Chapter 134: This Deal Is a Total Win!
The air suddenly became quiet. Maybe it was because Ye Ziming’s request was too forceful, and Lin Muqing felt that she had to stand up for herself.
She admitted that she did want to move in here. She had thought about it even before this moment.
Living alone was really lonely, so she wanted to live with someone she knew well. And by that logic, her good buddy was the perfect choice.
But she also had her pride, she wasn’t going to just say yes to moving in just because the rent and utilities were cheap.
“I wear boys’ clothes, so what? I am a boy, so wearing boys’ clothes makes perfect sense!”
Puffing out her cheeks and pouting her lips, Lin Muqing sat up straight with her hands on her hips and stared right into Ye Ziming’s eyes. She said that with full confidence.
Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were wide open, clearly showing her meaning. She was going to wear boys’ clothes and live here.
In other words, she wanted it all!
“You think my conditions are too strict?”
Clearly, her reaction surprised Ye Ziming a little, though not completely. After a brief moment of surprise, he quickly realized if he pushed too hard, this little kitten might just fight back.
So he calmed himself down, lowered his anxious thoughts, and raised an eyebrow as he asked her back.
“Yeah.”
Lin Muqing nodded firmly, showing she meant it.
“Alright then, we both take a step back.”
As he spoke, he let go of Lin Muqing, sat up straight, grabbed his water bottle from the table, and took a sip to cool his head.
Once he calmed down, he went over the issue again in his mind and reminded himself not to rush, take it slow.
His little Muqing might look soft and delicate on the outside, but she was actually strong and independent. The fact that she could live alone already showed that.
“You talk.”
Lin Muqing was a bit surprised. That strong and confident vibe her buddy had just now, where did it go all of a sudden?
Noticing this change, her tone also softened a bit. At least it wasn’t as tough as earlier.
“If you want,” Ye Ziming said with a gentle smile, looking straight into her eyes, “you can keep wearing boys’ clothes.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Lin Muqing nodded happily, glad that her buddy had compromised. She fully agreed with what he said.
“But there’s one condition, you can only wear my boys’ clothes.”
Ye Ziming raised a finger and added with a squint and a smile.
“Huh? Why’s that?”
“Because the clothes in your wardrobe are either yellowed or faded. Be honest, how long has it been since you bought new clothes?”
Right after Lin Muqing asked “Why?”, Ye Ziming immediately shot back with an answer.
It was easy to see, when he said that, he was clearly unhappy. He was annoyed at Lin Muqing for not taking care of herself.
“Uhh… let me think…”
He had hit the nail on the head. She honestly couldn’t remember when she last bought clothes. While she was trying hard to remember, Ye Ziming looked off to the side with a helpless expression and sighed.
Well, no need to ask further, he already knew. It must have been a long, long time ago… so long that even she couldn’t remember.
“Ah! I remember now! Half a year ago I saw some T-shirts on sale at the market for 90% off!”
Just as Ye Ziming stood in silence for a while, finally finding his voice and getting ready to say something, Lin Muqing suddenly let out a loud “Ah!”—and after hearing what she said, he was even more speechless.
It was September now. Half a year ago was March. And she went out to buy T-shirts in March weather?
Sigh… He really shouldn’t have expected too much from Lin Muqing. The fact that she could even support herself already meant she was doing her best.
“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Lin Muqing had just remembered something and was feeling pretty proud of herself. She had even planned to show off a little to her buddy. But when she saw the look on his face, her smile froze. It felt a little... awkward.
“If you really want to keep those clothes, I won’t stop you. But don’t wear them anymore. My clothes are way more comfortable than yours.”
With a gentle and caring smile, Ye Ziming raised his hand and patted Lin Muqing’s head.
At this point, his tone wasn’t like he was making demands. He was more like someone patiently explaining things.
After a good while of explaining, Lin Muqing finally stopped refusing and agreed to Ye Ziming’s suggestion of “compromising on both sides.”
And since her good buddy had gone to all this trouble to talk things through, she felt a little embarrassed too.
Honestly, her clothes really were old and worn out. But in her mind, if the clothes weren’t completely ruined, she could still wear them, even if they had some quality issues.
“Okay, okay! Didn’t you say there were three rules? Hurry up and tell me the last one.”
Seeing that Ye Ziming was about to start another round of “serious talking,” Lin Muqing quickly cut him off and urged him to get to the point.
Ye Ziming was clearly a little annoyed at being interrupted.
But when he looked into her big, pretty almond-shaped eyes blinking up at him cutely, he swallowed his words back down.
“Third condition: Once you move in, you have to stay for at least two years.”
Putting on a serious expression, Ye Ziming stated the final condition, which was actually one of the most important.
“Huh?”
Lin Muqing was stunned. She didn’t really understand.
Why exactly two years? What kind of weird rule was that?
She had thought he might ask something strange, or something hard to agree to.
But this?
This was so simple, it didn’t even feel like a demand. It felt more like a gift.
“I’ll print out a rental contract later. If you agree, we’ll both sign it.”
Pretending not to see the surprise on her face, Ye Ziming stayed very serious as he said that.
There was no printer at home, so he’d just “print” one by hand.
The reason was simple, to stop this little kitten from backing out halfway and give himself some insurance.
“Got it.”
She nodded in agreement, then gave a slightly awkward smile.
Signing a contract didn’t really seem necessary to her. But seeing how serious her good buddy looked, she couldn’t say no.
Phew—finally, the issue was solved.
Lin Muqing let out a breath of relief and started looking forward to their life together.
Actually, when she brought this up, she had already made some mental preparations.
As long as her good buddy agreed, she was willing to pay higher rent than the market price, do all the housework, even treat him like a spoiled young master.
Now, even though there were three extra conditions, the result wasn’t bad at all.
She didn’t like wearing the jade pendant at home anyway, and he said she could keep wearing boy’s clothes if she wanted to.
So if you think about it…
It’s like he didn’t give her any real demands!
Yay! Lin Muqing totally won this round!
(≧▽≦)/