Elisa suppressed her thoughts and said, “Mr. Louis, may I pass? I’m in a hurry to get off the plane.”
Louis obediently stepped aside and watched Elisa walk towards the exclusive passage. He caught up with her and continued to chatter behind her.
“Where are you heading after getting off the plane? Are you going directly to the hotel arranged by the director’s team? I’m heading there too. Do you have a lot of luggage? I can have my agent help you carry it…”
Jack thought to himself, “I’m an agent, not a laborer. Even if I were an assistant, it wouldn’t be to help you pick up girls.”
Elisa kept walking without pausing, and simply said, “Your fans are waiting for you outside. I don’t want to walk too close to you.”
Louis felt a pang of discomfort. It was the first time he felt that being too famous was a mistake. Why did he step into the entertainment industry in the first place? It was because a voice frequently appeared in his mind, telling him to stand in the most eye-catching place and be seen by a certain girl. He hadn’t understood why he had such juvenile thoughts before, but now, looking at Elisa ahead of him, he realized that only true strength disregarding anyone’s opinion could stand beside her.
He couldn’t be too hasty… being too eager would only repel Elisa. Louis could only silently remind himself in his mind and forcibly stop his steps, watching Elisa’s figure as she walked down the passage.
“Has my schedule been exposed?” he asked Jack behind him.
“Yes, some information has indeed leaked. It’s unavoidable. After all, everyone knows you’re going to be recording a show in Bankshire these two days, so fans have been waiting for you at the airport day and night.”
Louis furrowed his brow, feeling uneasy. He only cared about the outcome of his acting, not about becoming a top celebrity from the start. However, he had inadvertently become one.
He didn’t understand fan circles, and he had never paid attention to them. He heard that he even had a national fan support group, doing flash mobs…
“In the future, they are not allowed to come to the airport unless it’s necessary.”
Meeting idols at the airport was often organized by fan groups. Louis’s schedule was very secretive, hastily coming and going, and there hadn’t been a clear photograph of him for two years.
Louis didn’t like so many people coming to meet him at the airport. He felt it was unnecessary, and the congestion it caused in public areas wasn’t good.
Jack nodded. “I will inform the fan support group later.” But whether the fans wanted to listen or not was beyond his control. At best, he could provide guidance. Harsh as it may sound, everyone had their own independent consciousness and thinking ability. If they wouldn’t listen to their own parents at home, would they listen to just one person like you?
Louis’s next statement left Jack dumbfounded.
“If I see the airport congested because of them, I’ll report it directly to the police.”
Louis kept staring at Elisa’s direction from a distance until he couldn’t see her figure anymore, then he started to descend.
As they walked, he asked, “Didn’t you say Elisa didn’t recognize me and that’s why she didn’t flirt with me? How come I took off my sunglasses, even added her on Facebook, and she still didn’t flirt with me? Is my status not prominent enough, or am I not good-looking enough, not as fit as others, or do I not have a good voice?”
Jack was also puzzled. With Louis’s face, if he frequently used electricity on himself, he would go weak in the knees. But Elisa not only didn’t flirt with him, she didn’t even look at him more than necessary.
Moreover, online rumors said she liked to stir up scandals with male artists. This was a great opportunity for a scandal. There were fans waiting to pick up Louis at the airport. As long as Elisa came down with him, it would surely trend at the top.
After seriously questioning once, Louis still didn’t feel satisfied. He turned to look at Jack, his eyes filled with coldness, full of threat.
“Tell me, why isn’t she flirting with me? It’s such a good opportunity.”
“How would I know…” Jack thought to himself, “And what’s with that look of a child who hasn’t been given candy? Are you so eager to be flirted with?”
“Perhaps she’s playing hard to get,” Jack finally voiced his thoughts. “She’s deliberately catching your attention. She probably won’t be able to hold back during the show.”
“Really?” Louis didn’t believe Jack, and the way he put it didn’t sound like a good thing.
“Really, just rest assured. You’ll have plenty of time to interact with her in the future.”
This time, Louis was satisfied.
Seeing Louis looking like a pleased puppy, Jack felt even more frustrated. Louis had truly taken an interest in Elisa, and all Jack could do was hope deep down that Elisa wouldn’t be interested in Louis.
Elisa got off the plane smoothly and left the airport without any hindrance. Instead of immediately returning to the hotel, she went to a wonton noodle shop near her old school.
It had been a long time since she had been to this shop. She had thought she’d forgotten the taste, but as soon as she caught a whiff of the aroma emanating from the shop, it instantly triggered memories of its flavor.
Elisa walked in, found her old spot, and looked at the price list pinned to the wall.
In three years, prices had doubled. Previously, pork had been ten dollars per pound, now it was thirty dollars per pound. The wonton, once sold for eight dollars, was now sixteen.
Elisa had a small appetite, so she ordered a small portion. The shop owner, unchanged, warmly served her as before. The wontons were quickly cooked, with thin skins and generous fillings, floating in the milky white soup, garnished with chopped scallions and dried shrimp, with some seaweed at the bottom.
“Your wontons are ready,” the owner said.
“Thank you,” Elisa said. She removed her mask, took a spoon, first sipped the flavorful soup, then scooped up a wonton, blew on it, and took a bite.
“Delicious,” she said, and as she looked up, she noticed the shop owner staring at her face, in a daze.
Caught in the act of staring, the owner chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry, I just suddenly felt like you resemble someone.”
Elisa’s first thought was that the owner probably saw her in the hot search online.
Feeling uncomfortable, Elisa thought back to the times when she used to frequent the shop. The owner had always been kind to her, and she didn’t want to leave a bad impression. Elisa was a loyal person, remembering the kindness others had shown her.
She had often imagined what it would have been like if she had a mother. She imagined that her mother would have been just like the shop owner, worrying about her health, secretly adding extra wontons or a fried egg to her bowl, telling her not to go hungry and to wear more clothes when the weather got cold.
The shop owner’s face softened as she reminisced. “You look a lot like a young girl who used to come here to eat often a few years ago. She was as pretty as you, loved eating wontons, and was as slim as you…”
She murmured, “It’s been a long time since that girl came here. I don’t know if she’s adjusted to living elsewhere, if she’s in good health, or if she’s lost more weight.”