Chapter 53: The Female Neighbor Officially Moves In
“Teacher Bai, what did I tell you? Our lucky little angel here is always good at making the right guess.”
Zheng Qi wrapped an arm around Bai Xi’s shoulder and joked affectionately. Being in this kind of atmosphere made her temporarily forget all her unhappiness.
Normally, Bai Xi would definitely slap away that elbow, which was several shades darker than her own skin, then roll her eyes.
But today...
As long as Zheng Qi was happy and did not go too far, Bai Xi was willing to let it pass.
Still, to a woman like Bai Xi who preferred natural and comfortable things, Zheng Qi’s perfume smelled a bit too strong.
“What do you all think? If there’s anything that needs improving, feel free to say it.”
The wedding planner who came with them could already tell from everyone’s expressions that they were extremely satisfied. Still, polite business talk was necessary.
Gao Ming once again held Cheng Fei’s hand and lowered his eyes with a smile.
“What do you think?”
“It’s pretty good. There’s no need to change anything.”
Cheng Fei smiled naturally as usual, then turned to look at Zhou Lin and the two women who were completely enchanted by the scene.
Since even the main couple was satisfied, the others naturally had no complaints.
“Very good. I have no objections.”
“Perfect!”
“It’s nice. I can’t think of anything bad to say.”
“I fully support it with both hands and feet. No objections.”
A unanimous vote.
Their satisfaction with the venue was basically one hundred percent.
The planner became delighted. Clients this easy to satisfy were actually quite rare. He immediately began explaining the different steps of the wedding ceremony.
There would be two groomsmen and two bridesmaids. They did not want many people, only quality ones.
The four of them might not be the most outstanding people in the world, but they were all genuinely attractive and talented. Compared to ordinary-looking people, their appearance was clearly on another level.
Just imagining them standing on stage during the wedding would absolutely amaze everyone present.
Zheng Qi and Zhou Lin were paired together, which nobody objected to.
But when the planner paired Ye Dong and Bai Xi together, the atmosphere immediately became strange.
The two looked at each other hesitantly before slowly walking onto the stage. Yet both of them clearly looked unwilling.
A trace of displeasure flashed through their eyes. They forced themselves to hold it back because of everyone present, but emotions were not so easy to hide. Naturally, their expressions did not look very pleasant.
Their walking pace was more than a beat slower.
It even felt like they were “heading in completely opposite directions.” Although their arms were linked together, everything below the waist tried desperately to stay as far apart as possible, as if neither wanted to get even one inch closer to the other.
Zheng Qi and Zhou Lin, who were walking in front, could not see it.
But Cheng Fei and Gao Ming standing below the stage saw it clearly.
The two of them were completely confused.
Why did these two seem filled with hatred like sworn enemies from all corners of the world?
When they walked, their upper bodies were forced together while their lower bodies tried to avoid each other, making them look like a giant Chinese character “人”.
“These two definitely have problems.”
Cheng Fei leaned close to Gao Ming and muttered quietly.
Gao Ming frowned.
“We’ll talk about it after everything ends.”
Whatever happened between them clearly was not something small.
People cared about saving face. At a time like this, no matter how angry they were, they still had to endure it and could not openly argue.
Otherwise, where would their friends’ dignity go?
But thinking about it carefully, the situation was actually pretty funny.
Earlier it was Zhou Lin and Zheng Qi. Now it was these two.
Was this secretly turning into an event to solve everyone’s single status problems?
The “green leaves” had already finished showing themselves off.
Next came the real stars, the bride and groom.
Cheng Fei could not help sighing softly.
It was all just another set of practiced routines.
After walking down from the stage and letting go of Gao Ming’s arm, that was what Cheng Fei thought to herself.
The outside problems seemed temporarily solved, but once they left the hotel hall and got back into the cars, it was finally time to deal with the internal conflict.
Three men and three women.
Gao Ming and Cheng Fei deliberately separated them into two different cars.
Now that people had already noticed something strange, asking directly would naturally make the truth spill out easily.
“......”
Gao Ming looked back at the resentful eyes behind him, feeling somewhat shocked.
He never expected this matter to actually be connected to himself. He knew Ye Dong could not handle spicy food well. He only meant to tease him a little.
But unexpectedly...
Cheng Fei had actually cooked Sichuan-style dishes.
