Chapter 21 - Encounter
Unfortunately, the housekeeper’s joy and sorrow couldn’t be seen.
Li Zhao pulled Yan Ting to the sofa, rummaged through his medicine box and stuffed the thermometer into Yan Ting’s hands. “Obediently sit here and I’ll get you a cup of hot water.” Then he took out a cartoon cup from the box, washing it clean, circled the house and found the water dispenser.
“You’re sick and need to drink more hot water.” Li Zhao tested the water temperature with the back of his hand. He handed the cup over and took the thermometer. “37.9 degrees. It is a low-grade fever and for now, you don’t need to take antipyretics.”
“Did you get a cold when you came down from the company last night without a coat?” Li Zhao frowned ruefully. “I knew I should’ve gone upstairs or at least reminded you to wear a coat.”
“My body isn’t good.” Yan Ting coughed twice. “Last night, I forgot to close the window. It has nothing to do with you.”
The housekeeper looked at the cartoon cup with a big doll head and the words ‘Tomorrow will be Better’. He smiled at the ridiculous mug and shifted his gaze.
One of the basic criteria for a qualified housekeeper: Smile gracefully at the employer’s family-related things, no matter how surprising. He was the best graduate of the housekeeping university and would never allow himself to show the slightest flaw.
The temperature of the water wasn’t hot or cold. It was just right to go down his throat. Yan Ting lay on the sofa and watched Li Zhao busy unpacking, as well as coming back from time to time to replace the towel on Yan Ting’s forehead. His heart was strangely quiet. His brain had never been as stable as this moment.
“The housekeeper uncle said there will be a lot of delicious food at noon but you are in this situation and can only eat light food.” Li Zhao sympathetically patted the hot towel on Yan Ting’s forehead. “Don’t be sad. I’ll accompany you to eat porridge for the next two days. Once you are well, I’ll invite you to a fancy meal.”
Yan Ting let Li Zhao pat his towel. Then once Li Zhao took the towel away, Yan Ting got up. “Okay.”
At noon, the table was indeed full of food. Li Zhao dragged his stool away from the table where Zhang Xiaoyuan was sitting and held the rice porridge in front of him. The bowl of porridge was soon in his belly. Li Zhao was ready to eat a second bowl when he saw that Yan Ting’s bowl of porridge was barely touched. “Are you unable to eat because you have stomach pains?”
Yan Ting put down the bowl and wiped his mouth with his handkerchief. “It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“What do you mean? Don’t worry about you?” Li Zhao put down the bowl and was ready to add rice. “If you’re sick and don’t eat, how can your body last?”
“Just wait.” He got up and ran to the kitchen, bringing out a bowl of sour cowpeas. “This is my pickled cowpeas. Previously, the aunt who took care of my made it and it is particularly delicious. I got her recipe and it is delicious, especially when two drops of sesame oil is poured on it. You aren’t accustomed to eating this so you should try it first.”
The sour cowpeas were slightly spicy and the pickling time was good. There was a crisp texture and salty taste. It was a bit sour and went very well with the light rice porridge.
“How is it?” Li Zhao looked at Yan Ting with some anticipation.
“Good.” Yan Ting didn’t frown even when eating the sour cowpeas. Thanks to the sour cowpeas, Yan Ting barely managed to eat half a bowl of rice porridge. By the time he put down the chopsticks, Li Zhao had already eaten three bowls of porridge.
“Wait another 30 minutes and I’ll give you some cold medicine to drink.” Li Zhao got up with the bowls. “After taking the medicine, lie down for a while. Remember not to let any cold wind blow on you.”
“Mr Li, please leave that for the staff.” The housekeeper came over at the right time and stopped Li Zhao from picking up the chopsticks. “You should accompany your friend to sit on the sofa and rest.”
“Work hard.” Li Zhao noticed that Yan Ting wasn’t in a good condition and didn’t insist on these small things. He accompanied Yan Ting to sit on the sofa watching TV.
He just turned on a channel that was playing a martial arts drama. The male protagonist who was a cultivator was floating in the sky. His face couldn’t be seen but this scene caused the female audience’s infinite reverie.
“I acted in this drama.” Li Zhao saw himself on the television and happily shared it with Yan Ting. “At that time, the male star’s waist was uncomfortable and he couldn’t shoot many wire action scenes. I helped him shoot it. The crew gave me money and the male star gave me a red envelope. I made a lot of money from them.”
The two people watched TV for 30 minutes. At the end of the TV series, Li Zhao went to the kitchen to get the cold medicine for Yan Ting. After dozens of seconds of advertising, the television station started to broadcast entertainment interview programs. The interview happened to be the main actor of the previous drama.
“Brother Nan, I heard that recently you starred in the hot martial arts drama ‘Heroic Ruler’ and many of the difficult action scenes were personally done by you. You didn’t use a stand-in. Can you share with us any difficulties you encountered in the filming process?”
“As a professional actor, I try not to use a stand-in as much as possible. This is my principle when filming.” The man in the expensive suit chatted in front of the camera. There were many microphones with a logo in front of him and the sound of the cameras never stopped.
“Ting Ting.” Li Zhao brought out medicine. “The medicine is a bit hot. Let it cool for a while before drinking it.
Yan Ting picked up the remote control and turned off the TV.
‘Why aren’t you watching TV?” Li Zhao sat down beside him and tested Yan Ting’s forehead with the back of his hand. “Okay, your body temperature hasn’t risen.”
