Zhang Yuwen signaled to the housekeeper with a glance, and the woman said, “Let me help you.”
“Thanks.” Zheng Weize was moved by her offer of help, but he turned her down. “I can do it myself.”
“This is Auntie Liu,” said Zhang Yuwen. “She’s the housekeeper here. Just ask her if there’s anything you need. The other is called Xiao-Chen. She helps with the cleaning.”
“Hello,” Liu Jingfang said in greeting. “Let me do it.”
Liu Jingfang used to do the cleaning at Zhang Yuwen’s maternal grandfather’s clinic. She looked after Zhang Yuwen, too, then a child himself. Ever since the clinic closed down, she’d taken care of No. 7 Riverbay Road, as well as Zhang Yuwen’s meals and daily living needs.
Zhang Yuwen was just as good-tempered as his grandfather. He rarely got angry, but when he did, he became hostile and merciless, digging up every past grudge and grievance to settle the score. He had a great memory, and while he wasn’t easily offended, it took only one offense for him to send the offender packing. Liu Jingfang understood the personalities of this grandfather and grandson pair well, so she never played the seniority card and was always tactful.
“Thanks!” There were even housekeepers here, Zheng Weize marveled. Just what kind of TV drama plot was this?
The villa and all that it came with made him feel like he was marrying into a wealthy family, and Zhang Yuwen’s affability further fueled his fantasies, making him dream up a story where a rich heir guy took a fancy to him and posted a private message on a forum visible only to himself, luring him to a big villa where he began his life as the pampered wife to a high-powered, domineering CEO.
“I can clean it myself, thanks!” Having said thanks for the fourth time, Zheng Weize opened the door to his room, pushed in his suitcases, and closed the door softly, not wanting to show this high-powered, domineering CEO and housekeeper his messy belongings and the moldy smell that defined his life.
Taken by a sense of relief, he spent a moment admiring the view outside the window. Zhang Yuwen had renovated this place three years prior, installing in every room a large floor-to-ceiling window that opened to a balcony or garden with neatly trimmed greenery and deck chairs, resembling a beautiful vacation guesthouse.
Even now, Zheng Weize still felt like he was dreaming. He couldn’t believe he had rented such a wonderful room for so little money. The dazzling afternoon sun shining on his bed, the fluttering, sheer window curtains, and the backyard filled with the beauty of autumn—living in a place like this improved his mood.
Zheng Weize opened his closet and carefully organized his clothing, hanging up his wrinkled-as-raisins clothes one article at a time. The live streaming platform would pay out a portion of his earnings the next month, so if he could just find a way to use his credit card to get cash, he’d be able to scrape together enough money for the rent and deposit.
It would all hinge on live streaming. Zheng Weize was confident he could make money as a live streamer. After all, he’d mastered the most advanced makeup techniques and had a face that could almost be called stunning after he applied makeup to it.
The only problem was that his top fan on the live stream platform hadn’t shown up in a long time. Thinking about this made Zheng Weize sad again.
Having done a simple tidying of his room at three o’clock in the afternoon, Zheng Weize dragged his two suitcases back out so he could go get the other half of his belongings.
Zhang Yuwen was working out on the treadmill while watching TV. He was wearing a gym tank top, all drenched in sweat, looking very sexy with his attractive arms and side muscles on display. The most precious legacy his maternal grandparents had left him was good lifestyle habits. Children who grew up in a family of doctors had self-discipline and excelled at managing their own health. Even more commendably, Zhang Yuwen never used his physique to seduce people.
Zheng Weize couldn’t help but stare when he passed by the gym. Zhang Yuwen waved a greeting to him from the other side of the glass window, and in that moment, Zheng Weize felt his heart flutter a little.
Zhang Yuwen moved to get off the treadmill, but Zheng Weize waved his hand to indicate that he still had something to do and left in a hurry.
He left Jiangbei and returned to Jiangnan. The scenery changed again, but Zheng Weize’s mood was massively different, because he was now a resident of Jiangbei. He fantasized about Zhang Yuwen’s looks and physique. Might sparks fly between them next?
Zheng Weize was a hopeless romantic, a lazy young man who also wanted to have it easy. He initially started live streaming to make some extra money. Working a regular job was too hard, and without academic credentials, he couldn’t find an easy, well-paying job that matched his capabilities. He soon realized that being a live streamer wasn’t easy either, so he revised his life goal: to find a rich boyfriend through live streaming, marry him, and live the life of a high-society gay wife.
This was, in his opinion, a simple yet pragmatic ambition. Unfortunately, his biggest obstacle to achieving this goal was his nature as a hopeless romantic. He wanted someone rich and handsome, young and energetic, with a great physique, who would be devoted and loyal. Also, that particular body part couldn’t be shorter than six inches. His criteria for this and that were like a huge filter, and so far, no one had made the cut.
His lack of social experience made it hard for him to discern potential mates, and his chronic loneliness made him want to pounce on any decent-looking man he saw. Is that Zhang-something-wen guy…single? He’s such a catch, he couldn’t be a player, could he? He must be a scumbag, yeah? Reasonable concerns nagged at Zheng Weize’s thoughts.
“Back already?” His straight ex-colleague’s voice interrupted his reverie.
Zheng Weize simply hummed an acknowledgment and went about packing the other half of his belongings, all the while assessing the possibility of marrying a tall, handsome, and rich man by moving into No. 7 Riverbay Road, thereby realizing his life goals. His straight ex-colleague had already lost all his charm and become repulsive to him.
“Since you’re leaving, how ’bout grabbing a meal together?” the straight guy suggested.
“Nah, not now.” Zheng Weize entered his room, and his ex-colleague followed him in. During their brief, six-month “honeymoon period,” Zheng Weize had spent thousands on him, and now that he was leaving, his ex-colleague remembered just how nice he’d been to him.
“Where are you staying?” The straight guy sat on the bed and watched Zheng Weize pack up his live streaming equipment.
“Riverbay Road,” Zheng Weize answered, omitting the number.
“Whoa!” The straight guy was a little astonished. “A rich neighborhood! The house ain’t cheap, right?”
“It’s a friend’s house,” Zheng Weize said simply, leaving him to fill in the blanks.
“Oh.” The straight guy obligingly pieced together the rest of the story, sitting silently on the bed for a long time. “Actually, I…”
The straight guy still had more to say. Zheng Weize placed the mobile phone stand he used for live streaming and a bag of clothes by the door and turned back to push his suitcases out.
He was going to say “see ya,” but he didn’t want to see him ever again, so instead he just said, “Bye-bye.”
The straight guy followed him to help carry the suitcases, but Zheng Weize suddenly had the urge to vent his pent-up feelings. Just like Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House embarking on a new phase in her life, he slammed the door shut in his face.