Friendship

After returning home, Shen Ze rummaged through the house. He knew he couldn't go to someone's house empty-handed, but he first needed to see if he had anything suitable to bring. He couldn't very well bring two boxes of milk, could he? He thought he was visiting relatives who weren't short of money and would want to save face.

Of course, it didn't need to be too expensive. He quickly found a bottle of Moutai. His family had quite a lot of it. How could a reborn person not hoard some Moutai? After he became rich, he would buy some from time to time.

He also brought a bottle of white wine, a sweet one. Shen Ze loves milk tea and drinks, and doesn't really like alcohol. Although he drank a lot of red wine when he was dating, he wasn't willing to force himself to drink dry red wine, but he could handle sweet wine.

He bought these earlier, seven or eight bottles at once. They're not expensive, just over a thousand yuan a bottle. Not all wines cost hundreds of thousands; he's not that rich yet.

Two bottles of wine, a Lego set, and a Wild Beast aromatherapy gift set—these are the products Wild Beast gave him. After all, he's a spokesperson, so they gave him quite a few. Some are kept in his studio, and some are at home, so they're perfect for gifting. All of these are worth about six or seven thousand yuan, which isn't bad at all; it's quite appropriate.

He was waiting for He Jiong to pick him up. It was quite quick. They chatted along the way and arrived at the Central Villa District in about forty minutes. Huang Lei lived there.

……

"You're too kind, bringing so much stuff. And the wine? Perfect, let's drink it all tonight." The car stopped right in front of the villa, where Huang Lei was waiting. He was very polite when he saw what Shen Ze had brought.

"Teacher He, Shen Ze, it's been a long time." Upon entering the house, looking at the European-style decoration, plaster ceiling, dark brown wood floor, a piano by the window in the living room, and a European-style fireplace, it wasn't the kind of decoration that looked super luxurious at first glance. However, given Huang Lei's personality, who is artistic and a bit pretentious, it was impossible for the decoration to be too extravagant. After entering the house, Sun Li stood up from the sofa to greet him.

"We haven't really been apart for a long time, haven't we just seen each other a couple of days ago?" He Jiong smiled. His relationship with Huang Lei's family was very close in every way.

Besides starting a company with Huang Lei, they also have a personal relationship, or rather, starting the company is a development of their personal relationship to a certain extent.

Huang Lei and He Jiong are still deeply involved in the field of drama, with plays touring every year. The famous "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land" is one of their collaborations, which has lasted for more than ten years, and Sun Li is also one of the main actors in it. "Sister Li, it's been a long time." Shen Ze nodded. Compared to He Jiong's ease and naturalness, he just needed to perform normally.

"Li, please greet them, I have a few more dishes to make." Huang Lei went straight to the kitchen as soon as he entered. It was an open kitchen, and a middle-aged woman was chopping vegetables on one side; she was probably the housekeeper.

"Is Duo Duo not here? School's out, right? Where's Duo Mei? Still sleeping?"

"He has a piano lesson, so he should be back soon. Duo Mei just fell asleep. Sigh, Shen Ze, you haven't met my two daughters yet. You'll meet them in a bit. My little girl gets especially happy when she sees a good-looking person."

They chatted casually, mainly Sun Li and He Jiong. Of course, with He Jiong around, Shen Ze wouldn't be ignored either, which is quite normal.

A short while later, Huang Duoduo returned, a girl who seemed a little shy. Of course, this shyness was because Shen Ze was a stranger.

"Duoduo, look who's here! Say hello." Sun Li's words made Shen Ze a little embarrassed. It was as if he heard Lin Fengxia's voice. During the New Year, whenever someone came to visit, his parents would always tell him to greet them if he didn't know them well, but he had long forgotten who was who.

"Hello, Brother Shen Ze, my name is Huang Yici. It's nice to meet you." However, unlike him, Duoduo, although she is not old, only about ten years old, is a little girl, but she seems to be quite socialized.

"Hello, Duoduo, Sister Li, do you know what? I was really nervous when you asked Duoduo to greet me just now."

"What's wrong?" Sun Li asked, puzzled.

"It felt like I was back in my hometown. People came to visit, but I didn't recognize any of them. My parents just told me to greet them, but I didn't even know their names. It was quite scary."

"Seriously? You're still like this?" Sun Li laughed, this time genuinely unable to hold back. "Yeah, what are you laughing at? This is perfectly normal, isn't it? It's awkward when you force people who aren't familiar with each other to be together. I have my reasons for this, do you want to hear them?"

"Tell me about it."

"It's just like cooking. Why do parents always think their children are picky eaters? It's because the parents are the ones in charge in a family. When buying groceries, they subconsciously refuse vegetables they don't like and don't buy them at all. They only buy what they can and like to eat, so naturally they're not picky eaters."

Similarly, people who come to your house as guests, like me, I know you, Sister Li, and Teacher Huang, so there's no awkwardness. But to Duoduo, I'm just a strange uncle, don't you think, Duoduo?"

"From a dialectical perspective, your statement does make sense," Huang Lei said.

"Duoduo, is that what you think?" Sun Li hugged her daughter.

"A little, but not too unfamiliar. I've seen Brother Shen Ze on TV. Apart from that scumbag in 'Diamond Lover,' Brother Shen Ze is a good person." Duo Duo understood.

"You've really watched it?" Shen Ze originally thought that Huang Lei's invitation and the statement that Duo Duo liked him were just polite words, but he was surprised that he had even watched "Diamond Lover". He didn't know if he watched it as a side effect because the TV series was popular, or if he watched it specifically for this reason.

"Didn't Teacher Huang tell you that Duoduo really likes you? The first time she knew about you was when you did the voice acting for 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back'."

How many movies did Duoduo do voice acting back then? Teacher Huang used you as an example, and since you had some works released at that time, Duoduo knew about you.

But actually, her favorite is Zhou Shengan. We little girls like handsome guys too, right, Duoduo?" Sun Li's words made Duoduo a little embarrassed.

However, that makes sense now. Zhou Shengan is the most handsome character Shen Ze has ever played in film and television, without a doubt. The plot of this movie is actually thin, but it's a romance movie, so the focus is on the good looks of the male and female leads. Shen Ze and Nazha's good looks definitely add a lot to this movie. "Duoduo, I'm sorry," Sun Li said with a smile.

"Sister Li, your personality is quite awful. You know she's embarrassed, but you still say it. However, Duoduo does look like she's her age now, unlike before when she seemed like a little adult."

"Shen Ze, what did you just say? You seem to think of me as your mother, right?" Sun Li didn't answer directly, but her words were full of teasing.

The fastest way to build a friendship is when you invite someone to your home for a meal. You can eat a hundred meals at restaurants, but it might not be as good as inviting someone to your home for one meal.

Logically speaking, Shen Ze and Sun Li hadn't met many times, but since he was invited to her home, their relationship naturally took a step forward. Otherwise, Sun Li would never have made such a joke.

Shen Ze didn't reply to that. No matter how he replied, it wouldn't be appropriate. After all, their statuses were different. If he replied in a frivolous way, it would be considered flirting, which wouldn't be good. It was also time to start eating.

"Shen Ze, is the movie you're filming in Bangkok right now also invested in by your company?" Huang Lei asked at the dinner table.