Chapter 100 - Winter Breeze
Yan Ting didn’t know what to buy for Li Zhao. Finally, he thought about the hobbies of young people around him and ordered a sports car for Li Zhao. He calculated the time and the sports car should be delivered by the time Li Zhao returned from military training.
The two of them could only chat for a while on WeChat at night. Li Zhao sent Yan Ting a photo of his camouflage outfit while Yan Ting sent Li Zhao a photo of his meal.
As he hid in bed and spoke secretly, Li Zhao found himself thinking of Yan Ting and wanted to go home immediately. He wanted to accompany Yan Ting to work while he read scripts or played games. It had only been a few days since he left and he was already homesick.
Zhao Zhao Has Good Luck: Go to bed early. If you have a dream then remember to dream of me.
Yan Ting: Okay.
Li Zhao held the mobile phone and smiled. His family’s Ting Ting was really good. No matter what Li Zhao said, Ting Ting would say yes.
“Zhao Zhao, Zhao Zhao.” Qian Duo sleeping on the bed beside Li Zhao patted Li Zhao. Li Zhao stuck his head out of the quilt. “What?”
“The quilt is covering you so tightly. Are you afraid of being hot?” Qian Duo sneaked out a bag of biscuits from the bed and stuffed it into Li Zhao’s bed. The instructors didn’t allow them to eat snacks but they had to train after dinner. By the time they went to bed, everyone started to become hungry.
“Thank you.” Li Zhao took the biscuits and secretly gave Qian Duo a bag of beef jerky. The two of them were sitting in the corner and no one knew what they were doing.
In order to train a hard, simple and dare to struggle spirit, all the students slept in the same big s.p.a.ce. Li Zhao and Qian Duo were in the same cla.s.s and the act of sneaking snacks had sublimated their friendship.
“Why are you hiding in bed every night to send messages to people?” Qian Duo smiled evilly. “Are you in love with someone?”
Li Zhao was about to speak when he heard someone say that the instructor was coming. Everyone in the room was frightened and became extremely quiet.
Half a minute later, the instructor really appeared in Li Zhao’s cla.s.s. The room smelled of sweat and stinky feet so he didn’t have the courage to enter.
“Go to bed early. If I find that someone is secretly talking or playing on their phones, I’ll punish them by making them go downstairs and stand guard.”
Li Zhao and Qian Duo exchanged looks. They silently swallowed their snacks and closed their eyes. The amount of training every day was very high so everyone could basically fall asleep the moment they were in bed.
Li Zhao had a dream. He dreamed that he planted a watermelon in the desert. He planted a seed but it wasn’t a watermelon that grew, it was a baby. The baby looked exactly like Yan Ting’s baby. He was about to touch the baby’s face when suddenly, the mountains shook and he woke up from the dream.
At dawn, light crept through the window and Li Zhao’s body turned over. If he was at home, in another 30 minutes, he would accompany Ting Ting to run in the garden. Then he would enjoy a delicious breakfast and start the day.
Alas.
There were five days to go until the military training ended.
For the last two days of military training, there would be a square formation performance and the performance arranged by the school. Li Zhao relied on his beauty to become the standard-bearer of his group’s square formation.
As everyone practiced walking in the square formation, a male student joked with Li Zhao, asking him to leave a way for other male students.
Li Zhao sighed. “It seems that on that day, I can only wipe dust on my face.”
The group laughed. In everyone’s eyes, Li Zhao was a very good cla.s.smate. Some people even took extra care of him because of his life experience.
On the last day of military training, they took a group photo and scolded Li Zhao for being a traitor and betraying their friendship. Everyone was tanned while Li Zhao, the traitor, glowed white in the photo.
“There is no way. Everyone knows that I rely on my face to eat.” Li Zhao hid behind his three roommates. “Brothers, if you are angry then once we go back, I’ll invite everyone to dinner.”
“It is pretty much the same.” The boys pounced on him happily. “Go back and eat hotpot.”
“Roast duck!”
“Lamb spine hot pot!”
“What eating? Everyone, stand upright!” The instructor interrupted them with a smile. “No matter if you are a soldier or a student, you must be a good man in the future. Do things seriously and contribute to the motherland, understood?”
“Yes!”
“Farewell. I have no gifts for you. I will just leave you with a few words.” The instructor placed his hands behind his back. “Be patriotic, love family and love yourself!”
“Okay, we will now disband. Goodbye!”
Some cla.s.smates had red eyes. During the training, they had been praying for rain every day. They felt the instructor was too strict but once it came time to separate, they were reluctant. Army songs such as ‘Green Flowers in the Army’, ‘Target Song’ and ‘Unity is Strength’ were subconsciously hummed.
“Li Zhao, wait.” An instructor called out to Li Zhao and took out a book in an embarra.s.sed manner. “My girlfriend really likes you. Can you help sign your name for me?”
