Qian Xiaoke thought Jiang Tongyan was a bit amusing.
“You’re not my boss, so how do you know my boss will pay?” Qian Xiaoke said. “If I were Chairman Cheng, I wouldn’t be friends with you.”
Jiang Tongyan wasn’t in the mood to bicker with Qian Xiaoke about trivial matters. Right now, he felt like he had stirred up a hornet’s nest.
“This is just unbelievable,” Jiang Tongyan said. “We’re all neighbours living here, can’t those young couples behave a bit?”
“Young couples?” Qian Xiaoke said, sitting there with a perfectly calm demeanour. “Not at all. The tenant of that room is a guy, and he brings back a different person every day.”
“…Then we really have to move!” Jiang Tongyan was about to explode. “What’s wrong with you, Qian Xiaoke? No, what’s wrong with all of you?”
“What? Who’s all of us?”
“He’s behaving like that, and none of you neighbours are calling him out?” Jiang Tongyan felt like he was turning into a walking of thousands of whys. He looked at Qian Xiaoke, his head full of question marks. “Hasn’t anyone talked to him? No one’s doing anything?”
“We have, but it’s useless,” Qian Xiaoke said. “Everyone living here is like an unwanted stepchild. The landlord’s nowhere to be found, and the agent’s unreachable. What can we do?”
If there was a way out, who wouldn’t want to leave this place?
Besides, calling the police wasn’t an option either. Did they have any evidence that the guy was engaged in something improper? No. Plus, if they really did call the police, once the authorities saw the state of this place, that’d be it. No one would be able to stay here, and they’d probably lose their rent money, too. In the end, they’d be the ones who suffered.
Qian Xiaoke said, “We poor people have a lot of things we’re helpless about.”
The noise outside was giving Jiang Tongyan a headache. “How are you so calm?”
“I’ve gotten used to it.” Qian Xiaoke opened a drawer and pulled out a small plastic bag full of earplugs. “Want to try, Chairman Jiang? They work great.”
Irritated by the noise, Jiang Tongyan took the earplugs and, under Qian Xiaoke’s patient guidance, put them on.
The world suddenly became quiet, and even Qian Xiaoke in front of him seemed more endearing.
Sure enough, if Qian Xiaoke were mute, he’d be an adorable, likable little guy.
What a pity…
With the earplugs on, Jiang Tongyan felt the world was a much better place. He could finally calmly inspect Qian Xiaoke’s ‘bedroom’.
This ‘bedroom’ was really nothing to write home about.
The room was quite spacious for Qian Xiaoke, but for Jiang Tongyan, it was so small he could barely stretch his legs.
The window was tiny—Jiang Tongyan guessed even sunlight had to struggle to squeeze through.
The desk by the window was the kind of old, rickety wooden school desk he’d only seen in vintage TV dramas. The paint was peeling, and it wobbled with the slightest touch.
On the desk was an air conditioner that was supposed to be white but had turned yellow. Jiang Tongyan asked, “Does that AC even work?”
“It does,” Qian Xiaoke said, “but I don’t use it. Keep your voice down—why are you yelling so late at night?”
“Huh?” Jiang Tongyan’s ‘huh’ was thunderously loud.
Frowning, Qian Xiaoke reached over and removed his earplugs. “Dude, lower your voice!”
Jiang Tongyan had forgotten he was still wearing earplugs.
“I said, does your AC even work?” Jiang Tongyan tilted his head to look at the filthy, outdated AC unit hanging there. It looked like turning it on would release toxic gas.
“It works, but I don’t use it much. I only turned it on once or twice during unbearably hot summer days,” Qian Xiaoke said. “It’s too noisy.”
“Alright, if you can avoid using it, don’t use it.” Jiang Tongyan put the earplugs back on and continued his ‘inspection’.
Qian Xiaoke’s bed wasn’t great either.
The bed wasn’t small, but it didn’t look comfortable. Jiang Tongyan couldn’t understand how Qian Xiaoke could live such a rough life.
“What’s this?” Jiang Tongyan took out the earplugs and said to Qian Xiaoke, “You don’t even have a properly sized bedsheet?”
Qian Xiaoke avoided eye contact, looking a bit embarrassed.
He did live a rough life, but it was all to save money.
The bed was a double bed that came with a mattress when he rented the place. The mattress was mediocre—so mediocre it even had a few cigarette burns in it. But that wasn’t a big deal. He could make it more comfortable by laying a mat and covering it with a bedsheet. But, of course, he didn’t.
Qian Xiaoke couldn’t bring himself to spend money on the mattress. Right now, the bed was covered with the single-sized bedding he’d used back in college.
Back then, he had two thin, single-sized mats to switch between. Even now, he used the same setup: a single mat on one half of the double bed, with the other half piled with clothes and random odds and ends.
Jiang Tongyan, frustrated, said, “So sloppy!”
Qian Xiaoke pouted, “A set of bedding is expensive.”
“Cut back on a few bowls of spicy hot pot, and you’d save enough.”
“I only eat ten yuan spicy hot pot usually, it’s cheap, don’t lecture me.”
Jiang Tongyan turned his head, saw Qian Xiaoke looking wronged, and waved his hand, deciding to drop it.
Jiang Tongyan felt he was truly a good person, too soft-hearted.
He turned around, intending to compliment the room to make Qian Xiaoke happy, but all he saw was an old, tattered sofa.
How bad was this sofa?
