The Movie Queen, a Flirty Omega, Has Been Plotting Against Me for a Long Time (GL) - Chapter 2

The New Blue District has always been Jiangning’s commercial center, featuring integrated offices, entertainment, residential areas, and even education and medical facilities.

Chu Zhou lives in a neighborhood called Fengwu Residential Complex, Building 6, Unit 1, 2801.

In this building, the floors from the twenty-eighth to the thirty-first are all duplex apartments, each over two hundred square meters. She lives there alone.

The first floor houses the kitchen, living room, wine cabinet, and gym. With the curtains drawn, the living room can serve as a small projection room—perfect for pulling the curtains on a rainy day and putting on a favorite movie, creating a fantastic atmosphere.

On the second floor, aside from a hidden walk-in closet and bathroom, bookshelves form the walls, separating the bedroom from the study.

The study has two walls of bookshelves filled with books, a semi-circular desk paired with an ergonomic chair, and next to it, a huge egg-shaped e-sports room. Inside the “egg” are the best current gaming devices; the equipment alone costs millions.

The egg is transparent and can be powered on to adjust to the desired lighting. This egg occupies half the area of the study.

Chu Zhou has lived here ever since she moved out of her family home.

She opened the door, casually kicked off her shoes, and went upstairs barefoot to dive into the bathroom.

About forty minutes later, she walked out in a bathrobe, her hair half-dry.

She first readjusted the indoor temperature, then picked up the remote control and pressed a button; the door to the walk-in closet opened. She simply grabbed a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved top to wear.

Before getting dressed, she stood in front of the mirror wall and looked at the marks on her body, her face darkening.

That woman was truly intense. She looked beautiful and dressed with a serious, restrained demeanor, but she was unexpectedly wild in bed.

It looks like wearing a dress is out of the question today. Even in a suit, what should she do about the hickeys on her neck?

Forget it. She haphazardly put on her clothes and decided to wait for the stylist.

Recalling what happened last night, Chu Zhou’s face flushed. She had never even dated, yet she slept with someone she didn’t know.

Although she was drunk and in a bad mood when she impulsively left with that stunning woman, some things, once done, cannot be undone.

Chu Zhou took out her phone, opened her messaging app, and stared at the name she had pinned to the top: the note read —Senior Sister.

She had many people noted as “So-and-so Senior Sister,” but only one person was noted simply as “Senior Sister.” Although they hadn’t met many times, they chatted a lot.

They had been chatting since she was six years old, with the longest gap being only one week. Whenever that happened, she knew her Senior Sister was busy.

Because when her Senior Sister finished her work, she would explain that she was busy and didn’t have access to her phone.

Chu Zhou assumed her Senior Sister’s job was of a confidential nature, where she couldn’t use her phone once she got busy, which explained why she couldn’t reply promptly.

But this time was different. Her Senior Sister hadn’t replied in over a month. Chu Zhou thought something had happened to her and sent messages asking if she needed help, but received no reply.

Just as she was planning to fly to the country where her Senior Sister lived to look for her, the Senior Sister replied.

—Busy.

Chu Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replied, —Did something happen to you? Can I help?

—No need.

Seeing those two words, her typing hand paused. She then silently deleted the words she had planned to send and replied, —Okay, remember to find me if you need anything.

The Senior Sister didn’t reply. A few days passed like this, and then the Senior Sister posted a moment about returning to China.

Chu Zhou’s eyes lit up, and she immediately commented, —You’re back in China?

The next second, the post was deleted. This made her nervous about sending a private message, worried that her Senior Sister would find her annoying.

One day, two days, three days… the weekend arrived, and she still hadn’t received a message from her Senior Sister.

It was then that she realized how much she relied on her Senior Sister; one might even say her Senior Sister was her spiritual pillar. When the two suddenly cut contact, her mood, as the one being distanced, naturally plummeted.

Chu Zhou began to feel restless and unfocused, often thinking about this person while working and consequently feeling down.

She dreamed of this person every night and then woke up feeling disgusted with herself for being like this. During this time, she had lost seven or eight catties (3.5 to 4 kg) from her already less-than-100-catty (50 kg) frame, now weighing only ninety catties (45 kg).

