美滋滋

Ch50 - Shameless

“Housekeeper uncle?” Li Zhao let the housekeeper enter. “What is it?” 

“The boss said you’ve been working hard recently so I had the kitchen make you soup.” The housekeeper put down the tray and smiled. “Mr Li, is it comfortable to live here?”

“Everybody is fine. It is comfortable to live here.” Li Zhao picked up a bowl and drank the soup.

Seeing that his appetite was so good, the housekeeper smiled even more kindly. He was accustomed to the boss eating nothing and there was finally a young man who had an appetite for everything. The housekeeper felt his appetite was getting better.

"It's good that you are living happily." The housekeeper handed over a clean towel. "Since you are used to living here, I would like to ask you to come more often. After you came, the boss is much happier. Previously, he didn't often eat or drink and we were very worried.

“Thank you.” After taking the towel, Li Zhao looked up at the house. “You… aren’t you the housekeeping staff invited after the demolition and relocation of Ting Ting’s house?”

“I’m different from the other domestic workers.” The housekeeper’s smile was unchanged as he took the towel Li Zhao used to wipe his mouth and put it on the trap. “The boss and I have known each other for a long time. Last year, my employer thought I was getting old and fired me. The boss knew this and took me home.”

“It turns out that you watched Ting Ting grow up.” Li Zhao asked curiously. “Was Ting Ting very cute as a child?”

“The boss growing up…” The house smiled before continuing, “The boss was very good. As a child, he was like the little prince of a castle. I have a photo album. Would you like to see it?” 

“I want to see it.” Li Zhao nodded.

“Then wait for me for a while.” The housekeeper left Li Zhao’s room with an empty bowl and was secretly relieved. He didn’t know how the boss usually communicated with Mr Li but he almost revealed something.

He handed the empty bowl to the maid, took out a key and found a dusty album in storage. The album hadn’t been opened for a long time. The style looked a bit old and the housekeeper trembled as he opened the album’s seal to reveal only a few photos.

“Ting Ting only had these few photos as a child?” 

Ting Ting in the photos looked better than Li Zhao thought, except that in every photo, he never smiled. The only smiling photo was when he was lying in a crib in a baby bear suit. He grinned without any teeth as he smiled innocently at the person taking the photo.

The person who took the photo must be the closest person to Ting Ting. Through the plastic film of the photo, Li Zhao could almost imagine the person who took the photo calling out Ting Ting’s name affectionately, making him laugh out loud before taking this precious photo.

“The boss hasn’t liked taking photos since he was a child.” The housekeeper said, “Then gradually, no one took photos of him.”

Li Zhao was distressed hearing this. A child who lost his parents, who would care if he was happy or about keeping childhood photos as a memorial?