Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Is She a Mom Fan?

Shen Qingtang’s face was pale as he took off the necklace and explained, “I just finished a photoshoot and forgot to take it off.”

“I don’t care what you do outside, but in front of me, you have to follow my rules. Shen Qingtang, don’t forget you are her substitute, you should properly play her role!”

Ji Zeqiu gripped her chin viciously, the strength of his fingertips increasing, causing her eyes to turn red with pain, yet she dared not make a sound.

The agent seemed to have grown accustomed to this kind of situation, sighed inwardly, turned around intending to leave, and left the space for the two of them.

However, no sooner had he opened the door than a figure burst into the VIP room with the swiftness of a surprise attack.

The agent was startled.

His first reaction was that some obsessive fan had broken in again, and his second thought was that Ji Zeqiu’s bad offstage image was about to be exposed.

“You have deviated from the destination, the route is now being recalculated, please go back 10 meters, then turn left.”

An AI navigation voice awkwardly came out of someone’s phone.

“Ah, wrong again, what a lousy navigation.” Lin Xu was very annoyed, almost wishing she could complain about the navigation software.

Wrong again?

The agent was stunned, wondering if it wasn’t an obsessive fan after all?

But who would walk the wrong way and end up in someone else’s VIP room? That must surely be a trick!

Thinking thus, the agent’s gaze sharpened instantly as he approached Lin Xu, “Miss, this is our private space, please leave!”

“I’m so sorry, so sorry!” Lin Xu, wearing an apologetic face, made to leave.

From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.

Upon closer inspection, she froze, “Ji Zeqiu?”

The agent cursed inwardly, upset that she had recognized him.

If it had been just Ji Zeqiu, it might have been fine, but there was also Shen Qingtang in the room!

If anyone found out the relationship between Ji Zeqiu and the eighteenth-tier actor Shen Qingtang, it could cause an uproar among fans, and in the worst case, it could even lead to a complete collapse of his image.

The agent’s thoughts raced like lightning, and he immediately thought of bribing her with money.

However, before he could speak, he heard Ji Zeqiu’s voice, slightly surprised, “Is that you?”

The agent was dumbfounded, “You know her?”

If they knew each other, that would be great. They could use their relationship to have her keep quiet and not spread rumors.

Lin Xu’s face lit up with surprise, “You still remember me?!”

She had been struggling with how to approach Ji Zeqiu to explain their relationship and that unbelievable resurrection.

But she never expected that he actually remembered her mother.

However, what Ji Zeqiu meant by ‘remembering’ was entirely different from what she had thought, he sneered, “Aren’t you the woman by Ji Tingyang’s side.”

Last time, feeling irritable, he had driven around aimlessly and had ended up at South Mountain Cemetery without realizing it.

Although he had visited just a few days before, he thought it wouldn’t hurt to pay his respects again since he was there.

However, before he could get out of the car, he saw Ji Tingyang and this woman walking hand in hand out of the cemetery.

Ji Zeqiu scrutinized Lin Xu closely; aside from her face being decent, he really didn’t know what Ji Tingyang liked about her.

Wen Li was simply much better than her.

Lin Xu was taken aback, not expecting Ji Zeqiu to have misunderstood.

“It’s not like that, actually I am…”

“Whatever you are, it’s none of my business.” Ji Zeqiu interrupted her, with no qualms about speaking in front of Lin Xu, and reached into his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes to light.

Lin Xu’s eyes widened, she strode over swiftly, and without a word, pinched out the cigarette in his hand.

“When did you learn to smoke, don’t you know that smoking is harmful to your health!”

“You!”

Ji Zeqiu was flabbergasted; he had not expected this woman to be so audacious as to dare snuff out his cigarette.

“Moreover, I detest the smell of smoke the most. In the past, when your father came home smelling of smoke from socializing, I was so angry that I sent him to sleep in the guest room. I also told you and your brother that you were absolutely forbidden from smoking when you grew up, yet it’s only been twenty years, and you’ve already forgotten.”

“But then again, you were only five years old at that time, so it’s normal that you don’t remember.”

Lin Xu grumbled angrily to herself.

Ji Zeqiu was still fuming, but when he heard her murmuring, it overlapped with a distant memory deep in his mind, and his expression became distant.

He felt somewhat guilty for a moment, and his anger dissipated significantly. But then he thought differently, no, wait a minute, who is she to lecture him!

“Mind your own business!”

Ji Zeqiu, ashamed and enraged, didn’t relight the pack of cigarettes in his hand after all, and shoved it back into his pocket, flustered and annoyed.

This move surprised both the agent and Shen Qingtang; they had seen Ji Zeqiu’s stubborn temperament. He did what he wanted regardless of what anyone else said, and the agent had more than once tried to persuade him to quit smoking, but had never succeeded.

They had not expected this woman to be so bold as to not only emerge unscathed after extinguishing his cigarette but also to make him give up smoking.

The agent wanted to observe more, but glancing at his watch, it was a pity; the time was almost up.

“Zeqiu, your next appointment is coming up; we need to go,” the agent reminded him.

Ji Zeqiu gave Lin Xu a cold stare before turning to leave.

“Zeqiu, remember to visit home when you have time, I…no, wait…” Lin Xu paused, hastily corrected herself, “Your brother misses you a lot!”

Ji Zeqiu’s expression soured, and he quickened his pace to leave.

Would Ji Tingyang miss him?

What a joke!

Clearly, Ji Tingyang would rather he never returned home to avoid getting in his way with Wen Li.

Ji Zeqiu quickly disappeared into the mall. Lin Xu felt a bit regretful; she had only seen her son for a moment before they were parted again.

She sighed and walked out, considering when to arrange the next meeting.

“Miss, please wait a moment!”

The agent was still there and, seeing Lin Xu leave, quickly called out to her.

Lin Xu asked, puzzled, “What is it?”

“May I ask your surname, Miss?”

“Lin, my name is Lin Xu.”

“Miss Lin, the thing is, could you keep everything you saw in the VIP room confidential?” the agent asked with a serious expression as he dealt with the aftermath of the incident at work.

He even took out a check.

“Of course, I won’t tell a soul.”

“I can offer you a sum of… Eh? What?”

Lin Xu’s eager agreement caught him off guard.

“You want to give me money?” Lin Xu looked at the check in his hand, repeatedly refusing, “I have money, you should keep your money and buy more food for Ji Zeqiu. He loves cherries, buy a lot of those, and he doesn’t like vegetables, but not eating them isn’t good, so make sure he eats some too.”

“Oh, and remember not to schedule too many appointments; you can see that he has gotten much thinner recently…”

Listening to Lin Xu’s nagging made the agent momentarily envision his own mother.

Could this woman actually be Ji Zeqiu’s fan mother?