645: Chapter 329 Get Out of Here

Li Ye reacted quickly, pulling the car door back an inch.

The child was startled, stumbled, and landed hard on his bottom.

It was a seven or eight-year-old boy, as thin as a bean sprout, wearing an old, faded school uniform with frayed cuffs.

He didn't cry; he just sat on the ground with wide eyes, looking at Li Ye in fear and timidity.

That look was like a startled deer, carrying a hint of stubbornness and wariness.

Li Ye's heart felt as if it had been lightly nudged by something.

That look was too similar.

It was too similar to the 'Youqing' he had imagined—Fugui's son, who stubbornly loved his father but eventually died under the school hospital's blood donation truck due to hunger and fatigue.

Before he could speak, Zhang Guifen, who had just gotten out of the car, started shouting.

"Shitou! You kid, what are you running for! Don't you have eyes? You almost hit Director Li's car!"

Her voice was sharp and loud, filled with the typical authority of an alleyway auntie.

The boy named 'Shitou' shrank back at her roar, burying his head low and apologizing softly.

"Sorry, Grandma Zhang... Sorry, Uncle..."

"It's okay, it's okay."

Li Ye waved his hand quickly, knelt down, and asked in a gentle tone:

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you? Get up and let me see."

The boy shook his head, climbed up on his own, brushed the dirt off his bottom, and turned to run.

"This kid..." Zhang Guifen sighed as she watched his retreating back.

"Auntie, do you know him?" Li Ye stood up and asked casually.

"Know him? Of course I do."

Zhang Guifen lowered her voice and gestured with her chin toward a nearby closed courtyard gate.

"He lives right next door, Old Wang's kid."

She paused, her expression turning somewhat regretful.

"Actually, he's quite pitiful."

"The kid's father was working on a construction site years ago, fell from a scaffold, and broke his leg. He's a cripple now and can't do any heavy work, so he just stays at home."

"The whole family relies on his mother washing dishes in a restaurant. She works two jobs a day, working herself to the bone just to barely make ends meet."

Li Ye listened quietly, his gaze fixed in the direction where the boy had disappeared.

Zhang Guifen continued speaking.

"Shitou is actually very smart; he's always at the top of his class at school, and their walls are covered in certificates."

"But with the family's situation... sigh..."

She sighed heavily.

"I heard his mother telling someone a couple of days ago that they really can't afford to support him anymore. They're thinking that once the kid is a bit older and finishes junior high, they won't let him continue. They'll send him straight to a factory in the south to work so he can start sending money home sooner."

"Such a good talent, what a waste."

Working?

Li Ye's brow furrowed imperceptibly.

A child with a talent for studying being sent to an assembly line early because of poverty.

This was, in itself, a real-life version of 'To Live'.

In his mind, the image of the child named 'Youqing' gradually merged with the thin figure of 'Shitou' from just now.

The same poverty, the same stubbornness, the same heartache.

The corners of Li Ye's mouth slowly curled up.

Perhaps he hadn't just found 'Long Er'.

Even 'Youqing' had delivered himself to his door.

Li Ye turned around, his gaze falling back on Zhang Guifen.

"Auntie Zhang."

He spoke with a calm voice.

"Hmm? Director Li, what's wrong?"

Zhang Guifen was still immersed in that minor scare and her lamentations for the neighbors.

"That kid Shitou, his home... is right next door?"

Li Ye pointed at the closed courtyard gate.

"Yes, right there," Zhang Guifen nodded. "Old Wang's family. Wang Jianjun is his father."

"I want to talk to his parents."

Li Ye's words were very direct.

Zhang Guifen was stunned for a moment, countless thoughts flashing through her mind instantly.

What does this Director Li mean?

Does he think the kid is pitiful and want to fund his schooling?

Or... has he taken a liking to the kid and wants to adopt him?

Oh my, this is big news!

The expression on her face immediately became somewhat subtle, and her curiosity grew like wild vines.

"Talk? Talk about what?"

"Can you help me make an introduction?" Li Ye didn't answer directly but instead asked a question back.

He looked at Zhang Guifen with a sincere gaze.

He knew that the most effective way to deal with this kind of alleyway 'know-it-all' was to involve her and give her the feeling of being an 'insider'.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Zhang Guifen's back straightened up a bit.

This was a big director asking her for a favor!

"Ha! Why wouldn't I be able to do that!"

She patted her chest, taking full responsibility.

"I'm very familiar with Shitou's mom! You wait here, I'll go knock on the door right now!"

With that, she started toward the neighboring courtyard.

"Wait, Auntie."

Li Ye stopped her.

"Before I go over, it's better if I clarify things with you first."

"I'm not going to fund him, nor am I doing charity."

Zhang Guifen stopped in her tracks and looked back at him in confusion.

Not funding? Then what could it be?

Li Ye smiled slightly and threw out an answer she hadn't expected.

"I want to invite him to act in a movie."

"...What?"

Zhang Guifen felt as if something was wrong with her hearing.

She dug at her ear and looked at Li Ye with a blank face.

"Act... act in a movie?"

"Yes," Li Ye nodded. "There's a role in my new movie that I think he's very suitable for."

Zhang Guifen was completely dumbfounded.

For a moment, her brain couldn't quite process this information.

Yesterday, this young man said he wanted to invite Old Ni, the sugar sculptor, to act in a movie.

Today, he was saying he wanted to invite the son of Old Wang, the cripple next door, to act in a movie.

This... what kind of casting standard was this?

Was he specifically looking for actors in their run-down alley?

She looked at Li Ye, her eyes full of absurdity and incomprehension.

"Director Li, you... you aren't joking, are you?"

"That kid Shitou is as skinny as a monkey and dark-skinned; what kind of movie could he act in?"

"What I want is exactly that spirit of his."

Li Ye's tone was very serious.

"Auntie, please help me with this. There will be a generous reward once it's done."

The words 'generous reward' made Zhang Guifen's heart skip a beat.

She waved her hands quickly.

"No, no, no, Director Li, you're too polite! I'm just a messenger; I can't help with much."

Though she said that, the slight suspicion in her heart had completely vanished.

This Mr. Li was serious and acting with real money.

She led Li Ye to the mottled wooden door next door.

The red paint on the door had mostly peeled off, revealing the dull grey wood beneath.

Knock, knock, knock.

Zhang Guifen raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

A man's raspy and wary voice came from inside.

"Jianjun! It's me, your Sister Zhang!"

Zhang Guifen shouted at the top of her lungs.

After a good while, the door creaked open, pulled back just a crack from the inside.

A sallow-faced woman in her thirties peeked out; it was Shitou's mother, Liu Cuilan.