【Star Estrella Rejected Your Friend Request】
After replying to Tian Mengtong’s message, Chu Xingxing casually blocked her.
Thinking back on Tian Mengtong’s behavior in university, it could simply be summed up as a pampered rich young lady “descending to the mortal world” to observe the common people’s plight. For four years of undergrad, “Chu Xingxing” shared a dorm with Tian Mengtong, and her status was basically that of a personal servant and stand-in mother.
As long as Tian Mengtong would softly plead, saying things like “Xingxing is my best friend,” “I don’t trust anyone but Xingxing,” or “Xingxing is so amazing, she can do anything”…
Washing socks and underwear, running errands to pick up packages and buy meals, fending off suitors, helping with attendance sign-ins, group projects…
Whether big or small, “Chu Xingxing” would handle all these matters of daily life for her.
In the eyes of most classmates, “Chu Xingxing” seemed pathetic and foolish, a hopeless case blindly devoted to her brother.
But Chu Xingxing, having had similar experiences, could understand her.
She also hoped to live a completely different life for her.
—
One week before the pilot episode recording of “Fancy Grandmas.”
During this time, and unsurprisingly, the company didn’t assign Chu Xingxing, a complete unknown, any work announcements.
She was happy for the peace and quiet.
In the apocalypse, as the captain of a suicide squad, she lived almost every day in a hail of bullets, her nerves constantly on edge, never having a single day off.
These few days, she simply considered a vacation for herself.
Every day, Chu Xingxing made sure to get enough sleep, eat healthily, and exercise regularly. She also learned about this new world by binge-watching shows. The rest of her time was spent either meticulously preparing for the trip or casually chatting with the grandmas in the [Rich Ladies] group chat.
Chu Xingxing was used to being thoroughly prepared for everything.
After a few days of this routine, looking in the mirror, Chu Xingxing was very satisfied with her tighter waist and arm lines, her increasingly supple and delicate skin, her bright, clear eyes with not a trace of redness, and her healthy complexion of white tinged with a soft pink.
Leisurely, slow time always passes quickly.
There were only two days left until the pilot recording of “Fancy Grandmas.”
That afternoon, Chu Xingxing re-downloaded Weibo and various social media apps.
The grandmas from the [Rich Ladies Travel Club] were all trendy fashionistas, navigating various social accounts with ease.
The grandmas asked Chu Xingxing to follow them, and have them follow her back.
For Little Red Book and Douyin, Chu Xingxing registered new accounts.
But for Weibo, she couldn’t register under her real name.
After researching for a while, she discovered that “Chu Xingxing” actually had a Weibo account, but it had been fully managed by CBM Entertainment.
Browsing through her Weibo page, Chu Xingxing smiled awkwardly. It was simply dreadful.
She had just over 3,000 followers on Weibo, with a nearly one hundred percent concentration of haters.
Senior agent Chen Dong had so many popular artists under him that he couldn’t be bothered with a nobody like Chu Xingxing.
The account management had just randomly posted a few paparazzi shots from a previous celebrity friend variety show, and occasionally posted a blurry, barely-there commercial promotion.
There were only a handful of posts on the entire Weibo, and each one was filled with malicious comments from haters.
Well, it seemed no effort had been put into data maintenance at all.
Chu Xingxing didn’t care about the insults from these haters.
At this stage, anything she did would get her scammed and annoy netizens.
So let the haters be unhappy.
She was in a great mood anyway.
But since she had promised the grandmas to follow each other on Weibo, she still needed to find a way to log in.
Searching through her email, phone memos, and WeChat chat history, Chu Xingxing couldn’t find her Weibo username or password.
After hesitating for a moment, she found her agent Chen Dong on WeChat.
With both hands, she tapped out a few words in the chat box, carefully choosing her phrasing, steeling herself to ask Chen Dong for the login password.
After all, she had just provoked the “Shortie” a few days ago, so Chu Xingxing was prepared for Chen Dong to make things difficult for her.
She racked her brains and finally typed out a simple “You there?”.
Before she could send it, her phone vibrated.
A [New Friend] notification popped up.
Someone was adding her as a friend?
But besides the four grandmas, Chu Xingxing hadn’t met anyone new these past few days.
The WeChat profile picture was a golden retriever puppy, tilting its head with its tongue out.
Oh wow, it was actually kind of cute.
The message attached to the friend request was just two simple words: [Approve] .
Source: The other person added you via phone number search
Chu Xingxing: ???
