Looks can be deceiving, and the vastness of the sea cannot be measured1.
Once again, Luo Bei learned a lesson: this person’s appearance and temperament give people the impression that he is very noble and wealthy, but in reality, he is really poor.
There are two single rooms in the basement, one of which is rented to Jiang Sihan, and the other has been empty. The basement is damp and cold, and the rent in the urban village is not very expensive, so most people would rather spend more money to live in a healthier and better place.
Since this person has made it clear that he wants the cheapest room, Luo Bei took him directly to the basement. Although it was already the beginning of spring, the temperature was still not high. As soon as she opened the door to the room, she could feel the temperature dropped several degrees.
Luo Bei led him in. There was no sunlight in the basement, but there was a window that provided ventilation. “This is a single room, not very big, about 20 square meters. It has a kitchen and a bathroom, and you don’t have to worry about having nowhere to dry your clothes. When the weather is good, you can dry them on the rooftop terrace, together with your quilts.”
“How are the electricity and water bills calculated?” The man turned his head to look at Luo Bei. “And what about the internet? I heard that the internet in urban villages costs fifty yuan a month, is that true?”
Luo Bei was taken aback and gave him a detailed introduction to the electricity and water bills, as well as the internet and property management fees.
To put it simply, as long as this man doesn’t use an excessive amount of electricity and water, the miscellaneous fees plus the rent for a month will not exceed 700 yuan.
The current high cost of living and housing prices make it very rare to be able to solve rent and utilities for less than 700 yuan a month in this city.
“Okay, I’ll rent it. The room doesn’t come with any furniture or appliances, so it’s one month’s rent and one month’s deposit, right?”
“Yes.”
The speed of signing the contract was extremely fast, taking only about half an hour from meeting the man to signing the contract.
After signing the contract, the man made a request that was not unreasonable, “Miss Luo, the thing is, I need to move in today, but there’s nothing in the room. I need to buy a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a chair….
“Would you mind taking me to the second-hand market?”
This man was very polite and had exceptional manners, exuding an air of a social elite. Of course, only if one could ignore his outfit and the snakeskin bag that seemed out of place.
Luo Bei nodded, “No problem, I know some people there. Maybe we can get a better deal.”
When they arrived at the second-hand market, Luo Bei finally understood what a face slap really meant.
She had thought that with her acquaintance’s identity, she could help this man bargain, but she never expected that he didn’t need her to speak at all. With his powerful logical thinking and eloquence, he bought a bunk bed, a computer desk and chair, a single wardrobe, and a small round dining table with three small stools for only 300 yuan.
It can be said that he had a fruitful harvest.
“Madam boss, 300 yuan is already my concession price. Doing business is about give-and-take. I know many coworkers who are interested in renting in this area. I can help you promote your business. Therefore, if you can find a tricycle to help me transport these items back, our cooperation will be pleasant. You don’t need to calculate the labor cost for me. It’s less than ten minutes’ walk from here to where I live.”
“Oh young man, I’m selling these at a loss to you. It costs me 50 yuan to call a tricycle now. Aren’t you making me lose money?”
The man smiled slightly, “How could you be losing money? This bed would cost only about 500 yuan even if you bought it new. The computer desk and chair are even cheaper, about 150 yuan on Taobao, and this wardrobe’s paint has peeled off, and the wood is somewhat rotten. It’s hard to sell. As for this set of table and chairs, I could buy a new one at a supermarket for less than 100 yuan. Boss, I didn’t bargain with you because I needed these things urgently, but if you don’t deliver them for free, I won’t take them. After all, I’m a man and I can just make do for a few nights.”
After several rounds of bargaining, the landlady finally gave in, and the man also compromised by agreeing to pay a delivery fee of twenty yuan. The deal was done.
Luo Bei : “……” Impressive!
On the way back, the man bought a box of yogurt for Luo Bei and a bottle of Sprite for the delivery driver as a reward for their hard work.
Luo Bei : “Thank you.”
In any case, the house was rented out. When Luo Bei returned home, she was so tired that she lay down on the sofa directly.
“Did you take Xiao Zhou to buy furniture?” Grandma Luo asked while serving her dinner.
The new tenant’s name was Zhou Jianguo, his ID showed that he was 27 years old, and he came from a small county near the neighboring city. According to Zhou Jianguo himself, he worked at a construction site nearby.
He didn’t say anything specific, and as landladies, they didn’t ask anything either.
Luo Bei always felt that his name was also full of dissonance, like names related to the founding of the People’s Republic of China or the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army2. Wasn’t that kind of name only used by her father’s generation? Why would the younger generation also choose such a name?
Anyway, so far, Luo Bei felt that Zhou Jianguo was very strange. Maybe it was because his face and temperament didn’t look like an ordinary person.
“He bought it,” Luo Bei replied, then looked at her grandmother and asked, “Don’t you think this person looks strange?”
