Chapter 45 - New Year’s Money
Facts proved that neither Li Zhao or Yan Ting had the talent for making dumplings. The aunt saw the two of them roll the dumpling skin thick and thin, round and square. Thus, she had to take over the task of rolling the dumpling skin and let them do the filling.
The dumplings made by both men were ugly but they were a different type of ugly. Mr Li’s dumplings were fat and big. He stuffed enough filling for two dumplings inside one dumpling skin. The boss’ dumplings were fat and dry so that the dumpling skin could be torn into five pieces. Well, the families who were short of meat saved money by making dumplings like this.
Once most of the dumplings were wrapped, the two people’s novelty also passed. They washed their hands and face clean of flour and changed into clean clothes. LI Zhao held the table and played games while Yan Ting opened the laptop that Li Zhao gave him to do work.
The sky was darkening and Li Zhao’s performance in the game was too bad that he was ridiculed by a fifth grader. He quit the game and looked out the window. ”It’s dark.”
Yan Ting looked up at him. “Are you hungry?”
“No, today we’re going to turn on the TV and watch the Spring Festival Gala.” Throwing the tablet aside, Li Zhao turned on the TV. It was just after seven o’clock and the national channel was still broadcasting the news.
It was the Spring Festival so even the news broadcast was full of joy. The hostess was wearing a red suit for the occasion.
“Since the new year is coming, we visited many citizens on the street and listened to their wishes for the Spring Festival.”
“Round and round, to have one’s wishes come true.”
“For my family to be helpful and in good health.”
“Peace and prosperity. It should become more prosperous with every passing day.”
“Ah?!” Li Zhao saw his face appear for two or three seconds in the news broadcast and his entire body froze for half a minute.
“Ting Ting!!!”
The shout was so shocking that Yan Ting typed out a wrong line of data.
“I’m on the news!” Li Zhao danced happily. “I’m on the news broadcast!”
Yan Ting saw that he was as happy as a dog and placed his laptop in a safe place. He was afraid that Li Zhao wouldn’t be able to control his mood and would break the laptop.
“I can brag for the rest of my life!” Li Zhao wanted to roll around on the sofa. He had nowhere to vent his ecstasy so he could only rush over and hug Yan Ting’s neck. “Wait, I’ll let the editor of my studio cut those few seconds and leave it for my descendants to see!”
Descendants? Yan Ting’s eyes dimmed as he looked down at Li Zhao hanging around his neck. “Don’t trouble others with such little things. I’ll help you cut it.”
“Yes, in those seconds, half of your face was shown.” Li Zhao’s excitement wasn’t over. “In the future, we can brag to everyone. The national channel has sealed our identities as good brothers.”
Yan Ting said, “Even decades later, everyone will know that you’re with me.
“What?” Li Zhao didn’t hear what Yan Ting said.
“I mean, “Yan Ting spoke slowly. “Everyone will know that we’re close brothers.”
“I’m also pleased.”
Li Zhaochao, a fan of Li Zhao, carefully sent a message. “I just accompanied my parents to watch the news broadcast and found that a passerby that was interviewed looked a lot like our baby.”
She was afraid of other fans seeing this and saying that the Li fans were delusional, so she was very careful in her wording. She was afraid that if she spoke one word wrong, it would cause trouble to her baby.
“+1. I almost screamed when I saw that the eyes above the mask looked like our baby.”
“I didn’t dare say it but I really felt like it was our baby.”
“The person beside the masked boy showed only half his face but he looked extremely handsome. When the masked brother was talking, I noticed that his eyes kept watching the masked brother.
“I-I think he might be the local tyrant that our baby mentioned.”
“Don’t guess. If other fans see this then they will take the opportunity to blacken our baby. Don’t talk about these things.”
“I understand that truth but why does the masked brother look so much like our baby?”
Some fans deliberately cut out the scene under the unified name of the national channel interviewing passersby. However, the face value of the masked boy obviously surpassed the other citizens.
“Not only is the appearance similar, the voice is also similar.”
“Even if only half the handsome man’s face is shown, I really think he is our baby’s local tyrant. I think I might enter a cult.”
“Upstairs CP fan, currently it isn’t sure if the masked brother is Zhao Zhao. Don’t talk nonsense about Zhao Zhao.”
Luo Rong was spending the Spring Festival with his wife and children at home. Suddenly, he received a text message from Li Zhao who said it was on the news, scaring Luo Rong. Was it a violation of the law or a big accident? The whole team WeChat group was startled. They really didn’t want to work overtime during the Spring Festival!
Once Li Zhao sent the video of the enthusiastic citizen to the group, everyone was silent. Luo Rong stared at the moving image for a moment. Then he had to believe that Li Zhao was really lucky. He went shopping while wearing a mask and managed to meet a reported from the national channel. Even if they encountered the interview, it could actually be edited into the news broadcast. This could be called an ancestral blessing. In the circle, sometimes it was necessary to believe in fate. Artists who could encounter chances were really lucky.
Someone in the team asked if they should buy a hot search to market this matter.
Luo Rong: No, tonight we are all watching the Spring Festival evening programs. Other news won’t become hotter than the evening festivities. Wait a few days.
What’s more, even if they didn’t do publicity, the fans with eyes could recognize that one of the enthusiastic citizens was Li Zhao.
The Li fans indeed recognized him. They were both excited and somewhat… amused. An entertainer who would appear on the news in this new, there was probably no one else except for their family’s Zhao Zhao. Presumably due to his good mood, their baby’s silly joy almost leapt out of the screen.
Song Yu heard that Li Zhao was on the news broadcast when it was past 10 in the evening. He opened the Weibo page of the Spring Festival’s gala while also opening the WeChat group to send red envelopes to the staff of his studio.
