Chapter 15 - Swindler?
“What’s the matter?” Li Zhao saw Yan Ting looking at him and didn’t grab the grilled shrimp or talk. Li Zhao touched his face incredulously, “Do I have something strange on my face?”
“Yes.” Yan Ting took the grilled shrimp and looked away.
“What is it?” Li Zhao touched his face and also took out his mobile phone to take a look. There was clearly nothing. “Ting Ting, I didn’t expect you to have such thick eyebrows and big eyes. You will even deceive people.”
Yan Ting bowed his head and ate the shrimp without saying a word.
“There is your beauty.” Zhang Xiaoyuan hit Li Zhao on the forehead and held up a drink. “Mr Yan, this is the first time we’ve met. Zhao Zhao reminded me of this before I came that I can’t let you drink. Therefore, I’ll give you this drink instead of wine. This child has a straight and simple mind. If he offends you in the future then please tolerate it.”
Yan Ting held up the cup of herbal tea that cost a few yuan and clinked it against Zhang Xiaoyuan’s glass. “Li Zhao is very good.”
Zhang Xiaoyuan laughed. “I might be his agent but I have also raised him like he is my little brother. Unfortunately, he hasn’t received any fame in the past few years. If you need anything in the future, just tell me and I’ll help if possible.”
“Thank you.” The herbal tea was a little sweet and Yan Ting took a gentle sip.
“Since it is just us, don’t worry about being polite.” Zhang Xiaoyuan put down his herbal tea and rubbed his hands together. “Then we… will start.”
The moment he finished speaking, Yan Ting’s sideburns moved. It was because of the breeze created when Li Zhao reached out his hand. In the blink of an eye, the shrimp and lamb skewer roasted on the table had already flown into Li Zhao’s hand. Li Zhao held the shrimp in his left hand and lamb skewer in his right hand. He looked at Zhang Xiaoyuan’s empty hands proudly. “I knew you would definitely do this and was ready for it.”
“Yan Ting, come on.” Li Zhao put his spoils in a disposable box in front of Yan Ting. “Both of us will eat slowly.”
“Am I not your favourite brother anymore?” The pitiful Zhang Xiaoyuan picked up the last dish, baked potato chip and turned to wave to the boss. “Boss, two more lamb skewers and two pork ones.”
“Okay!” In the cold winter, the store owner was busy and sweaty. He turned to Li Zhao and grinned at them, expertly putting the ingredients on the grill.
“10 more shrimp, 10 skewers of enoki mushrooms and one spicy shrimp.” Li Zhao whispered to Yan Ting, “What else do you want to eat.”
Yan Ting was silent for a moment. “You’re in charge.”
“Then let’s have 10 more skewers of pork.” Li Zhao hit Zhang Xiaoyuan’s hand that was stretching for Yan Ting’s plate. “I’m telling you, the boss’ pork skewers is a must. It isn’t greasy and is fragrant.”
The diners in the crowded store talked loudly but didn’t interfere with each other, creating a tacit harmony. Once the delivery boss came back, she took the remote control out of the cupboard, turned on the TV and hurriedly turned to help her husband.
It was unknown how old the TV was. It kept shaking until a clear picture finally appeared. This happened to be the Xiangguo Station. Li Zhao calculated the time. It seemed the program he had recorded would be broadcasted tonight.
“Forget it, I’ll let it go tonight.” Zhang Xiaoyuan took advantage of when Li Zhao wasn’t paying attention to steal two skewers of beef from Yan Ting’s bowl, slowly eating it. “Tonight’s barbecue is to celebrate your first time on a famous TV program.”
Li Zhao stated, “However, tonight I am paying.”
“It doesn’t matter who pays, the important thing is the heart.” Zhang Xiaoyuan raised his wrist and looked at the time. “The program will start in two minutes.”
Hearing Zhang Xiaoyuan’s words, even Yan Ting put down the food in his hand and turned to look at the old TV hanging on the wall. In this noisy store, no one was interested in the TV contents except for the three of them.
It took three or four hours to record the program, only for a few dozen minutes to be played. Li Zhao felt that he didn’t have a sense of variety but the editing effect was very good. During the paixiao performance, the program team also put several scenes where the moved audience had red eyes. He silently thought that the program team must’ve spent money on the audience with acting skills.
The program lasted dozens of minutes, interspersed with ads longer than the program. The three people weren’t in a hurry to leave. They ate barbecue while watching TV at the same time. The game portion was filmed first but it was placed after the talent show. In the program, Li Zhao did three jumps to reach the horizontal bar, finished 20 pull ups and grabbed the toy ball first.
The screams coming from the TV was enough to make Zhang Xiaoyuan guess the excitement at the scene. He looked at Li Zhao emotionally. This boy was 20 years old and only started showing his charms. Once he reached his prime in a few years, it was unknown how many girls would be fascinated by him.
“Let me see this flowery face. What girl will get it later?” Zhang Xiaoyuan had a toast with Li Zhao. “Come, let’s toast to Li Zhao’s future girlfriend.”
Yan Ting reached for the herbal teapot and didn’t join in the clinking. His eyes were on the TV screen. The young man in the white shirt smiled happily at the camera. He was like a little sun that wantonly exuded warmth.
Dazzling, too dazzling.
Xiangxiang was a loyal audience of this program. Every Saturday, she sat on the couch and ate snacks while watching the show. It was her essential way to decompress every week. She was looking forward to the guests, only for the program team to suddenly change it. She was disappointed but still turned on the TV and watched snacks casually.
