Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 93
by Little PandaAmusing Ourselves to Death
Manager 30
Queen
Shen Yun hadn’t run far. She hadn’t intended to cause a scene. The online chatter was already under control, but that wasn’t her problem.
Her manager, Xin Lan, was working against her. She had no resources left.
Shen Yun knew this clearly. Even if she could temporarily control the situation with internet trolls, without resources, she would still fall hard.
Wearing a face mask, she walked down the street and dialed a number, her mind made up. She couldn’t just collapse like this.
Xin Lan saw this through a live feed. Ling Jiu immediately pulled up the contact’s information for her.
It had to be said, Shen Yun was going all in.
She had contacted a notorious manager, a well-known pimp [皮條客 | pítiáokè | procurer of prostitutes].
None of the artists under his management were clean. Shen Yun was truly desperate.
Of course. Her self-respect was relative. She knew what method would be the fastest and most effective right now.
Xin Lan made a call, exchanging pleasantries with the person on the other end.
“Don’t say I’m not looking out for you. I’m giving you an exclusive, guaranteed explosive news story.”
The pimp acted quickly. After all, Shen Yun was attractive; there were plenty of people interested.
Shen Yun received a text message: a hotel address and room number.
She gripped her phone and took a taxi to the destination. She had to win. She couldn’t let Xin Lan control her career like this.
She knocked on the door and saw a portly, middle-aged man in a bathrobe.
She clutched her clothes, realizing reality was far crueler than she had imagined.
This kind of person… this kind of person…
Did she really have to…?
No, she couldn’t back down.
She removed her mask and gave the man a smile.
Just as she was about to enter, several people rushed out from somewhere, wielding cameras with long lenses, flashes blinding her, microphones practically shoved in her face.
How could there be paparazzi here?!
“Miss Shen, why are you at this hotel? Are you planning to engage in some improper transactions?”
“Miss Shen, what do you have to say about the video online?”
“Miss Shen…”
Shen Yun frantically put her mask back on and tried to hide inside the room, only to find the door had been closed.
Her back pressed against the cold door, she faced the people blocking her escape. Their relentless questions stabbed at her like knives, leaving her humiliated and distraught.
“Miss Shen, Miss Shen, please answer my question…”
“I don’t know, I don’t know…”
Shen Yun panicked completely. She could only cover her face and shake her head repeatedly.
It was over. Truly over.
How had it come to this? How had things become like this?!
She shouldn’t be like this. She should be adored by everyone. She shouldn’t be like this!
The commotion attracted hotel security. Xin Lan arrived in time to resolve the situation.
She politely asked the lead reporter to leave, conveying a knowing look.
The reporter gave an almost imperceptible nod and led the other reporters and photographers away.
“Let’s go. Do you still want to stay here and be surrounded by people?”
Xin Lan crossed her arms, looking at the woman in the mask, despair evident in her eyes.
“Was it you? Was this your doing?!” Shen Yun suddenly became agitated, staring intently at Xin Lan.
“Are you sure you want to talk about this here?”
“Why can’t I talk about it here? You were so capable of calling the reporters, so capable of making them leave. Call them back! Let them continue filming! Let them see what kind of person you are, who the real manipulator is!”
Shen Yun sneered. She wasn’t stupid, but she hadn’t expected Xin Lan to be so well-connected, to know her every move.
“Did I force you to come here?”
“Did I force you to solicit the casting couch?”
“Do you think I’m afraid? Afraid of being implicated myself?”
Xin Lan sneered, her questions relentless, watching Shen Yun tremble with rage.
Shen Yun was unwilling to accept this. Truly unwilling.
She had only made a small mistake—she didn’t even think it was a mistake—and yet she was being treated like this.
Ever since that failed audition, everything seemed to be going downhill. She could almost imagine how the news would report this incident, how she would be portrayed.
Even manipulating online reviews wouldn’t help. She was being targeted. She needed other support, and now that support was blocked, and she had new dirt on her name.
This way, no company would likely poach her, offering her a way out of Xingtu Entertainment.
Even if she desperately wanted mutually assured destruction, to take Xin Lan down with her, Xin Lan said she didn’t care.
Didn’t care?
Ha ha ha ha. Yes, she didn’t care!
But Shen Yun cared! She cared about her reputation, her career. She wanted to be a star, adored by all. She shouldn’t have become like this.
“Let’s go.” Xin Lan dropped these words and walked towards the elevator.
“Or do you want to stand here and wait for more reporters?”
Shen Yun couldn’t bring herself to make a scene. Head lowered, she followed Xin Lan into the elevator.
