Bright Era of China Entertainment

Chapter 744 Father-in-law’s Fun
With a "rebellious" daughter present, Ankang could only give up his targeting of Chu Xuan despite being unhappy. Otherwise, if he continued to target Chu Xuan and his daughter continued to help Chu Xuan to target him, it would make him even more unhappy.

The next topic got on track and they talked about the marriage of both parties. They repeated the points that had been discussed at my grandmother's house yesterday, with Wang Jinhua as the main speaker, to see if the An family had any objections.

“Buying a house in Shenzhen and getting married…”

"Not bad. Since we have the financial means, we can plan ahead for the future and provide our children with a more comprehensive environment for growth. This is quite thoughtful."

Ankang agreed with this consideration and immediately raised a question.

"So are you going to buy the house in Shenzhen from you or from us?"

Buying a house for Chu Xuan is equivalent to a betrothal gift, while buying a house for them is equivalent to a dowry.

Whether it is the bride price or the dowry, it is an inevitable issue in marriages across the country.

"I'll buy."

"I'll buy."

Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei said in unison, and the two looked at each other in bewilderment.

The uncle laughed, and even Ankang, who was deliberately making a face when he saw Chu Xuan was unhappy, couldn't help laughing.

Are the houses in Shenzhen very cheap for these two little guys? You bought one and he bought one, too. Have you ever considered the feelings of their parents? You can do whatever you want if you have money, right?
Wang Jinhua and Dong Zhihua couldn't help laughing. They really didn't expect that the couple would do such a thing and compete to buy a house.

In fact, the issue of the house has been confirmed. Mother-in-law Liu Xiaoli is the real buyer, but Xiaoxuan and Xixi don’t know it yet.

Liu Xiaoli has her own little thoughts, which come from Chu Xuan’s sky-high bride price.

A few days after Xiaoxuan proposed to Xixi on her birthday last year, Xiaoxuan's idea of ​​buying a complete set of imperial purple jadeite jewelry worth hundreds of millions of yuan was entrusted by the jewelry store owner to an intermediary company to help keep an eye on the goods at major auction houses. As long as any auction house has the goods, they will call Xiaoxuan to bid or pay on his behalf, so Xiaoxuan's idea is currently in the process of being implemented.

Xiaoxuan may just want Xixi to be the most beautiful and noble bride at the moment of marriage, and has never thought of using this sky-high set of jewelry as a betrothal gift. Perhaps this is just the romance in Xiaoxuan's heart.

However, Liu Xiaoli tacitly accepted that this was Xiaoxuan's betrothal gift, which gave her the idea of ​​buying a sea view house for Xixi as a dowry, and also as a return gift for Xiaoxuan's betrothal gift.

Well, it is obvious that Xiaoxuan's betrothal gift is astronomical, and the value of the sea view house that Liu Xiaoli wants to buy will definitely not be low.

With the current highest-end housing prices in Shenzhen at around 1 to yuan, if you want to buy a villa with a sea view as a wedding venue, it would take at least to square meters, and with the renovations, it would cost close to million yuan.

This money... It's not that the couple looks down on the An family. Considering that all the members of the An family are officials, if they were all honest officials, they would definitely not be able to come up with this money. Even if they were officials with problems, they would not dare to use this money to buy such a big villa, otherwise they would be invited to have tea the next day.

At this point, regardless of the couple's competition to buy a house, and regardless of what the An family is thinking at the moment, Wang Jinhua chose not to discuss this issue for the time being: "As for matters concerning the betrothal gifts and marriage, how about we discuss it with Sister Li tomorrow?"

Liu Xiaoli wants to buy a house for the couple, and she wants to buy a house worth 100 million yuan. It would not be a good idea for the man to bring this up in front of the An family. Once it is brought up, it would seem like he is looking down on the An family. So let Liu Xiaoli and the An family talk about it tomorrow.

"Okay, let's talk about it tomorrow. We'll discuss the matters today." Ankang had no objection.

He knew that his daughter currently lived in a 2,000-square-meter villa in Beijing, and he also had a hunch that the house she was going to buy in Shenzhen would definitely not be small either.

He had anticipated that Wang Jinhua and Dong Zhihua, the couple, thought that the An family could not afford it. The specific details would have to wait until everyone met tomorrow to decide. They would first sort out the marriage matters, and after Chu Xuan and the others left in the evening, they would work out a plan within the An family to prepare for tomorrow's meeting to decide on the marriage.

