Chapter 21 He is the one I picked up

  Zhou Shaoming felt a little unbearable, but he didn't say anything, just quietly looked at him, as if lost in thought.

  Robert fumbled out half a pack of crumpled cigarettes from his pocket, and after several attempts, he finally managed to pull one out. His thumb pressed hard on the lighter's wheel until it turned white, but all he saw were sparks flying everywhere, yet no flame rose up.

  It was as if he couldn't hide the anger in his heart, Robert fiercely threw the lighter away, watching it crash into the wall and shatter into several pieces. He covered his head and let out a hysterical scream: "Is there still someone who wants me to film? Act in movies? How can such crazy things keep happening to me?! Nobody cares about me anymore, nobody is willing to take a look at me! I hate movies! I hate myself! I hate everything that's happened! Get out! All of you get out! Get as far away from me as possible! Let me die in peace!"

  Zhou Shaoming's angry mood gradually subsided, and he looked at Robert, who was tugging at his hair in pain and sobbing uncontrollably. In his heart, he secretly sighed.

  He seemed to see a helpless soul, a soul in agony tossing about on a sea of poison, yearning for rescue, yearning for someone to stretch out a saving hand, like a candle flame that was just about to go out, flickering in the cold wind.

  Extend a hand and you can save a life.

  Throw him down and he may become an unattended corpse in a dark alley.

  Zhou Shaoming's heart was in turmoil, with heaven and humanity at war within him.

  Robert's forehead gradually turned a deathly pale, followed by bulging veins, as if his second wave of withdrawal was like a violent tsunami, which would soon arrive.

  His sanity will soon be gone again and he'll be crying out for heroin, doing anything to get it.

  Zhou Shaoming let out a soft sigh, no longer hesitating, and walked over with big strides. Facing the unsuspecting, grinning Gold Tooth Tom, he calmly said: "Hey, buddy, give me one dose."

  He handed over the cash, and Gold-Tooth Tom handed over the goods, one hand washing the other. And then Gold-Tooth Tom added with a kindly warning: "Hey, man, you're a good guy, but in America, good guys don't always get good breaks! Watch out for that guy, I'm sure he'll be back to his old tricks again, he's finished, forever and ever no use at all, if I were you, I wouldn't give him the time of day!"

  "Thanks, but he's my friend!" Zhou Shaoming said gloomily as he looked at Robert who was struggling in pain once again in the muddy field.

  "Alright! Money makes everything easy to say! If you need more goods, come find me! Everyone knows Gold Tooth Tom!" Tom warmly put his arm around Zhou Shaoming's shoulder and laughed: "If there's anything I can help with, feel free to look for me too. I'm delighted to make friends with someone as generous as you!"

  Zhou Shaoming nodded and said calmly: "Okay, I hope you'll give me a discount next time you sell goods to me."

  "No problem, my friend!"

  "Come on! Let's go home, and when we get there I'll give you some dope. God willing, seeing how kind I'm being to you, you'll turn back into a normal person!" Zhou Shaoming helped Robert up with force, letting his arm drape over his shoulder, supporting him as he stumbled towards his own home.

  Gold Tooth Tom gazed at the two figures disappearing into the distance, took a deep drag on his cigarette, blew out several smoke rings, and then discarded the smoldering butt onto the ground. He stomped on it with his boot to extinguish the ember, waved his hand, and shouted: "Hey, buddies! It's getting late, let's roll!" With a group of younger brothers whistling, they walked down the stairs and stopped in front of seven or eight brand-new Harley-Davidson motorcycles. They straddled their bikes and vanished into the distance amidst thunderous roars.

  The dark alley returned to darkness.

  －－－－－－

  "Hey, Christina, help! Open the door!" Zhou Shaoming was no longer afraid of anyone knowing that he had a beautiful blonde girl with such a hot figure in his house. He struggled to support Robert who had fainted and leaned against the door, pressing the doorbell hard and shouting loudly.

