Chapter 18
The moment Song Yihuan hugged him, his body trembled, but he didn't push her away.
His left hand remained behind his back, while his right hand touched the top of her head again, his fingertips gently caressing it.
His heart was beating very fast, almost frighteningly fast.
"The piece you played yesterday afternoon was really beautiful," she said sullenly, burying her face in his chest.
Chi Ran let her stay buried, a low voice coming from above her head, "Hmm?"
"Does the blank page in that sheet music folder still count?" Song Yihuan asked. "I want that sheet music."
Chi Ran was clearly surprised by her sudden request, and after a pause, she said, "...Okay."
Song Yihuan pressed her advantage, saying, "Is your piano fixed? Can I continue practicing on it? I want to post a video of myself playing an antique piano once it's fixed."
Chi Ran: "..."
Song Yihuan touched his left hand, which was behind his back, and pulled it over to examine it. "Did I bite it on my birthday? It was wrong of me to bite you, but I..."
Chi Ran clearly didn't want to talk about that day, so he abruptly pulled his hand back, pressed his forehead against hers, and pushed her away.
"Stop, halt."
After he finished speaking, he walked quickly to the elevator and pressed the elevator button.
"What?" Song Yihuan asked, then realized what she meant. "Are you afraid I'll keep talking about your birthday..."
"Song Yihuan," he warned in a deep voice, "I have no right to interfere with you."
The elevator arrived with a ding.
"Alright then, I won't say." Song Yihuan followed him inside. "Could I be authorized to play that piece?"
"No." Chi Ran said coldly.
Song Yihuan: "Then your classical piano..."
"no."
Song Yihuan: "No! You just promised me it was okay, you can't go back on your word..."
"No." He couldn't be bothered to say another word.
"Teacher Chi, a teacher for even a day..."
As they were talking, the elevator arrived, and Chi Ran quickly walked out, supporting himself against the wall. She had never seen him walk so fast before.
Before Song Yihuan even left the elevator lobby, she heard a loud crash.
He even slammed the door shut?
...A handsome guy with a terrible temper.
…She hadn’t finished saying “…for life, Daddy” yet.
Daydream: [Why did you slam the door!]
After she sent the message and finished lunch, she still hadn't received a reply from him, but then the sound of a piano started playing again from next door.
Daydream: [What are you playing? Reply to me.]
The music stopped.
But he only paused for a few seconds before continuing, still without replying to her.
Daydream: [My sheet music!! The sheet music you promised!!!]
Daydream: [Late Arrival!!! Teacher Chi!!!]
…
She sent many messages in a row, but received no reply, and the piano music didn't stop.
…He must have taken off his headphones just now.
"Huan! Change your clothes, the air conditioner repairman will be here soon," Guoguo called to her from outside the door.
"Repairing again?" Song Yihuan put down her phone and peeked over the shoulder. "Yesterday they repaired the water pipes, the day before they repaired the set-top box. At this rate, are you going to repair all this broken furniture?"
Their landlord doesn't really care. If something in their house breaks, they pay for the repairs themselves if it's serious, and just bear with it if it's not.
The water pipes, air conditioner, and set-top box are all broken but not completely broken, so they're tolerable.
Guoguo said, "It's just so we can live more comfortably. Besides, if we're showing the house to people, we'll have to renovate it..."
Song Yihuan rushed out warily and grabbed her hand: "Explain yourself! What do you mean by 'viewing a room'? What room are you looking at? Who are you showing the room to? There are only two rooms in total. Are you moving out?"
"No," Guoguo said. "What if... what if you move out and live with the person next door instead of sharing with me? Didn't you two make up this morning?"
"Get off me!" Song Yihuan shook off her hand. "Why should I move? I'm going to live with you for the rest of my life."
Guoguo smiled and said, "I know."
Song Yihuan glared at her worriedly: "You tricked me into coming to live with you! You can't betray me!"
“The rent for October has been paid,” Guoguo pinched her cheek. “What betrayal?”
Song Yihuan was still staring at her.
Guoguo raised an eyebrow: "Oh right, did you use that so-and-so alternative? I'll send you the instructions..."
Song Yihuan slapped her mouth shut.
