Chapter 591: Celebrating a Birthday

As a gathering place for time-honored Chinese brands, the birthplace of early commerce in Beijing, the birthplace of the Chinese film and television industry, and the concentrated carrier of traditional Beijing culture, Dashilan was already very prosperous. It happened to be spring breeze all over the ground now, and the development was naturally more prosperous.

Near the side of Qianmen Street, it was the "Cha Piao Xiang" restaurant, which opened in 1981 and had been open for seven years. It had undergone a major renovation in 1986, painting the outer walls, changing the layout inside, replacing all the tables and chairs, and getting a rotating glass door. In terms of style, it could keep up with the times, but it also retained Chinese characteristics, had some ancient meaning, and was quite good.

Because of its good taste, large portions, and excellent service, it had cultivated a very good reputation in seven years, had many repeat customers, and became the most popular restaurant in the vicinity. Every day when it reached the meal time, it was definitely crowded.

But at noon today, it hung a sign of "closed for business," but there were still many people walking in. Some didn't know why and asked nearby. It turned out that an old man was celebrating his eightieth birthday and had booked the whole place...

Su Meng skillfully drove the white Beetle and parked it on the side of the road. Wang Yan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, got out of the car, went to the trunk, took out a packaged gift box, and brought Wang Bin, who was already twelve years old and got off from the back seat, and Su Meng, who had turned off the engine and locked the car door. The family of three walked towards the restaurant together.

Han Chunming and Old Guan's son and daughter-in-law stood at the door to welcome guests. Seeing Wang Yan's family coming, they hurriedly welcomed them two steps: "Lord Wang is here. Su Meng, you stinky kid is also here. Hurry in. Han Yi is eating in the back kitchen and has been nagging for a long time. After eating, I will send you two to school. Su Meng, Teacher Su, Teacher Liu, and Grandma Su didn't come?"

Su Meng patted her son's head, signaling him to go in first: "Didn't come. You don't know, they can't stand this noise, it's better to rest well at home."

Watching Wang Bin greet and run inside, Old Guan's son, Guan Ziqing, stepped forward politely to shake hands with Wang Yan: "Mr. Wang, it's enough for you to come, why bring anything?"

"Come, Mr. Wang, just give me this thing." Liu Hongmei, his wife on the side, reached out very naturally, wanting to take the box Wang Yan was holding in one hand.

"It should be. My friendship with Timen grandfather might be better than you, his own son. Since he is celebrating his eightieth birthday, I have to bring something decent."

Wang Yan responded to Guan Ziqing's words with a smile. Regardless of his embarrassed face, he let go very naturally, and at the same time brushed away Liu Hongmei's hand that wanted to take the thing, looking at them both with a smile: "This thing, just let Chunming hold it. Find a place to put it at home later, it's auspicious."

This couple was naturally not a thing. Not to mention whether they were for money, whether they sold antiques abroad, and the disgusting face of asking for Old Guan's inheritance later, just the fact that they were not filial was enough to show that these two people were not good, and there was nothing to say.

It wasn't that Wang Yan was standing up for Old Guan, just simply looking down on these two things.

Watching the couple Guan Ziqing and Liu Hongmei look embarrassed but unable to attack, Han Chunming felt refreshed in his heart. As such a filial son, he naturally had opinions about these two people, but he couldn't say it. Now that his good brother spoke, although it was polite, it was basically scolding them for being unfilial to their faces, and he was still very happy to see it.

He smiled very naturally, but that smile was for Wang Yan, and he blinked, reaching out to take the box Wang Yan handed over: "Lord Wang, what did you send?"

"It's not a good thing, just a Qing Dynasty Shoushan stone ornament. The material is a bit poor, but it's carved with pine and cypress. If you don't say let you put it up for Timen grandfather later, this implication is good."

"Brother, you are welcoming here now, I will send Lord Wang and his wife in." Han Chunming said, turned and led Wang Yan and the others inside: "Little Ma and Broken Hou are also here, and the gifts are also ornaments. I say you three didn't discuss it, did you?"

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Isn't this what was mentioned at the drinking table last year? I guess they also listened to it, and they have been looking for things for a year."

Amidst the laughter, several people passed through the door next to the revolving door and entered the restaurant. Compared with the heavy traffic outside, the noise inside was not bad at all.

Old Guan was wearing a dark red embroidered Tang suit, sitting at a table inside, and the whole table was full of old people with white hair and wrinkled faces.

These people were all Old Guan's friends, mostly old people with the same status as him. Except for that table, in the scattered seats on the first floor, except for half of the neighbors, the remaining people were mostly unseen, mostly Old Guan's friends, or the younger generation of his brothers and sisters. Looking at it this way, Old Guan's side was also a big family.

