Chapter 14: Little Rascal (Seeking Recommendation Tickets)

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  Ye Ziran put aside Liu Guoyong's affairs and walked with Zhang Nianyue along the street towards the outskirts of the city. The streets of the small town were lined with many Chinese parasol trees, blocking out the sun, and the sunlight filtered through the leaves onto the ground, making the heat much less intense. In the shops by the street, they were playing the latest hit song: Zhou Huajian's "Flower Heart".

  Two people stepped on the music, carefree and contented.

  "The flower's heart is hidden in the stamens / The flowering season has all been missed / Your heart forgot the seasons / Never easily letting people understand / Why not hold my hand / Together listen to the sun and moon sing a song / Black night and white day / Black night and white day / How much joy and sorrow does life have? / Spring goes, spring will come again / Flowers wither, flowers will bloom again / As long as you're willing / As long as you're willing / Let dreams sail towards your heart's ocean..."

  "Emil Chau's songs are really nice to listen to." Zhang Nianyue said with a look of intoxication.

  "A nice song will be sung repeatedly by everyone." Ye Zhenran hummed two sentences, "As long as you're willing, as long as you're willing, let your dreams sail to the sea of your heart."

  "Nian Yue, if I row now, will I make it?" He said, staring at Zhang Nian Yue.

  Zhang Nianyue gave him a white eye and slyly asked back: "Row to the United States? Yeah, Yang sister is quite lonely by herself."

  Ye Ziran was suddenly speechless. He felt that the relationship between him and Zhang Nianyue had reached a sensitive juncture, and Zhang Nianyue also sensed this.

  The two of them fell silent, both choosing to close their mouths at the same time. In the summer sunlight, the unique fragrance of a small town in Jiangnan floated by, brushing against Zhang and Ye's noses as they strolled along, their hearts filled with softness.

  On the bustling street, Zhang Nian was quietly enjoying this unprecedented feeling, with a sweet and pleasant taste in his heart. As he walked past a small shop, Zhang Nian stopped in his tracks and said, "Mu Tou, I'm thirsty, let's go buy some ice cream to eat."

  Ye Ziran obediently took out the money and came to the cold drink stall, just about to buy it, when he suddenly heard someone excitedly shouting: "Brother Ye, buy two more ice cream sticks!" Turning his head, he saw Tang Hong and Tang Kang brother and sister running over.

  Ye Ziran didn't expect to run into the sister and brother duo here, and asked in surprise: "You two little gluttons, aren't you following me all the way? How did you pop out just as I was about to buy ice cream?"

  "We went to play on Western Hill and just came down." Tang Hong said happily.

  "What about you two? Didn't Yu Jie accompany you?" Ye Zhenran looked around behind Tang Hong and his sister, but didn't see Yu Jia's figure.

  "Yes, we finished our homework and wanted to go out and play. Mom said she didn't have time to accompany us, so we went by ourselves. Mom is really something, busy on Sundays too, tired the two of us to death." Tang Hong chattered on, staring at Zhang Nianyue as he spoke, "Brother Ye, who is this?"

  "I am a friend of Ye Zhenran." Zhang Nianyue felt that the little girl's expression was filled with some hostility, wrinkled her delicate nose, and spoke before Ye Zhenran did.

  "Is that so, Brother Ye?" Tang Honghu looked at Zhang Nianyue with suspicion, seemingly disliking her "friend" remark.

  "Tang Hong, let me introduce you, this is Nian Yue, my senior fellow student from J University," Ye Zhenran smiled slightly with a hint of jealousy and turned to Zhang Nianyue, "Nianyue, this is Tang Hong and Tang Kang, the daughter and son of County Committee Secretary Tang."

  Zhang Nianyue and Tang Hong simultaneously pouted, both making a disdainful face at Ye Zhenran.

  Tang Hong said: "Ye Gege, I found out that you are a big flirt." It seems that he who had never had a girlfriend before suddenly had such a beautiful girl.

  Zhang Nianyue said: "Wood, I found out that you are a black-hearted little bureaucrat." He seemed very unhappy and had a strong sense of justice. It was clear that he had ulterior motives for being so familiar with the county party secretary's children.

  Ye Ziran's sweat started to break out.

  Just then, two small hoodlums suddenly appeared beside him, unintentionally relieving Ye Zhenran's siege.

  Two young punks, no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, with long hair and a cigarette in their mouths, were also wandering around the area. After seeing Zhang Nianyue, they were clearly stunned by her extraordinary beauty, their eyes gleaming dimly as they spoke nonsense: "Ah ha, where did these two beauties come from? My brothers are lucky today."

  "Scram, you little rascal." Zhang Nianyue hadn't spoken yet, but Tang Hong looked at the two with disgust and cursed. People from Jiangnan usually referred to this kind of young hooligan as a "little rascal".

  "Hey, little beauty has a lot of personality, accompany brother to the video room to watch videos, today showing level 3 films." The young punk said with a "heh heh" laugh, his eyes evilly glanced at Tang Hong and then at Zhang Nianyue.

  She smiled three times, but saw Zhang Nianyue lift her small leg and step on the heel of one of the thugs' feet with a loud crash.

  The little rascal suddenly let out a loud "ahh" and started hopping on one foot, clutching at the spot that had been stepped on, while continuously jumping up and down in a ridiculous manner.

  Ye Ziran thought that since he had already started, he might as well go all out. He lifted one foot and kicked another thug's knee, hearing a loud "crack" sound. The other thug immediately sat down on the ground, cold sweat dripping from his face in pain. Tang Kang looked at him with wide eyes and an open mouth, unable to make a sound.