“Okay.” Li Zhao took it and not only signed his name, he also wrote a few words of blessing.
“Teacher, goodbye.”
“Goodbye.” The instructor grinned. “I wish you an early meeting with your family.”
Li Zhao was startled. During the military training, he thought about Yan Ting every day and never thought of other things.
Maybe the thing he longed for most weren’t parents he had never met but a warm home. This desire was fulfilled by Ting Ting so his obsession and unwillingness were subconsciously let go.
“Thank you.”
Li Zhao thought about reuniting with his ‘family.’
They returned to school and Li Zhao invited his cla.s.smates to eat to forgive him for the matter of ‘being the only beautiful one.’ After eating, Li Zhao couldn’t wait to rush to the school’s side entrance. He saw Yan Ting who had been waiting there a long time. He strode to Yan Ting and jumped on his back.
“Ting Ting, I missed you so much.” Li Zhao held Yan Ting tightly without letting go. “Did you miss me?”
“Yes.” Yan Ting carefully placed Li Zhao in the car.
“How much?” Li Zhao continued to ask.
Yan Ting wasn’t good at speaking sweet words but in the face of Li Zhao’s expectations, he was reluctant to lie or trick this person. In the end, he spoke with red ears, “I really missed you.”
“I missed you so much.” Li Zhao plunged toward Yan Ting’s chest. “I even regret coming to school. If I didn’t go to school then I would have more time to accompany you.”
“You’re still young.” Yan Ting gently brushed Li Zhao’s hair with his hand. “Reading more books will make your mental world more wonderful and richer. I also want you to stay beside me every day. I don’t want you to film or socialize.”
Li Zhao lay down on Yan Ting’s thigh. At this angle, he could see Yan Ting’s clean and good-looking chin.
“However, you are still long and your road in the future is very long. This method isn’t good for you.” Yan Ting looked down at Li Zhao. “My family’s Zhao Zhao is someone who shines.”
Li Zhao slowly sat up. He looked at Yan Ting and reached out to tightly hug Yan Ting. “Ting Ting, why are you so good?”
“I’m not good.” Yan Ting hugged Li Zhao back.
Only a better me is worthy of you. For you, I am willing to put down my paranoia and madness, as long as you can be happy.
The two people returned home and Yan Ting led Li Zhao out of the car. “Zhao Zhao, I will give you a gift.”
“What is it?”
“Come with me.’ Yan Ting took him to a parking s.p.a.ce that contained a car covered with cloth and a bouquet of red roses on the car.
Li Zhao picked up the roses and was ready to leave.
“Pull off the cloth.” Yan Ting wanted to laugh and cry. “This is the gift.”
Li Zhao pulled off the cloth and saw a sports car with a very fashionable design. Li Zhao peeped at the car logo and couldn’t help gulping.
“Do you like it?”
His dear boyfriend had prepared a gift and asked if he liked it or not. How should he answer?
“I like it!” Li Zhao grinned widely. “After practicing my car skills, we can go for a ride together.”
“This seat is mine.” Li Zhao pointed to the driver’s seat. Then he pointed to the front pa.s.senger’s seat. “This is Yan Ting’s exclusive seat and no one else can sit on it.”
Yan Ting smiled. He walked to Li Zhao and bent down to meet his lips. He wanted to give Zhao Zhao everything. As long as he had it, he could give it.
***
The wave regarding the domestic toothpaste endors.e.m.e.nt pa.s.sed. After this storm, the orders for the toothpaste factory increased a lot and the originally lifeless factory survived. Due to this matter, the official media praised Li Zhao.
On Strawberry Entertainment’s side, they had set up a filming crew and were waiting for Lu Hao and Li Zhao to start filming. The script of this movie had been revised several times to become more perfect and the characters and motives were more reasonable. Li Zhao was the second male lead while Lu Hao was the first male lead.
Lu Hao proposed to put Li Zhao in the same position but it was rejected by Li Zhao. His role in the movie might be pleasing but the real core character was Lu Hao. Li Zhao didn’t care about these things.
Lu Hao’s team took the initiative to propose this because they had seen the great importance Strawberry Entertainment attached to Li Zhao. They were afraid that Lu Hao would overwhelm Li Zhao and Li Zhao’s studio wouldn’t be satisfied.
Since witnessing Li Zhao’s studio fight against Qian Jiao, the studios of other artists had infinite admiration for Li Zhao’s studio.
They didn’t even dare to confront Li Zhao’s studio head-on. After all, they didn’t even dare to go against Qian Jiao.
Lu Hao’s studio hadn’t expected Li Zhao’s studio to be unexpectedly good to talk to and they even refused this matter.
“Li Zhao’s studio is really interesting. They took a tough att.i.tude with Qian Jiao but they were very good when talking about positions.” Lu Hao’s agent told Lu Hao. “I was previously worried that with the importance Strawberry Entertainment attaches to Li Zhao, you would be wronged in the crew.”
