A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You - Chapter 517-524
Before the results of her scheming came out, she didn’t want anyone to know her plans.
If she failed, it’d be a secret of her own.
If she succeeded, it’d be the best thing she could do in return for his sacrifices.
At that thought, Ji Yi couldn’t help but tighten her fingers around her phone.
Man proposes, God disposes. She only wished God would care a little more for her tonight.
He Jichen must’ve been collecting his baggage, so he didn’t reply to Ji Yi’s message.
Ji Yi brought herself back from her wandering thoughts and raised her head from her phone screen. She glanced at the big stage in front of her and happened to hear the presenter say, “Coming up next on our show is what many people have long been waiting for.”
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“However, before the show starts, I first have something I regret to say.”
“We’re terribly sorry. Half an hour ago, we just got news that Cheng Ke had no choice but to pull out of tonight’s charity gala at the last minute due to personal circumstances.”
“Just before Cheng Ke left, he asked us to offer his sincere apologies. From our understanding, if it hadn’t been an emergency, Cheng Ke wouldn’t have suddenly left.”
As the presenter said this, he pulled the stern, imposing expression on his face then reverted back to his bright smile to present tonight’s show. “Alright, now let’s get back to the show. Please enjoy a song brought to you by Qian Ge.”
As the presenter’s voice dropped, he made a hand gesture to “welcome” her on the stage.
The lights on the stage were instantly turned off.
After about a minute later, the lights lit up. Qian Ge raised her mic and stood at the center of the stage.
The instant the music started to play, Ji Yi withdrew her gaze from the stage and quietly glanced down at her phone screen.
Zhuang Yi turned her head, edged closer to Ji Yi’s ear, and whispered, “How could Cheng Ke suddenly leave? It was a show booked in advance; it’s all been paid already. He has to pay a compensation fee for dropping out. He couldn’t really have had an emergency as they said in their official announcement, right?”
Ji Yi knew deep down that Cheng Ke only left at the last minute because of what she said before the charity gala started.
But they were surrounded entirely by other people. Even if they spoke quietly, it didn’t mean nobody would hear them, so Ji Yi pretended to not know and shook her heard at Zhuang Yi. “Not sure.”
“Who cares. All in all, it was a good thing. You know Qian Ge always wanted to piggyback off of Cheng Ke’s popularity, secure promos with him and boost her public character. At first, I was worried that if investors saw the two on stage together tonight, Qian Ge would get offer after offer and have money thrown at her. I never imagined that something like this would come up in the last minute. To think how she screwed us over on the red carpet… this is awesome!”
Ji Yi smiled at how Zhuang Yi was clearly trying to suppress her words. She lowered her head and looked over at her vibrating phone – it was a message from He Jichen.
“I’ve already left the airport and got a call from Han Zhifan. There’s an important meeting at the Golden Lounge, so I probably have to rush over.”
When Ji Yi saw the three words “Han Zhifan,” she thought back to what Cheng Weiwan told her a few days ago.
Ji Yi suddenly typed a single line on the screen and sent it to He Jichen. “Wanwan gave into Han Zhifan’s pursuit. Did you know?”
“I heard Chen Bai mention it.”
“I hope Wanwan is happy, but I imagine she’d be happy for sure. Han Zhifan treats her really well. Last time when that incident happened, I don’t even dare think about what would’ve happened to Wanwan if it weren’t for Han Zhifan…”
…
Ji Yi spent the next part of the BL Charity Gala chatting to He Jichen.
At half past nine, the celebrity performances finished. The next part was the banquet.
Many live broadcasting stations signed an agreement with the BL Charity Gala to also film live interviews with some celebrities during the banquet.
Since Ji Yi had been at the BL Charity Gala since morning, she had been waiting all day for this very moment.
Even though Ji Yi had no part in the BL Charity Gala, she was going to perform a thrilling show on this flashy, star-packed evening!
The banquet was held in the second-floor dining room of the Beiyang Hall.
Ji Yi and Zhuang Yi first went to the restroom to retouch their make up and took the opportunity to compose themselves before calmly heading over to the second floor.
Aside from the few celebrities who had already left the charity gala to rush to their next jobs, other celebrities were making their way to the dining hall.