The guy who came to fix the air conditioner in the afternoon was a pretty young man. After checking the outdoor unit, he went on to check the indoor unit.
Before the man arrived, Song Yihuan had looked up air conditioner repair guides and memorized them several times in her mind, just in case he tried to extort money from her.
"The outdoor unit isn't broken." The deliveryman lifted his hat to wipe his sweat. "It's the indoor unit's drain pump that's worn out and needs to be replaced."
Song Yihuan asked, "How much does the water bottle cost?"
The deliveryman chuckled: "A drain pump, not a water pan, we don't have those. The parts are 273, labor and transportation costs are 100, that's 373 in total."
Song Yihuan continued, "We'll buy the parts ourselves. How many will you install?"
The deliveryman paused for a moment, then honestly said, "I'll get 100 for the installation. You can buy the drainage pump yourself for 70 or 80. You can even get it for 40 or 50 with a couple of discounts on Pinduoduo."
That means the repair company can make at least two hundred yuan by selling a single drain pump.
The young man's answer was so honest that Song Yihuan was too embarrassed to continue.
The deliveryman smiled憨厚ly: "If you want to buy it online, just let me know when the package arrives, and I'll come and install it."
"Are you just telling me the truth like this?" Song Yihuan couldn't help but ask.
"The company makes over two hundred yuan off those parts from you, but my commission comes to less than ten yuan. I'm already being very professional by not telling you this," the delivery guy said, wiping the sweat from his chin.
Guoguo felt a little guilty and said with a smile, "How about this, you come next week, and we'll give you 120 yuan, okay?"
"That would be great!" The young man nodded, then thought for a moment and added, "You can't report me."
"How can you be so ungrateful?" Song Yihuan pulled out her WeChat. "Add me as a friend, and I'll contact you when the parts arrive."
"Okay!" the delivery guy said cheerfully. "I'll do the cleaning for you while I'm at it."
"Say that to me again?"
Chi Ran closed the door behind her and opened the corridor window to let in some fresh air.
Sister Ying spoke to him gently, almost like coaxing a child: "Threatening me won't work. Can you calm down first?"
“You want to sell the song, I agreed. You want to allow him to change it, I agreed that too, what more do you want from me? Calm down? How can I calm down?” Chi Ran asked, suppressing his anger. “You can either tie me up like a pretzel and hand me over to Zhou Ting and that’s it.”
"Don't argue with me," Sister Ying said speechlessly. "It's just going to sign a contract, who's going to kidnap you?"
"I will not see Zhou Ting," Chi Ran said coldly. "If I liked seeing Zhou Ting so much, I wouldn't have terminated my contract with him and signed with you."
Sister Ying earnestly advised, "We didn't ask you to meet or go on a date, it's just a three-minute contract signing..."
He didn't hear a knock on the door next door, and he didn't hear what Sister Ying said after that.
"Okay! Then contact me on WeChat later." It was a young man's voice, walking out from next door.
"Sure, around next Wednesday then," Song Yihuan said with a happy smile. "Are you free?"
Chi Ran had his back to them, but bits and pieces of their conversation leaked in, as did bits and pieces of Ying Jie's words.
Sister Ying: "You just go sign a contract, how long can we meet..."
Song Yihuan: "Remember to check my WeChat... How long will it take you to get here?"
A young man I didn't recognize: "It's nearby...look me up when you come, I..."
…
Chi Ran hung up the phone absentmindedly, and when she turned around, she saw dazzling pink.
"Why haven't you replied to my messages? You haven't replied for five hours!"
Chi Ran countered with, "What do you think?"
Song Yihuan repeated, hands on her hips, in an exaggerated tone: "Five hours, a full five hours."
She overheard a bit of Chi Ran's phone call.
The phone call was mostly about Zhou Ting, the man who had bullied him, and he sounded very angry.
She shouldn't bother him at this time.
But she just wanted to annoy him.
On her birthday, she was biting and nibbling at me, and even forced a kiss on me. What she did was...horrible.
She was even frightened by her own shamelessness.
But he still touched her head today and let her hug him.
After that hug that morning, she suddenly realized that Chi Ran's tolerance for her was far greater than when they first met, and even greater than that of most people.
She wanted to push her luck.
