"What's wrong? Did you have a fight with Wang Han?" Xiang Kun asked directly without probing.
Chang Bin shook his head and sighed, "No, it's her family."
Xiang Kun was surprised. "You argued with her family? What happened? Uh, was it because of the wedding?"
He knew that Wang Han, like Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er, was a local and came from a well-off family. In comparison, Chang Bin's father was a teacher and his mother worked for a state-owned enterprise, so they were considered a middle-class family, but if you only compared their family backgrounds, there was indeed a certain gap between them and Wang Han's family.
However, Chang Bin himself is very capable. After graduation, he did not work in IT-related fields, but joined an event planning company. Later, he started his own team and found investors to partner with. Now he is his own boss, and his annual income should be quite good. Moreover, he has already bought two houses in the city, which are much better than Xiang Kun's house in terms of both size and location.
Logically speaking, it's 2019 already; in a big city like this, prejudice against certain social classes shouldn't be so severe. It's unlikely that Chang Bin and Wang Han are already getting married before they start objecting.
Sigh, marriage really is a troublesome thing, he muttered to himself.
Chang Bin said with a somewhat complicated expression, "Actually, we didn't argue. In front of her family, I still went along with them. But... I just feel a bit stifled..."
Chang Bin originally planned to go to a barbecue restaurant he frequented with Xiang Kun, but when they arrived, they found that the restaurant was under renovation. So, after waiting a while, they went to the bar that Xiang Kun had gone to with Zi Cheng when he came before.
Chang Bin had recommended that they go to that bar. Because it was not far from several universities, students often frequented it, so it wasn't as chaotic or noisy as other nightclubs, making it a good place to chat and talk. Occasionally, some good singers would come to perform, and their skills were quite good, often attracting people who came specifically to listen to their songs.
After entering the bar with Chang Bin, Xiang Kun instinctively began to gather information about the various people in the bar.
He keenly noticed that two of the bar's waiters were different from the last time he came, while three of the customers were the same ones he had met before—one of whom was Yang Jie, the female graduate student with glasses.
She mentioned during our last chat that she was a graduate student at a nearby university and lived here. When Zhang Qian returned to China, she brought Zhang Qian over for fun, and that's when they met Xiang Kun and Zi Cheng, the two peerless heroes, who struck up a conversation with her.
At this moment, she seemed to have come with several classmates, chatting in a large booth. There was a large group of men and women, and they didn't notice Xiang Kun and Chang Bin who had just walked in. Naturally, Xiang Kun didn't intend to go over and say hello.
Chang Bin ordered beer and several snacks to go with it, Xiang Kun only ordered a glass of mineral water.
"You're so damn disciplined now, not drinking alcohol, and you don't even touch soft drinks at all?" Chang Bin said, pointing to the mineral water in Xiang Kun's glass.
"I'm used to it, but I still think water tastes better," Xiang Kun said with a smile. However, looking at the mineral water in his glass, he felt a pang of regret. It cost 35 yuan a glass, and he had personally watched the bartender pick up a two-yuan bottle of Nongfu Spring water, open it, and pour it in...
"There's nothing going on between you and Wang Han, is there?" Xiang Kun steered the conversation back to Chang Bin.
Chang Bin sighed again, poured himself a glass of wine, and after drinking it, said, "She's very good. I know she must have done a lot of work with her family and said many good things about me. Xiao Han is a very understanding woman. It's my blessing to have married her."
Xiang Kun laughed and said, "Then that settles it. You're marrying her, not her family. As long as you two are happy, that's all that matters."
Chang Bin took another sip and sighed, "I used to think that way too, but then I realized that marriage... isn't just a matter between two people; it's a matter between two extended families."
As Chang Bin poured the wine, he said, "I had already discussed it with Xiao Han. We planned to move to her old place first, then renovate our current apartment, replace some appliances, and make it our new home. After all, now is not the right time to buy a house, and my company is also facing some cash flow problems."
"When Xiao Han's father found out, he bought a 200-square-meter apartment in Xiao Han's name as Xiao Han dowry, to be our new home."
Xiang Kun adjusted his glasses and asked curiously, "Isn't this fine? You're not thinking that because the woman paid for the house, you're unhappy living there, are you?"
Chang Bin took a sip of his drink, looked at his friend, and said, "Yeah, it's pretty good. The location is better than my current place, and it's more spacious with better natural light. But do you know where that place is? It's right downstairs from Xiao Han's parents' house..."
"Hmm, I guess it's so he can live closer and take better care of his daughter," Xiang Kun said softly.
"Xiao Han's dad came to my house once before, and the next day he had a furniture company deliver a sofa to replace ours, saying the old one was uncomfortable. But he never even sat on that sofa during his visit! Xiao Han's mom has come to my house several times. The first time she came, she said 'Arthas's' cat food was terrible and needed to be changed! But the cat food was clearly 'Orijen,' and Xiao Han and I often made cat meals for it... But my future mother-in-law still delivered a huge pile of what she considered excellent cat food the next day. And what happened? 'Arthas' wouldn't eat it at all. When Xiao Han's mom asked about it, Xiao Han didn't dare tell her directly, otherwise my future mother-in-law would definitely think 'Arthas' was sick..."
The "Arthas" that Chang Bin mentioned is a British Shorthair cat he and Wang Han. When they first got it, they solicited names for it on WeChat Moments, and "Arthas," which he suggested, was chosen by a large margin...
"There are many, many more things like this, but before we didn't live together. They would come over occasionally, or we would meet once in a while, and we would just comply with whatever they asked for. Anyway, it wasn't anything of principle, so it was fine. But what if we lived upstairs or downstairs? Can you imagine? Just thinking about that situation makes my hair fall out." Chang Bin shook his head and took another drink.
Xiang Kun understood him somewhat. Although he understood Wang Han's parents' concern for their daughter and their desire to take care of her, such forceful control would undoubtedly be very difficult for Chang Bin, who was quite opinionated and somewhat chauvinistic. It might even affect his relationship with Wang Han.
"We had dinner together that day, and her brother 'subtly' asked me how my company was doing. He said that many companies had reduced their event budgets and marketing budgets, and wondered if our company's business volume had been affected. Then he asked about our annual turnover and profit. After asking, he suggested that I join their company, offering me a management position, a Mercedes-Benz S-Class 400, and a driver. He said the year-end bonus wouldn't be less than what I earn at my current company, and it would be less stressful and allow me more time to spend with his sister..."
Chang Bin said with a wry smile, "In the end, it's all because of my damn 'pride'."
--
I recommend "Life Exchange Game" by Chijian Yinghuo, a funny and hilarious novel.
Thanks to the new helmsman, Crazy Heart, and thanks to readers 160809191923835, 20170710232824578, Lonely Figure, Forgotten Thoughts of the Qin, Sky Jella is Here, Crazy Heart,? Brother is Not a Legend, Z Die C Shang, In a Moment L, E05454, No Regrets Looking Back, Qidian Reading iOS, 100 Days How to Take the Postgraduate Entrance Exam, and reader 160915235305291 for their donations.