I'm Really a Superstar

The next day.

Early in the morning.

Muted sounds of people talking drifted up as they passed by the window.

"Old Li, going to work?"

"That's right."

"Do you know who was playing the piano last night?"

"Oh, you heard that too?"

"Of course, it was such a joy listening to it."

"When I finished listening to it, it felt like I still hadn't had enough."

"Could it be that piano teacher in our district who played it?

"I don't think so, the direction of the music didn't seem to come from his house.

"That's strange then, did someone new move in?"

"Maybe it's some master pianist."

In the room.

Zhang Ye had already woken up. He stretched and let out a loud yawn. This night of sleep felt very nice. He flipped onto his side and flopped his arm down but was met with nothing. He patted the empty blanket and realized that there was no one there anymore.

Eh?

Where did my wife go to?

Looking around the bedroom, he saw that it had been tidied up.

The qipao?

The bridal gown?

The Chinese Kwa?

The stockings?

The high heels?

The clothes that were scattered all over the floor last night were no longer there. Even Zhang Ye's own clothes that he had casually thrown onto the chair had been neatly folded and placed piece by piece onto the nightstand. One look and Zhang Ye knew that Wu Zeqing had tidied it up. Old Wu was a meticulous type of person who liked to keep things neat, so she would never leave her things lying around. Meanwhile, Zhang Ye was the polar opposite. This fellow was more carefree and would always leave his clothes lying around. He never folded his bedsheets either.

It sounded like someone was downstairs.

Zhang Ye smiled, then put on his slippers and got out of bed to head downstairs. As the slippers were made of cotton, they didn't really make noise while walking. He deliberately lightened his footsteps as he walked downstairs. The moment he came down, he saw Wu Zeqing cooking in the open kitchen. She was dressed in a domestic attire with an apron on top and was frying something.

Zhang Ye sneaked up and hugged her from behind.

Wu Zeqing turned around and laughed. "You scared me."

Zhang Ye said, "Why are you up so early?"

"It's my biological clock." Old Wu was frying some bacon. "You got up at just the right time; it's time for breakfast. When we're done eating, we still have to head over to your mom's place."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Alright."

Old Wu looked at him. "Wait."

"What?" Zhang Ye blinked.

"Don't move." Old Wu reached out to fiddle with the messy hair on his head before saying, "OK, go and wash your face first. When you're finished, breakfast should almost be ready."

"Let me help you fry them."

"There's no need."

"Aiya, I can't always let you do all the chores."

"Hur hur, it's fine, I can handle this by myself."

"Well, alright then, thanks."

"It's nothing."

Old Wu's virtuousness really could not be picked on.

After breakfast, they drove over to Zhang Ye's parents' house.

…

Caishikou.

In the neighborhood.

When the car stopped, Zhang Ye immediately spotted his mother outside the apartment complex chatting with their neighbors. He saw her chattering away and wondered what she was bragging about this time.

"Hey!"

"It's Little Ye's car!"

"Sister Cao, your son and daughter-in-law are back!"

They got out of the car.

Zhang Ye called out from afar, "Mom."

Wu Zeqing also said with a smile, "Mom."

His mother swelled with pride. "Hey, hey, you're here? Come over quickly, Zeqing. Let me introduce you to a few of our old neighbors. This here is Auntie Sun, this is Auntie Cui, that is Grandpa Xu—" After introducing them one by one, his mother turned to them and pointed at Wu Zeqing, declaring proudly, "This is my daughter-in-law!" With that, it was clear that they had walked in on Zhang Ye's mother's bragging time.

The neighbors surrounded them in excitement.

"Old Cao, your daughter-in-law is so beautiful."

"That's right, she's even prettier in person than on the news and in pictures!"

"Our Little Ye is so blessed."

"Little Ye, you had better treat your wife well in the future."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "That's for sure."

Auntie Sun said, "We had to catch your wedding on television yesterday. Why didn't you invite us? Now you owe us a meal."

Everyone hooted.

"That's right."

"You owe us a meal!"

"Little Ye, you're terrible."

Zhang Ye said happily, "Alright, you're all picking on me now. Actually, yesterday's wedding ceremony was just a show for the media. So many reporters were there and it was so chaotic, so I didn't dare invite you all. I'll arrange another day with Old Wu to treat you all to a meal, alright? It'll only be the old neighbors, no outsiders."

"Sure!"

"We'll be waiting then!"

"You said it yourself, Little Ye."

Zhang Ye said, "Yes, I said it."

His mother decided, "Then let's have it the day after tomorrow. We'll reserve a few tables and have a meal together."

"No problem."

"We will definitely be there."

"Right, right, everyone must come."

"Let's all have a good time together."

Back upstairs.

The three of them came back.

His father was reading the newspapers when he heard them and looked up. "Zeqing, you're here?"

Wu Zeqing smiled. "Dad, you're reading the news?"

His father smiled and said, "Yes, your mom went out to buy the newspapers this morning and brought them back for me to read. The headlines are all about you and Little Ye. Oh yes, have you two had breakfast yet?"

Wu Zeqing said, "We came after eating."

His mother was still smiling from earlier. She said, "Both of you had such a tiring day yesterday. I said that you could stay home to rest for a while more and that you don't have to come over so early today. We're very casual about such things and don't really pay attention to these traditions 1 that much."

Old Wu said, "Mom, it's fine."

Zhang Ye said, "We still have to go and visit the relatives anyway. This should have been done before the wedding itself, but since we were really busy beforehand and couldn't spare any time, we must definitely go and see them now that the wedding is over. We have to visit Grandma's place, and Aunt's place too. Where are we going first this afternoon? Grandma's place?"

His mother said, "Yes, we'll go to your grandma's place first."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Alright."

His father asked, "Aren't you two going on a honeymoon?"

Wu Zeqing chuckled. "Little Ye and I don't have too many days off from work. We only have a few days of leave, so we discussed it and decided that we won't be going anywhere far."

After making some small talk.

His father looked at his watch. "It's still a while until the afternoon. Why don't you two get a little more rest?"

Zhang Ye yawned the moment he heard that. "I did wake up quite early."

"Then go and catch up on some sleep." His mother said, "Zeqing, go and lie down too."

Old Wu smiled and said, "OK."

The door closed.

Both of them went back into Zhang Ye's room.

Zhang Ye was very sleepy. He took off his slippers and buried himself underneath the sheets. Even though Old Wu's house was big and nicely furnished, Zhang Ye still found his own bed more comfortable. After all, he had been sleeping here for over 20 years.

Old Wu sat down. "You get some rest; I'll read for a while."

Zhang Ye asked, "Hey, aren't you sleeping?"

"I'm not tired."

"Just lie down for a while. I can't sleep if I don't have my arms around you."

"Hur hur, alright."

"Take off your clothes."

"It's too troublesome to take these autumn clothes off."

"Just take them off."

"Why?"

"Ahem, no reason."

"Aren't you sleepy?"

"Seeing you, I feel all awake again."

"Dad and Mom are outside."

"We can be quiet."

"Didn't we just do it yesterday."

"Yesterday was yesterday, today is today."

"Oh, you."

"Gogogo!"

"Then make sure we keep it down, alright?"

"Alright, understood!"

On this morning, Zhang Ye drew second blood!!