Chapter 280: Chapter 280: Back to 20 Years Ago (15)

Inside the car.

Shen Qingtang glanced at Ji Zeqiu, who was sitting with her in the back seat. The silence in the car made her somewhat uneasy as she nervously fidgeted with the hem of her clothes.

“Um… thank you for calling me away,” she spoke softly, breaking the silence in the car. “Otherwise, Sister Han would have nagged in my ear for hours more.”

Ji Zeqiu’s lips curved into a smile, but it was a faint one.

Then he took a thick script from the car and handed it to her, “This is a period drama, and the director is currently auditioning for the second female lead’s role. If you’re interested, you could go and give it a try.”

Shen Qingtang looked at the script he handed her, her expression briefly one of astonishment, “Me? Can I really audition?”

She had thought Ji Zeqiu’s mention of a script was just a random excuse, but he really wanted to recommend her?

“I can speak to the director and get you an audition opportunity, but whether you get selected in the end is still up to the director’s decision,” Ji Zeqiu said.

Shen Qingtang looked at the script in her hand, a trace of struggle flickering through her eyes.

She knew this was a hard-earned opportunity, but she also wanted to earn this chance through her own efforts, not by relying on others.

At least not relying on Ji Zeqiu…

However, the image of her grandmother, who was in the hospital, flashed through her mind. She clenched her teeth and ultimately conceded, “Thank you, I will try my best.”

Ji Zeqiu nodded, his face devoid of any surplus expression, “Where do you live? I’ll have the driver take you straight there.”

“I’m not going home, just please send me to the city hospital,” Shen Qingtang hurriedly said.

“The hospital? Are you ill?” Ji Zeqiu turned to look at her again.

Shen Qingtang quickly explained, “Not me, my grandmother is in the hospital, so I need to take care of her there.”

Ji Zeqiu replied shortly, then picked up his phone and started to look at something, his expression growing somewhat grim.

It wasn’t long before the driver brought the car to the entrance of the city hospital. Shen Qingtang thanked Ji Zeqiu once more before rushing into the hospital.

Just as the driver was about to drive away, he looked in the rearview mirror and, with a sharp eye, spotted a small bag on the back seat. “Teacher Ji, Miss Shen forgot her bag.”

Hearing this, Ji Zeqiu turned to look and saw a small white bag lying quietly on the seat.

Ji Zeqiu intended to ignore it, thinking she would come to retrieve it herself when she realized it was missing tomorrow. But he thought about the possibility of her complaining to her grandmother and then her grandmother telling Lin Xu.

What if his mother scolded him?

Annoyance crept into his eyes as he picked up the small bag and got out of the car, “I’ll deliver it to her.”

Ji Zeqiu was fortunate. Without needing to ask anyone, he saw Shen Qingtang speaking with a nurse near the window.

“Miss Shen, it’s time to pay the hospitalization fees,” the nurse reminded her.

“I’m a bit tight on cash right now, can I pay later?” Shen Qingtang’s face was a picture of embarrassment.

“You have already delayed for nearly two months, and if you don’t pay, the hospital will stop the patient’s treatment,” the nurse said unsympathetically.

Hearing the nurse’s words, Shen Qingtang’s face suddenly turned pale.

She reached out to grab the nurse’s wrist, her eyes reddening with desperate pleading, “Please wait another two months. Once I start the new script, I will surely pay. Please don’t stop the treatment for my grandmother.”

“If my grandmother’s treatment stops, she will die. Please, I beg you to talk to the hospital, give me a few more months’ grace period. I will definitely pay the money!”

Miss Shen Shen Qingtang couldn’t help but choke up, tears streaming down in torrents, slowly tracing a path down her cheeks, a sight that was heart-wrenching to see.

The nurse, who had been previously expressionless, seemed touched by her tears, her face showing a hint of difficulty, “I’ll discuss with the hospital again for you.”

“Thank you so much, I’ll gather the money as quickly as possible!” Shen Qingtang’s eyes, red and brimming with joyful and excited light, tightly grasped the nurse’s wrist.

Just as she turned to take the elevator up, out of the corner of her eye she saw Ji Zeqiu not far away. Her face stiffened, and she hurriedly bowed her head, frantically wiping away the tears from her cheeks.

After regaining her composure, she approached him and asked, “Why haven’t you gone back yet?”

“You forgot your bag.” Ji Zeqiu, as if he had not noticed her distress, handed her the bag.

Shen Qingtang exclaimed “Ah” in realization, immediately thanking him, “Thank you, I was in such a hurry earlier that I even forgot to take my bag.”

She hastily took the bag from his hands, her heart pounding nervously, fearing he would ask about her recent plea to the nurse.

However, her worries were unfounded, as Ji Zeqiu returned the bag to her and then turned to leave without another word.

Shen Qingtang let out a sigh of relief but felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

…

When Ji Zeqiu arrived home, the sky had turned from azure blue to black night, dotted with a few faintly shining stars.

He walked through the living room, intending to go upstairs to his room when he unexpectedly saw Ji Yanli eating simple noodles at the dining table.

“Father, did you not have enough for dinner?” he asked.

With a composed look, Ji Yanli glanced at him, “This is my dinner.”

“Just noodles?” Ji Zeqiu was taken aback.

“Your mother isn’t home, so I asked the servant to just make some noodles to get by. There should be some noodles left in the kitchen if you’re hungry, go serve yourself a bowl,” said Ji Yanli.

Ji Zeqiu’s expression was complex, suddenly feeling a surge of sadness in his heart.

He hadn’t expected that, with mother not at home, he and his father would be left like children without guardians, having nothing to eat for dinner but noodles. How bitter.

Ji Zeqiu sighed, changed into home clothes, went downstairs, and served himself a bowl of noodles. He casually took a photo of the humble noodles with his phone, intending to send it to Lin Xu for a bit of sympathy.

However, he did not expect to see in his social circle Ji Tingyang and Lin Xu eating delicacies from the mountains and sea at a restaurant. They even tagged him to come and look.

He looked at the noodles in front of him again, and rage burst from within, furiously calling Ji Tingyang, “Ji Tingyang, you jerk! I curse you to choke on water and to be without toilet paper when you need it!”

Instead of Ji Tingyang’s voice, Lin Xu’s slightly angry tone came through on the other end, “Ji Zeqiu, how can you speak about your brother like that? Apologize immediately.”

Ji Zeqiu was instantly frightened, his heart skipped a beat, and even the hand holding the phone trembled.

He hadn’t expected his curse to be overheard by his mother.

And then, as if floating on the air, Ji Tingyang’s voice came through, seemingly with a tinge of schadenfreude, “I thought you’d want to talk to mother, so I decided to put on speakerphone, but I didn’t expect…”

“You definitely did it on purpose, you jerk!” Ji Zeqiu gritted his teeth.

“Ji Zeqiu!” Lin Xu exclaimed his name sternly.

Ji Zeqiu immediately caved, quietly murmuring an apology, “I’m sorry.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co