as if there was nothing.
She had previously believed she could rely on Xin Lan, so she hadn’t bothered to build a wide network of connections, though she had made plenty of enemies. Now that this situation had occurred, she could do nothing but sit here in fear.
Having just had her call politely ended by the CEO’s assistant, she felt even more desperate.
Would she really have to let Xin Lan manipulate her like this?
The door suddenly made a sound, making Shen Yun’s heart jump. Only after seeing it was her assistant did she relax.
But when Zhou Qinqin approached and suddenly took the phone from her hand, she realized something was wrong. She tried to grab it back but was caught by Ah Kun, unable to move.
“Yun-jie, Lan-jie said to rest and recover well, focus on studying the script, and not think about other things.”
Zhou Qinqin felt deep sighs in her heart – how could someone who seemed so normal be so eager to degrade herself.
LP: Re-translated on March 06, 2025
Mc really going all out in this world.
Now this feels like actual revenge.