Blue Cocktail chapter 9
Before entering the teacher’s office, it was clear skies, but when he came out, dark clouds suddenly drifted across the sky. Cheng Shuo remembered checking the weather forecast on the subway, which had predicted heavy rain in the afternoon.
Fortunately, the rain hadn’t arrived as expected after lunch. Cheng Shuo sat on a stone bench in the campus square, pulled out the list of landlord numbers he had saved in his phone’s notes, and dialed each one.
The first number was out of service.
The second number went unanswered.
The third and fourth numbers finally connected, but the landlords told him that the rooms had already been rented.
Cheng Shuo couldn’t help but feel disheartened. He realized that he had been confrontational with Lin Han recently, made bold statements in front of the advisor, which was satisfying, but he had forgotten to secure a backup plan. Now, he had nowhere to go even though he was determined to leave. Would he end up backing down and returning to the dorm?
Seeing that there was only one number left, Cheng Shuo felt a bit nervous. The success or failure of his plan to find off-campus accommodation for the night might hinge on this call.
The call went through.
Cheng Shuo quickly said, “Hello, I’m a student from Peijiang Academy of Fine Arts. I saw your rental listing and would like to schedule a time to view the room. Are you available this afternoon?”
“I’m free the whole afternoon today,” the voice on the other end, strangely familiar, responded. “What time can you come?”
Cheng Shuo thought for a moment and said, “3:30 PM this afternoon, does that work for you?”
The response from the other side was, “That’s fine.”
“Great, thank you.”
Cheng Shuo believed the call would end at this point, but unexpectedly, the other person asked one more question, “Are you a senior student, in your fourth year?”
Cheng Shuo replied honestly, “No, I’m currently a sophomore.”
The landlord sounded slightly surprised, “I thought you were a student here for an internship during the graduation season. It’s rare for a sophomore to move out so soon.”
Cheng Shuo almost lost his smile, thinking that if it weren’t for having such a disgusting roommate, he wouldn’t have decided to move out so quickly.
The landlord continued, “What should I call you?”
Cheng Shuo responded, “My name is Cheng Shuo.”
“Cheng Shuo?” the other person repeated.
Cheng Shuo explained, “Yes, Cheng Shuo, like ‘shuo’ as in ‘zòng kǒu shuò jīn’ (having many voices of praise) shuo.”
The other person strangely chuckled, “Alright, I got it. We’ll meet this afternoon.”
Cheng Shuo was about to end the call, but suddenly, the other person said, “Wait, don’t hang up yet. I just thought that phone calls may not be convenient for contact. How about we add each other on WeChat?”
Cheng Shuo replied, “Sure.”
The landlord continued, “You can use this phone number to find my WeChat ID. In the verification message, be sure to write your name and school clearly. Otherwise, I might mistake you for someone selling courses.”
“Okay,” Cheng Shuo said.
After ending the call, he followed the landlord’s instructions and wrote in the verification message: “I’m Cheng Shuo, a student from Peijiang Academy of Fine Arts. I just spoke with you on the phone and scheduled a viewing for this afternoon.”
The friend request was quickly accepted, and Cheng Shuo quickly checked to see if the person had any recent updates on their WeChat Moments.
After that, Cheng Shuo exited the app, then contacted Jiang Yan online. Jiang Yan was already in the dorm.
He immediately headed back, and Jiang Yan had left the door unlocked for him. Cheng Shuo entered the room, went straight to his desk, and acted as though no one else was present.
On his way back, Cheng Shuo had already prepared a list of items he needed to take with him. At this moment, he began confirming his list, including his tablet, laptop, graphic tablet, and various charging cables.
Of course, he hadn’t forgotten to bring an umbrella.
He also had a utility knife for self-defense since he was going to a stranger’s house.
After packing everything, he headed towards the dormitory door, not sparing a glance or thought for anything unrelated to his immediate plans. He moved swiftly, opening and closing the door without hesitation.
By the time he reached the west gate, it was pouring rain. Cheng Shuo thought to himself, “The rain came even faster than Lin Han’s changing face.”
The wind was howling, making it difficult to control the umbrella. It flipped inside out a few times, drenching Cheng Shuo each time. He had to fight to flip it back into place and felt thoroughly soaked.
What was most annoying was the unreliable map navigation. It led him to circle around the community’s perimeter three times before he had to ask a passerby for directions. Finally, he reached the entrance of Fufu Jiayuan.
Looking down, he found that his pant legs were already soaked.
Cheng Shuo opened his notes to confirm once more that the landlord’s house was in Building Eight.
A few minutes later, he dashed into the community’s hallway, shook off the rainwater from his umbrella after retracting it, causing the water to splatter on the floor.
Cheng Shuo climbed two steps at a time and reached the third floor. As he looked up, he saw the door plate for Room 302.
This was it!
He used his knuckles to knock on the door.
Two seconds later, the door creaked open.
A casually confident face greeted him. Landlord Lu Huaiqian leaned against the door and extended a hand, “Hi, Cheng Shuo.”