Seeing that the elders did not talk about this issue anymore, Liu Yifei gave up, but she widened her eyes and looked at Chu Xuan, as if warning Chu Xuan not to argue with her about buying a house.

When they bought the big villa in Beijing, the moment Chu Xuan wrote her name on the property certificate, she said that she would also buy a big house for Chu Xuan in the future.

Last year, Chu Xuan spent a fortune to buy her jewelry, which further strengthened her idea of ​​returning Chu Xuan's love. Now that buying a wedding house has given her the opportunity to fulfill this idea, she is determined not to let Chu Xuan spend money again.

Chu Xuan understood her eyes, secretly held her hand, and scratched her palm, expressing his understanding of her meaning and communicating with her spiritually.

This little intimate gesture is a normal behavior under normal circumstances, but it is the first time in the current situation, and Chu Xuan feels a little excited.

What's even more exciting is that Liu Yifei slightly opened her five fingers and openly held Chu Xuan's fingers, and gave Chu Xuan a teasing look: Be bolder, why are you doing this secretly, are you a man?

Chu Xuan understood the meaning of this look, and pursed his lips to suppress the smile that was caused by his fiancée's mockery. Just as he was about to pretend that nothing had happened, he inadvertently met Ankang's gaze.

Chu Xuan's heart trembled violently, but he refused to let go of his clasped hands. His fiancée was so tough, he had to be strong. No matter how murderous his father-in-law was, he pretended to put on an iron vest and ignored his father-in-law's gaze.

Ankang took a deep breath silently, turned his gaze to look at Wang Jinhua, out of sight out of mind: "What about the wedding date, have you made an idea?"

Wang Jinhua shook her head: "The wedding date is still unclear."

She glanced at Liu Yifei and said, "It's mainly about Xixi. Sister Li's idea is to hold the wedding after Xixi changes her nationality back, but Sister Li doesn't know when Xixi will be able to change her nationality back. But no matter when she changes her nationality back, we will have to set a wedding date when we discuss it tomorrow. It depends on when it is set."

Ankang nodded, understanding the situation, and said, "One of the criteria for changing back to a nationality is whether there are immediate relatives who have settled down in the country, so your mother's plan is correct."

"I have been abroad for many years and do not meet this criterion."

"Your mother was the one who took the initiative to help you renounce your citizenship, so she doesn't meet this criterion either."

"After getting married to Chu Xuan, Chu Xuan will be your direct relative. He meets this standard."

Liu Yifei nodded. When she heard about getting married with Chu Xuan, she subconsciously tightened her clasped hands.

Ankang was a little stimulated when he saw this scene. He sighed imperceptibly: "Your career is all in China, you don't have any stains on your record, and you have a permanent residence permit in China. The basic conditions are met. If nothing unexpected happens, with Chu Xuan as your partner, your application should go smoothly even if your uncle and I don't help."

"But no matter how smooth it is, the procedures are very complicated. They need to trace you and everything related to you, such as your personal situation during the years you held foreign nationality, your personal situation in Wuhan, your birthplace, your grandfather's hometown in the northeast, our family situation, etc."

"This requires the cooperation of the public security and police stations in various places. In short, it will go smoothly but it will take time. I will call my friend at the consulate in Beijing tonight to ask for the specific details of this matter in China and see how long it will take to trace and review. I will tell you when we meet tomorrow, and then we can set the wedding date accordingly, okay?"

"Okay." Liu Yifei responded. She was very happy to hear her father say that changing nationality would be smooth.

Chu Xuan, Wang Jinhua and Dong Zhihua were also very happy. As an official of the consulate, Ankang's words were naturally convincing. If Xixi's nationality issue could be resolved smoothly, it would be the best thing for everyone.

The uncle lit a cigarette and said, "The basic matters for the marriage are to get the marriage certificate in the next few days and then apply to change the nationality. It is confirmed that the marriage will be held in Shenzhen. The key issue is the wedding date, followed by the betrothal gifts and return gifts from both parties, as well as how to organize the wedding."

"Yes." Wang Jinhua nodded.

"Dinner is ready!" my aunt-in-law poked her head out from the kitchen and shouted.

