Evening fell. It was damp and hazy after the rain. Somewhere in City J, a hospital was in its busy hour.
The hospital was always bustling at night since illness wouldn’t wait till one get up.
Hazel and her companions had just walked into the hall of the hospital when they were surrounded by the cry of patients’ relatives.
One man, dressed poorly with muddy spots on his worn-out jeans, seemed to be from a needy family.
Yet the staff passing by was indifferent to his crying and begging.
Hazel felt sympathy for him as he reminded her of her father.
Her father used to work so hard to afford her education that his hair turned grizzle even in his forties.
Her father used to work at the construction site to do those dangerous, hard yet highly-paid jobs.
However, it was not long before he had a heart attack.
She could never forget those days when she begged different doctors, crying because she couldn’t afford the expense of her father’s surgery.
Fortunately, she and her father had finally made it.
“What’s wrong? Is there anything I can help you with?” she walked up to the man and asked.
Seeing him crying like a child, she felt empathetic about his despair.
She couldn’t help but sigh at the hardness of life.
“My wife had given birth to our child. But my child has to be put in a thermal container now. The doctor said that it costs a lot even for one night. If we can’t pay for that, my baby would have to be…” he was too sad to continue.
The man burst into tears, sobbing as he begged for help.
There was no way for him to raise that large sum of money. He even thought of selling his organs. He didn’t care if it was legal or if it would damage his health, he just wanted to save his child.
Baron, on the other hand, appeared indifferent. There were too many unfortunate souls in this world. Although he would like to contribute to charity, he couldn’t save everyone.
Therefore, he just stood in the corner, watching coldly.
Dave was also a sentimental person. He couldn’t help but wet his eyes while hearing the man say that he and his wife had tried very hard before finally having their first baby in their forties.
Hazel knew it was not the hospital or any doctor to blame. After all, the hospital also needed money to operate.
“I still have some money here. Take it.”
Dave took out his wallet and took out his living expense for this month. It was not much, only 500.
Although he was highly paid to work for the Floyd family, he handed most of his salary to his parents to save for later use.
In a city where living expenses were very high like City J, he had to be careful with every coin he earned to improve his life condition.
Hazel reached in her wallet yet blushed in embarrassment. She had no money. For so long, her life had been taken care of by the helpers sent by Baron and so she didn’t need to carry money on her.
Even the dress she was wearing was also bought by Baron.
“Mr. Baron, can you help his child?”
Hazel was not a saint, but she was so touched by the man. She was reminded of her father. Thinking of her father, she suddenly realized that she hadn’t come back to her hometown for long.
She wondered if her father was as helpless as this man when he was in trouble.
“I wonder why,” said Baron.
He didn’t reject directly. Instead, he looked at her curiously, waiting for her explanation.
He didn’t understand why she could show mercy to someone else after she was driven out by her landlord and left homeless.
He was taught to be calm, indifferent, and to do only what was beneficial to himself. Thus, he couldn’t see why he would help this man if he couldn’t benefit from this.
“You asked me to act as the female lead of ‘The Past of the Great Qing Dynasty’. I would like to donate my pay to help him.”
Hazel couldn’t find any reason that Baron should help him, so she could only use her own money to help this man.
Baron took a few steps forward and looked down into Hazel’s eyes.
Hazel couldn’t figure out what he was thinking from his expression while her own mind was easy to read from her clear and uneasy eyes.
“Ms. Horatio, may I remind you that,” Baron smiled shrewdly and said, “you have cost more than 100 thousand after being hospitalized twice including the expense of your clothing and the intensive care.”
…
Hazel was only a newbie in the acting industry. Even though she was lucky enough to play the leading role, the pay couldn’t suffice to pay Baron back.
He had made his point clear that as her creditor, he had the right to turn down her request.
“You…”
Hazel was speechless. She didn’t know how to refute his words.
Although she was hospitalized for saving him, he had given her a blood transfusion. Plus the time he saved her life, she still owed a lot to him.
As a shrewd businessman, everything he did was for certain benefits. Making her the leading role was just a cheap bargain for him. It was probable that Hazel wouldn’t get any pay for this.
Hazel bowed her head, feeling depressed.
She then thought maybe the man could borrow money from Baron first and then work for the Floyd Group to pay the money back. In this way, the man’s child could be saved while Baron didn’t suffer any loss.
“Dave, call the assistant and ask her to settle this.”
Baron strode forward and walked into the elevator.
If he had not wanted to investigate Plum Blossom and figure out what Elva was up to, Baron would never have stepped into this place and got involved with irrelevant people’s trouble. After all, he was quite busy.
Hearing his words, Hazel knew that meant he was willing to help. She was immediately brightened up. She began to ponder on whether she had held prejudice against him. Baron didn’t seem to be as cold as others’ description.
Since the elevator was a little cramped, Hazel felt somehow breathless.
After knowing the truth, she did not know how to deal with Elva. She didn’t know whether she should ask Elva why she did so or she should just pretend that nothing had happened between them.
“In ‘The Past of the Great Qing Dynasty’, your role has a lot of crying scenes. Take now as a test.”
Baron adjusted his suit and said in a low voice, “Just pretend that nothing happened. Just act as if you feel sorry and guilty for your friend.”
Only Baron could describe her meeting with Elva as a test for acting in “The Past of the Great Qing Dynasty”.
“In other words, Hazel, when you see Elva, you have to cry sadly and hugged her tightly.”
Dave thought that he got Baron’s meaning and so tried to instruct Hazel.
Hazel nodded and began to consider.
‘If this is an acting test, what I need to do is to figure out the mentality of the role according to the script.
‘I’m not Hazel now. I’m just here to visit a friend who has become crazy after suffering a demonic crime.
‘It would be a little exaggerated to act as Dave said. But how should I perform?
‘Although it’s claimed that Elva is crazy, I can’t risk letting her notice anything wrong.’
“I need you to find out if she is truly crazy,” said Baron.
He hated things being out of control. If the police had not insisted on rescuing the hostages on the plane first, Plum Blossom would not have had a chance to escape.
Elva was a subordinate of Plum Blossom, so he had to master every piece of information of her.
He had thought that Plum Blossom was just a nobody and had let her loose for years.
And she had made him pay for underestimating her.
“I think I know what to do,” Hazel said.
To find out Elva’s true condition, Hazel had already decided on how to act according to different responses Elva would give.
…