Wen Yifan suddenly realized that it had unknowingly become a heated situation when she saw his facial expression.
However, Wen Yifan didn’t have the intentions to argue with him, besides, she didn’t know what she said that made him upset. She was not annoyed by Sang Yan, but her anger originated from Wang Linlin.
“No, you don’t have to worry.” Wen Yifan paused and calmly said, “How would I dare to have such intentions toward you.”
“……”
“Not that I mind the arrangement, but I just wanted to clear things out.” Wen Yifan added, “I don’t know what I said that made you unhappy, because I’m still at a loss as this situation came out of the blue.”
“I think we’re both in a bad mood now, and it’s getting late.” Wen Yifan thought before she added, “How about you stay here tonight? Let’s reconsider and talk about this again tomorrow after I finish my work.
Sang Yan was still looking at her, without saying anything.
Wen Yifan, “Sharing a unit is not a trivial matter, and we can’t come to a conclusion right now. It’ll be very troublesome for me if you think you’re fine staying here today, but change your mind tomorrow.”
There was still silence.
Wen Yifan was longing for sleep, she didn’t want to care about anything at that moment. She felt like she was wasting her sleep time if she continued sitting there. She was slightly impatient, “Why don’t you think about it by yourself first, I’m going…”
I’m going to bed.
“Alright.” Sang Yan suddenly interrupted her without any emotions, “What time will you get off work tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure.” Wen Yifan paused, “I’ll try to come back before eight.”
Sang Yan looked up and softly replied.
Wen Yifan immediately felt a huge relief. She stood up and pointed, “Then you can sleep in the master bedroom tonight. There’s nothing inside, so you’ll have to make your bed.”
She looked at Sang Yan’s luggage, “You brought sheets and quilts, didn’t you?”
Sang Yan didn’t reply.
Wen Yifan didn’t continue asking, “Then I’ll take a bath and go to sleep, you should sleep early too.”
Then, Wen Yifan went back to her room, took her clothes and entered the bathroom. She was so exhausted that her eyes began to ache, the pain started to spread to her head. But she was still unable to finish showering quickly.
Sang Yan was long gone from the living room by the time Wen Yifan came out.
His luggage was still in its original position.
The master bedroom door was closed as usual, she couldn’t hear anything. She didn’t know whether he went in.
Wen Yifan hesitated but still didn’t call him.
Wen Yifan glanced at her phone before she slept.
Wang Linlin sent her several WeChat messages not long ago.
Wang Linlin: Yifan, I’m sorry… I may sound rude just now because I was sleeping. I know I didn’t handle this problem properly. I have already asked my boyfriend. He told me he didn’t think too much about it, but we now knew it was inappropriate for us to give the keys without asking for your opinion. I’m very sorry for giving you a shock.
Wang Linlin: He said he would make it clear to Sang Yan, and he asked me to tell you that he’s sorry too.
Wang Linlin: Don’t be angry…… Besides, that Ferrari is my cousin’s car, so don’t get me wrong. [/Kiss] Please help me to keep this a secret, don’t tell my boyfriend. He doesn’t like me hanging out with my cousin.
Wen Yifan didn’t reply, she recalled what happened that day.
She didn’t know if she was too angry with Wang Linlin at that moment, but she couldn’t hold her anger because of her fear.
What if it wasn’t Sang Yan who came today.
If Wang Linlin had given the keys to some other man, a man like her previous neighbor, would she still be able to sleep in this bed safe and sound?
Wen Yifan sighed.
Nevertheless, Wen Yifan no longer wanted to cross paths with Wang Linlin anymore.
Wen Yifan began to think about sharing the unit with Sang Yan.
She reconsidered it after she calmed down.
She suddenly felt that it didn’t seem to be a big deal. Her requirements for a housemate were not high, a girl who could get along well with her was obviously the best choice. However, it was also not a big deal if someone of the opposite sex with an unproblematic personality becomes her housemate.
Although Sang Yan was annoying and irritating, but Wen Yifan still believed in his moralities.
Besides, he was not going to stay for a long time, he would only be staying for three months. This would give her a buffer period to find a suitable new housemate who could share the unit with her in the long run.
However, Wen Yifan thought to herself.