That was truly the first time Zhou Lin had ever heard of such a thing.
Still, Cheng Fei’s love for money clearly had not changed at all.
After hearing Gao Ming explain everything, Zhou Lin silently complained in his heart.
*Cough.*
Gao Ming coughed awkwardly, trying to ease the embarrassment he had accidentally caused.
“But there’s no need to hate each other this much, right?”
Ye Dong sucked air through his teeth. Even now, his teeth still felt uncomfortable, so how could he even care about Bai Xi’s glare?
“We’re men. We should be more broad-minded. Honestly, I didn’t even care anymore. But today I saw her giving me that look again... The moment I saw it, I remembered that day. And once I remembered it, my anger immediately came back! Tell me, what exactly was she so angry about?”
……………………………
Meanwhile…
“Look at his expression! And he’s still unhappy? My glasses were custom-made by someone for my dad back then. Those crystal lenses were clearer than glass itself. You can’t even find something like that anymore even if you search with a lantern! I seriously don’t know what he uses his eyes for. Sometimes I just want to cut open his eyelids and stick the lenses directly onto his corneas!”
If this happened to anyone else, they probably would not stay calm either. Even Cheng Fei sitting in the driver’s seat subconsciously wanted to suck air through her teeth after thinking about it.
Bai Xi was still furious, like sparks flying from her head. Everything she looked at annoyed her. Now even the bag on her lap irritated her.
She grabbed it and threw it aside, but it accidentally hit Zheng Qi.
“Calm down a little!”
Zheng Qi spoke somewhat pitifully. Looking at her, Bai Xi finally realized she had become a little hysterical and had accidentally directed her anger toward innocent people around her.
The person who should have been comforted was Zheng Qi.
Yet now Zheng Qi was the one comforting her instead.
The person hurt the most today was Zheng Qi, a woman who now had nowhere to call home.
Bai Xi calmed down and hugged Zheng Qi’s arm.
“Qiqi, why not stay at my house tonight?”
Zheng Qi immediately leaned backward in shock, looking as if she had just heard a ghost story.
“N-No, no no no! Your parents... hehe...”
She did not finish her sentence, mostly to save Bai Xi some face.
Because of something that happened in the past, the Bai family home had become forbidden territory in Zheng Qi’s heart.
Back in their student days, Zheng Qi often visited Bai Xi’s house.
One day, she went there to meet Bai Xi. The Bai family had a very traditional style. Bai Xi’s parents had both been teachers for many years, and their thinking was even more conservative than most people their age.
So Zheng Qi, who dressed much more boldly, had no choice but to put away her favorite short shorts and tank tops.
But because of that, during the burning summer heat, she ended up sweating terribly. Her underwear was practically soaked enough to drip water.
At the time, both she and Bai Xi happened to be home alone, so Zheng Qi thought it would be nice to take a shower and cool down under the air conditioner afterward.
The plan sounded perfect.
Unfortunately, Zheng Qi had already developed far more than girls her age, while Bai Xi’s clothes did not fit her at all.
And staying in sweaty underwear was incredibly uncomfortable.
So while showering, Zheng Qi simply washed her underwear too.
Everything had gone smoothly, until she came out of the bathroom and ran directly into Bai Xi’s scholarly parents.
At that moment, Zheng Qi was only wearing a large white T-shirt with nothing underneath.
She was caught completely red-handed.
To make matters worse, the school had recently caught a criminal who had harassed female students. Combined with the fact that Bai Xi’s parents already knew Zheng Qi liked wearing “cool and refreshing” clothes, they immediately decided this was the perfect chance to give her a serious lecture.
For two and a half whole hours!!!
That incident left Zheng Qi with permanent emotional trauma.
From then on, whenever Bai Xi’s parents were mentioned, Zheng Qi’s legs would subconsciously tremble.
Bai Xi sighed helplessly. In the end, she could only blame herself for not checking whether her parents were home back then.
So where could Zheng Qi go now?
Looking toward the people in the front seat again...
Sigh.
Going to Cheng Fei’s house probably would not be refused. But letting a freshly heartbroken woman stay between a loving married couple would basically turn Zheng Qi into a giant glowing third wheel.
That was simply too cruel.
“Don’t worry about me. I already have somewhere to stay tonight.”
“Where?”
“A hotel? Company dormitory?”
The two immediately asked anxiously.
