Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Doing Laundry for Mother

Ji Zeqiu hurried to convince Lin Xu, who was about to hang up, explaining anxiously, “It’s not what you’re thinking! I just ran into Shen Qingtang while working, and she happened to get drunk during the meal, so I took her home. Nothing else happened!”

“You’re all grown up now, Mom understands,” Lin Xu is now an open-minded parent.

“Don’t just understand anything, I’m coming home now!” Ji Zeqiu held the phone, both angry and panicked, while he struggled to shake off Shen Qingtang’s hand, “Let go, I’m leaving.”

“Shen Qingtang! Even if you vomit on the bed now, I’m not going to care about you.” Nobody could stop him from going home!

“Where’s your phone, I’ll call your agent.”

“Ah, you actually threw up!”

The chaos on Ji Zeqiu’s side was palpable over the phone, and Lin Xu could sense his meltdown.

Hearing Ji Zeqiu really seemed heartless in wanting to leave, Lin Xu quickly advised, “Don’t rush off, stay there and take care of her first.”

“How can a man like me take care of her conveniently,” Ji Zeqiu was reluctant, his mind still set on going back home to Lin Xu.

“…I’ll come over and see.” Lin Xu, feeling helpless, asked him for the address.

Half an hour later, Lin Xu arrived at Shen Qingtang’s place.

Upon entering the house, she was hit by the sour smell of vomit coming from the bedroom.

Lin Xu slapped Ji Zeqiu and glared at him, “You couldn’t even clean up a little first.”

“She threw up all over herself… was I supposed to undress her or what…” Ji Zeqiu’s voice carried a hint of grievance.

Indeed, that would not have been appropriate.

Having no other option, Lin Xu left Ji Zeqiu in the living room, went into the bedroom to help Shen Qingtang change into a set of pajamas, and then came out with the dirty clothes and bedsheet.

Hesitating over the dirty laundry, she thought it might not be good to leave them piled up overnight.

Thinking to wash them for her, Lin Xu was about to do so when Ji Zeqiu took the clothes from her hands, “I’ll scrub them a bit.”

The mother at home had never had to dip her fingers into wash water.

Ji Zeqiu didn’t want Lin Xu to do these chores either and took the initiative to take them on himself.

Lin Xu did not decline, handing him the clothes and said with a light smile, “You even know how to wash clothes?”

“I know a lot more than that.” Ji Zeqiu’s expression was proud as he puffed out his chest and entered the bathroom as if showing off a skill.

In the past, when the three siblings were staying at a relative’s house, there were no servants to do chores for them; all the dirty laundry was always scrubbed by them with their own hands, crouched on the bathroom floor with a basin of water.

As for his sister’s clothes, they were washed alternatively by him and Ji Tingyang.

It wasn’t until she reached junior high school that she no longer wanted her brothers to wash her clothes for her.

Ji Zeqiu scrubbed the clothes in his hands, while flashes of past memories flickered through his mind.

“Our Zeqiu is really wonderful,” Lin Xu squatted beside him, noticing his skilled movements, and affectionately patted his head in praise.

Ji Zeqiu’s ears, beneath his tousled hair, suddenly flushed red, and his expression was bashful, “Of course.”

His hands scrubbing the clothes became even more diligent.

Moments later, he sneaked another glance at Lin Xu, his face awkward, hesitantly murmuring, “If, if you have clothes that need to be hand-washed, it wouldn’t be impossible for me to do them for you in the future.”

“Alright, then I’ll rely on you from now on~”

Ji Zeqiu, looking at her brilliantly radiant smile, felt his heart pounding uncontrollably, his face expressionless, but he was secretly delighted on the inside.

He could wash clothes for his mother.

Ji Tingyang had never washed clothes for their mother.

He was the first one to wash clothes for their mother!

Lin Xu watched in the bathroom for a while and then went into the bedroom to take care of Shen Qingtang.

As soon as she entered, she saw Shen Qingtang heaving by the bed, and Lin Xu hurriedly supported her body and offered her a cup of water.

