Chapter 9 - Very Good
A delicate face on a 20 year old boy was looking at them with confusion, would their heart throb or would they dislike it?
A female reported looked at Li Zhao and couldn’t help softening her heart. Still, as a qualified entertainment reporter who needed to increase the traffic and topic heat. She couldn’t be soft-hearted and had to ask correctly.
“Recently, someone broke the news that you were given unfair treatment by an important supporting actor on the set.” The reporters weren’t willing to give up this opportunity and continued questioning Li Zhao.
An important supporting actor… it was clear that this person was Song Yu.
In the eyes of the public, Li Zhao bowed his head. “You… you know all that?”
The reporters’ eyes became hot when they saw Li Zhao bowing his head slightly. Hot news was going to burst! Make sure the camera and recorder were in place!
“Yes, yes, we’ve heard all about it. Please tell us more. We are all very concerned about you.”
The a.s.sistant following Song Yu had soft legs. He quietly put Song Yu back in the car and blocked the front of the door.
“Get out of the way!” Song Yu reached out to push the a.s.sistant but the a.s.sistant hastily pressed him back. “Brother Song, Brother Song, don’t make any noise. We should hurry to go while the reporters aren’t paying attention.”
“Why should I go?”
I’m afraid that Li Zhao’s fans will get agitated and hit people.”
“……”
Li Zhao now had ridiculous fans, all of them were drama fans and face fans!
Li Zhao was frightened by the reporters’ hot eyes and took a step back, his back hitting numerous cameras and microphones. He just shamelessly accepted Song Yu’s midnight snacks. There was no need for so many people to come and take photos, right? He was a young man with the burden of being an idol.
“Isn’t it a bit bad to say it in front of so many people?” Li Zhao spoke very softly.
“There is nothing wrong with it. The fans are very concerned about this.” How could the reporters let Li Zhao turn the hot topic around? “Please be sure to talk about it.”
Inwardly, the reporters were thinking, ‘Fight, fight!’
“Unfair treatment, there was a bit.” Li Zhao coughed. “In fact, there is nothing to say.”
“It’s fine, you can talk to us.” The reporters anxiously waited for Li Zhao to break the news.
Song Yu’s a.s.sistant warily watched the fans around them holding Li Zhao’s sign, always ready to take Song Yu to run.
“Then Ik2026; I’ll just say a bit?” Li Zhao’s cheeks were slightly red.
“Yes, say it!” The reporters couldn’t wait.
“Brother Song knows that I easily get hungry at night so he often arranged for his a.s.sistants to buy me food at night.”
“Huh?” The reporters felt that this didn’t seem to be unfair treatment. “What else?” There must be something he hadn’t talked about yet.
Li Zhao didn’t expect these reporters to ask for the whole story. He looked at the reporters surrounding him and knew he couldn’t escape them. Thus, he had to continue explaining, “A few months ago, Brother Song received the endors.e.m.e.nt of a very delicious chocolate brand. He gave me a box in front of the crew but in fact, he asked his a.s.sistant to secretly send me another box.”
Speaking of this, he hastily looked at the cameras. “The other brothers and sisters of the crew, please don’t blame Brother Song for being unfair. Blame the fact that I eat too much, making Brother Song secretly send me a box. Brother Song is a very good man.”
Eh? Eh? Eh?
The journalists were dumbfounded. This was completely different from the ‘unfair treatment’ they expected? N-No, they didn’t want this!
“Brother Song often arranges for his a.s.sistant to give me a nutritious meal. He also comforted me that I am younger than him and he should take care of me like this. I never expected that this would make everyone think Brother Song was giving me unfair treatment. I’m sorry.” Li Zhao made a 90 degrees bow to the camera.
His heart remembered Zhang Xiaoyuan telling him to maintain that he was a ‘fairy man’ and reluctantly covered up his special eating habits.
Looking at this young man bowing, the group of reporters experienced a moment of silence. This was probably the first time they had seen such a ‘wonderful’ artist.
Now the mainstream opinion on the Internet was sympathetic to Li Zhao and insulting Song Yu. If Li Zhao was clever then he shouldn’t help Song Yu speak at this time.
The public loved miserable people since there was a natural’ sympathy and love’ psychology. Li Zhao was good-looking even in the entertainment industry where there were many handsome people. He was eye-catching and his acting skills were good. He might not be a scientific actor but he could play the role happily and vividly. He could be regarded as both beautiful and strong.
The thing he lacked was misery. As long as he allowed the audience who had good feelings towards him produce a ‘this actor is so miserable that I am heartbroken’ psychology, it was easy to convert the drama fans and pa.s.sersby fans to his fans. If Li Zhao was slightly smart, he would use ambiguous words to make the audience feel bad for him.
What did it mean by rain after a long drought, joy from heaven, extreme sorrow turns to joy or to be overjoyed at the turn of events? Song Yu’s a.s.sistant deeply grasped the meaning of these idioms at this moment. He didn’t expect Li Zhao to spontaneously say good things about Song Yu and also praise Song Yu. There was no means more powerful that the clarification of the person involved!
What type of fairy man was Li Zhao? He was good-looking, kind-hearted and selfless. He was simply a model for a new era of artists.
“Brother Song, Li Zhao personally clarified this matter and the chocolate brand definitely won’t cancel the endors.e.m.e.nt contract.” The a.s.sistant emotionally spoke to Song Yu. “This really helped us a lot.”
The entire PR team couldn’t think of anything yet this was what happened.
Song Yu stared at Li Zhao, who was surrounded by reporters, and turned his head to scoff. What was the use of being good-looking if he had a pig brain? Li Zhao couldn’t even see that he was being deliberately targeted.
