Chapter 20 - Give Money

The cold wind blew. A car hurriedly cut through the darkness of the night and stopped in front of a villa.

“Dr Zhou, this way.” The housekeeper in a suit hurriedly ushered the man in the car through the gate. “Around midnight, Sir’s temperature became abnormal. In a short time, it rose to 39.3 degrees.”

“How can it be so serious?” Dr Zhou walked upstairs while putting on medical gloves. “Did he not eat a lot during this period of time?”

The housekeeper looked a bit strange. “Sir has been going out a lot lately. He also asked people to clean up the house next door.”

Dr Zhou, who was hurrying upstairs, turned to look at the housekeeper. “You mean, Sir took the initiative to contact someone?”

“You know that Sir is usually very quiet, let alone talk about his life with us.” The housekeeper sighed. “However, a.s.sistant Qin mentioned to me privately that Sir’s mental state is very bad this year…”

The two men were silent at the same time. Over the years, their boss had become more silent and less active. Now he found it hard to sleep and eat. Nutrients were carefully prepared but his body still gradually weakened.

Dr Zhou went to the room door and gently knocked on it before opening it. The scene behind the door wasn’t the darkness he imagined. There were bright lights. Yan Ting was sitting on the bed in a thin sweater, a book in his hands. He had an unusual flush on his cheeks and turned to look when the doctor came in.

“Sir, how are you feeling now?” Dr Zhou put down the medicine box and took out the thermometer to take Yan Ting’s temperature. “39.5 degrees Celsius. You need to take some cooling medicine.”

“I need to go out before dawn.” Yan Ting put aside the book and held out his arm. “Give me an infusion.”

“Sir, an infusion is more harmful to your body..” Doctor Zhou wanted to persuade him but knew it was useless when he saw Yan Ting’s calm eyes. “Even if you receive an infusion, you should give priority to resting.”

Yan Ting didn’t speak. He looked down as Dr Zhou inserted the needle into his blood vessel. His blood couldn’t wait to rush into the infusion tube and seemed infinitely happy. The dirty blood that came out of his body was also bright red. Then cold liquid slipped and pushed the red blood back to where it was supposed to be.

“Sir.” Dr Zhou noticed that Yan Ting’s eyes were right and gave a reminder as he fixed the needle to the back of Yan Ting’s hand with adhesive tape. “Please don’t forget that you have an appointment with Dr Sun tomorrow.”

“There will be no time tomorrow.” Yan Ting took his eyes off the infusion tube. “Help me schedule it for the day after.”

“Okay.” Dr Zhou was relived. He wasn’t afraid that Yan Ting would be one day later, he was afraid that Yan Ting wouldn’t go. Previously, he had exhausted himself persuading Yan Ting to go see Dr Sun. Today, it was so easy that he was surprised. “I will let Dr Sun arrange the schedule.”

Yan Ting stopped speaking. He raised his other wrist to look at the time. It was currently 1 a.m. and it was five hours before dawn.

Before dawn, Zhang Xiaoyuan and Da Ke came to help Li Zhao pack his bags.

“These, these and these can’t be worn in the future.” Zhang Xiaoyuan picked Li Zhao’s clothes. He knew Li Zhao was reluctant to get rid of these clothes and explained, “Today is different. If you wear these clothes that are worth dozens of yuan in the future, it will be photographed and placed on the Internet. At that time, countless people will laugh at you.”

“Brother Zhang is right. “Zhao Zhao, the company is planning to open the fashion circle road for you. You will have a professional design team to help you with your future clothes.” Da Ke didn’t dare be as direct as Zhang Xiaoyuan. “Of course, your clothes are very comfortable. It doesn’t matter if you wear them at home.”

“I understand. The company will pay more in public relations expenses so I will accept this small loss. “ Li Zhao put some of his good quality clothes in a box. “I’ll take these clothes and wear them as pyjamas.”

Zhang Xiaoyuan knew that the child had his own thoughts and didn’t say anything else. He continued to help Li Zhao pack his luggage.

“What is this?” Zhang Xiaoyuan took out a box for mooncakes from the cabinet. It was unknown what the box was filled with but it was quite heavy.

“This is filled with letters that you wrote to me previously and the pen you gave me.” Li Zhao carefully took the iron box and placed it in his suitcase of clothes.

Zhang Xiaoyuan was stunned. 10 years ago, Li Zhao was just a child who turned 10. In the beginning, Zhang Xiaoyuan only wrote to Li Zhao because of some sympathy.

At that time, he had just graduated and his future was full of confusion. It was only by writing to this child that he could find a sense of existence. It wasn’t so much that he was kind but that he needed this ridiculous kindness to keep going.

He mostly couldn’t remember what was written in the letters but they were nothing more than some words of encouragement. He hadn’t expected Li Zhao to still retain these letters and for a while, his mood was complicated.

“At that time, Brother Xiaoyuan wrote to encourage me.” Li Zhao thought for a moment and took the box out of his suitcase. He wrapped it in a layer of towels so that the box wouldn’t be damaged during the transportation. “That Mid-Autumn Festival, you and your friends gave a box of mooncakes to the children at the welfare home. You each sent a box of mooncakes filled with egg yolk and it was delicious.”

It turned out that this was the box for the mooncakes he bought that year.

