Chapter 10 - Do you want to stay at my home for a night?

Translator: DragonRider

As Rong Yi was holding the phone that had become burning hot after the long conversation, he finally remembered that he had started cooking a bowl of noodles about an hour ago, and now it was far too late.

He dashed to the kitchen in a cloud of burning smoke, and saw the fire blaze. The pot was completely unrecognizable, and the kitchen paper was burning beside the cooker, and the rubber gas pipe on one side of the pot was nearly melted.

Rong Yi’s mind went blank.

And then the oil collector of the kitchen extractor hood fell off as he watched, right into the flames.

Rong Yi suddenly came back to his senses in a shock and with a burst of courage, rushed over to turn off the gas main valve, and then immediately picked up his mobile phone and ran out of home. Not having much time to explain to Zhou Li, he cut off the phone call and dialled 119 straightaway.

He ran out of the building and looked up. Heavy smoke was coming out of his kitchen window.

When the air in his apartment was burning hot, his heart was sinking to a freezing temperature.

A lot of people from the neighbourhood had already gathered around, all pointing and talking. Rong Yi also saw in the crowd the old couple living in the apartment above him, and they looked rather anxious and worried.

He felt very sorry for them, and was just about to go over to apologize when the fire trucks arrived.

The firefighter’s high-pressure hose shot water right up to the flames, and the fire was quickly extinguished, leaving only a black hole in the wall where the window used to be.

Rong Yi was petrified as he looked up, then he saw the landlady who lived nearby rushing towards him, screaming.

Most of the kitchen was burned down, the walls of the corridor were blackened, and the whole apartment’s floors were soaked in water.

The usually affable landlady was shaking with fury and asked Rong Yi to explain.

Rong Yi had no excuses. He thought that was probably the end of himself as well.

A large sum of compensation was unavoidable, but beyond that, he was going to be homeless. Even though it was a rented apartment, he still felt attached to it after having lived here for so many years. The landlady was a genuinely nice person, and in the last few years she had barely raised the rent, as he had always paid his rent promptly and had kept the place clean and tidy.

But now, the landlady was determined to turn him out.

Having packed up a few things, he went out in grief and found a dodgy hotel that did not require identity cards in a very shabby neighbourhood. He had barely sat down when a message from the renting agency came in, telling him that they had been commissioned to assess the damage to the house and would negotiate with him a week later for a specific compensation.

Rong Yi checked his bank books and was totally depressed.

This must be what people say: nothing is so certain as the unexpected. He only hoped that he had reached the lowest point of life after this series of tragedies, and now the only way was up.

Staying in this illegal hotel was not a long-term solution. It was imperative to find a new place.

Maybe his luck was turning. The next day, after he sent a message about looking for somewhere to rent to his Moments on WeChat, he immediately received a phone call from Liu Yuan.

“That’s such a coincidence. I have a friend who was looking for a tenant the other day,” he said. “He’s in a hurry, so the price is pretty low. Do you want to see it?”

The property’s address he sent over was slightly far from where Rong Yi used to live, but it was only a short distance from his company, and there were direct buses as well. It was not in a remote area and the price was indeed very competitive. It was good value for money.

This was a great blessing for the currently impoverished and homeless Rong Yi.

“He doesn’t require too much, just wants someone who has good hygiene habits and keeps to himself most of time. And he’d like this person to move in as soon as possible.” Liu Yuan explained to him. “It seems he stands his father going there and staying with him every so often. By the way, can you cook?”

“Yes, sure,” Rong Yi nodded. “Does he want to share boarding?”

“That’d be even better. He’s an easy-going guy, and he doesn’t really need the money. If you can help with cooking, the rent can probably be even cheaper.”

Rong Yi was in such a hurry that he took a half day off in the afternoon.

When he arrived at the address, it was an agent who showed him around the apartment, and chatted to him as they walked around.

When he heard about Rong Yi’s misfortune, he was very sympathetic, and immediately called the landlord, describing Rong Yi’s miserable circumstances and his virtuous character with much exaggeration.

Rong Yi stood by the side, quietly listening to the agent talking earnestly on his phone: This young man was clean and handsome and very polite. You can rest assured that he’s very easy to get on well with. And he’s now in such a disastrous situation. If he can’t find a place quickly, he may have to live on the streets. Can you spare a few moments to come back and sign the contract now?

He felt a little bit embarrassed, so he went around the apartment by himself. Although it was a shared lease, the whole house was decorated in a simple but elegant style, the vacant room was quite spacious, and the furniture looked fresh. The more he looked around, the more he liked it.

By the time he came out of that room again, the agent was standing in the corner of the living room, whispering into his phone: “I’m serious. Really good-looking. If you don’t believe me, I can take a picture discreetly later for you to see.”

Rong Yi gave a gentle cough behind his back.

The agent immediately straightened up his back and put his hand down: “OK, I see. I’ll take him back to the agency and wait for you there.”*

When they arrived at the agency, Rong Yi suddenly realised there was a serious problem:

He doesn’t have an ID card.

The ‘legendary’ landlord finally appeared when the signing of the contract was about to be stalled.

“This is Mr. Chen,” The agent who had been accompanying Rong Yi warmly introduced them to each other, “This is Mr. Rong. You can discuss any questions you have for each other now. As for this ID problem, it’s not really that urgent... Anything wrong?”

Rong Yi also wanted to ask, ‘What on earth is wrong?!’

He looked at Chen Keyao in a daze and thought the whole world was joking with him.

