Chapter 28

The moon hung above the branches of the mulberry tree, swaying in the wind.

It was already past midnight, and the adults who worked the night shift had started to arrive at Little Red Horse Academy to pick up their children.

They dragged their weary bodies but wore smiles on their faces, their eyes shining. The hard day was finally over, and being with their children was the happiest moment of the day.

The academy was quiet, with insects chirping in the grass. Somewhere on the mulberry tree, a cicada had flown in and was lazily plucking its strings.

After sending off the last child, Little White, Old Li locked the academy and returned to the guard booth to rest.

The next day at work, Zhang Tan received a notification that the manga author had arrived and wanted to chat with the three shortlisted screenwriters.

"The Lantern Bearer" was a passionate manga, but the author was a petite and cute woman.

Perhaps it was her looks that added to the appeal, as she and Zhang Tan had a very pleasant conversation, and in the end, she chose him. The other two, although young, were not as handsome.

These two were named Xu Jian and Liu Zhiguo.

Xu Jian was quite handsome but not very tall, around 170 cm. Liu Zhiguo, on the other hand, could not be described as handsome. He was about 175 cm tall and had already entered the stage of gaining weight, with an estimated weight of over 175 kg.

When Liu Zhiguo learned the result and found out that Zhang Tan was ultimately chosen, he clearly was not convinced and his face showed it, but he did not say anything, just hurriedly said congratulations and left.

Xu Jian stayed behind and chatted with Zhang Tan for a few moments, appearing more composed.

Zhang Tan had a good impression of Xu Jian, finding him very similar to his former self. As for Liu Zhiguo, he also had a good impression and did not blacklist him because of his dissatisfaction.

Successfully securing the screenwriting job for "The Lantern Bearer," Zhang Tan's career finally took a milestone step forward. He had previously told Jiang Rong and He Chao that transferring from the script evaluation group was not a big deal, not even worth a dinner, but now, it truly was.

Since Luo Ming and Jiang Rong did not know each other, after some consideration, he decided to invite them separately. He first invited Luo Ming to thank him for his help this time.

To Zhang Tan, Luo Ming was both a teacher and a friend, with no airs of a senior, and was very caring. Without Luo Ming, he might not have secured "The Lantern Bearer."

The two had some drinks in the evening. Luo Ming's alcohol tolerance was poor, and he was a bit tipsy after a few glasses of red wine. Zhang Tan, on the other hand, used to love playing and drinking, with a good alcohol tolerance. If he had not controlled himself, his fridge would probably be full of cold beer for the summer.

Both of them had drinks. When they left, Zhang Tan called a designated driver for both of them, but Luo Ming waved it off.

"You can't drive after drinking, especially since Luo Ming is a bit drunk. I won't let you drive. We need to call a designated driver."

Luo Ming kept saying no.

"Road safety is the top priority. You must not drive after drinking."

"No, my wife is on her way. She will drive."

"..."

This was probably the inherent limitation of being single, a sad reality.

Sure enough, not long after, Luo Ming's wife arrived. This was the first time Zhang Tan met her. She was a very gentle woman who had taken a taxi. Seeing that Luo Ming was quite drunk, she did not blame him at all. She took out two bottles of kudzu root drink from her bag, gave one to Zhang Tan, and opened the other for Luo Ming to drink.

"Mrs. Luo, I'm really sorry for making Teacher Luo drunk," Zhang Tan said.

She smiled and replied, "Today is a celebration for you. I told him to drink."

Zhang Tan did not know this before, thinking it explained why Luo Ming, who usually did not drink, was so relaxed this time.

Zhang Tan helped Luo Ming into the car and watched as Mrs. Luo drove away. Then he got into his own car, which was driven back to the urban village by a designated driver.

After parking the car and paying the driver, Zhang Tan walked back to the academy.

