Chapter 05
Liang Xun was taking a shower when Lin Shengwen sent him his friend request.
He heard the phone on the sink go "ding dong" and thought it was a work message. He quickly rinsed the shampoo off his head and picked up a towel to wipe the water off his body - especially the water on his hands. Liang Xun hated touching electronic products with wet hands the most.
When he unlocked the screen and opened the software, he received not a message from any of Mingsheng's colleagues or superiors, but a friend request from an unfamiliar person.
Liang Xun quickly realized that this was Lin Shengwen's account.
Lin Shengwen's avatar is a simple sketch of a deer. He once begged Pei Ning to recommend Lin Shengwen's friends to him so that he could sneak a peek at his circle of friends without adding Lin Shengwen as a friend. At that time, he had seen this deer countless times.
It’s a pity that Lin Shengwen’s circle of friends is not updated often. Even if it is updated, it is just to forward the introduction text written by their unit’s official account after the paper was published.
He tried reading Lin Shengwen's papers and articles on WeChat public accounts. However, he couldn't understand the professional English and the academic content, so he gave up in frustration.
Liang Xun pulled the towel with his left hand and wiped his wet hair twice. He put his left hand down, propped his head against the towel, and held the phone. His fingers trembled slightly, feeling a little nervous and a little excited.
He clicked the "Add Friend" icon, and soon the picture on the phone screen turned into a chat window between the two of them.
Liang Xun typed with both hands, typing and deleting a sentence.
So much so that after Lin Shengwen changed the other party's note to "Liang Xun" on the chat interface on the other end, he didn't see the word Liang Xun for a long time, and it always said "The other party is typing..."
Lin Shengwen poured himself a cup of chrysanthemum tea. The small cup of tea was almost empty when Liang Xun finally spoke.
Liang Xun: "Hello, Mr. Lin. Pei Ning introduced you to me. Are you planning to buy a house for your own use?"
Lin Shengwen types very fast, even faster when using a computer keyboard. However, the small screen of his mobile phone limits his typing speed.
Lin Shengwen: "Yes, please, Mr. Liang."
"The other party is typing..." This went on for a long time before a new message finally appeared on the chat interface.
Liang Xun: "Just call me Liang Xun."
Lin Shengwen did not follow his words and let Liang Xun call his name.
He was never an outgoing or sociable person; others judged him to be quite the opposite. He would occasionally reflect on himself and think that his way of dealing with others could indeed be described as somewhat unkind, but it was difficult to change a habit that had been formed over the years.
——At least before meeting Liang Xun in person, Lin Shengwen would not let Liang Xun call him by his full name.
Liang Xun's remark changed to "The other party is typing...", but soon, Liang Xun's reply came.
Lin Shengwen smiled as soon as he saw it. Liang Xun was also quite extreme. The waiting time was completely disproportionate to the length of the text sent. Previously, he waited so long in exchange for a short sentence, but this time, Liang Xun sent such a long string of inquiries in such a short time.
Liang Xun: "Could I know what your housing requirements are, Mr. Lin? A fully renovated new development? Or would a renovated property that you've already lived in be acceptable? Are there any requirements for size or layout? Regarding commuting, would you prefer a location that's close to the metro or located along the subway? What's your budget?"
Lin Shengwen took another sip of tea and replied one by one.
He knew that he would have to move soon. Although it was true that one had to be selective when buying a house, if he was still picky, he might end up sleeping on the streets - although there was an option of returning to his parents' home, he would rather sleep in the hospital than choose that.
Lin Shengwen: "As long as it's unused, it doesn't matter if it's second-hand or not, but a fully furnished, move-in ready apartment is best. Two bedrooms and a living room or more. The commute time should be under 20 minutes. I'm in a hurry and hope to decide within two weeks."
The purchase of the house was to be finalized within two weeks - Lin Shengwen knew that this was a bit unreasonable, so he did not set a budget.
After all, this is not like he has already found a house and can immediately find the salesperson to sign the contract. Instead, the other party needs to start looking for a house according to his needs from scratch.
Furthermore, considering Lin Shengwen's work intensity, it is unrealistic to spare any extra time to run around looking at houses.
This means that the pressure is completely transferred to Liang Xun. He has to find and screen out a group of alternative houses for Lin Shengwen in such a tight time, let Lin Shengwen review them, and take Lin Shengwen to see the houses in person.
As expected, Liang Xun's chat window remained unresponsive for a long time.
Just when Lin Shengwen guessed that Liang Xun would probably think that all the housing information was on the company computer and it would take the next day to sort out some suitable houses for him, a batch of detailed pictures of the houses suddenly popped up in the window with a "ding ding ding ding" sound.
The layout of the property listings is similar, probably using a unified template, but the floor plans and addresses are quite different.
But Lin Shengwen's attention was suddenly attracted by the "Mingsheng Real Estate" logo in the corner of the picture.
