Chapter 24
"Standard double room, 120 yuan per night. Check-out time is 12 noon the day after tomorrow. There will be an extra 30 yuan room fee for late check-out. Disposable towels, bath towels, toiletries, etc. are provided. Private bathroom. Please provide your ID cards, both of you need them."
Gu Mengzhu, shivering in her down jacket, watched Qi Yaoguang negotiate with the hotel receptionist. She had argued with Qi Yaoguang when he first suggested she buy a down jacket, never imagining it would be this cold even on a day without snow. Thankfully, the hotel's heating was strong, and she soon warmed up. Sweat began to bead on her forehead; she wiped it away and then took off her down jacket.
Qi Yaoguang carried his luggage inside, and she followed behind him in small steps, ignoring the discomfort in her throat caused by motion sickness, and began to grumble about how much money she had spent.
Are hotels with vertical bunk beds all this expensive?
Qi Yaoguang was taken aback, not expecting this. He hadn't had to worry about these things when he was filming here before, and was used to spending money lavishly. Thinking of their meager savings, he felt a pang of shame.
"I thought this was a good deal, sorry. I'll go out and look around tomorrow to see if there are any cheap places to rent."
"Life is great as a celebrity, no wonder everyone wants to be famous."
She rubbed her nose, which was itchy from the perfume, and looked up at the hotel environment. She was immediately dazzled by the magnificent golden corridor.
"But are you good at renting a place? Let me handle it, so we don't get ripped off again."
"Wow, that's amazing! Then I'll have to trouble you, boss."
"Thank you for your kind consideration."
But they had no other choice. They wandered through the alleyways, repeatedly calling the advertisements on the walls, only to be told the same thing over and over again:
The cheaper ones are all fully booked.
People flocked here seeking an opportunity, only to find that the gold rush area was so crowded there wasn't even room to stand. Hope and anxiety intertwined in the tiny, pigeon-cage-sized houses, tormenting the hearts of every wanderer. The temperature dropped steadily, and Gu Mengzhu exhaled a puff of white breath, forced to witness the cruelty of a foreign land's snowstorm. The streetscape devoid of any greenery and the withered leaves standing starkly in the winter air only intensified her already troubled mood.
"This time of year is so competitive, everything's already rented out. This big room, 750 yuan, has two empty beds, a kitchen, and a refrigerator, which is already pretty good, especially since you're only renting it for short term. Look, everyone here rents for a year or more! I can see you're having a tough time in this cold weather, so letting you rent it is already a good thing. Take it or leave it. To be honest, you're lucky; if that idiot hadn't run away, you wouldn't have gotten a turn. Oh, and by the way, water is 20 yuan per person, electricity is 1.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and sanitation is 10 yuan per person per month." (Made without basis)
As the landlord led them around, he rummaged through his pockets for his keys. His enormous size looked rather comical in the narrow stairwell, and the handrails appeared quite bent under the weight. Gu Mengzhu, smelling the pungent aroma of chili peppers, sneezed several times and glared at the person who was smirking.
"Damn it, they just ran away like that."
As soon as the landlord opened the door, he kicked the trash next to him, startling the mosquitoes and flies hiding inside, which immediately began to swarm in the air. Several wriggling white maggots crawled on the stained floor. A strong, sour stench filled the living room, and yellowish liquid, seemingly from nowhere, was slowly seeping out. Half a cigarette butt lay hidden in the corner. Cigarette ash was scattered all over the floor, appearing to have been soaked in the yellow liquid and stained a viscous black like petroleum.
Seeing the appalling environment, Gu Mengzhu furrowed her brows tightly, her expression one of wanting to cry but unable to. The stench was almost unbearable; she covered her nose and tugged at his sleeve. Qi Yaoguang glanced back, sighed, and turned away again.
"Are there any other rooms? You can't stay here."
"How about this, if you clean it yourselves, I'll waive two hundred yuan of your rent this month. Anyway, it would cost me over a hundred yuan to hire someone to clean such a dirty place. Just say the word."
He turned to her to discuss it, but before he could even speak, she silently nodded.