Cheng Shuo was momentarily stunned, then furrowed his brows, “Why is it you?”
Lu Huaiqian smiled comfortably, “Because I’m the landlord, and you’ve come to rent my room.”
Cheng Shuo wore an incredulous expression.
“Wow, it’s raining heavily out there. Your clothes are all soaked,” Lu Huaiqian observed when Cheng Shuo didn’t move, beckoning him, “Why are you still standing outside? Come in quickly.”
Once Cheng Shuo entered, Lu Huaiqian closed the door and handed him a cup of piping hot water.
In the enclosed space, the two remained briefly silent, the atmosphere taking on an eerie quality.
Cheng Shuo clutched the glass, glanced down, and realized he looked like a drowned rat. Both shirt sleeves had circular marks from the splashed rain, and his pant legs were one-third soaked.
In contrast, Lu Huaiqian across from him looked neat and composed, showing no sign of surprise. Cheng Shuo squinted and asked, “Did you—did you already know it was me on the phone?”
Lu Huaiqian candidly admitted, “Yes.”
Cheng Shuo furrowed his brow, “Then why didn’t you just say it on the phone that you’re Lu Huaiqian?”
Lu Huaiqian nonchalantly replied, “If I had told you on the phone that I’m Lu Huaiqian, would you have still come?”
Cheng Shuo was momentarily taken aback.
…Unexpectedly, the guy was self-aware to a certain extent.
Having his thoughts exposed again by the other party, Cheng Shuo didn’t know what to say and decided to remain silent.
Thankfully, Lu Huaiqian didn’t press further and changed the subject, “Let me show you around the rooms.”
From the living room to the bedroom, then to the kitchen and bathroom, he provided a quick tour. Afterward, Lu Huaiqian asked, “What do you think? Are you satisfied?”
He considered adding, “If you want to rent it, I can give you a discount since we know each other.”
In truth, Cheng Shuo wasn’t entirely satisfied, but there were no glaring flaws, and that last bit about a discount from Lu Huaiqian piqued his interest. Besides, he didn’t have much choice at the moment.
He really didn’t want to see Lin Han’s face again tonight. In comparison, Lu Huaiqian’s face appeared somewhat pleasant.
“It’s alright, but…” Cheng Shuo tentatively asked, “What about the rent? How much of a discount can you give me?”
Lu Huaiqian pondered for a moment, “How about this, I’ll give you a 20% discount from the original price.”
Cheng Shuo hesitated, “Can we make it 50%?”
Lu Huaiqian raised an eyebrow, “Kid, where do you get off haggling like this?”
His tone held a hint of frustration, “I said 20%, you should have bargained it down to 25%, or at most 30%.”
Cheng Shuo pursed his lips and didn’t feel very confident, “…I’m a student after all, and I have no income.”
“Alright, alright, 50%,” Lu Huaiqian finally granted himself some leeway, “It’s been a while since I rented this place out.”
A glimmer suddenly appeared in Cheng Shuo’s eyes, and he finally had a place to stay tonight, “Deal!”
Lu Huaiqian smirked silently at the sight.
“I’ll go prepare the lease agreement, and you can move in tonight,” Lu Huaiqian couldn’t help but ask, “I’ve been pretty fair with the price, right? I’m treating you so well, do you still think I’m dangerous?”
Hmph, quite the grudge holder.
Cheng Shuo skillfully sat down on the sofa and casually replied, “Hard to say.”
Lu Huaiqian stroked his chin, “I’m really not winning any points with you, am I? How about going back to 20%?”
Cheng Shuo suddenly raised his head, “No!”
Lu Huaiqian grinned.
Cheng Shuo, realizing a moment too late that this guy was just joking, felt like he had been played.
Suddenly, Lu Huaiqian remembered something, turned and walked into the bedroom, took out a white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black sport pants, then returned to the sofa, and lightly tossed them in Cheng Shuo’s direction.
Unfortunately, he didn’t aim well, and the two items covered Cheng Shuo’s face one after the other.
Cheng Shuo pulled the clothes off his face.
Lu Huaiqian spoke up before Cheng Shuo could, “Sorry, my hand slipped just now.”
Cheng Shuo: “…”
“I noticed your clothes were wet, and it must be uncomfortable, so I found two new ones for you,” Lu Huaiqian glanced at Cheng Shuo’s backpack, “Because I had a feeling you might have forgotten to bring spare clothes.”
“Thank you,” those two words squeezed through Cheng Shuo’s clenched teeth.
He held the clothes and got up to walk to the bedroom.
Lu Huaiqian, with a faint smile from behind, said, “Really? With our relationship, you still have to change clothes in private?”
Cheng Shuo turned around, extremely puzzled, “Are we close?”
Lu Huaiqian asked, “Aren’t we?”
Cheng Shuo: “…”
Could this guy say something serious for once?
Cheng Shuo ignored him and walked into the bedroom. However, a few seconds later, the door was opened a crack, and Cheng Shuo’s head appeared in the gap. He stared at Lu Huaiqian’s face and said, word by word, “No peeking.”