The two of them came to the first floor and pushed the door open to look.
You can't trust what a swindler says, is this small?
No wonder he was willing to sell it cheap, it was half the size!
You can see the lake from the window, but the room is so small that besides a bed, a pitifully small bathroom, and a nightstand, there's nothing else.
Fortunately, it was clean and not annoying.
Melody's wallet made her accept it here.
"That's fine, how much is it per month?"
Long Yifei scratched his nose.
"This is my sister's room, it's not usually open to guests, but seeing as you're having a hard time... I'll give you a co-renting price. You two can live together, two thousand a month..."
Melody was impressed by the young businessman's shrewdness and interrupted him.
"One thousand."
"Anyway, my sister doesn't pay anything for living here alone, and I'll just be sharing her air. Giving you a thousand is like you earning it for free."
Finally settled, with a sense of belonging, it was easy for her mind to wander and become anxious.
She looked at the shimmering water surface outside the window, the birds that occasionally flew by, and the clear blue sky.
Under the blue sky, a child wobbling and toddling on the road, followed by his young parents.
Unconsciously, she thought of Lu Qingxu.
With such scenery, she longed to see what he would look like standing by the lake in a white robe.
She longed to hear his thoughts when he saw beautiful scenery.
She also wanted to see him with his own child, accompanying his wife from the discovery of pregnancy, to her belly growing day by day, to the birth, to accompanying the child's babbling, toddling steps...
She wished they could experience those things together, but unfortunately, they met too late.
Then she wished him a lifetime of happiness with someone else.
She wanted to walk by the lake, so she put on her hat and went out.
The sound of crackling came from the kitchen. Long Yifei seemed to be cooking, her sister continued to "read" at the front desk, and the stereo was playing an upbeat old song.
"Smile, achieving success isn't the goal, making yourself happy is what truly matters..."
A single brother guarding a small hotel with hardly any customers, with his blind sister, has a pretty good attitude.
The lake looked close, but it took a long time to walk there. However, the scenery was beautiful and the air was fresh, so walking so far was worth it.
Melody chose a rock by the lake and sat down, staring blankly at the water.
She thought that from this moment on, her life countdown had officially begun.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, lost in thought, when a pair of hands patted her shoulder, startling her.
Long Yifei had arrived at some point.
Seeing her face pale from the wind, his eyes were full of worry.
Melody didn't realize her face was pale and said faintly, "Why are you here? Looking for me?"
"Miss Melody, you..."
"Indeed, I should go back. It's cold."
She was cold? Not sick? That was good.
Long Yifei had driven there. On the way back, he kept glancing at Melody, who was as frail as Lin Daiyu.
"Miss Melody, I think, no matter what happens, especially, actually..."
"Say what you want to say, just say it."
"Well, what's that saying? I can't remember it, but just remember one thing. This world lacks everything, but it doesn't lack people, especially men."
"You're so beautiful, I'm sure you have many admirers."
"So, you think I'm comforting you because I'm heartbroken?"
Long Yifei: "No, I don't comfort heartbroken people. It's just that no matter what happens, if you can't think straight for a moment, you can't harm me. I didn't look at your ID, I don't even know who you are and I let you stay. What if something happens..."
Melody thought she was being self-indulgent, thinking he was going to comfort her, but it turned out he was afraid she would harm herself and cause him trouble.
She looked at him as if he were an idiot. Realizing her words were a bit harsh, Long Yifei tried to make amends.
"I mean, everyone has a hard time, so be more optimistic."
It was indeed quite difficult.
Melody thought: What if one day she ended it all at his place, would it cause him to have his business license revoked?
He wouldn't starve if he didn't run the shop, but his sister...
"Don't worry, I won't. I absolutely won't cause you any trouble."
When they got home, only the two of them were eating. Melody asked about her sister. Long Yifei said she went to school.
"She just left. She goes to school on Saturday afternoons and comes back on Friday evenings, boarding."
Melody, who had thought he was stingy, suddenly felt embarrassed. His sister lived at school usually? Why didn't he say so earlier?
She thought they were really going to share the rent, and she had haggled the price so hard.
Now it seemed, she was the clown.
Oh well, maybe she'd help him with the cleaning when she had free time to repay him.
After eating, with nothing to do, Melody decided to go back to her room to sleep.
"It's still early, do you want to go find another customer?"
Long Yifei busily cleared the dishes. "I'm not going for the next couple of days, I have other things to do."
She nodded, it was none of her business.
Long Yifei asked her, "Are you a homebody? How long have you stayed at home at most?"
She thought he was trying to get closer by making small talk. "A month, do you think that's being a homebody?"
"Quite a homebody. Alright, you can go to sleep."
Melody slept deeply, constantly dreaming, unable to wake up, until she was so tired that she forced herself to open her eyes.
When she woke up, she was confused. It was still dark. Had she slept at all?
She opened her door to look. The entire building was dark, and Long Yifei was not there.
She washed up and went to the kitchen to find something to eat, only to discover that the refrigerator contained only half a radish and half a cabbage.
Since she was going to die anyway, she wasn't picky about food. She just cut some up, stir-fried it with the leftover rice, and ate with great satisfaction.
After eating her fill, she wanted to go for a stroll. When she reached the door and pushed it, she found it was locked.
Well, it was normal for the owner to lock the door when he wasn't home. She felt sleepy after eating and decided to go back to sleep.
She slept for another half a day.
She woke up the next afternoon, and there was still no one in the house, and the main door remained locked.
Not only was she not scared, but she even felt a sense of security.
She steamed some more rice, filled her stomach, and moved a stool to sit by the window, lost in thought.
Long Yifei hadn't come home for five consecutive days, and she didn't know what had happened.
Although there were no vegetables, fortunately, there was half a bag of rice left. Otherwise, Melody would have starved to death before she could die of illness.
On the afternoon of the fifth day, Melody was sleeping soundly when she suddenly felt a shadow fall before her.
She opened her eyes and saw that he was back.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"There are no more vegetables, did you buy any?"
Long Yifei: "..."
He had gone to the kitchen when he returned. He had left in such a hurry that he hadn't left her any food. The kitchen was bare. It seemed she had a very difficult time these past few days.
He thought that when he was gone, she might have gone upstairs to do whatever she pleased, but in reality, she...
He had locked her alone at home for five days, and it seemed he had judged her by his own low standards. He felt very sorry for her.
Melody opened her eyes and saw his bruised and swollen face, his skin even darker than before, looking at her with guilt. She was stunned for a few seconds.
"What were you doing?"
"Long Yifei, you wouldn't have..."