For Lin Jiahui to leave City B was not something that could be done overnight. She had studied and lived in this city for more than ten years, leaving almost the most important ten years of her life here. In addition to love and career, there were many other trivial matters.
One of them was the house she co-rented with Ruan Mian. This two-bedroom apartment was originally rented by Ruan Mian. The two lived together partly to share the rent, but more to take care of each other. Now that she was leaving temporarily, she inevitably felt a little guilty.
However, Ruan Mian didn’t feel there was anything wrong with it. Everything comes to an end eventually. She had experienced too many separations and departures over the years, and instead comforted Lin Jiahui not to feel burdened.
However, with the two of them splitting the annual rent for this two-bedroom apartment, it was still affordable, but alone would be a bit stressful. Plus the lease was about to expire soon, Ruan Mian decided to rent a small apartment nearby again. During that time, in addition to working, she spent her free time looking at houses with the agent.
On Mid-Autumn Day, Ruan Mian took a day off. After getting up in the morning, she received a call from Fang Ruqing. The mother and daughter chatted for a while.
Strangely, Fang Ruqing was actually not very satisfied with Chen Yi before, but she didn’t know what Ruan Mingke said to her. After learning about this matter, she never mentioned any words of objection to Ruan Mian again. This time she even asked about Chen Yi’s situation, “Chen Yi didn’t take time off today?”
Ruan Mian was stunned for a moment before answering, “No, he probably won’t have time off until National Day.”
“I see.”
Fang Ruqing didn’t ask further. “I saw you posted on Moments that you want to rent a house. What happened to the little girl who co-rented with you?”
“She was transferred back to her hometown hospital.”
“Alright, renting a house alone, you have to be more careful.”
Fang Ruqing nagged a few more words as usual before hanging up.
She couldn’t go back to sleep anyway, so Ruan Mian simply made another appointment with the agent to go house hunting. Lin Jiahui happened to be at home too, so the two went out together.
While looking at houses, Lin Jiahui asked, “Why don’t you just move in with Chen Yi?”
“Where he lives is too far from the hospital, it’s not convenient to commute.”
Ruan Mian instinctively answered, and only after speaking did she feel something was wrong.
Her reaction to living with Chen Yi seemed a little too natural, as if she really would move in together if the location was suitable.
“Then can’t you two consider renting a place together around here? Or you can just let Chen Yi move into our current place. After all, with you alone, I really am a little worried,” Lin Jiahui turned her head to look at her, “I think Chen Yi would agree with me too.”
Ruan Mian pursed her lips. She became reserved at this point and said, “Even if we really lived together, he wouldn’t be home often. Wouldn’t it still be just me by myself most of the time?”
Lin Jiahui smiled. “That makes sense too.”
The topic of cohabitation was temporarily shelved. On the way back after seeing the houses that day, Ruan Mian and Lin Jiahui discussed in the living room which one was more suitable.
Just as they were chatting enthusiastically, Lin Jiahui received a call from her mother and went back to the bedroom to take it. Ruan Mian sat on the sofa holding her laptop and communicating with the agent online.
She had just asked two questions when her phone rang too.
The caller ID showed Chen Yi.
Ruan Mian turned on the speaker and placed it on the armrest of the sofa. While listening to him speak, she replied to the agent’s messages. Chen Yi said a couple sentences, heard the tapping keyboard sounds, and stopped all lines of conversation to ask, “Are you busy?”
“No, I’m chatting with the agent.”
Ruan Mian picked up her phone and turned off the speaker, bringing it to her ear to explain, “My senior will go to City S for an exchange soon, and she doesn’t plan to come back to City B afterwards either. The lease for this place we co-rent will expire in October. I plan to rent another place again, and went with the agent today to see a few houses, but I still haven’t decided which one to choose. Why don’t you give me your opinion?”
Chen Yi hmm’ed and said, “Okay, tell me about the different situations.”
“Wait a moment.”
Ruan Mian reached for scratch paper and listed the pros and cons of the three apartments she had discussed with Lin Jiahui earlier, and went through them one by one with him, “Actually I prefer the third one more, but it’s a bit farther away, a 40 minute drive by car, and if there’s traffic it would probably take even longer. The second one is still okay, but my senior sister said the property management is no good, no security. The first one is average, I can’t find anything bad about it, but also nothing I particularly like.”
She chatted a bunch. Chen Yi listened quietly, then fell silent for a few seconds before suddenly speaking up, “Why don’t you consider renewing the lease for your current place?”
Ruan Mian lowered her eyes to look at the computer screen and answered casually, “I feel it’s a bit of a waste for one person to live in a two-bedroom apartment, and with my current salary, paying for this place would be a bit stressful. Otherwise I wouldn’t want to move either.”
Chen Yi asked in a low voice, “Then why don’t you find a new roommate?”
She was still distracted chatting with the agent, so her voice fluctuated between near and far. “My senior and I were acquainted, so living together wasn’t a problem. If I find a stranger, I’d feel a little awkward living together.”
He set traps step by step. “Then find someone you know?”
“It’s hard to find a suitable acquaintance on such short notice, and I don’t want to live with colleagues either.”
The relationships at the hospital were already complex enough. Ruan Mian didn’t want to bring any of that into her personal life.
“Then…” Chen Yi dragged his words out, his voice smiling. “How about a boyfriend?”
“Huh? Consider wha-” When Ruan Mian finally reacted to what exactly was being considered, she was stunned right where she sat.
