I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

"Is there?"

"It seems...no." Chen Shuo scratched his head. He didn't think he had ever said that. He usually just came over for a free meal and then left. When they chatted, they only talked about trivial things.

"Now that we've said it, we'll get married next year."

Upon receiving confirmation, Chen Jianwen's lips twitched for a while, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. He felt somewhat surprised, as he was still quite young, so how could his son be getting married next year?

And that... how old is the daughter-in-law again? She was eighteen last year, so she's nineteen this year, and will just turn twenty next year.

Is it too early to get married as soon as you reach the legal age? People get married later these days. Some of my colleagues at school have kids who are almost thirty and still not married. They're so anxious that they're constantly trying to find them partners and set them up on blind dates.

Wu Yulan forced her husband to go on a blind date once, but she never pressured him about marriage; she just wanted him to have a girlfriend.

Then he decided to get married on his own?

On second thought, I realized that it might be a good idea to get married sooner rather than later. If the two of them live together every day, someone might even die.

After sorting out his thoughts, Chen Jianwen couldn't quite put his finger on whether he felt relieved or not, but he found Chen Shuo inexplicably pleasing to the eye.

This child has been sensible since he was little and has never caused me much worry. Now he has even arranged his own marriage in a very clear and organized manner.

"It's good." He didn't know what else to say, so he could only say "It's good."

.....

As the sun began to set and night fell, dinner was finally served: stir-fried peas with pork, spicy and sour cabbage, stewed pork knuckle with yam, cola chicken wings, and garlic ribs—a rather sumptuous meal.

Chen Shuo buried his head in his food and ate with great relish. The garlic ribs had a frying process during preparation, making them crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. He could put a rib in his mouth and spit out the bone in one gulp.

"How much do you earn a month writing novels?" Chen Jianwen couldn't help but ask during the meal. This kid is going to buy a house and get married next year, and he wondered how his income was.

"A little over ten thousand, sometimes it can reach twenty thousand."

Chen Shuo casually replied that when he was a freelancer, he used to earn eight or nine thousand yuan a month. Now that he updates more frequently, his royalties have also increased, while his subscriptions are about the same as before.

This result is so-so. It's impossible not to envy those top writers. They earn millions a month just from their writing. I guess I'm not destined to be a top writer in my lifetime.

The idea of ​​becoming a legend with a single book is just a pipe dream.

"Wow, you earn so much!" Wu Yulan exclaimed in surprise, then added, "More than your dad."

Chen Jianwen's face darkened, feeling that his position in the family was insecure. He retorted, "Don't be fooled by how much he earns now. He can't keep that job forever. He still has to pay his own social security and housing fund contributions. Besides, I teach history and don't have any research projects. Otherwise, I would definitely earn more than him."

"Mom, Dad is right. The government can give a lot of money for a successful scientific research project, but it is divided among a team of many people."

As he spoke, Chen Shuo turned his gaze to Chen Jianwen, "Dad, you can do it yourself. You don't need to build a team. You can secretly develop a lithography machine at home and amaze everyone. Wouldn't the country give you a bonus? It'll all be yours."

"Go eat your food." Chen Jianwen glared at him. He was just a history teacher; he couldn't even build a lithography machine or a CD player himself.

"How much will the prize be?" Wu Yulan asked, intrigued.

"That would cost hundreds of thousands, or even millions." Chen Shuo wasn't sure either. Some silly netizens had asked him before, "If I build a lithography machine, will the government give me an apartment and a job with a monthly salary of 10,000?"

There wasn't a proper answer; all they said was, what kind of experience made you so cautious even in your dreams.

From another perspective, the prizes must have been quite substantial.

Chen Jian ate a couple of bites of rice, interrupting the mother and daughter's daydream. "The country has invested more than 300 billion yuan in the lithography machine project. Countless people have followed one after another, spending their lives and still making little progress. This thing cannot be made independently by one person."

Even if we could actually build it, talking about money is so vulgar; it's about honor, wearing a national medal on your body..."

At this point, he couldn't help but start to imagine, "Of course, money is definitely involved, and large domestic and foreign companies will fight tooth and nail to obtain the license for this technology, even at the cost of exchanging shares."

"Then those shares must be worth hundreds of billions?" Chen Shuo interjected.

"Tsk tsk..."

Wu Yulan was speechless. She couldn't even imagine hundreds of billions. Her husband, Lao Chen, only earned a little over 10,000 yuan a month. Even with performance bonuses and other miscellaneous income, he was more than satisfied with earning 170,000 to 180,000 yuan a year.

If one day he suddenly builds a lithography machine and makes tens of billions, then...

It's absolutely impossible. This is definitely not something that would happen in my own family. It seems so far-fetched no matter how I look at it.

It's good enough to go to work peacefully every day; people should be content.

.......

