A leisurely life starting in a bar after being reborn

Fu Yan walked over and sat down on the sofa. Xu Wenshu poured him a glass of baijiu (Chinese liquor).

These four women were quite "manly"; they didn't drink red wine or beer, but preferred baijiu (Chinese liquor). In just over an hour, the four of them had already drunk two bottles of Yanghe (a type of Chinese liquor), and the snacks and braised dishes on the table were almost completely gone, indicating that this wasn't the first time this had happened.

"Do you usually drink like this?" Fu Yan asked.

"Occasionally," Ma Wei said, raising her glass, "I'm under a lot of work pressure, so I relax after recording the show."

"I can't hold my liquor, I can't keep up with them," Yu Li said, resting her chin on her hand. "I'm basically knocked out after one drink every time."

"You were faking it," Wang Ruidan exposed her. "Last time you were heartbroken, you drank more than half a jin of liquor by yourself."

"That's different. I was in a bad mood that day."

"Are you in a good mood every day now?" Xu Wenshu said with a smile.

The four women chatted amongst themselves, and Fu Yan listened quietly, noticing something—they were completely different people in private than on TV. Ma Wei, who appeared dignified and poised on television, was actually a loudmouth in private, talking like a machine gun; Yu Li seemed quiet and reserved, but she loved gossip and would ask anyone she could get her hands on; Wang Ruidan was even more extreme, drinking and berating the producer, saying he didn't understand the program and was giving nonsensical instructions.

The poised demeanor she usually displays on television has completely vanished.

Looking at the four people in front of him, Fu Yan suddenly felt like his eyes had been opened.

-

At 10 o'clock, Wang Ruidan and Xu Wenshu were defeated one after another.

Wang Ruidan lay sprawled on the sofa, her face buried in the cushions, muttering something that was difficult to understand. Xu Wenshu leaned on Fu Yan's shoulder, her eyes unfocused, her cheeks flushed, and smiled as she said to Ma Wei, "If there's any more wine... I feel like I can still drink..."

Ma Wei and Yu Li were still relatively sober. They looked at each other and smiled.

"That's enough," Ma Wei stood up and stretched. "If you drink any more, you won't be able to go to work tomorrow."

While they were talking, Fu Yan quietly slipped into the bedroom and took out the camera.

In the living room, Ma Wei and Yu Li were cleaning up the wine bottles on the table, Xu Wenshu was slumped on the sofa, and Wang Ruidan was still lying on the sofa, muttering "The producer is a big idiot."

Fu Yan raised his camera, put it on silent, aimed it at the four people, and pressed the shutter.

"Click."

The flash went off.

"Huh?" Ma Wei was the first to react, raising her hand to cover her face. "What are you doing!"

Yu Li saw it too, and immediately covered her face with a folder: "Don't take pictures! Don't take pictures!"

Wang Ruidan and Xu Wenshu were too drunk to react.

Fu Yan took two more photos, put away the camera, and chuckled, "Just to keep as a souvenir."

"Delete it!" Ma Wei rushed over to grab the camera. "If it gets leaked, our image will be completely ruined!"

"Don't worry, we'll definitely keep it for you. You can take it out and look at it occasionally."

"Fu Yan!" Ma Wei said, hands on her hips, "Do you believe I'll get Xiao Xu to deal with you?!"

Xu Wenshu groggily raised her head: "Who are you going to punish?"

"Take care of him."

"Okay..." Xu Wenshu leaned back again.

Fu Yan hid the camera behind his back and negotiated with Ma Wei and Yu Li: "Okay, okay, I'll delete it, just don't do anything."

Ma Wei was still worried and insisted on watching him delete the photos. Fu Yan opened the camera in front of them, flipped through the photos, and Ma Wei looked at them to make sure there were no close-ups of faces before she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, we can go now."

"Do you need me to deliver it to you?"

"No need, we can just take a taxi." Yu Li pointed to the clock on the wall. "It's only a little past ten. We'd probably still be in the studio at this time."

Ma Wei and Yu Li helped each other downstairs. Fu Yan was worried, so he asked Zhao Gang to take them back before turning back to clean up the mess.

Wang Ruidan fell into a deep sleep and couldn't be woken up no matter how much he called her. Fu Yan sighed, helped her to the bed in the guest room, covered her with a blanket, and touched her forehead—she didn't have a fever, so she was probably just drunk.

