Chapter 82 Expansion
In the evening, the sun has not yet dissipated, and the afterglow of the setting sun dyes the sky and clouds with beautiful colors. The evening breeze blows gently, and the flowers and plants in the courtyard also sway.

Fang Shuyun and Xu Hongdou were sitting in the courtyard of the villa chatting about family matters in a harmonious atmosphere.

Xu Hongdou looked into the villa from time to time and said, "Auntie, why don't I go and help them?"

Chen Mo and Jiang Congwen were busy in the kitchen preparing today's dinner. Chen Mo was the chef and Jiang Congwen was helping him.

"No need. Since they said they would cook me a meal as a birthday gift, just let them do it." Fang Shuyun smiled and patted the back of Xu Hongdou's hand.

"Besides, how can you be allowed into the kitchen on your first visit to our house?"

"Chen Mo and I often cook together." Xu Hongdou said with a smile.

"That's what you young people do outside, but this is your first time coming to our home, Hongdou, so it has a different meaning." Fang Shuyun shook his head.

Xu Hongdou pursed her lips when she heard this. Sometimes, whether a family respects you or not, whether they welcome you or not, can be best reflected in their subtle words and actions.

During their casual chat, Fang Shuyun also learned some about Xu Hongdou's family situation. Fang Shuyun did not think that it was a bad thing to have a gap between the two families.

It is true that the economic gap often leads to conflicts between two people in their views on consumption and values, which can easily evolve into irreconcilable contradictions over time.

But this is not absolute, it mainly depends on the person.

Firstly, Fang Shuyun felt that under her guidance, Chen Mo did not have the extravagant idea of ​​spending money lavishly.

Secondly, this family business was built by her and Chen Huaisong from scratch, it was not something they were born with.

Therefore, the two of them did not think that their family was a wealthy one and they did not need to pay attention to the idea of ​​being well-matched.

On the contrary, Fang Shuyun prefers families like Xu Hongdou, who are not extremely wealthy but have more than enough.

It is inevitable that princesses are pampered, but Xu Hongdou is not like that. She has a generous personality and is not shy in what she says or does.

Moreover, after learning about some of Xu Hongdou's sister Xu Hongmi's situation in Shanghai, Fang Shuyun had nothing to worry about about the family that could raise daughters like Xu Hongdou and Xu Hongmi.

Anyway, after some contact, Fang Shuyun became more and more satisfied with Xu Hongdou.

The sky gradually darkened, the last ray of sunset was about to disappear, and a crescent moon appeared in the sky above the city.

"Let's go in. Your uncle and the others should be back soon." Fang Shuyun said.

"Okay." Xu Hongdou nodded with a smile.

As soon as they returned to the living room, they saw Chen Huaisong, Su Lixing, Lin Nanxi and Zhang Yundong coming in from the door.

Lin Nanxi and others greeted Fang Shuyun when they saw her.

"teacher."

"teacher."

Fang Shuyun looked at them, nodded and smiled, "Why are you all here together?"

"Yundong and Nanxi happened to be in the company, so they came with me." Chen Huaisong said.

"I just happened to meet him halfway," Su Lixing added.

"Let me introduce you. This is Hongdou, Chen Mo's girlfriend." Fang Shuyun introduced.

"Uncle." Xu Hongdou called Chen Huaisong first, and then greeted the others.

"Hello, Hongdou, welcome to our home. Your aunt has been talking to me a lot about you these days." Chen Huaisong smiled kindly.

In fact, as soon as Chen Huaisong entered the room, he noticed Xu Hongdou standing behind Fang Shuyun. She was really impeccable in appearance, no wonder Chen Mo was attracted to her.

Feeling Chen Huaisong's attitude, Xu Hongdou's heart finally settled down.

Both Fang Shuyun and Chen Huaisong gave Xu Hongdou a very friendly and kind feeling, and there was none of the bloody plots in TV dramas that she had previously worried about.

"Hongdou, we meet again." Lin Nanxi walked to Xu Hongdou with a smile.

"Sister Nan." Xu Hongdou also greeted Lin Nanxi.

"Do you know each other?" Fang Shuyun looked at the two of them with some surprise.

"Hongdou and I just met a few days ago. I asked Chen Mo to take me to meet her." Lin Nanxi explained with a smile.

"Oh, I see." Fang Shuyun nodded.

At this time, Chen Mo and Jiang Congwen also came out of the kitchen and brought the last two dishes to the table.

"The time is perfect. Now that everyone is here, please sit down and get ready to eat." Chen Mo greeted everyone.

Lin Nanxi walked quickly to the dining table, looked at the table full of dishes, and then looked at Chen Mo wearing an apron, and asked in surprise: "Did you make all these?"

