Chapter 67
Act IX: A Secret That Cannot Be Told (1)
----------
Tan Yiming had always wanted to rent out his second bedroom. Back then, he grit his teeth to buy a second-hand house near the company, which was 80 square meters with two bedrooms and a living room. The down payment was so high that the loan had to be paid off over 20 years.
On the one hand, he wanted to lighten the pressure of the mortgage through rent, on the other hand, he wanted to add some liveliness to his house.
He didn't want to go home every day, just to face the dark living room.
Gu Liang and Ye Ye were both locals and belonged to families with houses. They had countless advice to pass on when applying for rent.
Gu Liang said, "Look for a tenant well. Don’t recruit young couples, girls in the house would be inconvenient after all, and the days of young couples are prosperous. Wouldn’t it make you feel more single?”
Ye Ye said: "Those with poor hygiene can't be recruited. They won’t wash the pots for a week, and they’ll store washed clothes in the washing machine. Then, when the time comes, you’ll get cockroaches all over the floor. You will suffer!"
Tan Yiming humbly asked for advice and took notes.
"And also," Ye Ye said, "Living under one roof, you’ll see them wherever you look, so remember to pick a sweet-talker."
"That's fine," Tan Yiming said. "I already talk too much at work, so I want to find someone quiet who talks less. It's better if they just nod their head when we meet."
Tan Yiming reported his request to the agent. He specifically stated that he had a pet lizard and would take him home to bathe and feed every weekend.
The agent first thought that the lizard he was talking about was a kind of small gecko, but it was a blue-tongue skink that was longer than a forearm. Just looking at the photo was scary.
The agent said, "Mr. Tan, in fact, if you keep the lizard in your master bedroom, the tenant will have no problem."
"No," Tan Yiming said. "It's a healthy lizard. He likes exercising and walks around the house."
"..."
Because of this, even if Tan Yiming's room was in good condition and the rent was cheap, he couldn't find a suitable tenant.
After work that day, Tan Yiming suddenly received a call from the agency.
On the phone, the agent named Xiao Wu cheerfully informed him that a college student who just graduated heard of his house and wanted to see it and sign a rental contract with him!
"Have you told him about the lizard?" Tan Yiming asked. "He's not afraid?"
Xiao Wu said: "The little student said that if the rent is 300 yuan cheaper, he won’t be afraid!"
Tan Yiming: "..."
Xiao Wu: "If the rent can be 500 cheaper, he can help your lizard take a bath!"
Tan Yiming laughed, thinking, young people nowadays were really slick. If the rent was 1000 cheaper, would the child still sleep with his lizard?
"Forget it." Tan Yiming was anxious to rent it out, and said, "Three hundred will not work, but one hundred is okay. If he can accept it, let him bring his ID card tonight to sign the contract."
In a few words, the matter was finalized.
The viewing time was set to be at seven in the evening. Tan Yiming casually ate something in the small restaurant downstairs and went home to clean up his house.
Tan Yiming had lived alone abroad for several years, so his house had always been organized by himself. He had few things and little garbage, so after sweeping the floor and straightening the sofa cushions, he just wandered around the house twice. He thought about it, and then decided to make a pot of tea.
Obviously he was a landlord welcoming a tenant, but he was at a loss, it looked a bit like a blind date.
... He wondered, what kind of tenant would the agent bring him?
...
At 6:30 in the evening, Xiang Cai stepped out of the subway station on time. In the crowded evening-rush tide, he found the thick conspicuous eyebrows of the agent Xiao Wu.
The house Xiao Wu had introduced was really good. Although it was in an old community, it had a good location, with supermarkets, hospitals and shopping malls all around. Xiang Cai had seen the nearby houses before, and the rent was high. This time, it was just a leak, so that he could rent this house for less than the market price.
Not to mention living with a lizard, it didn’t matter if he lived with a crocodile!
Xiao Wu also wanted to promote this business and get a commission. For this reason, Xiao Wu did not hesitate to talk more along the way.
Xiao Wu said, "The landlord is a big boss. He just bought the house two years ago and renovated it last year. He said that he was too lonely so wants to find a good tenant."
Xiang Cai thought, he didn’t know if the landlord was lonely, he only knew that the landlord absolutely lacked money. If he was really a big boss, would he still care about that 300 yuan?
The female lead who acted with him today was in a bad state, and he had practiced all afternoon just lifting her. He was exhausted now, like a cell phone that was about to run out of power, and he just wanted to fall down in bed and sleep. But there was no way. In order to rent a low-priced house smoothly, he must mobilize all his energy to please the landlord.