—
A few hours earlier.
In the upscale Beijing villa area, Dongshan Mansion.
The self-occupied villa of entertainment mogul Jiang’s family was located here.
It was a large, secluded residence with good privacy.
The family room’s fireplace was lit early in the morning. On the European-style coffee table were various delicate snacks, bread and jam, buttered scrambled eggs, cut fruit, coffee, and black tea.
This lavish, standard Western-style breakfast spread was specially prepared for the Jiang family’s eldest son.
Usually, Jiang Haidong and his wife, Lin Xilei, preferred a traditional Chinese breakfast, while their younger son, Jiang Changsheng, didn’t have the habit of eating breakfast at all, usually waking up just in time for lunch.
Only the eldest son favored Western-style breakfast.
“Young Master, good morning,” a young maid said, opening the door for Jiang Chang’an.
“Good morning, thank you for your hard work,” Jiang Chang’an said, looking at the maid and nodding politely.
“Not hard at all…” The maid’s ears turned red as she hurriedly shook her head.
She hadn’t been working at the Jiang residence long and still wasn’t fully accustomed to the fact that both the mistress of the house and the eldest son were former and current top-tier celebrities in the entertainment industry.
Although the young master, Jiang Changsheng, was also handsome, he was only nineteen and still a kid.
The eldest son, Jiang Chang’an, almost perfectly replicated his mother Lin Xilei’s exceptional beauty. It wasn’t just about being handsome; he was stunningly beautiful, beyond compare.
His features were like an exquisite, unparalleled work of art, making it hard for anyone seeing him not to blush.
Accustomed to being the center of attention wherever he went, Jiang Chang’an sat calmly in an armchair by the coffee table.
Dressed in black velvet pajamas, the wrist of the hand he raised to hold his coffee cup was strikingly pale against the black velvet, his every move exuding nobility and elegance.
These past few days, Jiang Chang’an had been filming in Beijing.
In two weeks, he was going abroad to film “Let’s Travel Together,” which meant another long period away from home.
His younger brother had been back in the country on break for over a week, but Jiang Chang’an hadn’t seen him yet.
So, he made a special trip home for a few days, coordinating with the director since his role was nearing completion and he had some free time.
The family room door banged open.
Jiang Changsheng shuffled in, yawning. “Bro, did you really have to drag me out of bed so early? I only just lay down a couple of hours ago…”
The young master, sporting panda-like dark circles, squinted, raised a hand, and ruffled his messy, weed-like blonde hair before sprawling out on the sofa.
Jiang Chang’an put down his coffee cup, frowning. “When did you dye your hair this color? And you keep saying you’ve grown up, but doesn’t this make you look even more like a kid?”
“Ugh…” The young master turned and buried his face in a cushion, his voice muffled. “I got fooled by some Tony in the US. If you don’t like it, Bro, I’ll dye it back another day.”
“Woof～”
The family room door burst open again, and a gangly, awkward-looking golden retriever puppy rushed in, jumped onto the sofa, and started enthusiastically licking Jiang Changsheng’s face.
“Okay, okay, Tank, stop it!” Jiang Changsheng struggled with all his might to hold the puppy down.
This was the dog he had adopted from the US. Its mother had been hit by a car on campus, leaving behind four puppies, of which only this one survived, and it was sickly and weak.
A school staff member had posted on the campus forum; if no one adopted them, they would be sent to an animal shelter.
Jiang Changsheng happened to see the post and adopted this little guy, naming him Tank, hoping he would grow up to be as strong as a tank.
Holding the restless Tank, who was squirming everywhere, Jiang Changsheng sat cross-legged on the sofa, his face scrunched up in a grimace, staring blankly into space.
Seeing his brother’s bitter expression, Jiang Chang’an couldn’t help but laugh. “What, a few days in the company and already feeling wronged?”
“No…” Jiang Changsheng was stubborn.
He wouldn’t say he felt wronged. A real man never admits to feeling wronged. He was just hitting dead ends everywhere.
During his internship week at the company, he also discovered that while CBM Entertainment’s employees outwardly respected him, they actually made it very difficult for him to get involved in real business operations. The management was the same, always brushing him off.
Then he was outmaneuvered by Old Madam Sheng, and then physically picked up by some unknown at the very bottom of the company’s food chain, and… and she touched his butt!!!
Later, the more Jiang Changsheng thought about it, the angrier he got, and he devised a plan.
Since his father had arranged for him to intern at the company, that meant he had the authority to manage artists.