“Can you really not let me go?” Shen Yun asked again.
“Even if I let you go now, you won’t let me go.” Xin Lan paused, seeing Shen Yun’s eagerness to speak, and shook her head. “Don’t bother explaining. Let me speak for you. If I stop now, help you with PR, let you continue to be active on screen after the scandal blows over, what would you do?”
“You’d probably switch agencies, leave Xingtu, or at the very least leave me, and then, at the right time, retaliate.”
“You could never swallow this, could you?”
“Because you’ve never thought you were wrong, have you, Miss Shen? You think you deserve to be adored and placed on a pedestal, don’t you?”
Xin Lan’s voice dripped with sarcasm. She rarely spoke so much.
Actually, saying so much was less satisfying than beating someone up, but Shen Yun was a girl.
Girls were generally more delicate, and when hurt, they’d cry. Unless they were trained fighters, she was worried about causing some kind of injury.
Occasionally saying a few words like this felt… not bad.
Shen Yun wanted to defend herself, but ultimately remained silent.
She didn’t want it to end like this.
She got into Xin Lan’s car, silently letting Xin Lan drive her away.
Halfway there, at a green light at an intersection, Shen Yun looked at the steering wheel, suddenly feeling a sense of detachment.
She didn’t want it all to end like this. She didn’t want to become a washed-up has-been, mocked by everyone.
As if possessed, she reached out, wanting to grab the steering wheel.
Xin Lan was faster. She grabbed Shen Yun’s hand, twisting it hard, while simultaneously controlling the steering wheel with her other hand.
Shen Yun cried out in pain, snapping back to reality. Thinking about what she had almost done, she felt a surge of fear.
She didn’t want to die, not yet.
“It’s not enough that you’re in the news, you want to take me down with you?”
“Looks like you want to change the headline from ‘Casting Couch Scandal’ to ‘Attempted Murder’.”
Shen Yun, as if frightened, stared straight ahead, speechless.
Seeing her like this, Xin Lan suddenly lost her patience.
Would this kind of person commit suicide?
It was hard to say.
Xin Lan wouldn’t kill her. She would make her life a living hell. Make her watch everything she was proud of crumble, her self-respect shattered.
Xin Lan took her to her former apartment. It was empty, many of the furnishings smashed by Shen Yun herself.
Xin Lan closed the door and sat on the sofa, crossing her legs.
Shen Yun stood there like a ghost, her mask still on.
Xin Lan made a call, deliberately putting it on speakerphone.
“So, are you satisfied with my exclusive?”
“It’s explosive! But, Sister Lan, isn’t she one of your people?” The voice on the other end was confused. Xin Lan had once doted on Shen Yun, frequently telling her people not to write about her.
“She made a mistake. She needs to learn a lesson.”
Xin Lan didn’t elaborate, and the other person didn’t ask further.
Hearing their conversation, Shen Yun, as if triggered again, rushed over, trying to grab Xin Lan’s phone. Xin Lan kicked her to the floor, forcing her to her knees.
“Not hitting you is me showing you respect. Don’t push it.”
Shen Yun shuddered, remembering the terror of Xin Lan choking her.
She knelt there, sobbing uncontrollably, tears falling to the floor, a picture of misery.
She was truly desperate. She didn’t know how to save herself.
Xin Lan was like a mountain, pressing down on her, shrouding her in shadow.
It felt inescapable, suffocating.
Was this really the end?
She looked at Xin Lan and shakily stood up.
If this was the end, she wouldn’t let it end like this!
Shen Yun walked into the kitchen. Ling Jiu quickly alerted Xin Lan.
Xin Lan scoffed, unconcerned.
Shen Yun grabbed a kitchen knife, staring at Xin Lan as she approached her.
“What? Want to take me down with you?”
Shen Yun didn’t speak, tears still streaming down her face.
She looked extremely unstable, her eyes bloodshot, her stare full of obsession.
“Even if you had a gun in your hand right now, you couldn’t do anything to me.”
Xin Lan smiled, stood up from the sofa, and approached Shen Yun.
Knife in hand, Shen Yun was startled by her approach and took a step back.
“What? Scared now? Weren’t you so brave?”
Xin Lan continued to goad Shen Yun with words. Shen Yun gasped, her chest heaving more and more violently.
“I think you haven’t correctly recognized the difference between us.”
Xin Lan grabbed Shen Yun’s knife-wielding right hand. Shen Yun screamed and tried to slash at Xin Lan’s hand, but a sharp pain shot through her wrist, and the knife clattered to the floor.
Xin Lan showed no mercy, dislocating Shen Yun’s arm.
