Chapter 952: Old Rao, why don’t you be my agent!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Noon.
Guests had come to visit Zhang Ye and his family.
His parents opened the door to welcome them. “Chenchen, did you miss Grandpa and Grandma?”
Chenchen made a noise in affirmation, then asked, “Where’s Zhang Ye?”
“Him? He’s getting changed in his room,” his mother answered with a chuckle.
Chenchen bounced to the small bedroom door and knocked on it with her little hand. “Zhang Ye, come out, I’m here.”
Zhang Ye’s voice came from inside the room. “Soon.”
Chenchen knocked on the door again and badgered, “Zhang Ye, hurry up.”
“I get it!” Zhang Ye was annoyed.
His father looked at the woman standing at the door. “You must be Little Rao.”
For once, Rao Aimin showed a smile. “How should I address the two of you?”
Over at Zhang Ye’s rented apartment, his mother had met her twice before, so she knew her. “Anything is fine. Our age gap is not really that large, so you just call us Big Bro and Big Sis.”
“OK,” Rao Aimin said.
His mother beckoned her in. “Come in, come in and sit.”
Rao Aimin had brought along quite a few fruits and gift boxes. “I heard from Chenchen that she gave you two a lot of trouble in the past six months. I didn’t know what to get, so I just got a little something for you.”
“Aiya, you didn’t have to bring any gifts. You’re too polite.” His mother smiled and said, “When Little Ye was staying at your place, he caused you a lot of trouble too. You even cooked for him and offered him free rent, so we’re very grateful to you as well. If not for your help back then, Little Ye would not have become this successful.”
They exchanged some pleasantries.
At this moment, Zhang Ye, who had just changed out of his pajamas into casual wear, came out from his bedroom. “Yo, Big Sis Rao, you’re here.” He patted Chenchen, who had stood at the door for a long while, on her little head when he came out.
They ate lunch at home.
Initially, his mother had wanted to cook for the guests, but Rao Aimin insisted on doing it instead, so his mother did not stop her!
His mother felt it was inappropriate. “How can we let our guest cook for us!”
But Zhang Ye did not mind. “Haha, Big Sis Rao’s cooking is much better than yours.”
At first, his mother did not believe him, but when the tableful of dishes were served, she was convinced!
The dishes were excellent in color, smell, and taste!
His mother praised, “The food is delicious!”
Rao Aimin said, “I just whipped up a few dishes, so please make do with them.”
Without any words, Zhang Ye and Chenchen vied for the plate of red braised pork belly!
“Zhang Ye! Don’t fight me!”
“I must!”
“This piece is mine!”
“Eat that piece instead! Don’t mess around!”
“But this piece is marbled! I love eating it!”
“I love eating it as well!”
“Zhang Ye! You’re not behaving like an adult!”
The two of them always fought during mealtime. Everyone was used to it. Whether it was Zhang Ye or Chenchen, they had not tasted Rao Aimin’s cooking for almost half a year now. As such, they naturally couldn’t resist!
His parents regarded the meal as secondary and mainly wanted to chat with Rao Aimin.
As they chatted, they got around to Zhang Ye’s problems.
His mother said in frustration, “That Jiang Hanwei! Don’t you think it’s infuriating! My son did not step on his tail, but he went around spreading the word that he wanted to beat up my son’s agent! Does that make any sense at all?”
Rao Aimin looked at Zhang Ye. “Jiang Hanwei?”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “It’s that martial arts action star.”
“He sounds familiar.” Rao Aimin said, “I think I’ve met him before.”
His mother was surprised. “You’ve met him before?”
Rao Aimin tried to recall, then said, “Many years ago. I don’t really remember.”
Jiang Hanwei was part of the Chinese martial arts world. Even if he wasn’t a Huashan Sect member nowadays, he could still be considered as a non-affiliate, or more appropriately, had “set up” his own martial sect. He was currently doing even better than those people from the large sects, and had a big team of martial artists. Furthermore, Jiang Hanwei was a true martial artist himself and was very skilled as well. It could even be said that he was the most famous person in the entire Chinese martial arts world. Be it his kung fu or his popularity, they were all first-rate. As a result, Zhang Ye was not surprised to hear Rao Aimin say that she had once met him.
