The two came to the first floor and pushed the door open to look inside.
You can't trust what a deceitful merchant says. Is this too small?
No wonder he was willing to sell it cheap; it was half the size, wasn't it?
From the window, they could see the lake, but the room was so small that besides a bed, a pitifully small bathroom, and a nightstand, there was nothing else.
Fortunately, it was clean and not unpleasant.
Melody's wallet made her accept the place.
"Alright, how much for a month?"
Long Yifei scratched his nose.
"This is my sister's room, it's not usually open to the public, but seeing as you're having a tough time... I'll give you a co-rent price. You two can live together for two thousand a month..."
Melody, impressed by the young business-minded man, interrupted him.
"One thousand."
"Anyway, your sister lives here and doesn't pay anything, and if I move in, I'll just be sharing her air. A thousand is basically profit for you."
Finally settled, having a sense of belonging made her prone to overthinking and feeling insecure.
She looked out at the sparkling water surface, the birds occasionally gliding over it, and the clear blue sky.
Under the blue sky, a child wobbling and stumbling on the road, followed by his young parents.
She involuntarily thought of Lu Qingxu.
With such scenery, she really wanted to see what he would look like standing by the lake in white clothes.
She longed to hear his thoughts upon seeing such beauty.
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 watching the child babble and take its first steps…
She wished they could have experienced those moments together, but alas, they met too late.
Then she wished him a lifetime of happiness with someone else.
Wanting to take a walk by the lake, 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 played a lively old song.
"Smile, achieving success isn't the goal; making yourself happy is what truly matters..."
A single brother and his blind sister running a small hotel with almost no customers, their attitude is quite positive.
The lake looked close, but it took a long time to walk there. However, the scenery was beautiful and the air was fresh, so it was worth walking so far.
Melody chose a rock by the lake and sat down, gazing silently at the water.
She thought that from this moment on, her life's countdown had officially begun.
She didn't know how long she sat there, lost in thought, when a pair of hands clapped on her shoulders, interrupting her.
Long Yifei had arrived at some point.
Seeing her face pale as paper from the wind, his eyes were full of concern.
Melody didn't know her face was pale and said faintly, "Why are you here? Looking for me?"
"Miss Mai, you..."
"I should indeed 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 delicate as Lin Daiyu.
"Miss Mai, I think, no matter what happens, especially, actually..."
"Say what you want to say directly."
"Uh, what's that saying, I can't remember it, but just remember one thing. This world lacks everything, but it never lacks people, let alone men."
"You're so beautiful, I'm sure you have many admirers."
"So, you think I'm heartbroken and you're comforting me?"
Long Yifei: "No, I don't comfort people who are heartbroken, it's just that no matter what happens, if you can't think things through for a moment, you can't hurt me. I didn't look at your ID, and I don't even know who you are, but I let you stay. What if something happens..."
Melody thought she was being considerate, assuming he wanted to comfort her, but it turned out he was afraid of her causing trouble.
She looked at him as if he were an idiot. Realizing her words might sound harsh, Long Yifei tried to salvage the situation.
"I mean, everyone has a tough time, try to look on the bright side."
It was indeed quite tough.
Melody thought: What if one day she ended her life at his place? Would it cause him to have his business license revoked?
If he didn't run the shop, he wouldn't starve, but his sister...
"Don't worry, I won't. I absolutely won't cause you any trouble."
Back home, only the two of them were eating. Melody asked about his sister. Long Yifei said she had gone to school.
"She just left. She goes on Saturday afternoons and returns on Friday evenings, as a boarding student."
Melody, who had initially thought he was stingy, suddenly felt embarrassed. Did his sister live at school normally? Why didn't he say so earlier?
She thought they were truly co-renting, hence the low price.
Now it seemed like she was the fool.
Never mind, she'd help him clean up when she had free time as a way 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 guest?"
Long Yifei busily cleared the dishes. "I won't be going for the next couple of days, I have other things to do."
She nodded, it wasn't her concern.
Long Yifei asked her, "Are you usually a homebody? What's the longest you've ever stayed at home?"
She thought he was trying to get closer, making small talk: "A month. Do you think that's being a homebody?"
"Quite a homebody. Alright, you can go to sleep now."
Melody slept heavily, constantly dreaming and unable to wake up. She slept until she was exhausted and only forced herself to open her eyes.
When she woke up, she was confused. It was still dark. Had she even slept?
She opened her room door to look. The entire building was dark and deserted. Long Yifei was nowhere to be found.
She washed up and went to the kitchen to find something to eat, only to discover the refrigerator contained half a radish and half a cabbage.
Being someone who was going to die anyway, she wasn't particular about food. She casually chopped some up, stir-fried it with leftover rice, and ate with satisfaction.
After eating, feeling sleepy, she decided to go out for a stroll. When she reached the door and pushed it, she found it was locked.
Alright, it was expected for the owner to lock the door when they were not home. Feeling sleepy after eating, she decided to go back to sleep.
She slept for another half a day.
The next afternoon, she woke up, and there was still no one in the house, and the main door remained locked.
Not only was she not afraid, she even felt a sense of security.
She steamed some more rice, filled her stomach, and moved a stool to sit by the window and daydream.
Melody didn't know what had happened to Long Yifei; he hadn't come home for five consecutive days.
Although there were no vegetables, fortunately, there was half a bag of rice left at home. Otherwise, Melody would have starved to death before she succumbed to illness.
On the fifth afternoon, Melody was drowsily sleeping when she suddenly felt a shadow appear before her.
She opened her eyes and saw that he was back.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"There's no food left, did you buy any groceries?"
Long Yifei: "..."
When he returned, he had gone to the kitchen to check. He had left in such a hurry that he hadn't left her any food. The kitchen was bare. It seemed she had a difficult few days.
He thought that perhaps while he was away, she might have gone upstairs to his room and done as she pleased, but in reality, she...
Locking her alone at home for five days, it seemed he had judged her by his own standards and felt very sorry for her.
Melody opened her eyes and saw his bruised and swollen face, his skin darker than before, looking at her with guilt. She was stunned for a few seconds.
"What did you go and do?"
"Long Yifei, you wouldn't happen to..."