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nTranslator: Legge Editor: Legge

nThe next day.

nIn the morning.

nZhang Ye was still fast asleep.

nHis entire family was already up and was having breakfast in the villa’s living room.

nSisi kept turning around to look behind her with every bite. “Mommy, when will Daddy wake up?”

nWu Zeqing smiled and said, “Daddy is tired. Let him sleep for a little longer.”

nSisi gave an OK.

nZhang Ye’s mother nagged, “Eat the egg. Don’t be picky.”

nSisi widened her eyes and looked back again. “Nana, when will Daddy wake up?”

nHis mother rolled her eyes. “Why do you only know how to look for your daddy?”

nHis father doted on his granddaughter. He immediately shouted to the bedroom, “Little Ye, your daughter is looking for you.”

nAfter a while, Zhang Ye came out in his pajamas, yawning.

nSisi jumped off Wu Zeqing’s lap and ran straight for Zhang Ye. “Daddy!”

nZhang Ye’s sleepiness immediately disappeared. He smiled and bent down to pick his daughter up and gave her a kiss. “Hey, why are you looking for Daddy? Little one, you’re quite clingy, aren’t ya?”

nSisi got prickled by his stubble and started giggling.

nSuddenly, the doorbell rang.

nHis mother said, “Who’s that so early in the morning?”

nZhang Ye said, “It must be Little Tian and the others again, right?”

nWhen the door opened, everyone in the house was startled.

nThey saw Wu Changhe and Li Qinqin standing right outside the door.

nZhang Ye was shocked. “Dad, Mom, what are you two doing here?”

nLi Qinqin hurriedly said, “How could we not come over knowing that you’re back? Your dad and I rushed over on a red-eye flight to get here. Quick, let me take a look at you. You didn’t lose weight, did you? Did you have a hard time?” Then, after checking out Zhang Ye for a long time and squeezing his shoulders, she said, “Eh, why does it seem like you’ve put on weight instead?”

nZhang Ye smiled and said, “I was treated well in there and ate well too.”

nMeanwhile, Wu Changhe was glaring at Zhang Ye the moment he stepped in. He said angrily, “Rascal, get over here!”

nZhang Ye refused to go over to him. He played dumb and said, “Dad, what is it?”

nWu Changhe pointed at him angrily and said, “Why didn’t you tell me about something as important as you coming back?”

nZhang Ye immediately diverted the blame. “It wasn’t me. Old Wu said not to tell you about it.”

nWu Zeqing said with a chuckle, “Dad, it was me who told Little Ye not to tell you.”

nWhen Zhang Ye’s mother heard that, she smirked.

nHis father was also amused.

nWhen Wu Changhe heard that it was his own daughter who didn’t want him to be informed, his anger lessened. “Why would you hide such an important matter from me?”

nLi Qinqin looked at her husband. “You’ve been nagging about Little Ye every day for the past few years, so would anyone dare to inform you about something like that?” She then smiled and looked at Zhang Ye. “It’s good that you’re back, it’s good that you’re back.”

nSisi said in a childish voice, “Grandpa, Grandma.”

nLi Qinqin said happily, “Aye.”

nWhen Wu Changhe saw Sisi, his expression instantaneously became one of joy. “Sisi, come here. Did you miss Grandpa? Does your daddy treat you well? If he doesn’t, tell Grandpa about it. Grandpa will punish him for you.”

nSisi replied, “Daddy is very good. Daddy even taught me how to play Go.”

nWu Changhe harrumphed, “Didn’t Grandpa teach you as well?”

nSisi said innocently, “Grandpa isn’t as good as Daddy.”

nWu Changhe got furious. “Who did you hear that from? Huh? I’m not as good as him? I can win against three of him in one go. Do you believe that?”

nZhang Ye seethed. “Hur hur.”

nWu Changhe said, “What are you hurhur’ing about?”

nZhang Ye laughed and said, “Dad, don’t say that I’m trying to talk back. But if you insist that you can take on three of me and still win, I’m having none of that. It’s more like I’ll be the one taking on three of you and winning.”

nWu Changhe was irritated. “You? Take on three of me? I’ll take on four of you!”

n“I’ll take on five of you!”

n“I’ll take on six of you!”

nLi Qinqin said in a speechless manner, “You two are grown men. Why are you arguing the moment you meet? It’s been so long, yet the both of you are still the same.”

nEveryone laughed.

nLi Qinqin whispered to her son-in-law with a smile, “Don’t listen to your dad. When you won against PeterGo yesterday, he was showing off at the Qiyuan and being all proud.”

nZhang Ye laughed.

nWu Changhe said, “What are you two talking about?”

nLi Qinqin turned around. “Good things about you.”