Staff members from different stations headed to their respective places to broadcast their live coverage of the gala.
Ji Yi, who hadn’t eaten much all evening, was a little hungry. She entered the dining hall and headed straight for the food area.
After filling up on a few of her favorite foods, Ji Yi wiped her hands and the corners of her lips with a napkin. Then she pulled out her mirror and reapplied her lipstick. Once she was certain she was in a good frame of mind, she turned her head and scanned the area, looking for Qian Ge.
After no more than ten seconds, Ji Yi found Qian Ge.
Ji Yi had to admit that Qian Ge was really smart. She knew every major broadcasting station would be covering the event tonight, so to get better exposure, she selected the most eye-catching table. It didn’t matter where reporters from every major station were in the dining hall – she was always in the perfect shot.
Ji Yi knew Qian Ge’s underlings well; after tonight, she was afraid that the headline “The most beautiful woman on the black screen, Qian Ge” was going to probably be plastered all over every media outlet.
If it were any other day, Ji Yi would more or less feel annoyed and lament over Qian Ge’s schemes, but today, she was a little glad.
She wasn’t afraid of Qian Ge getting exposure; she was afraid there wasn’t enough of it.
At that thought, Ji Yi curled her lips into a sweet smile and said to Zhuang Yi, “I’m going over there for a moment.” Without waiting for Zhuang Yi to finish eating, she grabbed her handbag and got up. She picked up a light pink cocktail from the waiter tray beside her and headed over to Qian Ge.
There were three female celebrities around Qian Ge. After Ji Yi walked up to them, she pretended to really admire Qian Ge and said with a bright smile, “Qian Jie, I really like you! Can I get a pic with you?”
With other female celebrities by her side and so many cameras around, Qian Ge had to protect her image, even if she knew Ji Yi was lying. There was no way she couldn’t put up a warm and generous front. “Sure!” she said with a nod.
“Thank you Qian Jie,” thanked Ji Yi sweetly as she walked over to Qian Ge’s side and grabbed the phone.
After she fixed the camera, Ji Yi tilted her head, lunged over and kissed Qian Ge by her ear.
Her eyes glanced over the screen, pretending to check out the expressions in their photo. She opened her lips slightly and gently whispered into Qian Ge’s ear, “Do you know why Cheng Ke pulled out of the BL Charity Gala tonight at the last minute?”
As Ji Yi’s voice dropped, she clearly saw Qian Ge’s expression freeze on her phone screen.
But after all, Qian Ge had worked in showbiz for many years now; the stiffness in her expression only lasted a split-second before she softly arched her eyes.
Ji Yi pressed the camera button and raised the phone to eye-level, pretending to take a picture, but in actuality, she opened the photo of Qian Ge from four years ago. Then she brought it in front of Qian Ge. After she took a good look at it, Ji Yi said, “Qian Jie, this one’s really good, isn’t it? Let’s take two more?”
As Ji Yi said this, she pulled the camera app in front of her and Qian Ge again.
Just like before, she acted as though she really liked Qian Ge. She leaned into her hair for a kiss and spoke at a volume only the two of them could hear. “It was because I took this photo and showed it to Cheng Ke. I told him you and I were great friends, so the next time we went out, you were going to invite him to come too.”
Ji Yi knew Qian Ge far too well and she could clearly tell that Qian Ge knew what she meant from her furrowed brows.
“So, Cheng Ke thought you were trying to use him to become popular, so he left at the last minute…” explained Ji Yi as she tapped the camera button a few more times then moved away from Qian Ge’s ear.
Ji Yi didn’t give Qian Ge any chance to react and said, “Qian Jie, I took the photo. Have a look and see which ones you don’t like – I’ll delete them.”
Ji Yi knew Qian Ge’s heart was unbelievably stifled right now. Ji Yi also knew Qian Ge was just itching to free herself from her and find an isolated area to vent her anger.
But I can’t give her that opportunity because I have a show coming up since my chest is on fire!
With that thought, Ji Yi brought the phone up to Qian Ge’s face, pulled up the photos, and pretended to examine the photos with her. In actuality, she kept taunting Qian Ge, “…I heard you’ve always wanted to work with Cheng Ke, but now, I think you’ve got no chance…”
Ji Yi was so close to Qian Ge, so she clearly felt Qian Ge’s body tighten up.
