CHAPTER 198: CHAPTER 198: SURPRISE OR SHOCK?

After staying in the hospital for three days, Tian Xiang left with the baby.

The Meng Family welcomed a new member, and many people came to visit. Even Meng Shaoqing made time to come and brought a set of English novels as a gift for the little grand-nephew.

Giving English novels to such a young child seems quite farsighted.

Meng Zhi also gave the little one a gift, a gold bowl and spoon.

That’s a very generous gift.

For a whole week, there were visitors at the house.

Mr. Meng was extremely happy; the usually quiet house was finally bustling with activity.

Once the visits dwindled, Tian Xiang asked Meng Cheng’an to inventory the gifts given to their son and record them in a little notebook, which would become part of their son’s future possessions.

Tian Xiang: "By the way, do you think we should add something too? Otherwise, when he looks at the book, everyone would have given something except his parents."

Tian Xiang looked at the little one sleeping peacefully in her arms, smiling happily and tenderly.

Before the child was born, she indeed had a tough time, especially with the anxiety of temporarily giving up her career, which made her quite depressed.

But after her son was born, that feeling vanished. Looking at the little one in her arms, her heart was healed, and she felt it was all worth it.

Meng Cheng’an: "Didn’t we give him life? What more does this little guy want?"

Meng Cheng’an hadn’t thought about this at all.

Tian Xiang pouted, "Why does it feel like you, as a dad, don’t care about your son?"

Meng Cheng’an laughed and put his arm around his wife’s shoulder, "What do you have in mind then?"

Tian Xiang thought about it and didn’t know either.

The good things she had were gifts from others, which could be passed down as inheritance but were not appropriate to re-gift.

Tian Xiang: "How about you write a piece of calligraphy for him and put both our names on it?"

Meng Cheng’an chuckled, "Got it, I’ll write it tomorrow."

They put the inventoried items into a dedicated safe.

After Meng Cheng’an finished helping Tian Xiang wash up, the little one woke up, needing to be fed again.

Though the whole family was delighted with the addition of the little one, it was quite exhausting, as he woke five or six times a night.

During the day, Hu Honglian helped take care of him, and they had hired a nanny for cooking and cleaning, but at night, the couple managed everything themselves.

Changing diapers and holding the baby were Meng Cheng’an’s tasks, but he couldn’t handle the feeding part.

Within just a week, the dark circles under Meng Cheng’an’s eyes grew more prominent, and he was dealing with them all the time.

Tian Xiang felt quite sorry for him, but there was nothing to be done.

After feeding the little one and coaxing him back to sleep, Tian Xiang yawned, ready to sleep herself.

Meng Cheng’an turned off the overhead light and got into bed to hug his wife, "Thank you for your hard work."

Every time after feeding, he would say this, and Tian Xiang was getting tired of hearing it.

Initially, she could chuckle about it, but now she just wanted to say, "Alright, no more nonsense."

Meng Cheng’an chuckled and patted his wife’s shoulder, "I want to give you a gift too."

A gift?

Tian Xiang turned her head to look at him, "What is it?"

Meng Cheng’an retrieved a novel from the bedside cabinet and handed it to her, "What do you think about this story?"

Tian Xiang glanced at it and recognized it as the novel she used to pass the time during her pregnancy, a gift from him, a novel from Hong Kong by a master writer, which was quite popular at the time.

Tian Xiang: "It’s pretty good!"

Meng Cheng’an: "I want you to make it into a film."

"What?"

Tian Xiang was a bit surprised, "What do you mean? It’s not easy to shoot an action movie like this. We don’t yet have the equipment and filming techniques."

Since last year, they’ve been introducing films from outside, and each one has been a hit. Whether it’s movies or TV shows, they’ve been dominating the market originally intended for local productions.

Tian Xiang felt that if things continued like this, the market would soon be overtaken by others. Television stations were fighting for foreign films for advertisement revenue, and local TV dramas were being aired less and less.

Meng Cheng’an: "We can bring in the latest equipment and hire actors and directors from there. Of course, you’ll be the lead."

That’s just spending money on self-promotion!

Tian Xiang sat up, "Are you serious?"

Meng Cheng’an nodded.

Tian Xiang paused, then shook her head, "No way. The cost is too high, and we’ll definitely lose money."

Tian Xiang had a rough understanding of the film industry in Hong Kong, where actors don’t earn salaries but get paid per project, and the well-known ones charge tens or hundreds of thousands for just one TV series.

That amount could make several films locally, and this kind of investment wouldn’t balance with the revenue, leading to losses.

Tian Xiang felt that even thinking about it was pointless; anyone would know it’d lose money.

Tian Xiang lay back down and urged him to sleep too, as the little one would wake up again soon.

Meng Cheng’an: "You shouldn’t be so definitive. This is the current trend. We also need to progress, and all sorts of initial investments are necessary."

Tian Xiang: "Investing in equipment is fine, but hiring people from there is too costly. Which production company could get such funding? If the costs can’t be recouped, the company could shut down."

In recent years, affected by reforms, many units faced operational difficulties, and downsizing or closure wasn’t uncommon.

Last month, at the institute, Tian Xiang ran into Liu Jun, who was carrying gifts to ask for help, and they chatted for a bit.

Now, the production company’s having a hard time too. The films haven’t achieved good returns, and everyone hopes the higher-ups would provide more funding to deal with both external and internal pressures and get through the current tough period.

But now, it’s tough to get money from the higher-ups, as there’s a push for self-reliance and to withstand market tests.

At that time, Liu Jun also asked when she could return to work.

Tian Xiang couldn’t give a definitive answer, as it depended on how things unfolded.

In any case, spending that kind of money to bring people in is unaffordable, the risk is too high.

Tian Xiang felt this was incredibly unrealistic.

Meng Cheng’an said nothing after hearing her words.

Tian Xiang was startled and turned back to look at him, "You, you didn’t secretly do something, did you?"

Meng Cheng’an: "I wanted to surprise you."

"What?"

This feels more like a scare.

Tian Xiang: "What situation are you in now? Weren’t you running a magazine company perfectly fine? How did you get involved in this?"

In recent years, Meng Cheng’an’s magazine business was doing quite well, offering story and educational genres, and even acquired a few licensing deals for some best-selling novels.

Among domestic magazine publishers, his was prominent too.

Meng Cheng’an: "Your unit was looking for outside investment, and I invested. I’m currently the largest shareholder."

"What?"

If the baby wasn’t asleep, Tian Xiang would have shouted.

"How much did you invest?"

Meng Cheng’an: "Not much, one million."

"One million isn’t much? Do you know what our unit’s average salary is?"

Tian Xiang wanted to pinch his face.

"Besides this, what else have you done?"

Meng Cheng’an: "I’ve also contacted people to get the best equipment. It will be delivered soon."

Tian Xiang’s face grew paler the more she heard, "You didn’t hire anyone, did you?"

"I haven’t. I want you to choose."