After a night of thinking, by Sang Yan’s earlier attitude towards her, he might not be willing to see her all the time.
Wen Yifan was woken up by a phone call the next morning.
She picked up the phone semi-consciously without looking at the caller display. She was surprised when she heard Zhao Yuandong, her mother’s voice laughing, “Jiang.”
Wen Yifan’s eyelids twitched as she replied.
Zhao Yuandong was calling her nickname.
Wen Yifan was born on the first day of snowfall. Her name was not ready, so her father temporarily called her “Little Shuang Jiang”. But he was used to calling her nickname even after she was named, so they just adopted that nickname.
*Shuang is snow, Jiang is fall.
The nickname gradually became “Jiang” when she grew up.
However, it seemed that no one else would call her by her nickname except her family members.
Zhao Yuandong, “Are you sleeping? Do you want Mom to call you later?”
Wen Yifan, “It’s fine, I’m awake.”
“Is the weather in Yihe cold? Remember to put on more clothes. I saw the weather forecast, it’s around twenty degrees below zero there. It looks scary.” Zhao Yuandong was concerned, “Don’t catch a cold.”
“Alright.”
Zhao Yuandong sighed, “You haven’t called Mom for a long time.”
“Ah.” Wen Yifan blurted out, “I was too busy recently.”
“I know that you’re busy, I also didn’t want to call to bother you. But it’s almost Chinese New Year.” Zhao Yuandong added, “I just wanted to ask, are you coming back home this year?”
“……” Wen Yifan was unable to react, “Back where?”
Zhao Yuandong suddenly became silent for a few seconds, her voice became unnatural, “What do you mean where, of course back to where your mother’s at. Mom hasn’t seen you for many years, and your uncle Zheng wants to see you too.”
Wen Yifan opened her eyes and said gently, “I thought you wanted me to go to uncle’s.”
Zhao Yuandong smiled when she heard what she said, “I don’t mean that you must come to me, you can go to your uncle’s if you want.”
“I want to go to your place.” Wen Yifan opened her eyes and said in a gentle tone without any aggression, “But did you mention this to Zheng Kejia? Is she willing to let me stay with you during Chinese New Year?”
There was silence again.
The sudden question seemed like a casual courtesy, she never thought she would agree.
Wen Yifan smiled and answered, “I’m just kidding, I’m not going anywhere.”
Before Zhao Yuandong could reply, their conversation was interrupted by a lively and crisp female voice, “Mom, come here! How do we choose a tangerine?”
It seemed like it broke the awkward atmosphere, but also aggravated it at the same time.
Wen Yifan could guess that the girl was Zheng Kejia by listening to the voice, “Hey! Why are you on the phone? I won’t go out with you in the future if you’re still doing this!”
“Okay, okay! I’m on my way!” Zhao Yuandong replied and whispered, “Jiang, I’ll call you back later.”
Zhao Yuandong hung up the phone before she could answer.
In a hurry.
She seemed to be afraid of annoying the kid.
Wen Yifan threw her mobile phone aside, she turned over and was struggling to get back to sleep.
She was not affected by the phone call, but she couldn’t sleep.
Wen Yifan was a person who could hardly fall back asleep after being woken up, even though she was still extremely sleepy. She picked up her phone and glanced at the time before getting up.
She saw the luggage in the living room when she was going to the bathroom.
It wasn’t moved for the whole night.
Wen Yifan recalled what happened last night and wondered.
Doesn’t he need to take his clothes to take a bath?
Wen Yifan didn’t bother about it. After taking a quick bath, she went back to her room to change before heading out. When she was putting on her shoes on the porch, she glanced and noticed Sang Yan’s shoes were gone.
If it weren’t for Sang Yan’s luggage, Wen Yifan would have thought that he refused to share the unit with her and left.
Wen Yifan hesitated for a moment before making up her mind to knock on the master bedroom door. There was no response inside after waiting for a while. She knocked three more times and said, “I’m going in?”
She waited for a moment.
Wen Yifan turned the doorknob and carefully pushed the door open.
It was empty inside, there was only a mattress on the bed, without traces of someone sleeping on it. It was in the same state from the day when Wang Linlin left, except there was a little dust on the table as no one was staying in that room.
Wen Yifan went out.
She took the subway to get to her office.
