Chapter Forty-Six
Due to the La Niña phenomenon, this winter in Longjin City is exceptionally cold.
Peng Kun, carrying a tote bag, lingered outside room 223 for a long time. He raised his hand several times but never lowered it, until the door opened from the inside.
Upon seeing him, Zuo Xutong took a step back, almost slamming the door shut behind her. These past few days, she had been avoiding him like the plague.
"Is something the matter?" She frowned slightly.
"Can I go in first?" Peng Kun asked tentatively.
Zuo Xutong reluctantly turned to the side and let him into the room.
He understood the resistance in her body language, which made him even more helpless. For him, pleasing others was already incredibly difficult, let alone a woman.
"It's getting colder and colder," he said, spouting useless nonsense and chatting about the weather like a British person.
She remained silent, not understanding what he was trying to do.
“You’ve been leaving early and coming home late lately,” he added.
"Isn't it all to avoid you?" she muttered to herself.
"It must be a long walk after you get off the bus, right?"
“Not far, twenty minutes,” she replied briefly, praying in her heart that he would leave quickly. They were squeezed in the narrow aisle, so close they could almost hear each other’s breathing.
"This winter is colder than usual." He was still talking about the weather when she glanced at the paper bag with the English logo on it in his hand and guessed what he was up to.
"I bought you a coat," he said, placing the bag on the table.
“I don’t want to,” she said immediately.
He was taken aback, not expecting her to reject him so decisively. His first attempt to make advances towards a woman had ended in rejection, leaving him frustrated and somewhat discouraged.
“You can give it away if you don’t want it,” he said, trying to escape his predicament, but she threw out another sentence that made him even more embarrassed: “How much? I’ll give it to you.”
Peng Kun's face darkened, and he said stiffly, "No need, I'll have the finance department deduct it from your salary next month."
After saying that, he left with a frown.
Zuo Xutong slumped onto the bed, her previously tense expression finally relaxing. A crack had appeared in her long-frozen heart.
The next morning, Zuo Xutong walked out of the nursing home and prepared to go to the bus stop to wait for the bus. A bus slowly followed behind her.
Peng Kun rolled down the car window and honked the horn at her. Zuo Xutong paused, hesitated for a moment by the roadside, and finally walked around to the front of the car and opened the passenger door.
She got into the car, and neither of them spoke; an eerie and ambiguous atmosphere filled the air. Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer and broke the silence, saying, "Mr. Peng, I have something to tell you."
Peng Kun gave a cold "hmm," seemingly still upset about what happened the day before.
"I plan to move closer to the company so it will be easier to commute."
“No, the area around the company is full of new buildings with low occupancy rates, it’s not safe.” He finally stopped being so stingy with his words.
"It's okay, I'm not afraid."
“You’re not afraid, but I am.” Peng Kun blurted out, and both of them froze after he finished speaking. He quickly covered it up, “I have to be responsible for the safety of my employees.”
Zuo Xutong breathed a sigh of relief and said confidently, "I can rent a place further away, I promise it won't cause any trouble for the company."
At that moment, the traffic light turned red. Peng Kun stepped on the brakes, turned around and looked at her: "My house in Nanshan Manor hasn't been sold, it's been taken down. You can move back there."
Zuo Xutong hesitated. Nanshan Manor was indeed closer to the hydrogen energy industrial park, and it could be reached directly by subway line 1.
“But this time, you’ll have to share a room with someone,” Peng Kun continued.
Zuo Xutong was somewhat surprised. Had he gone this far? Renting an entire apartment to two people. However, she didn't mind sharing, since the master bedroom was a suite with its own bathroom. To secure the master bedroom first, she quickly emphasized, "I want to rent the master bedroom."
Peng Kun nodded and smiled meaningfully.
Whether it was her imagination or not, his mood seemed to have improved. Could it be because he could collect two rents?
"Has the other room already been rented out?" she asked gossipy.
Peng Kun glanced at her and said casually, "I'm planning to move there."
Zuo Xutong's vision went black, and she almost fainted from anger.
For a while afterward, she kept putting it off and refused to move until a week later, when Peng Kun found her and asked her bluntly, "When are you planning to move?"
She smiled apologetically and said with difficulty, "I don't want to move anymore. I've thought about it for the past few days and I still feel more comfortable living here. There's a canteen for all three meals a day, so I don't have to cook for myself."
“I’ve already turned the gas back on over there. I’ll cook; you don’t need to lift a finger,” Peng Kun said.
She waved her hands repeatedly, as if she had heard a fairy tale, saying, "No, no need."
