Chapter 554: Mom, She Wants to Take My Pants Off

At the villa's main gate, a man and a woman could be seen in the distance, arm in arm, dragging their luggage as they approached from afar.

The girl wore a fluffy white jacket, like a cute little elf; the man wore a black woolen overcoat. Both had great presence—mainly because they dressed well.

The two walked through the villa gate, chatting and laughing.

At the villa entrance, Liu Xiaoli and Xu Liyun stood facing each other; seeing them arrive, their faces relaxed and they couldn't help but feel happy.

Today was New Year's Day—the family gathering they'd planned!

"Mommies, we're back!" Liu Tianxian saw the two moms, happily dropped her suitcase, and hung the bag on her shoulder around the neck of the man beside her.

Leaving him behind, she spread her arms and rushed over!

Because her steps were quick, in no time she had thrown herself into the two moms' arms and nuzzled them, like a little baby who'd been away from home for too long.

In truth, they'd only been gone for a day—not all that long.

"Oh, coming back is good, coming back is good." Xu Liyun was happy to see her child, and lovingly patted Liu Tianxian's head.

"Look at you, the moment you're back you change—can't you behave properly?" Liu Xiaoli patted her daughter's back.

The two moms had completely different attitudes; a birth mother had to be a bit stricter.

"No, I just want to be in Mommy's arms—it's warm here." Liu Tianxian paid no mind to her mom's disdain, and went on acting her own way, acting coquettishly.

"Are you cold? If you're cold, go inside—don't stay out here." Xu Liyun was concerned.

"Not cold, I'm just hungry—did you make anything good?" Liu Tianxian tilted up her little face.

Completely ignoring that there was still a man behind her miserably dragging her luggage for her.

"I did—today we're having hot pot, your favorite." Xu Liyun smiled.

"Ah! Really?"

Liu Tianxian was delighted, raised her fists and said, "Then today I'm going to eat a huge meal!"

"Eat what eat—go help Xiao Fang carry the stuff. The moment you're home you don't lift a finger." Liu Xiaoli ordered her daughter.

"He can manage on his own—he's great." Liu Tianxian glanced back.

She saw Fang Hong dragging two big suitcases, with two big bags hanging from his neck and shoulder, like a koala.

Anyway, they were already home, and it was only this short distance left—he could drag them in if he had to.

Seeing her daughter wouldn't move, Liu Xiaoli had no choice but to step forward herself to help, taking the bag off Fang Hong's shoulder and reaching for one of the suitcases in his hand.

"It's fine, Mom—I can do it myself." Fang Hong declined.

"Give it to me." Liu Xiaoli took it.

Still, the mother-in-law knew how to care for people; once this daughter-in-law married into the family, she became a completely different person.

One after another, the group went inside. Once indoors they took off their bulky outerwear, and their figures all became much slimmer. Liu Tianxian was still chatting affectionately with Xu Liyun, laughter breaking out from time to time, as if they were the mother and daughter.

But everything Liu Tianxian chatted with her about was how the idol drama ended—playing to her tastes.

"Xixi, go tidy up your luggage." Liu Xiaoli set the luggage down inside and called out.

"Okay~" Liu Tianxian kissed Xu Liyun's cheek: "Mom, I'll head over first."

"Alright, I'll go prepare some dishes—you all come eat in a bit." Xu Liyun said.

Liu Tianxian gave an "mm" and went over to Fang Hong to help sort the luggage. The things they'd brought on the trip were basically all her belongings; Fang Hong only had some clothes.

"Sigh, once a woman tricks a man into her hands, she changes. Before, she was obedient and enthusiastic toward him, but once she has him, the novelty's gone and she turns cold." Fang Hong complained.

"Are you talking about me?" Liu Tianxian struck a cute pose; she seemed to be in a great mood.

"No, I was just sighing." Fang Hong said.

"Hehehe."

Liu Tianxian suddenly darted behind him, 讨好式 pounded his back a few times, rubbed his shoulders and said, "Have you been wronged?"

"No, I wouldn't dare!" Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian hugged his shoulders from behind, pressed her face against his and said, "I know my husband is the best, the most well-behaved."

"Well-behaved where?" Fang Hong squinted at her face, so close at hand, those tender cheeks.

"Everywhere." Liu Tianxian giggled.

Fang Hong bumped her little head with his—very gently!

Liu Tianxian laughed, and bumped back, using her head to bump his.

Fang Hong refused to back down either, pressing his forehead against hers; Liu Tianxian pushed back with all her might.

The two were like this, pressing their heads against each other, neither yielding, as if they had to decide a winner and a loser.

To onlookers, the two were just playing house.

"Xixi, Honghong, time to eat!" someone called from the kitchen.

That shout broke their action, and they both eased up. Liu Tianxian rubbed her own bumped forehead: "You never let me win."

"You don't let me win—why should I let you win?" Fang Hong said, as if it were the most natural thing.

"And you still need a woman to let you win—are you even a man?" Liu Tianxian said.

"Whether I'm a man or not, others may not know, but don't you? How about I take my pants off and show you."

"Go ahead and take them off—if you dare take them off, I dare look." Liu Tianxian raised her voice, looking like she was daring him to try.

Fang Hong was bumped into silence. In broad daylight, with the two moms still here, how could he possibly take them off? He was only saying it, but he hadn't expected Liu Tianxian to play outside the rules.

"You don't dare take them off, do you? Want me to help you take them off?" Liu Tianxian laughed out loud, and as she spoke she went and savagely yanked his pants downward, really trying to pull them down.