For musical actors, half of the year was spent rehearsing and the other half was on tour. He didn't want to spend his limited rest time on endless hunts for a house to rent and then to move, he just hoped to find a place to stay in this city.
He hoped that the landlord was a well-spoken gentleman.
...
Five minutes to seven, the doorbell of Tan Yiming's house rang.
He jumped from the sofa, fiddled with the cushion again, and walked quickly towards the door.
The door opened and two young faces appeared behind the door.
The agent Xiao Wu put a smile on his face: "Mr. Tan, this is the tenant I mentioned on the phone. Look ..."
After that, no words came into Tan Yiming’s ears.
Tan Yiming and Xiang Cai faced each other, and at the same time, fell into a weird silence.
Due to the dual pressures of work and relationship, Xiang Cai had recently become particularly thin. Tan Yiming's eyes stuck to him, from the boy's straight and thin collarbone to his arms stuck with muscle tape, he scoured him inch by inch.
As he looked at Xiang Cai, Xiang Cai also looked at him. Tan Yiming’s complexion was very good. His shirt's neckline was slightly unbuttoned to reveal a sexy Adam’s apple. This was a laid-back look that Xiang Cai had never seen on Tan Yiming.
Both spoke at the same time.
Tan Yiming: "... Are you the tenant?"
Xiang Cai: "... Are you the landlord?"
They both stopped and heard each other at the same time, and realized that what they were saying was complete nonsense.
Xiang Cai subconsciously turned, wanting to leave. However, without letting him take a step, the attentive agent, Comrade Xiao Wu, had already taken out disposable shoe covers from his bag, about to kneel down and give him the shoe covers.
Xiang Cai couldn't refuse, and could only take the two slips of light blue plastic film and put them on his feet.
Tan Yiming moved aside the open doorway and asked both of them to come in.
The overhead lights of the living room gently fell on the floor tiles, and the dark blue fabric sofa surrounded the transparent coffee table. More than saying it was a coffee table, it was better to say it was a glass box with three cups of hot tea on it. In the glass box, was actually a complete set of the assembled Lego Millennium Falcon!
There was no TV across the sofa, but a bookcase on the entire wall. A curtain was hidden in the ceiling above the bookcase. As long as the curtain was lowered, the living room could be turned into a home theater at any time.
The decoration of the house was simple, but there was warmth everywhere. When Xiang Cai stood under the chandelier in the living room and looked around, he had to admit that he fell in love with the house the second he stepped into it.
However, remembering who the owner of this house was, Xiang Cai dismissed his thoughts on renting the house.
Xiao Wu still praised the house endlessly beside him.
"You see, this is the toilet, wet and dry separated; you see this bright kitchen, it is transparent on all sides; you see this floor-to-ceiling window, the lighting is very good; yes, you must look at the second bedroom, it faces north, and has such a large bay window..."
Xiang Cai was almost pushed into the second bedroom by Xiao Wu.
As he said, the second bedroom did face north, and there was a comfortable bay window that one could sit on.
Although the room was small, a table, bed and wardrobe were all available. The furniture was very new, and the bed was protected with a dust cover. It seemed that no one had ever stayed overnight.
When he stood in front of the bay window and looked out, he could see the golden red sunset lingering on the clouds in the sky. There was heavy traffic on the road, and tail lights intertwined in the fading light. In each of those cars, there were people waiting to return home.
Everyone in this city had a home, but Xiang Cai had no home. The town where he was born was not his home, nor was Huawu Academy that had accompanied him for 11 years of his youth, nor was the house that Cen Manchuan had sold his motorcycle to rent.
He searched for an agent to look for a "house" instead of "home".
He had been so thin recently. When his thin body stood at the window, his silhouette was outlined by the setting sun.
Tan Yiming did not step into the second bedroom, instead standing quietly outside the door and looked at Xiang Cai’s back quietly.
The person who finally broke the tranquility was Xiao Wu, who was always energetic.
"Mr. Xiang, this house is really suitable for you! It’s a ten-minute walk to the subway station, nearby living facilities are all available, and the price is so cheap! Why are you still hesitating?" Xiao Wu gave his own pitch, lobbying constantly.
Before coming, Xiao Wu thought that this deal would definitely be successful. Only he could bring such a difficult landlord and discerning tenant together!
Unexpectedly, after Xiang Cai entered the door, his expression had been very serious. It didn’t look like he wanted to sign the contract.
