The Unexpected Rise Before My Exit from the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 188

"You've been laughing about this for so long?"

Qiao Sixiao said with a laugh, reaching over to take her phone. She scrolled through the current page, quickly skimming the comments below.

As expected, there were fans cheering joyfully, bystanders watching the drama, and haters claiming that Qin Wei's agency was too powerful and was covering up right and wrong.

Aside from the compulsory apologies from the parties involved, she scrolled through several pages but didn't see a single apology addressed to Qin Wei.

But among those people, how many had recklessly insulted Qin Wei online after hearing distorted information?

Not wanting Qin Wei to feel upset after reading those comments, she took the initiative to close the page.

"I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. This whole incident caused me a lot of distress too. Who would want to be portrayed like that? Seeing those punishments made me feel a little thrilled on the inside..."

Qin Wei had to admit this point.

"But let's leave it at that. Getting angry once or twice is understandable, but now I've become a bit numb to it all. As long as proper procedures are followed, collecting evidence, filing lawsuits where needed, and leaving the rest to the company to handle, that's good enough."

"You're right about that," Qiao Sixiao empathized with her perspective, fully understanding every word Qin Wei said.

The more praise one received, the more vilification would follow suit.

"It's like watching my child grow up, knowing how to protect herself now."

As Qiao Sixiao looked at Qin Wei, her expression held a trace of gratification. The speed at which Qin Wei was maturing made her worthy of being called her “lifelong rival.”

For there to be a rival, there must be equality on both sides.

Wanting to avoid being chased away, Qin Wei swiftly retorted:

“Thank you for the praise...So do you want me to call you dad or mom?"

"I’ll be both your dad and mom..."

Qiao Sixiao bantered back with her. Of course this was just a joke, and Qin Wei let out a laugh before moving on, lowering her head to look at her phone again.

Having nothing to do at the moment, Qiao Sixiao asked again:

“What made you laugh earlier?”

“The online novel I’m following.”

Qin Wei raised her head to look at her, then shook her phone in front of her.

“It’s just your average CEO romance book.”

“Huh?”

For a brief moment, Qiao Sixiao felt like she still didn’t quite understand her.

Qin Wei explained:

“CEO romance books, have you seen or acted in those kinds of stories before? The ones with lines like ‘Woman, you’ve succeeded in catching my attention’.”

Qiao Sixiao shook her head. In her nearly ten years since her debut, her packed schedules day after day left her no time to follow such things. Just like Qin Wei, the TV shows she was most exposed to were costume dramas.

Qiao Sixiao asked:

“I know the kind of idol dramas you’re talking about, heard a little about them, but I haven’t actually watched those before. Are they very entertaining?”

Qin Wei thought for a bit before sharing her opinion:

“Idol dramas are still just alright since they need to pass censorship... But these online novels, the plots can be quite absurd sometimes.”

“I know of the idol dramas, go ahead and tell me about them.”

Qiao Sixiao seemed to have great interest, so it turns out she really has never watched them before!

Not wanting to disappoint her enthusiasm, Qin Wei patiently explained to her:

“The setting is quite similar to idol dramas - an arrogant, rich and handsome CEO inexplicably falls in love with the silly, innocent female lead instead of the beautiful and refined second female lead...”

Qiao Sixiao cut in:

“Then you’d be perfectly suited to play the female lead based on your own looks.”

Qin Wei let out an icy laugh:

“Very well. You’re the first person daring enough to say something like this to me. If you’re trying to provoke me, then let me tell you, you’ve succeeded.”

Qiao Sixiao gazed right at her. “What was that?”

Qin Wei: “How should I deal with you? You little vixen deliberately trying to vex me... Nevermind, I can’t keep this up, too cheesy for me. I’d rather go read some fantasy novels!”

Qiao Sixiao looked at her as if she was some sort of freak.

“What strange things are you reading every day?”

As they were talking, the curtains beside them suddenly fluttered, and at the same time, there was a knock on the door from outside.

