Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Who says I’m retiring?

Ji Zeqiu returned to the crew with a listless expression, his eyes on the script, but his thoughts had already wandered far away.

Seeing him in this state, the manager sighed, “In a little while, some fans will come to visit the set and take some behind-the-scenes footage for online. Remember to smile and put on a good show.”

“Got it,” Ji Zeqiu replied nonchalantly, then turned to ask his manager, “When are we sending out my retirement announcement?”

The manager was at a loss for words.

He didn’t expect that after dragging his feet for so long, Ji Zeqiu still hadn’t let go of the idea.

“You’re doing so well, your career is on the rise, and nobody is bullying or suppressing you, why insist on retiring?”

He couldn’t understand it at all.

Ji Zeqiu closed the script, looked up at the sky, and sighed desolately.

The manager’s heart skipped a beat.

Could there be some unspeakable reason?

Then he heard him say.

“Being a celebrity is too busy, I hardly have any personal time left.”

Actually, becoming an artist was not originally his intention.

Wen Li once chased after a certain celebrity, always mentioning the celebrity’s name, even having him as her phone wallpaper.

To catch Wen Li’s attention for a few more seconds, Ji Zeqiu chose to become an artist before he even graduated.

At that time, Chenxing Entertainment was recruiting trainees, he signed up and was eventually picked by Brother Zhao, and has been with him ever since.

He had no complaints about this job.

Not until he learned that his mother had come back.

They had missed twenty years of time together, and now he just wanted to fill that gap.

But now, having to join the crew, he could only return home to see Lin Xu after intervals of time.

Unlike Ji Tingyang, who could go home to see his mother every day, they even went for walks after dinner, watched movies, and shopped together…

The more Ji Zeqiu imagined it, the more agitated he felt in his chest.

He feared that just like Wen Li was snatched away by Ji Tingyang, even his mother would be taken away by him.

“If you want some personal time, we can discuss it, arrange less…”

“Forget it.” Ji Zeqiu felt a surge of frustration in his chest, wanting to light a cigarette on impulse, but remembering Lin Xu disliked the smell of smoke, his hand paused with the cigarette and then put it back.

“Brother Zhao, thank you for your help these past few years.” His expression was serious and solemn.

The manager knew he couldn’t dissuade him any longer and finally compromised, “Alright, I’ll arrange it as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.”

After finishing a scene, the fan groups who came to visit the set arrived.

Ji Zeqiu followed his manager to greet them, his mood was not good, but he still forced a faint smile at the corners of his mouth.

“Ah! Ji Zeqiu! You look so handsome in person!”

“Baby Ji, this is the letter I wrote for you!”

“Baby Ji, look here! Mommy is here!”

The one shouting this was obviously a ‘mom fan.’

Upon hearing the word ‘mommy,’ the smile on Ji Zeqiu’s lips faded a bit.

When he had just debuted, he was very resistant to fans who called themselves ‘mommy.’

Even then, when he was unwilling to recall the existence of his own mother, he believed that a mother’s place in his heart was irreplaceable.

But such is the entertainment industry, even though he repeatedly expressed his dislike for the title, fans would still pop up calling him that.

Ji Zeqiu’s eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure as he glanced towards that person; however, when he spotted a figure in the crowd he had been longing to see day and night, he was instantly rooted to the spot in shock.

Right next to that fan who crazily claimed to be his mother, Lin Xu was looking at him with a beaming smile.

Ji Zeqiu’s coldly indifferent smile suddenly burst into endless radiance, like a ray of sunlight piercing through dark clouds and illuminating everything around.

Backstage at the drama set.

After saying goodbye to the visiting fans, Ji Zeqiu couldn’t wait to go meet Lin Xu, who was waiting backstage.

“How did you get here?” Ji Zeqiu asked excitedly, his cheeks flushed red.

He reached out to hold Lin Xu’s hand but felt somewhat embarrassed, so he stealthily shifted closer to her, sitting nearer to her side.

“I came to see you, isn’t it a surprise?” Lin Xu smiled.

Lately, Ji Zeqiu had been listless, even sounding somewhat downhearted when he talked to her on the phone.

Worried about him, Lin Xu signed up to visit the set after seeing that there were spots available in the fan group.

She purposefully didn’t tell him because she wanted to surprise him.

Seeing the smile brimming on his face now, he must be satisfied with the surprise.

Ji Zeqiu’s lips couldn’t help but curve upwards, trying to play it cool despite being overjoyed, he said, “It’s alright, not that much of a surprise.”

“Ah? So you don’t like me visiting the set?” Lin Xu’s face fell, missing the sarcasm in his words, “Then maybe I should go home.”

“Don’t!” The smile on Ji Zeqiu’s face vanished suddenly as he hastily grabbed her hand, his expression anxious, “Don’t go back, I… I…”

Lin Xu cupped his cheeks with both hands, as if chiding a child, “You need to tell the truth, okay?”

Ji Zeqiu pursed his lips, his ear tips reddening with embarrassment, yet he obediently admitted, “I like you visiting the set.”

“That’s more like it.” Lin Xu nodded in satisfaction, “Even if you’re too embarrassed to say it out loud in the future, you shouldn’t talk in reverse, otherwise others might be really hurt if they hear you, understand?”

“Oh…” Ji Zeqiu pulled her into his embrace, burying his head in her neck, and murmured in response, “So you’re not leaving now, right?”

“Yes, since you like me visiting the set, I won’t leave,” Lin Xu said.

Ji Zeqiu’s smile almost stretched to his ears, his nose softly inhaling.

The fragrance of his mother was sweet and warm, so pleasant.

“Have you recently encountered some problems at work? You never seem to be happy on set,” Lin Xu casually inquired about her son’s mental wellbeing.

“No problems.” He was happy as long as his mother was here.

“You need to work hard, okay? I’m still looking forward to watching your new drama,” she said.

“You want to watch my new drama?”

“Yes, of course, I watch every one of them. I heard online that there’s a martial arts drama that wants to cast you. You looked particularly dashing in the fight scenes of your last period drama; this one will surely be even more striking,” Lin Xu said with anticipation.

Ji Zeqiu stiffened for a moment.

He hadn’t yet had the chance to tell his mother about his desire to retire, and he had asked his agent to reject all the scripts and variety shows, including, it seems, the martial arts drama his mother just mentioned.

Suddenly.

The door to the dressing room was pushed open.

“Zeqiu, I’ve already mentioned to the top brass about you retiring, and they said that…” The agent walked in mid-sentence, but he stopped abruptly when he saw the two hugging each other, his professionalism kicking in immediately as he turned around, covering his eyes, “Sorry, I didn’t see anything.”

“I’ll discuss with you later…”

Before the agent could finish, he heard Ji Zeqiu say, “Retirement? Who’s retiring?”@@novelbin@@

His mother still wanted to watch his TV shows!

The agent: ??