You are My New Tenant

In the evening after work, Fang Yuan and I found a Chinese restaurant near the company and ordered some simple dishes. The two of us sat opposite each other.

A moment later, the dishes were all served. Fang Yuan picked up his chopsticks and started eating. Seeing that I was not eating, he said, "Kid, you should eat."

"Aren't you waiting for Yan Yan?" I asked.

"She went to Shanghai to see Jian Wei. Today, it's just the two of us eating." Fang Yuan said calmly.

"She went to see Jian Wei? You guys are getting married in a few days. Can she leave?" I asked, somewhat puzzled.

Fang Yuan replied nonchalantly, "I just got off work. She'll be back tomorrow morning. It won't delay anything." I nodded and started eating.

Fang Yuan put down his chopsticks and stared at me. After a moment, she asked, "Zhao Yang, do you want alcohol?"

"I'm not drinking today."

After a while, he looked at me and said, "I think you're a little depressed!" After saying that, he looked at his watch and said, "Yan Yan shouldn't have gone far yet. Why don't I call her to pick you up later? You can also take advantage of the rare opportunity to meet Jian Wei when you're awake…" 

I was silent for a while before sighing, "Yan Yan really change after she marry you!"

"What do you mean?" Fang Yuan changed his sitting position and asked. He didn't mind me scolding him in a roundabout way.

"Both of you are wicked. Please don't comfort a person who wants to die until he really dies, okay?"

"Did I comfort you?" Fang Yuan asked innocently.

I was a little angry, "Can you f*cking still eat this food? If you can't, get lost."

My anger made Fang Yuan sigh. He shook his head and said, "You're still like this, Kid. Every time you talk about Jian Wei, you change your attitude faster than flipping a book. Can't you get over this hurdle with her?"

Only then did I realize that Fang Yuan was just testing me. I did not know how to respond, so I fell silent again.

Fang Yuan asked the waiter to bring two cans of green beer. He tore open one and handed it to me. He drank one himself and deliberately changed the topic. "How's it going with that fashion model recently? I feel like she's quite interested in you."

"Don't be ridiculous. She and I are at most toys for each other during our emptiness."

"A toy?"

"You can interpret it however you want," I said nonchalantly. I picked up the beer in front of me and took a big gulp.

Fang Yuan took a sip with me and asked, "Tell this Bro the truth. Ever since Jian Wei left, hasn't there been a girl in the world who can move your heart?"

"No, there hasn't." I replied without thinking.

Fang Yuan shook his head and said, "No matter how I look at you, you don't look like a lovestruck person. In fact, you've been feeling uneasy all these years. Calm down and think about it. Have you always had a girl who made your heart flutter by your side? You just didn't realize it."

"I'm uncertain?" I asked Fang Yuan doubtfully.

Fang Yuan nodded seriously and made a guiding gesture to me, "Take a sip and think about it. Right now, you'll definitely gain something."

I was skeptical, but I still followed Fang Yuan's words and took a sip of wine. Then, I spread my thoughts and took out the girls around me all these years to savor them from the bottom of my heart. For a long time, I really didn't realize I had feelings for anyone. I was more willing to freeze the memories of being with them.

If a woman were to sit on the same bed with me one morning and discuss marriage based on the house, I would definitely collapse. With this collapse as the premise, I could no longer remember what it felt like to be moved.

"Is there?" Fang Yuan picked up his beer and clinked it with mine before asking with concern.

I just shook my head and took a sip of beer. I was too lazy to say anything else, and I didn't want to think of any woman.

However, human thoughts are very strange. When I didn't want to think about it, my landlady's beautiful face suddenly appeared in my mind.

Like a machine, I stared at the potted plant behind Fang Yuan in a daze, but my thoughts surged like a tsunami. Could Mi Cai be the woman Fang Yuan mentioned that made my heart flutter?

I quickly denied it. This was simply a ridiculous idea. Mi Cai and I had only spent a few days together. Even if she was as beautiful as Chang'e, I wouldn't be tempted by her. Because my fantasies and impulses towards women had long died in the harsh years.

Fang Yuan was still eagerly waiting for my answer, but I didn't want to argue with him about the meaningless word 'heart', so I simply continued to play the game of silence.

...

The two of them finished a can of beer and continued to eat. The sky outside the window darkened unknowingly. The street lights on both sides of the road painted the city under the night sky in the same way.

Fang Yuan and I each lit a cigarette to pass the time after dinner. The two of us continued to chat. As we chatted, Fang Yuan looked at the night sky outside the window and teased, "Zhao Yang, the situation today is a little strange. It's already dark, how can you still sit still?"

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll go home and sleep later."

Fang Yuan seemed to be shocked by me as he exclaimed, "Who murdered you that night?"

I was stumped by Fang Yuan's question. My drunken night was indeed murdered by a woman who had just appeared in my life.

I wasn't in a hurry to answer the question, but I was eager to ask him to help me analyze a question that had been bothering me for many days. I still couldn't figure out why Mi Cai, who drove a luxury car, would live in that dilapidated house. I didn't want to believe that this was fate deliberately created by the heavens for us. It was far-fetched to call it fate, because a few days ago, I threw her blanket, and she threw me into the wilderness. It seemed that there was no such fate in this world.

After a while, I said to Fang Yuan, "Let me tell you something new."

"Is this new thing directly related to you not going out?"

I nodded. Then, I told Fang Yuan about what had happened to Mi Cai and me because of that house.