“The aunt at the inst.i.tution said I was lucky. The first year I came to the inst.i.tution, there happened to be good people gifting such expensive mooncakes.” Li Zhao smiled and packed the box wrapped in a towel. “Hehe, no one can stop good luck.”

Zhang Xiaoyuan’s throat was blocked. This person was so abused by his adoptive parents and it even made the news. This was called good luck?

“Don’t talk nonsense. Hurry and pack your things.” He reached out to tap on Li Zhao’s forehead, coughing twice to hide his emotions. “Yes, you are the luckiest. Now there is a rich tyrant friend who is providing you with free accommodation. Who can have such good luck?”

Li Zhao covered the spot where he was. .h.i.t and jumped back. “Brother Xiaoyuan, you shouldn’t knock on a man’s head.”

“Man?” Zhang Xiaoyuan raised his eyebrows and looked at the place below Li Zhao’s abdomen. “A yellow-haired child, how are you a man?”

“Brother Zhang, driving without a license will be reported.” Da Ke hadn’t expected Zhang Xiaoyuan and Li Zhao to have known each other for a long time and laughed. “Brother Zhang, what era is it? You actually communicated with Zhao Zhao by writing letters?”

Zhang Xiaoyuan waved. “What do you know? Writing is always one of the best ways to communicate.”

“I don’t know.”

There was a knock on the door. Li Zhao looked at the door and saw Yan Ting wearing a suit, leather shoes and a jacket. He face was even paler than yesterday and his elegant self was out of touch with the shabby doorway.

“Ting Ting, why did you come so early?” Li Zhao looked around the messy house. “The house is dusty. Don’t come in first.”

He moved a small chair to the door. Then Li Zhao took out a bag of fruits from the refrigerator and washed it clean. He placed them on a plate and handed them to Yan Ting. “Sit and wait for me for a while. Be good.”

Yan Ting held a plate of big cherries with water drops on them. He didn’t know whether to sit down or stand for a while. This was the first time he has seen Li Zhao’s house. It was more than 10 square metres and filled with all sorts of necessities. It was so cramped that people would find it hard to breathe.

“You brought these people?” Only then did Li Zhao notice that there were a few strangers behind Yan Ting. He silently glanced at the big cherries on the plate. Maybe.. there weren’t enough cherries.

The winter cherries were particularly expensive and he was usually reluctant to eat them. Last night, he had gritted his teeth and bought a box. Half of it was given to Brother Da Ke and Brother Xiaoyuan who came to help in the morning and the rest was given to Ting Ting.

“I still have some apples in the fridge…”

“They are people from a moving companion.” Yan Ting coughed twice. “Tell them what things need to be collected and leave it to them.”

“It is too troublesome…”

“I’ve already given them money.”

“Brothers, these boxes need to be carried down.” Li Zhao swallowed down his words of refusal and greeted the moving company’s employees. He was thrifty by nature and couldn’t stand to waste money.

The moving company worked quickly. In less than an hour, they got everything into the vehicle. Everything went well until Li Zhao saw the empty house that Yan Ting mentioned.

“Ting Ting, this is… the empty house you mentioned?” Li Zhao looked at the village with a garden in front and a swimming pool in the rear. For the first time, Li Zhao realized how different his values were from Yan Ting.

“You don’t like it?” Yan Ting asked Li Zhao.

“Like is like…” Li Zhao gulped. He thought the empty house would be an ordinary two-bedroom or three-bedroom house. He didn’t think it would be a big villa.

“Just like it.” Yan Ting glanced at the next village. “I live in the one on the left. The environment here is quiet and security is extremely strict. Apart from the two of us, the other neighbours were very far away. Your occupation is an actor and the privacy and safety of your residence are very important.”

“I’m not famous yet…” Li Zhao awkwardly scratched his head. “Even if I go out, not many people know me.”

“They’ll all know you later.” Yan Ting handed the access card and house card to Li Zhao. “Go in and see.”

Da Ke had been in an over-excited state since entering the gate of this community. As a local, he had long heard of this community. Those who could live in this community were all great people. Many famous artists in the circle had to spend a lot of money and have contacts to get a small place here. Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhao’s good friend let him borrow a villa to live for free. This was the moving brotherhood of the new era!

They walked through the entrance. It was furnished and the flowers and trees were trimmed neatly. The carpet and curtains in the house were brand new and even the flower arrangement in the vase still had the morning dew.

“h.e.l.lo, Mr Li.” A middle-aged man in a suit came down from the upper floor and gave a gentlemanly bow to Li Zhao. “I am Mr Ting’s housekeeper. In the next period of time, I will be the housekeeper of your place. If you need anything, just let me know.”

Having said that, he took out a list from a folder. “This is a list of names and contact information of the staff in charge of the housekeeping work. Please accept it.”

Li Zhao looked at the man dressed like the housekeeper of an ancient castle and then turned to Yan Ting. He was somewhat at a loss by this high standard reception.

“Take it.” Yan Ting whispered in his ears. “They are well-paid and receive money for doing nothing.”

Yan Ting’s breath was a bit hot. Li Zhao didn’t take it but reached out to touch Yan Ting’s forehead.

“Ting Ting, do you have a fever?”

The housekeeper, who had always maintained an elegant smile, seemed to hear terrible words and the smile on his face instantly disappeared.

The author has something to say:

Da Ke: The gap between me and Zhao Zhao isn’t only our faces. It is also a moving brotherhood.