Chapter 20: Exclusive on Jinjiang 2/4

Ouyang Xi complained for a bit before coming back to his senses, surprised. “You’re buying a house? I thought it was for investment. I think investment properties are much simpler than the one you live in. I’ll send you a list later; it has some good developments, and there’s one with good growth recently.”

When it came to investment-related things, Ouyang Xi loved to use foreign language expressions, and his tone became much more professional.

“Not for investment,” Shi Zhang interrupted him. “It’s for living.”

“Ah, you’re changing houses.” Ouyang Xi laughed. “Isn’t your current one enough for you alone?”

Naturally, Shi Zhang replied, “I want to get a new one, for two people.”

“What are you saying?” Ouyang Xi’s ears seemed to be malfunctioning tonight. After raising the volume and speaking faster, he asked, “Two people, with whom?”

Shi Zhang’s lips carried a faint smile, his tone unusually calm. “With my husband.”

He paused for a moment, lightly adding, “I’m married.”

The other end of the phone fell into silence for a long time, followed by an earth-shattering roar: “You got married?”

Then came a string of question marks and exclamation marks.

“What did you just say?” Ouyang Xi’s ears seemed to be very unreliable tonight. After a long pause, he raised his volume and spoke faster: “You got married?”

Shi Zhang repeated, “I got married.”

“Oh, that’s impressive, Old Shi Zhang. You really went and did it! While we were still fooling around with jokes, you actually took action. Awesome.”

Ouyang Xi immediately shared this piece of news with Zhong Ziyan, and for the next half hour, the two of them bombarded Shi Zhang with non-stop comments.

strongly condemning this attitude of not reporting major events and vehemently protesting against such sudden marriage rule-breaking behavior.

Zhong Ziyan even couldn’t believe it: “You really got married? After introducing so many people back then, you didn’t even look at them, and now you drop such a bomb on us.”

“I really got married.”

Shi Zhang directly took a photo of the marriage certificate, clearly showing the stamped names and wedding photos.

After a moment of silence, Zhong Ziyan suddenly whistled.

“Your husband is even more handsome than you,” she remarked.

Ouyang Xi scoffed and pulled out a foreign language pun, “How pay?”

Shi Zhang replied, “Of course.”

He answered both sentences at once.

Next was the eagerly anticipated household registration inquiry section: What does your husband do, how old is he, what does Professor Wang think of your relationship, and so on.

The two bombarded him with a bunch of questions. Shi Zhang didn’t say much, calmly stating, “First, tell me what pitfalls to avoid when buying a house.”

Ouyang Xi sneered at him, “Now you’re acting all high and mighty!”

Fine, Professor Shi originally called to ask about housing matters, so Ouyang Xi reluctantly told him about the pitfalls they encountered when buying a house.

It was a significant topic. Ouyang Xi spent several months buying a house, needing to visit each property personally to discover potential issues. He and his wife had their own requirements, and there were disagreements that even led to arguments. Finally, after a lot of effort, they settled on one.

“Be prepared for a long battle,” Ouyang Xi warned. “You’ll still have a lot to deal with during the renovation; that’s where the real pitfalls are.”

“You’ll have to spend your weekends going to the building materials market, finding a designer, comparing prices, and supervising the construction at home. There’s no time to rest.”

Zhong Ziyan clicked her tongue and said, “Really troublesome.”

“How about you, Miss Zhong? Buying a house is like buying groceries for you. You just go all out, fully loaded, and can’t feel the troubles us ordinary folks face,” Ouyang Xi teased her.

After Ouyang Xi imparted his experiences in buying a house, the two of them pried into Shi Zhang’s personal life, finally letting him off after a while.

The call lasted long enough to make the back of Shi Zhang’s phone scorching hot.

Before the phone could cool down, another call came in, this time from Tong Tong.

“Hey, Old Zhang, did you see the stuff I sent you?” Tong Tong asked urgently.

“I haven’t looked carefully.”

“There’s a partner who needs a response tonight about whether we can participate in the event at the end of next month. I also sent you invitations for several exhibitions and esports competitions; check them out quickly.”

“Summer vacation is not far away, and we need to finalize the schedule. You better decide the dates for the events you want to attend.”

“You’re surprisingly patient this year.”

Shi Zhang looked at the event details sent by Tong Tong, then glanced at the three pages of the home-buying and renovation guide on his computer, along with the plan he casually drew. The schedule was packed for the next three months, from buying a house to renovation.

Tong Tong, a bit excited, said, “I heard there’s a cosplay exchange event in Japan, and they’re looking for guests globally. I think you should be the first one they look for in the Greater China region.”

“Tong Tong,” Shi Zhang said in a gentle tone, gently interrupting her.

“I might not have much time in the future. I’m sorry, I can’t promise to attend any events.”

