48. I Want to Climb a Tree

For several consecutive days, Zhang Tan kept an eye on the news regarding *Backkom Bear* online.
To sum it up, after a brief commotion, it vanished without a trace.
It is simply too difficult for an animated series without any celebrity endorsements to sustain media buzz.

However, he accidentally came across a native advertising article for a bank's "entrepreneurship loan."
Indeed, it was the one he had previously written.
According to Luo Ming, this advertorial had been posted across major internet forums and relied on netizens sharing it organically. The performance was not bad, though it drew plenty of scoldings.

Zhang Tan logged into a forum he frequently used, and sure enough, there were waves of criticism.
"Vulgar people, staining a beautiful romance with the stench of copper."
Zhang Tan brushed it off as if he had seen nothing and closed the forum. After all, being scolded was also a form of achievement.

***

The *Backkom Bear* project was in full swing. The project team held a brief meeting every morning where various sub-teams reported on their work progress. Zhang Tan led the scriptwriting team, frantically penning the episodes. Things were going smoothly; it took only three days to finish half of the script.
The script for *Backkom Bear* was relatively easy to write. Each episode was under three minutes long, featuring a self-contained story. If one knew how to craft comedic gags, it would yield twice the result with half the effort.

Zhang Tan's career had officially entered the right track and was beginning to flourish.
Hearing that he had undertaken a major project, Auntie Huang specially prepared a lavish dinner to celebrate his success.
After getting off work, Zhang Tan bought some moderately priced gifts at the mall and walked over to Auntie Huang's place under the night sky.

Uncle Huang and Huang Meimei were in the middle of a game of Chinese chess. Huang Meimei slammed her chess piece onto the wooden board with a loud *clack*, exuding an overwhelmingly aggressive aura. Uncle Huang, sitting across from her, lowered his head in deep contemplation.
From this, one could easily tell whose position was superior and whose was inferior.

"Zhang Tan is here! Come, come, come, I'll pour you a cup of tea."
Uncle Huang hurriedly stood up, but Huang Meimei grabbed him by the arm and declared imposingly, "Finish this game first!"
Uncle Huang tried to educate her: "Zhang Tan is here."
Huang Meimei waved dismissively at Zhang Tan. "So what if he's here? He's not a stranger. Zhang Tan, make yourself at home, do whatever you want, don't be so constrained."
Then she turned right back to Uncle Huang: "Don't even think about slipping away, or you admit defeat and pay up the money you lost earlier."
The two of them bickered and brawled, nearly ruining their father-daughter relationship over a thousand bucks.

Auntie Huang, who was cooking, emerged from the kitchen holding a spatula and scolded, "Are you two having nothing better to do? One of you, get in here and wash the vegetables!"
"Dad, you go."
Huang Meimei shoved the duty onto Uncle Huang.
Uncle Huang refused to go, offering a perfectly valid excuse.
"I've been butchered to the point of sweating all over; I need to recover. You go."
Indeed, that made a lot of sense.
"If you lose and won't pay up, then go help our mom cook," Huang Meimei retorted.
That also made a lot of sense. If you won't pay money, you contribute physical labor instead. It checked out logically.

"Our mom?"
Uncle Huang flew into a rage.
Huang Meimei quickly dodged out of the way.
"My mom, my mom, hehehe."
Neither of them was willing to go into the kitchen to help. Seeing this, Zhang Tan rolled up his sleeves and headed toward the kitchen. Just as he reached the doorway, a loud roar came from inside: "Where is everyone?!"
Immediately following that, Auntie Huang rushed out brandishing her spatula, giving Zhang Tan such a fright that the grease-dripping spatula nearly pressed against his face, evoking images of ancient torture where hot iron plates were stamped onto faces to brand criminals.

Auntie Huang felt a brief surge of awkwardness. Her stern face quickly shifted into a smile, transforming her back into the kindly Director Huang.
"Zhang Tan, go sit down. You don't need to help here. Old Huang, get over here."
Uncle Huang: "What for?"
"Wash the vegetables! What do you think for?! Are you coming or not?!!!"
Realizing his wife was about to blow her top, Uncle Huang dared not refuse. Having already fallen out with his daughter, if he fell out with his wife as well, he would have no place left to stand in this household.
"Coming, coming, coming."
Huang Meimei called out to his retreating back, "You still owe me a thousand bucks, put it on your tab!"
Uncle Huang muttered something about an unfilial daughter, shaking his head and sighing. With two women in the house, his status was diminishing day by day.

