Chapter 26
Li Ye's gaze followed Zhou Yuan's hand until he put down his phone, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating. "Don't cause trouble this time."
Zhou Yuanjia's first few bites went into the bowl opposite him, and he pretended to be innocent to please Li Ye: "It was just a normal like and share."
Li Ye picked up a long chopstick to stop Zhou Yuan from adding more food to her bowl, saying, "This is enough."
After a meal, most office workers went back to work, and the uproar on social media came to an end. Li Ye and Zhou Yuan's afternoon plan was to go house hunting with a real estate agent; this time, they were looking at apartments to rent.
As the one who made the request and the change request, Li Ye thought about what happened with the designer that morning and decided to reach a consensus with Zhou Yuan first to avoid wasting energy.
The two had moved from the restaurant to a coffee shop. Even someone like Li Ye, who disliked hardship, had to take some energy potions when he was exhausted. Zhou Yuan, on the other hand, drank them down without changing his expression.
Li Ye unconsciously swirled the teaspoon in his coffee with his right hand, turning the delicate latte art on top into a mess. "Zhou Yuan, let's confirm the rental requirements one last time."
"Located between the new house and the company, it has two bedrooms and a separate kitchen and bathroom. If you still need to go to school, then change to a location between the school, the company and the new house, which is convenient for transportation."
Zhou Yuan keenly noticed the biggest change in these requirements: "Not staying in a villa?"
"I won't force it; practicality comes first." Li Ye picked up his coffee cup and brought it to his lips. "After a trip, there's always a period of time when I don't really want to travel far, so I won't torture myself."
For Li Ye, traveling in and out of the villa area, which is mainly accessible by private car, is always a long and complicated trip, especially since neither of them has bought a car yet.
Zhou Yuan gave a seemingly reasonable reason, but didn't seem to investigate further, and continued to elaborate on the conditions that Li Ye hadn't finished saying: "Residential area, no roommates, parking space available."
"Are you buying a car after you rent the apartment?" Zhou Yuan asked, naturally steer the conversation towards buying a car, "Or after you move?"
Li Ye frowned and met Zhou Yuan's gaze as they faced each other. "Didn't we agree to save the money for the renovation first, at least until the renovation plan is finalized? Besides, renovation costs are particularly easy to exceed the budget."
"Didn't Li say he had a car loan?"
Pointing at Zhou Yuan's eyes, Li Ye's eyes showed no disbelief. "You don't seem like the kind of person who wants to take out a loan to buy a car. When I first brought it up, you were only considering it."
Looking back now, it seems they probably never even considered it; they actually put on quite a convincing act at the time.
Li Ye then offered another solution: "I'll have some money coming in soon, enough for renovations and buying a car. Should I buy the car first?"
Now it was Zhou Yuan's turn to frown. "Exchange? I'll pay the rent?"
“Yes, if you want us to share a car, we can do it this way, right?” Li Ye was subtly changing the subject, replacing Zhou Yuan’s desire to buy a car with the idea that the two of them should buy one car together. This argument worked quite well for Zhou Yuan.
A flurry of thoughts battled in Zhou Yuan's mind. Li Ye was struggling with her latte with double milk, gulping down the last drop. Zhou Yuan also made his choice, "Exchange successful."
As Li Ye had expected, Zhou Yuan was probably calculating money in his mind, how much he could save each month after starting work, how long it would take to save enough to buy a car, and whether that timeframe was acceptable to him.
With clear requirements, the three of them, along with the newly found agent, once again circled around the city. However, this time the scope was even smaller. Before the afternoon was even halfway over, the two of them found a house they liked and quickly signed the rental contract.
They agreed to move in a day later, and Li Ye and Zhou Yuan wanted to buy the car today before the 4S store closed. However, when the ride-hailing car arrived, Li Ye remembered something very important.
He gestured for Zhou Yuan to look at the license plate, and Li Ye, in a panic, immediately used his mobile data to download the official app, saying, "We don't have a license plate, how are we going to buy a car?"
