The Early Spring - Chapter 62

Chapter 62 - Good Weather 

"My friend..." Shang Zhitao turned back to look, but failed to see Luan Nian standing in the shadows. "My friend should be waiting for me outside. It's fine, I'll stand here and wait for him. Hurry on up and tidy up; you still have work tomorrow."

"Are you going to be fine by yourself?"

"I'll be fine."

Shang Zhitao watched Sun Yuanzhu head upstairs, then turned around to see Luan Nian stepping out from the shadows. "Eh? I thought you weren't there."

Luan Nian glanced at her belongings, offered no help, and turned to walk toward his car.

"Aren't you going to help me?" Shang Zhitao asked him.

"Don't you have hands?" Luan Nian dropped those words before getting into the car, watching with cold indifference as Shang Zhitao struggled on her own. She didn't have much—just two large travel suitcases and one large cardboard box. Living as a drifter alone in Beijing, she wouldn't stock up on too many possessions anyway. Moving twice a year like a migratory bird, what was the point of buying so many things?

Shang Zhitao exerted a tremendous amount of effort to load her things into Luan Nian's trunk. Luan Nian didn't lend a single hand, and the moment she got into the car, he started the engine and drove off.

His mood flips faster than turning the pages of a book!

Upon getting home, he still left Shang Zhitao to unpack everything by herself. When she went downstairs to retrieve her things, she spotted the items he had bought her sitting inside her large suitcase. She recognized the gifts he had given her; the packaging was still untouched, covered with a thin layer of dust.

"Not carrying it on your back?" He asked abruptly, straight to the point.

"What?"

Luan Nian pointed his chin toward the box. "The bag I gave you."

"Oh, oh, oh." Shang Zhitao muttered a few acknowledgments. "I couldn't bring myself to use it."

Luan Nian could tell she was just brushing him off, so he turned and left. It was on the way to work the next day, while waiting at a red light, that he asked Shang Zhitao, "How much is your rent?"

"What?"

"How much does that place you rented cost?"

"My room is a little over a thousand."

"You can rent a place here with me. One thousand per month."

Shang Zhitao froze in place. Luan Nian's apartment was so nice; even if he charged her two thousand a month, she'd gladly pay it! She actually gave it serious thought before shaking her head. "Thank you, but I think I'll go rent another place instead."

"Why is that? Because you can't bear to leave your roommates?"

"Yeah." Shang Zhitao nodded earnestly. "My roommates are all really good people."

Her conscience was completely clear; her roommates genuinely were wonderful people!

"Congratulations on finding good roommates." Luan Nian's tone was flat, neither hot nor cold, leaving Shang Zhitao unable to tell if he was genuinely congratulating her or mocking her.

When Saturday arrived, she headed out early to meet up with Sun Yu and Sun Yuanzhu. Sticking to the same neighborhood, they had checked online beforehand, made phone calls one by one, and gone to tour apartments individually. Finding an apartment was truly difficult; the online photos looked fantastic, but once you stepped inside the actual place, it was barely better than a pigsty. The moment they finally stumbled upon a decent apartment, the rent was sky-high.

It was too hard. Renting a place is just too difficult, Shang Zhitao thought to herself; I must buy a home of my own one day! I'll invite all my friends to move into my house, and we can cook and drink together.

The three of them wandered around the North Fifth Ring Road for an entire day, growing exhausted, freezing, and starving by evening. They casually ate a bowl of knife-shaved noodles and agreed to resume their search tomorrow. Right as they were parting ways, Sun Yu received a phone call. From the other end came the warm, amicable voice of an older woman: "Child, do you remember me? It's your landlady auntie."

"I remember, hello Auntie." The three of them looked at each other in confusion, wondering why the landlady would call them.

"Have you found a place yet?" the landlady asked directly.

"Not yet, Auntie," Sun Yu replied politely.

"Since you haven't found one, why don't you come back and stay at Auntie's place? The rent will be just like before."

"Ah? Weren't you afraid of retaliation from the agency?" Sun Yu asked the landlady.

"It's fine now. The police called today to say the matter has been settled. The agency even called me today to say they wrote a letter of guarantee, handed over their ID cards, and pressed their fingerprints. Not only will they not come make trouble, but they'll even help us keep an eye out. Their attitude is exceptionally good."

"Alright Auntie, let us discuss it first and we'll call you back shortly, okay?"

This dramatic plot twist left the three of them amused and exasperated. Sun Yu asked them, "Are we still staying?"

"We're staying!" Shang Zhitao suddenly felt exceptionally happy.

"Then we stay!" Sun Yu also nodded.

Seeing how happy they were, Sun Yuanzhu nodded. "Alright, then we'll keep living here. But I have one small proposal..."

"What is it?"

"Can we redecorate this place? Zhang Lei has moved out, and I'll cover his share of the rent because I want a private study."

"Okay!" The girls knew deep down that this meant taking advantage of Sun Yuanzhu, but none of them wanted to split hairs with him because he was Sun Yuanzhu! Since he paid extra rent, they would just shoulder more of the daily living expenses. No matter what, they would still be living together with their good friends, and that was enough.

Shang Zhitao was in high spirits, humming a tune as she stepped through the front door. Luan Nian was on a phone call with Dr. Liang; hearing the noise, he pressed the mute button, raised his head to glare at her, and Shang Zhitao quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, pointed upstairs, and bolted away.

"Eh? Did I just hear a girl humming?" Dr. Liang's ears were as sharp as ever, and she asked him directly.

Acting as if he hadn't heard a thing, Luan Nian continued, "My flight is next Sunday."