Jiang Changsheng decided to take over Chu Xingxing’s artist contract himself, becoming her agent.
That way, he could see if she dared to act up under his supervision, and it would also be a convenient way for him to properly understand the company’s grassroots operations.
“Still saying no? I saw Chen Dong the other day.” Jiang Chang’an poured his brother a cup of coffee, smiling.
The young master took a big gulp, his handsome face scrunching up like a steamed bun, almost spitting it out. “So bitter…”
He grabbed a sugar cube from the box, stuffed it in his mouth, and only then recovered, complaining to his brother in detail.
During his recounting, he certainly embellished Chu Xingxing’s “outrageous” behavior.
Finally, he confidently declared his intention to take over Chu Xingxing’s contract.
After listening, Jiang Chang’an frowned slightly. “I’ve heard a little about this Chu Xingxing…”
The eldest son’s agent and Chen Dong were from the same agency background. Additionally, due to Jiang Chang’an’s special status as the son of CBM Entertainment’s owner, he was also in the agents’ work group and had a good grasp of the artists’ situations.
When the variety show “BFFs at Home” was airing, Chen Dong had specifically mentioned Chu Xingxing’s situation in the group.
Jiang Chang’an couldn’t remember the exact words, but he recalled the gist.
Sure enough, as Chen Dong had predicted, Chu Xingxing ended up trending for being “scheming” and “screwing over her bestie.”
In short, Jiang Chang’an had always had a bad impression of Chu Xingxing.
Jiang Changsheng, his thoughts hit upon, brightened. “You know her too, Bro! Isn’t that unknown super arrogant?”
Stuffing another sugar cube into his mouth, his cheeks bulging, he vigorously ruffled Tank’s fur and said defiantly, “Ha, once Chu Xingxing is under me, we’ll see how I ‘torture’ her!”
“Changsheng, don’t take over her contract.”
Jiang Chang’an’s expression turned serious, his tone carrying a warning. “Girls from humble backgrounds who enter the entertainment industry are basically looking for a shortcut. It’s highly possible she’s deliberately trying to get your attention. I’ve seen this kind of playing-hard-to-get tactic many times.”
“But…”
Jiang Changsheng opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to explain to his brother.
He felt that Chu Xingxing wasn’t that type of person.
She was avoiding him like the plague, let alone trying to get his attention…
Jiang Chang’an: “The little bit of attention she has now comes from being infamous on variety shows. This proves Chu Xingxing isn’t someone who can settle down and focus on acting; she just wants a shortcut.”
Jiang Changsheng pursed his lips and stayed silent.
He had always admired his older brother and listened to him most.
Seeing his brother’s firm attitude now, he didn’t want to argue with him.
Jiang Chang’an: “Dad wants you to intern at the company during this break so you can grasp the business in the shortest time possible. What can you possibly learn by managing some unknown? If you want to understand agency work, you can find a promising artist to manage with Chen Dong…”
He paused, then continued, “That Tian Mengtong under Chen Dong isn’t bad. If you go as the executive agent, you might also get access to more resources.”
“Tian Mengtong?” The young master shook his head dismissively.
Didn’t know her. Another unknown?
He forked a piece of mandarin orange and fed it to the puppy, shrugging. “Boring. Then I won’t manage anyone. I’ll just rotate through the Investment Promotion or Finance departments instead.”
“That works too. There’s not much to learn in those frontline basic roles anyway.” Jiang Chang’an reached out and lifted his brother’s chin. “Your dark circles are too deep. Stop staying up so late.”
“Ah…” Jiang Changsheng was momentarily stunned.
Those words… Chu Xingxing had said the same thing to him.
She also told him to take the whole family for a check-up?
What a meddlesome woman!
“Changan, when did you get back?”
A gentle female voice came from outside the door. Lin Xilei walked quickly to the sofa and gently hugged her eldest son. “You’ve lost weight from filming.”
“Not really, don’t worry, Mom.” Jiang Changan patted his mother’s back.
“Bro came back last night. Mom, why are you up so early?” Jiang Changsheng asked with concern.
Lin Xilei ruffled her younger son’s blonde hair and said softly, “Tank was running around upstairs, thumping about, so I got up. Why are you up so early? Weren’t you up late last night watching the markets?”
Jiang Changsheng: “Ah, Bro said he wanted to see me. Even if it were raining knives, I’d have to get up.”
Then, he hugged Tank tightly and warned him, “From now on, you’re staying in my room. No more running out!”