"Will you play, Zhang Tan?"
Huang Meimei set her sights on Zhang Tan.
"Chinese chess?"
"Yeah, it's very simple. You know how to play, right? Care for a round?"
"Sure," Zhang Tan said.
Huang Meimei instantly beamed, urging him to sit down quickly and eagerly arranging the chess pieces for him without even needing Zhang Tan to lift a finger.
"Guests are to be respected; I'll let you move first," Huang Meimei said.

Zhang Tan didn't stand on ceremony and moved a small pawn forward.
"A small step forward, a giant leap for civilization."
Huang Meimei: `→_→`
She suddenly stood up and left.
"Hold on a second, I need to use the restroom."
Upon returning from the restroom, Huang Meimei casually remarked, "It's more interesting with a little wager—one hundred per game, how about it? I heard you landed a big project, you wouldn't be a sore loser, would you?"

Given how she phrased it, how could Zhang Tan refuse? He readily agreed.
Two minutes later, Zhang Tan suffered a crushing defeat.
This defied all logic! Zhang Tan was left in a daze. While his Chinese chess skills weren't exceptionally formidable, they weren't terrible either. Yet... how could he lose this fast?
Huang Meimei poured salt on his wound: "My dad's worst game lasted over three minutes. But you..."

Zhang Tan looked at Huang Meimei's round face, realizing that after her business trip, her face was even rounder—she had definitely gained weight.
This round face triggered fragments of memories buried deep in his mind. The girl before him—her greatest specialty wasn't her appetite, but rather playing CHINESE CHESS!
He remembered that in her childhood, she had attended specialized training classes and reigned supreme across her elementary, middle, and high schools without meeting a single match.

Realizing this, Zhang Tan stopped doubting himself and regained his confidence. He cheerfully pulled out his wallet and slapped a hundred-yuan bill onto the table, exuding the exact same imposing aura Huang Meimei had just used to corner him.
Huang Meimei smiled cheerfully. "So generous? Here, take it back first; maybe you'll win the next round."
Uncle Huang happened to be coming out with a dish. Seeing that Huang Meimei had victimized him and was now preying on Zhang Tan, he exposed her sinister intentions: "Zhang Tan, don't fall for it! This girl pulled the exact same trick on me, and before I knew it, I had lost ten games in a row."

Huang Meimei flew into a rage. "What trick did I pull on you?!!! Did I trick you into losing? Wasn't it just because your skills were inferior? We're all adults here, don't you have your own independent judgment?"
Uncle Huang was left speechless. He silently retreated back to the kitchen to continue his chores; that place suited him much better after all.
"Zhang Tan, let's play another one."
Zhang Tan’s guard was already up.
"No, no, no. I'm no match for you, I'm not playing anymore."
No matter what Huang Meimei said, Zhang Tan refused to approach the table. Losing money was a minor issue, but destroying his confidence was worse. Knowing he was bound to lose and still walking right into it—he didn't have any masochistic tendencies.

Fortunately, dinner was ready. Everyone washed their hands to eat and listened as Zhang Tan introduced the *Backkom Bear* project.
Auntie Huang was thrilled for him and in high spirits, continuously piling food onto his plate.
After dinner, the duty of washing the dishes fell upon the triumphant Huang Meimei.
Auntie Huang and Zhang Tan walked back to the kindergarten. Fearing domestic oppression at home, Uncle Huang also went out for a stroll around the village, leaving only Huang Meimei to sigh in dismay.

Arriving at the kindergarten and passing through the courtyard, Zhang Tan suddenly stopped. He told Auntie Huang to go ahead first while he took a stroll around the courtyard to walk off his meal.
Watching Auntie Huang leave, Zhang Tan strolled over to the row of parasol trees beside the wall and spoke to the dim corner: "Come out, I saw you."

The cicadas on the tree were chirping noisily, and the little bugs in the corner hummed along in chorus. The air fell silent for two or three seconds before a tiny, childish voice rang out.
"Which one you saw, huh?"
That thick Sichuan accent was truly a test of Zhang Tan's intelligence.
"I saw you, little Bai Chunhua, what are you sneaking out here to do again?"
"Goose-goose-goose~~~"
Bai giggled like a goose, popping out from behind the parasol tree, and asked curiously, "Uncle, how did you know I was here, huh?"
"First tell me what you're doing here."
Bai raised her chin, eyed the large mulberry tree beside her, and said longingly, "I want to climb the tree."
"..."