Marry a female star at a bargain price

Chapters 265 and 266. Upgrade in progress...

After Lin Xiao's shocking theory of "marrying into a family is honorable, while striving is shameful," Ding Caifeng was completely distraught and finally lost her ability to jump around and sow discord.

However, she was still unwilling to give up and stayed with her three grandsons, refusing to leave.

Lin Xiao and Liu Liyun didn't bother to pay any attention to them.

Anyway, as long as Xixi doesn't meet with her, she can't cause any trouble. At most, she'll just be feeding four mouths three times a day, which her family can afford.

Lin Xiao and Liu Liyun devoted all their attention to Han Xixi, spending their time taking care of her outside of work.

However, Xixi has been in a good mood lately.

As she approached her due date, her large belly made it difficult for her to move, which made her very irritable.

But when her cousin Liang Tian arrived, she spent all day chatting and laughing with her about random things, which successfully diverted her attention.

As a result, the last few weeks of pregnancy were not so difficult to endure.

Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.

Lately, he's been really tormented by his wife. She gets up four or five times every night, and he has to go with her every time.

When his wife can't sleep, he has to keep her company and chat with her.

His wife has a hot body temperature, so he can only cover himself with a thin blanket. In the dead of winter, they can't turn on the air conditioner, and even a tough guy like him is shivering from the cold.

Lin Xiao was exhausted from all the torment.

But he also knew that Xixi was a hundred times more hardworking than him, so he could only grit his teeth and bear it.

Liang Tian's arrival not only relieved her stress but also quickly improved Xi Xi's mood.

Lin Xiao looked at it, and tears almost welled up in his eyes.

I used to find my cousin a bit noisy, but now I'm incredibly grateful and just want to pound my chest and say "respect!"

I am deeply grateful and cannot express my thanks in words. The only way I can do this is to silently transfer money to express my gratitude.

Liang Tian didn't hold back and accepted every single one instantly.

Then one night he suddenly asked him, "How did Lin Yu do on his final exams? Did he get 400 points?"

Lin Xiao immediately looked suspicious.

"Why don't you ask him yourself? Don't you have WeChat?" he retorted.

"I...do have WeChat, but I didn't chat with anyone during the entire first semester of my senior year of high school!"

Liang Tian said somewhat awkwardly.

Lin Xiao's suspicion deepened as he squinted at the bright young girl in front of him who had suddenly become coy.

"why?"

"Uh... I have a lot of homework, it's my senior year of high school!"

"Come on, you've been here for so many days, and I haven't seen you do a single problem!"

"Hey!"

Liang Tian turned on me in a flash, saying, "I'm going back to Jingzhou with my mom tomorrow. You'll have to appease your own wife, okay!"

Lin Xiao quickly backed down, his face instantly turning fawning.

"I was wrong, I was wrong, brother-in-law! I'll transfer you another 500!"

Am I such a materialistic person?

"1000!"

"make a deal!"

"..."

Lin Xiao silently transferred the money, unable to help but sigh in his heart: What's wrong with this world?
……

With his aunt and cousin by his side, Lin Xiao was finally able to temporarily put aside his worries about his wife and focus some of his attention on his work.

Half of January has passed.

This year, the Lunar New Year is late, so there's still a whole month until then. And during the Lunar New Year, the sixth day of the first lunar month is my wife Xixi's due date.

According to the Gregorian calendar, we have already entered a new year.

So no matter how outstanding the Bureau of Culture and Tourism's achievements were last year, or how impressive its data was, it is all in the past now.

Moreover, last year it was a source of glory, but this year it has become a source of pressure.

After all, when making annual plans, there's no going back on the target. Even if last year's performance increased by 200%, this year we still need to improve on that basis.

This "unspoken rule" finally made the county's Culture and Tourism Bureau change its lazy approach from the last two months of last year.

The entire organization got busy starting from New Year's Day, organizing a "Tide River Culture Festival".

