Chapter 80 - Past

“Xu… Yanting?”

Li Zhao suddenly laughed as he looked at the drunk rich second generation standing unsteadily. “It doesn’t matter how long he protects me. At the very least, he will protect me today.”

The rich second generation sneered. “This shameless thing who relies on his face.”

“You know I have someone to protect me and that you can’t afford to go against that person, yet you’re still speaking like this?” Li Zhao pushed away the rich second generation trying to pull up. “Do you have a bad brain?”

The young girl was originally still afraid. Once she heard Li Zhao’s words, she almost couldn’t help back her laughter. She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry but it was a bit funny.

“How dare you laugh at me…” If the rich second generation was sober then he wouldn’t dare provoke Xu Yanting, but alcohol gave him unlimited courage. “Didn’t I give you face?”

The rich second generation was angry and raised his feet to Li Zhao standing in front of the little girl.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Da Ke rushed over but Li Zhao moved faster. He kicked the stomach of the rich second generation, who fell to the ground and rolled like a mountain mouse full of water.”

“Ouch.” The rich second generation cried out.

Li Zhao didn’t stop. Since he already offended this person by kicking him, it was better to beat him up.

“A gentleman uses his mouth and not his fist. I normally don’t like to fight with others.” Li Zhao pressed the rich second generation to the ground, beating him until he cried. “However, I can’t stand sc.u.m who play around with girls!”

The elevator door hadn’t opened when Yao Yuguang heard the cries from outside and frowned. Were his scoundrel friends bullying people?

Thinking about this, he felt a bit disinterested and decided to greet them later.

The elevator door slowly opened. Yao Yuguang immediately saw Gou Sheng lying on the ground and howling while the person pressing Gou Sheng to the ground had his back to Yao Yuguang so Yao Yuguang couldn’t see the other person’s appearance.

However, this scene coincided with the horror in his heart.

If it was winter then Gou Sheng’s head should be covered with another coat, making him easier to beat up.”

“Brother Yao, Brother Yao!” Gou Sheng howled when he saw Yao Yuguang, tears falling. “Come and help!”

The person beating up Gou Sheng turned to look at the newly arrived Yao Yuguang.

Yao Yuguang’s knees instantly went soft and he turned to press the elevator b.u.t.ton.

He was getting out of here! Immediately! Right away!

“Brother Yao!”

Don’t call for me. I’m going to run for my life.

Yao Yuguang frantically pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton but the elevator didn’t come up. He felt almost desperate.

“Yao Yuguang?” The suffocation in Li Zhao’s heart had been scattered by more than half and he got up, tidying up his clothes. “Are you with him?”

“No no, I’m just pa.s.sing by.” Yao Yuguang shook his head. “I’m really just pa.s.sing by.”

Gou Sheng who thought he was finally rescued, “???”

They might just be drinking friends but there was no need to be ruthless to this point, right?

At this moment, Yao Yuguang couldn’t care about the thin friendship between him and Gou Sheng. He stood close to the door and the elevator he was waiting for arrived, but under Li Zhao’s eyes, he didn’t have the courage to walk into the elevator.

“I remember that you’re friends with him?” Li Zhao walked up to Yao Yuguang. The beaten Gou Sheng wanted to sneak away but was stopped by Da Ke.

“Friends? What friends?” Yao Yuguang shook his head until it was almost a blur. “I just had a few meals and drinking sessions with him. What friend?”

“Yao Yuguang, are you still a man? You’re even afraid of this little pretty boy?” Gou Sheng was furious with Yao Yuguang.

Yao Yuguang didn’t say a word.

A person in the box with Gou Sheng noticed that Gou Sheng had never returned and opened the door to look out. Then he was stunned by the situation in the corridor.

The arrogant son of the Gou family had a swollen nose and a bruised face. The popular artist of Strawberry Entertainment guarded the girl that Gou Sheng fancied behind him and was obviously upset with Gou Sheng.

The one who caused the injuries on Gou Sheng’s face… was it Li Zhao?

The man retracted his neck, gently closed the door and spoke to the others in the room. “Gou Sheng seems to be in a conflict with someone.”