The security guards hired by the platform finally arrived late. They crowded out the reporters so that the actors of Overbearing Female President could smoothly enter the VIP pa.s.sage. Compared to the noisy gate crowded with reporters, this pa.s.sage was a bit too quiet.
Actress Yao Shasha knew the Internet news and intentionally or unintentionally approached Li Zhao, to make Li Zhao become familiar with her. This would make the fans see it as a joke that she treated Li Zhao coldly in the crew.
Unfortunately, a long time pa.s.sed but Li Zhao was still too polite and less intimate. Even in the two people stood in the same direction, they were separated by two steps. Hearing the screams of the fans under the stage, the smile on Yao Shasha’s face was almost stiff.
Her publicity agent wanted her to hype up a CP with Li Zhao. However, Li Zhao’s att.i.tude meant that anyone who wasn’t blind could see they weren’t familiar with each other. How could she hype things up?
In the questioning session, there was a game to test the tacit understanding between the actors. The host asked Li Zhao what flavour of milk tea he liked and Yao Shasha wrote strawberries. She remembered that one time when the crew let the a.s.sistant buy milk tea, Li Zhao drank it cleanly.
“Shall we see the answer?” The platform’s host turned over Li Zhao’s writing board. “Vanilla flavour.”
The person who got it right wasn’t Yao Shasha, nor Lu Renjia who was apparently a good friend based on the marketing account. It was actually Song Yu.
Song Yu, “……”
If he didn’t understand Li Zhao’s taste, how could he make Li Zhao fat? These people didn’t know how much effort he used to let Li Zhao’s figure become out of shape.
After the recording of the program, Song Yu walked to Li Zhao and was ready to proudly declare that he didn’t need Li Zhao’s sympathy. However, Li Zhao held his coat and hurried into the elevator with the platform’s staff.
“Brother Song, Brother Li…” Lu Renjia stepped forward and was interrupted by Song Yu.
“What Brother? Li Zhao is only 20 years old and you are two years older than him. Do you want to pretend in front of others?” Song Yu sneered at Lu Renjia. “Li Zhao is my opponent. What are you?”
Establishing a good relationship using the online marketing account to sc.r.a.pe up heat, who couldn’t see it? Not all dogs deserved to be licked.
He didn’t expect Song Yu’s att.i.tude to be so straightforward. Behind them were the staff of the platform. Lu Renjia’s face was red with shame but he didn’t dare challenge Song Yu. He could only smile awkwardly. “Brother Song can really joke around. I respect Brother Li’s acting skills and character so I call him Brother.”
The response was Song Yu’s cold snort and the shadow of Song Yu’s departure. Lu Renjia didn’t have to look back to know what expressions the platform’s staff were looking at him with. He gritted his teeth and his heart was hard. If it wasn’t for someone being behind him, how could Song Yu act like this?
Li Zhao was escorted by the staff and rushed to the underground parking lot. He hurriedly said goodbye to the staff and opened the door of a black car to get in.
“Brother, you’ve been waiting.” Li Zhao put his coat on his lap and turned to look at Yan Ting. “Today’s recording went into overtime. You must be hungry.”
He said this and pulled two oranges out of his jacket pocket. “I just took this from the lounge and you should fill your stomach first.”
Yan Ting took the orange and noted that the makeup on Li Zhao’s face hadn’t been removed. “Have you been very busy recently?”
“People are watching the drama now so I can make some money with the appearance fee.” Li Zhao took a cash coupon out of his pocket and spoke happily. “I inquired about it. As long as it isn’t a holiday, the coupon can be used. Thus, the meal will be my treat.”
Yan Ting’s eyebrows slightly raised at the sight of the colourful coupon Li Zhao was holding. After nearly 30 years of living, this was the first time he had been asked to dinner using a coupon.
“I read on a restaurant review app that many customers think this store is delicious. The service att.i.tude is also good.” Li Zhao opened the app to let Yan Ting see the customers’ reviews. “I wanted to try it a few months ago but I didn’t get the chance.”
Unfortunately, he had no money.
Yan Ting could only listen silently as Li Zhao recited the specials of the store. Then once he almost finished, Yan Ting unscrewed an unopened bottle of water and handed it to Li Zhao.
“Thanks, man.” Li Zhao drank a few mouthfuls. “Just now, some things weren’t shot well. I had to go back and forth several times and my throat is dry.”
His voice was full of energy and a cheerful air seemed to emerge from his bones, filling his limbs and even the tip of his hair. Yan Ting liked to listen to this young man talk. He was lively and not irritating at all.
“Then?” Yan Ting asked and waited for the other side to continue.
“That’s why I was late and you had to wait for so long.” Li Zhao sighed. “It is a pity that Brother Xiaoyuan has something to do today. Otherwise, I would ask him to eat together. Eating hot pot requires many people to have the right atmosphere.”
“You sent me a message in advance so I didn’t wait long.” Yan Ting’s voice was still calm. “You were recording the program. How could you send me a message?”
“Hehe.” Li Zhao picked up an orange peel, stretched out fingers and shook it. “I used the gap between the program recording to send a message. My hand speed is magical.”
He was a popular newcomer and secretly sending a message while filming a program. It was enough to make his heart stop with fright.
The car drove to the exit of the underground parking lot. Then Li Zhao saw Yao Shasha and her a.s.sistant standing next to the white car. The car’s bonnet was open and was filled with white smoke. It seemed that something had gone wrong with the car.
“Li Zhao!” Yao Shasha seemed to know the person sitting in the car was Li Zhao and waved in Li Zhao’s direction, as if asking for help.
The author has something to say:
Zhao Zhao: Brother Song is very good, very considerate. He is already half my bread and b.u.t.ter.
Brother Song: I still want you to be quiet today.