"Don't make random fools of yourself. Do you want to make your old man happy when you're full? I wanted a wife a long time ago, and I'm still waiting now!"
Lao Li was a little embarrassed by what his son said. He banged his chopsticks on the bowl and pretended to reprimand: "You'd better think about your own problems carefully and ask for a wife as soon as possible so that I can settle a worry earlier."
As he spoke, he paused and said with a serious expression: "By the way, I happen to have something to tell you."
"What's up?"
"Your house in Shanghai is too small and too old. I'm going to help you buy a new, bigger house." Lao Li said.
When Li Tang heard this, he was a little stunned and said with a look of disbelief on his face: "Dad, the old apartment on Wuyuan Road has two bedrooms and one living room, 82 square meters, not the construction area, but the practical area! In the city center, it is a protected building, Waxed steel windows, the best of the best! Don’t you think it’s bad?”
This house was Ms. Tang's ancestral property. Ms. Tang knew that she was ashamed of her son, so she took the house as compensation.
Li Tang was very satisfied with this apartment. To be honest, in New York, such an apartment in a wealthy area in the city center would cost millions of dollars.
The practical area of more than 80 square meters is already very good. You must know that He Zhengjun, the mainstay and key actor of the drama center, is still crowded with his wife and children in a dormitory of only nine square meters.
Of course, this was also an important indicator that Li Tang was able to quickly capture the heart of his ex-girlfriend.
But Lao Li frowned and waved his hand to stop: "I think it's still too small. Now there is a real estate, Xujiahui Garden, newly opened. I went to see it two days ago, and it's almost topping out. It's on Wanping South Road. It's not far from your unit. The house with four bedrooms and two living rooms is more than 170 square meters, which is twice the size of your current house. It's a little more than 7,000 square meters. The one-time payment can be a little cheaper. Get it. It’s estimated to be around 1.2 million, just enough for your future marriage.”
As he spoke, Lao Li couldn't help but said angrily: "Actually, I should have bought the house earlier. Maybe Binbin wouldn't have gone to the capital."
Li Tang had no idea about houses. In his last life, he lived in rented houses in both Los Angeles and New York.
It’s not that he can’t afford the house, it’s just that it’s not worth it.
Don't talk about freehold ownership of houses in the United States. You must know that the United States still has the concept of property tax.
For example, if you buy an apartment in New York worth $1 million, with a 1% tax rate, you will have to pay $10,000 in property taxes every year. Add in property management fees and home insurance, and the cost can exceed $20,000 a year. The same amount of money was enough for him to rent a master bedroom in a nice apartment on the Upper East Side.
After traveling back in time, he discovered that he actually owned such an apartment. He didn't have to pay property taxes, insurance was ignored, and the property management fee didn't exceed fifty yuan a month. This made him very satisfied.
He originally wanted to refuse Lao Li's proposal, but he was embarrassed. But as soon as the words came to my mouth, I suddenly realized that this was in China, not the United States.
Moreover, he clearly remembered that around 2004, his parents in his previous life had bought a villa in Beijing and planned to return to China for retirement and return to their roots. At that time, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar was high, and the total price of more than seven million yuan was equivalent to less than one million U.S. dollars.
As a result, before he retired, house prices had been rising for more than ten years. Later, it was said that the value of the villa had already exceeded 100 million, which had increased more than ten times.
Since housing prices in Beijing have skyrocketed, there is no reason why housing prices in Shanghai can’t rise as well!
He suddenly realized that this was an excellent way to invest, and quickly changed his words: "It sounds like this house is quite good, and it is cost-effective to buy it."
Then he hesitated and said, "What about the apartment on Wuyuan Road? Sell it?"
If he really sold it, he would be a little reluctant to use the subsidies to buy a new house.
Lao Li snorted and said domineeringly: "Your mother gave you that house, I have no control over it. The new house was given to you by your old man for your wedding. I will give you one apartment per person. Is it fair?"
"unfair!"
Li Tang shouted, then raised his thumb and said with a flattering look on his face: "Dad, you are still awesome!"
"Nongzai Xiaoju, come and have a drink!"
After a sip of wine, Lao Li Laohuai felt relieved.