“The guests for today are only us and the team of Sky Song. Who would dare to go against Gou Sheng?” A wealthy young master walked to the door and opened it. He glanced outside and his smile stiffened before he shut the door again.

“What’s going on?” The others were curious after seeing his reaction.

“Yao Yuguang is also outside. “The young master coughed. “Gou Sheng and Li Zhao seem to be having a bit of trouble.”

It was just that this unpleasantness was obvious. Gou Sheng was injured all over his face. Hearing the words ‘Li Zhao’, the people inside were silent for a moment. No one dared say that they wanted to go out and see.

“Yuguang is outside. Things will definitely be fine.”

“Yes, there is Yuguang.”

Only the agent who brought the young girl over was a bit restless. He definitely knew Gou Sheng was interested in the young girl or he wouldn’t have brought her here.

He wanted to go out and see but everyone else wasn’t moving and he could only sit obediently.

He could only hope there was no trouble.

“The artist you brought, has she cooperated with Li Zhao?” A rich young master asked the agent.

The agent carefully thought about it. “Li Zhao was filming an advertis.e.m.e.nt for the Cangshi watch and Jia Jia was the dancer in the advertis.e.m.e.nt.”

Although once the advertis.e.m.e.nt was broadcasted on TV, Jia Jia’s scenes were cut and only the half with her back remained.

The Cangshi watch? The people were silent again. Wasn’t this Canghuan’s product? They heard Yao Yuguang mention a few days ago that Li Zhao was Xu Yanting’s person. Who would dare provoke Xu Yanting? They exchanged a look with each other and made up their minds not to go out and provoke Li Zhao.

His scoundrel friends didn’t show up and Gou Sheng was beaten. Although his brain hadn’t sobered up, half his temper was gone and he shrank back into a corner without speaking.

Yao Yuguang knew he couldn’t leave today and squeezed out a smile toward Li Zhao. “Mr Li, are you here today to eat?”

Please hurry and go.

“The moment I came up, I saw this gentleman indecently a.s.saulting a woman.” Li Zhao’s tone calmed down a lot. “Then he saw me and scolded me for being someone raised by Yan Ting…”

“He’s talking nonsense!” Yao Yuguang scolded Gou Sheng and then turned to Li Zhao with a flattering smile. “You and Mr Ting are a perfect match…”

“Mr Yao, I’m just regular friends with Yan Ting.” Li Zhao frowned.

“Yes yes, you’re good friends.”

A ‘good friend’ who lived in the same house.

“Think what you want.” Li Zhao was too lazy to care about Yao Yuguang’s wink. He turned to Gou Sheng. “I hope Mr Gou doesn’t bully people anymore.”

Gou Sheng had just opened his mouth to speak when he was blocked by Yao Yuguang. “Mr Li, rest a.s.sured that I will watch him and prevent him from making a move toward this young lady again.”

Li Zhao turned to press the elevator b.u.t.ton before speaking softly to the young girl, “Go back and have a good rest. Once you wake up tomorrow, it will be fine.”

“Li Zhao, thank you.” The girl’s eyes were red. “I’m sorry for bothering you.”

After the fear, Sun Jiajia gradually reacted. She had caused Li Zhao a lot of trouble. LI Zhao was an orphan with no background. If these rich second generations wanted to retaliate against him, it would be extremely simple.

Thinking of this, she stopped. “Li Zhao, I…”

“Don’t think about it.” The elevator door slowly opened and Li Zhao pushed the girl into the elevator. “I will be okay. Girls shouldn’t worry about this or you will age quickly.”

The elevator door slowly closed in front of the little girl. She remembered the fear of being teased by Gou Sheng, shouting in the corridor desperately while no one helped and finally being relieved by the sight of Li Zhao behind her. At these memories, she crouched down in the elevator, holding her knees while crying loudly.

Li Zhao looked at the elevator going down floor by floor before glancing at Yao Yuguang and Gou Sheng standing together. “Yao Yuguang, you tell me about Yan Ting.”

“T-Tell you about who?” Yao Yuguang couldn’t help stuttering when he heard the name Yan Ting.

