Day: February 27, 2025

       Jiang Tongyan actually really wanted to persuade Qian Xiaoke to throw away those things that would definitely be useless in the future. Keeping them only took up space—what was the point?

       However, he couldn’t find a good reason to make him throw them away. Should he just bluntly say he was renting the place and wouldn’t kick him out? That would be ridiculous!  

       “Alright, you’re really something.” Jiang Tongyan hoisted the rolled-up bedding, tied with a rope, onto his shoulder. “Anything else? If not, let’s get going.”  

       He was waiting to touch it.  

       Qian Xiaoke grabbed a suitcase in each hand, turned around to look at Jiang Tongyan, and laughed so hard he nearly fell backward. “You look like a migrant worker coming into the city right now, and one that doesn’t even know how to do anything!”  

       “…Can you talk less?” Whatever little unspoken feelings Jiang Tongyan had were instantly shattered the moment Qian Xiaoke opened his mouth.  

       “For real, hahahaha!” Qian Xiaoke laughed like a big goose. “You’re hilarious!”  

       “Alright then, since you think I’m funny, I won’t carry this for you.” With that, Jiang Tongyan pretended to put it down.  

       “Hey!” Qian Xiaoke quickly set down his own suitcases, ran over, and put the bedding back on Jiang Tongyan’s shoulder. “I won’t say it anymore. You’re the most handsome!”  

       A wise person doesn’t suffer immediate losses—since someone was helping him, Qian Xiaoke was, of course, going to behave.  

       As the two of them carried their luggage out, they happened to run into the guy who lived in the partitioned room, whose occupation was unclear. Another person was following behind him, and it was obvious what they were here for.  

       Seeing Qian Xiaoke moving out just like that, the guy sighed with envy, “Having a partner is so nice. I’m afraid I’ll never have that in this lifetime.”  

       Qian Xiaoke was startled and quickly clarified, “No! There’s nothing between us!”  

       The other party just smiled, said no more, and took the stranger back into his room to go about their business.  

       Jiang Tongyan, who had gone out first, didn’t hear their conversation and was waiting outside, urging him, “Qian Xiaoke! Hurry up! We still have things to do later!”  

       Feeling wronged by the misunderstanding, Qian Xiaoke pouted as he walked out.  

       Jiang Tongyan asked, “Now what? Who upset you this time?”  

       “You,” Qian Xiaoke replied. “What kind of eyesight does that guy have? How did he even see us as a couple?”  

       The moment he said that, in the dimly lit corridor, the tips of Jiang Tongyan’s ears secretly turned red.  

       Jiang Tongyan asked, “What… exactly did he say?”  

       As he asked, his tone even carried the tiniest hint of shyness.  

       But Qian Xiaoke was too dense to notice.  

       “Why are you so curious about this?” This time, it was Qian Xiaoke’s turn to rush him. “Hurry up, hurry up! Didn’t you say you had things to do later?”  

       As Jiang Tongyan was pushed to go downstairs, he thought: I do have things to do later, but so do you!  

       Just like that, with Jiang Tongyan’s ‘enthusiasm’ and ‘help’, Qian Xiaoke successfully moved into a brand-new and beautiful studio apartment.  

       This was Jiang Tongyan’s first time coming here. Before Cheng Sen rented out these two units for him, he had shown him photos and videos. Originally, Jiang Tongyan had wanted to come check it out in person, but work kept him too busy to leave, and he hadn’t even gotten the keys yet.  

       But that was fine—he hadn’t gotten the keys before, but now he was here.

       The residential complex was nice—Jiang Tongyan was quite satisfied.  

       The building was nice—Jiang Tongyan was fairly satisfied.  

       When they got off the elevator, they saw that each floor had only two apartments, meaning this entire floor had only the two of them as neighbours—just the two of them, uniquely paired.  

       Jiang Tongyan was extremely satisfied.  

       “What are you smiling about?” Qian Xiaoke asked curiously while unlocking the door.  

       “Nothing,” Jiang Tongyan said. “I was just thinking—Cheng Sen really is a good boss, setting you up with such a decent apartment.”

       “Yeah!” The moment this topic came up, Qian Xiaoke’s eyes lit up. “Chairman Cheng is really such a good person!”  