"Come on, Xiaoxuan, Xixi, let's go eat first." Grandpa got up from the sofa.

Ankang hurriedly got up and supported the old man, and greeted everyone: "We can talk about it tomorrow. Let's eat first and talk while we eat."

The family members who were playing mahjong came out after the game. My aunt said apologetically, "I'm sorry. My husband and my son have to take a plane to visit them later. We'll have dinner early. I'm really sorry that I didn't think of you."

Chu Xuan looked at the time and it was only a little after four in the afternoon. No wonder they had to eat so early. It turned out that his uncle and second brother had to catch a plane.

Wang Jinhua smiled and shook her head: "You are too polite. We are honored to come to your house, and it is even more honored to have a meal with you."

"You are so polite. It's an honor. You can come often in the future." The aunt came out of the kitchen with dishes and said to Chu Xuan, "Xiaoxuan, come and see us when you are free. There will always be a pair of chopsticks and a bowl for you at home."

"Okay." Chu Xuan agreed happily.

Wang Jinhua and Dong Zhihua were once again certain that the An family must have already discussed this and had approved of Xiaoxuan and Xixi's marriage long ago. Otherwise, the eldest daughter-in-law of the An family, who had never been seen cooking in the kitchen, would not have approved of Chu Xuan so openly. This made the couple feel relieved.

Liu Yifei was also excited. Looking at the attitudes of her grandfather and uncle, they obviously agreed with her marriage with Chu Xuan. Although her father didn't look very happy, it was because he was jealous of Chu Xuan. In fact, she understood her father's attitude of supporting them when they set off the fireworks last night.

Seeing that her aunt also approved of Chu Xuan, she felt even happier and couldn't help but find fault with her aunt's words: "What about me? Do you have my chopsticks and bowl?"

My aunt was greedy and ate a piece of crispy meat: "You said that as if you are not a member of the family. Do you think you are an outsider after you get married?"

"That's right." Grandma sighed, "My daughter has grown up and doesn't recognize her home anymore."

"No way!" Liu Yifei hurriedly sat down next to her grandmother, holding onto her arm and shaking it, and said coquettishly, "Grandma, I was just joking."

After saying that and comforting her grandmother, she stood up and sat down next to Chu Xuan, which made her grandmother click her tongue and shake her head. The family members also looked at her teasingly, saying that she had forgotten her family after having a husband.

Based on the An family's recognition of Chu Xuan, Wang Jinhua, Dong Zhihua and Chu Xuan all dispelled the unfamiliarity they had with the An family.

During the dinner gathering, we can also harmoniously integrate into the atmosphere of family reunion.

"Welcome Xiaoxuan, welcome Jinhua, Zhihua and Zijian, happy new year!"

“Thank you for the warm hospitality, and Happy New Year!”

The two sides clinked glasses and the atmosphere of the dinner was bright.

Compared to the happy atmosphere at grandma's house where everyone knew each other well, the dinner at An's house was more like a welcome ceremony for Chu Xuan after the approval of the marriage. The individual toasts from the oldest to the youngest were in an orderly manner, which made Wang Jinhua and Dong Zhihua sigh that this was too formal.

For Chu Xuan, he felt less comfortable, but at the same time, he felt like he had a new home. He just needed to slowly get used to this new home.

The topic of marriage came up at the dinner. Wang Jinhua, uncle and Ankang repeated the results of the afternoon discussion intermittently while drinking. The aunt, aunt and other family members all listened and supported them, expressing their ideas with an attitude of approval, without any objection.

It is obvious that the three people who make the decisions in the An family are grandfather, uncle and Ankang. With their approval, the rest of the family members are very obedient. This to a certain extent reflects the family style of the An family which is dominated by men.

We talked briefly about the marriage, and both parties put more relevant details aside for tomorrow. The topic then turned to daily family matters and all sorts of other matters.

The An family members all had far-sighted vision, and the issues they discussed were all international and political in nature. Chu Xuan, Wang Jinhua and Dong Zhihua were not bad either, and they were able to bring up some topics, which kept the atmosphere of the dinner very lively.

As a politician in the international cultural field, Ankang is also closely related to the word culture in entertainment and film and television. As he was chatting, he extended a topic: "Western countries are different from our country. Capital in the West can control the entire industry and can unite to monopolize, just like Hollywood. Several capitals behind the scenes unite to control the global media and entertainment industry through Hollywood, but this does not work in our country."