Chu Zhou was too sad. The extreme loneliness made her feel utterly dazed.

She didn’t want to continue like this. Just as Hua Nanyi invited her out, she thought, she would allow herself to be sad for her Senior Sister one last time, indulge once, and then never think of her again.

Yet, she never expected that her drunk self would end up having a one-night stand…

Okay, she admitted the other person was too beautiful, excessively beautiful. She wanted to indulge herself, so she left with her.

Some things, once done, are done; they can’t be treated as if they never happened. Her relationship with her Senior Sister could only end here.

Chu Zhou’s fingertip lingered on their chat box. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to delete or block the other person. She simply canceled the pin and changed the note to —Senior Sister Shen Qingli.

She became just like the other senior sisters in her list: “So-and-so Senior Sister.”

Perhaps she felt there was no need to delete her, just leave her on the list. Or perhaps she couldn’t bear to—once chat history is deleted, it can’t be recovered.

After she unpinned the chat, it immediately sank to the bottom of the list. After all, having not chatted for so long, there was no way it would be at the top.

The person at the top of the chat list was now Hua Nanyi, with several red numbers indicating unread messages.

Chu Zhou opened their chat box and, after a glance, realized she had forgotten to tell Hua Nanyi that she left yesterday.

—Chu Zhou, where are you? Why did I turn around and you were gone?

—Reply to my messages!

—I checked the surveillance. Good heavens, why did you run off with a beauty?

—Tonight??? Hehehe?

—Okay, I won’t disturb you anymore. Remember to text me when you get home.

—Wish you a beautiful night.

Chu Zhou quickly typed a few words back: —Home, sleeping.

She took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and, resisting the sting in her nose, lay down on the bed, preparing to catch up on sleep.

She involuntarily thought of her Senior Sister, but she realized that they didn’t seem to have experienced anything together; she didn’t even know what to recall.

They just chatted normally. Her affection was one-sided; the other person only occasionally sent her “I miss you.” She deserved the hurt for holding a secret crush.

She had thought about letting go countless times but could never bring herself to do it. Last night’s indulgence made her realize that they couldn’t continue anymore.

Actually, that woman’s eyes were almost identical to her Senior Sister’s, perfectly matching the image of what her Senior Sister would look like as an adult in her mind.

It was a pity she had never seen her Senior Sister grown up. Maybe, as her friend suggested, the Senior Sister was just a vague, ethereal person.

She wondered, was she truly in love with her Senior Sister, or just the person she had layered with filters in her mind?

The sudden, cliff-like breakup of their communication—no more chatting, no more caring for each other—forced her to start reflecting on herself.

Chu Zhou lay in bed, lost in thought. Perhaps because she had stayed up so late last night and barely slept, she finally couldn’t resist the exhaustion and quickly fell asleep.

In her dream, she watched her Senior Sister with someone else, feeling powerless yet somewhat relieved, leaving her unable to clearly see her own heart.

…

Chu Zhou was awakened by a string of calls from her assistant, emanating the palpable resentment of someone who hadn’t slept well.

“Miss Chu, I really don’t want to bother you while you’re sleeping, but you absolutely must attend the welcoming banquet for Shen Qingli tonight.”

Shen Qingli debuted abroad. Her first role was in a series of films. At eighteen, her pure and naive image instantly made her the “white moonlight” in countless people’s hearts.

After her debut, she starred in several films besides the series, earning high fees and having an excellent reputation and popularity. It was a mystery why she chose to return to China.

Few domestic entertainment companies could sign her, and Chu Yue was one of them, but Chu Yue didn’t participate in the competition.

This decision was made by Chu Zhou. Chu Yue had long since ceased to be limited to the entertainment industry; it had a stake in the development of the New Blue District.

The growth of Chu Yue Entertainment didn’t need the icing on the cake that an international movie queen would provide. Moreover, it might cause panic among the company’s existing artists, who would worry that the international movie queen might impact their resources.

Surprisingly, Shen Qingli rejected many companies that offered generous terms and chose Chu Yue.

