Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 421 A Belated Wedding Gift

Back to the small villa.

Sun Xiaohong was sewing shoe soles in the yard, with five poisonous creatures on the shoe uppers and several red velvet balls next to her.

The remaining Border Collie lay down at Sun Xiaohong's feet, wagging its tail from time to time or touching her feet with its mouth.

Hearing the commotion outside, the Border Collie sat up straight, sticking out its tongue and looking excitedly towards the gate.

Sun Xiaohong quickly covered the dog's head with her arm and said to Zhang Yan who came in, "After your wife goes in, you help me put the dog in the cage—your dad has probably gone off somewhere again. This dog is so clever now, I can't keep it in the cage by myself."

Ever since Zhang Xingguo learned to drive and became close friends with Xu Wei despite their age difference, he often went out to play under the guise of advising Xu Wei. He even quit his job at the newspaper, saying he didn't want to take advantage of socialism.

Sun Xiaohong did not quit her job, and occasionally she would go on official business with her colleagues from the Women's Federation to mediate family disputes.

"Need not."

Chen Hong went over and stroked the dog's head, then laughed and said, "Mom, let it keep you company in the yard. I'm not going out after I lie down for a bit anyway."

Sun Xiaohong looked at the Border Collie in her arms and nodded, saying, "Then you should let me know before you come out, so it doesn't pounce on you."

Just as the couple was about to go inside, she remembered something and quickly reminded them, "Oh right, someone delivered a letter this morning, it's for you and Xiao Chen, I put it on the table upstairs."

"understood."

Zhang Yan was curious about who sent the letter and why it was sent to the small villa.

Logically, people who know this address should also have his or Chen Hong's phone number, so there's no need for them to go through the trouble of sending a letter.

When Zhang Yan got to the second floor, he discovered that this was not an ordinary letter, but a large registered envelope.

Seeing that the envelope didn't have a return address, he picked it up and listened to it, prompting Chen Hong to laugh and say, "What, are you afraid someone will send you a bomb?"

"What if they're from America?"

Zhang Yan was genuinely worried, after all, that young master had just been sent abroad half a month ago.

But seeing how light it was, he didn't think there was anything fishy about it. So he cut it open with scissors, and with his thumb and forefinger, he pried it open from both sides. Inside, he found a page of letter paper lying quietly, and...

deed?
Zhang Yan took out the property certificate, flipped through it, handed it to Chen Hong who was equally curious, and then pulled out the letter and quickly read through it.

It turns out that the letter was sent by Han Lei.

To be more precise, it was sent by Han Lei on behalf of all the singers who came to fulfill their dreams.

Given that the villa was already overcrowded before the wedding, they originally planned to pool their resources and buy the house next door as a wedding gift for Zhang Yan and Chen Hong.

Who knew that after negotiating for a long time, they couldn't reach an agreement. These neighbors were not ordinary people either. Tens of thousands or eighty thousand yuan was nothing to them, and they wouldn't even consider selling at a normal price.

Han Lei and others can accept a premium, but they cannot accept an exorbitant price.

Later, they simply took a different approach and bought the courtyard in the back alley of the villa. Anyway, the villa's courtyard had a short back wall, so it would be very convenient to just open a back door.

Moreover, the house had just been renovated not long ago, and the water and electricity pipes were complete. It would be ready to move in as soon as the furniture and appliances were replaced.

"This is ridiculous."

Zhang Yan smacked his lips, somewhat helpless. In fact, he also felt that the small villa was not enough, after all, it was only for officers, not some marshal's mansion.

He and Chen Hong were planning to build a new villa near the August 1st Film and Television Base, but they never expected that Han Lei and others would send them this gift.

"The backyard seems to be quite large."

Chen Hong was quite satisfied with the gift. Holding the property certificate, she planned, "If we expand the front door, it can be used as a garage. Aunt Guan [the nanny] can also move in there—and the dog can roam freely over there too."