His parents were, on the other hand, rather surprised to hear this, because to them, Rao Aimin was just an ordinary woman who owned a lot of apartments. She seemed to not even have a job and just relied on collecting rents for a living.
Rao Aimin asked, “Did he really issue a threat like that?”
Angered, his mother said, “Yeah, it’s true! That old bastard! Does he think that my son is a pushover?”
“How is your son a pushover?” Rao Aimin glanced at Zhang Ye.
“Precisely!” His mother said, “Everyone knows that my son is not a pushover, yet he brazenly picked a fight. What do you think he’s thinking? Don’t you think he has nothing better to do?”
Chenchen looked up and interrupted, “Zhang Ye, show him what you’re capable of.”
“Show him what I’m capable of?” Zhang Ye said in amusement, “He must show me what he is capable of first!”
His mother complained, “Little Ye wanted to hire an agent because he was getting too busy with work, but that idea has to be scrapped now. The applicants for the agent position are all too scared to take the role now because they’re afraid of getting beaten up! Jiang Hanwei’s exact words were: ‘I’ll beat up whoever becomes his agent!’ That was enough to scare off all of the potential applicants!”
Rao Aimin said, “With his martial arts skill? Who can he beat up?”
His father replied, “You might not know, but Jiang Hanwei is not just any martial arts action star. He’s really skilled and knows real martial arts, and is also very good at it, unlike some others who only know how to put on a show!”
Rao Aimin did not say anything.
Chenchen claimed, “My aunt is more powerful!”
His mother said, “In your eyes, your aunt is definitely powerful, but Jiang Hanwei is—”
“That’s enough, Mom. Just drop it,” interrupted Zhang Ye
“What do you mean ‘drop it’?” His mother rolled her eyes and said, “Can’t you see that I’m taking right now?”
Zhang Ye pleaded, “Can you please talk about something else?”
His mother said, “Why would I talk about something else?”
Zhang Ye had no words.
The person sitting in front of you is the grandmaster of grandmasters in the Chinese martial arts world. It sounds like a joke when you keep blabbering about how Jiang Hanwei’s kung fu is very good in front of a real grandmaster. Not even Zhang Ye dared to boast about how powerful he had become when facing Rao Aimin!
Chenchen asked, “Zhang Ye, why are you looking for an agent?”
“To assist me in handling my work.” Zhang Ye shrugged and said, “Your Uncle Zhang has become more famous now, so there are more people looking for me and giving me work. Even if I were superhuman, I couldn’t handle the workload by myself. But even if I could, it wouldn’t be good for me to handle it personally. It’s hard for me to reject them flat out, so I need someone to represent me in the handling of these issues. Actually, there aren’t many important matters anyway. Frankly, it’s just to act as a shield for me.”
Chenchen suddenly came up with an idea. “Then why don’t you get my aunt to be your agent?”
Zhang Ye blinked and smiled. “That would be great, but I’m afraid that your aunt won’t agree to it.”
Chenchen looked at Rao Aimin and said, “Aunt, you have nothing to do at home anyway.”
Rao Aimin looked at her. “Do I look that free to you?”
Chenchen and Zhang Ye nodded at the same time!
Rao Aimin couldn’t muster up a reply.
Zhang Ye coughed and gave her serious look. “Honestly, Old Rao, why don’t you be my agent? I would now like to ceremoniously and formally extend the invitation to you!”
In fact, a long time ago when someone brought up to Zhang Ye the subject of choosing an agent to help with his work, Zhang Ye had given it careful consideration. The first person who came to mind back then was Rao Aimin. First of all, she always stayed home with nothing to do and had a lot of free time on her hands. Second, she was very familiar with Zhang Ye and knew him very well, even to the point of having slept in the same bed several times. Third, Rao Aimin’s temperament, character, and values were nearly identical to his. The two of them were seemingly carved from the same mold—their opinions on many topics were basically the same. If Zhang Ye were to turn into a drop-dead gorgeous woman, then he would definitely become Rao Aimin. And if Rao Aimin were to become a handsome lady-killer, then…Alright, then that would definitely not be Zhang Ye!