Then this inattention disappeared after seeing the face of one of the guests. She stared at the television for a long time until the advertising started. Then she excitedly pulled out her phone and opened the chat group to share this handsome guy with her friends.
Xiangxiang: Sisters, come see a handsome man. There will be a surprise when you turn on Xiangguo TV!
Bean bean: Didn’t you say that the combination you liked cancelled the recording? A few days ago, you were still complaining that this episode won’t be interesting. Why are you so excited today?
Xiangxiang: The essence of human beings is truly fragrant. Sisters, I have told you these words. Once he becomes truly fragrant later, don’t blame me for not informing you.
After replying with this message, Xiangxiang had no time to take care of her friends. She took advantage of the advertising time to send a Weibo post about the program.
Xiangxiang: Begging passersby to kindly tell me, who is that handsome guy in the white shirt on tonight’s episode of ‘There Exists a Person with the Same Profession as You’. Whose smile made my heart numb? Kneeling down to my fellow sisters!
Xiangxiang was an active fan of this program and her post was quickly commented on.
Salt on Bean Paste Bun: Sister, this is my new collection. He is a newcomer with few works. His name is Li Zhao and he recently acted in a drama being shown on Green Pepper Video. You can search for it if you’re interested.
Xiangxiang thanked the warm-hearted netizen. She saw it was the end of advertising time and hastily put down her phone. She stared closely at the TV, not wanting to miss any scenes of this little brother.
Her friends chat group sent her messages from time to time but unfortunately, before beauty, all sisterhood could be turned into plastic.
Li Zhao easily doing 20 pull ups was so handsome. Li Zhao using the paixiao to play a small country tune was called talent and temperament. In the later parts, the other guests mentioned their rich friends, who had famous brand bags or private aircraft. Once it was Li Zhao’s turn, he mentioned a demolished and relocated household.
Helicopters, luxury villas and cruise ships were too far away from the general public but the word ‘relocation’ was able to mobilize everyone’s nerves. These days, many young people couldn’t buy an apartment with their own strength. They dreamt of owning a house that completely belonged to them.
Thus, when they heard that Li Zhao’s friends actually had two buildings, they genuinely felt envious. Being rich wasn’t important. The important thing was that they appreciated Li Zhao’s friend. They didn’t know where to get such a friend.
As the envious audience watched, Li Zhao on the television was still talking about his friend. “My friend is very good. He knows that I am too poor to afford a house and asked me to move to his house.”
“So you went?” The host seemed to be very concerned about this matter.
“No.” Li Zhao shook his head with a smile. “He is so good. How can I take advantage of him?”
Hearing this, Xiangxiang was very moved. The more precious the friendly, the more reluctant a person was to destroy it. It could be seen that Li Zhao attached great importance to this friendship.
She thoughtfully picked up her phone and opened her friends chat group. She found that her sisters were all infatuated, talking about how their Zhao Zhao was really warm. Then she closed the chat group with a blank expression.
She was worried. This group of dogs really wouldn’t miss a good-looking person.
In the barbecue store, Zhang Xiaoyuan stared at this content with eyes full of doubt. “Zhao Zhao, you really have a friend with two buildings?” He knew Li Zhao’s friends and they were poor. None of them was rich.
“I do.” Li Zhao placed a hand on Yan Ting’s shoulder and raised his chin proudly. “Here.”
Zhang Xiaoyuan stared. “Mr Yan, do you really have two buildings?”
Yan Ting nodded slightly. “Yes.”
The moment that Yan Ting nodded, he was no longer a person on Zhang Xiaoyuan’s eyes. Instead, he was a golden treasure that shone seductively.
“I’m full.” Li Zhao rubbed his stomach and pulled down his cap. “Let’s go home.”
Zhang Xiaoyuan’s senses hadn’t returned. He followed Li Zhao and Yan Ting and waited until a black car parked in front of them before remembering he had something to do. “Zhao Zhao, I’m returning to my parent’s home tonight. I won’t be able to go with you.”
“Okay,” Li Zhao nodded. “You be careful on the way.”
“I’ll send you home.” Yan Ting’s cheeks were pale in the night, making him look particularly aloof.
Zhang Xiaoyuan was stunned before smiling. “No, my parents’ house isn’t far away.” Then he rode his little electric scooter and rode away as fast as lightning.
Li Zhao took the car back to his rental place. He had just climbed up the stairs when a dark shadow at the door ran toward him. He subconsciously stretched out his legs and kicked the person. The dark shadow crashed into the wall and let out a poor cry.
“Don’t move or I’ll call the police.” Li Zhao looked at the shadow with caution.
“T-Teacher Li Zhao, I’m Cao Jia, the assistant to the president of Strawberry Entertainment.” The assistant had been waiting at the door of Li Zhao’s rental house for most of the door. It wasn’t easy to wait for someone, only for him to be kicked before he could speak.
Wasn’t Li Zhao an idol actor? How could he kick people like a martial arts drama? The assistant kicked the painful place where he was kicked and looked up at the corridor’s light that wasn’t lit. “I previously contacted your agent but perhaps there was a misunderstanding in the conversation. Thus, Mr Sun arranged for me to come over to discuss it with you in detail.”
Li Zhao, “??”
Now swindlers didn’t cheat online? They also followed offline?
The author has something to say:
Li Zhao: Do you think this baby is three years old, so easy to cheat?