Chapter 15

In the middle of the night, Xiaobai climbed up the mulberry tree and declared that she was going to perform her specialty.

Can't you be a bit more well-behaved?

Zhang Tan wanted to scold her a few words, but he was afraid of scaring her. What if she got nervous, loosened her grip, and fell down?

He could only speak softly and kindly, asking her to come down.

"Quack, quack, quack~"

Xiaobai laughed like a goose, possibly treating this moment as the highlight of her life.

She had always wanted to climb the trees in the schoolyard, but she was watched closely and never had the chance. Today, taking advantage of Teacher Xiaoliu going to the bathroom, she brought her little followers, had them lift her up, and then, like a caterpillar, she quickly climbed up. Then...

Then Zhang Tan came.

He arrived just in time, right when she was about to show off her specialty. She wanted to sit on the tree and sing a song.

"I'm performing my specialty," she said proudly, hugging the tree trunk and not moving, like a sloth.

"Can you come down, please?" Zhang Tan persuaded.

"Watch me," she said.

Xiaobai lay on the tree trunk, using her hands and feet, moving like a little monkey, climbing very quickly.

She wasn't a sloth but a caterpillar or a little monkey. Climbing trees was indeed her specialty.

After her performance, she was extremely pleased, while Zhang Tan, Xiaomi, and Meng Chengcheng were on tenterhooks.

Zhang Tan threatened, "If you don't come down, I'll climb up and carry you down!"

"What?" Xiaobai asked in surprise, "Why are you so angry?"

Since Xiaobai often said "so angry" (冒鬼火), Zhang Tan looked it up online and knew it meant he was very angry.

Zhang Tan waved his hand, not wanting to say more, and asked her to come down first.

Xiaobai mumbled something, then started to slide down the tree. Zhang Tan quickly put down his backpack, stood under the tree, and opened his arms to catch her if she fell.

Seeing this, Xiaomi and Meng Chengcheng ran to his feet, mimicking him, lifting their little heads, and opening their little hands, contributing their share.

Zhang Tan looked down at the two children and told them to move away.

"I can handle it, you don't need to help. Can you stand a bit further away?"

Meng Chengcheng, who was a bit dazed, looked at him without speaking, while Xiaomi said, "I'm just helping."

Clearly not from Sichuan, she had learned a few Sichuan dialect phrases from Xiaobai.

Zhang Tan didn't need their help and asked them to stand further away so they wouldn't be hit by Xiaobai.

He was worried for nothing. Xiaobai smoothly slid down the tree and boasted, "Did I do well?"

Xiaomi and Meng Chengcheng nodded, saying, "Yes, you did well."

Zhang Tan was speechless and looked at her clothes, "Look at your clothes, they're so dirty."

Xiaobai looked down at herself, "Oh no."

Zhang Tan said with a smile, "You're still 'oh no'! Do you still want to climb trees? No one will wash your dirty clothes."

Xiaobai patted her clothes and asked Xiaomi and Meng Chengcheng to help.

"Be gentle, be gentle. Xiaomi, are you hitting me on purpose? Chengcheng, don't pat my head."

"Go inside." Zhang Tan escorted the three to Teacher Xiaoliu and asked her to watch them.

He went home, took a shower, and just sat down at his desk when the doorbell rang. Xiaobai was back, and a few meters behind her, near the stairs, stood Xiaomi and Meng Chengcheng, who were more shy and not as bold as Xiaobai.

"Uncle, have you had any alcohol?" Xiaobai asked.

Zhang Tan didn't understand why she kept asking this and was puzzled.

"No, I haven't had any alcohol."

"Oh." Xiaobai sighed with relief, "I came to see my little shoes. Hey, they're still here."

She leaned on the door frame, tilting her head to look at the pair of small slippers with a bear pattern that she had worn last time, which were placed on the shoe rack by the door.

What was there to see? They weren't going to run away. It was hard to understand the world of children.

"Do you want to come in and sit down? Bring your little friends," Zhang Tan asked.

Xiaobai shook her head and said she just came to see her little shoes, not to see him, and she was busy, so she wouldn't sit down.

Zhang Tan was speechless. She really didn't give him any face. Such thoughts should be kept in mind, not spoken out loud. Children speak without thinking.