Wang Yan and Su Meng arrived at Old Guan's side, said a few auspicious words with a smile, and Han Chunming on the side took out the thing and showed it to Old Guan.

Old Guan said "Hmm": "You kid is still generous. The two of them, Broken Hou and Little Ma, brought much worse than yours."

Shoushan stone had expensive ones and cheap ones. Even if this thing was from the Qing Dynasty, it was just poor material like Wang Yan said, and its value was actually quite average, not worth much money. At this time, it was about equivalent to a gift of over a thousand yuan. If you only look at the gift, it was definitely a lot. But Old Guan was also a sensible person. Although this old guy always looked like he wanted to fleece him, he had actually occupied Old Guan's cheapness when exchanging things before, getting two famous calligraphy and paintings.

It mainly depended on that intention; saying how much money it was was meaningless.

"As long as you like it." Wang Yan smiled: "I won't disturb you, you old gentleman be busy."

After speaking, he turned and left with Su Meng, led by Han Chunming, and found the table of Han's mother. Su Meng sat with them, while he went to the table where "Broken" Hou and Ma Du were sitting. These were all for drinking.

"Here, Lord Wang." Ma Du greeted with a smile, poured a cup of tea, and pushed it over: "Drink some tea, I just asked, it will be half an hour before dinner."

"Broken" Hou asked with a dangling look: "What did you send to the old man?"

"A Shoushan stone ornament carved in the Qing Dynasty with pine and cypress." Wang Yan picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea: "I heard from Chunming that you two also sent ornaments?"

"Nothing to send, isn't it just suitable for ornaments. If it's expensive, we don't want to part with it, and Timen grandfather won't feel good. Just get an ornament to express our intention."

"Marquis's words are right, just suitable for ornaments."

Wang Yan smiled and asked: "How is Wang Shuo recently? No movement for a long time."

Mentioning Wang Shuo, Ma Du couldn't help but show a smile: "Isn't he filming a movie? Busy with the release. A while ago, he called me, saying it was filmed well, maybe it will explode, and he wants us to go see it when it's released in Beijing if we have time."

Wang Shuo's fate changed because he met Wang Yan. In the past time, as an editor of "Contemporary," his status was definitely high. Still the same saying, at this time, writers who want to publish and publish, those who have already become famous, forget it. After all, they are talking directly to the editor-in-chief, but there are more of those who have not yet come out. The editor determines fate. Status is high, mood is good, creative enthusiasm is surging, and the quality of output is high.

It was also because of Wang Yan's instructions, as well as occasional small gatherings for drinking, that Wang Shuo's cultural level improved somewhat, and it was the same in the spiritual level. The output was very high. The short stories and novellas mentioned before were published, and there were unpublished ones and those in conception.

Perhaps because they met relatively late and didn't have much contact, people's literary style was actually fixed and difficult to change significantly, because it was a thinking habit, which was very difficult to change. So although Wang Yan had a significant impact on Wang Shuo's life, the changes in his literary style were some, but not very large.

These changes were enough to make him have higher work quality and greater fame than his peers.

It was also influenced by Wang Yan that his works changed. Except for "Wan Zhu" (The Troubleshooters), which was generally the same, other works, perhaps with similar content, all had different titles. Because people's ideas were whimsical, Wang Shuo could write another "Wan Zhu" because of the unruliness in his character.

Wang Yan's influence was all of the above. Although it was very significant, the impact on other things was very small.

Just as Ma Du said, Wang Shuo's works were adapted into movies. However, it was not the original four, but only three. But the quality of these three works was much higher than the original. It's just that they haven't been released yet, and it will take some days. The directors and actors are nothing more than those people, Mi Jiashan, Ye Ying, Ge You, etc. This was because Wang Shuo liked to play and make friends, so he knew a lot of people. In short, it was very good...

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Okay, call me when the time comes. Anyway, since I'm idle, let's go see it together."

Without mentioning the topic that "Broken" Hou couldn't interject, the three turned to talk about some antiques. Today was just the original small gathering. These people, the shortest acquaintance "Broken" Hou had been drinking with him for seven years, and the longest, Ma Du, Han Chunming, and Old Guan, had been drinking buddies for thirteen years. Just in time for Old Guan's eightieth birthday, the group of people who hadn't seen each other for more than three months took this as a place for a small gathering.

They were at a separate table, and someone arranged where to sit, so no one disturbed them. While chatting and laughing, more than ten minutes passed.

