Later that afternoon.
At a courtyard house in Xuanwumen.
When they entered the northern building, Li Qinqin asked him warmly, "Little Zhang, what would you like to drink?"
"Anything is fine, Auntie," Zhang Ye smiled and said.
Li Qinqin said, "Please don't say that. We have all kinds of drinks here at home that you can choose from."
Zhang Ye replied, "I'm really fine with anything."
Wu Changhe glanced at his wife. "Just get him a cup of hot water."
Li Qinqin stared at him. "How can we serve him hot water?" She then turned to Zhang Ye and said with a smile, "That's right, we actually do have some good tea at home. I heard that just a single gram of it can fetch a price of 10,000 yuan. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's what everyone is saying. Besides, you can't get this tea from anywhere. My daughter brought it back some time ago for us to have a taste. Why don't you have some!"
Wu Changhe put out his hand to stop her. "Hey, that Da Hong Pao is for us!"
Li Qinqin rolled her eyes at him. "You've almost finished all of it already, so why don't you let Little Zhang have a taste."
Wu Changhe's eyes twitched. "We still have some superior Longjing around! Use that!"
Li Qinqin did not listen to him. "I'll just make tea with Da Hong Pao."
Wu Changhe reminded her, "Don't use too many tea leaves! We don't have much left!"
What?
Da Hong Pao?
Zhang Ye was a little taken aback but did not say anything.
Li Qinqin went off to brew the tea, leaving Zhang Ye and Wu Changhe to stare at each other in awkward silence.
Zhang Ye tried to strike up a conversation. "Uncle, is this courtyard house part of your family's property?"
When they were at the Qiyuan, Wu Changhe acted rather chummy with Zhang Ye after he had won the game. But after they returned home, he went back to his uncaring attitude, probably because he still bore a grudge from when he was utterly demolished by Zhang Ye in online Go. He said, "Who else could it belong to if not my family?"
Li Qinqin said as she boiled the water, "Changhe earned some money back when he was playing Go competitively. The value of money at that time was much better and property prices were not expensive, so we bought this courtyard house, as well as a few apartments, some antiques, and calligraphy works. Your uncle is very interested in collecting things like antiques and the such. In recent years, with antiques and property prices rising, we've managed to make quite a bit of money. We're actually just your average family."
Wu Changhe asked, "Is our daughter not back yet?"
"I called her already." Li Qinqin said, "She said that she would knock off earlier today, so she should be back soon. Since you two have some free time, why don't you play a game of Go?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtZhang Ye was fine with that. "Sure."
But Wu Changhe said in a speechless manner, "Who wants to play him!"
Li Qinqin laughed and said, "Are you afraid of losing?"
"Me? Afraid of losing?" Wu Changhe let out a furious laugh. "I'm telling you, Li Qinqin. It's just that I'm getting on in years. Thinking back to when I, Wu Changhe, was dominating the world of Go for over ten years, was there anyone who dared to challenge me? It's not that I'm bragging, but even I myself would be afraid to face the Go skill that I had at my peak. If I were to return to that era, would a mere AI be a threat to me? Who knows who would win and who would lose!"
Li Qinqin pursed her lips. "Say what you like."
"What do you mean?" Then Wu Changhe looked at Zhang Ye and said, "You just haven't witnessed how good I was back then, you know?"
Zhang Ye hemmed and hawed as he listened to the boasting.
At this moment, the door in the courtyard creaked and footfalls rang out.
Wu Changhe smiled and said, "My daughter is back!"
Zhang Ye stood up and turned around.
Wu Zeqing, who was dressed in a skirt, stepped lightly into the house. She looked at Zhang Ye and smiled. "How about it? I said that you could do it, right? You won today's game beautifully. It was even better than yesterday's game."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I had to."
Wu Zeqing asked in concern, "Have you eaten lunch yet?"
"Not yet. The interview got dragged on into lunch time," Zhang Ye said.
Wu Zeqing said, "Let's eat now, I'll cook." Then she pointed at Zhang Ye's attire and said with a smile, "Don't wear such light-colored clothes when you go on camera next time. It doesn't look good on screen. You'd look better dressed in black."
Zhang Ye nodded. "Alright."
Wu Changhe fumed at that. "Daughter, you didn't even say a word to me or your mother after stepping into the house. Is this kid your world?"
Wu Zeqing smiled. She was holding something in her hand and waved it around to her father. "How can that be? I bought edible bird's nest for you and Mom. I got someone to help me bring it over from Indonesia by air."