It was nearly eleven at night already...

Who would come knocking at this hour?

It wouldn’t be a housekeeper, since they would call out “Housekeeping!” from outside when they came.

But there was no such announcement this time...

Along with the swaying curtains...

And recalling the bleak, ominous scenery outside the window in the day...

Qin Wei instantly felt a chill run down her spine. Huddling in the corner of the sofa, she glanced at Qiao Sixiao and lowered her voice:

“This place looked creepy even during the day, I didn’t realize it would get this disturbing at night...”

As she spoke, the curtains began swaying even more violently!

Qiao Sixiao paid her no heed, getting up to shut the window tightly, then prompting her to answer the door.

The curtains settled after the window was shut. Turns out it was just the wind coming in through an unclosed window.

“There’s no way...Teacher Qiao, someone visiting this late at night, it might not even be human...”

The more Qin Wei thought about it, the more fearful she became, picturing the scarecrow she had seen outside in an open field through the window in daylight. Combined with her little imagination and the atmosphere right now, she felt like she was trapped in the middle of a horror film.

“Go open the door quickly.”

Qiao Sixiao urged from beside the window.

Qin Wei lowered her voice:

“Do you think the production crew has some kind of prank prepared? Trying to set up a scary project to frighten us? Take a look around the room for hidden cameras or something? I’ve seen shows like this before...”

“If you don’t open that door right now, I’m kicking you out.”

Threatened in such a manner, Qin Wei obediently shut her mouth and got up heavily from the sofa, taking slow reluctant steps towards the door.

“Knock knock knock—"

The sound echoed outside the room once more. Qin Wei stood frozen by the door, glancing back pleadingly at Qiao Sixiao.

That look was as if asking—

“Do we really have to open up?”

Qiao Sixiao’s frown deepened.

Qin Wei gulped then silently opened the door.

“Hm?”

Qin Wei opened the door and froze, startled.

“Wei Lai?”

The person standing at the door turned out to be Wei Lai.

“Weiwei...”

Wei Lai hesitated for quite a while.

“I...I’m scared.”

Qin Wei fell silent.

...

In any case, it would be inappropriate to keep guests waiting outside indefinitely, so Qin Wei invited her in first before lowering her voice to ask:

“Scared of what? Did you see something...Were you also creeped out by this place...”

Qin Wei gazed at her expectantly.

“What are you talking about?”

Wei Lai whispered back.

“There’s a moth the size of a palm in my bathroom...”

Qin Wei: “......”

Qin Wei let out a sigh before sitting back down onto the sofa, even mocking the other girl:

“And here I thought it was something major. How can you be scared of a mere moth?”

Looking at Wei Lai’s tall stature of over 1.7 meters, coupled with the natural heroic air in her brows and eyes, Qin Wei had always felt that she would be suited for crossdressing as a son fighting in place of his father in ancient times. She never expected that Wei Lai would actually be afraid of a common moth!

What a huge contrast from expectations!

“If a moth isn’t scary then what is?”

Wei Lai shot back at Qin Wei.

“An empty corridor, a floating ghost...”

Qin Wei stopped after beginning her description, visualizing the scenario in her mind again.

Qiao Sixiao glanced sideways at her:

“How can you judge others for being timid?”

Only now did Wei Lai notice Qiao Sixiao’s presence. She had been standing at the doorway all this while, only focusing on talking to Qin Wei earlier without even glancing into the room.

Just now, she had asked her assistant which room Qin Wei was staying in. Since her assistant was rooming in a standard suite with Qin Wei's assistant, the room number was provided.

Recalling that she had been paired up with Qin Wei before in a team, although they did not share the same room then, they still spent time together daily and had a fairly good relationship. She was certain that Qin Wei would provide shelter for her.

With that palm-sized moth flying around in the room, she probably wouldn’t get any sleep tonight...

So the sight of Qiao Sixiao being here as well caused her to blurt out subconsciously:

“Oh my god! You two really are together now?”