       Jiang Tongyan sneered inwardly: What a joke! The real good person is standing right in front of you!  

       Of course, he absolutely couldn’t let Qian Xiaoke know that he was the one renting this apartment, nor could he let her find out that their company didn’t actually have any “Outstanding Employee Awards”—this was a ‘love’ reward.  

       Otherwise, how embarrassing would that be? Where would Jiang Tongyan put his face?  

       Jiang Tongyan was a proud man. Even when he wanted to do something nice for someone, he had to go through eight hundred detours just to make sure they wouldn’t find out.  

       Who knew what he was even trying to achieve?  

       Once inside, Qian Xiaoke was beyond excited as he enthusiastically introduced his new home to Jiang Tongyan.  

       The living room—”This sofa is so soft! So comfy!” Qian Xiaoke said. “And there’s even a TV! I tested it—it works!”  

       The bedroom—”Look at this bedding set! It has a rabbit pattern!” Qian Xiaoke said. “And the bed is super soft too! Kinda like the one in that hotel you stayed at before!”  

       The kitchen—”This is my favourite part! I can finally cook for myself!”  

       Jiang Tongyan asked, “You can cook?”  

       “Of course! I’m great at cooking,” Qian Xiaoke declared. “It’s just that the kitchen in my old shared apartment was too inconvenient which affected my performance.”  

       Hearing this, Jiang Tongyan was somewhat impressed. So, Qian Xiaoke wasn’t a completely useless idiot after all.  

       “What can you cook?” Jiang Tongyan set down the bedding from his shoulder and looked at him with a smile. “Tell me.”  

       He was already prepared to hear a list of impressive dishes. Instead, Qian Xiaoke replied, “Braised beef noodles, pickled mustard noodles, chicken and mushroom noodles, spicy braised beef noodles…”  

       “…Hold on.” Jiang Tongyan was full of question marks. “Why do these all sound so familiar?”  

       “You know Master Kong?” Qian Xiaoke grinned. “That’s my personal master chef.”  

       Jiang Tongyan rolled his eyes so hard they nearly hit the ceiling. Without a word, he reached out and flicked Qian Xiaoke’s forehead.

       “Cut it out,” Jiang Tongyan warned. “If you don’t start talking properly, I’m going to—”

       “Huh? What?” Qian Xiaoke picked up the bedding, ready to stuff it into the wardrobe.  

       Looking at his innocent, clueless expression, Jiang Tongyan couldn’t even bring himself to finish the threat.  

       Ah, man… Soft-hearted is your name.  

       Jiang Tongyan was moved by his own tenderness and was touched by himself in that very moment.  

       Qian Xiaoke saw him spacing out, ignored him and carried the heavy bedding into the bedroom on his own.  

       Jiang Tongyan followed, glancing at the bedding set—it was actually quite nice.  

       That was something he had specifically asked Cheng Sen to take care of. Not just the new bedding set, but new properly sized blankets and pillows had all been prepared. He was worried that if Qian Xiaoke moved in, he might end up sleeping on his old mattress, which was probably infested with god-knows-how-many dust mites.  

       Watching Qian Xiaoke busying around, Jiang Tongyan asked, “Have you eaten dinner?”  

       “Nope.” Qian Xiaoke answered while unpacking. “After work, I came here to clean up first, then went back to move my stuff.”  

       He looked up. “What about you?”  

       For a split second, Jiang Tongyan felt… almost flattered. This kid actually cared about him!  

       “I’m hungry.” Jiang Tongyan said. “What should we do?”  

       Qian Xiaoke glanced at him, then rummaged through a suitcase and pulled out two packs of Master Kong braised beef noodles.  

       “I can make you some instant noodles?” Qian Xiaoke offered. “But they got crushed just now.”  

       As he spoke, he vigorously shook the instant noodles in his hand, and it rustled. Judging by the sound, they were probably crushed to bits.  

       “…You eat it yourself.” Jiang Tongyan sulked and sat to the side. He wanted real food.

       After watching Qian Xiaoke for a while, he asked, “Do you know how to order delivery?”  

       Qian Xiaoke continued organising his stuff. “What kind of question is that? Who doesn’t? I’m not an idiot!”  