The house was settled, and the two stood at the door with their luggage after signing the contract. The half-open window swayed in the howling wind, rattling against the frame. Qi Yaoguang quickly went over to secure it, only to be hit in the face by the blast of the fan. He rubbed his nose to ease the chill in his face, and when he turned around, he saw Gu Mengzhu's fists clenched tightly. She was gripping her luggage tightly, her fingers white from the pressure. He went over and took her luggage, and upon touching it, he realized that her hands were even colder than the biting winter wind.
"Why don't you go out for a walk first, observe your surroundings, go to the supermarket, and see if there are any cheap daily necessities you need to buy. I'll take care of things here, okay?"
She had been immersed in some kind of emotion for a long time, and when she heard him suddenly speak, she was a little dazed and looked up at him in confusion.
"What did you say?"
“I told you, go out for a walk first, and come back in two hours. This house needs to be ventilated for a long time before anyone can live in it. Don’t stay here and inhale the poisonous fumes.”
"oh."
Seeing her distracted state, Qi Yaoguang doubted whether she could return safely, so he added with concern:
"If you don't know the way, just call me and I'll come pick you up."
"Um."
Gu Mengzhu walked out of that door, utterly dejected. The scene before her eyes only deepened her despair. The walls of the corridor were filthy, cracked plaster splintering and falling to the floor, utterly uncleaned. The ceiling was covered in blackish-gray cobwebs, resembling the cave of a demon, its decay a testament to the stench of countless lives consumed. A large white pipe on the right was stained with yellowish grease, water flowing through it with a hissing sound, its origin and destination unknown. With each step, she had to watch out for the water above, fearing it might suddenly burst, spilling human waste and splashing her. Even more frightening was the thought that boiling water was flowing inside, silently pouring down and scalding her skin with its residual heat.
She couldn't think about it anymore; she was afraid she would scream and recklessly buy a ticket and leave. She really couldn't think about it anymore; just thinking about the warm winters at home made her regret it even more. The ground beneath her feet was as black as asphalt; if she fell, she would definitely bleed. Imagining her face covered in blood, she couldn't help but curse:
What kind of person is this? They're so negative!
The dirty snow on the roadside was slowly melting. They had arrived too late, missing the snowfall. Gu Mengzhu stepped on several frozen clumps of snow, unable to understand why the pure white snow had fallen so dirty, while the melting snow was eroding her body heat, causing her to shiver. Once again, she was grateful for Qi Yaoguang's wisdom; otherwise, this southerner who had never been north might have frozen to death on the street one day.
He even bought this thing.
Gu Mengzhu looked down at the pink plush gloves on her hands, and couldn't help but laugh as she recalled their past argument.
She said pink is ugly, what kind of aesthetic sense does this person have!
She was yawning when someone called. Seeing the familiar name on her phone, she answered without hesitation.
"hello?"
"Hey Miss, did you just go to the foreign concession to pretend to be a foreigner? What are you saying, hello?"
Hearing that tone, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily a few times:
"Oh, Lei Hou, Lei Hou, it's been a few days since I've seen you, Lei Hou?"
"You know it's been days since we last met? Is making a phone call going to kill you?!"
"Oh dear, phone bills are so expensive. I just paid the rent, and I'm reluctant to spend the money."
"Wow, you're so young, yet you live such a stingy life. Don't you have any shame?"
"No (no)".
Laughter came through the phone, and Chen Luo rolled her eyes:
"How much is the rent? They're so stingy with money that they can't even make a phone call."
"I stayed at the hotel for 120 yuan a night, and stayed for two nights, plus—"
A frantic scream came from the other end of the phone:
"What are you talking about?! One hundred and twenty a night? How dare you? How much money do you have in your pocket to afford to spend like that?"
"What's there to be afraid of? The rent here is even more outrageous."
Even with gloves on, the biting cold still seeped into her fingertips with the chilling wind, forcing Gu Mengzhu to rub her hands together and breathe on her palms to warm them. Chen Luo, hearing the rustling sounds on the other end of the phone, asked her:
"Is it very cold?"
"Yeah, I reckon it'll be below zero."
"Are you wearing clothes? I heard that people in the north have to wear down jackets to get through the winter."
"You're such a busybody, I'm not that stupid."