Just by hearing the name, you can tell it's trying to ride the coattails of the song "Love Like a Tide" and the popularity of Chaobai Town's cultural tourism during last year's National Day holiday.

Of course, this is understandable.

After all, the county's cultural and tourism bureau's soaring performance last year was thanks to Chaobai Town.

Now that the brand is established and the brand is well-known, they even have a promotional song that many 5A-level scenic spots don't have, and it's incredibly popular.

If the county's culture and tourism bureau doesn't continue to capitalize on this trend, then it would be a real idiot.

According to Director Fang Danian's calculations.

Although this year's performance targets are set a bit high and are difficult to achieve, as long as we maintain the "Chaoshuihe Culture Festival" brand, even if we can't replicate last year's explosive success, we should still be guaranteed a moderately successful year.

It's not impossible to achieve the annual target set by the bureau.

It is precisely because of this confidence that he launched the "Chaoshui River Culture Festival" and plans to carry out this event throughout the county this year, regardless of whether it is a long or short holiday, to attract tourists from surrounding cities and netizens across the country to visit Chaobai Town.

He predicted that with the hit song "Love Like a Tide" as a boost, the cultural festival would be quite popular.

But reality gave him a huge dose of reality.

During the three-day New Year's Day holiday, the first event of the "Chaoshuihe Culture Festival," personally planned by Fang Danian, almost ended in a disastrous failure.

Whether it was the main venue in Chaobai Town or the branch venues in other scenic areas, the number of visitors was far below expectations, and could only be described as deserted.

The level of attention this has generated is worlds apart from last year's National Day celebrations.

This difference is, of course, related to the early arrival of the cold wave and the short New Year's Day holiday.

Even considering these unfavorable factors, the fact that the meticulously planned cultural festival was so "cold" was still a wake-up call for Fang Danian, making him question his life choices.

After New Year's Day.

He sat in his office analyzing the situation, coming up with a whole host of objective reasons: the cold weather, the short holiday, the busy end of the year... but none of them could comfort him.

Ultimately, he pinpointed the subjective cause—the wrong trader was chosen!
Last year, Chaobai Town became a hot topic during the National Day holiday. Netizens only saw the song "Love Like a Tide" and the mysterious musician Ma Yao, but completely ignored Lin Xiao, the deputy mayor of Chaobai Town who was in charge of everything.

Of course, as someone in the know, Fang Danian had already guessed that Lin Xiao was Ma Yao.

However, the roles played by these two identities cannot be generalized.

Fang Danian analyzed the failure of the "Cultural Festival" on New Year's Day and realized that he had made a fatal mistake: he only saw the role of "Ma Yao" as the driving force behind the National Day blockbuster, but completely ignored Lin Xiao's powerful ability as the operator of the entire Chaobai Town cultural tourism industry.

Without Ma Yao, Chaobai Town might not have become so popular, but the rural tourism industry would definitely have taken off.

But without Lin Xiao, Chaobai Town would be completely cut off from the cultural tourism industry, with absolutely no possibility of it.

Fang Danian belatedly realized that he had been so focused on riding the coattails of the popularity of "Love Like a Tide" that he had completely forgotten that he had a capable general, Lin Xiao, under his command. No wonder his carefully planned cultural festival ended in failure.

He knew, of course, that Lin Xiao's wife was about to give birth and that he had no time to focus on his career.

But the journey of the new year has already begun.

The Spring Festival follows New Year's Day, which is one of only two long holidays throughout the year.

The Spring Festival has enormous potential for the cultural and tourism industry because of the family-friendly element; the spending power is even more exaggerated than that of the National Day holiday.

It's okay to fail on New Year's Day, but we absolutely cannot miss the Spring Festival.

Fang Danian lacked confidence, so he could only ask Lin Xiao for help.

To show his sincerity, he didn't call Lin Xiao to his office, but instead knocked on his office door himself.

Lin Xiao assumed it was an official coming to sign documents and called someone in.

