Chapter 1519 - Zhang Ye, the first-time dad
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nTranslator: Legge Editor: Legge
nThe next day.
nOn the third day of the Lunar New Year.
nIt wasn’t even 6 in the morning yet.
nHis parents were still in bed, and Old Wu and his daughter were still sleeping as well. Zhang Ye had already woken up and walked out of the villa to the beach. He laid down on a recliner and watched the sea from behind his sunglasses. Listening to the sound of the waves and enjoying the cool sea breeze, he felt particularly at peace.
nFamily.
nFreedom.
nThis is what life is.
nZhang Ye was in a fantastic mood. This was one of the happiest days of his life in recent years. He didn’t usually have any problems with falling asleep, but this time, he didn’t manage to sleep much for the entire night. His mind was filled with the smiles of his family members, as well as that cute daughter of his. Although the little girl was still afraid of him and had not even called him “Daddy” yet, Zhang Ye was not bothered by it because he knew that he owed his family too much over the past few years. He knew that he had not fulfilled his responsibilities as a father yet, so he was looking to make up for everything that he had not done for his child since her birth.
nNot far away.
nSeveral teenagers were on their morning jog.
n“Aiyo, I’m so tired.”
n“We have one lap to go.”
n“Qiqi, you can do it.”
n“How can Teacher Tian make us exercise so early in the morning!”
n“We need to improve our mental and physical strength.”
nHearing that, Zhang Ye looked over and broke into a smile. Laying down luxuriating, he waved at them, saying, “Hey.”
nThe teenagers turned to look at him and were startled for a bit.
nChen Qiqi said in surprise, “Wow, it’s Masterful Bro!”
nChen Niannian waved and said, “Master, why are you wearing sunglasses so early in the morning?”
nHuo Yan stopped in his tracks. “We meet again.”
nZhang Ye asked, “Are you guys doing morning exercises?”
nHuo Yan sighed and said, “Yeah, it’s included in the Qiyuan’s training schedule. Actually, it’s only the Go Association that has to do the training. But since Teacher Tian is the one leading the group, our Xiangqi Association’s players were also rounded up and forced to follow their training schedule.”
nChen Qiqi went over. “Master, we mentioned you to Teacher Tian and our aunt yesterday. My aunt is pretty curious as to which old friend you are and would like to meet with you. Why don’t you go back with us later? It’s only at the hotel at the east side of the resort, so it’s not that far away.”
nZhang Ye waved if off and said with a laugh, “Forget it. I’m not part of your Qiyuan, so I won’t be going.”
nChen Niannian said, “But you really do have the ability to play professionally. Even if you can’t compare to Teacher Tian, you’re pretty close to the level that we professional 4- or 5-dan players are at. If you train a little and learn some new ways of playing instead of sticking to that outdated Cosmic Flow strategy, you’ll definitely become better at the game. Maybe you don’t know this, but do you have an idea of who Changhe 9-dan is? Teacher Changhe has been working with us to innovate many new ways of playing Go over the past few years, and I think you should learn to play in those ways.”
nChanghe 9-dan?
nHow can I not know him? That’s my father-in-law, alright!
nLearn his style of playing?
nForget it! What sort of playstyles can he possibly create with that standard of his?
nChen Niannian asked, “What’s your current job?”
nZhang Ye answered, “I’m temporarily unemployed.”
nChen Qiqi said, “Eh, then why are you staying at such an expensive hotel?”
nZhang Ye smiled and said, “My wife is rich.”
nChen Niannian criticized, “Uncle, you shouldn’t be depending on your wife like that. A man has got to be independent. Come to our Qiyuan. It’s pretty good money if you become a professional Go player.”
nChen Qiqi took a stab at him and said, “It’s just that you’re a little old for it.”
nZhang Ye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Is that so?”
nChen Qiqi said, “The acknowledged prime age in the Go world is around 20 or so. The older you are, the more likely your level of play will drop.”
nZhang Ye smiled. “Alright then.”
nA female Go player said, “Hai, you have it pretty easy here. We still have to go and play against PeterGo later in the morning.”
