Zou Yue left uncle Wen’s house with an address and a phone number. He tried calling the number, but the receiver was not available.

He left for his home.

His father was waiting at the door.

“I got it!” he excitedly ran to him with the paper previously held in hand. “He lives in Osaka his name is Akio Mitsubishi,”

“Who is that…” his mother walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn. “What’s going on? What’s with those excited faces?”

Zou Yue unsurely glanced at his dad.. “Shall we tell her?” he whispered.

“Not now, let’s tell her ten days before,” he whispered back.

“Why not?”

“She will panic,” his dad patted his back gently. “Ah, Yue wanted to go meet a special person.”

“Who? What for?” she said again with a slight frown. “You both are hiding something from me….. “

She swiftly dragged them both by hand to the couch and sat them down. “Spill it,”

Zou Yue and his father kept glancing at each other unsurely.

“I said spill it,” she glared at them both.

Yue could not handle the overwhelming power of his mother’s glare. “Dad got me a sword!!!!”

“Yue! I said not to tell her,” he slightly slapped his shoulders.

“Sorry dad…” Zou Yue gave him a small guilty smirk.

Not noticing his mother’s glare, he kept playing around with his father.

“I heard a sword.. is it a real sword that cuts? Honey, did you just buy our child a potentially risky weapon?” his mother pulled his father up by his collar.

Zou Wei smirked widely. “He wanted it!!”

“Dad!!” Zou Yue shot up, glaring at his father. “Mum, I can explain. I did want it but I won’t use it carelessly… I swear,”

“But accidents happen darling,” she gave him a creepy smirk. “Where is this sword of yours?”

“I—it’s not here yet,” Zou Yue quickly lied to her. If in case his mother finds it, she will definitely confiscate it.

“Yeah, it was just shipped,” his father played along with him.

“Oh…” his mother calmed down a bit and let them both go. She calmly sat opposite them. “Then what is that black box in our room, darling? Are you both trying to fool me?”

“No! That is a book!!! A book!!” Zou Yue quickly ran into another room and picked out the box. He ran back to his room and kept it securely in the closet.

His mother still followed him back to his room with a grim expression. “Yue baby, why do you need a sword? Is it important to you?”

“Yes, mum it’s very important. You will not know now but in the future it’s going to help us survive,” Zou Yue hugged her softly.

She gently caressed his head. “Is it a collectable or something?”

“Yes, something like that,”

“You young kids like to collect so many weird things….” she gently pinched his cheeks.

He nuzzled against her hand. “Mum, don’t be angry at dad, he just got me something I wanted,”

“I know. He spoils you too much. Even when you were young, he used to buy you everything you wanted,” she whispered with a sweet smile. “Come, I prepared some popcorn lets watch a movie together in our new house,”

Zou Yue happily ran after her.

His father had already chosen a movie. “It’s starting…” he said, chewing the popcorn loudly.

“Honey, don’t eat like a pig. Look how much you are littering on the ground,” his mum cleaned up stray popcorn that was lying on the ground.

“Come here,” he pulled his wife up and hugged her to his sides. “Stop working for one minute and enjoy this.”

“Squeak!!” Trexa gran had somehow sniffed out the popcorn and was eating the popcorn from the ground.

Zou Yue hugged her to his tummy and gave her a hand full.

The three sat down and enjoyed a chick flick, accompanied by popcorn.

Soon, evening came about. Zou Yue secretly sneaked into his father’s study. “Dad…”

“hmmm…” he hummed whist flipping a thought page of his book.

“I am going to book a plane to Osaka,” he mumbled hesitantly.

His father put down his book. “How long will you be gone?”

“Donno, I’ll let you know after meeting master Akio,” Zou Yue sat on the sofa’s hand rest. “I’ll make sure to call you every day and let you know what I’m doing. I will eat properly and sleep well. I promise,”

  “Don’t… strain yourself too much; I’ll handle your mum.” His father gently touched his head. “Take good care of yourself.”

“Hmm, I will,” Zou Yue smiled dazzlingly. He hugged his shoulders tightly. “I will come back as soon as possible,”

“Hmm my good child,”

Zou Yue sat on the floor next to him, laying his head on his lap. “Dad, can you tell me why you disapproved of me as a model. I mean, you were okay with it when I was a kid, what changed,”

His warm finger gently raked through his hair. “You changed. You became so dazzling that people wanted to get you,”

“What!” Zou Yue glanced up in shock. “When was this?”

“When you were fifteen. I had to bite down on my pride and ask Wen for help for the first time. He has been protecting you like a shadow in all your endeavours. I guess I owe him a lot.”

He did not know any of these. There had been instances in the shoots where photographers or directors approached him with ill intent but somehow all of his problems disappeared on its own.

“I owe uncle Wen too…” he mumbled, thinking about how to repay him.

“Don’t worry too much about what you owe. He is a good man he did it without thinking of anything in return. Besides, I shared the information you gave me I bet that will be enough,” his father smirked widely.

“Yes, he still has five months he can easily sort out all the materials he needs to stock up on,” Zou Yue fiddled with his phone and swiftly booked the flight. He had just one hour to fly.

He ran back to his room and packed only two pairs of t-shirt and the sword in small luggage.

His father joined him in his room. “Pack your sword in a separate check in luggage.”

“Yes~~~ I bet they allow it. If they won’t, I’ll just send it back to you,”

“Hmm, have a safe trip,” his father said, and they both left the room.

Trexa gran came out of the shadows, scratching his nostrils. The corn pieces still stuck to his hair. Without any thoughts, it followed behind Zou Yue silently.

In the end, Zou Yue left for the airport with just a few shirts, pants and a sword.