When he saw that it was the bureau chief who walked in, he was taken aback.

The relationship between superiors and subordinates is of utmost importance within government agencies.

Unless the leader is particularly unrestrained and doesn't care about details, the head of the department will generally not enter the deputy's office.

No wonder Lin Xiao was stunned when he saw Fang Danian.

After his initial surprise, he quickly realized that Lao Fang had something important to say.

So after offering him a seat and pouring him tea.

He sat down and waited for the guest to speak.

"Is your wife about to give birth?"

Fang Danian didn't want to ask for help right away, so he started by making small talk.

"Yes, the due date is right around the end of the year!"

"That's great, it coincides with the Spring Festival, making it both lively and joyous."

"Yes, that's what everyone in my family says."

Lin Xiao smiled and replied, waiting for Lao Fang to take the initiative to explain his purpose.

Seeing that the time was right, Fang Danian got to the point and said, "It's like this. This year we launched the 'Tide River Culture Festival' brand, which is the key to our bureau's work throughout the year. The county leaders also pay close attention to and approve of it."

Lin Xiao nodded, having roughly guessed Lao Fang's purpose in coming.

Fang Danian paused, then frowned slightly and said, "As you saw, the first event of the 'Chaoshui River Culture Festival' on New Year's Day had a worse effect. The number of tourists and the tourism revenue it generated were even lower than the same period last year. If this trend continues, this brand is doomed. This year, the scale of the cultural tourism industry will not only fail to expand, but will probably shrink, not even reaching half of last year's performance. I'm so worried!"

If Lin Xiao were an outsider, he would have listened attentively to his elder brother's complaints, content to be a listener.

But after all, he was a member of the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and it was Fang Danian who begged him to come over.

Therefore, he couldn't remain uninvolved, neither emotionally nor logically.

Now that Lao Fang has made his intentions clear, he no longer needs to put on airs or pretend to be reserved.

So he said directly, "I've carefully reviewed the proposal for the 'Tide River Culture Festival' project, and there's nothing wrong with the brand itself. The reason why the New Year's Day holiday was so unpopular was mainly due to the cold wave. With such cold weather, people's enthusiasm for traveling has greatly decreased. This is considered force majeure, and we can't avoid it."

"Of course, another important reason is that the huge success of 'Love Like a Tide' during last year's National Day holiday has already exhausted the cultural and tourism consumption potential of Anyang County for the past two years. We only have two surrounding cities, Ninghai and Yizhou, and the consumer population is limited. They all came last year, so their willingness to come again this year is naturally greatly reduced. This is also a very important point!"

Fang Danian nodded, his expression becoming even more serious, as he hadn't expected this.

"Then what do we do? According to your analysis, doesn't that mean our goals for this year are going to be dashed?"

"Haha, it's not that bad!"

Lin Xiao laughed, looking relaxed.

Seeing his reaction, Fang Danian knew that this kid had a plan.

Although we still don't know what his move is.

But Lao Fang inexplicably trusted him, and his whole body relaxed.

This feeling of being "reliable" made Fang Danian feel very comfortable, and his fear was greatly reduced.

Lin Xiao laughed and said, "New Year's Day is only three days long, and with the cold wave, it's normal that the number of tourists didn't meet expectations. Fortunately, the Spring Festival is in mid-February this year, and I checked the weather forecast, which shows that the temperature will rise significantly by then."

"Moreover, since last year, the Spring Festival holiday has been extended to eight days. If the weather is good, tourists' willingness to travel will increase significantly. As long as we seize this opportunity and plan the 'Chaoshui River Culture Festival' activities well, we still have a great chance to become a huge success again and make a beautiful comeback!"

Fang Danian didn't hear anything useful.

But Lin Xiao spoke calmly and composedly, and Lin Xiao's expression brightened as he listened.

"The problem is, how do we plan to attract tourists? I think everyone's novelty towards the song 'Love Like a Tide' has worn off, and relying solely on this song won't be enough to draw people in anymore..."

