Sunday.

Zhang Ye woke up in the morning.

He was awoken by the pain. Even before he could open his eyes, he was already groaning in pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw Rao Aimin dressing his wound.

“Don’t move!” Rao Aimin said.

Zhang Ye shouted, “Let go! Painful, painful, painful!”

Rao Aimin thundered, “Keep still! It’s almost done!”

Chenchen also woke up, and she was hur hur-ing at him in bed. Even a child looked down on him.

Zhang Ye didn’t care; he cherished life and was afraid of pain. He could only focus on himself now, “Lightly, lightly! The pain’s killing me! Ah, ah! I’m gonna die!”

Finally, Rao Aimin gave him a pat, “Alright, it’s done.”

Zhang Ye fell back onto the bed, sweating, “I can’t move anymore. I’m gonna die!”

Rao Aimin patted hard on his thigh, “Don’t play dumb with me. The wound has already started to close up. As long as you don’t move heavy stuff, it will be fine. Hurry up and get up!”

Zhang Ye grumbled, “Can I have breakfast? If I get breakfast, I will get up.”

Rao Aimin pulled Chenchen up, “Let’s go. The two of us will go have breakfast. He can stay there if he wants!”

“What? It has already been prepared? I’ll be right there!” Zhang Ye tumbled out of bed to brush his teeth. His actions were very quick. He tore open a new package holding a toothbrush which was placed there and used a pink face towel to dry his face without knowing who it belonged to. From the smell, it should be the landlady’s. Last night, Zhang Ye had enjoyed her scent close up. Even his hands held the scent from her body. He was naturally familiar with it.

Downstairs.

The two of them had already started on breakfast.

“Hey, why didn’t you two wait for me.” Zhang Ye sat down and took an egg with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth, “Mmmm, delicious!”

Ring, ring, ring.

Zhang Ye phone, which he had left upstairs, was ringing.

“Landlady Auntie.” Zhang Ye said when he heard the phone ring, “My leg still hurts. It would be hard to go up and down the stairs. Can you help me get the phone?”

Chenchen pouted and said, “Fragile!”

Zhang Ye stared at the little one, “Your uncle, I, was hurt badly. Understand?”

Rao Aimin slammed her chopsticks on the table, staring at Zhang Ye, “I am not going to take it up with you because you protected Chenchen! Are you addicted with commanding me?” Even though she said so, Rao Aimin still went upstairs and threw the phone to him.

The phone stopped ringing.

Zhang Ye took a look at the number and called back, “Hello, Brother Hu.”

“Little Zhang.” Hu Fei asked, “Are you stuck in a jam? Didn’t you say that you were coming earlier today?”

Zhang Ye sighed, “Let’s not talk abou it. I might not be able to make it today.”

Hu Fei knew that Zhang Ye was very professional, as he would usually arrive one to two hours early, in order to work or clean up the office. No one was as professional as he was in the office. He was a guy who would work to death. Most of the time, he would be forced to go on leave by the Leader instead of taking leave himself. Therefore, Hu Fei understood that something must have happened, “Why? What happened?”

Zhang Ye sighed again, “Yesterday, a neighbor’s house was burgled. There were two of them, and both had knives. I had to do something, so I fought them and my arm was wounded.”

Hu Fei said surprised, “Eh? Is the injury serious?”

Zhang Ye replied, “It’s not so serious; I just need some rest.”

Hu Fei said, “You are really great. A literary man like you went up against some criminals. They even had knives. Don’t you want to live anymore? Next time, don’t force it. What if something happens? Luckily, you are fine! Alright, I will give you a few days off to rest. You can come back when you are better! I will bring the team to go visit you tonight!”

Zhang Ye quickly said, “Don’t, don’t. The team is busy, and my injuries are not that serious. Don’t bother everyone. I will return to work on Monday.”

Hu Fei said, “Alright, take good care of yourself then.”

Zhang Ye said, “Okay. Thank you for your concern, Leader.”

He hung up. Rao Aimin then said to Chenchen, “When you grow up, remember not to learn from a certain person. A small injury, and he’s crying like he’s going to die.”

Chenchen had a sip of her porridge, “Mmh.”

Hearing what the landlady said, Zhang Ye was not angry. He stole a glance at Rao Aimin’s outfit that she was wearing today. She was wearing an all-white pair of yoga pants and it was skin-tight. However, there was a fabric belt wrapped around her legs. Her top was black, without many frills. The landlady usually wore clothes that did not look trendy and looked old. However, she wore it beautifully. Especially those yoga pants… They clinged to her thighs and beautiful hips tightly, showcasing her curves. Her figure was fantastic.

After breakfast.

Rao Aimin didn’t keep him around, “Okay, get lost now.”

Zhang Ye asked, “Then, am I going to get any lunch?”

“I’m going to bring Chenchen to the police station to have her statement recorded. You are injured, so I will bring back the statement form for you to sign. I have no time to make lunch, so don’t expect too much!” Rao Aimin then chased him off.

……

Afternoon.

Zhang Ye couldn’t bear with the hunger any longer. He went to the landlady auntie’s house, but no one was around. He received a call from his mom at this moment, so Zhang Ye decided to head home.