Although Wen Yifan felt that there was nothing wrong with what she had done, Sang Yan made her feel that she was being cruel when he didn’t choose to stay last night.
It was as if her suggestion to stay last night was just an illusion, or she was being rude when she asked him to, which wounded his self-esteem.
She seemed to have turned into a cruel person.
Wen Yifan sent him a WeChat message after giving in to her thoughts.
Where did you sleep last night?
After sending out the text message, Sang Yan didn’t reply even when Wen Yifan arrived at her office.
She didn’t have time to think about it after that. She was busy until lunchtime at 2 o’clock before she had time to catch her breath. Sang Yan still didn’t reply when Wen Yifan checked her phone.
Wen Yifan was doubtful whether the plan to talk it out at night could still be carried out according to his attitude.
Wen Yifan could only send: Where should we talk tonight?
Wen Yifan: At home or somewhere else?
Sang Yan’s reply was faster this time.
He replied before Wen Yifan could finish her lunch: 8 pm, your place.
Wen Yifan: ……
Why does this look so misleading?
After staring at the message, Wen Yifan felt that whatever she replied would turn out weird. But it would be rude if she didn’t reply. So, she bit the bullet and replied to him with an “OK” emoji at the end.
……
Before finishing her work, Qian Weihua suddenly gave her some clues of a case, he wanted her to complete a news manuscript as soon as possible. She had to spend quite some time on it, and it was nearly eight o’clock when she left the office.
Wen Yifan had notified Sang Yan in advance because she was worried that he would be impatient.
It was half-past eight when she reached home.
Wen Yifan opened the door and entered.
It was dark inside, Sang Yan was not home yet.
Wen Yifan looked down and placed her keys on the shoe cabinet. She noticed Wang Linlin’s keys were still on it as well. She paused, took the keys and stared at it.
She never thought that Sang Yan would leave the keys behind.
Wen Yifan didn’t think too much, she sat beside the coffee table and boiled water.
The living room was quiet, so Wen Yifan turned on the television. The doorbell rang when the water was boiled. She got up to open the door.
Sang Yan was standing outside with his hands in his pocket. He seemed like he was wearing a brand new dark jacket. His eye bags around his eyes were dark, he seemed like he stayed up all night and he looked sleepy.
Wen Yifan greeted him and made room for him, “Have a seat.”
Sang Yan didn’t reply, he simply went in.
Both of them sat back where they sat yesterday.
Wen Yifan poured him a cup of warm water. Before moving in straight into the topic, she casually asked, “Where did you sleep yesterday? I noticed you didn’t sleep in the master bedroom.”
Sang Yan took the water but he didn’t drink it, “Hotel.”
Wen Yifan was surprised, “Weren’t you too lazy to go?”
Sang Yan coldly replied, “I don’t have the habit of sleeping in other people’s homes.”
“……”
What he meant was probably this.
It wasn’t decided whether he could stay in this house last night, so this house was still regarded as Wen Yifan’s house. If he had stayed last night, then he would have been considered as a homeless and miserable guy who accepted her generosity.
“Alright, as long as you had a good sleep.” Wen Yifan took a sip of water before saying softly, “Let’s start discussing? Have you understood what I told you yesterday?”
“Yes.”
Wen Yifan asked, “Are you done considering?”
Sang Yan glanced at her and questioned her back, “Are you done considering?”
Wen Yifan, “Yes, I don’t have high requirements of my housemate, as long as the personality is fine and we don’t interfere with each other. And you’re just staying for three months, am I right? It won’t be long.”
Sang Yan raised his eyebrows, “You’re not worried about me?”
Wen Yifan was stunned for a while, “There’s nothing to be worried about.”
Sang Yan smiled and said slowly, “But I’m worried about you.”
“……”
Then don’t stay.
Wen Yifan was speechless with his narcissistic behaviour, “I basically don’t communicate with my housemate at home, it was also like this with Wang Linlin. If you’re still worried, then you could just lock your door when you’re in your room.”
She didn’t care if he wanted to use 8000 pairs of locks.
Sang Yan raised his eyebrows slightly and didn’t comment about the suggestion.
Wen Yifan asked again, “If you’re OK with it, then let’s talk about the terms and conditions for sharing this unit together.”