Everyone nodded and listened to Ankang's speech.

Ankang glanced at Chu Xuan and the others and said, "So, if you want to industrialize the film and television industry, you have to involve the film and television standards of the entire industry. Each standard is equivalent to a profit chain in hand. If all the standards are concentrated in one person's hands, it will be a monopoly. You must have a judgment on how to avoid monopoly. You must also be mentally prepared. Only by sharing can you gain the support of the country."

Industrialization had just started in the brilliant era, and it was a long way from the word "monopoly".

However, Brilliant Times has a unique advantage of a huge capital chain, and in his opinion, it will sooner or later move towards "monopoly".

In China, socialism means sharing a cake. If anyone wants to enjoy it alone, there will be a big hand that will slap him to pieces.

When talking about this topic, he gave Chu Xuan and the others a heads-up and reminded them not to go the wrong way.

"Uncle An, I understand." Chu Xuan nodded.

Huawei's approach is to share, share the benefits and technical standards with the entire industry, and then drive the overall development of the country's related basic industries.

This is what Ankang meant. If he didn’t understand, he wouldn’t have let Brilliant Times follow Hua Wei’s path.

Wang Jinhua nodded in agreement, thinking that Ankang thought too highly of them. The company had just started industrialization and they were crossing the river by feeling the stones, let alone talking about monopoly or not.

Seeing that Chu Xuan understood, Ankang looked up to him in his heart and said, "The industrialization of film and television needs national support, and cultural dissemination also needs to cooperate or keep up with national conditions. Last year, when I hosted a traditional Chinese cultural event at the Confucius Institute in France, an international student asked me a funny question. Does the saying "It is better to have no books than to believe in them all" mean that people should not read books?"

"Nonsense!" Grandpa scolded.

Ankang looked at Chu Xuan: "Xiaoxuan, how do you understand it?"

Liu Yifei looked at Chu Xuan. Chu Xuan knew a lot about ancient books and sayings. She wanted to see how Chu Xuan would answer this question.

Chu Xuan took a bite of rice and said, "The 'book' in this sentence refers to the Book of Documents in the Four Books and Five Classics. The Book of Documents is widely recognized as the most difficult ancient book to understand. It is even more complicated than the Classic of Mountains and Seas. No one has yet figured out what it specifically expresses."

Chu Xuan looked at Ankang and said, "As early as the Western Han Dynasty, there was a saying that it was better not to read the Book of Documents than to interpret it, so there was the saying 'It is better to have no books than to believe in them completely'. This saying can only represent the Book of Documents. It is a complete misunderstanding to make people think that reading is useless."

"Is that so?" Liu Yifei blinked. If Chu Xuan hadn't told her, she really wouldn't have known the origin of this sentence. It could be considered that she had learned something new.

Ankang nodded to his daughter, and looked at Chu Xuan with satisfaction. In this impetuous era, it is a rare thing to be able to understand such obscure history.

He said, "It's just such a small matter. I checked the past newspapers and magazines. Wow, those public intellectuals in China did not mention the source when they spread this sentence. They are deliberately making our young people hate studying and think that studying is useless. Don't you think it's scary?"

"Ah." Liu Yifei exclaimed in surprise.

Dong Zhihua reached out to pick up some food and said, "I always felt something was wrong when I read some articles in the newspaper before. It wasn't until Zijian bought a children's book when he was a child that said the earth was created by God and the Chinese migrated from the West. I completely understood what was wrong with the articles I read before. The words were specially written to make people unable to see the problem, but in fact they can distort a person's thinking."

"Yes." Ankang nodded. "The West has been buying off domestic intellectuals to subtly distort the thinking of the Chinese people since the 1970s and 1980s. It has been going on for decades and has intensified. With the development of the Internet, it will become even more serious in the future."

"These people should be shot!" said my grandfather.

Everyone shook their heads and laughed. Ankang said to Chu Xuan and the others, "This is the real cultural invasion. The invasion of film and television culture is just a small matter, but with the unlimited expansion of the film and television market, the invasion of film and television should not be underestimated."

"For example, in last year's The Mummy 3, Jet Li played the resurrected Qin Shi Huang, a monster who was cruel and indifferent. On French social networking sites, there were comments that China was a barbaric land, and the glorious history of China's unified railway tracks and writing system was completely ignored."

