Early the next morning, Rong Jiqiao finished washing up and changed into clothes for going out.
Duan Yan had already left for work.
On the coffee table sat the breakfast he had bought for her. The steamed buns were still warm.
She took a couple of bites, but her mind was still occupied with the idea of moving to the urban village.
Four thousand yuan.
That would save four thousand every month.
Over six months, that was twenty-four thousand yuan.
Wiping her mouth, she picked up her phone and called the real estate agent.
“Brother Wang, are you available to show me the apartment today? The one near the urban village.”
The agent laughed enthusiastically.
“Of course, of course! What time are you coming? I’ll wait for you there.”
After hanging up, Rong Jiqiao headed out.
A subway ride followed by a bus ride.
After nearly two hours of travel, she finally arrived at the urban village.
The sky was dull and gray.
The densely packed apartment buildings stood shoulder to shoulder. Electrical wires stretched from window to window like giant spiderwebs.
Below, breakfast stalls lined the streets. The smell of cooking oil mixed with the sour odor of overflowing trash bins and hit her all at once.
The agent waved from the entrance of an alley.
“Miss Rong, over here!”
Rong Jiqiao followed him inside.
Something sticky squished beneath her shoe.
Looking down, she discovered it was a rotting vegetable leaf.
The stairwell was pitch-black.
The motion-sensor light had long since broken, so she had to feel her way upstairs with one hand on the wall.
The peeling paint felt rough and damp beneath her fingertips.
At the stairway landing, cardboard boxes and old bicycle tires were piled up. She had to turn sideways just to squeeze past them.
When they reached the third floor, the agent pulled out a key.
“This is the one. Take another look.”
The moment the door opened, a wave of mildew rushed out.
The room was tiny.
At a glance, it couldn’t have been more than fifteen square meters.
The bed was pushed directly against the wall. At the foot of the bed sat a battered old desk.
The window faced the wall of the neighboring building. Even the sky was reduced to a thin strip overhead.
Rong Jiqiao walked to the window.
Across the way, someone was brushing their teeth. Water splashed onto the windowsill, and they could clearly see straight into her room.
She turned toward the kitchen.
The so-called kitchen was nothing more than a single stove near the entrance.
Right beside it was the bathroom.
The toilet and the cooking area were separated only by a flimsy plastic curtain.
The agent continued his sales pitch with a smile.
“This place has excellent value for the price. Private bathroom, kitchen included. Perfect for someone living alone.”
Rong Jiqiao said nothing.
Standing in the cramped room where even turning around felt difficult, a scene from her previous life suddenly flashed through her mind.
A place just like this.
After Duan Yan sent her back to her hometown, she had rented a room in an urban village too.
Her savings were gone.
Her spending habits remained unchanged.
This was all she could afford.
Her landlord had been a man in his fifties.
Whenever he spoke to her, his eyes lingered on her body.
She had tried looking for work.
But every résumé she submitted disappeared without a response.
The county hospital refused to hire her back.
They said she had been away from nursing for too long and that her skills must have become rusty.
Even restaurants… were unwilling to hire her.
The restaurant had offered her a dishwashing job, but she thought it was humiliating and refused.
Her money dwindled day by day.
Eventually, she went back to Beijing to look for Duan Yan, hoping he would give her more money.
But the way he looked at her was colder than a knife.
“I already gave you money. Don’t come back again.”
Unwilling to give up, she went several more times.
She even tried to approach the wealthy heiress—Duan Yan’s wife—and extort some money from her.
But she never even got the chance to meet the woman.
Instead, she brought disaster upon herself.
One of the heiress’s admirers found her and said he would give her a sum of money if she disappeared for good.
She thought it was good news.
Instead, those people took her to a remote area and forced her into the water.
Rong Jiqiao suddenly snapped back to reality.
She wiped her face.
Her palm came away covered in sweat.
The agent was still talking beside her, but she hadn’t heard a single word.
“Miss Rong? What do you think?”
Looking at the cramped, gloomy room, Rong Jiqiao felt her throat tighten.
Combined with the memories from her previous life, her aversion to places like this had only deepened into fear.
She gritted her teeth.
“I’ll think about it some more.”
