Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Several days later.
A surgical mask.
A pair of sungla.s.ses.
A cap.
Zhang Ye was all wrapped up as he returned to China quietly.
The moment he got off the plane, a car from the studio came to pick him up. He got in and pa.s.sed an address that Ning Lan wrote for him to the driver. Without going home, he headed straight for that location. Along the way, he even found a stall where he bought a drawer of soup dumplings, two fried dough sticks, and a bowl of savory tofu pudding. After being on a plane overnight, he was hungry. As he gorged himself with the food, he kept praising how delicious it was. Home-cooked food was still the best thing ever. It was a pity he didn't have time to get some stewed pork liver. Hence, Zhang Ye decided that he must eat enough stewed pork liver and pork offal stew 1 before returning to America.
An hour later.
The car arrived at the destination.
Checking his watch, it was only about 8 in the morning.
A security guard stopped the car.
“Who are you looking for?” The security guard asked in an unaccommodating manner.
Zhang Ye got out of the car. “I'm here to look for Zhang Yuanqi.”
The security guard was taken aback. He said warily, “You're a reporter?”
Zhang Ye said, “A friend.”
The security guard looked at him, then lowered his head and picked up a phone to make a call. “h.e.l.lo, it's the guard at the gate. There's someone looking for Sister Zhang—” Then he looked up and asked, “What is your name, sir?”
Zhang Ye said, “Zhang Ye.”
The security guard felt his legs give way and nearly fell over. “Ah?”
Zhang Ye took off his sungla.s.ses.
The security guard said into the telephone: “It's really Teacher Zhang!”
A moment later, a young woman walked out from the villa district and looked out towards the gate. “Are you serious? Where is he?”
The security guard waved his hands.
When the woman saw it, she was delighted. “Aiyo! It's really Teacher Zhang!”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Is Old Zhang at home?”
The woman said, “Yes, she's around.”
Zhang Ye looked at her. “You are?”
Ma Fei said, “I'm her cousin. My name is Ma Fei.”
Zhang Ye said, “Whoa, what a good name. How refres.h.i.+ng!”
Ma Fei said, “…Aren't you supposed to be in Hollywood making a movie? Why did you come back to China? I didn't see any reports of that on the news?”
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “I sneaked back. I'm looking for Old Zhang regarding some matters.”
Ma Fei didn't probe further. “Come inside with me.”
At the entrance of a villa.
Ma Fei opened the door and brought Zhang Ye into the house.
Ma Fei shouted, “Sis, your friend is here.”
The television in the living room was on. From Zhang Ye's angle, he could see a woman sitting cross-legged on the sofa and watching TV. But it was only her back that he could see. Because of their relations.h.i.+p, Zhang Ye knew that this woman was definitely her even though this was the first time he was seeing her again after four years. During the few years that he was serving his sentence, there was not much news about Zhang Yuanqi. It was only after he was released that he found out that Old Zhang had already retired from the entertainment industry. But all this while, he hadn't had a chance to meet her.
Four years had pa.s.sed.
Time really flew by.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Sister Zhang, long time no see.”
The woman on the sofa did not turn around. “Take a seat, pour yourself a drink.”
Ma Fei rolled her eyes. “Let me do that instead. Teacher Zhang, don't mind her. My sis has always been like this, if you didn't know.”
But Zhang Ye just smiled and said, “How could I not know?”
Since Zhang Ye's return, he had heard from others and saw the news from back then. Zhang Yuanqi had gotten into trouble after getting exposed as someone who hid her temper and character in front of others. At that time, a lot of people criticized her for being a hypocrite and many of her fans turned into her haters. The media even added fuel to fire and caused many of Sister Zhang's friends to start avoiding her. This past incident blew up and caused quite a shake-up in the Chinese entertainment circle at that time. However, Zhang Ye was not surprised by this matter. This was because he might have been the only person who knew about Old Zhang's temper before this incident was exposed.
Ma Fei was taken aback. “You knew already?”
Zhang Ye said, “Does she still drink every day?”
Ma Fei said, “Drink? How could she? Her health isn't good anymore.”
Zhang Ye said, “She's sick?”
Ma Fei said, “Yeah.”
Zhang Yuanqi said, “You talk too much, just pour the water.”
“OK, OK, I'll leave you two to talk.” Ma Fei harrumphed and walked off.
Zhang Ye walked up to the sofa and sat down beside her. He stared at her for a long time before saying, “Looks like you haven't aged, but you seem to have lost quite a bit of weight?”
Zhang Yuanqi looked at him. “You look like you've gained quite a bit of weight.”
Zhang Ye asked, “Have you really retired?”
Zhang Yuanqi said indifferently, “I've long since retired.”
Zhang Ye smacked his lips and said, “Wasn't it only your fans finding out about your temper? What's the big deal with that? Although there were many people who criticized you at that time, it's years in the past now. The chapter has closed. Many of your fans are still waiting for you to come back, and those old friends of yours are also waiting for you to take on the industry again.”