The moment the word “No…” left Qian Ge’s lips, Ji Yi immediately cut in, “Wow! Qian Jie, you’re really pretty in this photo!”
All Qian Ge could do was confront Ji Yi’s compliment with a smile. Backing up, Qian Ge excused herself: “Excuse me, I have to go to the restroom.”
Ji Yi took the opportunity and said a few quick words to Qian Ge: “Ah right, there’s something I forgot to tell you. You don’t know just how cold the expression on Cheng Ke’s face was after what I told him. Whenever Cheng Ke sees your name, I bet he’s going to definitely move as far as possible for you!”
After she said this, Ji Yi tilted her head and raised her glass at Qian Ge. “Qian Jie, thank you for taking a photo with me. I hope we get the chance to work together again like we did for Three Thousand Lunatics,” Ji Yi said with a radiant smile.
If it was any other day, Qian Ge wouldn’t be willing to clink glasses with Ji Yi, let alone do that now. When Ji Yi asked her for a selfie, she said so many things to let her know how she single-handedly crushed her dreams of getting the chance to work with Cheng Ke.
But at that very moment, their every move was being broadcasted live on air, so no matter how angry she was deep down, she had to clink glasses with Ji Yi.
Qian Ge expended a lot of energy to raise her glass to Ji Yi. She forced herself to smile as she pondered how to politely reply to Ji Yi. However, she only managed to speak the first word from her intended sentence “I hope so too” before Ji Yi lost control of her glass, resulting in her cocktail flying out of her hands and splashing Qian Ge’s chest.
“Sorry Qian Jie, I didn’t mean to! I really didn’t mean to.” Qian Ge was in shock from the cocktail spilling over her. Ji Yi’s mouth gaped open with a shocked expression on her face.
Ji Yi’s voice was a little high, causing quite a few people around them to peer over. Even the live cameras sensed the commotion and moved in closer to them.
“Qian Jie, sorry, I’m so sorry.” Ji Yi deliberately pretended to look like a child who had misbehaved, bowing apologetically to Qian Ge.
The cocktail quickly seeped into her thin gown, drenching her undergarments. That was when Qian Ge realized what had just happened.
“Qian Jie, your dress. I’ll pay you back. I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it…” Ji Yi bowed a few more times. Then, like she suddenly realized something, Ji Yi put her tall glass on the table, grabbed the napkin, and started to wipe Qian Ge’s chest.
Ji Yi reached her hand out, alerting Qian Ge to instinctively glance at Ji Yi.
When Ji Yi met Qian Ge’s gaze, she hurriedly lowered her head. Once she was sure the cameras weren’t on her, she slowly curved her lips and shot Qian Ge a smirk.
Taking in the smirk on Ji Yi’s face, Qian Ge instantly understood. Ji Yi deliberately spilled the cocktail on her.
She only did that to stir up commotion and grab the live broadcasters’ attention.
With that incident, Ji Yi could use Qian Ge’s popularity to gain attention from the masses again.
Having clearly seen through Ji Yi’s intentions, her eyes instantly turned cold.
You want to use my popularity to make it big? In your dreams!
With that thought, Qian Ge immediately said, “No that’s okay, I can do it myself.”
“It’s alright, Qian Jie. It’s my fault, let me,” said Ji Yi as she wiped Qian Ge’s chest as humbly as possible.
She was afraid there’d be over a billion people watching the live broadcast.
As Qian Ge had always been petty, she was afraid that from the moment Ji Yi accidentally spilled the alcohol, other people would think she was forcing Ji Yi to wipe the dress… With that thought, Qian Ge reached out and pushed Ji Yi’s hand away…
Qian Ge really only wanted to push Ji Yi’s hand away and leave to fix the situation with her dress.
She really didn’t think she used too much force, but when her hand touched Ji Yi’s hand, moving it away from her body, Ji Yi suddenly fell to the floor somehow…
Qian Ge was completely confused until she heard Ji Yi gently shriek, “ah!” Qian Ge turned her head to glance at the source of the noise. Her eyes stared at the feet right in front of her then she turned to see Ji Yi’s innocent, pitiful face spread out at her feet.