And so, not only did the two not reduce their contact, they ended up living under the same roof. She bought an electric kettle at a nearby supermarket, so she didn't even have to leave her bedroom to get a drink of water.
She left home early every day and locked herself in her bedroom when she returned, never stepping out of the room except to enter or leave through the front door. So for several days in a row, they didn't see each other.
On Friday, Zuo Xutong still didn't get home until after 11 p.m. She thought Peng Kun was already asleep, so as usual, she quietly opened the door and tiptoed into the house. Unexpectedly, the living room light was on, and Peng Kun was sitting on the sofa in his pajamas.
She forced a smile, greeted him, and then tried to slip into the bedroom.
“Zuo Xutong,” he called to her, pointing to a plate of sliced oranges on the coffee table, “Come on, have some fruit.”
"No, I don't like fruit." She stood there motionless.
Peng Kun stood up, carried the plate to her, lifted her arm, and shoved the plate into her hand: "If you don't want to see me, you can take it to the bedroom to eat."
"I...I didn't," she said guiltily.
He raised an eyebrow and asked in one breath, "Then how did you manage to live under the same roof as me and not let me see you for five consecutive days?"
Zuo Xutong lowered her head awkwardly and explained hastily, "I just wanted to create more value for the company."
"So, I should thank you?"
Zuo Xutong was about to say "You're welcome" when the other person quickly added, "To thank you, I'll treat you to dinner and a movie tomorrow."
She quickly shook her head: "I have to work overtime at the company tomorrow."
What time do you get off work?
"Not necessarily, it'll be at least 8 or 9 o'clock." By then, the shopping malls will be closed and the movie theaters will be closed.
"What a coincidence! I was just about to invite you to dinner at my house. As for watching a movie, that's even easier," Peng Kun said, walking to the coffee table, picking up the remote control, and turning on the TV.
Zuo Xutong was speechless. This was... too perfunctory, wasn't it?
The next evening, as soon as she entered the door, she smelled the aroma of food.
Upon seeing her return, Peng Kun got up and went to the kitchen to serve rice. Zuo Xutong looked at the four dishes and one soup on the table and realized that she had to attend this "feast at Hongmen" tonight no matter what.
She washed her hands in the master bedroom's bathroom, and when she came out, rice was already on the table, along with two bottles of red wine. With a few candles lit, it would be a perfect candlelight dinner.
However, Peng Kun was clearly not a man who cared about romance, so he naturally wouldn't light candles. He took off his apron, handed her chopsticks, and went straight to the point: "Let's eat."
"Thank you." Zuo Xutong took the chopsticks and sat down at the other end of the table. She first ate a bite of rice, the grains of which were as hard as bullets. Then she picked up a handful of water spinach, which was overcooked and had a poor texture. Finally, she picked up a spoon and took a sip of the soup, which tasted very bland, as if no salt had been added...
She couldn't help but frown.
"What's wrong? Doesn't it taste good?" Peng Kun asked.
"It's alright... to swallow." As she said this, she picked up a piece of radish, but with a little force, the radish broke in half and fell back into the plate.
She glanced helplessly at the person sitting opposite her, who was eating with great relish, seemingly already accustomed to the pig feed she had cooked.
"Didn't you say you could cook?"
“I said I can do it, but I didn’t say I can do it well,” Peng Kun said matter-of-factly, then picked up the radish that she had just dropped and put it in her bowl. “Just eat it, don’t waste it.”
The red wine on the table hadn't been opened; it was just for decoration.
After Peng Kun finished eating and put down his chopsticks, she immediately stood up and volunteered, "I'll go wash the dishes."
"Don't move, I'll do it."
"I'll wash the dishes, you cooked all the meals." Both of them believed that "labor is the most glorious" and insisted on washing the dishes.
"No need, I'm worried you'll break the plate again."
Upon hearing this, Zuo Xutong stopped moving. Perhaps the psychological trauma from breaking the plate last time was too great. She turned her gaze to the tableware on the table and asked in surprise, "Are these plates also antiques?"
"No." Seeing her nervous expression, Peng Kun couldn't help but laugh.
He was already good-looking, but he looked even better when he smiled. She stared at his face, warning herself that she had to keep her heart rate below 100.
In the end, Zuo Xutong washed the dishes. When she came out of the kitchen, she found that the living room lights were off, and only the TV screen on the wall was flashing blue light. Only then did she remember that he had mentioned wanting to watch a movie yesterday. She should have agreed to go to the movie theater in the mall.
"You choose." Peng Kun handed her the remote control.