Chen Mo glanced and said, "No, I asked the restaurant to send it over and I heated it up and served it."

Lin Nanxi raised her eyebrows, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Chen Mo shook his head. "I thought you were blind, asking questions even though you knew the answer."

"Hey, do you feel inflated after finding out you have a girlfriend?" Lin Nanxi looked at him unkindly.

"It's hard not to be arrogant." Chen Mo had a look on his face that asked for a beating.

Lin Nanxi's eyes turned and she shouted in a wronged voice: "Teacher, look at Chen Mo."

"Look, there are still people here who are single." Chen Mo interrupted Lin Nanxi's spell casting and shouted first.

There was no way. Chen Mo was too familiar with Lin Nanxi. As soon as Lin Nanxi's eyes rolled around, Chen Mo knew what she was planning.

"Okay, you two, you're all grown up." Fang Shuyun walked over, shaking his head.

"That's right, you're already so old and still single." Chen Mo continued.

Once upon a time, facing Lin Nanxi's repeated oppression, Chen Mo dared not speak out.

Just two months ago, Lin Nanxi would often tease and bully him about the fact that he was being urged to get married.

Now, it's finally his turn.

Lin Nanxi stared at Chen Mo "fiercely", but Chen Mo was not afraid at all. His revenge would be achieved today!
"Xiao Mo, Nan Xi is older than you and is your sister. Don't be rude to her." Fang Shuyun said.

"Teacher, you still love me~~" Lin Nanxi walked to Fang Shuyun and hugged Fang Shuyun's arm.

Chen Mo couldn't help but curl his lips when he looked at Lin Nanxi's "delicate and weak" appearance.

Here we go again, the same trick every time.

"You." Fang Shuyun gently tapped Lin Nanxi's head with her hand, her eyes doting.

"No matter how much I love you, I can't love you forever."

"Xiao Mo is right. You are not a child anymore. You should tighten your belt."

Lin Nanxi's face froze for a moment, while Chen Mo burst into laughter.

Su Lixing glanced at Zhang Yundong and reminded him softly: "No one can wait for you forever."

Hearing this, Zhang Yundong took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

He knew it, but
"Okay, everyone, please sit down and try Chen Mo and Congwen's cooking." Chen Huaisong invited them.

"I just helped out, washing and cutting vegetables." Jiang Congwen was embarrassed to take credit for it.

"Then we'd better eat the ready-made food." Su Lixing said with a smile.

"Okay, we're all family, no need to be polite, just sit down." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Hmph, I want to see if your skills are half as good as our teacher's." Lin Nanxi was ready to find fault.

"I poisoned it, you'd better not eat it." Chen Mo raised his eyebrows.

Everyone looked at the two men, and they were not surprised at all, so they all sat down.

"Come on, let's wish the teacher a happy birthday together. May you have this day every year." Su Lixing raised the glass first.

Among those present, apart from Chen Huaisong and Fang Shuyun, it was Su Lixing's turn to be at the front.

"Teacher, best wishes to you."

"Mom, wish you."

"Auntie, best wishes to you"

Everyone stood up and one person said a blessing.

"Okay, thank you for celebrating my birthday with me. I hope you all will be healthy and safe and get better and better." Fang Shuyun said with a smile.

As a teacher, what could be more gratifying than seeing the students you taught still remember you? "Hmm? Xiao Mo's cooking skills are pretty good." Su Lixing praised.

"Really?" Chen Mo smiled.

"I think it's just so-so." Lin Nanxi curled her lips.

"Then don't eat it."

"Just eat it and piss you off to death."

Chen Mo ignored Lin Nanxi and picked up some food that Xu Hongdou couldn't reach. "Eat more. Tell me if you want to eat anything else."

"Yeah." Xu Hongdou nodded and said softly, "Not too much, I won't be able to finish it later."

"Eat as much as you want. Give me the leftovers." Chen Mo said softly.

Everyone at the table saw the intimacy between the two and smiled.

Lin Nanxi glanced at Zhang Yundong beside her and said casually, "The plate of shrimp is a bit far away."

"Huh? Is it far?" Zhang Yundong was confused.

"It's a bit difficult to clamp." Lin Nanxi nodded.

"Then stand up and take it. We are all family anyway, there is nothing to be embarrassed about." Zhang Yundong said.

Lin Nanxi rolled her eyes.

Jiang Congwen, who was standing next to them, heard the two people's whispered conversation, touched Zhang Yundong's arm, and signaled towards Chen Mo and Xu Hongdou with his eyes.

Zhang Yundong reacted and looked at Lin Nanxi, "Then I'll help you with that?"

"Forget it, I won't eat it." Lin Nanxi shook her head, "It's too troublesome to peel the shrimp, and I have new nails."

Zhang Yundong nodded, "Oh, let's eat something else, there are so many dishes."