Fang Danian's voice gradually trailed off as he spoke.

Lin Xiao, however, was quite tactless and didn't respond, instead waiting for Lao Fang to speak for himself.

Old Fang looked a little embarrassed when he saw that he didn't say anything.

After a few awkward seconds, he still forced a smile and said, "Brother, you know we're just a small county town, we can't hold any high-end events. This 'Chaoshui River Cultural Festival' mainly just brings in some local celebrities and performing arts troupes to sing songs and perform operas."

"But to be honest, these things are outdated. Young people don't like them anymore. They're mostly middle-aged and elderly people, and these people aren't the main consumers in the cultural and tourism market! If we really want to attract young people, we have to put in real effort and bring in some big names who can hold their own... like the lead singer of 'Love Like a Tide,' that singer named Cao Yuanzhi!"

Fang Danian finally revealed the true purpose of his visit today. Lin Xiao had no doubts and smiled calmly.

The Chaoshuihe Cultural Festival, under the banner of "Love Like a Tide," is sure to attract attention, so what could be more eye-catching than inviting the original singer?

If we absolutely had to invite Han Xixi, a more well-known and popular rising star in the music scene, to the event.

But Fang Danian had already guessed that Lin Xiao was Ma Yao.

Naturally, he knew that the wife he mentioned, who was six months pregnant and about to give birth, was none other than Han Xixi, the legendary singer who debuted as a talent show champion and became a sensation in the Chinese entertainment industry in just one year.

This is a readily available resource; if things really come to a head, Fang Danian will swallow his pride and beg Lin Xiao for it.

But it's absolutely impossible during the Spring Festival. What if the child is born on stage?

Therefore, Fang Danian had to settle for second best and set his sights on Cao Yuanzhi.

Although he is not as popular as Han Xixi, he is, after all, the original singer of "Love Like a Tide," and recently became a sensation across the internet with "Confession Balloon"—although he received mostly criticism from netizens, he was still incredibly popular.

For a small county like Anyang County.

Cao Yuanzhi's current level of fame is more than enough; even if he were to drop a few levels, it would still be considered an overestimation of his abilities.

It's no wonder that Fang Danian condescended to come to the deputy's office and ask for help.

He knew his request was a bit excessive.

After all, this was Lin Xiao's personal relationship, and given Cao Yuanzhi's current fame, it was really a bit "excessive" for a small county like Anyang.

As the saying goes, "Eat only as much as you can eat."

It's really a bit exaggerated for a county-level cultural festival to invite a singer who is at least a second-tier or even a first-tier star.

Not to mention, even if they hired someone, they couldn't afford the expenses.

Therefore, Fang Danian's request actually carried the subtext of "getting something for free," otherwise it would be a waste of his time to ask.

That's a bit shameless. Even Lao Fang himself felt that Lin Xiao shouldn't have agreed.

He waited for Lin Xiao to refuse, and then came up with a compromise.

After waiting for a moment, Lin Xiao said, "Okay, no problem, I'll contact them!"

Fang Danian was completely dumbfounded.

"Huh? No...no problem?!"

"Hmm, it's nothing."

"..."

Lin Xiao smiled and said "it's nothing," which completely stumped Fang Danian.

After a long pause, he finally managed to say, "Well...brother, you might have misunderstood. What I meant by inviting Cao Yuanzhi was...to have him come and support rural cultural development activities on a voluntary basis. There's no funding. If we were to go by market rates, a singer of his caliber could earn half a year's worth of our entire bureau's budget for a single appearance. We simply can't afford that!"

Lin Xiao listened without changing his smile, simply nodding.

"I know, it's free!"

"..."

Fang Danian was completely numb.

No, bro, do you have to be so straightforward? It makes me sound like some kind of swindler or conman!
"Isn't it too much trouble?" Fang Danian smiled awkwardly and ashamedly.

"No trouble at all, it's nothing."

"...Thank you so much!"

