Chapter 101 - Snow
Towards noon, Li Zhao and Yan Ting finally came downstairs.
Li Zhao lay on the sofa, groaning and not wanting to eat. It was unknown what Yan Ting finally whispered in his ears but Li Zhao reached out to poke Yan Ting’s waist before sitting down at the dining table.
Looking at this scene, the cooking aunty asked the housekeeper, “Is the food today not appetizing?”
Previously, even if she cooked a pot of porridge, Mr Li could eat half a pot. Why didn’t he want to eat today?”
“Cough.” The housekeeper coughed a few times. “Mr Li is having fun with the boss and they will eat later.”
“I just want to say that Mr Li has always been a good boy. Unlike Mr Li, the boss has to be coaxed to eat.”
The housekeeper silently looked at the kitchen aunty. She must’ve forgotten that her salary was paid by the boss.
It was no wonder that the domestic staff was partial to Li Zhao. Li Zhao had a face that pleased his elders as well as a pleasant personality. Since he started living here, the entire house had come alive. Now everyone was afraid of Mr Li leaving the house for long. If Mr Li left for a long time, the boss didn’t like to talk and the entire house would become lifeless. Well, once the final exams were over, it was winter vacation. The boss would be accompanied by Mr Li and would be happy again.
After lunch, Li Zhao slept for a while until Yan Ting took him back to school. The kitchen aunt had long prepared the food in an oversized insulation container. Li Zhao picked it up and suspected that this container weighed half a dozen kilograms.
There was snow on the road and the driver deliberately drove a non-slip car from the garage.
“During these few days of testing, shall I ask the driver to deliver you food?”
“No, I’ll just eat with my classmates.” Li Zhao lay lazily on Yan Ting’s lap and lazily opened his mouth. “We will go to the study room at night to review.”
“Your body…”
“Change the topic.”
“Okay.” Yan Ting rubbed Li Zhao’s waist. “Once your final exam is over, should I come pick you up?”
Li Zhao didn’t refuse.
Before getting out of the car, Yan Ting placed a scarf and hat on Li Zhao. “It’s cold outside and there is still snow on the ground. Be careful not to fall.”
Li Zhao took off his mask and told Yan Ting, “Wait until I come back.”
He opened the door and a cold wind blew in. Li Zhao was afraid of Yan Ting catching a cold and quickly closed the door. He waved from Yan Ting from outside the car and turned to run toward the dormitory building.
Yan Ting watched him moving left and right in the snow like a door. He opened the car window a bit to reveal a pair of gentle eyes.
Li Zhao had just arrived at the dormitory building when he saw two people shivering while squatting by the flower bed. One of them saw him running and excitedly wanted to stand up, only to fall back into the snow.
Li Zhao recognized that they were reporters. He hesitated before sighing and stepping forward to help his colleague with the fallen reporter. The two reporters looked very young and inexperienced.
“Thank you.” The reporter who was lifted up was covered in snow. He ignored the snowflakes and hurriedly said, “Li Zhao, hello. Can you please accept our interview?”
“How are you standing here on such a cold day?” Li Zhao saw that the two of them were frozen blue. It was unknown how long they had been waiting here. “How long have you waited?”
“We started waiting this morning.” The two of them smiled while shivering.
“Didn’t you think about the possibility of me not returning to school. What if I directly entered the school for the exam tomorrow?”
“There is always a chance.” The two reporters continued to smile.
Li Zhao looked around and pointed to a place that was protected from snow. “You go over there and wait for me. I will put away the insulation container and come down.”
The two reporters nodded quickly and waited while Li Zhao went upstairs. They excitedly called the editor-in-chief and said that not only did they see Li Zhao, the other person also agreed to be interviewed by them.
“Then start recording a section of his life at school now.” The editor-in-chief was overjoyed.
“H-However, he is back in his dormitory. He said he would put away his things and come down.”
The editor-in-chief was anxious. “Do you still believe this type of thing? That person is just playing you. If you don’t believe it, just wait downstairs and see if Li Zhao will care about you!”
The two reporters were new interns and didn’t know that artists had so many tricks. They heard the editor’s yelling and were both aggrieved and sad.
Did Li Zhao really trick them? Was it just an excuse to get away from them? They waited for five minutes and felt a bit panicked. 10 minutes passed and they were so desperate that they wanted to cry. They had just given up hope when Li Zhao ran out the door of the dormitory building.
“Sorry you had to wait so long.” Li Zhao ran in front of the two of them. “A person in the dormitory asked me a question and I was delayed for a few minutes.”
The moment they saw Li Zhao, the two reporters almost cried. Their despair changed to hope and saved them.
“There is a cafe on campus but we are doing an interview and it will affect other students.” Li Zhao wrapped the scarf tightly around himself and placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket. If you don’t mind, I will invite you to a cafe outside the school. They have a box there.”
The reporters’ noses were frozen and snort was coming out. They nodded again and again. They were willing to do it in the open air as long as Li Zhao accepted their interview.
“Mr Li Zhao, we would like to make a video of you walking around the campus if you don’t mind?”
“You can do it casually but it is very slippery today so please be careful not to fall. In addition, try not to let other students enter the shot. If any appear, please blur out their faces later.”