  As a result, two little rascals on the side of the street, one hugging his knee and trembling with pain, the other hopping on one foot, also gritting his teeth in agony. After all, Ye Zhenran had practiced martial arts for three years in high school, and Zhang Nianyue's high heels were as deadly as a sharp knife.

  Tang Hong saw the situation and cleverly shouted "Run!" The four of them immediately took off, fortunately Ye Lao's house was just nearby, less than 30 meters away. By the time the two young thugs' pain had slightly subsided, they had already run away without a trace.

  Four people ran all the way, laughing all the way until they entered Old Ye's courtyard.

  Ye Lao's small courtyard is located at the westernmost part of the county town, about 200-300 meters away from Xishan Mountain. It is an old-fashioned two-story flat house. The entire yard is very large, and as soon as you enter, it is a vacant lot filled with all kinds of vegetables. In the middle of the vacant lot, there is a cement road that leads straight to the first small house, which is Ye Lao's reception room and rest room after work. Next to it are two rooms for the kitchen and servant's quarters. The second floor has five bedrooms, in front of which there is a courtyard with an area of about 400 square meters. The ground is paved with square bricks, and on both sides, there are two tall and luxuriant ginkgo trees that provide shade and shelter from the rain for the small courtyard.

  The courtyard is an old-fashioned bungalow, but it's well-maintained. The wooden pillars are painted bright and shiny, the walls are neat and clean, and several camphor trees are planted along the wall, bringing a light fragrance to the air.

  Ye Lao usually works in the fields for about an hour every afternoon at around 4 pm, planting vegetables, watering flowers, weeding and so on. It's both labor and exercise, enjoying a semi-urban semi-rural life.

  Four people suddenly pushed the door and ran in, startling Ye Lao and Cai Shu for a moment. Cai Shu was the first to see clearly that it was Zhang Nianyue, and he scolded: "Nianyue, what are you doing so recklessly?"

  All four of them were too busy to bother with Cai Shu, leaving him hanging there.

  Zhang Nianyue ran in first, and after entering the door, she lightly patted her chest with her hand and let out a long sigh of relief, as if she was grateful to have narrowly escaped disaster. Tang Hong's reaction after entering the door was different from Nianyue's - she laughed "haha" so hard that she bent over at the waist. Tang Kang was the third one to enter, because he had run too quickly and was panting heavily, but his hands were raised high, with his index and middle fingers forming a "V" shape. Ye Zheran was relatively calm, and before entering the door, he looked back to see if anyone was chasing after him. Seeing no one, he happily said, "The alarm has been lifted." Then his eyes landed on Zhang Nianyue's hand, watching as her small hand patted her own chest up and down, and he couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, imagining what it would be like if her right hand were to become his own at that moment.

  "With Ye Lao's experience, he could naturally guess what had happened. He first looked at Zhang Nianyue with a kind expression, then glanced at Tang Hong and her brother, before looking at Ye Zhenran and frowning slightly, saying: "Little Ye, you're also involved in this mess, what happened?"

  Before Ye Zhenran could even open his mouth, Tang Hong wasn't afraid of strangers at all and quickly told him what had happened. When he got to the exciting part, he burst out laughing again. Ye Zhenran couldn't help but look at Old Man Ye with a helpless expression.

  Ye Lao couldn't help but smile after hearing the story, and said to Zhang Nianyue: "I didn't expect you to be so ruthless and accurate, just like Zhang Hengliang's style."

  Ye Ziran let out a sigh of relief and said: "Old Ye, I'm sorry. I didn't expect something like this to happen."

  Zhang Nianyue said with a swagger: "No big deal, if this happens again in the future, I'll kick him to the point of fracture." After finishing speaking, she made a kicking motion, and her movements were very elegant. She turned around, grabbed Tang Hong's hand, and walked inside, saying "Let's go wash our faces first."

  The two girls, from the slight hostility when they first met to now, after fighting, have become friends and are walking hand in hand, laughing and chatting like good sisters. Tang Hong is seven or eight years younger than Zhang Nianyue, but she developed early and her figure is not much shorter than Nianyue's.

  Ye Ziran pulled Tang Kang and said to Old Ye: "Tang Hong and Tang Kang are the children of County Committee Secretary Tang, whom we met on the road."

  Ye Lao saw Tang Hong and Tang Kang, a lovely couple, didn't feel disgusted at all, nodded and said to Ye Zhen Ran: "You two go wash up too, we'll have dinner at home tonight."

  Ye Ziran turned back and said to Cai Shu: "That would be troubling you, Uncle Cai."

  Cai Shu chuckled and said, "It's okay, the more people, the merrier." Cai Shu wouldn't hold a grudge against a child, even though he was just ignored.

  After washing his face in the guest room, Tang Kang caught sight of "The Book and the Sword" on the chair and started reading it with great interest. Ye Zhenran knew that this was a book brought by Nian Yue to pass the time, Jin Yong's works were the most yearned-for readings for young people, and Ye Zhenran had also read them all night when he was in college.

  Tang Kang was still reading alone in the living room, while Ye Zhenran walked into the courtyard and heard Nian Yue and Tang Hong giggling and laughing, his heart felt like it was being bitten by hundreds of ants, itching so much that he couldn't help but go take a look.

  Through the passageway between two silver ginkgo trees, the second house is right in front of you.

  He lightly knocked on the door, pushed it open and went in, only to see Zhang Nianyue's eyes scanning over, as if there was substance, making Ye Zhenran's gaze follow suit.