Li Zhao glanced at him.

“Okay, come with me.” Yao Yuguang had a good relationship with the owner of the hotel. He had the manager open a room for them.

“Da Ke, can you go to the crew and tell them that I’ve met Young Master Yao and Gou. I can’t leave now and will arrive in half an hour.”

Yao Yuguang, “…..”

Listening to these words, there seemed to be something wrong. It was as if they had forced Li Zhao to stay. Yao Yuguang inexplicably got the blame but he didn’t dare say anything or ask anything.

“Okay.” Da Ke glanced at Yao Yuguang and Gou Sheng. “Zhao Zhao, remember to call me if you need anything.”

Yao Yuguang, “…..”

It was a real contradiction but it was only them who were affected. He didn’t know what this Li Zhao grew up eating. He looked pure and harmless yet he caused so much pain when beating people up.

Gou Sheng was afraid after being beaten by Li Zhao and Yao Yuguang was acting so meekly in front of Li Zhao that Gou Sheng didn’t dare to speak.

He might be known for his carelessness but he was hundreds of miles away from a rear rich master. No one dared to go against Yao Yuguang now.

The people outside only knew that Yao Yuguang had a bad relationship with Xu Yanting. They didn’t know that Xu Yanting had a deep hatred with the Xu family. Yao Yuguang had Xu blood in his body. As long as Xu Yanting was alive, there were no young masters who didn’t dare have a bad relationship with Yao Yuguang.

“What does Mr Li want to talk about?” Yao Yuguang knew that Yan Ting wasn’t here but still didn’t dare to speak loudly.

“Anything will do.” Li Zhao looked calm. “As long as I don’t know it.”

“In fact, what I said last time was nonsense. The truth isn’t like this.” Yao Yuguang remembered his childhood memories. “I haven’t had much contact with Mr Ting. Since he was a child, he didn’t like to talk or play with other people. Other children in the family didn’t like playing with him so they often whispered behind his back that he is just like his mother. A psychopath…”

“Wait, don’t say it!” Li Zhao suddenly got up and interrupted Yao Yuguang. “You go.”

Yao Yuguang felt that Li Zhao’s expression was very strange, as if he was distressed, angry and then all the emotions turned into heartache. “You really don’t want to listen anymore?”

Li Zhao ignored him.

“Then we’ll go first.” Yao Yuguang dragged out the half sober Gou Sheng and left the room like he was flying.

Yao Yuguang closed the door and sighed with relief. Then he turned to look at Gou Sheng. “Are you looking for death? How did you provoke him?”

“Isn’t he just a pretty boy…”

“What pretty boy?!” Yao Yuguang quickly covered his mouth and looked back carefully. He confirmed that Li Zhao wouldn’t suddenly come out of the room and whispered, “Do you know where Li Zhao lives?”

Gou Sheng shook his head.

“He lives with Yan Ting. The last time Li Zhao beat me, Yan Ting helped him.” Yao Yuguang couldn’t breathe. “Is this something he will do for a little pretty boy?”

Gou Sheng’s face was white with fright and he completely sobered up. “Xu Yanting is true to Li Zhao?”

“Who told you to call Yan Ting like this?” Yao Yuguang stubbornly covered Gou Sheng’s mouth. “Do you want to die? Don’t you know that Yan Ting hates people calling him by his full name?”

d.a.m.n, he couldn’t save this scoundrel friend. This person would die.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized these scoundrel friends had bad brains. Yao Yuguang decided to stay away from them in the future. His current life was already in difficult mode and he didn’t want to enter h.e.l.l mode.

Sitting alone in the quiet room, Li Zhao’s brain was more awake than ever before.

Perhaps he should’ve discovered that something was wrong a long time ago but he had never met a real rich person before, allowing him to ignore many things that were wrong. He had stayed in this prosperous city for a few years but in Li Zhao’s heart, he was still that boy from a small city.

The photo of Miss Xu in the Cangshi watch collection room with eyebrows similar to Yan Ting wasn’t a coincidence. It was because she was Yan Ting’s older generation relative.