Sang Yan, “About what?”
“First, rent and deposit.” Wen Yifan was getting down to business, “When Wang Linlin left, she gave me the landlord’s WeChat contact. The contract was signed under Wang Linlin’s name alone, and it would expire in half a year.”
Wen Yifan, “The rent is paid monthly, 5000 per month. The deposit is a month’s rent. I’m paying for it now, but since you’re moving in, let’s share the deposit equally?”
Sang Yan said lazily, “Ok.”
“Then I’ll make it clear for you.” Wen Yifan bent down and took out a notebook under the coffee table. She wrote some numbers on the notebook, “I’m living in the second bedroom, and you’ll be living in the master bedroom where Wang Linlin used to live, it comes along with a bathroom. So, your rent will be higher than mine, 3000 per month.”
Wen Yifan paused and looked up, “Is this acceptable?”
Sang Yan’s face was propped on his hand, he looked at her and listened.
“Hmm.”
Both of them were close together because they were having a conversation in the same space.
“The water and electricity bills are paid by a passbook, I have paid the bills previously.” Wen Yifan tucked her hair behind her ear while she flipped through the passbook, “There’s still more than 800 in it now.”
By then, Wen Yifan, “In that case, you can transfer 5900 to me first.”
Wen Yifan looked at him as she spoke.
Sang Yan looked away, “Ok.”
“And, since we’re living together, there are a lot of things that can’t be assigned clearly. Should we split the bill for daily supplies? I’ll make a list for you tomorrow. But if you don’t want to, we can use our own supplies.”
Sang Yan was too lazy to bother about these tiny details, “Give me the total price when you’re done calculating.”
“So we’re done with the case with money.” Wen Yifan added, “I don’t have any experiences in sharing the same unit with the opposite sex. Although you’re only living for three months, we can still lay out our requirements in advance, can’t we?”
Sang Yan was cooperative, “Go on.”
“I’m a light sleeper. So for my first requirement, I hope you don’t make any noise during my normal rest time, from 10 pm to 9 am the next day. I don’t mind noise at other times.”
He seemed like he could only speak one word at a time, “Ok.”
They were still of the opposite sex after all, Wen Yifan added, “Second, take good care of hygiene, one must clean up the dirty place themselves and the attire in public areas should not be too overexposed.”
Sang Yan sneered when he heard the word ‘overexposed’, “In your dreams.”
“……”
“The last one.” Wen Yifan didn’t want to waste her time fussing around with him, “One should ask the other’s opinion before bringing friends back home. Be it a male or a female.”
Wen Yifan suddenly remembered something when she mentioned this, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Sang Yan looked up, “Hmm?”
“If you do,” Wen Yifan reminded, “You should tell your partner about this in advance. If she minds…”
“Don’t worry, I don’t.” Sang Yan smirked and his tone was not serious, “But don’t be too happy.”
Wen Yifan, “?”
Sang Yan, “I don’t want to date anyone at the moment.”
“……”
“Alright, then we’ll talk about this when you find someone during our unit-sharing period.” Wen Yifan added, “I’ll notify you when I find one too.”
Sang Yan’s lips became stiff.
Wen Yifan couldn’t think of any other requirements, “That’s all from me for the time being, tell me what yours are.”
“I can’t think of one.” Sang Yan briefly answered, “I’ll tell you when I think of one.”
Wen Yifan nodded, “Then, I…”
Sang Yan, “Which room do I sleep in?”
“The master bedroom is at the innermost of the corridor. Wang Linlin had cleaned the room when she left.” Wen Yifan realized the most important thing after discussing it for a long time, “You should go and have a look at the room and see if you’re satisfied with it. It’s not too late to book a room in a hotel now if you’re not satisfied with it.”
“……”
Sang Yan replied, got up and walked towards the room.
Wen Yifan breathed a sigh of relief and felt like she had solved a big problem. She walked back to her room and searched for her clothes in her closet. She hesitated when she was about to go out, then, she covered her undergarments with her clothes.
At this moment, the door was knocked.
Wen Yifan had to put her clothes back in the closet before opening the door, “What’s the matter? Not satisfied with the room?”
“Hmm.” Sang Yan leaned against the doorframe. He lifted his chin in the direction of the master bedroom, “You move into that room.”