Shen Qingtang drained the cup with Lin Xu’s help.

“Drink slowly, don’t hurry,” Lin Xu soothed her back, speaking softly.

Lin Xu’s gentle voice, like a low breeze whispering in the ear, slowly soothed Shen Qingtang’s agitation caused by alcohol.

She lifted her eyes, squinting as she tried to make out Lin Xu’s figure.@@novelbin@@

“What’s the matter, do you want another glass of water?” Lin Xu asked, about to get up to pour the water.

The next instant, she was grabbed by the hand by Shen Qingtang, who muttered, “Don’t go…”

“Alright, I won’t leave,” Lin Xu sat back down, coaxing her to lie down on the bed.

Shen Qingtang nodded her head and lay back on the bed. As Lin Xu hummed a soft tune, a warm current surged through her heart, and she gradually fell asleep.

At this moment, the cell phone on the bedside lit up the screen.

Lin Xu thought it wasn’t good to look at someone else’s phone and was about to turn her head away, but the message on the screen made her freeze.

The next day.

When Shen Qingtang woke up, it was already close to noon.

She ran her hands through her messy hair as she walked out of the bedroom, and upon reaching the living room, she saw Lin Xu asleep on the sofa. A look of shock flashed across her eyes.

She hasn’t left yet?

Lin Xu, stirred by the noise, fluttered her eyelids and opened her eyes, blurry with sleep. She immediately bumped into Shen Qingtang’s surprised gaze and explained last night’s situation to her, fearing that she might be mistaken for a thief.

“I remember everything from last night, no need to explain,” Shen Qingtang wasn’t to the point of losing her memory from drinking, “Thank you for taking care of me last night.”

Last night, she had felt terrible from the alcohol, and it was Lin Xu who had stayed by her side to take care of her.

It made her think back to the times when she was sick as a child, how her mother was also so tender and warm, watching by her bedside.

Suddenly, Shen Qingtang’s attitude towards Lin Xu grew much more amiable.

She caught a glimpse of the washed shirts and trousers hanging on the balcony and felt even more embarrassed, “There was really no need for you to do that, I could have washed the clothes myself when I woke up.”

“Leaving them till the next day, they would have stunk by then, I checked, Ji Zeqiu washed them pretty clean, don’t worry,” Lin Xu said.

Ji Zeqiu washed them?!

Shen Qingtang’s cheeks suddenly flushed, her voice stammering, “He, he, how could he…”

How could he end up washing her clothes?!

“He seemed quite willing to do it,” Lin Xu said, recalling last night’s diligent washing.

Willing?

Shen Qingtang remembered Ji Zeqiu taking her home last night, even carrying her upstairs, and now he had even washed her clothes for her.

Could it be that he… actually had feelings for her?

Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

At this moment.

The apartment door opened, and Ji Zeqiu entered, carrying two big bags of stuff.

Perplexed, Shen Qingtang was about to ask when she heard Lin Xu inquire, “What did you buy?”

“Lunch.”

“Did you buy it specially for me? How considerate of you,” Lin Xu said as her stomach growled, her eyes shining at the sight of the two big bags of meal boxes.

Ji Zeqiu turned awkwardly, “Not, not specially, I was just passing by and happened to see someone selling food downstairs.”

The takeout bags clearly bore the name Flaming Lily Restaurant—the kind of upscale restaurant that only catered to those with VIP status. It couldn’t possibly be that someone was selling it just downstairs.

Lin Xu smiled helplessly, knowing full well his tendencies to say one thing but mean another.

She walked over and opened the bags to look, “Wow, it’s all the food I like.”

Seeing the happiness in her eyes, Ji Zeqiu’s lips slightly curled, and he maintained his facade, “I just bought it randomly.”

Lin Xu noticed Shen Qingtang standing there in a daze, quickly pulling her over, “Come and join us, I have something I want to discuss with you after we eat.”

Shen Qingtang was puzzled; they didn’t seem to have much in common, did they?

Could it be she wanted her to stop pestering Ji Zeqiu?!