He was dreaming.
His cellphone suddenly rang.
Zhang Ye woke up. In a state of confusion, he touched himself all over before he finally found his cellphone in his pocket. He yawned as he answered the call, "Hi, who is this?"
"Who do you think it is?" It was his mother"s voice.
He sleepily answered, "Mum, what"s the matter?"
His mother asked, "Why aren"t you home yet? What time is it already?"
Zhang Ye was a little stunned and repeated, "What time is it?"
"Why don"t you check? It"s already past 7 at night. Your dad and I have been waiting for you to eat dinner. I called you earlier, but there was no answer. Where are you? Why were you sleeping? Didn"t you go to your leader"s birthday celebration?" His mother said angrily, "Are you still coming home for dinner?"
He answered, "Not eating, don"t wait up for me."
"Alright, don"t come home too late then." His mother instructed.
He said, "OK. By the way, the talk show has started re-broadcasting. The videos should already be online."
His mother said, "I will tell your cousins about them. They"ve always been grumbling saying they were waiting to watch it again."
When they hung up, Zhang Ye began to look at his surroundings. d.a.m.n, it was already dark outside!
Where was he?
Where did he end up?
Zhang Ye had a small gap in his memory. He couldn"t react and felt that he had slept for a long time.
The moonlight wasn"t too bright either and he couldn"t see around him clearly. All he knew was that he was on a bed, so he felt around to look for a bedside lamp.
Ba da.
The light switched on as it illuminated the surroundings.
There was an aroma of flower petals in the room.
All Zhang Ye could see was a gorgeous setting in what was a bedroom, but unlike a normal room, this place was huge, about 30-40 square meters! It was a bedroom that was larger than the place that he rented in Jiaomen. There was a sofa, a work desk, and even a s.h.a.g carpet on the floor. On the carpet, there was a tea table with tea making accessories on it. It gave off a feeling of fusion of the luxurious east and west design, of which still mainly inclined towards the eastern style. It was so detailed, that there was even a Kongming Lamp and ink paintings hanging on the walls. It could be said that a lot of special attention had been paid to the interior of this house.
It looked very familiar! Was this Wu Zeqing"s house?
Zhang Ye slapped himself on the head to wake himself up. He finally remembered that earlier in the afternoon, it was Wu Zeqing who sent him back home, but as he was so drunk and delirious that he couldn"t give his home address, so she drove back to her place at Taoran Pavilion instead. After that, Zhang Ye went upstairs and climbed into a bed and had fallen asleep, until now.
What had this come to!?
That Old Feng kept forcing me to drink!
Zhang Ye quickly got out of the bed as he realized that he did not have any shoes. There was only a pair of women"s cotton slippers that were placed neatly to the side. It was a new pair. Sigh, I"ll just wear them. Zhang Ye stepped into the slipper and carefully pushed opened the door. There was no one in the corridor of the second floor, but he could hear some noise from downstairs, even though it wasn"t too clear.
Downstairs.
The aroma of cooking drifted out.
This was an open kitchen part.i.tioned by a bar counter top. Wu Zeqing was busily preparing something inside. She had already changed out of her dress, which she had been wearing to the afternoon"s gathering and was now in a simple getup of a sporting wear. She wore an ap.r.o.n and was also wearing the same type of slippers as Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye said embarra.s.singly, "President Wu."
She did not hear him as the cooker hood was very loud.
Zhang Ye shouted once more, "President Wu!"
Wu Zeqing, who was busy frying some vegetables, turned around to look. She smiled, "You"re awake?" Then she reached up and switched off the cooker hood, "Did you sleep well?"
Zhang Ye smiled sheepishly. "I"ve caused you trouble. I was so drunk that I didn"t know my own bearings and even ended up staying over at your place. My actions were too inappropriate."
"You"re welcome." Wu Zeqing continued cooking, "Take a seat and wait for a little. Dinner"s almost ready. If you still hadn"t woken up, I would have called you anyway."
Zhang Ye pretended to rub his hands politely, "Is that alright?"
She smiled, "Don"t worry about it. Hur Hur, take a seat."
Zhang Ye then said, "Alright then. I"m really feeling the hunger since I didn"t have much in the afternoon. That Teacher Feng kept forcing me to drink." He rubbed his belly.
A few minutes later.
The final dish was ready.
Zhang Ye rushed over to help, "Let me bring it out."
Wu Zeqing gently brushed his hand aside, "There"s no need for you to. You just have to wait to eat." Saying this, she brought the dish over to the dinner table and undid her ap.r.o.n, "There"s still soup and that"s it." She looked over at the cooker, "It still needs a little while more, so let"s start eating first. It will be done once by the time we finish eating." Northerners usually had their soup after eating, not before.
