Chapter 236: The No-Name Star Beckons, the Benefactor Becomes a Simp 9

Chapter 236: A Nobody Crooks a Finger, and a Patron Turns into a Lapdog 9

The explosive popularity of the drama finally put his name out there on the internet.

Although Lin Huaiqing only appeared for about ten minutes in the main series, his stunning looks and portrayal of the character still caught the attention of many viewers.

The comments about him online were full of praise. Lin Huaiqing happily scrolled through fan-made videos and read the comments about him underneath them.

Happy Puppy: "Are you new here? How come I've never seen you before? [The Emperor meme]"

Strawberry Soy Sauce: "Handsome guy, wait up! I'll have Su Peisheng drive the imperial carriage to pick you up right now."

Grumpy Little Flying Dagger: "Is this a new actor? He looks a bit familiar."

Tesla Rare > Grumpy Little Flying Dagger: "I think I've seen him in a commercial before. He's probably in the industry."

Troll: "Am I the only one who thinks the doctor is the only one who genuinely treats the female lead well? The male lead is such a jerk—she might as well run off with the doctor!"

Reading these comments, Lin Huaiqing couldn't help but laugh. These netizens were straight-up geniuses.

They must have been cramming memes all night long!

"Ding-dong! Congratulations, host, your followers have surpassed 100,000! Keep up the good work!"

The system's voice snapped him back to reality, and Lin Huaiqing quickly opened his Weibo app, only to find that his follower count had jumped from a few thousand to 120,000.

So starring in a drama really does pull in fans! He'd only been in the show for less than ten minutes, and he'd already gained 100,000 followers.

At this rate, 30 million didn't seem so impossible after all.

With that thought, Lin Huaiqing felt a surge of motivation. He reached out to his agent on his own, hoping to get more work lined up while the buzz lasted.

Preferably, he wanted to land a role in a production.

But he waited three days, and not a single audition call came through. That shouldn't be happening, right?

By the fourth day, he couldn't take it anymore and went straight to the company.

His agent, Sister Li, was busy, so her assistant greeted him instead.

"Is Sister Li still on the phone? I wanted to ask her about lining up some work."

Just then, Sister Li got off the phone.

"Is that Xiao Lin outside? Send him in."

Lin Huaiqing stepped into the office and closed the door behind him.

"Sister Li!"

"Xiao Lin, I know you've gotten a bit of fame recently and want to strike while the iron's hot. I've also reached out to people about work. Guess what?"

Lin Huaiqing looked puzzled, his eyes wide and innocent. "What?"

"All the directors are afraid to hire you. I even asked about web series, and they all turned you down. Do you know why?"

"Huh?! Why?" Could it be that his acting was still too rough?

That shouldn't be the case either. He'd watched his scenes in that drama, and aside from a few awkward expressions that netizens had turned into memes, the rest should have been fine.

In the entertainment industry, Lin Huaiqing was like a clueless, fresh-out-of-college kid.

Sister Li was completely floored by his naivety.

"Think carefully about who you've offended in the industry. If it were just an ordinary celebrity, they wouldn't have frozen you out this hard."

That one sentence snapped him out of it.

He'd thought about the possibility of Fei Xiu retaliating, but he hadn't expected Fei Xiu to have this much pull in the industry.

Once a dragon ascends to heaven, everything on the ground turns to mud.

He hadn't known Fei Xiu had that kind of pull.

Wasn't this clearly cutting off his income, just waiting for him to come crawling back?

Before he even left Sister Li's office, Lin Huaiqing was clenching his jaw in anger.

Cutting off someone's income is like killing their parents.

Wasn't Fei Xiu afraid he'd fight back?

Unfortunately, without fame, he didn't even have a voice.

Even if he went online now and revealed his years-long relationship with Fei Xiu, he'd only be mocked by netizens as a delusional fan.

Besides, he couldn't be bothered with a move that would hurt himself as much as it hurt Fei Xiu.

Once he got famous later, he'd have plenty of chances to get back at Fei Xiu the right way.

Beyond that, he also felt bad for the original body's owner.

What was there to hold onto with a man like that?

Looks might pay the bills, but wouldn't you get sick of them eventually?

After three days of agonizing at home, Lin Huaiqing finally decided to swallow his pride and go see Fei Xiu.

A real man knows when to bend and when to stand firm.

Right now, Fei Xiu crushing his acting career was as easy as squashing a bug.

Besides, he was here to make money, not to fight with anyone. He needed to keep his head down.

None of it was real—bowing to Fei Xiu wasn't shameful. None of it was real...

Comforting himself with these thoughts, Lin Huaiqing made his way to Fei Xiu's place in the city center.

The original body's owner had never come here himself, afraid that their relationship would be exposed and hurt Fei Xiu's career.

Lin Huaiqing deliberately wore sunglasses, a hat, and a mask, so even if paparazzi snapped him, they wouldn't know who he was. Only then did he dare go to Fei Xiu's door.

He rang the doorbell a few times and waited forever before Fei Xiu finally came to the door.

"Who is it?" He sounded annoyed.

Once he was inside, Lin Huaiqing took off his hat. "Fei Xiu, it's me."

The second Fei Xiu saw Lin Huaiqing at his door, he froze and quickly peered through the peephole.

After confirming that no one was following Lin Huaiqing, Fei Xiu's tone eased a bit:

"Why are you here? Who told you to come? What if the paparazzi catch you? Could you maybe think about other people before you do stuff?"

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Lin Huaiqing forced himself to swallow the retort he wanted to make.

The original him was just too considerate of others' feelings, and that's what backed him into a corner.

He thought about others, but who ever thought about him?!

But he was here today to own up to his mistakes and beg Fei Xiu to cut him some slack. No matter what, he couldn't afford to start a fight with him.

"Fei Xiu... don't worry, dressed like this, no one will recognize me. Let's go inside to talk, alright? I've never even been to your place."

Seeing Lin Huaiqing back down like that, Fei Xiu, even though he was still annoyed, wasn't about to kick him out.

"Come in... wear shoe covers."

By the entryway, there was a pair of men's sneakers that clearly weren't Fei Xiu's size.

Looked like someone had beaten him to Fei Xiu's place.

As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a smaller, more delicate-looking guy sitting cross-legged on the living room sofa, laughing and joking around with Fei Xiu.

When the man noticed him enter, he didn't distance himself from Fei Xiu; instead, he placed a hand on Fei Xiu's shoulder and feigned surprise:

"Hey? Fei Xiu, is this the cleaner you hired? Why is it a guy?"

Looking at the fluffy slippers on the man's feet, then at the shoe covers he was wearing, he indeed looked like a cleaner in comparison.

"He's Lin Huaiqing, the one I mentioned to you before."

"Ah?!" Ji Jingzhao exclaimed in surprise, "Sorry... Brother Lin, my mouth's always running off like that. I didn't know you were Fei Xiu's childhood friend. My apologies!"