Zuo Xutong did not answer, politely declining, "I'm a little sleepy and want to rest early."
"Okay, I'll watch it tomorrow." He tactfully put down the remote.
"I have to work overtime tomorrow."
Peng Kun's face finally turned cold, and he said in a deep voice, "Is this project putting too much pressure on you? If so, I can consider changing the project manager."
Zuo Xutong panicked upon hearing this. Commercializing her research results was her long-cherished goal, but now he wanted to replace her. She quickly went over, grabbed the remote control from the coffee table, and said to him, "I'm not sleepy anymore, let's watch a movie."
After saying that, she sat down next to him, picked up the remote control, and asked while pressing the buttons, "Let me choose whatever I want?"
"certainly."
"What about horror movies? Do you watch them?" Zuo Xutong asked deliberately, knowing he was afraid of ghosts.
Peng Kun never dared to watch horror movies, but he didn't want to appear like a coward in front of her, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.
Seeing this, Zuo Xutong chose a Thai movie that was rated as extremely scary.
As soon as the opening credits rolled, Peng Kun broke out in a cold sweat. He pretended to be calm, stood up, went to the restaurant to pour two glasses of red wine, and handed one of them to Zuo Xutong when he returned. She waved her hand and refused, saying, "Wine emboldens even bears." She wasn't a "bear," so of course she didn't need to drink to embolden herself.
Not only was she not afraid, she turned the volume up really loud. Peng Kun wanted to cover his eyes several times, but he was afraid of being laughed at, so he could only stare nervously at the TV screen, his heart pounding like a drum.
Whenever he witnessed a horrifying scene, he would pick up his wine glass and gulp down a shot of 14.5° red wine. Fortunately, he had bought red wine, not spirits. In no time, a 750ml bottle of French dry red wine was empty.
His thinking became increasingly sluggish, and his vision became increasingly blurry. However, the grotesque female ghost in the movie was no longer so frightening.
He stood up, feeling dizzy, opened a second bottle, and then sat back down on the sofa, still holding the bottle.
Zuo Xutong stared intently at the screen in front of her, completely absorbed in the plot, and didn't notice the person next to her who was clinging tightly to a wine bottle like a drunkard.
His consciousness began to slip, and his speech became incoherent: "Do you know? The company has successfully raised funds."
When Zuo Xutong turned her head, she saw that his face was flushed, his eyes were unfocused, and his movements were comical. Only then did she realize that he was drunk.
"I know," she replied hastily, and continued watching the movie.
“No, you, you don’t know, eighty million… US dollars,” he stammered.
It is said that people speak the truth when they are drunk, and one's character is revealed when one is drunk. Many men reveal their true colors when they are drunk, some boasting and some becoming beastly... Zuo Xutong suddenly became curious about what he would do when he was drunk.
Driven by curiosity, she pressed the pause button, ready to listen attentively as he continued his rambling: "It's...it's Dollars."
“I know, eighty million dollars,” she echoed him, mixing Chinese and English.
“Yes, no, it’s not RMB,” he added.
Zuo Xutong suppressed a laugh, thinking that the way he spoke made him sound like a stuttering child, silly, which added to his cuteness.
“The nursing home won’t close down,” he said with a sigh of relief, then leaned back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. “And she… won’t leave the company either.”
"Who is she?" Zuo Xutong put down the remote control and asked casually.
Peng Kun struggled to straighten his tongue and slowly uttered three words: "Zuo, Xu, Tong".
Her smile froze instantly, and her cheeks burned.
Looking at the person beside me, I saw that they had closed their eyes and were sleeping peacefully.
The next day, Peng Kun woke up on the sofa, having no recollection of what had happened the night before, only that his anticipated romantic night had turned into a terrifying one.
At that moment, the door to the master bedroom opened, and Zuo Xutong, dressed neatly, walked out, seemingly ready to go to work.
What time is it?
7:15.
"I'm sorry, I drank too much last night." He had barely finished speaking when she seemed momentarily lost in thought, then looked away. His heart sank, and he asked anxiously, "I...didn't do anything out of line last night?"
Zuo Xutong hesitated for two seconds, then looked up at him: "You don't remember?"
Her expression sent a shiver down his spine: "I don't remember."
"You performed a striptease for me."
Peng Kun's face flushed red instantly, and she was so ashamed that she wanted to disappear into the ground. It seemed that he really didn't remember anything, and she finally felt relieved: "Just kidding, you didn't do anything out of line."
"real?"
"Really, you fell asleep on the sofa after getting drunk."
Peng Kun breathed a sigh of relief and vowed never to watch horror movies again.
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