Fifty-fourth Return

  Time flies, and before I knew it, March 15th, 2004 had arrived. This was the day Zhang Chengyuan retired.

  He refused all his friends to come to the border to pick him up, and Zhang Chengyuan only let broker Park Byung-ryul accompany him, and then returned low-key to the free and prosperous modern society. In fact, he wanted to be high-profile but couldn't. The entertainment circle was changing rapidly, although Park Byung-ryul made unremitting efforts, but the long two years still made the public forget him. Now only a few die-hard fans can remember him.

  Based on this consideration, Jang Sung-won and Park Hyung-ryeol did not hold a press conference to announce their return, but instead chose to return to Hansong quietly. As for what the future holds for Jang Sung-won and whether he will be able to rise again, both of them are not worried at all.

  On the way back to Hanyang, Park Byung-ryul first asked Jang Sung-won about his situation in the military camp. Seeing that he had no mood to answer and just shook his head, he changed the subject and talked about the changes in Korea, especially in the entertainment industry over the past two years.

  The entertainment industry is full of strange and bizarre things, every year there are many topics that attract public attention and heated debate, and the past two years have been no exception. For example: Kim Nam-joo's plastic surgery incident, S.E.S.'s disbandment, the hot broadcasts of TV dramas such as "Winter Sonata" and "Dae Jang Geum", Zhang Na-ra's rapid rise to fame, BoA's shining in the Asian music scene... DBSK's debut, and many other things.

  However, Jang Sung-won didn't pay much attention to these and just listened to them as interesting stories. What he truly cared about was news or messages related to his friends and family. For example: Lee Hyori swept the music charts in the second half of 2003 and won five major music awards at the end of the year; Ok Joo-hyun continued her singer activities while hosting the radio program "Shining Night"; Lee Jin and Sung Yu-ri are now active in the entertainment industry as actors and MCs. Although they didn't shine as brightly as Lee Hyori, all three achieved quite good results.

  Kim Tae-hee starred in the TV drama "Screen of Dreams" and won the Best New Actress award at the 2003 SBS Acting Awards; Ha Ji-won's "The Empty House" was a huge hit among young people after its release, and she also won the MBC Drama Awards' Best Actress award for her role in "Mother"; Moon Geun-young is active in film and television, starring in the upcoming movie "My Little Bride"; Yun Eun-hye's popularity is soaring, with her group still going strong; Won Bin starred in "Taegukgi" which was released last month and has been a huge box office success, although he has been troubled by scandals for the past two years... Jang Seo-hee and her sister are living well and getting prettier with age.

  All of his relatives and friends seemed to be doing very well, which made Zhang Chengyuan extremely happy. He thought that the last time he saw them was during his last military leave, which was about half a year ago, and he looked forward to meeting them even more. However, without thinking, he knew that they were all busy, and it was impossible to gather with all friends in one day, so today he just wanted to get together with Li Xiaoli and the four girls as well as Little Crystal. As for other friends, they would have to find another opportunity, anyway, he had already retired from the army, and wanting to work again required a certain period of adaptation, so now he had plenty of time and didn't worry about not having the chance to meet with other friends.

  At noon, Zhang Chengyuan and Park Byung-ryul returned to Hanzhong. Zhang Chengyuan wanted to reunite with Xiaoshuijing at the Zheng's house immediately, so he temporarily parted ways with Park Byung-ryul, took a taxi to the Zheng's house, while Park Byung-ryul went to arrange for someone to take care of his daily chores.

  At this time, in the Zheng's home, Xia Shuijing had taken a special leave and was eagerly waiting for Zhang Chengyuan's arrival at home. Her parents and sister were also at home with her, they too wanted to see Zhang Chengyuan who they hadn't seen in a long time.

  Looking out of the taxi window, although the crowd on the street is more fashionable in dress and appearance, but overall, Seoul seems to have not changed much. Most streets are still crowded and narrow, most buildings are still shabby and low-rise. Zhang Chengyuan took a glance and didn't bother to look again.

  At this moment, he was lost in thought, imagining the more lovely and beautiful appearance of Little Water Crystal. He thought about the 137 letters she had written to her over the past two years, and his heart felt warm. Suddenly, a face as cold as an autumn night's wind flashed through his mind, reminding him of the time two years ago when she came to deliver a letter on behalf of her sister. He thought: "This girl Xiuyan is not bad, I should be nicer to her in the future and get closer to her. She's 16 this year too, soon to be a big girl, wonder how she's doing at ** company?"