"It's not just France. In China, there are many people on Weibo who only see the cruelty of Qin Shi Huang."

"Based on the national conditions of this cultural invasion that distorts the thinking of the Chinese people, you must also have the support of the country if you want to industrialize. You must think about and consider the issue of cultural exports, so that the country can see a media brand that truly belongs to Chinese film and television. Then your road will be smoother."

Chu Xuan and Wang Jinhua looked at each other, exchanged glances, and nodded.

Ankang talked about several topics in a row, and there was a sense of political confirmation in his words. This can be regarded as a reminder from the top leaders to them. It also gave them a higher level of ideological inspiration and thinking about the development ideas of the output of film and television culture, including variety show culture.

"Dad is so awesome. I have learned a lot from him. We can ask you for advice when we have questions in the future, okay? Chu Xuan also has his own ideas in terms of cultural thoughts. You two will have a lot in common." Liu Yifei raised her eyebrows at her father, looking very naughty.

Wang Jinhua, Dong Zhihua, uncle and aunt all laughed. The girl said something nice at first, but she changed the subject later and revealed her purpose. She was trying to help her son-in-law Chu Xuan to please his father-in-law.

Chu Xuan lowered his head to eat, his eyes slightly shifted to meet Liu Yifei's gaze, and he gave her a big thumbs up in his heart.

As soon as he entered the door today, Ankang didn't look very happy. He was probably very unhappy with him, but there was nothing he could do to save the situation. Marrying someone else's daughter was a foregone conclusion. Ankang had been trapped in the mentality that his daughter would want to kill him after she got married, so he could only endure Ankang's murderous aura.

Fortunately, his wife is on his side. She helps him confront his father-in-law in the afternoon and helps him please his father-in-law in the evening. It feels great.

Ankang looked helpless, but he didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You are like this before you even get married. I'm really afraid that after you get married, you will completely forget about me as your father."

Once these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the scene became very joyful.

"How could that be? You are my father." Liu Yifei rested her elbows on the table, held her chin with both hands, and shook her head.

Ankang picked up a carrot stick and asked while eating: "How many days will you stay in Wuhan?"

Liu Yifei glanced at Chu Xuan and said to her father, "It's uncertain, but our crew is about to start work, so I probably won't be able to stay for a few days."

"How about this." Ankang looked at his daughter. "Dad's friends will come to visit on the third and fourth days of the Chinese New Year. You can stay at Dad's place for a few days and meet the uncles and aunts you knew before. Xiaoxuan can also come over to meet them when you have dinner. How about that?"

Chu Xuan was a little confused and hadn't figured out Ankang's words yet.

First of all, Liu Yifei stayed here for a few days in Wuhan and met some uncles and aunts by the way.

Then, he also wanted to come to meet, but only during dinner time.

In other words, he cannot spend the night with Liu Yifei and can only come for dinner. Is he trying to separate the two of them?
No matter how long we are separated, it only takes a few days, right?
do you mean this?

Liu Yifei covered her mouth with her hand, looking extremely happy.

The parents also found it very interesting and looked at the couple happily.

The uncle also reacted. Ankang was targeting Chu Xuan in the afternoon. It turned out that he was jealous of Chu Xuan. Now he deliberately prevented the couple from spending the night together for the next few days, at least not under Ankang's nose. Is this the mentality of a father facing his daughter's marriage?

This is quite funny indeed.

"Okay." Liu Yifei agreed to satisfy her father's idea.

Ankang looked at Chu Xuan: "Chu Xuan, do you have any objection?"

"Why would I have any objection to this?" Chu Xuan shook his head.

Ankang looked him over and said, "Don't go against your will."

“It doesn’t go against my will.” Chu Xuan shook his head repeatedly.

Seeing this scene, Liu Yifei found it so funny that she couldn't stop laughing while lying on Sister Hua beside her.

Chu Xuan was helpless. His father-in-law wanted to get rid of him, what could he do?
Do you still want to get married? Do you still want your wife to transfer back to her nationality?
If you want it, you have to bear it.

Chu Xuan was speechless, but he also made up a sentence for his father-in-law in his mind: When I marry your daughter, if you have the guts, you can cancel the bridal chamber.

(End of this chapter)