"Are you just here to see your little shoes? Since you're here, why not try them on? It would be a pity not to."

Xiaobai tilted her head, thinking it over. She thought it made sense but was still a bit hesitant. She asked him again if he had had any alcohol and wanted him to squat down so she could smell him.

"Do you really fear I'll drink?" Zhang Tan asked curiously.

Xiaobai nodded and said that adults who drink would hit children.

Zhang Tan squatted down and let her smell him, then asked casually, "Has anyone ever hit you when they were drunk?"

Xiaobai didn't answer, sniffed, and, finding no alcohol smell, took off her shoes and put on the cute slippers, running around the room in small steps, almost flying. She ran to the door and called Xiaomi and Chengcheng to admire them. The three children gathered together, commenting, and then Xiaobai took off the slippers, put them back on the shoe rack, put on her own sandals, said goodbye to him, and took Xiaomi and Meng Chengcheng downstairs.

It was not easy. She finally agreed to wear the slippers, but it was very disappointing that the busy Xiaobai had just come to see her slippers, not to see him, and certainly not for their friendship—if they had any.

After Xiaobai left, Zhang Tan closed the door, sat back at his desk, turned on his computer, and looked for movies to study.

Previously, he would search for movies on video websites, but this time he changed his habit and went to the film review website he had browsed last time. The movie ratings here were more objective.

Suddenly, he saw 56 unread messages in the upper right corner of his account.

Last time he posted a review, he registered an account called "Sigh of Amazement."

Why so many unread messages? Zhang Tan was curious and clicked to open them.

"Seafood Noodles" replied to your article "The Chaser: A Popcorn Movie Selling Hormones"

"London Bridge" replied to your article "The Chaser: A Popcorn Movie Selling Hormones"

...

All the messages were like this.

"It turns out they are replies to the review I wrote last time."

Zhang Tan clicked on the top message to see what "Seafood Noodles" wrote.

"Wu Director's movies require rich life experience to understand. Clearly, the author is too young and only sees the form and technique of the movie, not the rich meaning behind it. It's a pity for the author."

He opened "London Bridge's" reply, hoping for a positive response, but was disappointed. It was still a criticism.

"The Chaser is a rare martial arts masterpiece in the Chinese film industry in the past five years. It has both inheritance and innovation, balancing commercial and artistic value. It is expected to be a big winner at the three major domestic film awards this year. I am a film directing student, and I have the right to speak. The author clearly pretends to understand but doesn't see the details and depth, and writes a thousand words. If he had the time, he should read more books."

This person's reply received over a thousand likes and over 100 comments, more popular than Zhang Tan's article.

"Big V is here."

"Still not updating today?"

"Instead of arguing, make more videos."

...

It seemed that "London Bridge" was a web celebrity.

Zhang Tan clicked on his account and entered his homepage. Indeed, he was a web celebrity, an UP master on the Xilixi video website with over a million followers. No wonder he had more authority, as he made movie review videos.

Zhang Tan browsed for a while, closed the webpage, opened his own article, and read through the many replies. Many were similar to "Seafood Noodles," disagreeing with his views, thinking that it wasn't "The Chaser" that was shallow, but he was.

He opened the review page for "The Chaser" again and read others' reviews.

Compared to the last time, the number of reviews had increased significantly in just a few days, but Zhang Tan was speechless. It seemed that the director was talking nonsense, and the fans were building the tracks along the way.

They even said he was pretending to understand! Zhang Tan thought for a moment, opened the Xilixi video website, registered an account, still called "Sigh of Amazement," and after figuring out the rules and procedures for uploading videos, opened a document and started writing a video script based on the thousand-word review he wrote last time, preparing to make a video analyzing "The Chaser."

Zhang Tan rarely took things so seriously. It took him several hours to write half of the video script. The time in the lower right corner of the computer showed it was already 11 PM, and it was not early.

He definitely couldn't finish tonight, and there was no need to rush. Recording and explaining the video would take even more time.

He saved the document, closed the computer, looked out the window at the night sky to rest his eyes.

After staring at the computer for a long time, his face felt greasy. He went to the bathroom, washed his face, combed his messy hair, put on his shoes, and went downstairs to visit the children.