Zhou Yuan also gestured to Li Ye to pay attention to the color of the license plate, indicating it was a "new energy vehicle."
Li Ye countered, "Then would you buy it?"
Zhou Yuan shut up and used his mobile data to download the app. After downloading it first, Li Ye quickly realized, "Wait, it seems we can only buy new energy vehicles this time."
At this moment, the driver suddenly interjected: "Isn't it possible to bid?"
The two people in the back seat immediately fell silent. Li Ye switched to the chat interface and sent a message to the person who was very close to him.
Flower Tears: Shall we go buy a car later?
Zhimu Yuan: Didn't bring his driver's license.
Flower Tears: I never thought I could just pay extra to buy it.
Flower Tears: I didn't bring any either.
Flower Tears: Then let's go take a look today.
Naoki Haru: Anyone want one?
Flower Tears: Someone who can't even tell the difference between car logos.
Flower Tears: Do you have a type you'd like to buy?
Naoki: Are the driver's licenses the same?
Flowers shed tears: Same.
Zhimu Yuan: Let's see first.
No one spoke in the carriage, and after the conversation ended, no one even played on their phones. The driver probably sensed that the atmosphere was gradually becoming awkward, so he turned on the car radio to play music.
The volume was completely out of Li Ye's liking, so she took out noise-canceling headphones from her backpack and put them on her ears. The driver saw this but just silently increased his speed. Fortunately, the remaining distance was not far, and he quickly dropped the two passengers off the bus and then sped away.
Li Ye: "How do we get back?"
Zhou Yuan: "Should we call another one?"
Li Ye: "Does the new car have a temporary license plate?"
Zhou Yuan: "It's almost time to get off work."
Persuaded, Li Ye followed Zhou Yuan into the car dealership to browse around, acting as a mascot. The salesperson mainly explained things to Zhou Yuan after they entered, giving Li Ye a good vantage point to observe.
When the two of them came out of the store empty-handed, Li Ye's knowledge of car brands improved from about 5 to 20, with a passing grade of 60. Zhou Yuan was quite relaxed, yes, relaxed, somewhat like someone playing the violin.
Li Ye: "You like cars?"
Zhou Yuan did not deny it: "I like driving around."
Li Ye had never had this experience before; he always drove cautiously at home. "When did you start driving fast?"
Zhou Yuan cautiously reminded him, "The friend who borrowed the car before took me to the racetrack."
"Could he be a young master?" Li Ye exclaimed, turning to see Zhou Yuan nodding in agreement. "He really is."
However, Li Ye didn't take it to heart, as it was just a fleeting thought. What she was worried about now was how to deal with her two good friends when she got home.
"?" Li Ye looked at Ye Tinglan, who was packing her luggage. "You're also moving these days."
With all her might, and with Li Ye's help to hold it down, Ye Tinglan managed to zip up the suitcase in one go. "Aren't you going to stay here any longer?"
Yao Yao, who had just returned from picking up takeout, asked, "Did Li Ye say he would stay at your house indefinitely?"
Ye Tinglan knew, of course, that wouldn't happen: "I thought we'd at least move in after the house was renovated."
Yao Yao shook her finger to indicate that this was not right; "She's planning to move in with her future boyfriend ahead of time. You can tell by looking at the two photos from today."
The two best friends teased Li Ye, one after the other, watching her fair, round face gradually turn bright red. "The little red apple has appeared."
Unable to resist the two men, Li Ye could only let his face be rubbed in the high temperature until Ye Tinglan's new boyfriend called to ask if he had packed his luggage, and Li Ye was finally freed.
Yao Yao unpacked the takeout and rearranged the plates as a pre-meeting farewell dinner. She had recently found a photographer job, but it was only a part-time job. Considering her limited savings, she also took a part-time job as a programmer, which kept her very busy, and she might not have time to work during the meal.