Wen Yifan was unable to react, “You wanted my room?”
“Hmm.” Sang Yan replied again.
Wen Yifan had nothing to hide in her room, she simply stepped aside to give him ample room to look inside, “Did the master bedroom fail to meet your expectations? But the condition of this bedroom is definitely not as good as the master bedroom.”
Sang Yan glanced around the room and nodded.
He repeated, “You move into that room.”
“……”
Wen Yifan slowly came to an uncertain conclusion.
Does he think 3000 is too expensive?
Wen Yifan stood still and hesitantly stated, “The rent of two rooms are different.”
Although she was embarrassed, she still had to mention due to her financial status, “Well, I’m still on probation and I’m living on my allowance now. 2000 is already my limit.”
Sang Yan’s lips twitched, “I didn’t ask you to pay more.”
“It’s not the matter whether I’ve to pay more,” Wen Yifan said, “Whoever pays more gets to stay in a better room. This is by default and fair.”
“Which room is better is decided by me.” Sang Yan’s tone was lazy, “It’s not decided by the house, understand?”
“……”
“And could you make some sense?” Sang Yan said slowly, “Since I’m paying more, then it should be me deciding which room to stay in, right?”
“Alright.” Wen Yifan couldn’t understand what he was thinking, she couldn’t help asking, “Why don’t you want to stay in that room?”
“Hmm? There’s no reason.” Sang Yan calmly replied, “I simply wanted to find you something to do.”
“……”
After a few seconds, Sang Yan added, “That room smells bad.”
She didn’t know whether it was nonsense or the truth.
……
Wen Yifan had hardly any stuff, and the two rooms were just two meters apart. She finished moving her stuff after a few trips. Sang Yan had been sitting in a chair like royalty when she was busy moving, without any intention of helping.
Wen Yifan suggested when she took her last item, “In this case, we’ll use the two washrooms separately. I’ll move my things out later.”
Sang Yan looked at her and didn’t bother to answer her as if he thought that the discussion was over.
Wen Yifan took his silence as an agreement before going out. She went to the general washroom to take her toiletries before going back to the room.
She was too busy moving her stuff and she didn’t pay attention to the smell. Wen Yifan was able to pick up the smell now, the room did have a smell. But it didn’t smell bad. It was the smell coming from Wang Linlin’s reed diffuser.
Seems like this young master can’t stand this fragrance?
Wen Yifan was going to tell him that the smell would go away in a few days if the ventilation was sufficient.
But she saw the mess all over the floor.
She chose to forget about it when she realized that she would have to move everything again.
Wen Yifan went out of the washroom when she finished bathing. A thought flashed in her mind: It feels good to have a washroom in my bedroom, I don’t have to hide my undergarments to take a shower.
Wen Yifan had headaches when she was looking at her messy room. She began to make her bed after drying her hair.
Wen Yifan heard her phone ringing as soon as she had finished making her bed.
She reached for her phone on the bedside table. She unlocked her screen and found an Alipay transfer notification.
Sang Yan had transferred 13000 Yuan to you.
Wen Yifan was stunned when she saw the amount.
But she immediately understood as Sang Yan probably thought it was troublesome, so he directly transferred three month’s worth of rent to her along with the deposit and utilities’ fees. However, 12000 would be more than enough if he wanted to round up the payment.
What is this extra thousand for?
Wen Yifan recalled herself mentioning the daily supplies.
She didn’t buy anything recently, except that the washing machine in the house was too old and stopped working. After discussing with Wang Linlin, Wen Yifan bought a new washing machine with her.
However, Wang Linlin left after only using the washing machine a few times. So, Wen Yifan simply returned the money to her when she returned her deposit.
Wen Yifan didn’t want to take advantage of Sang Yan. She took screenshots of the list and calculated the fees on her phone.
After finishing calculating, she transferred the balance back to him following the numbers on her calculator.
She suddenly felt something was wrong as soon as she transferred. She picked up her phone again.
……
The other side.
Sang Yan threw his towel aside when he heard his phone rang. He bent down to pick up his phone.
Wen Yifan had transferred 520 Yuan to you.
*520 is an abbreviation of Wo Ai Ni, which means I love you in China.