A wisp of snow still clung to a pine branch. Gu Mengzhu's eyes lit up, and she walked over and tugged at it. The scattered snowflakes fell with a whoosh, their white and green hues swirling in the air, occasionally sending out a gust of cold air. She shook the snowflakes off her head and looked up, finding the snow on the top branches terrifyingly crystalline, like grains of salt mixed in with the wings of a green peacock, shimmering with every movement.
"Hey, I'm asking you about the rent, why aren't you answering?"
"Just looking at the snow, 750, and that doesn't even include water and electricity."
"Seven hundred and fifty?! You must be dreaming!"
"It's a good deal. Are you suggesting we stay in a hotel? Hotels are so expensive."
Chen Luo started cursing Qi Yaoguang again, saying he was a debt collector who didn't earn a penny but just gave it away, that he had committed murder and arson in his past life and had met with bad luck in this one, and so on. She listened and laughed at the same time.
It doesn't matter, as long as she's not implicated.
"Hey, I heard that when it's so cold, even cell phones freeze and shut down."
"Then how could you bear to let me answer the phone in the cold wind?"
"No way, you're so stupid, you don't know how to find a place?"
"You're the sweet potato."
The two chatted and argued for most of the day, only hanging up when Sister Fang called for help.
"Oh no, I almost forgot to buy something."
Gu Mengzhu suddenly slapped her forehead and rushed to the nearby convenience store. After a shopping spree, she glanced at the bill and, wow, her wallet was drastically reduced. Her heart ached so much that her stomach cramped.
Qi Yaoguang was wiping stains on the floor when he heard the noise at the door. He turned his head and chuckled when he saw someone's jaw drop in surprise.
"Pull your chin down, pretty lady. Hey, hey, hey, the door's open, let some air in."
Aren't you cold?
She was carrying a large bag of things and carefully stepped over it.
"It's alright, just come over. We'll have to wipe it again later."
"oh."
After putting her things down, she looked around the room and found it completely transformed. Although the weather outside was gloomy and no light could penetrate the room, the living room was visibly bright. All the trash on the floor had been cleared away, the yellow water had been carefully wiped up, and the room smelled of lemons. Except for the remaining cobwebs on the ceiling, everything was excessively good.
"Do you have superpowers? You cleaned it up so quickly?"
She looked incredulous.
"Oh, how did you know? Actually, my real identity is—"
"postgraduate."
Qi Yaoguang choked for a moment, his shoulders trembling as he bared his teeth and glared at the troublemaker:
"Actually, I originally wanted to say that I am an ape-man from outer space, but since you are so disrespectful, oh really, to tell you the truth, I am actually an immortal reincarnated, a deity descended to earth. I saw that you were destined to face a calamity, so I came here to help you. These things are nothing to me, a mere finger from a deity."
Seeing her roll her eyes, he shamelessly began to claim credit:
"Hey, am I awesome or not?"
"You're awesome! You're so awesome!"
"Why did you buy so much stuff?"
He looked down and rummaged through the large bag of things, and the next second a hand appeared in his field of vision.
"Oh, rice ball, it's still hot."
Gu Mengzhu sat down on the ground with him, took a bite of the rice ball in her hand, and added indistinctly:
"I'll treat you to a nice meal after I'm done."
"No need. In this situation, every little bit helps."
"One rice ball won't fill you up; it'll just fill your stomach a little. It's not like you're the only one eating it. I don't want any!"
"Okay, boss, thank you for your hard work in the sun."
Qi Yaoguang continued to peel back the plastic bag:
"Shampoo, toilet brush, tissues, toilet cleaner, Mr. Wei, cleaning agent, wow, and air freshener too." He stopped, quietly took something out of his pocket, and held it out to her.
"Take a look, is it the same kind?"
"Wow, it really is the same kind!"
"Hmph, I knew you liked lemons a long time ago. Take a good look, you're a fortune teller."
She held his hand, looking it over repeatedly, before finally letting go.
"I bought an extra one. Wait a minute, you still have money?"
"There's a little bit of everything."
He put his things down and focused on eating his rice ball.
Not bad. He never used to eat this stuff.
He looked up at the ceiling, even chewing his food a couple more times. Seeing Gu Mengzhu staring intently at the two beds in the guest room, he comforted her:
"Don't worry, I've already talked to the landlord and asked him to replace our beds with two new ones. Those old ones are all moldy and unusable. I'll just get a screen, pull it up, and everything will be fine!"