…
That night, a little after nine o’clock, Duan Yan came home.
He pushed open the door and saw Rong Jiqiao lying on the bed, scrolling through her phone.
“Have you eaten?”
She sat up.
“Yeah. What about you?”
“I already ate.”
Duan Yan took off his coat, then paused.
“The agent who helped us rent this place told me he showed you some apartments today. Do you still want to move?”
Rong Jiqiao let out an awkward laugh.
“Yeah… I was just looking around.”
Duan Yan walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.
Tilting his head, he looked at her.
“Then why didn’t you rent one?”
Rong Jiqiao pressed her lips together, unsure how to answer.
She couldn’t exactly say:
Because it was too run-down and I couldn’t stand living there.
Lowering her head, she twisted the bedsheet between her fingers.
“It just… didn’t feel suitable.”
Duan Yan stared at her for a few seconds.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
“What wasn’t suitable about it?”
Rong Jiqiao looked up and met his half-smiling gaze.
Her guilt nearly overwhelmed her.
“It just… wasn’t suitable.”
Leaning back against the headboard, one arm resting on his knee, Duan Yan continued:
“Was it because the furniture was old, and even after cleaning the kitchen, you could probably scrape off two pounds of grease?”
Rong Jiqiao blinked.
“Or because the window faced a wall and no sunlight could get in?”
Her mouth opened slightly.
Duan Yan went on.
“Or because the entire neighborhood was made up of walk-up apartments, and the environment was dirty, crowded, and smelled awful?”
Rong Jiqiao was completely stunned.
“How do you know?”
Duan Yan smiled.
The agent had also sent him several listings of urban village apartments to look at.
Rong Jiqiao was left speechless.
Duan Yan tilted his head to look at her, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“Was it too shabby? You’re not used to living there?”
Rong Jiqiao’s face turned red.
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you rent it?”
She bit her lip, thinking for a long time, but still couldn’t come up with a proper excuse.
“It’s just…” She fidgeted with the edge of the bedsheet, her voice getting softer and softer. “I’m not used to living in places like that.”
Duan Yan raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll go look again tomorrow. See if there’s something a bit better.”
As she spoke, she herself started feeling embarrassed, her ears burning red.
Just moments ago she had sworn she wanted to save money, and now she was rejecting cheap housing.
She stole a glance at Duan Yan and found that he was smiling.
Leaning against the headboard, the dim yellow light from the bedside lamp fell across his face, casting alternating shadows of light and dark.
That usually cold and quiet face now carried a faint smile. The curve of his lips was subtle, but the tension in his eyes had softened.
His features were already sharp and striking—straight brows, deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge. When he didn’t smile, he looked like a block of ice, keeping everyone at a distance.
But now, with his expression softened, the sharpness melted away. There was a hint of teasing in his eyes, as if he had already seen through her little thoughts but chose not to expose them.
Rong Jiqiao’s face turned even redder. She pushed him.
“What are you laughing at?”
Duan Yan didn’t dodge. He let her push him, smiling even more.
“Nothing.”
Annoyed, she tried to pull her hand back, but he held it tightly.
She tugged harder. In response, Duan Yan leaned back and pulled her with him, causing her to fall onto the bed.
Caught off guard, Rong Jiqiao landed straight into his arms.
Her nose bumped into his chest. A faint scent of laundry detergent mixed with a subtle masculine warmth filled her senses.
Her mind went completely blank. She froze, not daring to move.
Duan Yan wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin lightly on the top of her head.
“You said you wanted to save money, but you couldn’t even stand it yourself.”
Muffled against his chest, she muttered, “I didn’t think it would be that bad.”
Duan Yan chuckled. His chest vibrated with laughter, and it made her heartbeat falter even more.
She struggled twice, but he didn’t let go. In the end, she gave up and simply lay still on top of him.
The room fell quiet, leaving only their breathing.
In and out, overlapping and tangled together.
His fingers slipped through her hair, his thumb brushing the back of her neck.
Rong Jiqiao trembled slightly, her heartbeat racing faster.
She tried to sit up, but Duan Yan pressed gently on her shoulder.
“Don’t move,” he said. “I’m getting hard.”