3 dishes and some soup.
Zhang Ye praised, "It"s such a spread. The servings are so much."
Wu Zeqing sat down, "If you can"t finish, we can always put it in the fridge. I can finish it up tomorrow."
Zhang Ye said in surprise, "You eat leftovers?"
"What"s wrong with eating leftovers?" Wu Zeqing said gracefully, "It"s not good to waste."
Zhang Ye smiled, "Of course there won"t be anything wasted. If I can"t finish it, can I bring it home?" As he said that, he picked up the chopsticks to grab a piece of eggplant and put it into his mouth. He chewed a few times before claiming, "Don"t worry, there definitely would not be any leftovers. I"ll finish it all!"
Wu Zeqing asked, "Are you sure?"
"It"s more than OK!" He said, "I didn"t expect you would be such a good cook."
Wu Zeqing laughed, "I"ve been living alone for so many years, so I get a lot of practice, but of course, I can"t compare to a professional."
"No! You can definitely match them!" Zhang Ye began devouring his dinner.
Wu Zeqing did not eat the same way as he did. She was much more gentle and mild.
It wasn"t apple-polis.h.i.+ng. Wu Zeqing"s culinary skills were really too good. Zhang Ye"s mother"s culinary skills weren"t too bad, but she was only good at one or two specialty dishes. The landlord auntie"s cooking was the most authentic to him, and she was good at any dish that she made. However, Rao Aimin"s did not put much importance into the dishes" outlook and was only very delicious. Wu Zeqing"s dishes" were both good in their outlook and taste. This befitted her status as someone who dabbled in the arts. Comparatively, Zhang Ye preferred Wu Zeqing"s meal, as she would not allow him to even touch the plates compared to attempting to even get a meal out of his landlady? He would have to be barked at to do all sorts of errands and to help her out. It was not relaxing at all to get a meal from her.
"The slippers are a little small?"
"Oh, it"s fine."
"I"ve put your shoes into the shoe cabinet. There are usually no guests at my house, so I did not prepare any slippers for men, which is why I got a pair of my slippers for you instead. They are brand new."
"Aiyo, you could have just left my shoes there. It"s so troublesome to let you do all this...."
"There aren"t many rules at my place. Here, try some of this."
"Oh, thank you."
Suddenly, Zhang Ye looked up and caught a glimpse of a scroll of words. It was his "Ode of Mulan", which had already been framed and was now hanging in the living room, "Eh, you"ve already put it up?"
Wu Zeqing turned around to look at it, "Yes, I happened to have another piece which was similar in size to "Ode of Mulan". Since I had planned on changing it for some time, I took that one out and switched it with this. This dinner was also meant to thank you for the gift. I really like it so much. Tonight, I will try to find a place in the bedroom to see if I can hang it in there instead. If it looks good, I will leave it in the bedroom instead."
Zhang Ye was delighted, "As long as you like it, then there"s no need to thank me. I don"t have other things to offer except this bit of capability."
Wu Zeqing laughed, "How is it just a bit of capability? What you have inside of you is not something that any ordinary person has. Even if we don"t mention other things, just your calligraphy basics are enough to qualify you to be a calligraphy teacher. I"ve written calligraphy for so many years and I don"t dare to say that I"m better than you in writing styles."
Zhang Ye immediately said, "Don"t mind me, but I"ve seen your calligraphy before and your skills are many times better than mine. It"s just a coincidence that my writing style is a little more unique."
He finished eating the dishes.
Zhang Ye had really swept all the dishes clean.
Wu Zeqing, looking rather satisfied, asked, "Can you still eat more?"
"Yes, I can. I can eat whatever is given to me." Zhang Ye replied, "It was too delicious."
"There"s still soup. Let me get a bowl for you." Wu Zeqing walked gracefully into the kitchen and used a spoon to taste test it. She nodded and then turned off the fire.
Zhang Ye gulped down the soup, "Hu... this time, I"m really full!"
Wu Zeqing blew at the soup and took small sips, as she asked, "What do you intend to do after the Lunar New Year? Do you intend to continue being a host? Go back to the entertainment industry? Have you considered doing other things?"
