One o’clock in the morning.
The ground in the entire village was strewn with firecracker remnants, while booms and bangs continued resonating in the air. Fireworks decorated the sky up above and red lanterns were hanging on each house. One could get a vague sense of how lively the scene was not too long ago.
At the entrance to their home.
Everyone stared at Ye Lingchen, who was standing at the doorway.
The relatives were very worried about Ye Lingchen, and as a result, everyone stayed put and discussed ways to deal with the situation.
“Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, I’m back.”
Ye Lingchen’s voice snapped everyone back to their senses.
“Little Ye, why are you back?” a woman in her forties asked in surprise.
“Auntie,” Ye Lingchen greeted with a smile.
“Big Brother, there are reports on the internet saying that you were taken away by the police. We were all worried sick. You scared us,” Ye Lingchen’s younger cousin sister said in surprise.
“It really is Little Ye!” His grandparents trembled with excitement and rushed toward him. They then checked every inch of him. “They didn’t treat you badly, did they?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Sorry for making everyone worry.” Ye Lingchen smiled.
“Big Brother, did you really beat up Hyun-Min Kim?” His well-built younger cousin brother—who was well-raised and only five years younger—looked at him.
“I did,” Ye Lingchen answered calmly.
“Wow, that’s so awesome!” The cousin immediately cheered loudly. “My Big Brother is the best. All the guys in our class hate Hyun-Min Kim.”
“Then how did you manage to come back home, Little Ye? You didn’t…break out of jail, did you?” An aunt asked, worried.
Her question immediately sent everyone on the edge of their seat and they looked at Ye Lingchen with an uneasy expression.
“Ling Chen, how did you get out?” Ye Jin’s expression was extremely solemn.
“What do you mean, jailbreak? Have you watched too many TV series?” Ye Lingchen knocked on his cousin’s forehead, then looked at Ye Jin and said, “I was released, Dad. Nothing happened.”
“Really?” His parents were still a little worried.
“Yes, really. My buddies got me out, and I was in the right here anyway, so it’s no big deal,” Ye Lingchen remarked with a smile.
“That’s good, that’s good,” Ye Jin sighed, though he was rather traumatized by it. “You can’t be so impulsive next time.”
“Exactly. You got us all worried during this New Year.”
“Little Ye’s has lots of luck. Heaven looks kindly on the lucky ones.”
The relatives exchanged opinions.
Ye Lingchen then turned to look at the ever-silent Xu Zhen. “Mom.”
Xu Zhen ignored him, turned her head away, and wiped her tears quietly.
Ye Lingchen pursed his lips and hurried over. “Mom, I’m really fine. It’s nothing serious. It isn’t worthwhile to cry for something that’s not serious.”
Xu Zhen thwacked Ye Lingchen on the head. “You little brat. Your dad and I have only one child, and that’s you. What are we supposed to do if you really did go to jail? I’m so angry!”
“Big Brother, you have to comfort your dad and mom. They were shaking when they heard the news. Their faces were pale and they were scared out of their wits. They thought you’d be jailed for a few years.”
“Why would I be jailed for a few years? I’m Ye Lingchen. No one can jail me,” Ye Lingchen smiled bitterly.
“Still joking about it, are we?! I’ve never seen you hitting anyone when you were a kid. You think you can do anything now that you’re grown-up? Why are you so reckless?” Xu Zhen was so angry that she smacked Ye Lingchen again.
Instead of cowering, Ye Lingchen happily endured those hits, “I was wrong, Mom. Please don’t be angry anymore. I promise I won’t do it again in the future.”
“Alright now, our son went to the Spring Festival Gala and had to go to the police station too. Let him rest. He’s probably tired after that entire ordeal,” Ye Jin said.
“Have you eaten?” Xu Zhen asked.
“Not yet, but I’m really hungry.” Ye Lingchen scratched his head. He had not eaten his New Year’s Eve dinner yet.
“I’ll cook a bowl of noodles for Lingchen,” Zhang Yunxi said immediately and headed to the kitchen.
“Yunxi, stay here and accompany Lingchen. He likes to eat noodles with a bit of broth. I’ll make some for him.” Xu Zhen wiped her tears away and stopped Zhang Yunxi.
“Thank you, Mom.” Ye Lingchen smiled immediately.
Xu Zhen glared at him.
At that moment, a clamor was heard from outside and footsteps were coming toward Ye Lingchen’s house.
The neighbours were very close to each other in the countryside and many people were heading to their home.
“Sister Zhen, Dr. Ye Jin. Have you seen the news?” someone was heard shouting from a distance.
In the dark, a few small figures jogged over, all of whom were 13- or 14-year-old children.
They were out of breath after running and their faces were blushing.
“What’s wrong? Take it easy,” Ye Lingchen said.
“Things don’t look good. The news said that Big Brother Lingchen had been taken away by the police!” the teens panted and said eagerly.
Hmm?
All of them were taken aback for a moment as they looked at Ye Lingchen, believing that they were seeing things.
“Big Brother Lingchen?! ”
“Little Ye?!”
“It’s really Little Ye! Why is Little Ye home?”
“Little Ye is back?”
The neighbors behind followed suit and looked very surprised to see Ye Lingchen.
“It’s nothing serious, Grandpa Xu. I was released.” Among the crowd was an old man with a cane, whom Ye Lingchen directed his words to.
He was already very old, yet he still hurried along with the crowd.
“It’s good that nothing happened. You’re the pride of our village and a superstar. You have to pay attention to your image in the future,” Grandpa Xu advised earnestly. “I even told the children in the village to follow in your footsteps.”
Loved and cherished by everyone, the old man was the former village head who stayed in the village since retirement.
“Grandpa Xu, Big Brother Lingchen hit a bad guy and was teaching foreigners a lesson!” A child came forward and spoke for Ye Lingchen, eliciting chuckles from everyone.
“Uncles, Aunties, sorry for making you worried,” Ye Lingchen apologized.
“What’s important is that you’re back. Have a good rest. We’ll see you again tomorrow.”
“Yeah, my kid still wants your autograph.”
“Our village is proud of you after you attended the Spring Festival Gala.”
It was already very late, so everyone went back after having a short conversation.
His countryside bed was definitely not as comfortable as that in the city, but he nonetheless savored the indescribable comfort of laying down on a familiar bed.
The Spring Festival Gala was full of surprises and he was so busy that he had no time to check on his popularity value. Earlier, he had used up more than three million in popularity value after trying his luck in the system. He was curious as to how high it had reached.
He took a deep breath and entered the system!
Ye Lingchen immediately fixed his gaze on the popularity value interface. 12,689,668!
It had skyrocketed by nearly 10 million!
Without a doubt, the Spring Festival Gala was a major contributor! It was fast catching up to the levels of Miracle Doctor Y.
Practically the whole of China was watching the Spring Festival Gala, and it was only reasonable for there to be such a huge increase in his popularity. Although his only performance was crosstalk, the increase in popularity was still nothing short of impressive.
Moreover, Singer Y’s Visit Home Often, coupled with his widely-acclaimed crosstalk and the brutal beating of Hyun-Min Kim that went viral, was a three-pronged approach. It was wholly unsurprising that his popularity value would increase by leaps and bounds.