Qian Ge froze on the spot, and after three whole seconds, she lowered her head and looked over at her hand.
She stared at her palms repeatedly for a while and that was when the thought crossed her mind: I clearly didn’t use that much strength just now… How did Ji Yi fall to the ground?’
When Zhuang Yi went to get some sushi, she happened to hear someone whisper, “Qian Ge got into an argument with someone,” so she curiously glanced over to where Qian Ge was standing.
Even though half of Ji Yi’s body was blocked from view by someone, Zhuang Yi could tell from the corner of her dress that the woman standing in front of Qian Ge with her arched body was Ji Yi. Without hesitation, she dropped the plate and rushed over to where Qian Ge and Ji Yi were standing.
Since Ji Yi accidentally spilled a cocktail over Qian Ge’s body and was apologizing profusely, the situation between the two of them already caused quite a few people to peer over.
Zhuang Yi apologized a few times consecutively before she managed to push her way through the wall of people. She was just about to say “Excuse me” to the man in front of her when she heard Ji Yi scream. She raised her head and looked over the man’s shoulder to see Ji Yi spread out across the floor.
“Xiao Yi!” Zhuang Yi screamed Ji Yi’s name reflexively. She wanted to say something to the people blocking her path, but the words immediately disappeared from her throat. She pushed the man in front out of the way, leaped over to Ji Yi’s side and crouched down. “Xiao Yi, what happened? Are you hurt?”
Ji Yi covered her ankle and pretended to look pitiful. She shook her head at Zhuang Yi.
Seeing her like this, Zhuang Yi suddenly got angry. She raised her head and without thinking twice, she spoke to Qian Ge who was standing in front of them, “Miss Qian, how could you push someone!”
From the moment Ji Yi fell down until now, Qian Ge had remained in a daze. With Zhuang Yi’s question, she suddenly seemed to snap back to reality.
Qian Ge gaped, instinctively defending herself, “I…”
She wanted to say, “I didn’t push her,” but she only managed to blurt out the first word when Ji Yi weakly cried from the floor, “Zhuang Yi, I was wrong… I accidentally spilled a cocktail over Qian Ge. It makes sense for her to be unhappy.”
It makes sense for me to be unhappy… She’s basically turning things around and saying I really did push her just now?
Qian Ge’s chest suddenly started to burn up.
“What do you mean by ‘It makes sense for her to be unhappy’?!” Zhuang Yi retorted in a stern voice: “You didn’t spill your drink on purpose. Miss Qian, as Ji Yi’s manager, I think you have to apologize to Ji Yi right no-…”
“Zhuang Yi!” Ji Yi forcefully reached her hand out and covered Zhuang Yi’s mouth. Then, she acted as though she was trying to cover up Zhuang Yi’s words as she spoke with agitation, “Zhuang Yi, you don’t have to say anything. It really was my fault…”
As she spoke, Ji Yi turned her head and looked over at Qian Ge. “Qian Jie, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. My manager has a bad temper. Don’t take it at heart!”
All of a sudden, Qian Ge felt the fire in her chest burn even more fiercely.
Seeing just how weak and helpless Ji Yi was, the fire in Zhuang Yi’s heart grew as she ripped off the hand covering her mouth. “Xiao Yi, what’re you afraid of? She’s the one in the wrong…”
“Zhuang Yi, I beg you – don’t say anything. Stop!” Ji Yi hurriedly interrupted. She stealthily stabbed her own thigh and used the searing pain to force out some tears. Then she pretended as though she was afraid Zhuang Yi would get on Qian Ge’s bad side if she continued speaking. She turned towards Qian Ge and said, “…Qian Ge, sorry, sorry…”
Then she acted as though all she wanted to do was immediately patch things up. She said to Zhuang Yi, “Zhuang Yi, let this go. What’s more, I trust Qian Jie didn’t do it on purpose. She probably never realized she used so much force and slipped up…”
Slipped up?
She’s obviously telling everyone I just forcefully pushed her?
She ruined my dreams of getting on stage with Cheng Ke and now she’s defiling me like this?
Since Ji Yi first appeared by Qian Ge’s side and told her what she said to Cheng Ke, Qian Ge had been forcing herself to suppress the fire in her heart. When she heard what Ji Yi said right then, all of sudden her stern voice broke out, “Bullsh*t!”
