Chapter 3 - Innocent Bystander

The online video was reposted by many official Weibos and marketing numbers. some net popular people even found the old man and sent him food and drink in order to gain traffic. The staff of the local related departments learned about this matter and properly arranged housing and food for the old man. The netizens only regretted that no one found the little brother in the video.

The ‘mysterious little brother’ was currently carrying the boxed meal of the drama crew, more energetic than anyone else. The female star, who originally had no appet.i.te, stared at Li Zhao for two minutes and picked up her chopsticks to eat some vegetables.

“Zhao ah, if you become popular in the future then you can’t let the fans know how much you can eat.” Zhang Xiaoyuan watched Li Zhao eat his food clean and suddenly felt like a tired old father.

“Why?” Li Zhao ate the last grain of rice and wiped clean the corners of his mouth.

“It is because all fairy men drank dew when growing up.” Zhang Xiaoyuan once again patted Li Zhao’s shoulder. “In the future, you should remember to show some restraint when there are outsiders.”

“Brother Xiaoyuan, have you forgotten?” Li Zhao threw the meal box into the garbage bag and looked at Zhang Xiaoyuan sympathetically. “Our company closed down.”

Zhang Xiaoyuan, “……”

He was born a human. Didn’t he deserve to dream?

“It’s fine. I’ll work to support you once the shooting is over.” Li Zhao sweetly comforted Zhang Xiaoyuan. “I am young and have good physical strength…” He hadn’t finished speaking when his WeChat prompt showed he had a new message.

Li Zhao stared at the WeChat prompt and hesitated for a few seconds before slowly opening the group chat.

A Better Tomorrow: The operation was a success! @Xiao Zhao @First Make 100 Million

Li Zhao was so excited his hands were shaking. He hastily replied to the message.

Xiao Zhao: Great, the person is fine!

A Better Tomorrow: The doctor said the patient should be observed in the hospital for a while after the surgery. Brothers, I really want to thank you this time. If it wasn’t for you, Xiao Xia might not have survived.

Xiao Zhao: Good brothers shouldn’t say thank you.

First Make 100 Million: @Xiao Zhao was right, good brothers shouldn’t say thanks. During the time when you and Sister Xia went out and worked hard, you didn’t forget to take care of the children in the inst.i.tution. We all remember it.

Zhang Xiaoyuan noticed that Li Zhao looked excited, like something good had happened. He asked, “Is there good news?”

“Sister Xia’s surgery was successful!” Li Zhao held his mobile phone and glanced at Zhang Xiaoyuan with bright eyes. “Brother Ming just sent a message!”

Zhang Xiaoyuan was stunned for a long time before laughing. “Great.”

“Yes, it is great.” Li Zhao opened a shopping platform and whined, “Brother Xiaoyuan, help me find out what should be used to care for a person’s health after surgeryk2026;”

Looking at Li Zhao seriously bowing his head to buy products, Zhang Xiaoyuan couldn’t help touching this person’s soft hair and smiling. Perhaps for Li Zhao, Zhou Ming and Zhu Xia weren’t only a big brother and big sister. They were like his father and mother.

Zhang Xiaoyuan first met Li Zhao 10 years ago. At that time, he had just graduated from university and went with a few friends to volunteer in poverty-stricken areas. The narrow streets, the steep mountains and the dusty stores with no sense of fashion made them feel for the first time that there was such a poor place in the world.

They came to the welfare homes in several counties and watched the children line up to receive food and eat the bowl clean. Their hearts became even more difficult.

Zhang Xiaoyuan noticed that a child in the corner was eating particularly quickly, like he was hungry. He saw his food and couldn’t wait to put it in his stomach.

The child’s facial features were very good but he was too thin. From far away, he looked like a big-headed doll sitting on a chair. The more Zhang Xiaoyuan looked, the more distressed he became. He took out some chocolate, intending to share it with the child. Once he got closer, he found that the child’s arms were bruised and there was a bleeding wound on his head. It seemed the child had been severely abused.

The staff at the welfare home feared the volunteers would misunderstand and think they were abusing children in the welfare home. They quickly explained the situation.

“This child was just sent here two days ago. If it wasn’t for his head teacher finding out that something was wrong and reporting it to the police, I’m afraid…” The staff member shook his head and sighed, scooping a spoonful of rice into the child’s bowl.

The child looked up at the staff and smiled, looking very well-behaved. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Zhang Xiaoyuan was just out of university and saw this scene. His entire heart softened. After learning that the child was often abused by his adoptive parents, the teacher reported it to the police. This attracted the attention of the media and he was sent to a welfare home.

They were volunteers and accompanied the children to play for half a day. They sent some stationery and clothes before leaving. Once they left, all the children stood at the gate to send them away.

Zhang Xiaoyuan saw the bruised little boy holding the book he sent with an innocent smile. In the face of this smile, he crouched down in front of the child. “What is your name?”

“My name is Li Zhao.”

“It is a nice name.” Zhang Xiaoyuan wanted to touch the child’s head but the blood and bruises on his head weren’t gone. Zhang Xiaoyuan could only take back his hand.

Since then, he often communicated with the child and told him about the outside world. The child talked about taking first place in the cla.s.s and the brother and sister who looked after him in the welfare home.