After discovering that he had been deceived, Li Zhao’s first thought wasn’t to be angry but to wonder why Ting Ting had lied to him.

He couldn’t even bear to listen to Yao Yuguang talk about Yao Yuguang’s past. Perhaps this past was what Yan Ting tried to hide from him. It was the past that Yan Ting didn’t want to reveal. Li Zhao might’ve been cheated by his brother but he didn’t want to embarra.s.s his brother.

Li Zhao unlocked his phone and opened Yan Ting’s profile. He stared at the input box for a long time before finally sighing and locking the screen.

He came to the crew’s box and apologized. “Teachers, I’m sorry I’m late.”

“A penalty…”

Some people were prepared to let Li Zhao punish himself with three cups but Liu Fen spoke up. “It’s fine. If you meet those unreasonably wealthy people then sometimes it is hard to get away. Come, sit down and eat something.”

Once Liu Fen opened her mouth, no one dared to cajoled Li Zhao and instead comforted him.

There were two tables in the box. It was unknown if Liu Fen and Lu Hao intended to take care of him but Li Zhao’s position was at the main table.

Both of them were now big people of Strawberry Entertainment. It was unexpected that they would take care of a newcomer like Li Zhao.

“Thank you, Sister Fenfen.” Li Zhao sat down next to Lu Hao. Lu Hao poured him a gla.s.s of juice and stated, “Children who haven’t reached the legal marriage age shouldn’t join in the fun. You should drink juice.”

Everyone laughed and made fun of Lu Hao for bullying a child. However, Lu Hao’s words meant no one went to pour alcohol for Li Zhao.

The director raised his gla.s.s. “Thank you for all your hard work some time ago. The drama will be broadcasted on the national station in a few days and everyone has to work hard to cooperate with the crew’s publicity. Come, make a toast.”

“I wish for our show’s ratings to be like Changhong.” Liu Fen lifted her gla.s.s elegantly. “Word of mouth should explode.” (Changhong is a big brand)

“I wish for Sky Song to be like Changhong!”

Everyone’s mood was very high. It was bitter when filming but the effect was quite good and everyone had high expectations for this drama. There was no conflict in the crew so everyone happily ate. Even Liu Fen ate a bit more despite trying to lose weight recently.

Song Yu was sitting on the other side of Li Zhao. He saw Lu Hao talking to the director and not paying attention to this side, so he poked Li Zhao and whispered, “Hey, why did you run into Yao Yuguang again?”

Li Zhao wiped his mouth clean and turned to look at Song Yu. “What’s the matter?”

“You should stay far away from Yao Yuguang. I heard others saw that Yao Yuguang’s mother has a grudge with her nephew, who is in charge of the Xu family right now, since early on. Last year, her nephew sent her husband to prison. The business of the Yao family plummeted and all the people with high reputations are staying away from this family.” Song Yu was only entangled in the entertainment circle and didn’t know much gossip about the business circle. “In any case, the families who know a bit about the internal affairs told all their juniors to stay away from the Yao family, so as to not invite trouble.”

Li Zhao suddenly felt that the dishes on the table weren’t delicious.

“Still, I don’t blame this nephew for being cruel to the Yao family.” Song Yu whispered. “I heard that this nephew’s mother was driven mad by the Xu family members. In any case, the secrets of these high-ranking giants are scary. It is no wonder that people in that type of environment would be driven crazy.”

There was a choking feeling and Li Zhao took a sip of juice. The juice was sweet and greasy. Li Zhao felt some nausea.

“Why are you so white?” Song Yu saw Li Zhao’s suddenly white face. “Are you frightened by the things I said?”

No, when did Li Zhao become so cowardly and timid?

“Isn’t your reaction too big? I haven’t even told you that this nephew witnessed his mother go crazy and kill his father. His mother stabbed him and then herself before trying to pull him commit suicide with her by jumping down the stairs.”

The story of the Xu family was so horrible that it made the newspapers over 20 years ago.

“Then he later… how was he?”