“Okay, okay, no problem.” A reporter put the portable camera on his shoulder.
The snow on the road was a bit thick. Li Zhao walked forward, his pace not fast. Occasionally, he would introduce a school building to the reporters. Along the way, students greeted Li Zhao from time to time.
“Li Zhao, are you going to the study room tonight? I’ll save you a seat.”
“I’ll be with my brothers in the dorm in the evening.” Li Zhao took off his mask. “It’s so cold. You should go back early.”
“Sure.” The classmate asked, “Did you bring delicious food again? I want to go to your dormitory to eat.”
“Then you should hurry up or it will all be gone.” Li Zhao had just finished speaking when he saw the slow moving classmate suddenly start running.
The classmate just left. Li Zhao hadn’t even taken two steps when other students greeted Li Zhao.
One wanted to borrow notes from Li Zhao, one asked to have a meal together after the exam and one casually gave Li Zhao a bag of snacks. The attitude of these students was very casual. He was more like a friend to them than a star.
“Zhao Zhao, you seem to be very popular in school?”
“It’s okay.” Li Zhao explained, “Everyone has a good personality and takes care of me.”
The reporter saw Li Zhao open the snack given to him by this classmate and start to eat it. He couldn’t help asking, “Do you have anything you can’t eat when you’re with your classmates?”
“The food in the school’s cafeteria is really good and I usually don’t have anything I avoid.” Li Zhao laughed. “Previously, I talked about chicken drumsticks in an interview. Every time I eat with my classmates, they love to offer me chicken drumsticks.”
“Do you often eat in the cafeteria with your classmates?”
“Why wouldn’t I eat in the cafeteria?” Li Zhao threw the garbage into the bin. “I’m usually busy with school work so going to the cafeteria to eat can save a lot of time.”
“Li Zhao.”
The reporters heard someone call out to Li Zhao. They turned to see that a man in his 50s or 60s was standing at the library. He wore glasses, his hair was neat and he looked very elegant.
“Professor.” Li Zhao ran to the man and asked with a smile, “Did you call me?”
“It’s snowing so hard. Where are you going?” The professor reached out to brush the snow from Li Zhao’s shoulder. He glanced at the reporters shooting behind Li Zhao and nodded at them.
The two reporters smiled back while feeling flustered. LI Zhao called the man a professor. Was he a professor at Beijing University?
“These two reporter friends wanted to conduct an interview with me. I am taking them outside to find a quiet place.” Li Zhao stomped his feet, his toes a bit cold.
“Why are you going so far? Aren’t you going to study?” The professor frowned. “You can bring them to my office.”
“Hehe.” Li Zhao didn’t refuse the professor’s kindness. “Thank you. Wait for my sophomore year and I will definitely take your class.”
“Come on, I’ll wait for you to grab my class.” The professor patted the snow off Li Zhao’s other shoulder.
“Then you should open a back door for me.” Li Zhao helped the professor carry his books. “Fight for me to be your proud student.”
“No.” The professor was ruthless.
“Why?”
“The camera is on. If I agree then there will be evidence.” The professor took Li Zhao to his office. He was a funny professor who was very popular in the school. The students stayed in front of the computer in the middle of the night to try and grab a spot in his classes.
The two reporters hadn’t expected this professor to take them to his office and pour them two glasses of water.
“Reporter friends, if you have any questions then don’t dig a pit for this child.” The professor put a cup in Li Zhao’s hand. “After the interview, go back and study.”
“Okay.” Li Zhao held the cup with a big smile and took off his jacket, scarf, hat and mask.
This professor wasn’t Li Zhao’s teacher. The two of them had met while running in the morning. Since they both had the habit of running in the morning, Li Zhao took to running with the professor when at school.
The professor’s wife was an opera singer and was very famous in the opera circle. Sometimes, she would come to the campus to train her body. Every time she saw Li Zhao, she would sigh and say it was a pity. If he had started learning opera from a young age then he might’ve been famous in the opera world by now.
“Professor?” Li Zhao found that the professor was staring at his neck. He thought his thermal clothes were exposed and hastily pulled at the collar of his sweater.
The professor smiled. “It is good that you know how to study.”
He walked to the small lounge next door and kindly pulled the door closed for Li Zhao. The interview started. Initially, the two intern reporters asked legitimate questions. Then as it continued, their questions gradually strayed to gossip.
“Many friends on the Internet are very curious about your demolition tyrant friend. Would you like to tell us about him?”
Li Zhao silently glanced at the reporters. Were the netizens curious about his friend or his CP with the demolition tyrant?
The reporters avoided Li Zhao’s gaze.
Li Zhao smiled and replied, “He is someone outside the circle and I don’t want to talk too much about him and bring trouble to his life. However, he is a very nice and lovely person.”
The reporters blinked. This was it?
Li Zhao signalled for them to ask the next question.
“There are netizens curious about your friendship with the boss of Canghuan. Are you really friends with him like the online rumour?”
Li Zhao took another look at the reporters. How many CP topics related to him were these two intern reporters concerned about?
The author has something to say:
The river god asked Zhao Zhao: Jin (gold) Ting Ting or Yin (silver) Ting Ting? Which Ting Ting do you like?
Baby Zhao Zhao: I like Yan Ting Ting.