The most convenient solution would be for Zhang Xingguo and Sun Xiaohong to move over, while Zhang Yan and Chen Hong would move downstairs to the guest rooms, and the nanny could stay in the smallest room nearby to take care of the baby.

But these days parents are still respected elders, not 'old folks,' so how can a daughter-in-law drive her in-laws away? Zhang Yan nodded and said, "Let's settle on this for now, and then ask Mom and Dad what they think later."

As he spoke, he picked up his mobile phone and dialed Han Lei's number. Although the gift wasn't much to either of them, he still wanted to express his gratitude.

He also inquired about the investment ratio.

Han Lei understood what he meant and explained, "Tian Zhen and I took half, and the other half will be split equally among the others—don't worry, I definitely won't let Xu Wei, Teng Ge'er, and the others suffer any serious consequences."

As the saying goes, one's environment shapes one's character, and Han Lei is indeed becoming more and more like a big brother. When he returns from his tour, perhaps he can try singing "I Haven't Been a Big Brother for Many Years".

Let Chen Hong rest upstairs first.

Zhang Yan took the property certificate downstairs and told his mother the whole story, as well as Chen Hong's thoughts.

Sun Xiaohong immediately said, "That's perfect. Your dad and I will move to the backyard, and you two can move downstairs. Your dad and I were already thinking of switching places with you, but Chen Hong's belly is getting bigger and bigger, and it's not good for her to keep climbing stairs."

"Is this appropriate?"

“What’s wrong with it? Didn’t you say the house is nicely decorated and the yard is big? I’ll grow some vegetables and raise a few chickens…”

As Sun Xiaohong spoke, she threw the sole of her shoe into the dustpan and said decisively, "Quickly call your dad back and have him help me tidy up the backyard!"

Seeing his mother's hurried and energetic demeanor, Zhang Yan guessed that she was somewhat uncomfortable being with Chen Hong.

It's not that there's a problem with the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship; Chen Hong handled it very well, and Sun Xiaohong isn't a petty or mean mother-in-law.

However, since the two have different backgrounds and habits, they inevitably have to make concessions to each other when living together.

"Then I'll ask my dad when he can come back."

Zhang Yan called his father, but it took a while for the call to be answered. He could vaguely hear people shouting and yelling on the other end, making it very noisy and chaotic.

"Dad, where are you?"

"I'm at the film and television base. Xiao Xu just wrote a new song and sang it on that 'You jump, I jump' boat. What was the atmosphere like... yeah, it was absolutely electrifying!"

Zhang Yan: "..."

How come I never realized my dad was such a trendsetter before?
After explaining the situation to the old man, Zhang Xingguo immediately decided to drive back.

Xu Wei also returned with him. After several months of rest and recuperation, especially after traveling around with the old man, Xu Wei's mental state has improved significantly.

Upon meeting Zhang Yan, he excitedly exclaimed, "Mr. Zhang, I've finally written another great song, and it's one that suits me perfectly!"

"Really? What style?"

"Rock and roll, of course!"

Xu Wei strummed his guitar and immediately launched into a song: "I am as free as the wind—just like your tenderness cannot be held back—you pushed away my outstretched hands—go away, and it's best not to look back..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Remembering that Chen Hong was sleeping upstairs, Zhang Yan quickly called for a stop, then hesitantly asked, "Is this written for your wife?"

Xu Wei, swaying as he held his guitar, said, "Of course not, it's written for those who owe money and don't pay it back."

uh~
Zhang Yan didn't quite understand, but chose to respect it.

So he patted him on the shoulder and said, "No matter who it's written for, we can make a music video for it and make it the breakup theme song for this year's song request channel."

After saying that, he suddenly realized that the company didn't have a director in charge of shooting music videos. Wang Jinghua was currently on maternity leave, and Chang Jihong was as busy as a spinning top. It seemed that he would have to go to Beijing to try his luck.

Just then, Jiang Wen and Dong Ping's roadshow was almost over—it should have been over long ago, but the two of them were a bit carried away by the box office results, so they took the initiative to add a few more cities.

(End of this chapter)