       Jiang Tongyan suddenly felt targeted.  

       “I don’t know how.” He said with a straight face. “I’m from abroad. I don’t know how—so what?”  

       Qian Xiaoke could’ve used this golden opportunity to tease him, but considering how Jiang Tongyan had helped him move today, he figured he should at least be nice to him just for today.  

       He smiled. “It’s fine. That’s… kind of cute.”

       Qian Xiaoke was hungry too, but normally, he would have just skipped the meal, gone to bed early, and saved the money.  

       He saved money and lost weight—what a win-win situation.  

       But today was different. Jiang Tongyan was here, and he had helped him move. He should show some appreciation.  

       Qian Xiaoke might be broke, but he wasn’t clueless about basic social etiquette.  

       “I’ll order takeout,” Qian Xiaoke said. “You helped me move, so dinner’s on me.”  

       Jiang Tongyan was instantly delighted.  

       He loved being treated by Qian Xiaoke, though he rarely got the chance.  

       A penny-pincher willing to spend? This was a once-in-a-millennium miracle!  

       “Alright, you said it,” Jiang Tongyan grinned. “What are we having? Spicy hotpot or snail rice noodles?”  

       Sitting cross-legged on the soft carpet, Qian Xiaoke opened the takeout app.  

       “Let’s try something new,” he said. “I know you like those, but we can’t eat the same thing all the time.”

       He scrolled through the options, then suddenly smiled. “Okay, I know.”  

       He placed the order in record time, then put his phone down and continued unpacking.  

       “What did you get?” Jiang Tongyan asked.  

       By now, he had some faith in Qian Xiaoke’s food choices—after all, the spicy hotpot, barbecue, and snail rice noodles he’d introduced him to had all been pretty good.  

       “It won’t be fun anymore if I tell you,” Qian Xiaoke said. “it’s something you’ve never had before anyway.”  

       Jiang Tongyan immediately felt a surge of anticipation.  

       As they waited, he joined in on organising the apartment. Under Qian Xiaoke’s directions, he obediently placed manga books here and set the alarm clock there.  

       The two of them got along surprisingly well, almost like a couple moving in together for the first time.  

       Of course, that was just Jiang Tongyan secretly entertaining himself with the thought. He would never say it out loud. To give Qian Xiaoke ammo to make fun of him? No way.

       Jiang Tongyan had a plan. He was going to win Qian Xiaoke over with his charm—make him fall helplessly in love, and then when he finally came running with a teary-eyed confession, Jiang Tongyan would ‘graciously’ accept.  

       That would be dignified.  

       There was no way he’d be the one to say: Uh, so, I kinda like you… wanna date?  

       Absolutely not.  

       For one, his pride wouldn’t allow it. And second… every time he’d confessed to someone in the past, without exception, they had all ended up falling for Shen Huiming instead.  

       It was a curse.  

       Even though life had been going well lately, Jiang Tongyan hadn’t forgotten about that particular misfortune.  

       Fate had burned him before—he wasn’t about to take that risk again. He had learned to be cautious.  

       By the time they finished unpacking, the doorbell rang. Their takeout had arrived.  

       Jiang Tongyan was excited—only to nearly have his soul *blasted* out of his body the moment he opened the door.  

       “Qian Xiaoke! What the hell did you order?!” The stench was even stronger than snail rice noodles. “Did you order actual shit?!”  

       Qian Xiaoke jogged over, happily took the food from the startled delivery guy, and politely thanked him before shutting the door.  

       “Hey, what are you yelling for!? You’re scaring the delivery guy!”  

       As he opened the takeout bag, Jiang Tongyan had already jumped ten meters away.  

       Qian Xiaoke grinned. “It’s stinky tofu! This place is the most authentic one—it’s delicious. Seriously, you should try it!”

T/N:
So actually the real raw censored Master Kong(a noodle brand) for some reason, so when Qian Xiaoke said, “Braised beef noodles, pickled mustard noodles, chicken and mushroom noodles, spicy braised beef noodles…”
Those are actually the instant noodle flavours instead.
I might be wrong for this one, because the raw literally just gave me □□ and I only found what’s censored by combing through the chapter’s comments. Fingers crossed, it’s really talking about Master Kong…

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