Ji Yi waited a long time for Qian Ge to lose it. As soon as she heard Qian Ge swear, her whole body flinched like she was unbelievably afraid and she hid behind Zhuang Yi while she secretly stabbed her own thigh with all her strength.
The pain made the corners of her eyes burn and tears burst out. Ji Yi’s lip quivered as she pretended to be in pain and she said weakly, “Qian Jie, don’t be mad. I was wrong. I spoke out of turn…”
The more delicate and feeble Ji Yi looked, the more Qian Ge’s fury grew in her heart. She even raised her voice as she said, “Quit acting! Do you think I really can’t tell that you’re pretending to look this pathetic?!”
Ji Yi’s body trembled fiercely and she acted so scared that she didn’t dare say anything. All she could do was tightly grab onto Zhuang Yi’s arm with tears flowing down her face.
How could Zhuang Yi just watch as Qian Ge scolded Ji Yi? What’s more, there were so many live cameras on them. As a professional manager, she had to protect her artist at all times. There were some words Ji Yi couldn’t say, but as Ji Yi’s manager, Zhuang Yi had the ability to stand up before everyone and say them. With that thought, Zhuang Yi said, “Miss Qian, do you feel a certain way about Ji Yi so you’re deliberately making things difficult for her?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one to ask you guys? Are you both working together to make things hard for me?” Although Qian Ge’s question sounded rhetorical, with Ji Yi sprawled across the floor, she sounded unusually bossy.
“Miss Qian, let’s not talk about anything else. Let’s just talk about tonight alone! When you arrived at the charity gala tonight, you were behind Ji Yi, but then you rushed ahead to be interviewed. After that was over, you mentioned the King of TV, Shi Yang, ruining Ji Yi’s chance of being interviewed let alone show her face at all! Then she was ushered right into the hall…” Even if there was anything else, Zhuang Yi wasn’t going to bring it up because there was no evidence. On any other night if she kept talking, she might end up worse off, but tonight, the red carpet walk was televised. As long as someone rewatched it, they could easily confirm what she said.
Qian Ge probably never imagined that Zhuang Yi would suddenly bring up what happened on the red carpet. She was completely stunned for two seconds before she said, “That’s bull! Why would I need to pick on her? Since when did she even qualify to be worth picking on? She and I could…”
Before Qian Ge could finish, her manager found out what was happening and hurriedly rushed over to lecture her to stop. “Qian Ge!”
As Qian Ge’s manager’s voice dropped, she was already at Qian Ge’s side. She reached out, pulled on Qian Ge’s arm, and shot an apologetic smile at everyone around her. Then Qian Ge bolted out of the dining hall.
On the way out, she happened to brush by a reporter for a live broadcasting station who stopped Qian Ge. “Excuse me, Miss Qian Ge, may I ask if what Ji Yi’s manager just said was true? When you walked down the red carpet, did you really stop Miss Ji Yi from getting any press coverage?”
Qian Ge didn’t have time to react as her manager spoke first. “Excuse me, but we’re not accepting interviews at this moment. Thank you.”
With that, Qian Ge’s manager walked right around the reporter. She continued to hold Qian Ge back from reporter questions as she left the dining hall.
Qian Ge left the set, so Ji Yi’s scene should come to an end.
The expression on her face was still panicked and helpless when Zhuang Yi lifted her up from the floor.
She knew that after Qian Ge left, all the stations would now focus on the other main character. Ji Yi raised her leg and deliberately pretended as though she sprained her ankle. Her leg went limp as she let out a painful yelp that she couldn’t hold back.
“Did you sprain your ankle again?” Zhuang Yi hurriedly supported Ji Yi by the arm to prevent her from falling over.
Ji Yi shook her head and replied softly, “No.”
Her ankle was injured, so she naturally couldn’t stay any longer. Ji Yi pretended the pain had passed as she waited on the spot for a while. With Zhuang Yi’s assistance, she carefully limped out of the dining hall and left the gala early.
There was only Ji Yi and Zhuang Yi in the elevator to the underground parking lot.
When the elevator doors closed, Ji Yi pulled her arm back from Zhuang Yi then sluggishly leaned against the elevator wall.