“Li Zhao is very nice. Don’t think about it.” Lu Hao smiled and shook his head. “I told you this a long time ago. You are just a worrier.”
“Can’t I think too much?” The agent handed a script to Lu Hao. “Do you know what they’re saying about Li Zhao?”
“What is it?”
“Strawberry.”
“What?”
“Strawberry Entertainment’s son.” The agent explained, “It is said that Qian Jiao called the Seven Boyfriends crew to ask them to delete Li Zhao’s role. As a result, Strawberry Entertainment called in person and said they would provide theatres for the Seven Boyfriends crew as long as Li Zhao’s role wasn’t affected.”
Lu Hao remembered the party on the private island. He shook his head and didn’t tell the agent about it.
The one who was really supporting Li Zhao wasn’t Strawberry Entertainment but a man known as Mr Ting. As someone who could make Purple Eggplant Entertainment’s president cheekily attend the party, his ident.i.ty must be unusual.
“No matter who supports him, just know that they are a good person.”
The crew started and Li Zhao had to run between the crew, school and home. His roommates liked it when Li Zhao returned home the most. It was because every time he returned to the dorm, he would bring back a lot of delicious food.
Recently, it was revealed that an artist who just entered the freshman year didn’t partic.i.p.ate in military training and barely went to school after it started, causing a lot of discussions. Therefore, the popular artists who just entered the freshman year became the objects of attention of various media. Their roommates and cla.s.smates were interviewed.
Finally, they found that the most positive one was actually the popular Li Zhao. Not only did he partic.i.p.ate in military training, he actively partic.i.p.ated in cla.s.s activities and didn’t seem like a star at all. Netizens found that Li Zhao, like many ordinary local university students, would bring back delicious food for his roommates every time he returned home.
The roommates didn’t give polite compliments when mentioning Li Zhao. They truly liked him. In particular, his roommate touched the meat on his bellies and sighed at the camera. “After coming to school, I gained 5 kg and at least 4 kg is due to Zhao Zhao.”
“You are asking if Zhao Zhao doesn’t come to cla.s.s? He often comes to cla.s.s and the teachers like to point at him to answer questions. It is because after he answers questions, the spirit of his cla.s.smates will be better. They aren’t sleepy after seeing a good-looking person.”
“He gets along well with others. If it wasn’t for you reporters coming for an interview, we would’ve forgotten that he is a star.” Although the roommate’s face was covered with a mosaic, his laughter was very easy-going. “He is too friendly and doesn’t care about his status as a star. We have all forgotten about it.”
Based on these interview videos, it could be seen that Li Zhao got along very well with his cla.s.smates. This type of goodness was real and it wasn’t just being polite in front of the camera. The Li fans were relieved to see Zhao Zhao getting along so well with the students. The Li fans studying at university were envious of Li Zhao’s roommates. It would be too happy to have a roommate feeding them every week.
Just as Lu Hao and Li Zhao’s movie was about to finish shooting, the freshmen’s final examination was approaching. Thus, the crew saw Li Zhao and his roommates doing video discussions and exchanging review experiences with each other every day. It was worthy of being able to get into Beijing University. The learning atmosphere was really strong.
They didn’t know that when Li Zhao returned home, he had an aid to help him study the previous freshmen examination questions, helping him notice the key points.
There was one day left until the final exam. Li Zhao hurried home early, entered Yan Ting’s room and asked Yan Ting to teach him some questions. As they spoke, they shared a quilt.
This year, the snow in Beijing came extraordinarily early. By the time Li Zhao crawled out of the quilt, it was already floating down outside. Li Zhao glanced at the snow and then Yan Ting before retracting back into the bed.
“Don’t move.” Yan Ting patted him on the waist, voice hoa.r.s.e.
Li Zhao turned to look at him. “Today, I have no scenes to shoot in the crew.”
Ting Ting pulled Li Zhao into his arms. “Zhao Zhao, are you hinting to me?”
Li Zhao laughed.
Outside the window, snow fell onto the treetops, the winter wind shook the branches heavy with snowflakes and the entire world was beautiful.
The housekeeper, dressed in proper clothing, stood in the storage room and gently wiped the dust off an alb.u.m with a handkerchief. He turned to the last page of the alb.u.m where there was a new photo.
Yan Ting wore a light coloured sweater and sat on the gra.s.s with a brightly smiling young man behind him. Yan Ting wasn’t smiling but his eyes were full of laughter.
“Housekeeper, the boss and Mr Li haven’t got up yet. Should I call them?”
“No, don’t.” The housekeeper looked out the window at the branches swaying in the wind and smiled. “The boss and Mr Li know when to get up.”
The author has something to say:
Baby Zhao Zhao had a new children’s bicycle that he pedals quickly every day.
Other children: Zhao Zhao, can you give me a ride?
Baby Zhao Zhao firmly shook his head: No, it is my car. Only Ting Ting can sit on it.