nChen Qiqi said pained, “Yeah, just thinking about it makes me so frustrated. Teacher Tian is making us take turns to play against PeterGo, then study the matches and write reports about them.”
nZhang Ye laughed and said, “Isn’t that quite good? You can train yourselves that way.”
nChen Niannian said sadly, “It’s not good at all. Playing against PeterGo makes us feel so hopeless. It’s hopelessness right from the start until the end, and that affects our confidence badly.”
nZhang Ye said, “You’re all young, so it’s necessary to practice more.”
nChen Qiqi harrumphed, “Would you enjoy it if you lost at Go every day?”
nBut Zhang Ye said, “I’ve never lost before.”
nWhen everyone heard that, they couldn’t help but roll their eyes.
nNever lost before?
nHow is that possible!
nHow can there be anyone in the world who has never lost a game before?
nCan you not brag?
nBut unbeknownst to them, Zhang Ye had truly never lost before. He did lose some single games, but in the context of a match, be it two wins out of three, or three wins out of five, Zhang Ye had not ever lost once.
nAt this moment, a hotel employee came over. “Hello, sorry about this, but this beach is private property. We can’t allow anyone who isn’t staying here to come in.”
nHuo Yan said, “Alright, we’ll leave right away.”
nChen Niannian waved. “We’ll carry on with our morning jog then, Masterful Bro.”
nZhang Ye smiled and said, “See ya around.”
nAfter they left, Zhang Ye had a look at his watch and got up to go back into the villa. Seeing that his parents and Old Wu were still not up yet, he started feeling a little sleepy again. So he laid down and returned to sleep.
nFive minutes.
nTen minutes.
nAfter some time, Zhang Ye’s ears pricked up. He could feel that someone was by the bedside. He sneaked a peek through the slit in his eyes and saw something that made him very happy.
nIt turned out that it was his daughter standing by the bedside.
nSisi was holding a doll in her hands and looking curiously at Zhang Ye.
nZhang Ye pretended to have just woken up. He yawned and opened his eyes. “Eh, daughter?”
nSisi jumped up in fright and ran out of the room.
nZhang Ye was very happy, and sweetness was drenching his heart. Then he got out of bed.
nOutside, he could hear Old Wu’s voice.
n“What’s the matter, Sisi?”
n“N-Nothing.”
n“Did you go and see daddy?”
n“No.”
n“Why did you run out of the room then?”
nSisi was mumbling.
nZhang Ye came out. “Daughter, can Daddy pick you up?”
nWu Zeqing smiled and said, “Can Daddy pick you up?”
nSisi shook her head and hid behind her mother.
nWu Zeqing smiled. “Then why don’t you get Daddy to teach you how to play Go?”
nSisi was undecided for a long time before finally nodding her little head.
nWu Zeqing looked at her husband. “Teach her with a game.”
n“Sure.” Zhang Ye said excitedly, “Here, come with Daddy to play Go.”
nSoon after, his parents also got up. When the two of them came out of their room, they saw the father-daughter pair playing Go in the living room and looked at each other, all smiles.
nZhang Ye’s mother smiled and said, “Sisi, you didn’t allow your daddy to go into your room to sleep with you and Mommy yesterday, but you’re playing Go with him today?”
nZhang Ye said proudly, “Don’t you meddle in the matters between me and my daughter.”
nHis mother harrumphed, “Alright, I won’t get involved then. Will that do?”
nWu Zeqing smiled and said, “This little kid ran over to her father’s room the moment she woke up this morning. She’s paying quite a bit of attention to him.”
nHis father said, “That’s because blood is thicker than water.”
nWu Zeqing nodded and said, “Let’s leave them alone and let the two of them spend some time together. Our daughter is meeting her father for the first time, and Little Ye is experiencing what it’s like to be a dad for the first time. There needs to be a process, but I believe that Little Ye can do well.”
nHis mother gave them the side-eye and said, “I’m just afraid that this rascal will influence my granddaughter in the wrong way.”
nWu Zeqing laughed. “That won’t happen.”
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