Thinking that by the end of the month, his performance would not yet be complete, Xiao Wu scratched his head and became anxious.
He said, "Mr. Tan really wants to rent out, and you really want to rent a house. If you really have a change of heart now, it will not benefit either of you!"
With that said, he even took out the printed contract sample and an inkpad directly from his bag, hoping that this would pressure the two people to rub their handprints on this paper document.
Xiang Cai didn't dare to look at Tan Yiming's expression. He shook his head and said to the agent, "Xiao Wu, thank you, but I want to look at other houses again ..."
Xiao Wu said, "I, Xiao Wu, don’t mean to scare you, but it’s so cheap and the location is so good, very competitive! You just graduated this year. What is most important? Of course, the most important thing is to save money! After a hard day's work, do you want to take the subway directly to your doorstep, or do you want to take three buses to a group renting house on the outer city limits?"
These words completely touched on the heart of Xiang Cai.
Seeing that his expression was loose, Xiao Wu continued his efforts: "And Mr. Tan has agreed that we can give you another one hundred cheaper ... no, one hundred and fifty yuan lower!"
While talking, Xiao Wu winked frantically at Tan Yiming.
Tan Yiming, who hadn’t said a word from beginning to end, finally spoke.
"Who said it was a hundred and fifty?" The man said, "Xiao Wu said before: if the price is lower, will you help give my lizard a bath?"
Xiang Cai: "..."
Tan Yiming accepted the contract from Xiao Wu, and stained his thumb with the red ink. At the place where it asked for the dominant Party A, he repeatedly pressed his fingerprint - "I will offer five hundred cheaper, so will this deal succeed?"
This price was already a complete fracture of the original price.
"..." Xiang Cai took the contract, and thought about deposits, about work, about Tan Yiming, about himself ... After a long silence, he finally said that one word. "Deal."
...
On the contract, two bright red fingerprints were next to each other, and further down were the names of the two.
Starting today, Xiang Cai and Tan Yiming would live under the same roof.
----------
The author has something to say: Comrade Xiao Wu, an outstanding housing salesman, deserves a medal.
----------
Tan Yiming had always wanted to rent out his second bedroom. Back then, he grit his teeth to buy a second-hand house near the company, which was 80 square meters with two bedrooms and a living room. The down payment was so high that the loan had to be paid off over 20 years.
On the one hand, he wanted to lighten the pressure of the mortgage through rent, on the other hand, he wanted to add some liveliness to his house.
He didn't want to go home every day, just to face the dark living room.
Gu Liang and Ye Ye were both locals and belonged to families with houses. They had countless advice to pass on when applying for rent.
Gu Liang said, "Look for a tenant well. Don’t recruit young couples, girls in the house would be inconvenient after all, and the days of young couples are prosperous. Wouldn’t it make you feel more single?”
Ye Ye said: "Those with poor hygiene can't be recruited. They won’t wash the pots for a week, and they’ll store washed clothes in the washing machine. Then, when the time comes, you’ll get cockroaches all over the floor. You will suffer!"
Tan Yiming humbly asked for advice and took notes.
"And also," Ye Ye said, "Living under one roof, you’ll see them wherever you look, so remember to pick a sweet-talker."
"That's fine," Tan Yiming said. "I already talk too much at work, so I want to find someone quiet who talks less. It's better if they just nod their head when we meet."
Tan Yiming reported his request to the agent. He specifically stated that he had a pet lizard and would take him home to bathe and feed every weekend.
The agent first thought that the lizard he was talking about was a kind of small gecko, but it was a blue-tongue skink that was longer than a forearm. Just looking at the photo was scary.
The agent said, "Mr. Tan, in fact, if you keep the lizard in your master bedroom, the tenant will have no problem."
"No," Tan Yiming said. "It's a healthy lizard. He likes exercising and walks around the house."
"..."
Because of this, even if Tan Yiming's room was in good condition and the rent was cheap, he couldn't find a suitable tenant.
After work that day, Tan Yiming suddenly received a call from the agency.
On the phone, the agent named Xiao Wu cheerfully informed him that a college student who just graduated heard of his house and wanted to see it and sign a rental contract with him!
"Have you told him about the lizard?" Tan Yiming asked. "He's not afraid?"
Xiao Wu said: "The little student said that if the rent is 300 yuan cheaper, he won’t be afraid!"
Tan Yiming: "..."
Xiao Wu: "If the rent can be 500 cheaper, he can help your lizard take a bath!"