"That's more like it." Wu Changhe took it from her.
Li Qinqin walked up, taking short strides. "Come, the tea is ready. Come and have a taste."
Wu Zeqing asked, "What type of tea?"
Wu Changhe said angrily, "Your mother is such a wasteful woman. She brewed tea using the Da Hong Pao tea leaves that you gave me that time. Whoa, didn't I say not to use so many tea leaves? Are you crazy? Why did you put in so many tea leaves? Isn't that a little too much?"
Li Qinqin pouted and said to her daughter, "Look at how stingy your dad is. He wouldn't allow others to touch his tea leaves. When I said that I wanted to let Little Zhang try some, he became unhappy."
"But it's so expensive!" Wu Changhe said in distress.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Auntie, I can just have some other tea."
Li Qinqin wouldn't allow it. "That won't do. You definitely have not tried this before. Try it, it's a really good tea. I heard that even those CEOs and celebrities couldn't get their hands on it. This tea is even more valuable than gold."
Wu Zeqing laughed helplessly and said, "Mom, how can he not have tasted it before."
Li Qinqin was taken aback. "Did you give some of it to Little Zhang too?"
Wu Zeqing smiled gently and said, "I didn't give him any. In fact, he was the one who gave me the tea leaves. Those Da Hong Pao parent trees on Wuyishan are all his private property. You can only find two types of Da Hong Pao in the market at the moment, and they are either fake or gifted by Little Ye."
Wu Changhe was stunned. "What?"
Li Qinqin was stunned too. "Those tea trees belong to Little Zhang?"
Zhang Ye said in embarrassment, "I bought them while I was on vacation there a while ago."
"Heh, and I was even showing off in front of Little Zhang." Li Qinqin was amused. "So these are his tea leaves. It's really a very good tea! Your dad could never bear to drink it!"
Wu Zeqing said, "If you like the tea, get Little Ye to bring some more over."
Li Qinqin waved her off and said, "That's not necessary, this tea is too expensive. It's just like drinking gold."
But Wu Changhe looked at Zhang Ye as his eyes lit up. "Why would we not want it! Bring a few more catties 1 over. He can't drink all that by himself anyway, so don't let it go to waste."
Zhang Ye was speechless.
Li Qinqin smiled and said, "Why are you so rude?"
Wu Changhe got angry at the very mention. "My daughter has already been duped by him, so why do I have to be polite with him? Even if we uproot his Da Hong Pao parent trees and plant them in our yard, it still wouldn't be enough to appease my anger!"
Zhang Ye cleared his throat. "Uncle, what do you mean by dupe?"
"You are a dupe!"
"How have I duped her?"
"In any case, just bring a few catties over!"
"A few catties? A few catties? Even I don't have that much of it!"
"I don't care!"
"I'll bring you half a catty."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Two catties!"
"300 grams!"
"1.5 catties!"
"350 grams at the most!"
The two of them started bickering again!
Wu Zeqing and Li Qinqin were smiling off to the side.
Even though they were arguing, things felt completely different from the first time Zhang Ye came to their house!
It was obvious that Wu Changhe had silently approved of the relationship between Zhang Ye and Wu Zeqing from the way he spoke, even though he wasn't exactly willing to accept it.
An hour later, lunch was ready.
As they were eating, Wu Zeqing tested the waters by asking with a smile, "The two of you already know about Little Ye and I. So then, I guess that's how it is?"
Wu Changhe groaned as he ate lunch without saying a word.
But Li Qinqin was very happy. "Little Zhang is quite good, I rather like him."
Wu Zeqing said, "That's great then."
Li Qinqin probed further, "When are you two getting married? Have you decided on a date yet?"
"Not yet. Aren't we seeking both your opinions right now? I haven't visited Little Ye's family either. I think I'll have to make a trip there soon," Wu Zeqing said.
Li Qinqin said happily, "You aren't young anymore and have been single for so many years. Your dad and I are also pretty anxious about you. You two can just decide on a date; there's no need to seek our opinions. Your dad and I will not have any objections."
Wu Changhe rolled his eyes.
Wu Zeqing smiled and said, "Dad, you don't have any objections either?"
Wu Changhe said angrily, "Of course I have objections! But would that matter to you!"
"Then that means there are no objections." Wu Zeqing nodded and said, "Alright, I understand. I will discuss this later with Little Ye."
Zhang Ye was overcome with happiness!
It had not been easy!
It really had not been easy!
The love between this bro and Old Wu has finally come to fruition!
1. 1 catty = 500 grams (half a kilo)