The girl kept eating.
Plate after plate disappeared before her. Rice. Vegetables. Meat. Soup. She devoured everything like she hadn't eaten in days.
Which, Lin Feng suspected, might actually be the case.
He just sat across from her, observing with a patient smile.
She looked way different now compared to what he remembered.
Shen Mengqi.
She was an idol from the future. Well, not really. She had been an idol before that, but he had no knowledge of her during that time.
He came to know her after a scandal.
In 2025, she had released a ten-thousand-page document exposing almost everyone in the idol and movie industry. Names, dates, evidence, testimonies - everything. It was a complete mess. The fallout had been catastrophic. Careers ended overnight. Agencies collapsed. Criminal investigations were launched.
Apparently, she used to be an idol herself but was blacklisted after refusing the advances of her superiors.
Lin Feng observed her as she shoved another spoonful of rice into her mouth.
Is she really the same person?
In the future, she had almost become the founder of a new era after the old idol industry collapsed. She trained new generations of idols under a completely different philosophy - one built on respect and fairness rather than exploitation.
She was still doing it when Lin Feng died.
Finally, she set down her chopsticks.
She wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked at him directly for the first time.
"What do you want with me?"
Her voice was flat.
Lin Feng raised his hands disarmingly.
"Don't be so cautious. You ate my food, after all."
She just kept staring at him.
He sighed.
"Alright. It's just like I told you earlier."
He leaned forward slightly.
"What would you think about debuting as an idol again?"
She shrugged.
"I can't."
Her tone was matter-of-fact.
"If you know who I am, then you know why."
She pushed back her chair and stood up.
"Thanks for the meal."
She turned to leave.
Lin Feng reached out and caught her wrist.
"Wait."
She froze.
"Hear me out first."
She didn't pull away, but she didn't sit back down either. She just stood there, looking at him with wary eyes.
"I know what happened to you," he said quietly. "No - I know what really happened to you."
Her expression flickered.
"I also know you're working on something big."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Something that could possibly reshape the entire industry."
Shen Mengqi stared at him.
The wariness in her gaze had transformed into something else.
Shock, confusion, and a hint of fear.
"How do you…"
"Sit down," he said gently. "Please."
She hesitated for a long moment.
Then, slowly, she sank back into her chair.
Lin Feng released her wrist.
"There's a slight flaw in your plan," he said.
She waited.
It seems she's hooked.
He leaned back.
"The problem is that you're just a single person."
He pointed at her.
"Do you think anyone would believe someone like you?"
She remained silent.
He was lying, of course.
People did believe her. She still had countless fans who were waiting for her return, even after all these years. When the document dropped in 2025, they rallied behind her immediately.
But she didn't need to know that.
The Shen Mengqi who made the exposé in the future was a completely different person compared to the Mengqi of today. Back then, she had conviction. Certainty. An unshakeable belief in what she was doing.
Right now, she had doubts.
And he could exploit them.
He offered her a smile.
"I want to offer you what you lack."
"And what is that?" she asked, her gaze suspicious.
"People. Or more accurately, an audience"
She frowned.
To be honest, while she did shake up the industry in the future, the industry didn't change as much as one would hope. While it looked all fine and dandy on the surface, at the heart of it all, the problem still persisted, albeit a little more restrained than before.
"How about this," he said. "I want you and me to build the dream agency you've always envisioned."
She blinked.
"One that doesn't exploit its talents. One that treats them like people, not products."
He tilted his head.
"That's your dream, right? Why don't you make it a reality?"
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"Think about it," he pressed on. "It can give you peace of mind while you work on what you're working on. And when the time comes, you'll have an agency that embodies everything you believe in. You'll have talents who stand by your side, who owe their careers to a system built on fairness. And by extension, their fans. An audience who will listen to what you have to say. You won't just be a single person."
His voice softened.
"You won't be alone, Mengqi."
She just looked at him.
Her expression was unreadable.
Lin Feng smiled and stood up.
"Well, take some time to think about it."
He signaled for the bill. When it arrived, he scanned the code and paid.
Then he reached into his pocket and placed a business card on the table.
"Call me when you've decided."
He turned and walked away.
Since I've already said what I wanted, the rest is up to her.
If he pushed too much, it might just push her away. It was best to wait for her to come around on her own.
At least he had made his existence clear to her.
That being said, he really hoped she would join him.
Mengqi's talent was out of this world. She was a jack of all trades who somehow managed to be a master in all of them. Dancing, singing, composing, choreography, stage direction - everything.
He was particularly interested in the composing part.
Well, they'd see how things turned out.
…
Shen Mengqi returned to her apartment.
She walked in lazily, kicking off her shoes without bothering to arrange them.
The place was a mess. Clothes strewn across furniture. Empty instant noodle cups piled in the corner. Curtains drawn, blocking out what little evening light remained.
She shuffled over to her desk where her laptop sat.
She pressed a button.
The screen lit up, prompting a password.
She entered it.
The display flickered to life, revealing an open document.
She scrolled through it slowly.
Page after page after page.
Names. Dates. Screenshots. Recordings. Testimonies.
It was quite long.
She stared at it for a moment.
Then she began typing.
A few characters in, her fingers stopped.
She looked down at her hands.
They were trembling.
What's happening?
Why was she nervous now? She had never hesitated before. Not once in the two years she had spent compiling this.
Was it because of what he said?
Lin Feng's words echoed in her mind.
"Do you think anyone would believe someone like you?"
"You won't be alone."
She looked to the side.
There, on the corner of her desk, was a photo frame covered in dust.
Five girls stood on a stage, smiling brightly under the spotlight. They wore matching outfits - white and pink, with ribbons in their hair. Their arms were linked together.
She reached out and wiped the dust away with her sleeve.
The faces became clearer.
She was in the center. Younger. Happier. Full of hope.
Would no one really listen to me?