“Oww…” Tank’s little tail wagged furiously, clearly not understanding a word.
“Oh, right…” Jiang Changsheng suddenly remembered something.
During this visit home, Jiang Changsheng noticed his mother was sleeping especially long and seemed easily tired, with a slightly pale complexion.
“Mom, when was your last check-up?” Jiang Changsheng asked.
“Last… April?” Lin Xilei answered hesitantly, her gaze shifting. “It hasn’t even been a year yet, and everything was normal.”
In reality, Lin Xilei hadn’t had a check-up in at least five or six years.
She had always had a deep-seated fear of hospitals.
Six years ago, Lin Xilei’s mother had suddenly fainted three days after receiving a clean bill of health from a check-up. Rushed to the hospital, she was diagnosed with late-stage colorectal cancer that had already spread and metastasized. She passed away two months later.
From then on, Lin Xilei no longer trusted check-ups and developed a phobia of hospitals.
Although Jiang Haidong arranged annual check-ups for the whole family, he was busy with work and didn’t have much time to follow up.
Lin Xilei always found excuses not to go to the same hospital as her husband, saying she would go with a friend to another private hospital for her check-up.
When her husband asked later, she’d just say her check-up was fine.
Jiang Changsheng thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Well, it’ll be a year in a couple of months anyway. I forgot all about check-ups when I was in the US last year. Mom, Bro, you don’t have any plans today, right? Let’s all go for a check-up.”
“I just had a check-up last month before filming on the plateau, and I have to get back to the set this afternoon for my scenes. You and Mom go.” Jiang Chang’an said.
Just thinking about the hospital made Lin Xilei involuntarily nervous.
“Oh, I’m not going. It hasn’t even been a year…” Her back felt cold, her palms sweaty, and she quickly sat down.
Jiang Changsheng didn’t want to go to the hospital alone either; it felt weird.
The young master promptly lay back on the sofa, covering his eyes. “Mom, ouch… I’m so dizzy…”
“What’s wrong, Changsheng?” Lin Xilei hurried over.
Feigning weakness, Jiang Changsheng mumbled, “Seems like low blood pressure, so dizzy… must be tired, with all the late nights watching the markets recently…”
“Butler Li, have the chauffeur get the car ready, we’re going to the hospital now!” Lin Xilei’s voice was urgent. She turned to her eldest son and said, “Go get the wheelchair from grandma’s old room.”
“Huh? Okay…” Jiang Chang’an actually went and got the wheelchair.
Jiang Changsheng sat bolt upright, like a corpse rising from the dead: ???
Damn it… He had overdone the act…
—
At the hospital, through persistent coaxing, Jiang Changsheng finally got his mother to agree to accompany him for a comprehensive check-up.
The Jiang family were VVIPs at this private hospital, so they could get the results immediately.
As soon as Lin Xilei saw the doctor, she anxiously asked about her son’s health.
The doctor reassured her, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Lin. Based on the results, the young master is very healthy. He’s a bit underweight, and probably a little run down from chronic sleep deprivation. We’ll prescribe some vitamin supplements, that should do it.”
Lin Xilei patted her son’s arm, still shaken. “That’s good to hear. He fainted this morning; he really scared me…”
“Mom, that’s an exaggeration. I didn’t faint, just felt dizzy and lay down for a bit,” Jiang Changsheng said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He really had overdone it.
“Well, Mrs. Lin, given your age, for the check-up we recommend adding a mammogram. It provides better results than an ultrasound for your demographic.” The doctor flipped through Lin Xilei’s report and stated professionally.
“I won’t do it. I don’t usually feel any discomfort…” Lin Xilei kept backing away.
Jiang Changsheng decisively told the doctor, “We’ll do it. Since we’re here.”
Then he turned to soothe his mother, “It’s okay, Mom. I’m here with you. Since we made the trip, it’s better to get everything checked thoroughly for peace of mind.”
Despite her reluctance, with Jiang Changsheng’s insistence, Lin Xilei underwent the mammogram.
When the doctor discreetly called him aside and asked if any adult family members were present, Jiang Changsheng could almost hear his own heartbeat in his eardrums.
He quickly calmed down. “I’m an adult. You can tell me about my mother’s condition.”
“Just a moment…” Afraid his emotions might make him miss something, Jiang Changsheng even opened his phone’s voice recorder. “Please go ahead.”
The doctor explained Lin Xilei’s condition in detail.