"Director Fang, you're too kind. I'm also part of the Culture and Tourism Bureau. The bureau's work is also my job. There's no need to thank me."

Lin Xiao spoke calmly, without a hint of arrogance.

Fang Danian felt his sincerity and felt even more ashamed.

After all, he came here today with a bit of moral blackmail in mind. He had anticipated that Lin Xiao would refuse, so he started by complaining, trying to force Lin Xiao to take the initiative to help.

Unexpectedly, Lin Xiao agreed to his demanding request without even flinching.

Moreover, he was poised and confident throughout, without any affectation.

Compared to him, Fang Danian felt like a clown and was immediately ashamed.

"Brother... I really don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything more. When my wife gives birth, I'll apply for paternity leave. Just sign the papers without hesitation!"

"That's natural!"

Fang Danian said resolutely, "Paternity leave, parental leave... feel free to apply! If I try to stop you, I'm not human!"

Lin Xiao nodded repeatedly, finding it both funny and exasperating to see Lao Fang so determined to go through fire and water.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Fang Danian took his leave.

After he left, Lin Xiao called Cao Yuanzhi and told him about inviting him to Anyang County to participate in the cultural festival during the Spring Festival.

Upon hearing this, Cao Yuanzhi replied without hesitation, "No problem, I'll reserve the entire Spring Festival slot for you!"

Lin Xiao laughed and said, "No need! The cultural festival will last throughout the Spring Festival. You only need to come for one day. The specific date will depend on your schedule!"

Cao Yuanzhi said, "We'll talk about that later! Anyway, I absolutely guarantee it for one day, and I'll increase the time you can speak up at any time!"

Lin Xiao didn't stand on ceremony with him, and the two quickly agreed on the matter.

We chatted about our recent situations.

Lin Xiao was nearing the end of his workday, while Lao Cao was being urged by his agent, seemingly attending some event.

The two then hung up the phone.

……

After Lin Xiao reported Cao Yuanzhi's participation in the cultural festival performance to Lao Fang, he stopped following up on the matter.

With his wife's due date fast approaching, he simply didn't have the energy to focus on work anymore.

In addition, Cao Yuanzhi's fame is enough to support the cultural festival's hype and brand.

Lin Xiao only made a three-minute phone call.

But the value of this phone call is equivalent to, or even greater than, the entire department working hard for a month.

Lin Xiao then felt at ease lying down.

Days passed by, and February arrived quickly.

As the year draws to a close and the weather warms up, the year is coming to an end.

Han Xixi is 38 weeks pregnant, her belly is so big it looks like a basketball is stuffed inside her clothes, and her prenatal checkups have increased from once a month to once a week.

High-end private hospitals provide excellent service and thorough examinations, and every time I'm healthy.

This put the whole family at ease, but they still dared not let their guard down.

Xixi didn't think much of it at first.

Although her belly is now very big and she has difficulty moving around, she has been well taken care of throughout her pregnancy and has her husband by her side. Apart from suffering from morning sickness in the first three months, she has had a very happy pregnancy in the following months.

The main reason is that it's rare for big stars to have such a long vacation.

She experienced the joy of not having to go to work and staying at home with peace of mind, and even felt happy taking walks on the street every day while heavily pregnant.

But as February approached, seeing her family members all poised to go into battle at any moment, she started to feel a little uneasy.

The fear of "having a child" has only just begun to take on a concrete form.

Xixi suddenly became very nervous and couldn't stand any talk about "natural birth or C-section" or "whether to get an epidural." She also had trouble sleeping at night.

Lin Xiao keenly noticed his wife's unease and tried his best to comfort her.

At the same time, take the opportunity to hold a meeting with family members, reminding everyone to be on guard, but never to discuss this matter in front of the giant panda itself.

Everyone understood and quickly implemented Deputy Director Lin's intentions.

2 month 7 number.

With only one week left until her due date, Zhou Xiuping finally couldn't stay at home any longer and insisted on coming to Ninghai.

