Chapter 71.2
Gou Er was a well-known paparazzi in the circle. Over the years, he had burst out the materials of many small entertainers and also got bad benefits. Since there was no big news lately, the netizens’ interest in him had started to decrease.
There was no traffic without attention. How could he make money? The basis of a paparazzi naturally depended on attractive materials.
Digging into Li Zhao’s past was purely an accident. If he hadn’t been cleaning his parents’ house and found a newspaper from 10 years ago, he wouldn’t have known Li Zhao had such an experience.
He wouldn’t know if he hadn’t checked and once he checked, he was shocked.
10 years ago, this abuse case had made a lot of waves in the local area. He heard that the local government not only changed the name of the child but also moved his household registration to protect the child.
Who would’ve thought that the poor abused child would become a star?
Gou Er asked people to check Li Zhao’s background. Although Li Zhao was valued by Strawberry Entertainment, he didn’t have a big background. Gou Er wouldn’t offend anyone big if he broke this news. He didn’t hesitate at all before exploding it.
In fact, this could be regarded as helping Li Zhao gain fans. Having such a miserable childhood experience would definitely attract the sympathy and attention of countless people. Once the news broke, the number of people who found him to inquire about the news almost blew up his studio’s phone.
He proudly sold them some photos and messages, making a lot of money. Just as he was walking proudly out of a bar, he was dragged into a car.
“What do you want to do?” Gou Er looked at these men in suits with horror. Did they know he was a famous breaking news account on Weibo?
Impossible, he had always attached great importance to privacy since he was worried about being retaliated against. In the past few years, his life had been very smooth and he didn’t believe someone would discover him. However, these people didn’t care about him at all. They directly brought him to an abandoned construction site and started to punch and kick him.
“You should be glad that our boss is a law-abiding man” A man in a suit and wearing sunglasses declared indifferently. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t even have a life.”
Gou Er lay on the ground, not daring to speak. He was afraid that these people really would put him into a cement pillar.
The moment these people left, he listened to the wind blow through the dilapidated old building. Then he pulled out his phone and called the police. The police came quickly. Gou Er didn’t have time to be happy because he was arrested for extortion.
Over the years, he had relied on the materials he photographed to make the artists spend money to buy them. Finally, he received a backlash. However, he didn’t understand why these artists would risk the news being leaked in order to put him in jail. Was there a big person behind this? Who was aiming at him?
***
“Damn!” Xu Bei saw the news of Li Zhao’s childhood abuse being revealed and was so angry that he smashed all the cups in the house. If he didn’t know that Li Zhao couldn’t expose this type of news, he would almost suspect that this was Li Zhao’s self-promotion.
Seclusion Mountain Forest had just broadcasted the content of a mother looking for her child. Now it was revealed that Li Zhao was actually an abandoned child. In addition, he was abused by his adoptive parents and almost died.
Beautifying himself with tragedy would all be occupied by Li Zhao. Strawberry Entertainment also supported Li Zhao. How could an actor go against all of this? Everyone would become Li Zhao’s foil!
In Xu Bei’s previous life, Li Zhao’s past as an orphan never came to light when he was an actor, it was never exposed until Li Zhao died. There was a mention of it in the memoir his friends made for him.
It wasn’t easy for Xu Bei to come back. He didn’t do this just to see Li Zhao walking the same path but with a different pattern. Xu Bei clicked on the video of Li Zhao being rescued and couldn’t help scolding, “Why wasn’t Li Zhao killed when he was a child?”
***
According to reports, it was a school teacher who found that Li Zhao was being abused. Since Li Zhao had a severe fever, the teacher wanted to physically cool down Li Zhao, only to discover that his entire body was injured and his entire calf swollen.
The dirty hat covered a bloody wound. After Li Zhao was taken to a hospital, the hospital found that all the wounds were man-made. Finally, the school and hospital chose to call the police. Some people couldn’t bear to see it and posted on the Internet, attracting the attention of many people. This case of child abuse became a big problem.
After learning about it, the local authorities rescued Li Zhao and sent Li Zhao’s adoptive father to prison.
The sensational case of child abuse ended with the victim being sent to a welfare home. Most of the netizens who supported the child on the Internet were already middle-aged and had forgotten about it.
Now that this old matter was brought up, the memories of countless people were awakened. In their hearts, Li Zhao wasn’t only an entertainer but a child who was protected by public opinion. The speeches about so-called forgiveness were scolded by the big brothers and sisters who succeeded in their careers and had outstanding logical thinking.
“Forgive me if I don’t agree with you. Why wasn’t this type of man put to death?”
“If I beat you to death, can you forgive me?”
“This person who is so generous, can’t you write a few words back as an answer?”
Middle-aged people were mostly mature and stable. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t easily tear at others. Once they argued with others, people knew why they were older brothers and sisters.