“What could he do? He didn’t want to die with his mother? Finally, he watched his mother jump from upstairs.” For Song Yu, this was just a b.l.o.o.d.y case committed by a powerful family over 20 years ago.” In those days, people said that the Xu family was involved in wicked things so this type of b.l.o.o.d.y crime happened. I want to say that the Xu family…”

Li Zhao fiercely interrupted Song Yu’s words. “You don’t say it.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Song Yu saw that Li Zhao’s complexion was ugly and bloodless and didn’t dare say anything else. “Are you cold?”

Li Zhao reluctantly smiled, stood up and told the crew, “I’m sorry everyone. I have an urgent matter and need to rush back immediately.”

The group saw that he was looking ugly and didn’t keep him. Instead, they told him to be careful on the way.

Liu Fen saw Li Zhao’s hurried departure and frowned slightly. She opened her phone and looked online but there were no black materials about Li Zhao. Instead, the official Weibo of Shadow of the Sky had released several photos of Li Zhao studying while filming in the crew, making netizens feel that the school tyrant didn’t just fall from the sky.

She looked at the comment area. The netizens were very friendly with Li Zhao and it could be seen that the pa.s.sersby really liked Li Zhao. It wasn’t a career problem so was it a personal matter?

Liu Fen picked up the gla.s.s and drew everyone’s attention to herself with a few words, making everyone forget that Li Zhao had left early. He was such a cute little brother that it was right to do him a bit more favours.

Sitting in the car, Li Zhao pulled out his phone and called Yan Ting. In the office, Yan Ting was discussing the new season’s product issues with two executives. Once Li Zhao called, he raised his hand and pressed the call accept key.

“Ting Ting, where are you?”

“I’m in a company meeting.” Yan Ting motioned to the two executives to wait and walked out with his phone. “You sound like there’s something wrong. What happened?”

“In the hotel, I met a rich second generation bullying a little girl.” Li Zhao looked at the vehicles outside the car. “The other party scolded me for interfering and I couldn’t help fighting him.”

“Who?”

“What?”

“Who is the bully?”

“A rich second generation called Master Gou. Still, it didn’t matter. I didn’t suffer any losses. I beat him up.”

“It’s fine if there are no losses.” Yan Ting looked at the night sky outside the window. “After the meal, go back to rest. I will be coming home late tonight.”

“Okay.” Li Zhao hung up and told Da Ke, “Da Ke, go to Canghuan’s headquarters.”

Meanwhile, Yan Ting arranged for someone to investigate the ‘Master Gou’ that Li Zhao mentioned. The child who couldn’t bear to say a heavy word actually scolded this person?

The senior executives saw the big boss coming back and exchanged glances. They didn’t know what was going on recently. The boss had suddenly renewed his interest in the company and his emotions had become more obvious. In addition, a ‘child’ often appeared in his circle of friends. Was it true love with this ‘child’?

The two men were frightened by this speculation and retracted their gaze. It wasn’t a game. The boss was serious?

***

Li Zhao stepped through the door of Canghuan’s office building and saw that the young girl on duty at the front desk was the same girl who protected him last time.

“Good evening.’ He greeted the girl and observed the expression on her face. “Yan Ting asked me to go to the office to find him.”

The girl at the front desk stared at him for a few seconds. “O-Okay.”

The baby’s good friend was actually the big boss?”

No wonder why Special a.s.sistant Qin took him upstairs the first time and he didn’t have to go through the guest registration process.

“Thank you.” Li Zhao thanked her. “I’ll go up myself.”

“No, the executive exclusive elevator requires a card to swipe…”

“It’s fine.” Li Zhao took off his mask and revealed himself as ‘Zhao Zhao’ to the front desk girl. “It is the same taking an ordinary elevator. Otherwise, I’m embarra.s.sed to bother Special a.s.sistant Qin or the a.s.sistant staff every time.”

It turned out that every time he came, he was riding the special elevator for executives. No wonder why no other staff used it.

The author has something to say:

Baby Ting Ting spoke to the rich second generation who was self-destructing: You were just beaten by Zhao Zhao but Zhao Zhao was scolded by you!

Rich second generation: So?

Baby Ting Ting: So I’m going to help Zhao Zhao out.