Shen Yun’s hand went limp, and she screamed, trying to grab Xin Lan.
She seemed to have lost all reason.
Her face was contorted and ferocious, filled with hatred.
Xin Lan easily dodged and kicked her to the ground.
The more frantic she became, the more amused Xin Lan was.
She had once driven the original owner of this body to collapse, to despair, to utter hopelessness.
#Shocking! After the sex tape, Shen Yun caught meeting a CEO at a hotel?#
This headline set the internet ablaze again.
@IHaveLotsOfHair: Hahahahaha I can’t get enough of this melon. Is Shen Yun a melon farmer or something?
@QingMingComeGetHit: Holy crap, this is exciting! Shen Yun plays this hard?
@WannaSeeMeSmashYou: Shen Yun offended some powerful deity, huh? Hahahaha this is so sad, but I can’t stop laughing!
Some of Shen Yun’s fans continued to insist, “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it. This is slander!”
But other fans recognized her.
The reporters had captured clear photos, not only of Shen Yun’s face, but also of the greasy middle-aged man in the bathrobe grabbing her hand.
The man’s face was blurred, of course, but not his physique.
One of Shen Yun’s fan leaders publicly abandoned their fandom.
@PartingWithYou: I suddenly feel sad for ever liking this idol. Those NC fans [NC | brainless/stupid] really shouldn’t bother defending her anymore. As the admin of Shen Yun’s fan site, I’ve edited so many photos for her, followed her around, I’m very familiar with her features, and I’m absolutely certain that was the person I once admired. After the video incident, I stayed because I believe in sexual equality, and the person who filmed secretly was wrong. These past few days, she hasn’t said a word, and I led the charge condemning the company, condemning the team, but this time, I can’t handle it. I really can’t accept the QGZ [QGZ | casting couch]. Even if it’s common, it’s still wrong.
Following the fan leader’s departure, others announced they were leaving the fandom as well.
Shen Yun’s paid commenters had completed their task. Now, under Xin Lan’s watchful eye, she was forced to read the comments.
Lan Rui somehow got her phone number and thoroughly mocked her.
“Didn’t you once taunt me, saying I slept my way to the top? What are you now? Aren’t you the same? Pretending to be so high and mighty. Tried to climb into bed and failed. Shen Yun, oh Shen Yun, you’re truly a laughingstock.”
Shen Yun screamed in anguish and threw her phone against the wall.
Her hair was disheveled, her eyes vacant.
“Are you satisfied now, with the situation like this?”
Shen Yun looked up, her laughter bordering on hysterical.
“You ruined me, Xin Lan! You ruined me!”
“You ruined yourself. Didn’t you?”
Another wave of online commentary hit.
Shen Yun’s initial video wasn’t of a consensual encounter, but an act of infidelity.
The whole internet began speculating about who the wronged spouse was, but the source of the leak never revealed their identity. Marketing accounts churned out various versions, none verifiable, but the fact of Shen Yun’s infidelity remained firmly imprinted in the public’s mind.
Many fans couldn’t defend her anymore. Aside from the die-hard, brainless fans still trying to make excuses, most rational fans had left.
Some of the more aggressive ones even turned against her.
Shen Yun faced universal condemnation. At this point, Xin Lan delivered the termination contract.
Shen Yun stayed home, afraid to even open the door.
Clutching her cracked phone, she felt utterly helpless.
Terminated, without resources.
She was as pathetic and broken as she had once been arrogant and proud.
Her defenses had crumbled. Haggard and exhausted, she sat at home, her eyes bloodshot.
There was no food in the house. Wearing a mask, she tried to sneak out to buy something to eat.
But the paparazzi, like flies, were relentless.
They spotted her, and she covered her face, fleeing in panic.
“Miss Shen…”
“Miss Shen, we’d like to ask, is it true that you had an affair?”
“Who was the person you had an affair with?”
“As a celebrity, what are your views on prostitution?”
“We heard you also participated in escorting services, is that true?”
“Stop asking! Stop asking!”
Shen Yun screamed internally, her face pale, running blindly forward.
A screech of brakes pierced the air. The driver stared in horror at the person lying on the ground.
Camera flashes went off incessantly. Shen Yun could barely open her eyes.
The pain prevented her from speaking. She could only lie there, looking up at the sky.
Through the blur, she saw a figure approaching. With great effort, she recognized who it was.
“Happy now, dying under the spotlight, superstar?”
“Mankind has willingly become a species amused to death,” – Neil Postman, 《Amusing Ourselves to Death》
LP: Re-translated on March 17, 2025
This was the only true ex girlfriend revenge.