After a rare two days of rest at home, Li Tang will return to the city on Sunday afternoon.
He specifically asked some classmates from the Shanghai Film Studio about what Baldy Xu had told him before, and the news he got was quite exciting. It is said that Director Peng Xiaolian chose actors in an eclectic way this time, and was not limited to his own family. Three points of land should be used to attract talents from all over the world.
It's just that I'm very tight on time, so the audition is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday.
"Here's mutton, Mrs. Lou's favorite sausage, and two free-range chickens..."
Before leaving, Lao Li filled the trunk of the motorcycle and the suitcases on both sides with all kinds of food carefully prepared. Every Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Tang would do this.
Uncle Lou and Mrs. Lou were old friends whom Lao Li met when he was sent to a farm in Jiangxi to receive re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants.
At that time, Uncle Lou was the deputy director of Qingyi, one of the predecessors of the drama center, and Mrs. Lou was a teacher of the theater.
As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. It was precisely because of this relationship that Li Tang was able to successfully enter the theater and the drama center.
On Sunday, the roads in the urban area were relatively smooth. Li Tang drove his motorcycle into the community where Lou's family was located. When he was approaching the door of the unit, he saw a dirty Santana just stopped. A man wearing a black down jacket, holding hands A small man carrying a camera bag got out of the car.
Li Tang's eyes lit up and he shouted hurriedly: "Brother Ye!"
The little man stopped and turned around, looking confused.
Li Tang quickly turned the accelerator, drove to a stop, and took off his tightly covered helmet.
"Brother Ye, it's me!"
After seeing clearly, the little man smiled: "Li Tang, long time no see."
"It must have been two years. The last time we met was during the Spring Festival the year before last."
The man in front of him is Lou Ye, the son of Uncle Lou and Mrs. Lou. He is a director and a legend in Li Tang's mind.
When he was a child, Li Tang and his father came to the home of Uncle Lou and Mrs. Lou for the first time and learned that many of his favorite cartoons, "The Legend of the Book of Heaven" and "The Golden Monkey Conquers the Demons", featured this taciturn older brother. As shown in the painting, the shock and admiration are clearly expressed on Li Tang's young face.
Brother Ye was very good at painting, but unfortunately he failed to become an art student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, but was admitted to the Directing Department of Nortel. After graduation, Brother Ye was assigned to the Shanghai TV station that everyone envied, but he didn't report at all. Instead, he went to work with the crew as an assistant director to make a movie.
Then as an independent director, he made commercials, documentaries, etc., and gained a huge reputation in the industry.
What's even more awesome is that Brother Ye won the Best Director Award at a foreign film festival five years ago when he directed a film independently for the first time. Then the second film was nominated for the Golden Rooster Award that year.
Now he is a representative figure of the so-called sixth generation directors in China.
Lou Ye nodded with a polite smile and moved his lips but did not speak.
Li Tang is not surprised at all. He has known since he was a child that Brother Ye is a slow-tongued man who doesn't like to talk. The only thing he doesn't understand in his heart is how a silent director like him makes a movie on set.
"Brother Ye, just in time to help."
Li Tang parked the car, opened the trunk, and took out a large bulging bag.
"Be careful, it's a bit heavy."
Lou Ye took it with one hand. It was so heavy that he almost dropped it to the ground if he wasn't careful. There was a look of surprise on his face, but he said nothing.
Li Tang helped him, then opened the two suitcases on the side and took out a few bags. He said to himself: "This is mutton, this is Mrs. Lou's favorite sausage, and there are two chickens and some soil." Pork, if I hadn’t met you, I might have had to run twice..."
The two of them carried their things and went upstairs.
"Uncle Lou, Mrs. Lou, I'm here!"
After giving New Year's gifts and having dinner at Lou's house, Li Tang left without staying much longer, because the atmosphere was always awkward when facing the silent Brother Ye.
The conversation between the two of them did not exceed ten sentences from beginning to end. All they knew was that Brother Ye had been back for a week, so he took an 8mm camera to the Suzhou River to shoot.
As for what he was filming, Brother Ye didn't say. Li Tang thought it might be a documentary about environmental pollution, otherwise he couldn't think of anything good to film about the black and smelly Suzhou River.