“I’m dizzy.” Yan Ting’s eyelids lowered and he looked very sick.
Li Zhao heard that Yan Ting was dizzy and didn’t care about watching TV. He placed the sofa cushion against Yan Ting’s waist. “Don’t go back to your place. Go to my room to rest first. The bedsheets have just been changed and no one has slept in them.”
Yan Ting was silent and didn’t speak, but based on Li Zhao’s understanding of Yan Ting, the silence was an agreement.
Zhang Xiaoyuan was full of food and drinks. He saw Li Zhao taking care of the sick Yan Ting and opened his mouth. “Zhao Zhao, I’ll go back first. Tonight, Overbearing Female President has a local offline promotional activity. The crew wants to invite you to attend. If you don’t want to go then I can help you push it.”
Li Zhao asked, “Are there any appearance fees?”
“It is a publicity campaign outside the contract so there is an appearance fee.”
“Take it.” Li Zhao was still very enthusiastic about activities that involved money.
“After 5 o’clock in the afternoon, I will bring someone over to do your styling.” Zhang Xiaoyuan stood up. “Da Ke and I will go back to the company first to choose the right script for you.”
Zhang Xiaoyuan and Da Ke left. Li Zhao watched Yan Ting drink the medicine and then took him to the room. “You lie down for a while. I will sit on the balcony and read the script to accompany you. Call me if you need anything.”
The quilt on the bed was only 70-80% new. It was covered with a light soap smell. Yan Ting watched Li Zhao sitting on the balcony and slowly closed his eyes.
A long time passed before Li Zhao put down the script and got up to help cover Yan Ting with the blanket. Then he switched his phone to silent mode.
As the popularity of Overbearing Female President increased on the Internet, more people became concerned with Li Zhao and scolded Song Yu. Song Yu had been staying at home these days and angrily destroyed his mouse when he saw the online barrage.
“In order to reverse what the audience thinks of you, a more challenging role is needed.” The agent didn’t seem to see Song Yu’s anger. “I’ll arrange for you to join another crew and you just have to act well. The audience is fickle. As long as you get a role they like, they won’t criticize you.”
“If there is a role suitable for that guy then give him one.” Song Yu kicked aside the mouse fragments, full of displeasure. “I have to pay back my debt to feel comfortable.”
“Who?” The agent didn’t react for a moment. “Who did you say? Li Zhao?”
“Who else if not him?” Song Yu looked away. “You casually pick an important role that I can’t play and throw it to him. In any case, he can’t dream of accessing these resources with his own contacts.”
“There is something I didn’t tell you.” The agent’s expression subtly changed. “We owe Li Zhao but I’m afraid it isn’t so easy to pay him back.”
“What do you mean?” Song Yu frowned. “Did Li Zhao’s agent open his mouth and mention other requirements?”
“No.” The agent shook his head. “Li Zhao signed with Strawberry Entertainment. I heard that Strawberry Entertainment considers him to be very important. They not only tailored a work team for him but also gave him a lot of resources.”
“Impossible!” Song Yu’s expression became very strange. “How can he sign with Strawberry Entertainment?”
The agent thought he was unwilling to accept it and could only persuade Song Yu. “The news hasn’t been released yet but many people in the industry have heard about it. I told you many times and will repeat it again today. Your development route is different from his. Now he has Strawberry Entertainment behind him. All the fans think you are good friends with him and you should maintain this friendship.”
Song Yu’s heart was beating like thunder and he didn’t hear what the agent said. In his dream of the future, Li Zhao might’ve relied on Overbearing Female President to become popular but he didn’t sign with Strawberry Entertainment. He experienced a lot of pain and suffered many hardships before becoming a first-class idol actor.
Were all these changes due to him switching Li Zhao’s role?
It turned out this month of tricks was just for Li Zhao. He was scolded in his dream and still scolded in reality. Li Zhao was popular in the dream and even more successful after his original trajectory was changed.
“Fuck!” Song Yu understood this and couldn’t help scolding. “I really hit something evil.”
“Don’t speak dirty words!” The agent warned seriously. “Song Yu, many of your friends are underage. You have to pay attention!”
“I know not to swear in front of the fans.” Song Yu’s mood was a bit bad. “Why are you saying that Li Zhao is hotter than me?”
“Do you want to hear the truth or the lie?”
“What is the lie?”
“He is a poor man himself so he can naturally play the character.”
“What is the truth?”
The agent was silent for a moment. “He acted well, causing the female audience to love him. The most important thing is… he looks better than you.”
Song Yu, “……”
Why did he ask such a damaging question?
As night came, Yan Ting pushed open a door that he didn’t usually go to.
“Sir, you’re on time today.” Dr Sun saw him enter and smiled at him. Then he pointed to the lounge chair next to him. “It looks like you have time to chat to me today.”
Yan Ting went to sit down on the recliner. He didn’t speak and the room was very quiet. Since he didn’t speak, Dr Sun also didn’t open his mouth and tried to reduce his sense of existence. This person was the least cooperative of all his patients.
Before long, he noticed the man on the recliner move. He took off his glasses and took a listening posture. It was great when patients were willing to take the initiative to speak. The lights in the room were very warm but the man on the recliner didn’t relax. He was on guard against Dr Sun and everything in the room.
It was a long silence. Just as Dr Sun thought this person wouldn’t speak, Yan Ting opened his mouth. “I met someone.”
“He is very strange.”