Chapter 80

It was noon.

The sun came up, and the room felt a bit stuffy.

Zhang Ye opened the door of the studio to let in some fresh air. A flyer was wedged under the door, which he stepped on and picked up. It was a takeout menu from a restaurant called Long Long Fast Food, probably a new place in this world. Zhang Ye hadn't heard of it, but to save trouble, he called to place an order.

"Hello."

"This is Long Long Fast Food."

"What's the cheapest takeout you have?"

"Uh, the cheapest is the chicken rice, plus a delivery fee of 15 yuan."

"Okay, I'll take that. Let me give you my address."

Just as he was about to hang up, Zhang Ye caught a glimpse of a small figure slowly walking into his home. He was taken aback and hung up the phone to look. It was a little girl, around eight years old, clearly a primary school student, wearing the school uniform of Xuanwu Experimental Second Primary School. The little girl had a face like a porcelain doll, and Zhang Ye had never seen such a fair, tender, and bright child before. She was particularly beautiful.

"Little one," Zhang Ye blinked, "who are you looking for?"

The little girl glanced at him, ignored Zhang Ye, and walked straight to the fridge, opened the door, and looked inside. She then stretched up on her tiptoes and reached with her small arms, finally managing to grab a bottle of cola from the fridge that Zhang Ye had put there. She closed the fridge door, found a spot to sit, and unscrewed the cap of the cola, drinking it on the small sofa. She even let out a satisfied sigh after drinking.

Zhang Ye was speechless, "What's your name? Why are you in my house? Did you get lost from your parents? What are your parents' names? I'll take you back."

The little girl replied in a childish voice, "What's your name?"

"I'm Zhang Ye. Hey, why are you asking me?" Zhang Ye said.

The little girl said, "Oh," and looked at him for the first time, "You're that Zhang Ye? The school plays your fairy tales every week, and I'm sick of them. They're too childish!"

Zhang Ye was taken aback, "You know me? My stories are childish?"

The little girl's tone was childish, but her voice was unusually deep, as if everyone owed her money. "Not childish? That 'Little Rabbit, Little Rabbit, Who's at the Door?' I thought the person who wrote that story was really stupid, with no common sense at all." She spoke very logically and calmly, completely unlike a child her age. "I ask you, does the big bad wolf picky eat?"

Zhang Ye was confused, "What does the wolf picky eat?"

"Exactly." The little girl pouted, "You use anthropomorphism to have the big bad wolf knock on the door and the little rabbits talk to it, which is fine. But you write that the big bad wolf doesn't eat the rabbit's mother but instead goes to great lengths to trick the little rabbits into opening the door to eat them. This is a logical error. You said the big bad wolf isn't picky, so why does it only want to eat the little rabbits and not the rabbit's mother? The rabbit's mother isn't behind the door. Does the big bad wolf think the rabbit's mother's meat is too old and hard to chew?"

Zhang Ye: "..."

The little girl calmly took a sip of cola and continued, "There's another common sense error in the last part. Even if the rabbit's mother had a stick, she couldn't beat the big bad wolf. First, there's the physical difference between the two animals, and second, the gender disadvantage. How could she drive the big bad wolf away?"

Zhang Ye: "... This is a novel, it's above life!"

The little girl snorted, "But a novel must come from life."

Zhang Ye was speechless, almost ready to curse. What a troublesome child! Does the big bad wolf picky eat? Can the rabbit's mother beat the big bad wolf? Zhang Ye couldn't answer these questions; he was speechless! Are all the kids nowadays so sharp-tongued? They're so annoying!

"By the way, how do you know me?" Zhang Ye looked at her, "Did your parents tell you?" It couldn't be, he didn't know many people in the building, and he had never seen this child before.

Suddenly, the landlord's voice came from the hallway!

"Chen Chen!"

"Rao Chen Chen!"

"Where did you run off to?"

After a few calls, Rao Chen Chen loudly replied to Zhang Ye's stunned gaze, "Auntie, I'm at Zhang Ye's place."

Two seconds later, Rao Aimin appeared at Zhang Ye's door. She glanced at the little girl, "Running around again! If you meet a human trafficker, they'll sell you sooner or later!"

Rao Chen Chen sipped her cola, not taking it seriously.

"Drinking cola again? Who let you drink it?" Rao Aimin snatched the cola bottle from her hand, "Come on, let's go home with Auntie."

Rao Chen Chen pouted, "At home, you always scold me. I don't want to go back. I like it at Zhang Ye's place."

Rao Aimin patted her head, "Call him Uncle Zhang Ye, you're being disrespectful!"

Zhang Ye was confused, "Landlady, this is..." Zhang Ye asked.

Rao Aimin looked at him, "My niece, my sister's child. I'll be taking care of her from now on. You keep an eye on her, don't let her run around. This little one has a lot of ideas."

Zhang Ye was puzzled, "You'll be taking care of her? What about your sister and brother-in-law?"

Rao Aimin's eyes showed no emotion, and she said calmly, "They passed away a long time ago. The child was taken care of by my brother-in-law's family. I was out the last few days to complete the legal procedures. Now, the custody of the child is mine, and her surname will be the same as ours."

"Is that so." Zhang Ye understood that her family situation was complicated and didn't dare to ask more.

"By the way," Rao Aimin remembered something, "I heard you quit your job? How's it going?"

Zhang Ye nodded, "It's fine, Landlady. I didn't want to work there anymore. Thanks for your concern."

Rao Aimin looked at him, "I'm not concerned about you, I'm concerned about whether you can pay the rent on time. It's almost the end of the month. If you can't pay, you're out of here, no negotiation."

Zhang Ye almost spat blood, "You're too direct, Landlady!"

At that moment, Rao Chen Chen let out a mocking laugh, "Hehe."

Rao Aimin swiftly picked up Chen Chen with one arm. Despite being around eight years old, the little girl seemed light as a beer bottle in her arms. She said to Zhang Ye, "Find a job quickly next week. You deserved to lose your job for cursing at the award ceremony, but your poem was decent, a bit like my style back in the day!"

Zhang Ye replied, "Sure, I'll rest for a few days and then look for a job. Don't worry, I won't miss the rent. I'll find a good place."

Chen Chen, in her aunt's arms, glanced at Zhang Ye with a stiff smile, "Hehe."

What's with the "hehe"! Zhang Ye was defeated by this aunt and niece. The landlady's mouth was enough to give him a headache, and now there's another one!

Does he even have a life!

Are these two going to team up to tease him every day?

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