Caishikou.

The area around his home.

Zhang Ye pulled down his sleeves before heading upstairs. He did not want his dad and mom to see his injury, so as not to worry them.

When the door opened, there were lots of voices inside!

Zhang Ye got a fright when he entered. He saw 3-4 people the moment he entered, and there were more inside.

His mother pulled him in and said caringly, “Come inside. Did you eat yet? Mom cooked something for you.”

Once inside, Zhang Ye noticed there were 8-9 people. He knew all of them. They were all the elder neighbors. “Auntie Zhang, Auntie Chen, Uncle Sun, Brother Li, Grandpa Liu.”

It was 1 P.M. now and the TV was tuned in to BTV Arts Channel. They were watching ‘Lecture Room’ and Zhang Ye was talking about Cao Cao’s life on TV.

“Aiyo, Little Ye is back!”

“You are a big star now!”

“Right, right. You’ve done your family proud!”

“Brother Zhang, I envy you so much. Your son is so great!”

“I carried Zhang Ye around when he was still young. Who would have thought that he has become a big star in the blink of an eye. When he was young, I had already known that he would grow up to do big things!”

“Brother Zhang, really, you and your wife. How can you tell us only today? I did now know that Zhang Ye has already become so famous in Beijing. Why did you hide it from your old neighbors?”

Everyone was busy discussing.

His mother said with pride, “That’s not true. This kid has only just began. It wasn’t worth mentioning, hur hur. Actually our son didn’t want us to mention it to anyone. Don’t you know my son? He has always maintained a low profile! Besides, I don’t like talking about such things. It’s not a big matter, so I didn’t tell you all beforehand.” Actually, this was not the reason. The reason was because Zhang Ye had only informed them yesterday that he had started work at the Beijing Television Station. The program was also going to air very soon. They didn’t like to talk about it, my ass! He maintained a low profile, my ass! Otherwise, by that mouth of his mother’s, how could she hold it in? Whenever Zhang Ye had some results, she would want to let the whole neighborhood know!

Uncle Sun nodded vigorously, “Yes, yes. Little Ye has always maintained such a low profile!”

Grandpa Liu laughed heartily, “That’s the making of a great person! Good! Really good!”

Auntie Chen excitedly held up Zhang Ye’s mother’s hands and sat down, “Little Ye’s mom, I heard that Little Ye doesn’t have a girlfriend yet? I have a niece who is quite pretty and has a good job at the bank. Why don’t we arrange a time for them to meet up? They can get to know each other.”

His mom played hard to get on his behalf, “Aiya, our Little Ye is not that old yet. I have not considered him dating so early on.”

Auntie Chen said, “He’s not that young; he’s already 23 years old and will be 24 in no time. It’s the right time to start a family.”

Brother Li said, “You can’t say it like that. Actually, look at all the big stars. They marry late, and there are a lot of them who are not even married at 40. Marriage will affect their careers, so there’s really no rush.”

The program ended.

The neighbors went back to their own homes.

Only then did Zhang Ye begin to have the lunch prepared by his mother. He had been chatting with the neighbors earlier, “Hu, I’m starving. Dad, mom, why did the neighbors all come over?”

His dad said with a straight face, “It’s all because of your mom. She’s been telling it to everyone, and now the whole neighborhood knows that you are famous!”

Zhang Ye, “…”

His mother dismissively said, “My son is on TV! Can’t I be happy about it? Can’t I?”

His father said, “Being happy about it is one thing, but don’t exaggerate like saying Little Ye has even appeared on satellite TV, that Central TV has already targeted to headhunt him to their station. You are saying all that without any basis!”

Zhang Ye said while eating, “Dad, mom is just being happy. Let her be. I’ve not brought much pride to our family in all these years. Now that I have achieved some results, mom can finally be proud. Like our Auntie Chen, when I was young, she still spoke behind me saying that with my looks, I would never be able to find a wife. Yet she wants to introduce someone to me now, and it’s even her niece. Just let mom get back all the pride we’ve lost in the past.”

His mother, hearing that, immediately stood up and hugged him. She said to her husband, “Look, look. Our son is the one who truly cares about me! A mother still prides herself by her son, don’t you know? Those neighbors have been talking behind our backs all these years. Now I can finally prove them wrong!”

His father did not bother anymore and continued reading the papers.

His mother sat down, “But speaking of earlier, I’ve seen Old Chen’s niece before. Her looks are quite good and she has a good stature, and she’s about 1.66 metres tall. If you really think it’s a good idea, do go and meet her. If not, then tell mom who has caught your eye. Mom will settle it for you! You are a big star now, and your status is now different. In the past, others would be be the one to choose you, but now it’s you who can do the choosing!”

“There’s no rush.”

“Really, you don’t have anyone in mind?”

“No one; you don’t need to worry about this.”

Zhang Ye ate silently. There were some things that he would never tell his mother.

Of course, he had someone in mind. The landlady auntie, the Heavenly Queen… He had them in his mind, but would they have him in their minds? Impossible! And with their ages, his father and mother would never agree to it! Therefore, there were some things that Zhang Ye only had passing thoughts about!