Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 378 Retirement

None of the three parents had the concept of a marriage proposal. They all felt that since the couple had already met, they should discuss the wedding date and there was no need for a proposal ceremony.

For the first time in her relationship, Liu Yifei felt like she was being pushed around, and she didn't even know what to say.

Li Qiutang had a similar feeling.

I can no longer make decisions about my own marriage.

Although all three parents said they respected their children's opinions and wanted Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei to participate in the discussion and express their opinions.

But at this point, nothing they said mattered.

Li's parents had even calculated the dates, saying that November 15th and 16th this year would be auspicious days.

Since they were already setting dates, Li Qiutang had to speak up: "Mom, we both have filming projects this year, so we won't have any free time in the second half of the year."

Filming "Mojin: The Lost Legend" will take up all of the two's time for the second half of the year.

"Postpone it. What's more important than getting married?"

That's what they say, but they really can't push it away.

"The crew has thousands of people waiting to start filming, and the investment of over 100 million yuan is on the two of us. We really can't turn it down."

Li's mother scolded her son for not telling her sooner, and Li Qiutang shut up.

However, with a six-month deadline, there wasn't enough time to prepare anything, which put the whole family in a difficult position.

Liu Xiaoli was very understanding and said that since the job had been arranged in advance, there was no need to delay it, and it was okay if the wedding was postponed.

Li's parents compromised, but demanded that the two register their marriage this year, with the wedding to be held later. Liu Xiaoli agreed.

This is the only result they reached on the first day. The Li family knew that Liu Xiaoli could make decisions for Liu Yifei, so they didn't mention An Shaokang or the An family at all.

That evening, Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei had a private meeting in their room.

Liu Yifei is still a little dazed: "I'm getting married? Ah! I'm actually getting married!"

"What? You don't want to anymore?"

“It’s not that I’m unwilling,” Liu Yifei couldn’t quite put her finger on the feeling, “it just feels so unsettling. Why am I getting married? I’m still so young.”

"You're almost 27, you're still young! I'm already 30!"

"You're 30?!" What kind of talk is that!

"I used to think that I would get married at 30 and have two children before I turned 35."

"Who's going to have two kids with you?" Liu Yifei rolled her eyes. "I haven't even thought that far ahead."

The couple has no plans to have children in the near future, but Li Qiutang said that having children before the age of 35 is not too late.

"Can you please stop walking around like that? You're making me dizzy."

Liu Yifei sat back down on the edge of the bed and said, "Hey, you just attended a wedding. What's it like to get married?"

"How would I know? Why don't I go get a marriage certificate first, and then I'll tell you?"

"Ugh," Liu Yifei patted the blanket, "I'm talking to you about something serious."

"Didn't you also attend Yawen's wedding? How did you feel at the time?"

"They seemed like a perfect couple, living a blissful life together."

“That’s it then. Others will see us as a perfect couple, living a happy and fulfilling life,” Li Qiutang said.

But Liu Yifei had an inexplicable fear of married life. She said, "I am definitely not a good daughter-in-law in the conventional sense. I can't handle the trivial matters of family life." She knew clearly that she would not be a competent wife.

“I can’t handle it either,” Li Qiutang said. “But look at our life now, how is it any different from that of a married couple? How many mundane family matters have you dealt with?”

Liu Yifei thought for a moment. Apart from not having a marriage certificate or a wedding, the two of them were practically husband and wife. "Don't overthink it. I'm not asking you to go back to Northeast China. You don't have to deal with all my relatives and friends. There aren't that many family matters and social obligations for you to handle. We can just live our own lives."

Liu Yifei took off her shoes and got into bed, leaning against Li Qiutang, lost in thought.

Li Qiutang moved closer, wrapped her arm around Liu Yifei's neck, and said, "Qianqian, let's find some time to go and complete the procedures for renouncing our citizenship."

This was the first time Li Qiutang had talked to her about this. Li Qiutang had been thinking about it for a long time, considering whether he should say it or not, how to say it, and how Liu Yifei would react.

Liu Yifei turned to look at him: "Why are you talking about this? Is there a problem now?" It wasn't that Liu Yifei was reluctant to give up her American citizenship, but she felt that everything was fine now, so she shouldn't touch this part.

“Of course there’s no problem, but—” Li Qiutang was thinking of a way to phrase it, “but don’t you get annoyed when people keep bringing up your nationality?”

But Liu Yifei is someone who doesn't care about what others think: "What's the big deal? Just ignore them."

Li Qiutang, speaking from a practical standpoint, said: "If you don't renounce your citizenship, you'll have no connection with any domestic awards, big or small, and you won't even get nominated."

"I don't make movies to win awards."

"You can tell at a glance that you're not being sincere." Liu Yifei actually longs for recognition from mainstream awards. She hasn't yet transcended to the point of enjoying the performance itself. Not to mention her, even Li Qiutang hasn't reached that level. People are ultimately influenced by their external environment.

But Li Qiutang was very assertive on the matter of renouncing her citizenship: "Listen to me, we'll go and get the renouncing procedures done after the New Year."

"But renouncing citizenship and restoring nationality is such a hassle."

Seeing that Liu Yifei had relented, Li Qiutang said, "I'll do it even if it's troublesome. I don't want people to say I married a foreign wife. If your wife is a foreigner, you can run away anytime."

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "That's impossible."

"People's opinions can be a real threat. Listen to me, we'll go through the procedures to restore our citizenship after the New Year."

Liu Yifei should have known about this: "But the IRS is so difficult to deal with, and the citizenship tax is ridiculously high." The US citizenship tax is so high that even someone like Liu Yifei, who doesn't care about money, finds it outrageous.

"What do you think your husband does? If you agree, I'll do anything for you, even go through fire and water. I'll hire the world's best accountants and lawyers to help you fight against the IRS and Immigration Services."

Li Qiutang had learned about this beforehand and was prepared for a long struggle; no matter how difficult it was, he would help his wife regain her nationality.

The two are currently discussing marriage and are very sweet together. Liu Yifei listens to Li Qiutang. If Li Qiutang had mentioned renounced her citizenship to Liu Yifei when they first got together, Liu Yifei would definitely not have listened.

"Don't worry, once you regain your citizenship, I'll tailor-make a script just for you so you can win an award."

Unexpectedly, Liu Yifei didn't buy it at all: "Nonsense, you think you can just win awards like that? Do you own those awards? You haven't even won many awards yourself." Of the three major Chinese-language film awards, Li Qiutang only has one Golden Rooster Award for Best Director. "In Time" did not win him the Hong Kong Film Award or the Golden Horse Award that year.

"I already have a Ballon d'Or, why would I need a domestic one?"

"Oh dear, he's even panting."

Li Qiutang assured Liu Yifei that he would definitely write her a good script that was both profound and could showcase her acting skills: "Okay, I'll write you an even better script than 'A Thousand Arrows Piercing the Heart'."

"That's because Ms. Yan Bingyan acted so well."

"So you need to improve your acting skills quickly. Otherwise, if I have the script and you can't act it out, don't blame me for giving the script to someone else."

"You said I have bad acting skills again!"

"I didn't!" She got all worked up as soon as she heard that.

"You have it, I'll beat you to death!" Liu Yifei flipped over and pinned Li Qiutang down, grabbing his neck.

Li Qiutang was not going to be subdued by her, but what was originally a playful fight between husband and wife turned into something inappropriate for children.

"Hey, why are you taking my clothes off? I don't want them today."

"Since things have come to this point, you'll have to take it even if you don't want it."

"Keep your voice down, my mom's next door, um..."

(End of this chapter)