“… Fortunately, it was caught early. There’s no metastasis to the ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes. With current medical standards, the long-term cure rate for early-stage breast cancer can reach ninety percent. There’s no need for you to be overly anxious, young man.”
Probably seeing how tense Jiang Changsheng was, the doctor, who had taken a liking to this filial boy, added, “If you hadn’t done the mammogram, a regular ultrasound wouldn’t have detected it. Your insistence may have saved your mother’s life.”
Jiang Changsheng: “…”
He thought back to Chu Xingxing’s reminder again.
—
That day made nineteen-year-old Jiang Changsheng feel, for some reason, like he was truly an adult.
His mother didn’t want him to tell his father.
Although Jiang Haidong never discussed company matters at home, the sensitive Lin Xilei sensed her husband had been off lately and suspected the company was facing difficulties.
To avoid distracting her husband, she wanted her son to help keep it from him.
Jiang Changsheng agreed, but he did tell his brother.
After finishing his scenes, Jiang Chang’an rushed from the set to the hospital that afternoon.
Upon arriving, Jiang Chang’an was surprised to find his brother had already arranged everything for their mother’s hospitalization and surgery.
Their mother still needed further tests.
Sitting in the hospital corridor, Jiang Changsheng thought countless times about how Chu Xingxing had twice reminded him to take his whole family for a check-up.
If not for her reminder, he might never have thought to come for a check-up with his mother.
Even if his mother came for her annual check-up, and the doctor recommended a mammogram, she would likely have refused, given her strong resistance to hospitals and examinations.
He wasn’t an ungrateful person, even though he still found Chu Xingxing’s arrogance annoying…
This foolish woman! It was such a waste of her looks, which were like winning the genetic lottery jackpot!
How could someone be this unknown after two years in the industry???
Other artists at the company were fighting tooth and nail for attention, but she acted like she was just coasting in the entertainment industry, preparing for retirement.
Turning down “Let’s Travel Together” to join some senior citizen variety show?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
Jiang Changsheng wanted nothing more than to grab Chu Xingxing and shake her violently, to see if he could rattle the water out of her brain.
He suddenly remembered Chen Dong mentioning that Chu Xingxing needed money?
Just giving her money directly?
Didn’t seem right.
Then…
Why not do her a favor and help her get more paid gigs? After all, he would be taking over the company sooner or later.
And on one point, Jiang Changsheng didn’t quite agree with his brother.
He believed that frontline grassroots business was very important. Without understanding the front line, you couldn’t be a good manager.
—
The VIP ward he had arranged for his mother was temporarily empty.
Jiang Changsheng walked in and closed the door.
He dialed his father’s number.
“Dad, I want to start trying to manage artists from today, starting from grassroots work. Chen Dong has so many people, and he can’t take care of all the minor artists. I want to take one on.”
“You don’t need to tell me about these little things. Just ask Chen Dong for someone directly. I’m busy here, gotta go.”
Jiang Haidong was clearly at a social engagement, the background noise full of clinking glasses.
After hanging up, Jiang Changsheng’s feelings were mixed.
He sent a message to Chen Dong on WeChat.
Soon, Chu Xingxing’s WeChat ID and phone number were pushed to his work WeChat.
Jiang Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then took out his personal phone.
He saved Chu Xingxing’s number to his contacts on his personal phone and simultaneously sent a friend request on WeChat.
For the friend request message, he irritably typed two words: [Approve] .
One second later——
[Message failed to send]
[Star Estrella rejected your friend verification]
Jiang Changsheng: ???
His young master temper flared up instantly.
—
Rented apartment.
Chu Xingxing looked at the WeChat friend request from the golden retriever profile picture and snorted disdainfully. “Hmph, this pig-butchering scam is way too low-level.”
Through watching shows, livestreams, and browsing Weibo and Douyin, she had learned about today’s society: it was full of scammers and “pig-butchering” con artists.
In this era where everyone lives with zero privacy under big data, everyone receives countless scam texts and WeChat messages.
Chu Xingxing had deduced a principle: never add strangers as friends.
No one was going to swindle a single cent from her!
She was about to switch back to Chen Dong’s chat window to continue carefully wording her message when her phone vibrated again.
“That golden retriever again?”
She glanced at it and laughed in exasperation. “Persistent scammer, huh?”
The message on the friend request this time read:
[I’m your new agent! Approve me now!]
Chu Xingxing smirked coldly and replied:
[Hehehe, and I’m your real dad.]