After finishing their meal, night had long fallen outside. The two rode their electric scooter back home. Halfway there, they passed a hotel, and Chen Shuo suddenly stopped the scooter, turned around, and asked, "How about we get a room tonight?"

"?"

………………

P.S.: Thanks to the first patron of this book—【Diqu】!

Ten extra chapters will be added.

However, I type slowly, so I decided to pay in installments.

And so, I went off to write.

Chapter 163 [Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Dimqu]

"We want a double room."

"Please show me your ID card."

Chen Shuo took out his own ID card from his pocket and turned to Bai Xiaoqi, "Here, your ID card."

"I..."

Bai Xiaoqi opened her mouth, her small hands clutching her ID card were already sweaty, staining the thin card. She hadn't expected that on the very first day after getting her ID card, she would be checking into a hotel with this guy.

The words "book a hotel room" echoed in her mind, making her feel that this guy had premeditated something... Oh, he's always been plotting against her.

But it's so expensive to stay here for one night.

After hesitating for a moment, she placed her ID card on the bar.

The hotel receptionist sitting inside reached out and picked it up, feeling the dampness on the ID card. She glanced at her instinctively.

Then, turning her attention back to the counter, she placed her ID card and room key together after registering.

"Take the elevator to the 28th floor, and the sixth room on your left after you exit the elevator."

"Thank you."

After thanking him, Chen Shuo put his ID card and room key back in his pocket, pulled Bai Xiaoqi into the elevator, swiped the room key to the floor, and turned to look at her, "Don't be so nervous, it's like I'm going to eat you. We're just here to get a room and experience what it's like to stay in a hotel."

"Is that right?"

"Yes."

"But it's so expensive to stay here for one night."

"It's not like I live here every day."

.......

"It's so high up here, so beautiful."

Upon entering the room, Bai Xiaoqi, who had just thought it was expensive, quickly changed her mind and pressed her face against the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the night view outside.

The bustling streets were bathed in golden light, with colorful lights mingling and reflecting off the city. All the high-rise buildings were lit up with neon lights, making the whole city shine brightly.

Standing at such a high place overlooking the night view for the first time, her eyes were full of amazement, as if she had never seen the world before.

"Don't stand too close to the window, or you might fall if the glass breaks."

"I don't think so."

Bai Xiaoqi reached out and tapped the glass twice, producing two muffled thuds that sounded very sturdy.

“I think it’s very sturdy,” she said, turning around to state her observation.

"Not necessarily. With your strength, you could probably shatter the glass with just one punch."

"Why would I smash the glass with my fist? I'd have to pay for it."

"Ok."

Chen Shuo also felt that his worries were a bit unnecessary. He lay on his side on the bed, propped his head up with his hand, and looked at her back, asking, "What do you think about us buying a high-rise apartment in the future?"

Are the higher-floor apartments more expensive?

"No, higher floors are actually cheaper, but the shared area will be much larger."

What is the shared area?

"It's just a capitalist's dirty trick, something purely designed to disgust people."

Chen Shuo rolled over and lay flat on the large bed. "But we can buy the top floor. That building has a rooftop terrace. If we buy the top floor, the rooftop terrace is essentially ours. We can use it as a yard, plant flowers there, and then..."

Oh, we'll have to share with the neighbors, but we could buy one of those apartments with only one unit per floor, then we could have it all to ourselves.

Apartments with one unit per floor will definitely be more expensive because they are larger, all of which are 128 square meters, and cost 15,000 yuan per square meter, which is more than half the price of other apartments in the complex. However, it is cheaper to buy a top-floor apartment.

After all, the top floor faces many problems: it's unsafe to live there, there are earthquakes, fires, and heating is not reliable in winter, especially when there are water or power outages.

Oh no, we're doomed.

But there are many advantages: it's inexpensive, has a terrace, and you don't have to worry about upstairs neighbors making noise late at night...

Just as he was pondering this, Chen Shuo suddenly felt the bed shake. Bai Xiaoqi turned around and jumped onto the bed, lying face down on it. "This bed is so soft, and it's round too."

Chen Shuo leaned closer and asked, "Do you know why it's round?"

"why?"

"Because the space is large, it's more suitable for doing fun things."

As he spoke, Chen Shuo reached out and pressed a button on the headboard, causing the chandelier facing the bed to change to an ambiguous warm tone. "Shall we have some fun too?"

Bathed in the warm orange light, Bai Xiaoqi's eyes held a hazy, dreamy quality. Looking at Chen Shuo's face so close to hers, she reached out and pushed him aside, then sat up and said, "I'm going to take a shower."

"Shall we do something fun together after taking a shower?"

"Take a shower and go to sleep."

"Want to shower together? If you're shy, we can shower with the lights off."

Bai Xiaoqi ignored him; she knew all too well what this rascal was thinking.

The bathrooms aren't very big. Even if the lights are off, he can't see you, but he can easily reach you by groping around. Then he'll be at your mercy.

"Don't worry, it's just a simple bath, nothing else."