A day passed quickly. Li Ye had only brought one suitcase. After receiving the key from the landlord, Zhou Yuan arrived with his large and small bags.
"Is this all you have in your dorm?" Li Ye remembered the several times she had moved dorms, each time with a grand commotion, and she was actually the type who didn't have much stuff.
Zhou Yuan put down his backpack, unscrewed the mineral water bottle, and took a small sip of water. "Since last semester, I've been taking some unnecessary items home with me every time I go back."
Li Ye: "Is there anything else?"
"One more trip." Zhou Yuan left his things in the living room for the time being, took the other key from the landlord, and said, "Li, please choose a room first."
"I know." Li Ye had already thought about which bedroom to choose after moving in when he took a liking to this apartment. "I chose the outer one, which has good lighting during the day. You can stay in the inner one, which is quiet at night."
"I don't have much stuff. When you come back later, let's go out for dinner together and buy some daily necessities at the supermarket." Li Ye pushed his suitcase into the bedroom and moved on to the next stage.
The mattress and bedding set should be bought for two people for replacement. The landlord said that the house has been thoroughly cleaned, so we should buy one bottle just in case. We should also bring some dishes and detergents. This is all we need for this trip.
Li Ye pushed the shopping cart to the supermarket entrance, and Zhou Yuan once again drove the borrowed car to load these daily necessities. "Tomorrow, we'll pick up the car tomorrow. There's still this pile on the list that we haven't bought yet."
Looking at the long list on his phone's memo app, Zhou Yuan asked about Li Ye's luggage: "Li's things are all at home, aren't you bringing them over?"
Li Ye knocked on the car window: "After you buy the car, bring some seasonal produce with you first, and then bring the rest before you move into the new house. I can bring some over for you then."
Zhou Yuan was in charge of driving. "Shall we go back now?"
Li Ye nodded: "When we get home, you should also check the list. If you already have something or are missing something, remember to tell me. The next trip is to buy food, and we can buy the rest later."
Returning home, Zhou Yuan pondered Li Ye's words. It made sense; the definition of home always resides within a person, and the place they were about to return to was indeed their home for this period of time.
The first thing to do after getting home was to make the bed. This time, he couldn't sleep in a hotel again. Looking at the bedding that Zhou Yuan had brought, Li Ye was glad that he remembered to only buy one mattress. It would be better to buy an extra four-piece bedding set for changing.
I haven't bought any clothes hangers yet, so I'll just keep them in the boxes for now. I put my laptop and cosmetics on the desk, and the simple bedroom is all set up. Li Ye hopes that he can control the pace of decorating the room this time, because he'll have to move again in six months.
Upon arriving in the living room, Zhou Yuan's large and small bags had already been dragged into the room, and it seemed he wouldn't be coming out anytime soon. The living room's furnishings were not to be changed for the time being, and the kitchen and balcony only had a sink.
You can buy a smaller refrigerator to store desserts separately. Similarly, you can buy a better washing machine so you can take it with you and continue using it. There's no rush to buy a dryer.
However, Li Ye was planning to install a built-in dishwasher, but that wouldn't work here. There was no stove, not even an induction cooker, so he could only temporarily make do with the air fryer that Yao Yao had generously sponsored for him for a few days.
I suddenly understand Yao Yao's idea of buying a floor scrubber. This house didn't have a designated space for the robot. Similarly, houses that are rented out exclusively won't have too many appliances.
Zhou Yuan must have had some last-minute tutoring, because he said, "You can buy it first and then resell it before you leave."
"Why didn't you suggest buying secondhand items first?" Li Ye put the dishes away. Her life was a mess at the beginning, but thankfully it wasn't in the new house, so she could rehearse the problems she would encounter in the future. She really wished it were in the new house, so that many problems wouldn't be problems at all.
Zhou Yuan grasped Li Ye's hand, their fingers slowly intertwining. "Don't worry, I'll help you figure out a solution."
Li Ye gave himself and Zhou Yuan a big smile. "Yes, let's do it together."
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