Grandma Luo asked back, “What’s strange?”
“I can’t quite put my finger on it. I just feel like he should be commanding a big company, yet here he is haggling with an old lady while carrying a snakeskin bag,” she said.
Grandma Luo was amused by her description.
“Isn’t our Beibei the same?” Her grandmother took her hand and looked at her with affection. “I think our Beibei should live in a big house like a rich young lady, but that Beibei is also collecting rent in the urban village and commuting every day for work.”
“Oh, that’s different.”
“To Grandma, it’s the same.”
The grandmother and granddaughter laughed as they spoke, and Luo Bei stopped thinking about Zhou Jianguo. After all, he was just a tenant. It didn’t matter who he was or why he was so strange. As long as he followed the rules and paid rent on time, it was fine.
Chen Lan was supposed to return on the seventh day, but for some reason, she didn’t come back until the ninth. Luo Bei had called her, but her phone was always turned off.
Fang Jingzhou, on the other hand, was very happy. He loved staying at Luo’s house so much that even Luo Bei noticed it, and he resisted going back to the house next door.
In fact, Luo Bei never talked to Fang Jingzhou about his relationship with Chen Lan. On the one hand, she felt it was unnecessary. After all, she was an outsider. She couldn’t just meddle in the affairs between a mother and her son. On the other hand, she didn’t want Fang Jingzhou to dislike his biological mother at such a young age. It wouldn’t be good for him.
One evening, Luo Bei and Fang Jingzhou were sitting in the living room watching cartoons when Fang Jingzhou suddenly said, “Beibei, I’m a bad boy.”
Luo Bei turned her head and asked, “Why do you say that? No one would call themselves a bad boy.”
“Because I really don’t want her to come back,” Fang Jingzhou said after a pause. “I hope she never comes back.”
“Why?”
Fang Jingzhou lowered his head and played with his toys, sounding inexplicably downcast. “Because she doesn’t like me. She doesn’t hug me, doesn’t give me a bath, and doesn’t ask me what I like to eat.”
Children are very sensitive, and their attachment to their mother is innate. If a mother ignores or dislikes her child, the child has no way to get love from elsewhere. After a long time, they may become like the current Fang Jingzhou.
He lacks love so he craves for someone to love him and care about him. So, when Luo Bei showed him kindness and treated him well, Fang Jingzhou became especially attached to her, sticking to her. Fang Jingzhou didn’t think of Luo Bei as his mother, because in his mind and in his vocabulary, a mother is someone he hated. He just saw Luo Bei as his entire world for the time being.
Zhao Pianpian is also very kind to him, but she has her own son. Grandma Luo is also good to him, but she is old and cannot play with him…
Only Luo Bei brings him home, gives him a bath, cooks noodles for him, takes him out for ice cream, buys him warm new clothes, and occasionally kisses him on the forehead and says goodnight or good morning.
He doesn’t want to lose Luo Bei and this kindness, so sometimes he even tries to please her intentionally.
Luo Bei rubbed Fang Jingzhou’s head and coaxed him, “But only she is your mother.”
Fang Jingzhou looked at her and said, “Beibei, I don’t like my mother, I like you.”
In the hearts of most children, their mother is their favorite and the person they like the most. Their mother is everything in their small world. But in Fang Jingzhou’s heart, the word “mother” no longer makes him happy. However, the role that gave him love and care still exists, and he is very clear about it. Luo Bei is not his mother, Chen Lan is his mother, but he transferred the love that a child has for their mother from Chen Lan to Luo Bei.
Luo Bei wanted to correct him, but young children are too stubborn and it’s hard to change their minds.
Fang Jingzhou hugged Luo Bei’s arm and said, “Beibei, if you weren’t too old, I would want you to be my girlfriend.”
Luo Bei knew that Fang Jingzhou had been watching popular TV dramas with her grandmother recently. She gave him a gentle warning, “In the future, watch fewer TV dramas, you’re more suitable for watching these animated shows.”
Also, what does he exactly mean by saying that she was too old??
“Uncle Xiao Jiang hasn’t seen you in a long time. You need to call him often, otherwise he might find another girlfriend,” said the five-year-old Fang Jingzhou, educating Luo Bei in a sincere tone about how to take care of men.
Luo Bei : “…………”
The next morning, Luo Bei had a day off, and Chen Lan was back. She didn’t look good, and she wasn’t wearing heavy makeup. Her whole demeanor gave off a very gloomy feeling.
Luo Bei noticed that the biggest change in Chen Lan was the way she looked at Fang Jingzhou.
If it used to be neglectful or impatient, now it was a hateful look that made people feel intimidated.
Yes, she hated the child who was her own flesh and blood.
- a Chinese proverb with similar meaning to “don’t judge a book by its cover” ↩︎
- Zhou Jianguo’s Jianguo is written as 建国 (Jiànguó) which literally means founding a country ↩︎