Zheng Qi smiled mysteriously and waved her phone around.
Because Bai Xi was nearsighted, she could not see clearly at all while the phone kept moving. Feeling dizzy, she grabbed Zheng Qi’s hand and looked carefully.
Seeing the road ahead clear, Cheng Fei also turned around to look.
It was a rental listing. And the phone number shown clearly belonged to Zhou Lin.
“Old Zhou?!”
“Yep. His place is looking for tenants.”
Cheng Fei froze slightly, then narrowed her eyes and smiled meaningfully.
“The apartment is close to work, and the rent is cheap. Right now... I don’t really have many choices.”
There was bitterness hidden in her words, making both women feel uncomfortable hearing it.
“Hah, it’s more than just a perfect place... I know Old Zhou better than anyone. Living at his place is basically like living in a temple.”
“Should I start chanting Buddhist scriptures first?” Bai Xi pressed her palms together and twisted her neck like a dancer in an old empire movie, completely abandoning her usual cold and serious image as she tried her best to cheer Zheng Qi up.
“Haha! You don’t look like a girl from temple. You look like a zombie!”
“Zombies bite people too!”
As Bai Xi said that, she pounced onto Zheng Qi, successfully making the heartbroken woman laugh.
At last, the atmosphere inside the car no longer felt so depressing.
Since everyone was heading to the same destination, they first made a quick stop to collect Zheng Qi’s “bedding and luggage” before heading straight to Zhou Lin’s place.
But this so-called moving process...
Really was an actual move!
Someone was already taking care of the apartment, and all the furniture and appliances stayed behind. Zheng Qi only took her clothes and cosmetics, yet even that completely filled the trunks of both cars.
And that still was not enough. Aside from the driver seats, the back seats were practically stuffed full.
This was the power of women.
Following gentlemanly manners, all the heavy lifting naturally became the job of the three men.
Luckily, most of it was just clothes. With Cheng Fei and the others helping too, everything was finished after only a few trips.
On the way there, Zhou Lin had already heard about Zheng Qi’s situation.
The kind-hearted man immediately became soft-hearted again. Plus, because of Cheng Fei’s relationship with him, he instantly announced that Zheng Qi could stay for free.
But Zheng Qi was also someone with pride, and she firmly insisted on paying rent.
The argument went back and forth endlessly until Cheng Fei and Bai Xi stepped in to smooth things over.
Knowing Zheng Qi was short on money right now, they decided to waive all food, water, and electricity costs while keeping only the original rent.
It did not sound like much, but this was already the absolute minimum Zheng Qi could accept.
Helping others and accepting help were both fine. Everyone faced difficult times sometimes.
But there still had to be limits.
During her hardest moment, she had Cheng Fei and Bai Xi beside her. And now there was also the warm-hearted Zhou Lin.
Thankfully...
Thankfully she still had them.
At least her heart had not completely turned cold.
Zheng Qi was never good at hiding her feelings, but she also did not have the strength to say these words aloud. So she silently thanked them in her heart instead.
Meanwhile, on the other side, two pairs of hostile eyes were still fighting an invisible battle, forming a sharp contrast against the grateful looks over here.
Sigh.
Another huge problem...
For a brief moment, Cheng Fei and Gao Ming both wished they did not know those two people at all.
After helping Zheng Qi clean up her room, Cheng Fei spoke quietly beside Zhou Lin’s ear while washing her hands, sounding almost like a warning.
“Even though she’s right in front of you, I advise you not to get any funny ideas yet. It’s not the right time.”
Zhou Lin raised his eyes sideways.
“You think I’m that kind of person...?”
“Even if you want to make a move, wait a while first. Let the wound in her heart form a scar before your chances become better. If you try too hard to please her now, you might end up failing badly instead. You need to nurture things slowly, understand?”
Zhou Lin’s face immediately looked unhappy as he narrowed his eyes at Cheng Fei.
“Do I really look that impatient?”
“With that face, that body, and now she’s living under the same roof as you. Forget you, any man would be tempted... We’ve known each other since we were kids running around in split pants together. We’ve known each other for almost half our lives already. Who doesn’t know who here?”
After giving him a meaningful smile, Cheng Fei walked out, leaving Zhou Lin standing there overthinking things by himself.
He turned to look at the mirror.
No matter how he looked at himself, he really did not think he looked like some kind of pervert.