Lin Shengwen certainly didn't know that Pei Ning woke up slowly in the afternoon and called Liang Xun to inform him. After introducing Lin Shengwen, the client, to Liang Xun, Liang Xun, who could have gone home from get off work, immediately left Dajiang Yuehua and rode his bicycle to the company.
On the way, Liang Xun called his former colleague in the sales department and explained the situation. Liang Xun then added, "The performance will be counted on you. I will be the one to coordinate with you."
After hearing this, his colleagues were naturally happy to help him.
Liang Xun still had the authority to search for properties. He sat down at his desk in the office, turned on his computer, and in less than two hours he had listed some suitable properties. At this moment, he didn't know Lin Shengwen's needs, so he had to use his own guesses to determine what kind of house Lin Shengwen might need.
It was strange that Pei Ning did not reveal more information to him. Liang Xun racked his brains to search and made a table to organize all the news and pictures.
After doing all this, Liang Xun turned the ashtray full of cigarette butts upside down in front of the trash can, shook it, cleaned the ashtray, and backed up the folder to his own mobile phone before leaving the office and going home.
Liang Xun packed a bowl of fried noodles on his way home. When he got home, he ate it in two bites and rushed to take a shower.
He originally thought that he would organize these houses in case of emergency.
But Liang Xun didn't expect Lin Shengwen's friend request to come so quickly.
Liang Xun sent Lin Shengwen a total of eight property listings. Lin Shengwen reviewed them one by one and narrowed down three, but in fact, he was not the most satisfied with these three.
Lin Shengwen first replied these three sets to Liang Xun.
Liang Xun then asked Lin Shengwen when would be convenient.
Liang Xun: "I can take Mr. Lin to see these three apartments first. If there are any new properties available during this period, I will send them to you as soon as possible."
Lin Shengwen opened his schedule and moved around for a long time, but most of the free time was in the evening, plus one Thursday afternoon.
He then sent these time periods to Liang Xun,
Liang Xun was obviously a little hesitant.
Most new homes might have water, but not necessarily electricity, before the contract is signed. If you go to view a property at night, it's dark, so what can you expect to see? And this Thursday... Liang Xun repeatedly reviewed his Thursday noon appointment—the celebration party for Dajiang Yuehua, the official handover process after the completion of the inspection, was scheduled for Thursday noon.
Liang Xun thought about it again and again, and finally sent a message to his boss to ask for leave.
Then he replied to Lin Shengwen: "Thursday at noon, Mr. Lin, what do you think?"
Lin Shengwen replied quickly: "Okay."
Liang Xun arranged the order of viewing the three apartments, mainly based on their distance from the subway station.
I don’t know whether it was lucky or unfortunate, but the weather was clear and sunny on Thursday. It has been a bit chilly recently, but it was unexpectedly hot today.
Liang Xun doesn't know how to drive and can't afford a car, so he is used to riding a bicycle to and from work.
But when taking clients to view properties, riding a bicycle is both inconvenient and impolite, so Liang Xun usually opts for a combination of subway and walking.
But Lin Shengwen was different from his previous clients.
Liang Xun arrived at the base of the first apartment building that Lin Shengwen wanted to see ten minutes early. Only then did he realize that he was worried - he hadn't even entered the first apartment yet, but he was already worried about how to take Lin Shengwen to see the remaining two apartments.
He paced at the bottom of the apartment building for a while, and his cell phone buzzed.
Liang Xun had his cell phone in his hand. He picked it up and saw that Lin Shengwen had actually called him.
He picked up the phone, and a pleasant male voice said, "Mr. Liang, I'll be at the apartment building soon. Do you know where I can park nearby?"
"There is a parking lot in the basement of this apartment building. Turn right when you enter the flower bed and go into the basement. There are external parking spaces on the second underground floor and you can park there." Liang Xun said.
Liang Xun, braving the overly bright sunlight, used the thumbnail of the hand that was not holding the phone to pinch the tip of his index finger for more than ten seconds, and an indescribable pain came over him.
Liang Xun warned himself to stay calm and act like an ordinary real estate agent receiving clients.
Lin Shengwen had never met him, so he had no idea that he had been secretly in love with him for so many years.
There was no way he could let Lin Shengwen know about this.
Liang Xun stood at the door of the apartment building and soon saw Lin Shengwen driving towards him, but the car turned right and quickly entered the underground garage. He waited for a while and Lin Shengwen walked up from the garage entrance.
He put his phone in his pocket and extended his hand to Lin Shengwen: "Hello, Mr. Lin, I'm Liang Xun."
Lin Shengwen shook his hand, then released it. "Hello, Liang Xun."
"Just call me Lin Shengwen."
Liang Xun felt a drop of sweat running down the side of his face, silently flowing along his jawline and dripping into his collar.
He pretended not to understand what he said, narrowed his eyes, and smiled at Lin Shengwen: "Let's go in and take a look at the apartment 1208, Mr. Lin."
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