Tong Tong frowned slightly, remembering that Shi Zhang had refused some events recently.

“What are you really?”

Shi Zhang’s voice remained calm. “Three years ago, Teacher Xiao Qing retired from the circle. Do you remember why?”

Xiao Qing was a legendary male cosplayer who could sing, dance, and do voice acting. He always had a smiling demeanor, and many people liked him.

His personal profile had hung there for many years, sounding quite distressing, always saying, “I will love the second dimension forever!”

Until one day, he suddenly announced his retirement and changed his signature to, “I’m going back to the third dimension, but I will always love this place.”

“I remember,” Tong Tong grumbled, “because Xiao Qing got married, his wife got pregnant, and he wants to take care of the child.”

Shi Zhang held the edge of his scorching hot phone, looking down. “I got married.”

The other end of the phone suddenly fell silent.

“So, I might not have too much free time.”

“This summer vacation might only be enough to finish the busy Comic Expo with Zhong Zi.”

“After that, we’ll see.”

“Damn.”

Tong Tong was cursed.

After cursing, she said fiercely, “Get lost with my blessings.”

—

“You’re really not going to the Comic Expo? Then I’ll just buy a ticket for myself,” Luo Lulv said, swiping her phone, not even looking at Song Fuzhi.

Song Fuzhi also had his head down, making a sound of agreement.

“You’re still looking at houses?” Luo Lulv drawled.

“Yeah,” Song Fuzhi said, pressing his temples. “It’s dazzling.”

“Ah, I see.” Luo Lulv bent forward, pushing away Song Fuzhi’s phone. “Can’t you just live in your current house? One for each of you, and you’re still not satisfied? Just pick one randomly. Why go through all this trouble?”

Song Fuzhi said, “My current house is not big.”

And there was another reason: his room was filled with too many personal hobbies. The manga figurines were manageable, but the more troublesome ones were the shelves of cosplayer works and the half-drawer of high-tech gadgets he had collected.

This was Song Fuzhi’s private territory; even his parents had never entered, let alone a husband he wasn’t very familiar with.

“Teacher Luo, do you have any advice on buying a house?” Song Fuzhi looked at the dozen or so open browser windows side by side, sighing softly.

Right as he said that, a WeChat notification popped up, a file sent by Shi Zhang with no accompanying message.

Song Fuzhi opened it and found neatly organized records of the house-viewing, with various precautions and areas marked with small red exclamation marks indicating potential pitfalls.

This time, Song Fuzhi was truly shocked.

If buying a house is also a skill, Professor Shi should be able to publish a top paper in this field.

Song Fuzhi replied to him: “You’ve organized it too clearly. Did you stay up late writing it?”

Shi Zhang: “I didn’t stay up late. I’m used to organizing, so I wrote it.”

Song Fuzhi was impressed: “Very useful; it makes comparing houses much easier. Thank you, Professor Shi.”

Shi Zhang: “You’re welcome. Take your time with the house search.”

With this guide, Song Fuzhi felt that some of the anxiety in her heart had been eased. The recorded information made her feel more secure.

Luo Luli came over to watch and exclaimed, “Truly worthy of a professor.”

Song Fuzhi said, “Indeed, quite impressive.”

Luo Luli suddenly squinted her eyes, her tone playful. “What do we do? I feel like your husband is a stickler, meticulous even when looking at houses. Will he need a schedule for bedtime activities?”

Song Fuzhi stuffed a cream puff into Luo Luli’s mouth, saying, “Eat your pastry.”

Luo Luli smiled with narrowed eyes, eating the puff, and mumbled, “Soon you’ll be sharing a bed with Professor Stern; does that mean you won’t have time for handsome guys? For example, going to an anime expo with me.”

“After living together, we can look at handsome guys online,” Song Fuzhi said. “I’m too lazy to go out.”

Luo Luli rolled her eyes. “Your little juice is really unromantic.”

Song Fuzhi and Shi Zhang were probably the most distant legal partners in the country; they only contacted each other when necessary.

Besides house hunting, another thing they needed to do together was have a meal at Song Fuzhi’s home.

As they agreed last time, this time it was Song Fuzhi’s turn to drive and pick up Shi Zhang.

As soon as Song Fuzhi’s car arrived in the garage, Shi Zhang came out of the stairwell.

Professor Shi was probably naturally likeable. He wore a plain linen shirt, neatly combed hair, and bright glasses—quite the stable intellectual.

“My aunt and uncle’s families are both nice; just the kids are a bit lively,” Song Fuzhi said. “No need to be too nervous.”

This might be a pointless statement because Professor Shi seemed never nervous in any situation.

The dinner was still at Song Fuzhi’s parents’ house. As they entered, a chubby little cannonball bumped into Song Fuzhi’s thigh.