The agent escorted Lin Xu out of the mall and, after saying goodbye to her, turned and got into the small car parked by the roadside.
Lin Xu craned her neck to look in that direction, trying to spot Ji Zeqiu's figure; however, the car windows were tinted with privacy film, and she couldn't see anything.
"Who was that man?"
A voice suddenly rang out, startling her.
Lin Xu turned her head and saw Ji Tingyang standing next to her, his face as cold as ice as he watched the departing car.
"Why are you here?" she asked, puzzled and feeling somewhat guilty.
Could he have seen her with Zeqiu?
But that didn't make sense, if he had seen them, why wouldn't he recognize the man and still ask her who that man was.
Ji Tingyang didn't answer her question but continued, "Wearing glasses and looking sneaky, he doesn't look like good news, don't get fooled by people."
Today's environment was far more complex than it was twenty years ago, with countless deceptive tricks at play.
Some men just loved to deceive young girls, scamming both money and emotions.
A certain face came to mind, and Ji Tingyang's expression grew even uglier.
Wearing glasses?
Lin Xu remembered and realized he was talking about the agent, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"Don't talk nonsense, that person is actually quite nice."
He had been running around for Ji Zeqiu's affairs and even took notes on everything she said.
Ji Tingyang was shocked.
They had only been together a short while, and his mother was already speaking up for that man?!
A sense of crisis immediately surged in his heart.
He had to be more vigilant and couldn't let her get deceived by that man again.
So, for the next few days, no matter where Lin Xu went, Ji Tingyang would follow, volunteering to be her driver.
"You're always following me, don't you have to work?" Lin Xu asked him.
"I'll go back to work later," Ji Tingyang insisted on following her.
"In the past, when I went out, you didn't react at all, and you didn't like to stick around me; I even felt depressed for a while," Lin Xu said.
Other people's children would cry incessantly just seconds after being separated from their mothers; but little Ji Tingyang was especially cold, whereas it was Ji Zeqiu who was more clingy.
"So it's not that you were not clingy, but that you started to be clingy after you grew up," Lin Xu teased.
Ji Tingyang's ears turned bright red from the teasing. He wanted to retort, but after a retort, he couldn't find a good reason to follow her anymore and had to tacitly agree.
During these days out with Lin Xu, he found that besides shopping, she would just go to the beauty salon for skincare and never saw her on a date with that sneaky-looking man.
Ji Tingyang even thought perhaps it was because he was following her, that's why Lin Xu couldn't conveniently go on dates.
But regardless, after being Lin Xu's driver for a week, Ji Tingyang didn't want to follow her out anymore, no matter what.
Lin Xu had a boundless energy for shopping, able to walk tens of thousands of steps without a break. Ji Tingyang suddenly felt that his choice not to stick with Lin Xu when he was younger was absolutely right.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Ji Zeqiu had a few more events.
The fans in the group knew Lin Xu got lost last time and missed the event on-site, and they all regretted it on her behalf.
So when there was a new event, they would urge Lin Xu to join first thing. Unfortunately, Ji Tingyang was following her those days, and she couldn't go, so she had to painfully decline.
Until today, she received a private message from a fan.
"Ji Zeqiu is going to make a cameo on set this afternoon; we're planning to visit the set. Sister Xu, do you want to come with us?"
Lin Xu, of course, agreed without a second thought and went to her room to put on beautiful makeup.
Little did she know, as soon as she went downstairs, she ran into Ji Tingyang sitting on the sofa.
Ji Tingyang held a tablet in one hand and a coffee in the other, taking a light sip from his lips. His gaze was fixed on the news on the tablet, and the blue-white light occasionally flashed over his gold-rimmed glasses, adding a sense of mature steadiness.
Wen Li wasn't going out today, which was rare. She sat on the sofa nearby, absentmindedly slicing an apple, and occasionally stealing a glance at Ji Tingyang.
At the sound, both of them lifted their heads to look at Lin Xu.
"Are you going out?" Ji Tingyang asked.
"Yeah, do you want to come with me?" Lin Xu asked casually.
She obviously thought about how he had been following her around lately.
Ji Tingyang's first instinct was to refuse, but seeing her makeup, which she had obviously taken time to apply, his brows furrowed slightly.
Was she going on a date?
His guard went up, and just as he was about to agree, he heard a hiss from the person next to him, drawing a sharp breath.
Wen Li had been too careless while cutting fruit and had accidentally cut her finger, which was now bleeding profusely.
Ji Tingyang's face changed, and he immediately snatched the fruit knife out of her hand and shouted, "Butler! Bring the medical kit over here!"
"Are you stupid, cutting yourself while slicing fruit! With so many servants in the house, just call them to slice fruit in the future, don't do it yourself."
Hearing his concern, Wen Li's recent unease gradually dissipated.
Ji Tingyang still liked her.
With tears welling up in her eyes from the pain, Wen Li said with a soft voice, "Sorry, I just wanted to slice an apple for you."
If it had been before, Ji Tingyang would have been moved, and without a word, he would have eaten all those apples.
He often saw his aunt cut up pieces of fruit and take them to his cousin's room, and he could hear his classmates complain about their mothers, who, despite being told they did not eat fruit, seemed not to understand and insisted on stuffing it into their mouths…
Ji Tingyang had never experienced this himself but always had some longing for it.
However, lately, all the fruit at home had been eaten by Lin Xu. It was one thing for her to eat it herself, but she also liked to stuff it into his mouth.
At first, he was very happy to eat it, but as time went by and the number of times increased, he now felt so fed up that he didn't even want to see fruit anymore.
When Ji Tingyang heard that the apple was cut for him, his brow immediately furrowed, "No need, I don't like fruit."
Wen Li, however, misunderstood.
Lin Xu gave him fruit, and he ate it.
She sliced an apple for him, and he said he didn't like it.
Wen Li bit her lip, her face that had just calmed down suddenly turning a few shades paler.
Ji Tingyang wanted Lin Xu to wait a moment so he could tend to Wen Li's wound before seeing her out.
However, when he turned around, there was no one there. Lin Xu had already sneaked away.
"..."
Ji Tingyang opened the medical kit and disinfected Wen Li's wound absentmindedly.
Elsewhere.
As soon as Lin Xu arrived at the filming location, there were already a few fans waiting for her at the door.
If she thought about it, this was Lin Xu's first time meeting with the fans from the online group.
Seeing a beautiful woman with pink cherry lips walking towards them, everyone's eyes flashed with admiration. Then they remembered this was a filming base, and it was normal to encounter beautiful women. The only question was which celebrity she might be.
While everyone was wondering, they saw the woman who seemed to be a celebrity walk up to them, her tone apologetic: "I'm sorry for being late; there were a lot of cars at the intersection."
"You are?"
"I'm Willow Wadding," Lin Xu gave her online nickname from the group.
The crowd gasped, "Sister Xu?!"
Lin Xu had made such a generous contribution to Ji Zeqiu's sales, and they had thought she might be a wealthy woman in her thirties or forties. They never imagined she would look so young, only in her early twenties.