Tan Yiming laughed, thinking, young people nowadays were really slick. If the rent was 1000 cheaper, would the child still sleep with his lizard?
"Forget it." Tan Yiming was anxious to rent it out, and said, "Three hundred will not work, but one hundred is okay. If he can accept it, let him bring his ID card tonight to sign the contract."
In a few words, the matter was finalized.
The viewing time was set to be at seven in the evening. Tan Yiming casually ate something in the small restaurant downstairs and went home to clean up his house.
Tan Yiming had lived alone abroad for several years, so his house had always been organized by himself. He had few things and little garbage, so after sweeping the floor and straightening the sofa cushions, he just wandered around the house twice. He thought about it, and then decided to make a pot of tea.
Obviously he was a landlord welcoming a tenant, but he was at a loss, it looked a bit like a blind date.
... He wondered, what kind of tenant would the agent bring him?
...
At 6:30 in the evening, Xiang Cai stepped out of the subway station on time. In the crowded evening-rush tide, he found the thick conspicuous eyebrows of the agent Xiao Wu.
The house Xiao Wu had introduced was really good. Although it was in an old community, it had a good location, with supermarkets, hospitals and shopping malls all around. Xiang Cai had seen the nearby houses before, and the rent was high. This time, it was just a leak, so that he could rent this house for less than the market price.
Not to mention living with a lizard, it didn’t matter if he lived with a crocodile!
Xiao Wu also wanted to promote this business and get a commission. For this reason, Xiao Wu did not hesitate to talk more along the way.
Xiao Wu said, "The landlord is a big boss. He just bought the house two years ago and renovated it last year. He said that he was too lonely so wants to find a good tenant."
Xiang Cai thought, he didn’t know if the landlord was lonely, he only knew that the landlord absolutely lacked money. If he was really a big boss, would he still care about that 300 yuan?
The female lead who acted with him today was in a bad state, and he had practiced all afternoon just lifting her. He was exhausted now, like a cell phone that was about to run out of power, and he just wanted to fall down in bed and sleep. But there was no way. In order to rent a low-priced house smoothly, he must mobilize all his energy to please the landlord.
For musical actors, half of the year was spent rehearsing and the other half was on tour. He didn't want to spend his limited rest time on endless hunts for a house to rent and then to move, he just hoped to find a place to stay in this city.
He hoped that the landlord was a well-spoken gentleman.
...
Five minutes to seven, the doorbell of Tan Yiming's house rang.
He jumped from the sofa, fiddled with the cushion again, and walked quickly towards the door.
The door opened and two young faces appeared behind the door.
The agent Xiao Wu put a smile on his face: "Mr. Tan, this is the tenant I mentioned on the phone. Look ..."
After that, no words came into Tan Yiming’s ears.
Tan Yiming and Xiang Cai faced each other, and at the same time, fell into a weird silence.
Due to the dual pressures of work and relationship, Xiang Cai had recently become particularly thin. Tan Yiming's eyes stuck to him, from the boy's straight and thin collarbone to his arms stuck with muscle tape, he scoured him inch by inch.
As he looked at Xiang Cai, Xiang Cai also looked at him. Tan Yiming’s complexion was very good. His shirt's neckline was slightly unbuttoned to reveal a sexy Adam’s apple. This was a laid-back look that Xiang Cai had never seen on Tan Yiming.
Both spoke at the same time.
Tan Yiming: "... Are you the tenant?"
Xiang Cai: "... Are you the landlord?"
They both stopped and heard each other at the same time, and realized that what they were saying was complete nonsense.
Xiang Cai subconsciously turned, wanting to leave. However, without letting him take a step, the attentive agent, Comrade Xiao Wu, had already taken out disposable shoe covers from his bag, about to kneel down and give him the shoe covers.
Xiang Cai couldn't refuse, and could only take the two slips of light blue plastic film and put them on his feet.
Tan Yiming moved aside the open doorway and asked both of them to come in.
The overhead lights of the living room gently fell on the floor tiles, and the dark blue fabric sofa surrounded the transparent coffee table. More than saying it was a coffee table, it was better to say it was a glass box with three cups of hot tea on it. In the glass box, was actually a complete set of the assembled Lego Millennium Falcon!
There was no TV across the sofa, but a bookcase on the entire wall. A curtain was hidden in the ceiling above the bookcase. As long as the curtain was lowered, the living room could be turned into a home theater at any time.
The decoration of the house was simple, but there was warmth everywhere. When Xiang Cai stood under the chandelier in the living room and looked around, he had to admit that he fell in love with the house the second he stepped into it.