"When are you returning to China?"

"Late February. I have a meeting at headquarters, and then two projects for me to review."

"That's wonderful, you can spend a few extra days with us." Dr. Liang sounded in high spirits as she took a sip of water and said, "So you're in a relationship, right?" Dr. Liang could never be thrown off topic by Luan Nian; she gave birth to him, so she knew best how to corner him.

"I definitely didn't hear wrong just now, a girl was definitely humming," she reiterated with certainty.

"I don't want to discuss this."

"Why not? If you're dating, you're dating. Afraid to tell me because you think I'll pressure you to get married? Rest assured, I won't, and neither will your father. The only reason we make you go on blind dates is out of courtesy to the enthusiastic friends and relatives."

"I don't want to discuss this because I am not in a relationship." Luan Nian paused. "I am an adult."

Hearing him put it that way, Dr. Liang understood completely. Not a relationship, just an adult arrangement—wasn't that just playing around? Her own son had actually started treating things casually.

"Isn't that inappropriate? It's bad for both you and the girl," Dr. Liang remarked.

"I can handle myself."

"Then handle it yourself. I'm hanging up."

Luan Nian hung up the phone and saw Shang Zhitao coming down with a water glass. "Isn't there a water dispenser upstairs?"

"It ran out."

"Why were you so happy just now?"

"I found a place to live."

Shang Zhitao drank a cup of water, placed the glass on Luan Nian's bar counter, and said, "I can move out tomorrow. Thank you for taking care of me these past few days. I didn't mean to make noise just now; I didn't know you were on the phone."

"It's fine."

"As long as I didn't cause trouble."

Shang Zhitao pointed upstairs. "Then I'm going to sleep first? I'm leaving early tomorrow morning because I have to pack my things, which might take all day. Leaving early won't affect Monday's work."

"Mn." Luan Nian grunted an acknowledgment, offering nothing more.

After going upstairs, Shang Zhitao packed all her things, turned off the lights, and lay in bed. She had overheard Luan Nian's phone conversation—not intentionally. I am not in a relationship, I am an adult, I can handle myself. He might as well have directly told his mother, "She's my long-term hookup."

Shang Zhitao felt that Luan Nian hadn't done anything wrong; he was merely speaking the truth. The warm feeling of gratitude Luan Nian had inspired in her that day simply vanished. It really was just like that after all: because we slept together, when the woman you slept with gets beaten up, you have to stand up for her once to show off your manly chivalry, or perhaps driven by a man's possessiveness, rather than out of genuine affection or love.

The next morning, she woke up early and quietly moved her things downstairs. After some thought, she scribbled a note and left it on his pillow: Thank you for taking me in these past few days, sorry for the intrusion. It was polite and formal.

The small moving truck Shang Zhitao called transported her from Luan Nian's residential compound back to the North Fifth Ring Road. The unreal feeling of the past few days vanished; standing at the entrance of the building unit, she felt like she had returned to the real world. Her world existed within this unvarnished, bustling reality, surrounded by the warmth of good friends.

A light snow began to fall from the sky. She stood downstairs watching it for a while—how fast time flies, a year has just slipped by like this. She felt this year had a wonderful closing act; though it came with a few dramatic twists, it ended on a fulfilling note.

Sun Yu also returned with her luggage, and the two of them burst out laughing at the sight of each other's bags.

"Who would've thought that after taking a whole circle around, we'd end right back here. This must be our inescapable bond with this place. I hired a mover," Sun Yu said, pointing to a figure walking over from not far away. "Let's not tire ourselves out. After all, I'm the partner of an upcoming startup on the verge of bankruptcy; I can afford this hundred yuan."

"Well, as an errand runner for a top-tier multinational corporation, I'll cover today's meal money. I can afford it."

Exchanging a smile, they headed upstairs.

Pushing the door open, they saw that Sun Yuanzhu's belongings had already been piled into the living room, and he was busy assembling a bookcase he bought online that required DIY assembly. He had also bought nice wallpaper, and the old sofa in the living room was gone.

"This..."

"Didn't we say we wanted to tidy the place up properly?" Sun Yuanzhu smiled, dusting the dirt off his hands. "The two sunny rooms are reserved for you two. I travel frequently and don't need a sunny room, so you two pick whichever you like."

This kind gesture had to be accepted, simply because he was Sun Yuanzhu.

The three of them put on some music, quietly listening to the tunes while tidying up their belongings. Sun Yu sent a message to Shang Zhitao that read: The scraps of romanticism I have left are acting up. I hope this scene and these moments stay with us until we grow old.

Shang Zhitao loved moments like this as well.

In a space and time like this, there were no people or events causing her stress; everything was simple.

Decorating a home like this gave her a true sense of belonging in this city for the very first time.

Sun Yuanzhu sat assembling a cabinet in the living room sunlight, surrounded by a warmth so beautiful it felt like a dream.

They busied themselves until evening before the home finally took on its brand-new appearance.

Sun Yuanzhu pulled out a blueprint and shared his plans for the future with them.

"I want to put a long desk right here so we can sit side by side to work."

"Over here, I want to set up a few plant stands, put out a few pots of flowers, and keep a small tank of fish so the place feels lively."

Shang Zhitao raised her hand. "There's something I want to raise too."

"What is it?"

"I want to raise a dog."

Seeing the other two open their eyes wide in surprise, she nodded with conviction. "I really want to raise a dog as a New Year's gift to myself. Is anyone here afraid of dogs?"

Both of the others shook their heads.

"Then I'm getting a dog!"

Shang Zhitao applauded herself for the decision she had just made.