nWu Changhe thought of something and said to Zhang Ye, “Oh yes, there’s a batch of newcomers that came to Sanya as well. You met them yesterday, right? Afterwards, train them a little for me.”

nZhang Ye exclaimed, “I’m on vacation here. We’ll talk about it again when we get back to Beijing.”

nWu Changhe clearly knew what he was thinking. “Can I find you when we get back to Beijing?”

nZhang Ye said perfunctorily, “Alright, alright, I’ll do it.”

nWu Changhe said with a stern face, “Take this seriously. They’re all good saplings!”

nZhang Ye said, “I got it, Dad, I’ll teach them well.”

nWu Changhe said, “Oh yes, there’s a consultant role available at China Qiyuan. I’ve already accepted the appointment on your behalf.”

nZhang Ye said, “Why would I want to be a consultant?”

nWu Changhe said, “Don’t talk nonsense. It wasn’t easy for someone to beat PeterGo, so we can’t allow this honor to go to someplace else. It would definitely have to come to the Qiyuan.”

nZhang Ye did not argue back. “Alright, alright, handle it however you like.”

nLi Qinqin smiled and said, “You’ve really done us proud this time. In fact, your dad and quite a few people at the Qiyuan were very worried. They were afraid that your skill level would drop and that you wouldn’t be able to defeat PeterGo since you haven’t touched Go in so long.”

nZhang Ye smiled and said, “You’re thinking too much. My skill will never drop. It can only go up.”

nZhang Ye caught a glimpse of a huge stack of newspapers on the table. He picked them up and flipped through them. Looking at the reports, he broke into a smile.

nIt was his news all over the papers.

n“PeterGo suffers a terrible defeat.”

n“HEOR’s identity turns out to be Zhang Ye.”

n“China Qiyuan has confirmed this news.”

n“A former Heavenly King gets an early release from prison.”

n“A long-forgotten name.”

n“Heated discussions are set off across Asia.”

n“PeterGo’s development team expresses: It is not a shame to have lost to Zhang Ye.”

nZhang Ye asked, “Where did all these newspapers come from?”

nWu Zeqing smiled and said, “We got them from the front desk of the hotel.”

nHis father said, “When we were watching the morning news, several of the TV stations were discussing you. You’ve come back too suddenly this time and left everyone in shock.”

nLi Qinqin looked at him. “Now that everyone knows you’re back, what are your plans from here?”

nZhang Ye picked up a mango and started eating it. “I’ll rest for a bit first and think about it after getting back to Beijing.”

nA delivery person arrived.

nWu Zeqing went to receive the package and handed it to Zhang Ye. “I bought you a new cell phone. Have a look.”

nZhang Ye smiled and said, “It’s still my wife who is the meticulous one. What brand is it?”

nWu Zeqing said, “Ruihe, made in China.”

nHis mother said, “This is the best domestic cell phone brand in China right now.”

nZhang Ye spread his hands. “Whatever, I’ve never heard of it before.”

n“But your SIM card is no longer usable.” Wu Zeqing said gently, “They’ve switched the card type. If you still want to use your original number, you’ll have to get the card replaced.”

nZhang Ye exclaimed, “Eh? They’ve switched to a new generation of SIM cards so quickly?”

nWu Changhe said, “Quick?” Do you know how many years it has been?”

nWu Zeqing said, “Many things are no longer the same.”

nZhang Ye said, “Alright, I’ll slowly get accustomed to it.”

nLi Qinqin said with a hint of pain. “How have you been spending the past few years?”

nZhang Ye smiled and said, “About that, I won’t be able to finish telling you all about it even if I spoke for three whole days and nights. I’ll explain it in detail in the future when I have more time.”

nZhang Ye already knew that it would be very difficult for him to continue his journey in the entertainment circle after being away for close to four years. Actually, even before he was released, he had a premonition of how things had become. Although he hadn’t watched the Spring Festival Gala during the years of his sentence, and the restrictions on communications were rather strict, and it was all the more so for Zhang Ye, he still occasionally heard some news and developments from the people around him. He could clearly tell that the world had changed. As such, Zhang Ye was already mentally prepared for this. Now that he was back, he would have to slowly get used to the environment again.

nHow should he proceed from here?

nWhat direction should he take?

nWhat was going to be the focus of his work?

nHow was he going to build a team?

nAll of this needed re-examining.

nHowever, there was one thing that he had already decided on. Zhang Ye’s return this time was not going to be for trivial reasons. He wasn’t just going to do this to make a living. He had never forgotten about his goal and ambition. Until the day he rose to the top of the international entertainment circle, he would never stop in his tracks. This was the one and only thing that he was stubborn about. No matter what happened, no matter how bad the circumstances, he had never wavered on his path.

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