Hearing his wife scold him, the father chuckled and said, "You're right. I guess I'm being a bit too greedy!"

"People, when they're young, should be ambitious and strive to advance in their careers!"

"I think Zhipeng has the potential to bring honor to our family in the future!"

The mother poured a glass of water and placed it in front of Zhang Zhipeng. She gave the father a side glance before smiling and turning to Zhang Zhipeng. "Are things busy in the lab?"

Zhang Zhipeng shook his head and said, "No, there's still a lot of work to do!"

"But at least I've made some progress."

The mother smiled, "That's good!"

"Are you still okay with the food at the school cafeteria? If not, I can bring you meals every day."

Zhang Zhipeng quickly waved his hand and said, "Mom, the food at the school cafeteria is pretty good. There's no need to trouble you with that."

The mother smiled as she looked at her son. "If you hadn't come back tonight, I was planning to come find you tomorrow morning! You're already 23, and your aunt came over today, saying she wants to introduce you to someone. How about you meet the girl tomorrow at noon?"

Zhang Zhipeng really hadn't thought much about his future marriage.

Besides, is 23 really that old?

Once you're married, the responsibilities on your shoulders increase, and you can't devote all your energy to scientific research.

Moreover, Zhang Zhipeng didn't have much interest in matchmaking either.

Two people who don't know each other being forced together by a matchmaker inevitably leads to all sorts of calculative schemes.

To him, it felt as if men and women were being turned into commodities, judged and priced by others.

It's just too awkward!

Fate, let it run its course!

Don't force it!

Zhang Zhipeng smiled and said, "Mom, don't worry about my marriage. There are so many pretty girls at school; one of them will definitely catch my eye, right?"

His mother looked at him with a hint of gossip. "You're not already seeing someone, are you?"

Zhang Zhipeng laughed and shook his head. "Mom, give it a rest, stop asking so many questions. For the next three years, I don't plan on dating or getting married!"

"I need to achieve something first, and then I'll think about relationships."

"Mom, I'm going to bed now. I have to get up early tomorrow."

His mother, however, was not quite ready to give up. "You'll be 26 in three years! That's a bit late! Your aunt means well! Why don't you just take a moment to meet her? You might like her."

"Your aunt says the girl is quite pretty, and she even knows you and likes you."

Zhang Zhipeng stood up and walked back to his room, waving his hand. "Thank my aunt for me, but I'll pass on the meeting."

His mother murmured behind him, "This kid, I'm not even done talking..."

Zhang Zhipeng thought to himself, "She knows me and likes me? Maybe she has something to do with the previous owner of this body."

The previous owner was just a somewhat loyal street punk. The girl he knew was probably some street gang girl too, right?

Watching Zhang Zhipeng walk back to his room, his mother shook her head in frustration. "What's going on? He's already 23, and he's still not in a hurry to find a wife!"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Zhang Qingmin sipped his tea and said, "You're worrying for nothing! The emperor isn't anxious, but the eunuch is! If he doesn't want to find someone, there's no point in forcing him!"

"Don't worry about it! Remember this: 'Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Don't be a burden to them!'"

"Go to sleep! We still have to get up early tomorrow to buy some breakfast for our son. I've noticed that during this time he's been staying at home, he's been getting up very early."

The next morning, Zhang Zhipeng woke up before 5 a.m.

When you go to bed early, you wake up early.

His sleep efficiency was really high now.

Once he slept a full six hours, he couldn't sleep any longer.

He had planned to quietly leave for school.

Unexpectedly, his parents had both woken up early too.

Moreover, his father had already gone out and bought eight-treasure sweet rice and fried vegetable cakes.

"Xiaopeng, why are you up so early? It's not even 5 o'clock yet," his mother said, holding the towel, soap, and toothpaste she had prepared for him.

Zhang Zhipeng smiled, stretched, and said, "I’ve had enough sleep. If I stay in bed any longer, I'll feel uncomfortable."

He went to the washroom outside to freshen up.

Afterwards, he came back and had breakfast.

While eating breakfast, Zhang Zhipeng’s mother nagged him again, saying, “Your aunt means well.”

“At least, join the girl for a bowl of lamb stew at lunch today. Just to be polite, alright?”

Zhang Zhipeng replied, “Mom, the work in my lab is too tight, I really don’t have time.”

His mother suggested, “Then maybe I’ll ask your aunt to bring the girl to your workplace?”

Zhang Zhipeng felt a headache coming on.

When would this end?

He scratched his head and said, “Mom, that wouldn’t look good at all!”

“Please talk to my aunt and let her know I’m really busy right now. It won’t hurt to wait a bit longer to meet.”

His mother shook her head and sighed, “This child, I really can’t do anything with you.”

To avoid further nagging, Zhang Zhipeng hurriedly put down his bowl and chopsticks and left the house.

By five o’clock, the ancient city was fully awake.

The streets were noticeably busier with vehicles, mostly motorcycles and bicycles.

Anyone who owned a private car was considered a wealthy person.

Many people were jogging along the street for exercise.

Breakfast stalls were already crowded.

Morning exercisers were discussing the outstanding performance of the Huaxia athletes in yesterday’s Asian Games.

Everything was so full of life.

A man with a raspy voice was singing "The Might of Asia." Although it didn’t sound particularly pleasant, it surprisingly carried a somewhat majestic tone, and miraculously, he didn’t go off-key!

Zhang Zhipeng jogged along the way to school.

This short distance was a bit of exercise for him.

When he arrived at the campus, it was already bustling with activity in the early morning.

As he passed the sports field, many students were running and exercising.

There were also some students doing morning reading.

Most of them were reading English, but there were exceptions. A girl was reciting a short poem:

“I do not dwell on whether I can succeed,

Since I’ve chosen a distant place,

I can only brave the wind and rain.

I do not dwell on whether I can find love,

Since I’ve fallen for the rose,

I will courageously reveal my true feelings…”

This poem moved Zhang Zhipeng somewhat.

The author of this poem was Wang Guozhen, a poet whose works became immensely popular from the late 1980s through the entire 1990s. His first poetry collection was published in 1990, titled *The Wind of Youth*, and it sold over a million copies that year.

Yet, this poet was never accepted by the literary circles in Huaxia. The literary masters, who wrote obscure and cramped verses, attacked Wang, saying his poetry was too simplistic, lacked depth, and had no artistic value.

In short, he was ostracized. Despite his poetry collections selling five or six million legitimate copies, crushing the entire literary scene, he never won a single literary award.

Zhang Zhipeng had read about this history in his previous life on the internet. There was a time when he, too, had been a young man with literary dreams.

It seems that when one is young, everyone goes through a phase where they wish they could become a poet.

Zhang Zhipeng glanced at the girl reciting Wang Guozhen's poem and was slightly stunned.

“Good morning, Mr. Zhao!”

The girl was none other than Zhao Min, a teacher from the computer science department.

Zhao Min smiled and said, “Mr. Zhang, it’s been a while since we last met, hasn’t it?”