Together

Chapter 1

"A-Zhan come outside"

"Five minutes later Ma..." Zhan was reluctant to let go his precious morning sleep this early in the morning.

"No, come out now!" His mom was adamant."Don't you dare to oversleep on this day!"

"Uwwwwu..."

Zhan rolled down his bed and fell onto the floor. 

Ouch! 

As Zhan rubbed himself in the hurt area, he groggily opened his eyes and took in the surroundings. The place felt unfamiliar from his Beijing home. Instead of the usual posh Condo room that he was used to waking up inside for three long years, It felt quite different. The walls were unadorned, creamy white, and sunlight streamed inside without inhibition and the floor too had no carpet. For a moment he thought if he is still dreaming.    

Then with a start, he remembered.

"Oh god!"

Yes, how can he forget this day! It was the Spring Festival and he was visiting his Grandparents with his mom and dad. This place was actually their Ancestral home!

"A-Zhan are you awake yet?"

"I'm Awake," said Zhan quickly untangling himself from his bedsheets. 

Coming outside he felt the warm sun pouring on his face, like a pair of warm loving hands gently wiping out the remaining fatigue from his eyes. 

"Make haste A- Zhan, don't waste your time, go and help your Jiejie pick the vegetables"

"Sure Ma"

Stretching himself once more and rubbing sleep from his eyes Zhan stepped downstairs to find his elder cousin preparing to go out. 

"Ah, Zhan Zhan come on," She said as soon she spotted him "we don't want to be late, grab the basket over there."

Zhan obediently picked up the basket she pointed at and was about to step out when she put a  big straw hat over his head.

"We don't want your beautiful city skin to get tanned after coming here, do we? What will all your fans in the city think about us?"

"A Jie stop teasing please," said Zhan Zhan with a pout. "I'm not a that big star yet..."

"Always the same baby," she said lightly pinching his nose in affection "Come on let's go"

Zhan gently lifted the second basket too out of his cousin's hand.

"I will do the carrying part. Jie jie only needs to make sure  that only the freshest vegetables get picked."

In response, his cousin only smiled.

"Yes, Yes I forgot. Zhan Zhan is a strong man now right? It was not long when I had to carry you all around the place whenever you visited here and..."

"Jie Jie" Zhan interrupted shyly.

"Okay Okay  let's go"

The morning sun had started to glow even more brightly now. Like a child in awe, Zhan looked at his surroundings. Everything was so Colourful! The sky here was clear too, a bright blue hue, and as far as his eyes could see there was lush greenery soothing the eye. The rugged path lay in front of them, winding around the hill like a large sleeping dragon, thousands of years old. 

Zhan missed his box of watercolours, canvas and easel at home. There are so many interesting backgrounds for painting. Here the place was so peaceful, so perfect. The last time he enjoyed something like this was during the shooting of the certain scenes of the wuxia drama. But even then These two experiences cannot be compared fully. The drama took place in an uninhabited place where there was only hills and rivers. And here there are people. People who had been a part of the nature itself, co-existing with nature for such a long time. People who are are simple and not as complicated as some persons he had met in life.