Elders were sitting in the alley, chatting and cooling off. Children were running around with their pets, and a little boy ran over and bumped into Zhang Tan's leg, falling on his bottom. Zhang Tan helped him up and noticed a teahouse nearby.

The teahouse was lively, with the rich accent of Pujiang filling the air. People were drinking tea, chatting, and playing cards, presenting a more down-to-earth side of Pujiang.

He was heavily intoxicated, so he went in and ordered a pot of tea. Just as he sat down, someone called his name. He turned around and saw Huang Meimei.

"Huang Meimei, it's really you, Zhang Tan."

Zhang Tan poured himself a cup of tea, which was a bit hot, but he was thirsty and drank it in one gulp. "You seem surprised."

Huang Meimei: "You never came to places like this before. Bars were your battlefield."

Battlefield? Zhang Tan was speechless.

"Are those your friends?"

Zhang Tan noticed that Huang Meimei was sitting with two other girls and a man.

He just asked casually, but Huang Meimei looked very guarded and warned him, "Don't try to hit on them. I won't introduce you."

"..."

What was this all about? Zhang Tan waved her off, feeling hurt and not wanting to talk to her.

After Huang Meimei left, she continued to chat and play cards with her friends. Zhang Tan drank half a pot of tea, waved to Huang Meimei, and got up to leave.

"Old Li, it's me, open the door." Zhang Tan called out to Old Li, who was watching TV at the entrance of Little Red Horse Academy.

It was already 9 PM, and the children had all gone in, so Old Li had locked the main gate to prevent strangers from entering.

"Oh, Young Master Zhang is back."

Old Li opened the door, let Zhang Tan in, and then went back into the guard booth. He soon came out and handed Zhang Tan a handbag containing a blue lunch box.

"Hehehe, homemade cold noodles, Young Master Zhang, try them."

Zhang Tan knew that Old Li's family used to run a noodle shop, and their specialty was cold noodles. His wife, who was from the Korean ethnic group in Northeast China, was an expert at making cold noodles. Unfortunately, cold noodles were not well-known in Pujiang and were quite niche. Many people thought cold noodles were just cold mixed noodles. Due to poor management, the noodle shop eventually went bankrupt, and Old Li came to Little Red Horse Academy to work as a security guard.

"I won't be polite, I'll take it home and try it. Thanks."

Zhang Tan did not hesitate to accept it and took it home. When he opened the lunch box, his appetite was greatly stimulated. The cold noodles were at the bottom, topped with various delicacies, including fried shrimp, watermelon slices, beef slices, squid, and spicy kimchi, with a light cold steam rising.

Although he wanted to eat it, he had just had dinner and was worried about gaining weight.

He put the lunch box in the fridge, planning to eat it the next morning. He took a shower and was about to open his computer to check his video account when he remembered something in his bag. He went out and found Little White, who was surrounded by other children. Meng Chengcheng was telling them a story in a baby voice, which was surprisingly coherent.

"Little White, come here."

"What?" Little White glanced at him, unwilling to move. Clearly, Meng Chengcheng's story was more appealing to her than Zhang Tan.

"Little White, come over quickly. I have something for you."

Little White reluctantly came over and asked impatiently, "What is it? I'm very busy."

How could children change their minds so quickly? They were so close yesterday, and he had to eat the fish feast and rice with her, but today she was indifferent!

"Are you free? Come to my place, I have something for you."

Little White shook her head without hesitation, saying she was busy. She pointed to the group of children and said they were all in line to tell her stories, with Meng Chengcheng first, then Xiao Qian, and so on.

Zhang Tan was surprised and asked, "Everyone is going to tell you stories?"

So many children were queuing up to tell her stories. Was she the queen?

Little White gave him a strange look, as if she couldn't understand his surprise.

Given Zhang Tan's enthusiastic invitation, Little White thought it had been a few days since she last visited her little friend, so she reluctantly agreed to go with him, but only for a short while. She would have to come back soon because the stories were waiting for her.