Zhang Ye wiped his mouth and answered, "I think I can speak honestly with you. My goal is not truly the entertainment industry. Maybe you"d think I"m joking if I told you, but my dream is to become the most famous celebrity in the world. The path I have taken is probably not considered to be the typical route seen by those in the entertainment industry. Other people would write books after they became famous, while I wrote a novel to become famous. I"m always doing the opposite from others, if you noticed, but then again, with my kind of looks, I doubt I"d go far if I took the conventional route. Because of this, I could only find other ways to give myself a chance. If writing poems brings me fame, then fine, I will write more. If I can get exposure by teaching at Peking University, then I will teach to the best of my ability, as that is also for the sake of the students. I won"t mess up even if I had some ulterior motive in taking up the post. This is why I have become more enlightened about such things nowadays. I"m not limited to just the entertainment industry. A celebrity depends on fame. With fame, I can do well in whatever industry I want. Write a book? Write calligraphy? Write songs? I"d do all of it to help me advance into the world stage."
Wu Zeqing did not say a word and just listened.
Zhang Ye self-deprecatingly laughed, "Sigh, I have not even shared any of these heartfelt words with my parents. I understand that my goal is a little unrealistic...."
Instead, Wu Zeqing questioned, “Why is it not realistic?"
Zhang Ye was a little taken aback, "You think this is doable?"
Wu Zeqing looked at him, "I think your thoughts on this is quite good. How many of our domestic celebrities, who took the normal route, have managed to step onto the world stage? There are so few of them who managed that. Even among this small number of people, when they got onto the world stage, they could only get supporting roles. They would never be able to match and compete with those European and American stars, because of the divide in culture and many other factors, if you chose to take the conventional route to reach the top, then maybe at most you would be able to reach the same level as them, but to become an international List celebrity? Or even become an international S-list celebrity? That will always be out of reach. Others might not approve of the path that you have chosen, but you are closer than any one of them in reaching the pinnacle of the international stage. Who said that only singing, dancing, and acting are the only ways you can become a celebrity? Who stated that if you don"t have good looks, you"d never be able to reach the international stage? Don"t bother with what others say. Don"t bother with how others see you. If you think it is the right path, then that"s all that matters."
Zhang Ye"s heart skipped a beat, "Do you really think that way?"
"Not only do I think that way, I even feel that....." Wu Zeqing paused for a moment, "That you can do it."
Zhang Ye said solemnly, "President Wu, thank you. You are the first person to say this to me. I am confident again. Now, I feel that I...... I have a shot at it!"
Wu Zeqing smiled, "Other celebrities may all be taking the same route. They either sing or act, but you are diversified and have so many paths that you can take. Novel writing, calligraphy writing, composing music and writing lyrics, well versed in history and literature, good at modern literature, great speech giving skills, excelling at hosting, and excellent advertising planning and production in the advertising field. Even in a movie that I recently caught, you appeared in it. That shows you can even act in pugilistic movies. I would ask you this, do you think you have more potential, or do those other stars have more potential? So what if you have dabbled in all sorts of roles?"
Zhang Ye hit on the table, "It doesn"t matter if it"s a black cat or a white cat! As long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat!" He even brought up a famous quote from a great man.
"That"s a true point." Wu Zeqing evaluated further, "Your popularity may not rise as quickly as those singers or actors, but you have a better foundation than them. From here, your path is wider than theirs and your stage will also be bigger. You can do what they can do, but they won"t be able to do what you can do, which is why you shouldn"t feel less confident just because you are different from them. Creating history is not something for those who follow in the footsteps of others!"
That was extremely well said!
Just look at Old Wu! Such a great a.n.a.lysis!
He had already decided earlier that he would go on this path no matter what, even if it was not going to be a smooth journey, but who cares! Why should he be worried or hesitate about things? He would just shut his eyes and walk all the way to the end! Who says that you must be a singer or actor to qualify to be on the world stage? I wouldn"t adhere to that thought no matter what! I will sing and dance and act and write novels and scold people and compose poems and give lectures! I will do anything that can be done! I will use all the fame I can get to boost myself up onto the international stage!
Bite me!
Can"t this bro be versatile in many fields!?!
After reaffirming his beliefs and his path of development, Zhang Ye"s heart suddenly felt lighter. He was especially thankful towards Wu Zeqing. Old Wu was too understanding of him and ever since he had arrived at Peking University, she had never doubted him in anything, fully supporting him in all that he did. She was very trusting and this was something that Zhang Ye had never experienced. Those dreams and goals of his, if he had told anyone else, would be taken as unrealistic dreamer talk, but Wu Zeqing did not, she was really too special!
She held an important position.
Had good looks.
A good figure too.
Nice and considerate person.
30 odd years old...Sigh, she"s actually not that old.
Er, other than having a weird hobby like taking nude selfies, she would be considered a perfect wife and mother amongst perfect wives and mothers!
Zhang Ye had a bold thought for the first time. He thought to himself how good it would be if he could marry Wu Zeqing one day!