The mountainous pile of perfume photos belonging to Sister Xu, somehow found its way to Weibo, turning the act of fangirl splurging millions into an instant hot topic of discussion.
Some condemned it as meaningless competition—wondering why keeping the money for personal use wasn't better than spending it on someone else with no rewards in return.
Others retorted, urging people not to be overly controlling over others' finances—let them spend their money however they wish.
The two sides quarreled on Weibo, and quickly made it to the trending searches, sparking even more debates.
However, Lin Xu wasn't aware, she knew nothing about it.
But even if she had known, she would have dismissively said, it's her own son she's spending on.
"Hey, Zeqiu, have you seen the trending searches? A fan apparently made a few tens of millions in sales for you,"
the agent remarked while shaking his head as he looked at the trending search.
Another rich fanatic.
He remembered another obsessed fan from before, smashing sales on endorsements for Ji Zeqiu and buying lots of things on Ji Zeqiu's behalf to bring to the crew, making sure to attend nearly every event.
Eventually, it even escalated to the point of being a sasaeng fan, cornering Ji Zeqiu in the hallway to confess to him.
Of course, the outcome was a merciless rejection, along with calling the police to arrest the sasaeng fan.
After that, the obsessed fan disappeared, perhaps having moved on to another star.
Has it not been long enough that another fanatic is emerging?
Hopefully, there won't be any more incidents with sasaeng fans.
"You handle this; I have other things," Ji Zeqiu said, not looking up from his rapid typing on his cellphone, not knowing who he was chatting with.
Handling this kind of public relations was nothing more than issuing a statement, calling for everyone to chase stars sensibly.
But whether it was sincere or not, who could tell?
Ji Zeqiu then opened someone's WeChat Moments and zoomed in on a photo, carefully observing the visible half of a man in it.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
The agent answered it to find a woman with picturesque eyebrows and a light makeup standing there, momentarily stunned.
Upon closer inspection, this woman's features were somewhat similar to those of Wen Li.
Seeing the door open, she came to her senses and nodded at the agent, "Brother Zhao."
The agent looked back at Ji Zeqiu, but the man was sitting on the couch with no reaction whatsoever.
He stepped aside, making way through a spacious passage, "Come in."
The woman walked towards Ji Zeqiu with a worried expression and a flash of pain in her eyes, conflicted but eventually moving forward.
The agent took the initiative to exit the room, carefully closing the door to seal off any sound from inside.
——
Because of the perfume incident, Sister Xu became quite popular in the fan group, and was often called upon for various activities.
That day, someone in the group called her,
"Sister Xu, tomorrow morning Ji Zeqiu has a ribbon-cutting at the jewelry store downtown. If we go early to get a spot in the front row, there's a chance to meet him. Are you coming?"
Being able to see Ji Zeqiu?
Lin Xu quickly became excited, "Let's go! Send me the address!"
The next morning, Lin Xu did her makeup meticulously, ready to make a beautiful outing.
After twenty years, she planned to make a good impression on her son.
Ting Yang saw her and was momentarily stunned, "Where are you off to?"
"Uh… just, something came up, going out for a bit," Lin Xu equivocated.
She had mentioned wanting to see Ji Zeqiu a few times before, but it was either vaguely ignored or outright rejected by him.
Thus, she did not want to tell Ting Yang the purpose of her outing this time.
Watching Lin Xu hastily leaving the house, Ji Tingyang sank into deep thought. Recently, because she didn't want him to worry, Lin Xu would always tell him where she was going whenever she went out alone, but today she was hesitant and refused to say.
Could it be shopping?
She had already bought the latest clothes and bags, what else was there to buy?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off.
Wen Li, sitting across from him, looked up at Ji Tingyang and noticed he was distracted, still thinking about Lin Xu.
Her expression turned somewhat ugly, as in the past his attention had been solely on her. Yet now, even though she was right in front of him, his mind was on another woman.
Wen Li bit her red lip lightly, seemingly casually mentioning, "Dressed so beautifully, she might be going on a date."
Ji Tingyang's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that some bastard had taken advantage of his inattention to woo his mother?!
His expression grew even grimmer, and he didn't even touch his breakfast. Putting down his chopsticks, he also decided to follow her out.
Wen Li realized he was going to look for Lin Xu, and in a rush of anxiety, she blurted out his name.
Ji Tingyang turned back, looking at her puzzled.
"I, I..." Wen Li, in her haste, made up a lie, "I'm feeling a bit unwell, can you accompany me to the hospital?"
"Let the butler accompany you, I have other matters."
"Ji..."
Before Wen Li could finish speaking, Ji Tingyang hurriedly left, not even looking back as he drove away.
Wen Li tightly gripped her chopsticks, her fingertips turning white.
She consoled herself, thinking that it was great Ji Tingyang didn't bother with her anymore, as now no one could stop her from meeting Xiao Yu.
However, her face inevitably looked somewhat displeasing.
——
Ji Zeqiu's fame was really too big, fans knowing he was having a ribbon-cutting event in the city center came out in droves, actually clogging up the roads for several kilometers outside the mall.
Fans in the group were complaining about the severe traffic, worried they wouldn't make it to the ribbon-cutting on time.
"Miss, this might take two or three hours. We are not far from the mall, how about you walk over?"
The driver, seeing Lin Xu's anxious expression, suggested.
Lin Xu thought about it and agreed that it made sense, paid the fare, and then got out of the car to walk to the mall.
After not recognizing the surroundings due to significant changes in the buildings over twenty years, Lin Xu lost her way after just a few hundred meters.
Moreover, as the phone navigation made numerous twists and turns, she was already dizzy.
At the ribbon-cutting event.
Ji Zeqiu arrived on time, and the moment he appeared, flashes and the sound of shutters erupted intermittently while the fans around him screamed out loud.
"Ahhh! Ji Zeqiu, look at me!"
"Husband! I love you!"
Ji Zeqiu seemed shy being called 'husband,' his ears turning red as he coyly waved to everyone.
Such an innocently shy handsome guy made the screaming even louder.
A few minutes' event blocked the mall completely, and even after it ended, with Ji Zeqiu disappearing into the crowd, the fans were still reluctant to leave.
"There are still many people outside, let's wait a bit longer before going out," his agent said to Ji Zeqiu upon returning from outside.
Ji Zeqiu responded vaguely, his gaze falling on the woman in the room, particularly on her fair clavicle, his eyebrows furrowing deeply.
His fury uncontainable, he detested and hated, "Who allowed you to wear a necklace, she never wore this kind of thing, throw it away!"
His rude and overbearing demeanor at this moment was worlds apart from his gentle and innocent public persona.