Seeing Ji Yi like that, Zhuang Yi suddenly froze. After about five seconds, she instantly realized… “So…”
Zhuang Yi’s voice was a little high. Even though they were in an elevator and nobody else could hear them, she lowered her voice a little: “… you didn’t actually sprain your ankle?”
Ji Yi curved her lips into a smile at Zhuang Yi and nodded then she pulled out her phone. She clicked into a live stream of the gala.
Even though some time had passed since that incident between her and Qian Ge, the comment section was still talking about the whole incident.
“Geez, what kind of ‘Nation’s First Love’ was this?! She’s practically an evil empress!”
“Empress? So young? She’s obviously the empress dowager!”
“I never imagined that Qian Ge was such a bossy and domineering person. I feel so sorry for the new girl. She apologized so humbly, yet Qian Ge was so unforgiving!”
“The new girl sprained her ankle – poor thing!”
“Whatever! After this, I’m supporting the new artist too! I just followed her Weibo. Her name is Ji Yi. It’s Xiao Yi.”
“I just watched the coverage again. When they walked down the red carpet, Qian Ge really did pull one over on Ji Yi. After the interview, she deliberately mentioned my dream guy, Shi Yang. My poor dream guy, he was used as a tool…”
“Qian Ge, that scheming b*tch! She actually used my dream guy Shi Yang!”
“…”
Zhuang Yi looked at Ji Yi watching the coverage and suddenly understood her intentions. She hurriedly pulled her own phone out and opened Weibo.
With all the stars gathered at the BL Charity Gala, the incident was bound to be tonight’s hottest topic.
Due to Qian Ge’s popularity and after what happened to Qian Ge and Ji Yi during the live broadcast, the incident appeared on the top searches board soon enough.
“Empress Chunyi and Princess Qing Yang Live PK.”
“Qian Ge Puts Down New Artist, Ji Yi.”
“The ‘Nation’s First Love’ Qian Ge is a Scheming B*tch.”
As Zhuang Yi went through the list, she spoke to Ji Yi standing next to her: “Three threads about the incident between you and Qian Ge already made it to the top searches and one of the topics entered the top ten. According to current trends, those three threads are going to make it to the top three.”
Zhuang Yi swiped her screen, scanned some Weibo messages, and said, “Everyone on Weibo is dissing Qian Ge! Especially Shi Yang fans – their comments are the fiercest, saying she used Shi Yang like a tool!”
When Ji Yi heard this, she glanced at Zhuang Yi. “What a coincidence. The live anchors are also all criticizing her too.”
“Serves her right!” replied Zhuang Yi, who was happy to see Qian Ge in trouble. Then she continued to stare at her phone for a while like something was on her mind. She turned her head and spoke to Ji Yi: “Xiao Yi, you didn’t go to the BL Charity Gala because you wanted a chance to get some publicity, did you? You came for Qian Ge, right?”
Ji Yi briefly glanced at how the anchor criticized Qian Ge then she sluggishly replied to Zhuang Yi with an “Mhm.”
Zhuang Yi was smart. When she heard Ji Yi’s reply, she immediately understood everything. However, she stared into Ji Yi’s eyes, full of surprise and admiration.
A month ago, when Ji Yi was recording the variety show and got into that accident which ruined everything, she didn’t say anything but thought Ji Yi was more or less useless.
At the time, she thought He Jichen only offered her a high salary to be Ji Yi’s manager because Ji Yi was overly incompetent.
It wasn’t until today that she realized she was wrong. Not only was Ji Yi not useless – she could actually outsmart others.
How could such a person make such a simple mistake during the recording for the variety show?
With that thought, Zhuang Yi spoke as though she suddenly understood something, “Last time during our variety show recording, did you trip because someone set you up?”
Regarding that incident, Ji Yi had no conclusive evidence so she only told He Jichen her suspicions. After hearing Zhuang Yi’s guess, Ji Yi was a little surprised deep down. But she remembered what Zhuang Yi said when she pretended to be hurt; she knew Zhuang Yi was truly on her side. With no option to continue keeping her suspicions from Zhuang Yi, Ji Yi nodded right away and said, “Yes.”
Ji Yi thought about explaining what happened that day to Zhuang Yi in detail, but before she could, the elevator reached the underground car park.