In short, Rao Aimin was Zhang Ye’s most preferred candidate without any others coming close. But he knew that Old Rao had too high a status for the job, being a renowned…a notorious grandmaster who happened to own many apartments. She did not lack fame or fortune, so what was in it for her to be his agent? And that was why Zhang Ye asked for help from Zhang Yuanqi to help him find an agent at the beginning, as he did not know how to bring it up to Rao Aimin. But now that he had encountered an obstacle in Jiang Hanwei, who caused all those potential agents to turn down his offer, and since Chenchen had innocently brought up the subject, Zhang Ye went along with it!
However, his parents thought otherwise even as he felt this was the most logical way to do it.
His mom and dad recoiled at the thought.
His mother said angrily, “What are you saying! Won’t you be bringing harm upon her!”
His father said hurriedly, “That won’t do! Absolutely not!”
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “Nothing will happen to Old Rao.”
“What do you mean by nothing will happen!” His mother said angrily, “That Jiang fellow has threatened to beat up whoever your agent is! Yet you still want to hire Chenchen’s aunt as your agent? The nerve you have! How can you allow such a gentle and beautiful woman to get beaten up in front of you?”
Gentle?
Was this woman all that gentle?
She’s only friendly because our family has taken care of Chenchen for more than half a year, and she’s showing her appreciation for our kindness. If it were toward any other people, see if she would bother acting gentle! I doubt even their dogs would welcome her at that time!
Get beaten up?
Yes, someone would get beaten up!
But it was unlikely that she’d be the one getting beaten up!
Zhang Ye ignored his parents and kept his eyes on Old Rao. “Just tell me, are you willing to do it?”
Chenchen helped to persuade her. “Aunt, go ahead and take the position.”
Zhang Ye was thinking how this rascal was trying to find something for her aunt to be busy with so that her aunt wouldn’t need to keep a constant eye on her studies and homework all day long.
His mother pushed him, not understanding why he was behaving so insensibly. She said to Rao Aimin, “Little Rao, ignore him! Let him slowly look for an agent by himself!”
Rao Aimin smiled without saying a word.
Zhang Ye repeated, “If you’re willing, just say yes. If not, then forget it. I won’t mention this again in the future, so just give it to me straight. Actually, if you become my agent, there isn’t really much that you need to do. You just have to help me answer some calls, and deal with some advertisers, the media, and commercial appearances. In any case, I accept nearly none of them, so you can just reject them all. You can stay with family and take care of your kid as you would. None of that would be affected. Oh right, I’ll also be giving you a part of my earnings, but of course, there definitely won’t be much.”
After a short silence, Rao Aimin spoke, not to Zhang Ye, but rather to his parents, “If it were a year ago, I would definitely have ignored him as I have no interest in being involved with the entertainment industry. But now that my younger sister and brother-in-law’s issue has been resolved, my years-long burden has been lifted from my shoulders. Your son helped me a great deal, but I won’t elaborate on the details. I really owe him a monumental favor this time. And Chenchen being taken care of by your family for the past half a year is also another favor. I am normally an unreasonable person, but a favor must be repaid. It’s only proper.”
His mother was stunned. “But Jiang Hanwei is…”
Rao Aimin said nonchalantly, “Who does he think he is?”
Zhang Ye was getting excited. “Old Rao, then do you mean?”
Rao Aimin glanced at him and said, “I will accept being your agent for now. When you find a more suitable candidate in the future, I will step down. I’ll just be your agent temporarily.”
“Hahaha, sure!” Zhang Ye was enthused and excited!
He had done it!
He had really done it!
He really hadn’t expected Old Rao to agree to this!
From here on out, they were going to proceed as a damn unbeatable team!