Chen’s expression was also very vivid. He was first visibly surprised, then furrowed his brow, and after a while, as he saw Rong Yi couldn’t utter a word due to shocked disbelief, he finally cleared his voice and asked: “...your home was burned down?”

A cracked bell can never sound well.

Rong Yi felt a sudden rage, picked up his luggage, and stormed out.

The agent was totally puzzled: “Mr. Rong, what is the matter with you? Where are you going?”

“I’m not renting it anymore.”

‘Who wants to live with this guy? He’d rather live on the streets.’

The slow-witted agent finally realized: “You know each other?”

“Wait,” Chen Keyao called out behind Rong Yi. “Didn’t you get your ID card? I had sent it out to you.”

Rong Yi, with one foot already outside the door, was stunned and turned back.

He still kept silent. Chen Keyao furrowed his brow and continued: “Your ID card was dropped in my car and I couriered it to your company the next day. Didn’t you get it?”

No.

There were heaps and heaps of at the reception desk of the company, but staff all had to collect them by themselves. Rong Yi had not done any online shopping recently, so he didn’t bother to check.

So it really was him who had found it. Rong Yi had imagined that, if he were Chen Keyao, he’d cut the card up and throw it into the garbage bin. He now felt a bit sheepish at the thought.

...But it was too late to know now. He had reported it lost already.

His facial expression kept changing, but still he kept silent. Chen Keyao sighed: “The other day, I was...”

Rong Yi looked at him, feeling suddenly saddened.

“No need to say anything,” he lowered his eyes. “Let’s pretend we’ve never met each other.”

Chen Keyao hesitated. Swallowing down his words, he nodded: “Fine.”

Seeing that he was going to lose his business, the real estate agents who had been looking on the whole time felt the urge to say something.

“Wait! Since you’re acquaintances, isn’t that even better?” He quickly walked to the door and pulled Rong Yi back, “Mr. Rong, didn’t you tell me just now that because you were going to pay out a large sum of compensation money, you now have to count each penny before you spend it? The place you’re staying now is neither comfortable nor cheap, isn’t it? And if you don’t get your ID card back, nobody would agree to rent to you if they don’t know you already!”

Rong Yi had never lost his ID card before, and did not know whether an ID card that had been reported lost could still be used, so he hesitated in dilemma.

Seeing that his attitude was somewhat relaxed, the agent quickly returned to Chen Keyao: “What do you think, Mr. Chen? You wouldn’t mind getting his ID card information later, would you?”

Chen Keyao didn’t respond.

In fact, his attitude spoke sounder: Although he did not look as resentful as Mr. Rong, it was clear that he would not want to have anything to do with him anymore.

It was just that Rong Yi was in such a predicament that he didn’t have the heart to say no.

But how would Rong Yi be willing to accept his good will?

Although the agent was trying so hard to wink at both of them frantically, Rong Yi still decided to let him down.

Just as he was about to say goodbye, Chen Keyao’s phone suddenly rang.

He looked down at the screen, and muttered: “...Oh, my God.”

Then, instead of answering the phone, he looked up at Rong Yi. His strange gaze made Rong Yi’s toes curl, so he took a step back.

Chen Keyao took a step forward: “Do you want to stay at my home for a night?”

A whole bunch of bad images popped up in Rong Yi’s head.

After all, even if the previous experience was rather painful, this Alpha right in front of him whose looks and figure were still his favourite type. And now he was sounding so equivocal.

The telephone kept ringing. Not getting any response from Rong Yi, Chen Keyao had no choice but to answer the phone.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Then, Rong Yi listened to a somewhat funny one-side conversation.

“Dad...Why are you coming here again?” Chen Keyao was obviously struggling. “I’ve rented out that room, really. He’ll be moving in today. There’s no room for you to sleep in. It’s true...Why should I lie to you about it? We’re coming back together in a short while. No. You don’t need to come here. I’m not going back for dinner. You don’t need to bring me any... I didn’t! Don’t talk nonsense, OK?”

The agent, still standing next to Rong Yi, whispered to him: “You see, it’s pathetic. Just help him out.”

*

Chen Keyao’s apartment was just in the neighbouring block.

The two men walked one after another towards Chen Keyao’s home in complete silence.

It was a bit bizarre that the whole thing had turned around like this. Rong Yi felt that his own mind must be a bit twisted to actually feel pleased to be able to do a favour for Chen Keyao.

When the two reached the building, Chen Keyao suddenly stopped.

“If my dad is still up there, don’t pay any attention to whatever he says.”

Rong Yi nodded behind him.

Chen Keyao didn’t see it of course, but he didn’t want to emphasize it too much so he just went upstairs with a heavy heart.

As Rong Yi had been here once this afternoon, he was relatively familiar with the building. After getting out of the elevator, he looked in the direction of Chen Keyao’s home, and saw a middle-aged man standing at the door.

Hearing the noise, the middle-aged man immediately turned around. Chen Keyao, who walked in front of Rong Yi, said to him: “Dad, what are you doing standing at the door...”

The middle-aged man didn’t say anything, but only furrowed his brow and looked over his son’s shoulder to see Rong Yi behind him.

Rong Yi stood stiffly. He glanced for a few seconds at this Alpha who had 50% resemblance to Chen Keyao but looked much more mature, and swallowed his admiration secretly.

He didn’t dare to speak a word, but his heart was swaying a little: Gosh, this uncle is so handsome.

Author’s voiceover:

Afternoon.

The agent said on the phone: Honestly, you can tell at first sight he’s an Alpha. Incredibly good looking.

The agent said to Rong Yi: The landlord is a really handsome Alpha!

Chen Keyao and Rong Yi said in their hearts: Lucky!