"I think he's just not good at sleeping people. Is he really that easy to talk to?"
She took a bite of cucumber strips, her voice muffled.
"Oh my, when I got on the train, I thought I'd have to sleep on the floor. How nice! There's a room and a living room, a double bed, everything's perfect, right?"
"Dude, 750! My old room was only 300 a month! And I slept on the floor. I was afraid I'd step on you when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night."
"Have some leeway, my friend, wait a minute, are you that heavy?"
"Heavier than your dead pig head!"
"Hey, hey, hey, that's going too far with the personal attack. Ouch, don't attack my waist! I'm sorry, heroine, please have mercy, heroine!"
After a long and complicated process, they finally settled down in their rented apartment. Qi Yaoguang had been trying to book appointments on his phone for several days and finally managed to snag two slots. He then hurriedly took the people upstairs to get their actor's certificates.
"Is it really necessary to rush like this?"
Gu Mengzhu hurriedly put on her shoes, only to find that she couldn't squeeze them in right away, so she had to reach out and loosen the shoelaces.
"With the year-end approaching, more and more people are coming and going. Who doesn't want to save more money? Hurry up, there'll be a long queue for you later."
Qi Yaoguang urged them on while checking the materials in his bag. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw everything was there. The two rushed out, only to be stunned when they arrived at the designated location – a truly long queue. She scratched her neck, took a few deep breaths, and gestured with her chin towards him:
"It seems there's no use in rushing."
"There weren't this many people before."
She was standing behind a girl in line. He peeked out, then pulled back in a few seconds later.
"I thought you'd already done it, why are you doing it along with me?"
Qi Yaoguang was smug upon hearing this, and he wanted nothing more than to look down on everyone.
"To tell you the truth, I've never done this before. The company made the decision and I went straight to the filming location to burn incense. How impressive was that? You have no idea."
"Ah, so it turns out that the system has special privileges."
She nodded thoughtfully.
“Some things are even more outrageous, you just don’t know. Some investors only invest in a movie because of the lead actor, and the director has to listen to them.”
"Wow, the lead actress must be very beautiful."
Someone praised it with a blank expression.
"It's hard to say whether things from capital are good or bad, but with your height, it's hard to get good roles."
He opened his right palm and gently pressed it a few times on the top of her head. Gu Mengzhu quickly turned her head away and grinned at him:
"Hey, are IKEA's requirements for extras really that high now? That's discrimination!"
"No, that's not true. Extras are just background figures. Height and looks don't really matter. But if you're just average, it'll be hard to make big money. Good-looking people can try being in the foreground, and if you want something more stable, you can try for a special role. That should be it, it's been too long and I can't remember clearly."
"So you've never been a low-level worker on a film set?"
No, there isn't.
"It would be unpleasant to be bossed around like that from now on."
"This is nothing, I've already learned how to carry cement back then."
She carefully examined his face, and seeing that his expression was calm and not feigned, she crossed her arms and turned her head back.
"I thought you'd be upset because of the huge difference, pfft."
"I don't know why?" He couldn't hide the smile on his face. "I think this is fine, peaceful and reassuring."
He originally intended to say this when he put his hand on hers, but after staring at his right hand for a long time, he realized it wasn't quite appropriate.
Why? Why does he keep wanting to touch her? Is he addicted to her, like a cat?
After the two finished getting their certificates, almost the entire day had passed. Before leaving, someone—whether it was a group leader or someone else—called them over to join the group.
"We need to set aside a day for the shoot, and we don't know how long it will take. If you have other commitments, please don't sign up to avoid wasting time. Those who want to join, please join in the group chat. There are only a few spots available, so hurry!"
Upon hearing this, the group of people standing immediately lowered their heads and started scrolling through their phones. Gu Mengzhu had just joined the group when someone announced that it was full and no more people were needed.
Another day without money, and she doesn't know how she'll survive in the future.
Her shoulders slumped, a sense of loss and panic gradually welling up inside her. She glanced up at Qi Yaoguang and saw that he was still full of energy and high spirits, thinking to herself that this man was truly optimistic.
She probably could never learn the young master's cheerfulness in her entire life.
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