My mom had been saying she wanted to come for a while.

Lin Xiao repeatedly said that Xixi was being taken care of, and that hospitals, nannies, postpartum care centers, and childcare workers had all been arranged, so there was no need for her at all.

Moreover, Xixi's biological mother, aunt, and cousin are all here, so there's not enough room for her mother to stay.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiuping could only suppress her worries and visited him a few times along the way.

Seeing that her daughter-in-law was indeed well taken care of, the mother-in-law, though well-intentioned, could not do as well as her own mother and the nanny in many things, and could only retreat to the side, feeling dejected and guilty.

Xixi noticed her mother-in-law's mood and instead comforted her.

The women were all getting along so well that Lin Xiao, the male head of the household, felt completely invisible. It was a shame that he had even gone online to learn how to scientifically handle conflicts between his wife and mother.

In the end, it wasn't used at all.

Despite her daughter-in-law's thoughtfulness, Zhou Xiuping still came to Ninghai despite everything when she was about to give birth.

Since there wasn't enough room in her new home, she stayed in the two-bedroom apartment her son had bought the first time.

Also present were Lin Jianping and his youngest son, Lin Yu—his daughter-in-law was about to give birth, and nothing was more important than that, so there was no need for anyone to stay at home to entertain guests for the New Year.

Lin Xiao only found out after get off work that his parents and younger brother had already arrived in Ninghai, and that his younger brother, Lin Yu, had bought the train tickets.

He had planned to drive there to help his parents pack.

After all, that little house hadn't been lived in for a long time.

Zhou Xiuping immediately launched into a tirade: "What do you need to pack? The three of us can't handle it! You should go and be with Xixi right now. She's already full-term, and the due date is just a matter of time. She'll give birth any minute now. Being with her is the most important thing! You're about to become a father, how can you not understand this basic principle?!"

Lin Xiaobai was scolded and felt speechless and helpless.

In the end, I had no choice but to listen to my parents and go back to my new home.

Upon hearing that her in-laws had arrived, the mother-in-law immediately went to make a phone call to invite them over for dinner.

Lin Xiao persuaded him to stop.

"Mom, as we talked about the other day, everyone should calm down and not gather a whole room together all the time, which makes Xixi nervous too."

Lin Xiao said seriously, "My parents are fine, and they don't want to cause any trouble, so they won't even let me go over. So, we should all eat and sleep as usual, and not bother with those fancy formalities. Once the baby is born, there will be plenty of opportunities for the whole family to eat together!"

Liu Liyun thought this made sense, so she gave up on her plan to be polite and instead focused her attention on her daughter's belly.

Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.

He could persuade everyone else, but he couldn't persuade himself.

He appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was panicking terribly.

Lately, I've had only one thought in my head: "I'm going to be a dad?! I'm actually going to be a dad?!"

He feels even more unreal now than when he first transmigrated. His head is spinning every day, and he has no idea what has happened from morning to night.

He really wanted to take leave so he could stay home with his wife every day and not go to work.

However, he was met with unanimous opposition from his family.

Because it's simply not necessary.

Lin Xiao was also afraid that if he took leave from work and stayed home, it would only exacerbate his wife's anxiety.

So even though he was unwilling, he still pretended to be nonchalant every morning, kissed his wife goodbye, and went to work.

Xixi thought he was very calm and praised him several times: "Honey, you're so calm. Seeing you like this, I'm not so scared anymore..."

Lin Xiao's legs were actually trembling, but he said, "What's there to be afraid of? The hospital, home, and postpartum care center are all arranged. There will be absolutely no risk... What else is there to be afraid of?"

Xixi trusted him completely, and her mood had improved a lot in the past two days.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao calmed down a lot and waited patiently to become a father.

He was confident that he had everything under control.

He is about to undergo the most significant change in his life, to encounter the most important concern in his life, and to discover his vulnerability and his armor.

"I'm going to be a dad..."

(End of this chapter)