  "Here!" Kristina's silvery voice rang out as she flung open the door with a gust of wind.

  Zhou Shaoming and Robert were caught off guard and fell to the ground with a thud.

  "Oh my! How did you bring a beggar back home! He's so dirty! Are you too? Did you two perform mud wrestling in the swamp or did you tie someone up and bring them back?" Kristina exclaimed discontentedly, not afraid of getting dirty as she helped Zhou Shaoming struggle to lift Robert up.

  "This guy is as heavy as a pig! Of course, he's even filthier than a pig! Help me get him to the bathroom, I need to give this guy a good scrub so he doesn't dirty my Persian rug!" Zhou Shaoming gazed at the dirtied floor with a pained expression and shouted.

  "Stab!"

  Warm water gushed out of the showerhead and sprayed onto Robert's ghastly pale face, quickly waking him up.

  "Oh no, heavens!" Robert's addiction was still in full swing, and he felt extremely weak, as if his muscles had been pulled out of him, irritably trying to ward off the water spraying towards his face.

  "Go wash up! There are clean clothes over there, they're a bit big but you can wear them anyway! Take this, I think this is the last time I'm helping you out! Don't expect it again in the future! Remember that!" Zhou Shaoming tossed the showerhead to Robert with a bad attitude, then threw the drugs from his pocket into the sink and turned around to leave.

  And Robert saw the dope as a starving man would see piles of bread and pounced on it.

  Christina had finished dinner and was sitting at the table, gazing at Zhou Shaoming who was wolfing down his food with a ravenous look on his face, smiling gently.

  "Who is that guy?" Kristina asked curiously, her hands propping up her chin, her eyes as gentle as water, softly gazing at Zhou Shaoming's face.

  "Oh, that guy was picked up by me, I thought he looked good and wanted him to play the role of Dr. Gordon in Saw!" Zhou Shaoming swallowed the meat with difficulty.

  "Alright, I ask you for a role and it's so difficult. You just pick one up casually on the street and bring it home, saying you want to give him a role, or even the main character! Are you looking to die?" Kristina said with her eyebrows furrowed in anger, using force to twist Zhou Shaoming's waist.

  "Ow, ow, ow! Easy does it!" Zhou Shaoming didn't dare offend Kristina, and he had recklessly spent $20,000 on a philandering gentleman. This matter was truly hard to explain.

  "Tell me, who is that guy?" Kristina let go of her hand and sat down on the sofa on one side, taking a pillow in passing and hugging it angrily.

  "Haha, you're talking about him! He's got a great background!" Zhou Shaoming laughed and his eyes spun wildly as he racked his brains to come up with a story to fool Kirsten.

  "Oh? So he's got a big background? Was he a famous actor before? Ah, then why is he so dirty?" Kristina didn't notice Zhou Shaoming's evasive gaze and furrowed her brow to ask further.

  "Hey, where's my bedroom? Ah ha! And you didn't even call me for such a delicious steak! How stingy!" Robert suddenly appeared after taking drugs and washing up, wearing Zhou Shaoming's clean clothes, said with a sniff, then jumped to the dinner table, picked up his knife and fork, and stuffed food into his mouth like a starving ghost.

  "Good grief, you really have no manners!" Kristina said angrily, hugging her pillow.

  Robert, although he had taken a bath, still looked unkempt with his stubble and disheveled hair, his eyes sunken as if he were a refugee from Somalia. Christina felt a sudden jolt of familiarity but couldn't quite place him.

  "Politeness, politeness costs money?" Robert said carelessly, finishing his food and throwing himself onto the chair. He looked at the silent Zhou Shaoming with an unhappy expression on his face and asked: "Hey, buddy, what's your name? Where is my room? Where am I sleeping tonight?"

  "Sleep on the sofa! You're sleeping on the sofa tonight! Where else can you fit your self-important self?" Zhou Shaoming said angrily, this guy is really annoying.

  Zhou Shaoming couldn't help but feel some regret.