Those who said that Li Zhao should learn to forgive secretly deleted their Weibo posts, not daring to take another risk. After scolding these Internet Virgin Marys, the big brothers and sisters came to Li Zhao’s Weibo and instantly became gentle brothers and sisters.
“My little brother has grown up healthy. It’s wonderful.”
“My brother is 181cm tall. It seems that he eats on time every day.”
“Continue to live happily and the future will be better. The garbage has been thrown away so don’t care about how it rots. Brother, be happy.”
“When you were 10 years old, I was studying at university. Now I am pregnant and I’m going to hang your photo on my wall. If the baby is a boy, let him be as handsome as you. If she is a girl, I hope she will look at this handsome person and have higher eyes in the future.”
“Brother, look at my cat, isn’t it cute?”
“Little brother, continue to work hard. Your brothers and sisters are protecting you.”
The gentle messages of blessings merged into the warmest stream, protecting Li Zhao carefully.
“I really cried when I saw these messages. Li Zhao is awesome. Those who have helped Li Zhao are also awesome.”
“The world is really beautiful.”
“Baby Zhao Zhao, don’t be sad. Those older brothers and sisters who cared about you are still protecting you. Although I haven’t participated in your past, I will walk with you in your future.”
“Baby, be happy. We will walk with you along this starry road.”
“How happy was I when watching Seclusion Mountain Forest and how sad am I now? Do you still remember the filming in Qingxi VillagE? Zhao Zhao held two children and the children asked Zhao Zhao if his parents would return on New Year’s Day. Zhao Zhao said no and he was clearly sad! It is because he has no mother or father, no one to accompany him in the new year.”
“There were also the occasions where Xiang Zhen talked to Zhao Zhao about his children. Zhao Zhao listened very carefully. At the time, I thought he just liked children. Now in retrospect, perhaps he was fantasizing. If he had a mother and father then they might treat him like Xiang Zhen treats his children.”
“In tonight’s episode, Zhao Zhao took great care to comfort the older sister, saying that the child would be found. I’m really sad, even sadder than when I lost love. Where are Zhao Zhao’s parents? Have they been looking for Zhao Zhao?”
“Brothers and sisters, you must not mention these things in the comment area. I’m afraid Zhao Zhao will be sad when he sees them. Let’s send some happy things to Zhao Zhao’s comment area.”
“Okay.”
Whether it was fans or passersby, the comments in Li Zhao’s Weibo tried to act as if nothing had happened and the world was beautiful. Many fans secretly ran to supervise the comment area, to see if there were any fans who weren’t sensible and spoke nonsense. Even if their actions were limited, it was worthwhile to make the child who had been abused a bit happier.
Li Zhao stared at the messages in the comments area with a smile.
“Ting Ting.” He put away his phone and told Yan Ting, “Let’s go home.”
Yan Ting reached out. “Give me your hand.”
“Eh?”
“I’ll hold you so you don’t lose yourself looking at your phone.”
Li Zhao, “……”
What did it feel like to be led as a grown-up man?
Yan Ting directly grabbed his other hand. “Let’s go, I’ll take you back.”
Li Zhao thought of how Yan Ting specifically took him to the lake to comfort him, despite not liking to go out, and could only let Yan Ting hold it.
“Ting Ting.”
“Eh?”
“I’m not really sad.”
Yan Ting looked back.
“The world is so beautiful. There are so many cute and kind people and I’m really lucky.”
Yan Ting didn’t speak and just held Li Zhao’s hand tighter.
Back home, Li Zhao found the satisfying scent of food. The table was full of delicious dishes. All the foods the housekeeper uncle usually didn’t allow him to eat at night were on the table. The table full of dishes could be regarded as a perfect combination of Chinese and Western cuisine.
“Zhao Zhao, if you’re hungry then eat first.” The housekeeper uncle took Li Zhao to the dining room, wishing to feed Li Zhao with his own hands.
The aunts all around the house circled Li Zhao and even Yan Ting was forgotten. Once Zhang Xiaoyuan arrived, he saw Li Zhao happily eating at the table while the entire household staff stood beside him with loving smiles on their faces. It was a grand scene where the grandfather and grandmother spoiled their grandchild with no bottom line.
Before he could speak, Yan Ting interrupted him, “Wait for Zhao Zhao to finish eating.”
Zhang Xiaoyuan couldn’t help nodding. He always felt that in front of Yan Ting, nothing big would happen. Yan Ting’s gaze directly at Li Zhao was very soft, like a parent with infinite tolerance for their naughty child.
Zhang Xiaoyuan whispered to Yan Ting, “Mr Ting, Zhao Zhao… does he know what is happening online?”
“He knows.” Yan Ting got up from the sofa, approached Li Zhao and wiped his mouth.
Zhang Xiaoyuan watched Yan Ting and Li Zhao. He always felt that something was wrong.
The author has something to say:
Baby Ting Ting who was possessed with the chunnibyou disease: If anyone hurts a hair on Zhao Zhao’s hair, I’ll bring his wings.
May everyone be treated gently by the world.