She insisted on pushing the boundaries of this tolerance.
Chi Ran raised his hand again and placed it on the top of her head.
Song Yihuan thought he was going to pat her head, so she tilted her head back obediently. "What, are you going to comfort me?"
Unexpectedly, he placed his hand on the top of her head, his index and middle fingers twisted tightly—
I flicked her forehead hard.
"Hiss!" Song Yihuan covered her forehead.
“This is revenge for you biting my hand last week.” Chi Ran spread the backs of his hands out in front of her.
Those hands were in terrible condition, covered in purple bruises and broken pieces.
She silently swallowed the insults that almost escaped her lips.
"Who were you talking to on the phone just now?" Song Yihuan asked, "Why were you so angry?"
“My agent,” Chi Ran said. “I’m going to sign a contract next Friday, and I’ll probably run into… my former boss.”
Song Yihuan took a half step closer, her toes touching his: "That bad guy who bullied you? Will he bully you again?...No wonder you were so angry just now."
Chi Ran stepped back, raising an eyebrow and saying, "You were eavesdropping on my phone call?"
“You eavesdropped on my phone call too, so can’t I eavesdrop back?” Song Yihuan said matter-of-factly.
Chi Ran sighed.
Song Yihuan raised an eyebrow and continued, "On my birthday..."
"Song Yihuan!"
He interrupted me as soon as I started.
She hadn't actually thought about what to say, nor did she need to. She just wanted to continue testing the waters and see where the limits of his tolerance lay.
Chi Ran turned around, opened the door, and slammed it shut in one smooth motion.
Song Yihuan tilted her head and stared at the door.
She mentioned everything that happened on her birthday, and he answered calmly about most of them, except for one thing.
The reason he slammed the door was quite obvious.
His limits of tolerance are also quite clear.
Clearly, it's the phrase "sleep with you".
Touching the boundary means teetering on the brink of crossing it, and crossing the boundary brings not only the possibility of closer relationships, but also a price to pay.
Song Yihuan silently scrolled through her chat with Chi Ran, watching her monologue that stretched for three pages, and sighed inwardly.
The most recent message reads: "I take back what I said about sleeping with you that day. Please stop giving me the silent treatment, okay?"
Followed by a picture of a puppy tilting its head.
He didn't reply.
She locked the screen and tossed her phone aside.
The bright moon hangs high in the sky, casting a hazy, subtle light, which is better than nothing.
The bedroom lights were off, and the overly bright phone screen dimmed, making it impossible for her to see anything for a moment.
Then, slowly, some blurry outlines could be seen.
The bedroom furnishings felt unfamiliar. In the blurry darkness to the left, there was a huge object that seemed about to burst through the room, but it was actually just a low table and the wall behind it. To the right, there was some light, and in the center of the light was a grinning witch, but she knew it was just the shadow of a tree.
But what I saw was still a monster.
When we can't see clearly, our imagination fills in the gaps. When our vision is limited, what we see is more easily influenced by our emotions and more easily dominated by them.
Will Chi Ran look at things in a similar way to how she does now?
That's why I'm always impatient and indifferent.
His warmth and gentleness were all contained deep, deep within him, only occasionally...
stop!
Stop.
Song Yihuan turned on her phone's flashlight, illuminating the room. She tilted her head slightly, gazing at the moon, the fair and impartial moon.
Stop thinking about it.
It's already decided, hasn't it?
Try to project as little emotion onto Chi Ran as possible. You can try to test her with playful teasing and tantrums, but you shouldn't show any feelings.
After all, once she starts feeling it, feelings of unfairness and discouragement will follow. She might even start picking fights again, just like on her birthday.
I've already figured it out, haven't I?
Chiran is a fairy tale, not a prince. The difference is that fairy tales offer temporary solace, not eternal salvation.
You've already figured it out, haven't you?
Stop once you've figured it out.
The light from the flashlight stung Song Yihuan's eyes. She quickly rummaged through the bedside table, grabbed something, and then turned off the flashlight.
Pink silicone products.
It feels very soft when you hold it in your hand, but it's uncomfortable to hold at other times.
That's why she kept failing.
Song Yihuan held the pink item in her hand and began her fifth courageous attempt.
rush.
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