It was one of those leather sofas from who-knows-what era, with the surface ruined and the springs sticking out.
Jiang Tongyan asked, “Why haven’t you thrown this thing away?”
Qian Xiaoke patiently taught this clueless boss Jiang about the ways of the world, “It’s left by the landlord if you throw it away, they’ll deduct it from your deposit when you move out! Idiot!”
“…Oh.” Jiang Tongyan learned something new, albeit useless, and didn’t even argue about being called an ‘idiot’.
“Why don’t you put your clothes in the wardrobe?” There was clearly a wardrobe in the room, albeit small, but not so small as to justify leaving clothes on the bed.
Qian Xiaoke sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his skinny legs, “Take a look yourself.”
Jiang Tongyan wasn’t in the habit of rummaging through other people’s things, but with the owner’s permission, he couldn’t refuse.
He walked over and pulled the door…
“Damn!” The door fell off.
Jiang Tongyan jumped, “Why didn’t you tell me it was broken?”
Qian Xiaoke burst into laughter, falling back onto the bed, “If I told you, it wouldn’t have been funny, hahaha!”
Jiang Tongyan, with a dark expression, turned to look at Qian Xiaoke, feeling the urge to hire a hitman.
An eye-roll from Jiang Tongyan made Qian Xiaoke shut up.
After looking around, there wasn’t a single part of the room that satisfied Jiang Tongyan, with the noise from outside being the most irritating.
He put his earplugs back in and went to the window to enjoy the breeze.
The autumn night’s wind was quite pleasant. Although Jiang Tongyan kept complaining about Qian Xiaoke’s place, now that he was full and tired, sitting by the bed to catch a breeze felt pretty good.
Feeling comfortable, he didn’t know when he fell asleep.
Qian Xiaoke was originally sitting cross-legged, playing a mobile game. He was about to complete his puzzle game.
After being tired from playing, he turned around to find Jiang Tongyan asleep, looking quite comfortable.
Holding his phone, Qian Xiaoke quietly called out, “Jiang Tongyan!”
The sleeping figure didn’t move, like a dead pig.
Qian Xiaoke stared at him for a while, then clicked his tongue.
Jiang Tongyan was really handsome, good-looking, good physique, and rich, but his personality and sexual prowess were lacking.
Lying beside him, Qian Xiaoke felt pity for him for the umpteenth time.
An apple bitten by God, what a pity.
Qian Xiaoke felt a sense of compassion for Jiang Tongyan, sighed, and mumbled, “Life is hard, treasure what you can.”
The next morning, Jiang Tongyan woke up feeling disoriented. He first looked at the ceiling and then at the person beside him, snoring away.
Everything seemed off.
“Shit!” Although Jiang Tongyan was never one for good temper around Qian Xiaoke. His upbringing prevented him from swearing, but he couldn’t help it this morning.
Qian Xiaoke was startled awake, jumping up from the bed.
“Huh? What?” Qian Xiaoke was still groggy, his world not yet awake.
Jiang Tongyan looked at him, “What’s going on?”
Qian Xiaoke, still sleepy, continued to doze off sitting on the bed.
Jiang Tongyan grabbed his shoulders, shaking him melodramatically, “Wake up!”
It was no use.
Unless it was time for work, nothing could wake Qian Xiaoke up.
“Qian Xiaoke!” Seeing no response, Jiang Tongyan got an idea, “There’s a thief in your house!”
Qian Xiaoke shuddered, “Where?”
He reached under his pillow and pulled out a kitchen knife, which scared Jiang Tongyan stiff.
“…Qian Xiaoke, let’s talk this out, what are you doing with that?”
Qian Xiaoke, holding his knife, looked around, not seeing any thief, only Jiang Tongyan cowering in the corner.
“Where’s the thief?” Qian Xiaoke asked.
Jiang Tongyan took a deep breath and took the knife from him.
“You sleep with that under your pillow?”
“Of course,” Qian Xiaoke said, “We pretty boys are in danger; if someone breaks in to rob or worse, I need something to defend myself.”
Jiang Tongyan wanted to mock his ‘pretty boy’ comment. ‘Pretty boy’ my foot, ‘madman’ would be more fitting.
But seeing the rickety door that looked like it would fall apart with a kick, having a knife for self-defence seemed reasonable.
“There’s no thief,” Jiang Tongyan said, “Why am I here?”
“…Did you lose your memory?” Qian Xiaoke said, “You fell asleep here last night.”
Jiang Tongyan hadn’t lost his memory, “I’m asking why you didn’t let me sleep on the bedding!”
Why was Qian Xiaoke on the bedding while he was lying on a pile of clothes?
Who knew if they were even clean?
Qian Xiaoke pretended not to understand, got off the bed, and stretched.
“Chairman Jiang, pay up.”
“Huh?”
“You stayed here last night, I need to charge you,” Qian Xiaoke said, “My place isn’t comparable to your five-star hotel, so I’ll give you a discount. How much is a night at your place?”
“3688.”
Qian Xiaoke raised his hand, digging in his ear, “How much?”
“3688,” Jiang Tongyan said, “What’s wrong?”
Qian Xiaoke took a deep breath, reminding himself he wasn’t anti-rich.
“Okay, since we’re good friends, you stayed here last night, so 368 yuan will do.”
“I’ll give you nothing!” Jiang Tongyan stood up abruptly, only to bump his waist on the table corner.
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