It was something she had just discussed with Lin Jiahui earlier, but when it was really brought out into the open, she was still somewhat caught off guard.
“Where I live now is too far from where I work. Your place is quite suitable, plus, my girlfriend lives there too.”
Chen Yi was reasonable and persuasive. His voice was steady and low. “So, I’d like Dr. Ruan to consider this carefully.”
Dr. Ruan.
Ruan Mian’s ears inexplicably burned from this title. She shifted the phone away deliberately, trying to calm her heartbeat and pretend to be calm. “You really want to move in?”
“If you feel it’s inappropriate, then I won’t move in.”
Chen Yi said in a low voice, “You’ve lived here for a long time, right? If you don’t want to move, then we won’t move.”
Upon hearing this, Ruan Mian’s heart felt like a shattered honey pot, soft and sweet. She gently said, “It doesn’t have to be that troublesome.”
Chen Yi thought this reply was a rejection. He didn’t expect her to say next, “When do you have time off? Come take a look at the place. If you think it’s suitable, you can move in too.”
The volume of the last few words was significantly smaller. Even through the screen, Chen Yi could imagine what she looked like right now. Keeping the laughter out of his voice, he said in a low tone, “Okay, I’ll come over this weekend.”
“Which day? What time are you coming over?”
Ruan Mian now seemed to really have the mentality of someone waiting for a tenant to come see the place. “I’m off this Sunday. It’s my only day off this week.”
Since it was just going through the motions, Chen Yi didn’t care too much. “Then Sunday.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Ruan Mian looked at the agent’s reply on the computer, then at the pile of words on the scratch paper, and inexplicably smiled.
After a while, Lin Jiahui finished her call and came out from the bedroom, sitting back in her previous spot. “Alright, let’s continue discussing.”
Ruan Mian closed her laptop after replying to the agent. “Senior sister, I’ve decided not to rent a house and will continue living here.”
“What happened?”
Lin Jiahui turned to look at her, surprised. “Didn’t you say it was a bit wasteful for one person to live in a two-bedroom apartment?”
She raised her hand and scratched her cheek. “I found a roommate.”
“Who is it?”
Ruan Mian looked at her, blinking. “Chen Yi.”
Lin Jiahui chuckled twice. “This roommate of yours is quite unique.”
Ruan Mian: “…”
Soon it was Sunday. Lin Jiahui went out early in the morning to meet with friends, and before leaving, she specifically tidied up the room once.
At that time, Ruan Mian was eating breakfast in the dining room. She left the door open for ventilation and jokingly said, “I wish you luck with house viewing today.”
After eating breakfast, Ruan Mian really had the mentality of someone waiting for others to come see the place. Looking at the messy living room, she started busying herself again.
When Chen Yi arrived, she had just hung up the freshly washed clothes. Hearing the knock at the door, she stopped the running washing machine and went to open the door.
Then she froze right there.
Chen Yi wasn’t dressed in his usual black shirt and pants today, but in casual clothes–a neatly ironed shirt and military pants that accentuated his tall and straight figure.
He had good complexion. The olive green made him look even more delicate and handsome. His usually pitch-black, cold eyebrows and eyes now contained a hint of smile, making him appear gentler.
Chen Yi’s lips curved up as he lightly flicked her nose with his finger. “What’s wrong?”
Ruan Mian suddenly snapped back to her senses. She shifted her line of sight away awkwardly. “Nothing, I was just wondering how you got in when you needed a keycard last time.”
“Maybe seeing me dressed like this, they felt I didn’t look like a bad person.”
Looking at his fair and handsome face, Ruan Mian couldn’t help but retort, “You wouldn’t look like a bad person even without these clothes.”
“Then why didn’t you let me in last time?”
Chen Yi leisurely approached her, backing her against the shoe cabinet, and lazily said, “Should Dr. Ruan speak up for me about this injustice?”
There it was again.
Ruan Mian’s ears inexplicably burned. She turned to leave, hastily glossing over it, “Next time.”
But Chen Yi grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, placing both hands on either side of her, bending down slightly. “Why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not.”
Despite Ruan Mian’s repeated avoidance, she still couldn’t help letting her gaze linger on his face, then slowly drift downward.
From his temples, eyebrows, nosebridge, to his thin lips, then the prominent Adam’s apple below. Further down, his shirt buttons were fastened neatly, stopping right below the Adam’s apple, so nothing could be seen. Around his waist was a black belt, accentuating his lean figure.
Ruan Mian looked up at him again, grabbing his arm as she asked gently, “Why are you dressed like this today?”
“I had to go out with my uncle this morning, so I couldn’t wear casual clothes.”
Chen Yi brushed aside the hair hanging by her cheek, lowered his head to kiss her. His breathing was warm. “What, you don’t like it?”
She was tense from head to toe, breathing and heartbeat tight. “No.”
“Then you like it?”
Chen Yi looked into her shy, tempted eyes, then lowered his head to kiss her again.
“Then from now on, every time I come to see you, I’ll wear this outfit. Does that sound good?”
“…You don’t have to wear it every single time.”
Caught off guard by his good looks, Ruan Mian inadvertently let slip what she was thinking. “Seeing it too often can cause aesthetic fatigue1.”
- T/N: This was a literal translation; not very sure if there’s a similar phrase in English. ‘????’, i.e., aesthetic fatigue, means to see a nice thing so much that it no longer looks nice. I toyed with using ‘familiarity breeds contempt‘ in lieu, but in the context it’s a lot less negative than that, despite carrying the same underlying meaning. ↩︎
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