Chapter 19: Foot Fetish


    Zhi Qi stayed in theboratory until nightfall, and only then did she have time to check her phone. The Weibo private message that popped up on the screen was from the afternoon, and when Zhi Qi saw the two characters ‘Jiang Qi’, her brow couldn’t help but twitch.


    —This guy actually replied to her through the official Weibo?


    Zhi Qi couldn’t help butugh and cry. After opening the message, it was the first message from Jiang Qi in over two months: [WeChat ID, okay?]


    Sure enough, it was typical of Jiang Qi’s way of speaking.


    Bluntly stating the WeChat ID in front of her, yet the word ‘okay?’ were cautious enough to make Zhi Qi close her eyes and recall the high school days when Jiang Qi was with her, disying a hesitant and eager demeanor.


    At that time, the most ‘daring’ thing they did was holding hands.


    Oh, right, there was also… feet.


    Thinking of some past incidents, Zhi Qi’s fair ears couldn’t help but blush a bit.


    In high school, she and Jiang Qi loved going to the rooftop of San Zhong when no one was around. Despite the scorching heat in the summer and the shivering cold in winter, the highest point remained quiet and serene, serving as their ‘secret base.’On the rooftop, there were several high steps where they could sit. Once, when Zhi Qi climbed up, the hook on the side of the stairs identally unhooked her shoes.


    It was summer, and the girl was wearing thin sandals. When her shoe fell, she instinctively eximed, “Oh!”


    “Sit down,” Jiang Qi said, jumping down to help her retrieve the shoe.


    The young man had a tall and slender figure, and when he bent over, the butterfly bone on his back protruded, resembling the elegant skeleton of a spreading butterfly.


    However, what Zhi Qi noticed was: Jiang Qi is really thin.


    “Jiang Qi.” So the young girl, chin in hand, looked at him with an almost worried expression. “Why are you so skinny?”


    Jiang Qi was momentarily stunned. Then, he ambiguously smiled, not answering. Carrying the girl’s dainty shoe, the boy climbed the steps and paused in front of her. Originally, he should have handed the shoe to Zhi Qi for her to put on herself, but as fate would have it, Jiang Qi inexplicably squatted down in front of the girl.


    The young man’s long eyshes hung slightly, covering his emotionallyplex azure eyes. He stared nkly at the girl’s delicate and exquisite foot.


    That foot was as fair as jade, so translucent that you could see the blue veins under the skin. The toes curled slightly, tender, smooth, and not even enough to fill a grasp. Although difficult to articte, this was the first time Jiang Qi had a vivid memory of the girl’s feet, with even some indescribable desire.


    Unaware, Zhi Qi, seeing him squat down, naturally wiggled her small foot and said, “Help me put it on.”


    .


    Jiang Qi wanted to be despicable, but he ‘went with the flow.’


    He pursed his lips, and his slender fingers gently grasped the girl’s delicate ankle, feeling a sudden sensation of burning at his fingertips. Never before had he experienced this feeling, as if an inexplicable fire had burned from his fingertips to his heart.


    Involuntarily, Jiang Qi held onto the girl’s foot. Zhi Qi hesitated for a moment, subconsciously wanting to retract but resisting the urge. Because… Jiang Qi’srge hand could actually envelop her entire foot, quite magical. The girl blinked her eyes in astonishment, staring nkly at him.


    After a brief standoff, Jiang Qi hastily released his hand and then helped Zhi Qi put on her shoes. In the awkward and stumbling movements, both of them couldn’t help but blush a little. Later, there were a few more times when Jiang Qi helped her put on shoes.


    The young man seemed to enjoy this “job” very much, looking like a true foot fetishist.


    Looking back now, it seems like the sensation of Jiang Qi holding her foot still lingers. Zhi Qi couldn’t help but bite her lip unconsciously, curling her toes in her slippers.


    She sighed lightly and resignedly sent her WeChat ID to Jiang Qi. This could be considered as the two finally having a means of contact. From now on, the private messages on Weibo’s “Confession Box” would disappear.


    She felt a bit regretful, but when she thought about Jiang Qi having seen all those private messages himself, Zhi Qi couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. Taking a deep breath, she picked up her change of clothes from the bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up.


    By the time Zhi Qi emerged from the bathroom, covered in mist, it was almost nine o’clock, and Meng Chunyu still hadn’t returned. But Zhi Qi wasn’t surprised— that girl always liked to hang out in the “night scene”, so she wouldn’te back until just before curfew in the dormitory.


    Zhi Qi walked to the table, still drying her hair with a towel, and picked up her phone. She saw a new friend request notification on WeChat, with the nickname simply being a period (‘.’) and the profile picture nk.


    Without needing to think, Zhi Qi knew it was from Jiang Qi. The young girl smiled as she tossed aside the towel and epted his friend request.


    Jiang Qi was probably tinkering with his phone because he quickly sent a message, simply saying: “[Qiqi].”


    Actually, many people called her by that name, but only when Jiang Qi called her that did Zhi Qi feel the most excited. The girl lightly chuckled and bit her lip, replying: “[Hmm].”


    Even if she liked Jiang Qi in her heart, she didn’t want to show it all too quickly. She had to keep herposure. Unless… Jiang Qi was willing to confess everything to her, tell her the ins and outs of the bizarre and surreal events four years ago, the feeling of being kept in the dark all this time was really ufortable.


    [Jiang Qi: Can I send you messages often?]


    Jiang Qi was indeed Jiang Qi, always straightforward with his questions. Zhi Qi replied reservedly: [After ss.]


    If it were an ordinary guy, he would probably take the opportunity to ask for Zhi Qi’s ss schedule. But Jiang Qi—


    [Jiang Qi: Then I’ll send you a message every hour, and you can reply whenever you have time.]