However, remembering who the owner of this house was, Xiang Cai dismissed his thoughts on renting the house.
Xiao Wu still praised the house endlessly beside him.
"You see, this is the toilet, wet and dry separated; you see this bright kitchen, it is transparent on all sides; you see this floor-to-ceiling window, the lighting is very good; yes, you must look at the second bedroom, it faces north, and has such a large bay window..."
Xiang Cai was almost pushed into the second bedroom by Xiao Wu.
As he said, the second bedroom did face north, and there was a comfortable bay window that one could sit on.
Although the room was small, a table, bed and wardrobe were all available. The furniture was very new, and the bed was protected with a dust cover. It seemed that no one had ever stayed overnight.
When he stood in front of the bay window and looked out, he could see the golden red sunset lingering on the clouds in the sky. There was heavy traffic on the road, and tail lights intertwined in the fading light. In each of those cars, there were people waiting to return home.
Everyone in this city had a home, but Xiang Cai had no home. The town where he was born was not his home, nor was Huawu Academy that had accompanied him for 11 years of his youth, nor was the house that Cen Manchuan had sold his motorcycle to rent.
He searched for an agent to look for a "house" instead of "home".
He had been so thin recently. When his thin body stood at the window, his silhouette was outlined by the setting sun.
Tan Yiming did not step into the second bedroom, instead standing quietly outside the door and looked at Xiang Cai’s back quietly.
The person who finally broke the tranquility was Xiao Wu, who was always energetic.
"Mr. Xiang, this house is really suitable for you! It’s a ten-minute walk to the subway station, nearby living facilities are all available, and the price is so cheap! Why are you still hesitating?" Xiao Wu gave his own pitch, lobbying constantly.
Before coming, Xiao Wu thought that this deal would definitely be successful. Only he could bring such a difficult landlord and discerning tenant together!
Unexpectedly, after Xiang Cai entered the door, his expression had been very serious. It didn’t look like he wanted to sign the contract.
Thinking that by the end of the month, his performance would not yet be complete, Xiao Wu scratched his head and became anxious.
He said, "Mr. Tan really wants to rent out, and you really want to rent a house. If you really have a change of heart now, it will not benefit either of you!"
With that said, he even took out the printed contract sample and an inkpad directly from his bag, hoping that this would pressure the two people to rub their handprints on this paper document.
Xiang Cai didn't dare to look at Tan Yiming's expression. He shook his head and said to the agent, "Xiao Wu, thank you, but I want to look at other houses again ..."
Xiao Wu said, "I, Xiao Wu, don’t mean to scare you, but it’s so cheap and the location is so good, very competitive! You just graduated this year. What is most important? Of course, the most important thing is to save money! After a hard day's work, do you want to take the subway directly to your doorstep, or do you want to take three buses to a group renting house on the outer city limits?"
These words completely touched on the heart of Xiang Cai.
Seeing that his expression was loose, Xiao Wu continued his efforts: "And Mr. Tan has agreed that we can give you another one hundred cheaper ... no, one hundred and fifty yuan lower!"
While talking, Xiao Wu winked frantically at Tan Yiming.
Tan Yiming, who hadn’t said a word from beginning to end, finally spoke.
"Who said it was a hundred and fifty?" The man said, "Xiao Wu said before: if the price is lower, will you help give my lizard a bath?"
Xiang Cai: "..."
Tan Yiming accepted the contract from Xiao Wu, and stained his thumb with the red ink. At the place where it asked for the dominant Party A, he repeatedly pressed his fingerprint - "I will offer five hundred cheaper, so will this deal succeed?"
This price was already a complete fracture of the original price.
"..." Xiang Cai took the contract, and thought about deposits, about work, about Tan Yiming, about himself ... After a long silence, he finally said that one word. "Deal."
...
On the contract, two bright red fingerprints were next to each other, and further down were the names of the two.
Starting today, Xiang Cai and Tan Yiming would live under the same roof.
----------
The author has something to say: Comrade Xiao Wu, an outstanding housing salesman, deserves a medal.
***
Go Comrade Xiao Wu... But Gu Fanfan will be my idiot uncles could have saved all the commission money if only they listened to me at first...
ReplyDeleteAND THEY WERE ROOMMATES...
ReplyDeleteWhen love come knocking on your house. Gave you a rent and bath your pet lizard 😂
ReplyDeletefinally some progresss !!!!
ReplyDelete