Just at this time, "Broken" Hou's eyes stared behind Ma Du. Wang Yan turned his head and saw Liu Jinyou and Hou Sue talking to Old Guan. Wang Yan looked at "Broken" Hou with a smile: "Your pension money is in his hands."

"Hey, I get angry when I mention this. I'm not aiming at you, but I really can't stand my daughter's eye for men. The previous one was the son of my enemy, and this one found such a fat guy, older than me. I really regret it. Why did I let Sue do business with him back then."

Ma Du sighed: "I say Marquis, why don't you regret investing your pension money in Lord Wang's uncle?"

"Nonsense, it really makes money. Looking at it this way, I will have no worries about food and clothing in my next life." "Broken" Hou shook his head and sighed: "Of course it's not because of money. My daughter took a fancy to it. You two say what else can I do? You know what happened before, and with her dog temper, where can I still manage whether I agree or not? I'm so old, why should I manage her so much? Whoever she wants to live with, let her live with. I don't want to see her."

"It's just that the parents' hearts are pitiful." Ma Du laughed: "It's okay, Marquis, at least you got the money."

"Fart. I said to invest the money in you, don't you want it? Give it to Chunming, doesn't Chunming want it? I lost my old face, just you few big capable people, who can't earn money with?"

"Then it's Lord Wang's fault. If you hadn't brought your uncle over, this wouldn't have happened."

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Fate is the most wonderful thing. Even if they don't do business together, we are all in the same circle of friends. Who knows when we will meet? Who knows if we can look at each other? If you ask me, anyway, you can't manage it, so don't think about it, just be comfortable yourself."

"Broken" Hou rolled his eyes at Wang Yan, didn't pay attention to him, and lowered his head to drink tea.

Wang Yan didn't mind, beckoned to Liu Jinyou who was walking over. This old fat boy knew limited people, so he must be coming over to sit with them. However, just when he beckoned, the corner of his eye saw Cheng Father and Cheng Mother coming in from the door, and... Cheng Army Supervisor!

Cheng Father and Cheng Mother walking in front had smiles on their faces, very happy smiles, because they felt that the bitter days were over and the good days were beginning.

In the past year, Cheng Army Supervisor, who had just been released from prison, took off directly. Although there was no housing reform, he still spent money to buy a building. Cheng Father and Cheng Mother moved from the big miscellaneous courtyard to the building. Neighbors and relatives and friends all knew about this. It was also because of this that Cheng Army Supervisor's reputation reversed rapidly, from originally being unsuccessful to being capable.

Cheng Army Supervisor himself said that he opened a factory over there, with hundreds of people under him, and every day the machine turned, it was the money of the Chinese currency entering the account. Of course, his statement had to be much more low-key, generally just that meaning. The life in prison didn't make him remember the lesson. Now that he had achieved some results, he was flashy again.

Wang Yan watched Cheng Army Supervisor raise his head and greet him with some frivolity. Perhaps it was because he felt that he was thirty-six, and sitting in such a high position, he was already a mature social person, following the principle of maintaining surface relationships in social operation, not the hooligan who was caught and even sentenced to more years just like him.

The precious quality that people should have is not to put their own ideas on others, imagining the development of some things in order to get the results they want. This is absolutely impossible to succeed. In other words, learn to change positions to think, don't "I think." Because "I think" is just "I think."

Without paying attention to Cheng Army Supervisor, watching Liu Jinyou sit down beside him, Wang Yan asked with a smile: "How have you been recently? Everything is going well, no problems, right?"

Since this old fat boy moved out to live alone, relatively speaking, the exchanges between the two sides dropped sharply. And this old fat boy was also operating a business. In these two years, the chain shopping malls opened more and more. He was also busier. Although they were in the same city, sometimes they couldn't be seen for two or three months. It was just that Mrs. Su missed this lonely old brother, occasionally calling to ask about the situation and caring about his health.

"Don't worry, everything is very good. If there is a problem, can I not find you?" Liu Jinyou laughed and waved his hand. He was now proud of the spring breeze, the business was getting better and better, and there was a pile of money entering the account every day. His feelings also radiated a second spring, and there was a nephew-in-law with great ability, ensuring that he would not have trouble. In fact, he had naturally encountered many troubles, but he didn't need to find Wang Yan. He just mentioned Wang Yan's name and indicated his identity, which was useful most of the time. When it was not useful, he didn't need to trouble Wang Yan. Su Meng's phone call could basically solve it.

These were all very good, but there was one point that was not good. Looking at "Broken" Hou who was staring at him with a bad look, his laughter also turned into an awkward smile... ===== CHAPTER