Fang Hong hurriedly grabbed his waistband: "Are you crazy, you're really doing it?" "Hahaha, you think I'm faking?" Liu Tianxian laughed loudly, grabbed his pants and started pulling them down, knowing he was wearing long underwear.

This move was like some crazy woman—Fang Hong couldn't take it. Protecting his waistband, he ran toward the kitchen: "Mom, Liu Yifei wants to take my pants off!"

"Nonsense—can't you act like a girl?" Liu Xiaoli watched the two of them tugging at each other and glared at her daughter.

Liu Tianxian stopped, her expression sheepish, and kicked Fang Hong's butt with her foot—always running to tattle.

Fang Hong brushed the dust off his own butt.

Xu Liyun said nothing, just stood there grinning foolishly, knowing they were only messing around.

Afterwards the whole family gathered around the dining table, on which sat a steaming hot pot, with many side dishes arranged around it.

After eating for a while, Liu Tianxian's face flushed red from the spice, and every now and then she had to hiss "sii—haa" twice; her manner was rather cute.

"Ding ding ding!" The phone suddenly rang.

"Who's calling?" Liu Tianxian took a sip of water, fanned herself with her hand, and looked at Fang Hong's phone.

"Old Zhang."

Fang Hong glanced at the phone, then picked up.

Liu Xiaoli was puzzled, and mouthed at her daughter: "Who is it?"

"Director Zhang Hongsen." Liu Tianxian sucked in a breath of cold air, looking thoroughly scalded by the spice.

Liu Xiaoli suddenly understood — such a high-ranking official being called Old Zhang, not a shred of respect.

The room went quiet, not wanting to disturb Fang Hong's phone call.

Liu Tianxian picked up a piece of vegetable, swished it in the hot pot, dipped it in the chili sauce, and popped it into her mouth in one bite; that one mouthful left her lips swollen and red, yet she still loved eating it.

"Oh, okay, okay!" Fang Hong said "okay" a few times, then hung up the phone.

"What is it?" Liu Tianxian asked curiously.

"Old Zhang said Big Hero 6 has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film," Fang Hong said.

"Ah! Really?" Liu Tianxian exclaimed in surprise.

"Really. If possible, they'll let me personally lead the team to the United States, and it can all be reimbursed as a business expense." Fang Hong said smugly, giving her rosy little cheek a pat.

The expenses for their trip to the United States this time would be paid and reimbursed by the higher-ups — clearly the higher-ups attached great importance to Big Hero 6 winning an award.

"Wow! You're really amazing." Liu Tianxian was thrilled, and her little mouth suddenly pressed against Fang Hong's lips.

"Holy—!" Fang Hong felt something was wrong and quickly pushed her away; his lips were smeared with chili oil, and it burned him.

"Can you wipe your mouth clean first?" Fang Hong wiped his mouth — it was bright red, all chili oil.

"Let you taste the spicy girl." Liu Tianxian laughed.

"Hehehe."

The two mothers held their foreheads, laughing themselves silly — these two really were, like a pair of living treasures.

One loved to make a fuss, the other loved to tease!

In the villa, they chatted as they ate, punctuated from time to time by laughter; the loudest laughter was that little baby voice.

Compared with the steaming warmth and harmonious scene inside the house, outside it was snowing heavily and the cold wind was howling.

Recently Big Hero 6's domestic box office run was winding down; the total domestic box office was 683 million yuan, equivalent to 97.57 million USD.

Including the domestic take, the film's worldwide box office was 678 million USD — simply terrifying.

Mainstream media on the internet kept reporting on the achievements of this animated film, with rolling coverage every day; netizens were numb to it.

They said this animated film was a milestone for China, a work marking the rise of domestic animation, something that gave the nation face — worthy of celebration.

In short, it was hyped every which way, blown up to the skies; after all, for an animated film to achieve such results internationally was truly rare — it could be said to have brought glory to the world stage.

This was an event that had to be written about at length; if it weren't written about at length, it would be politically incorrect.

"Big Hero 6 has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards!"

"A Classic in Film History! Why Big Hero 6 Wrote Animated Films into the Oscar Best Foreign Language Category."

"Following Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Chinese-language film Big Hero 6 is the second to be nominated for the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film."

Such a piece of news suddenly exploded online, and every major media portal put it on the front page headline.

Regardless of whether people accepted it or knew what it meant, they insisted on hammering home this big event.

Seeing such a grand-scale report, netizens also felt it was impressive.

Because in the past several decades, apart from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, only Big Hero 6 — this one Chinese-language animated film — had been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

And whether in box office or in correctness, it was stronger than the former Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, because Big Hero 6 was produced by a pure mainland team.

One had to know that our country basically submitted at least one outstanding work for the Oscars every year.

This year the submission was The Nightingale, last year it was Back to 1942; previously Hero, Red Sorghum, The Promise and others had all been submitted, but none had succeeded in getting nominated.

For decades, countless filmmakers had thrown themselves at it one after another, yet only Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had won; all the rest were cannon fodder — one could imagine how difficult it was, how could it not excite people.

One could say Jade Rabbit had made history — an animated film submitted and immediately nominated for an Oscar.

Of course, this was with Universal's help in working things behind the scenes; the call from Zhang Hongsen was to inform them — submitting required going through a procedure with the higher-ups first; you couldn't just submit whenever you felt like it.

So the higher-ups knew first, and only then did Fang Hong know.

If it could win an award, this would be an event worthy of being recorded in the annals of history — after all, it was a Chinese-language animated film.

Even those with ulterior motives couldn't obstruct it!

(End of chapter)