Xu Wenshu was still somewhat conscious. Fu Yan helped her into the master bedroom, and she kept muttering, "I'm not drunk... have another drink..."

"Are there three more cups after this one?"

"You're lying..."

Fu Yan put her on the bed, took off her shoes, covered her with a blanket, and poured a glass of water for her. Xu Wenshu curled up in the blanket like a shrimp, half asleep.

Fu Yan sat by the bed for a while, then bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Good night."

Then I turned off the lights, closed the door, and went to spend the night on the sofa in the living room.

……

The following afternoon, Fu Jianguo and Liu Meilan arrived in Beijing.

Fu Yan drove the company's GL8 business van to the airport to pick people up. Fu Xiao and Chen Shiwen followed the two elders. The four of them came out with large and small bags, looking like they were moving house.

"Dad, Mom," Fu Yan greeted them.

Fu Jianguo was wearing a new shirt, probably bought by Liu Meilan; Liu Meilan was carrying a cloth bag filled with local specialties of Bincheng—dried shrimp, dried scallops, and a jar of homemade pickled vegetables.

"Are you moving?" Fu Yan asked, looking at the pile of luggage.

"Your mom was worried that things were expensive in Yanjing, so she asked me to bring more," Fu Jianguo said with a smile.

Liu Meilan took Fu Yan's hand and looked him up and down: "You've lost weight. Have you been eating poorly?"

"No, I'm still the same, I'm fine."

"Mom, stop asking about my brother, let's go, it's too hot!" Fu Xiao came over.

"You little rascal, I haven't seen your brother in ages!"

Fu Xiao pouted and took Chen Shiwen's arm, walking forward: "Let's go, let's go, don't stand here."

……

The van drove all the way to Yandai Xiejie and stopped in front of the courtyard house.

Fu Jianguo and Liu Meilan got out of the car and stared at the gate of the two-courtyard house, their eyes wide with amazement.

"This...this is where you live?" Liu Meilan asked, her mouth agape.

"Yes, I bought it."

"How much does this cost?" Although Fu Jianguo didn't know much about housing prices, he knew that a courtyard in this location wouldn't be cheap.

"It's not cheap." Fu Yan didn't give a specific price, but pushed open the courtyard gate. "Come on, Mom and Dad, come in quickly."

Fu Jianguo and Liu Meilan entered the courtyard and first saw the myna bird under the grape trellis—the myna was dozing, but upon hearing the noise, it opened its eyes and said, "Hello!"

Liu Meilan was startled: "Wow, this bird can talk?"

"A myna is a bird similar to a common myna; they'll tell you that when you buy it," Fu Yan said.

Passing through the hanging flower gate, I saw the monk parrot by the window of the main room—the little thing was squatting quietly in its cage, like a little white monk.

"Did you buy this too?" Liu Meilan asked.

"Hmm, a monk parrot."

Further in, the inkstone appeared out of nowhere, meowed, and circled around Liu Meilan's ankle twice.

Liu Meilan squatted down and picked it up: "This cat is also beautiful, with black and white markings."

"Call it inkwell."

"An ink line?" Liu Meilan laughed. "When did you start keeping pets?"

"I recently saw that the neighbor's child was raising one, and it looked nice, so I bought it."

Fu Jianguo stood in the courtyard, looked around, and after a while, sighed: "Son, this is... the life of a landlord."

Fu Yan chuckled: "I wouldn't dare say that, we're a socialist country."

Fu Xiao followed behind, idly playing Tetris on her phone.

Chen Shiwen stood quietly to the side, a smile on her lips.

Sister Zhou poked her head out from the kitchen: "Mr. Fu, the guests have arrived? I'll start cooking right away!"

"Thank you, Sister Zhou, please make a few more dishes."

"no problem!"

Fu Jianguo and Liu Meilan wandered around the yard again and again, finding everything new and exciting. They looked at the grape trellis, the koi pond, the monk parrot, the myna, and the inkwell several times over.

Finally, Liu Meilan sat down in the rattan chair, holding the inkwell, and remarked with emotion, "You lad, you're much more successful than your father."

Fu Jianguo chuckled beside him, offering no rebuttal.