    …


    While Zhi Qi was speechless, she couldn’t help but feel a bit amused by Jiang Qi’s straightforwardness. Jiang Qi probably didn’t dare to ask her for her ss schedule.


    With a soft sigh, Zhi Qi replied: [Okay.]


    At the same time, a notification popped up on Weibo, and unfortunately, it was about Jiang Qi’s trending hashtag.


    The words “#JiangQiXInYourMom#” looked vulgar and malicious, causing Zhi Qi’s eyebrows to furrow deeply.


    As her anger surged, she quickly took a screenshot and sent it to Jiang Qi: [What’s going on?]


    Why does Jiang Qi always have so many weird trending topics? It’s really infuriating. Zhi Qi was so angry that she almost couldn’t help but pound the table.


    On the other side, Jiang Qi was realizing for the first time that these messy trending topics were quite annoying—usually, he would just ignore them. After all, things he couldn’t see or touch through the inte didn’t affect him, so why bother exining? But if Zhi Qi misunderstood, then it would be different.


    Furrowing his brow, Jiang Qi regretted his careless words to the reporter at the fan meeting.


    But fundamentally, it all stemmed from the rumors about his “attempted sexual assault on a teenage girl.” It seemed like it was time to clear things up.


    So Jiang Qi logged into Weibo directly and straightforwardly posted a “statement”—


    [@JiangQiV: No sexual assault. The reporter started the rumor first, then cursed at me. That’s all.]


    After posting it straightforwardly, he didn’t care about the aftermath and just closed Weibo.


    Then he went back to chatting with Zhi Qi on WeChat: [Exnation done.]


    This whole demeanor was like someone seeking praise. And the Weibo post he just made had naturally been pushed everywhere as a hot topic.


    Upon seeing it, Zhi Qi couldn’t help but reply to him with a chuckle: [Is this how you usually handle rumors?]


    [Jiang Qi: I don’t usually handle rumors.]


    …


    Zhi Qi was once again speechless. She suddenly felt that even though she was an outsider to this circle, a 2G girl who originally only paid attention to the entertainment industry because of him, she still seemed to be more mature than Jiang Qi.


    “You can’t do this,” Zhi Qi told him earnestly. “You need to have a better attitude, otherwise you’ll just get criticized.”


    The slightly worried tone from the young girl made Jiang Qi unable to help but feel likeughing, because he felt that Zhi Qi was caring about him.


    As long as she could care for him, what did it matter if he was criticized by those people online? So Jiang Qi replied: [Okay.]


    What Zhi Qi didn’t know was that Jiang Qi didn’t care whether he could continue to thrive in the entertainment industry, or whether he offended anyone externally. To him, this fame and fortune arena was just a ce where he could leave at any time.


    But Zhi Qi thought that Jiang Qi wanted to take acting as a job. Thinking about the “enlightenment” from Meng Chunyu in her ear during this period, the girl pretended to be mature and said to him:


    [Zhi Qi: You can’t let those marketing ounts constantly criticize you. They’re all, um, hiring water armies. Shouldn’t you also sign with apany? That way you can counter the criticism.]


    She remembered Chunyu saying that Jiang Qi’s current miserable situation of being criticized was not only because of his own scandals, but also because he hadn’t signed with apany and had no one to hire a marketing agency to counter the criticism. So, if he signed with apany, would Jiang Qi’s treatment on the inte be better? Actually, Zhi Qi didn’t understand these things. She just listened to Meng Chunyu’s “guidance” as a fan girl.


    Not long after she sent the message, Jiang Qi replied.


    His obedient response: [Okay.]


    Actually, whether to sign with apany or not, whether anyone counter-criticized him, didn’t matter to Jiang Qi. But since Zhi Qi hoped he would take his work seriously and follow the right path, then he might as well sign.


    So the next day, when Shen Lei took him to the audition at Qiu Heng’s studio, before he could even say anything about the “statement” fromst night, Jiang Qi asked him with a cigarette in his mouth, “Does yourpany still want to sign me?”


    …


    Shen Lei almost didn’t brake the car in time, looking at him in astonishment. “What did you say?”


    “Signing with apany,” Jiang Qi’s response confirmed that Shen Lei wasn’t hearing things. He said indifferently, “Didn’t you say before that I should sign with apany?”


    He didn’t know which one to choose anyway, so he might as well sign with thepany where Shen Lei was.


    “…Wait, how did your attitude change like this?” Shen Lei was both surprised and delighted, unable to help butugh. “Are you really going to sign?”


    For Jiang Qi to have this kind of enlightenment, it felt like the sun was rising in the west?


    “Really.” Jiang Qi’s expression was surprisingly gentle as he pursed his lips. “Zhi Qi told me to sign.”


    Since Shen Lei asked why he wanted to sign with apany, Jiang Qi wouldn’t hide it. Anyway, Shen Lei also knew who Zhi Qi was, so there was nothing to hide. And upon hearing this, Shen Lei couldn’t help but admire the girl named Zhi Qi from miles away.


    Just a few days, just one meeting, and she could change Jiang Qi’s attitude from “quitting the entertainment industry and opening a supermarket” to “signing with apany.” She could tame Jiang Qi’s temperament, which was as unruly as a wild donkey. Wasn’t she amazing?


    Most importantly, with over a dozenpanies wanting to sign Jiang Qi, none of them had a chance topete, giving the Chen Ding Entertainment where he was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tsk tsk, Shen Lei decided to suggest to thepany’s high-levelster to treat Zhi Qi, whom he had never met, as a “Buddha” and see how it went.