Of course, the terms Chu Yue offered were not worse than other companies’, but the signing bonus was slightly less.

With equally generous terms, why choose Chu Yue? Did she have too much money?

Chu Zhou didn’t fight to sign Shen Qingli but wouldn’t refuse her either—only a fool would.

Thus, tonight’s welcoming banquet came about. As the heir to Chu Yue, she had to personally host the guest of honor tonight.

Shen Qingli was the star, but Chu Zhou was equally a main figure. Even if the former was the lead and she was the second lead, she still needed to attend in full formal attire.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, the assistant arrived with the stylist to do her hair and makeup. What embarrassed Chu Zhou the most were the looks from the two of them.

There was no helping it; the marks on her neck were too obvious, even foundation couldn’t cover them. The stylist, resigned, had to find a white silk ribbon to tie around her neck.

To match the ribbon, the stylist dressed her in a sheer white chiffon shirt paired with an all-white suit. Before putting on the jacket, she looked simultaneously pure and seductive.

With the suit jacket on, her hair, dyed a light brown, was given a couple of waves to prevent the style from looking too stiff. She looked sharp and coolly “Alpha,” extremely captivating.

The stylist pondered for a moment, ran to the walk-in closet, and selected a pair of silver-framed square glasses for her to wear, immediately giving off the vibe of a sophisticated scoundrel.

But the stylist still felt it wasn’t enough, so she put a silver earring on one ear and a silver chain ear drop on the other, adding a touch of fashion to the scholarly look.

She added various finishing touches—a pocket square and a beautiful silver leaf-shaped diamond-encrusted brooch—to keep the suit from looking dull.

The final step was choosing a wristwatch. From a pile of luxury watches, the stylist picked one that matched today’s outfit and had her put it on.

The whole process took over three hours. Chu Zhou stood in front of the mirror, looking at her reflection, and lamented, “Anyone who didn’t know would think I’m going on a blind date.”

“What do you expect?” the assistant laughed. “The people attending tonight are all from the entertainment industry; they have their own styling teams and wear various high-fashion outfits. Even if you’re not in the industry, you can’t be outdone in terms of styling.”

“Also, those companies next door who couldn’t snag Ms. Shen will also send people. We need to one-up everyone in every aspect.”

Chu Zhou: “…”

No wonder they had dressed her up so elaborately today. She understood. Having just inherited Chu Yue, there were plenty of people waiting to see her fail, so she couldn’t overlook even the smallest detail.

Whether to the public or to internal staff, signing Shen Qingli at this moment would add a very impressive entry to her report card.

Chu Zhou hadn’t sent anyone to compete for Shen Qingli’s domestic contract, which many in the company didn’t understand. But she was clear: as the new successor of Chu Yue, she couldn’t rush for quick results; she needed to be stable, securing her current position step by step before further developing Chu Yue.

Shen Qingli signing with Chu Yue was an unexpected event, but it was also a good thing, counting as the first achievement since she took over Chu Yue.

She had to make a grand appearance at tonight’s banquet.

…

Chu Zhou arrived at the hotel hosting the banquet at half-past seven in the evening. By this time, most of the guests had already arrived.

She maintained a steady expression despite the barrage of flashes from reporters outside the door. Security guards blocked the reporters who tried to ask questions. She gave a wave and a nod of acknowledgment and quickly walked into the hotel.

As she neared the ballroom, she saw Shen Qingli’s life-sized light-up cutouts and huge posters lining both sides. After clearly seeing the person on the poster, she immediately froze, her mind reeling as she stood motionless.

Rigidly, she asked her assistant beside her without moving, “Xixi, is it still possible for me to leave now?”

Xixi: “?”

“You can’t leave, Boss!”

In her panic, Xixi even used their private nickname for her.

Chu Zhou’s lips pressed down slightly, looking on the verge of tears. Then, she forced a smile and resolutely walked into the ballroom.

Who would have thought that the stunning, glamorous movie queen, Shen Qingli, on the poster, was in her bed just last night?

The international movie queen, Shen Qingli, was her one-night stand! Even before meeting her, she was already embarrassed.