After Fang Yuan heard this, he looked at me doubtfully. He paused for a moment before asking me, "Are you sure she drove a million-dollar luxury car and lived in your crappy house?"

"Of course I'm sure. Help me analyze and see what her motive is." I told Fang Yuan seriously.

"Anyway, it's definitely not to kill for money." Fang Yuan glanced at me disdainfully as he spoke.

"I know I don't have any money and have a rotten life, but I'm really telling you something very serious now. Can you be serious?"

"Zhao Yang, we live in a very realistic world. Actually, don't expect her to owe you anything in her previous life and come to repay you in this life."

I rubbed my chin and said seriously, "Don't say it. Maybe it's really possible. You said that I've done all kinds of evil in this life and that I'm so unlucky. It must be because I've done too many good things in my previous life. Maybe my landlady received my favor in her previous life and is here to repay my kindness in this life."

"Repay you? Didn't you say that she tricked and left you at the intersection of Suzhou and Wuxi's Shanghai-Nanjing highway at night and made your nose run from the cold?"

I pointed at Fang Yuan and was speechless for a while before saying, "You're a f*cking bad friend!"

Fang Yuan smiled, got up, and patted my shoulder. "Zhao Yang, actually, it's not a bad thing for a woman to appear and divert your attention away from Jian Wei…"

"It's almost 7:30. I have an appointment with the wedding planner at 8:00. Let's call it a day."

Looking at Fang Yuan's back as he left, I lit another cigarette in a daze. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying. Why would Mi Cai's appearance divert my attention from Jian Wei?

...

After coming out of the restaurant, I bought another can of beer. As I drank, I followed the crowd, listened to the laughter of others, and thought about my troubles as I walked home.

When I returned home, I opened the door. The house was dark. I turned on the lights in the living room and looked around. The house was empty. My landlady, Mi Cai, didn't seem to have returned yet.

I was extremely bored. I sat on the sofa and watched television. Without the drunkenness of going to the nightclub, the night seemed to have become endless. I could no longer remember when I was like this. When the night had just arrived, I was like a little man at home looking for entertainment on the television… Then, I felt extremely bored!

It was only 8:30 pm, but I was so bored that my heart was aching. I smoked a cigarette and spaced out for a while. Only ten minutes had passed. I wanted to die. It turned out that a night alone was so difficult!

I found a guitar in my room and a guitar score. I started practicing my songs. If there was something I liked to do every night other than being drunk, it would probably be playing the guitar to pass the time.

After I finished singing and was about to play the next song, I finally heard some movement from outside the house. Then, the door opened and I saw Mi Cai, who was carrying a handbag and was so beautiful that it could kill me.

Although there was some conflict between us, I wasn't a narrow-minded person who would belittle her beauty because of this. This woman really seemed to be the masterpiece of God's impulse.

I put down my guitar and asked with a smile, "You're back?"

"Yes." Mi Cai replied and walked towards her room.

"Stop right there," I shouted at her in a low voice with a straight face. I was bored and unwilling to be alone, so I wanted to tease her.

Mi Cai turned around and looked at me.

I sized Mi Cai up. The more I looked at her, the more puzzled I became. Why was this woman so beautiful? Then, I asked without restraint, "Why are you so beautiful? Are you a monster?"

Mi Cai frowned slightly and said coldly to me, "Please don't make me feel like I'm inviting a wolf into my house, okay?"

I immediately stood up and pretended to be excited. "Miss, are you sure? I moved into this house first. Isn't it a little inappropriate for you to say that you're inviting a wolf into the house?"

Mi Cai didn't pay attention to my first come, first served principle. Her tone was still cold. "If you think I'm a monster, you can move out anytime. I won't have any objections."

"Why should I move? This house is mine to begin with. You're just a new tenant at most. Besides, you've already promised me to stay here, and I've kept my promise. I've been squatting at home like a big Buddha after work, so don't mention moving to me in the future." I stood up from the sofa to express my excitement.

"I'm your new tenant?" Mi Cai's tone was obviously unhappy.

I didn't care about her displeasure and said, "Yes, from today onwards, you will be the female tenant in front of me. In this house, whoever is more experienced will be the landlord."

"Don't you think you're very boring? Also, I have to remind you there's no need for you to change the concept and force the title of a female tenant on me. Because I only promised you to stay here for a month, and you'll soon leave this place forever with the identity of a tenant." Mi Cai looked at me with a fearless expression.

"So what if it's just a month? I'd be happy even if it's just a month!" I said stubbornly, but my mood was down because of Mi Cai's "leave this place forever".

Mi Cai didn't want to argue with me anymore. She said, "Who cares about you?" Then, she turned around and walked to her room.

...

In the living room alone, I took out a cigarette and lit it. While I was enjoying the pleasure of smoking in and out, I was also amused by the identity of the landlord I had fought for by being a scoundrel.

The smoke that I exhaled drifted out of the window under the light. I was engrossed in it. A gust of wind that came from nowhere blew me awake again. In this gust of wind that seemed to be borrowed, I suddenly saw Jian Wei's hazy outline and suddenly remembered that we'll meet at Fang Yuan and Yan Yan's wedding in three days. I have a feeling the next three days might be even more difficult than the three years we've been apart…

To this day, I still can't figure out why we couldn't have a good beginning and part well regarding the love we had for four years, using the best time of our lives. Even if we broke up, at least give me a reason, but...

I closed my eyes to find the smoke coming out from my fingertips, making me want to cry!