Once he finished watching the program and came back to look at the WeChat group, he found that the focus of the chat had become Li Zhao on the news broadcast. Li Zhao, such as small artist, was actually on a news broadcast?
Song Yu couldn’t believe it but he switched out of the chat group to look at the Internet. He saw the moving image and was silent. This was fate! In the beginning, he had a strange dream that predicted the future. He thought his life would become popular and then reality gave him a few hard slaps.
What popularity? Even if the role changed, popularity was popularity. He was still the one scolded. Even if he changed Li Zhao’s role and made Li Zhao’s star path different from before, Li Zhao’s life hadn’t changed.
But…
He stared carefully at the moving image. The person next to Li Zhao should be his friend Ting Ting? In order to ensure that he could grasp the opportunity, Song Yu clearly remembered the contents of the dream. He was certain that in the dream, Li Zhao didn’t have a local tyrant as a friend.
In the dream, Li Zhao took the supporting role in many dramas. He remembered that after the popularity of Overbearing Female President, Li Zhao played the second male lead in a low-cost martial arts drama. He broke his leg but still insisted on shooting.
The time was just before the Spring Festival. Not only did Li Zhao not break his leg, he also played the second male lead in Director Yang’s Sky Song. He was jumping up like a grasshopper.
Thinking of this, Song Yu couldn’t help doubting his dream. Was it because God felt that Li Zhao’s original popular fate was too bitter and asked Song Yu to send him good luck? All the changes in front started from when he changed roles with Li Zhao and tried to fatten Li Zhao. The end result was that Li Zhao didn’t become fat and he was scolded.
In addition, where did Yan Ting come from? If Li Zhao in the dream had such a local tyrant as a friend then why would he have to fight for his life in the entertainment circle?
“Well, it’s none of my business.”
It didn’t matter if it was the dream or reality. He couldn’t escape the fate of being scolded or forced to rely on other resources. He had his agent inquire as to whether Li Zhao had accepted ‘My Fairy Girlfriend’.
In his prediction dream, the show originally had no people. Then once Li Zhao took the role, many girls clamoured to be Li Zhao’s girlfriend. In reality, Li Zhao’s star had changed. If Li Zhao didn’t accept this show then Song Yu would pick it up. This time, he was just picking it up and not robbing Li Zhao of an opportunity. Fate shouldn’t get revenge on him… right?
Li Zhao didn’t know that Song Yu was shivering in front of fate. He was currently sneaking back to his room and putting the banknotes he prepared into the red envelope, which had three big gold characters printed on them. It was the New Year’s money.
The red envelope was thick and filled with a lot of money, like a pregnant woman. He was creeping to Yan Ting’s room with the red envelope when he bumped into the housekeeper in the corridor.
“Shh.” Li Zhao raised an index finger to his mouth and made a face at the housekeeper. Then he secretly looked downstairs. Yan Ting hadn’t noticed his actions. He took a few steps and placed the red envelope under the pillow in Yan Ting’s room.
“Mr Li, he is an adult.” The housekeeper hadn’t missed the words on the red envelope.
“Who isn’t a child?” Li Zhao’s voice was low. “You are a child if you haven’t got married yet. A red envelope means there will be no disease or disaster in the new year.”
The housekeeper smiled. “It is like this.”
“Li Zhao?” Yan Ting looked at the two men standing in the corridor.
“I’m coming right now.” Li Zhao ran back downstairs and looked at the time on the wall. “It is almost midnight.” Unfortunately, Beijing didn’t allow fireworks or firecrackers. If this was his hometown, the entire town would be filled with the sound of firecrackers.
The Spring Festival’s host had started to prepare for the countdown.
“Happy New Year.” Li Zhao stared at the second hand and once it reached the number 12, he turned and spoke his first blessing to Yan Ting.
Then a lot of messages poured into the phones of the two people and it seemed like there was an earthquake on the table.
“Happy New Year.”
Yan Ting thought that this person’s eyes were really. He wanted these eyes to always look at himself. No one in the world could take them away. The two people sat on the sofa for a while. Once Tonight is Unforgettable started to be sung on the TV, Li Zhao finally had a true feeling of greeting the new year. There was no fear, anxiety or worry.
He turned to look at Yan Ting, who was wearing a light-coloured sweater with his black hair neatly combed, looking like a character from a manhwa. “Next year…”
He wanted to say that next year, they should continue to greet the new year together. Before the words could be spoken, he swallowed them back and smiled at Yan Ting. People couldn’t expect too much. He should cherish the present. There was something happy and he could be even happier. If he felt hope for the future, how sad would it be when he was disappointed? If there was no hope, there was no disappointment.
“Next year, can you accompany me to greet the new year?” Yan Ting asked him.
“Okay.” The smile on Li Zhao’s face became more brilliant. Surprises always made a person happier. Thus, this year he was also lucky.
The night was deep. Yan Ting returned to his room and looked out the dark window.
It was something Li Zhao had promised. If he wasn’t here next year—Li Zhao would be here, even if he had to keep that person in this house.
Looking at his bed, the pillow shared traces of movement. He lifted the pillow and saw a red envelope that seemed like it was going to split open. There were three bright golden characters on the envelope and it shone brightly in the light.
The red envelope lay quietly for a long time before a white hand finally picked it up. He turned it over and saw a few small words on it.
‘I wish Ting Ting peace and security, to be free of disease and disasters, so that no evil spirits invade.’
Underneath these words, a smiley face was drawn. The eyes were curved, just like Li Zhao smiling. This child was still so superstitious.
The author has something to say:
On the first day of the new semester of kindergarten, Baby Zhao Zhao put a red envelope on Baby Ting Ting’s chest and seriously told Baby Ting Ting: Give you a red envelope and you will be the best lucky baby in kindergarten (*^▽^*)