Zhang Yuanqi said, “I'm happy with staying home.”
Zhang Ye said, “Actually, I think it was a good thing that they revealed this about you. You should just act normally. What's the big deal with that? Don't I also have a bad temper? Haven't I been scolded a lot by people over the years as well? Do you see me lacking anything? Didn't this bro still make it all the way to Hollywood? It's pretty good for you this way. You can just let yourself go and be who you really are. Come back to s...o...b..z and take on the industry again with a brand new att.i.tude!” This fellow started getting all philosophical with her.
Zhang Yuanqi probably understood what he meant. “So what are you really here for?”
Zhang Ye coughed. “Didn't I just take a new animated film production? There's a role in it that I can't find anyone to do the voice acting for. Why don't help me and take the role?”
Zhang Yuanqi didn't even consider it. “No.”
Zhang Ye said sternly, “How many years of friends.h.i.+p do we have between us?”
Zhang Yuanqi said, “Go look for someone else to try it.”
Zhang Ye said, “Did you think I didn't do that? I've looked all over and can't find anyone who is suitable for it.”
Zhang Yuanqi watched the television and said, “I've already retired. Don't look for me if it has anything to do with s...o...b..z.”
Zhang Ye pointed at the television screen and said, “If you've really retired, why are you still watching entertainment news?”
“Am I not allowed to watch the news?” Zhang Yuanqi said.
Zhang Ye said, “You still haven't returned the favor from back then.”
Zhang Yuanqi replied, “I don't remember it.”
Zhang Ye said, “Aiya, quickly come and play the role for me!”
Zhang Yuanqi said flatly, “No.”
He talked about the salary.
He talked about their friends.h.i.+p.
He got philosophical with her.
Zhang Ye tried everything, but it was all for naught.
Old Zhang seemed really firm in her decision not to come out of retirement.
In the end, Zhang Ye even resorted to bringing up their surnames. “We're both Zhangs and were one family 500 years ago. Surely you wouldn't want to shatter the Hollywood dream of your kin, would you?”
When Ma Fei heard that, she nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Kin, your sister!
You two are Zhangs!
But are they even the same f.u.c.king Zhang 2 ?
Ma Fei came over and said, “Teacher Zhang, stop making things difficult for my cousin. She really can't help you right now. Can't you see that my sis doesn't look well? She's not healthy, so we're going to the hospital later.”
Zhang Ye asked, “What is she sick with?”
Zhang Yuanqi suddenly coughed.
Zhang Ye said, “A cold? Why would you need to go to the hospital for that? This bro in front of you is a doctor. I'll take a look at you. If I get you cured, will you go with me straight to Hollywood tomorrow?”
Zhang Yuanqi didn't even look at him. “If you can cure me, I'll go with you right away today.”
Zhang Ye slapped his thigh and let out a hearty laugh. “That's what I want to hear.” He pointed at Ma Fei and said, “Sis, you heard it too. Be my witness.”
Ma Fei said in a speechless manner, “Sure, I'll be your witness. But you won't be able to cure her.”
Zhang Ye said in amus.e.m.e.nt, “Are you two messing with me? How hard can it be to cure this minor illness?” He then grabbed Zhang Yuanqi's arm and pretentiously pressed on her wrist.
Zhang Yuanqi frowned. “What are you doing?”
Zhang Ye said calmly, “Taking your pulse.”
Zhang Yuanqi was speechless.
Ma Fei asked, “Are you sure you know what you're doing?”
Zhang Ye said, “You must trust the doctor.”
Zhang Ye did not take this matter seriously at all. Wasn't it just a cold and cough?
Awhile later, he turned around and walked away without saying a word. Then, roughly 30 minutes later, this fellow returned with two large packets of traditional Chinese medicine that he had gotten from a Chinese pharmacy. He casually handed them to Ma Fei and told her, “Boil these for your sister. When it's almost ready, call me.” Just before the medicine was prepared, Zhang Ye chased them away. Then he opened his game ring and took out an unidentified vial of liquid from the inventory to pour into the medicine.
The item was [Spring Water of Health].
Its effects were: heals physical injuries and sicknesses.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzhu_huoshao
2. 张 vs. 章
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Sanzang
hweirdo: “Thank you to all the readers who stuck with us until the end, no matter when you started reading. It's sad that we never got to see Zhang Ye as the most popular celebrity in the world, and everything the author may have introduced, but it was a good run. I hope you keep following Legge!”
Legge: “h.e.l.lo to everyone reading, thank you for coming this far with I'm Really A Superstar”. It has taken us a few years to get here, so I really appreciate all of you who stuck with us since the beginning of time, as well as those of you who started reading at a later on despite the reviews. I have the same sentiments as hweirdo, it is sad that we didn't really get to see ‘the end', but I felt that this isn't too bad since we kinda ‘finished' on a high with Frozen.