  As he arrived at the Zheng sisters' home, Zhang Chengyuan rang the doorbell. Before he could even put his hand down, he heard the crisp footsteps inside, and immediately the big gate opened, and a little girl with two small braids rushed out, shouting "Brother Chengyuan!" and then jumped up to hug him. Zhang Chengyuan hastily gently hugged her, weighed her twice, and said with relief: "Shuijing, you've gained quite a bit of weight! It seems you listened to your brother's words." He had written back to little Shuijing, telling her to eat well.

  Xiao Jingyu hugged Zhang Chengyuan's neck and said, "Of course! I'll definitely listen to my brother's words, but you also have to keep your promise. From now on, you have to be more gentle with me, take me out to play often, and treat me to delicious food." After finishing speaking, she looked Zhang Chengyuan up and down a few times, then heavily kissed his face several times, and continued saying: "Brother, you've lost so much weight and gotten darker, but I still like your current appearance very much."

  These few kisses on the face made Zhang Chengyuan feel numb and soft all over, with infinite tenderness in his heart. He couldn't help but also kiss Xia Shuijing's small, chubby face a few times. The big and little ones were happily close together, completely unaware that at the door, there was still a couple and a young girl staring at them intently.

  The couple's faces were smiling, and their hearts were also joyful. Without a son, they had already regarded Zhang Chengyuan as half a son. They thought that if they could be related by marriage in the future, it would be even better. Thinking of this, the two of them involuntarily turned their gaze to their eldest daughter. However, their eldest daughter had always been cold and icy towards Zhang Chengyuan, and they knew that this idea was just a fantasy.

  Zheng Xiuyan looked on for a long time, seeing Zhang Chengyuan and Xiaoshuijing still being affectionate as if no one was around, couldn't help but let out a loud cough, which finally caught Zhang Chengyuan's attention. Zhang Chengyuan realized his behavior was too rude, immediately apologized to Zheng Father and Zheng Mother. The Zheng couple didn't mind at all, instead praising him for being straightforward.

  It was time for lunch, and Xiaoshui's family had been waiting for Zhang Chengyuan's arrival for over an hour, enduring their hunger. This made Zhang Chengyuan feel even more apologetic. The five of them gathered around the table, savoring their food while chatting happily, as close as a real family. Especially Zhang Chengyuan, who seemed like he hadn't eaten in three days, wolfing down his food with gusto, making Zheng's mother feel that her cooking skills had received great praise. Zheng's father also felt that Zhang Chengyuan didn't care about maintaining his celebrity image in front of them and was treating them as if they were truly family.

  After dinner, Zheng's father went out for something, and Zheng's mother was cleaning up in the kitchen. Zhang Chengyuan continued to play with Xiaoshuijing, while Zheng Xiuyan sat aside reading a book, occasionally glancing at Zhang Chengyuan and Xiaoshuijing.

  Zhang Chengyuan was busy dealing with Xiaoshuijing's strange questions and requests, while taking a glance at Zheng Xiuyan from time to time. Only then did he notice that Zheng Xiuyan had changed quite a bit over the past two years. Not only had she grown taller by more than ten centimeters, reaching around 160cm, but her feminine features had also become more pronounced, giving off a hint of youthful charm. The only thing that seemed unchanged was her pretty face, which still looked icy cold. Wait, no, it seemed to have become even more refined, with the slightly imperfect teeth now arranged neatly and shining white as snow. Moreover, her skin tone had also become much fairer.

  Zhang Chengyuan looked at Zheng Xiuyan and couldn't help but praise her, saying: "Ice girl, you've become much more beautiful over the past two years, I'm sure many boys are chasing after you?"

  Jung Soo-yeon felt both embarrassed and annoyed, yet somehow strange. She had never expected Jang Sung-yoon to speak to her like that. In the past, he was always cold and strict towards her. If she hadn't been so perceptive, how could she have sensed the love and care hidden beneath his icy exterior? Sometimes she really envied and even resented the way he lavished attention on Little Crystal without restraint. But today, the tone of his voice when speaking to her seemed not bad either - at least it wasn't as cold as before. Maybe this meant that she and he could become closer.

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