Brother Zhou Ming and Sister Zhu Xia were admitted to a good university, got married and sent many toys and clothes back every year. The child said he wanted to be like Brother Ming and Sister Xia. He would enter a good university and make a lot of money.

However, the summer when he was supposed to take the university entrance examination, Li Zhao suddenly said that he didn’t want to go to school. He wanted to make money, a lot of money.

Zhang Xiaoyuan was very angry and rushed to Li Zhao’s side to scold him.

“However, Sister Xia has a very serious illness.” The child couldn’t raise his head after being scolded by Zhang Xiaoyuan. He sat in his chair and looked pathetic. “The doctor said that Sister Xia has been too tired. In order to support us in the welfare home, Brother Ming and Sister Xia have been living frugally. They don’t have a house or children. They didn’t even have the opportunity to enjoy life. I want her to live.”

“Brother Xiaoyuan, help me.” His young face was full of determination and he was like a stubborn calf. He had decided his direction and would never look back.

Zhang Xiaoyuan promised. Since then, he didn’t ask about Li Zhao’s university entrance exam results and Li Zhao no longer mentioned university. Li Zhao signed with a movie and television company for 10 years. His excellent looks meant he ran around various small crews playing a small role. He also acted as a subst.i.tute while saving money.

“Brother Zhang Xiaoyuan, what are you doing?” Li Zhao saw Zhang Xiaoyuan staring at him in a daze and said cheerfully. “Shall I invite you to eat hot spicy soup tonight?”

Song Yu pa.s.sed by Li Zhao and heard this sentence. He raised his eyes and glanced at Li Zhao. This world actually had such a poor person. Who would ask his agent and a.s.sistant to eat unhealthy spicy food?

“Can you add two more beef b.a.l.l.s?” Zhang Xiaoyuan asked quickly.

Song Yu thought in his heart, ‘Originally, it isn’t the artist who is poor. The agent is also poor.’

He took out his mobile phone and went to rest in his chair. He lay down and clicked on a popular video on Weibo. The young man in this video looked somewhat familiar? He sat up straight and glanced in Li Zhao’s direction. Then he locked his phone screen like a thief.

“Brother Song?” The a.s.sistant thought Song Yu saw something on the Internet and hurriedly said, “You don’t have to take the words of the netizens to heart. After a few days, you won’t even remember what they said.”

Song Yu didn’t speak as he touched the phone, afraid that Li Zhao was still becoming as popular as his dream.

New comments were circulating online, saying that the video was deliberately filmed and some people were using this to become popular. Many people agreed. In a few days, this video was forgotten by the netizens.

Li Zhao was with Zhang Xiaoyuan in the crew for most of the month until the crew’s closing feast. Song Yu knew that this drama would be hot and in order to the crew members to later say good things about him, he used his own money to invite the crew to eat at a luxury hotel.

Li Zhao was reluctant to miss this opportunity to have such a big meal. In order to eat more in the evening, he only had two bowls of porridge at noon. Then he put on his best suit.

At the table, the main hosts were drinking and leaning unsteadily from side to side. Even the female lead, who usually ignored people, drank a bit. Li Zhao shook his dizzy head and saw some grease had splashed on his sleeve. He got up and went to the bathroom.

This was his best set of clothing and he would have to wear it later. He must take good care of it.

The fine dining restaurant of a luxury hotel was different. The waiters were wearing a shirt and vest and Li Zhao even thought that the clothes the waiters were wearing were more expensive than his own clothes.

He used the washing-up liquid at the washbasin to clean the oil from his sleeve. Then Li Zhao heard a heavy impact sound. He pulled out a piece of paper towel, wiped his lower sleeves and went to the door to check.

A drunken man lay on the ground, touching his back and groaning. He looked like he had fallen heavily. A few steps away from the middle-aged man, a man in a white shirt and vest stood against the wall. This man noticed Li Zhao’s gaze and looked at him.

The man’s appearance was stunning but he was pale and his lips were an unhealthy pink. He looked like he received a huge shock.

Li Zhao didn’t expect that a man with such good looks, temperament and n.o.ble air was actually a hotel staff.

Li Zhao instantly understood what was going on. He heard footsteps coming from around the corner, looked at the man’s drooping eyelids and reached out to pull the man behind him. The man didn’t seem to react and was pulled behind him.

“Don’t be afraid, leave this thing to me.” Li Zhao turned around and patted the man’s arm, grinning at him. “I am a professional when it comes to acting.”

The man stared at him for three seconds and was quiet.

“Sir!”

Two or three strong men in suits ran around the corner. They looked at the man lying on the ground before glancing in Li Zhao’s direction and stopping.

“This gentleman is with you?” Li Zhao’s face was full of concern. “Just now, this waiter sent me to the bathroom when we saw this gentleman suddenly fall to the ground. We were going to help him up when you came here.”

Who was the most enthusiastic, kindest and innocent bystander in the world at this moment? It was Li Zhao!

The strong men looked blankly at Li Zhao. Li Zhao took a step forward, letting these strong men focus on his own body before showing an innocent smile. “Wine is good but it is easy to get drunk. How bad is it to fall by himself?”

The faces of the men in suits… became more indifferent.