Lin Nanxi suddenly felt that she had breast hyperplasia.

Jiang Congwen next to him was also stunned. He finally understood why Chen Mo said "blockhead" that day.

Jiang Congwen saw that Zhang Yundong was very capable at work and in dealing with interpersonal relationships in the company, and his emotional intelligence and EQ were fine. So why did he seem a little bit slow when it came to relationships?
Could love make people dull? Jiang Congwen didn't quite understand.

Everyone had a happy meal together and after the meal they sat and chatted for a while, which is a must-do program every year.

It started because on Fang Shuyun’s birthday, she didn’t allow Lin Nanxi and the others to give gifts, saying that if they wanted to give gifts, everyone just had to sing a song.

Later this activity was preserved as a tradition.

Whenever they got together, they would play music, sing, and communicate with each other. It was also an opportunity for Fang Shuyun to test whether he had lost anything he had learned.

Chen Mo gave Xu Hongdou a brief explanation.

"I don't know how." Following behind the crowd, Xu Hongdou whispered to Chen Mo.

She didn't study music.

"It's okay, my dad doesn't know how to do it either. It's just an entertainment activity." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Just think of it as singing karaoke. If you want to sing, then sing. If you don't want to sing, then just think of it as a small concert."

Xu Hongdou heaved a sigh of relief after hearing that. Otherwise, it would be so embarrassing for her to be the only amateur among so many professionals.

The location is Chen Mo’s piano practice room.

The practice room is equipped with all necessary equipment including microphones, speakers, and various musical instruments.

Whether it is guitar, piano, drum set, or pipa, erhu, and suona, all common musical instruments are available.

There are also many strange and niche musical instruments that many people have never heard of, which can be considered Chen Mo's collection.

Chen Mofan would buy any musical instrument he knew about to play with.

Several people came to the piano room and sat down randomly. It looked like a university music club, nothing fancy.

Seeing how casual everyone was, Xu Hongdou finally felt relieved and started to look forward to it.

After all, the scene with so many people present could really be called a concert.

"Then who will go first?" Su Lixing asked with a smile.

"Then let me warm up the atmosphere first." Chen Mo stood up and said.

"sure."

"welcome."

"applause."

The atmosphere was very relaxed.

Chen Mo took a guitar, set up the microphone, and did a quick sound test.

"Then I will start by showing you one of my original songs, 'Swelling'."

Lin Nanxi raised her eyebrows when she heard the name. She seemed to have just said that Chen Mo was arrogant before dinner, and now Chen Mo sang a song called "Inflated". It was hard to think that it was not intentional.

"Has anyone heard of this?"

"never heard of that."

“It should be a new song.”

Zhang Yundong knew that Chen Mo was also recording his own album quietly without making it public.

Chen Mo showed him those songs, and this one was indeed not among them.

Zhang Yundong couldn't help but sigh at Chen Mo's creative speed. How many songs has this been? An album is almost full of them, right?

Chen Mo made some simple adjustments, and his fingertips played a cheerful tune on the guitar, followed by a humorous and peculiar singing voice.

Everyone couldn't help but be stunned.

I want to fly to the sky
Go herd sheep

Give my beloved sheep some marshmallows
I want to stand on the sea

Catching a big moon
Hanging on the roof, it is bright and clear.

"Is this yodeling?" Su Lixing reacted immediately.

Fang Shuyun nodded, "This singing method uses real voice in the middle and low range, and then suddenly uses falsetto to enter the high range, using these two methods to quickly alternate singing to create a unique effect."

Xu Hongdou, who was standing next to her, suddenly realized what was going on and quietly stuck out her tongue.

Just now she thought Chen Mo was deliberately joking, but she didn't expect there was a reason behind it.

I want to be willful, so I am willful

I want to be stubborn, and I can be stubborn
See who can do this to me.

I think I won't hesitate.

I think if I'm not confused, I won't be confused.

Is there anything more expansive than this?

With the cocky lyrics, the cheerful tune, the weird singing voice, and Chen Mo's asking-for-a-beating look, Lin Nanxi was certain that Chen Mo was just showing off to her.

I want to sit on the top of the mountain
Listen to the wind singing

Waiting for the first light of sunrise to shine on my face

I'm going to wander alone

Walk to a distant place

I am not panicked at all when I can’t walk anymore.】

I have to say, the first part of this song sounds a bit strange, but the second part is a bit addictive, and it makes people feel inexplicably happy and cheerful.

Like waving a cattle whip, driving a small train, shouting freely on the vast grassland under the blue sky and white clouds.

On the top of the mountain, enjoying the free and unrestrained mountain breeze, waiting for the clouds to be dispelled and the first golden color to appear in the east.

(End of this chapter)