First, they sent Gu Zhengchu back home, and then the couple returned together to their small apartment near the publishing house.
For both Shen Cong and Gu Kai, this was their first time being intimate after being apart for so long, filled with an indescribable warmth and affection.
So much so that the next morning, the two of them almost overslept.
After washing up, Gu Kai, following their prior arrangement, went to the office to handle his resignation, while Shen Cong began packing up their things at home.
Since it was a shared dormitory, the apartment wasn’t very large, and there wasn’t much furniture.
To maximize the use of space later, Gu Kai had specifically asked the night before about Shen Cong’s spatial abilities.
Once he learned that time inside her space was frozen, anything placed inside would remain exactly as it was when taken out, including its original position, even if suspended in midair, with no risk of falling, he immediately took out paper and pencil and drew a detailed floor plan for arranging their belongings.
The plan was meticulous, scaling down all the furniture, appliances, and other items proportionally and placing them in the most efficient positions so that no space was wasted.
Shen Cong suddenly realized that her twenty-square-meter space could hold everything from their entire home.
Following the plan, she emptied the apartment in just over half an hour.
As soon as she finished, the technician they had booked for moving the air conditioners arrived.
The moment the technician dismantled the two units from the bedroom and living room, Gu Kai returned.
Looking at the empty apartment, a trace of nostalgia flickered in his eyes. After all, they had lived there for three years, leaving behind countless memories.
“All done?” Shen Cong asked.
“I just talked to my supervisor and submitted the resignation report. The formalities still need to go through, but I don’t have to work anymore,” Gu Kai explained.
Shen Cong nodded.
As long as he didn’t have to go to work, the formalities themselves weren’t important.
Following their plan, the technician loaded the air conditioners onto their car and took them to the villa.
Shen Jianyi was already waiting there.
Shen Cong and Gu Kai then went together to return the dormitory keys to the administration office, getting back their 30,000-yuan deposit.
After that, the two of them went to the bank to meet Chen Xu, a former student of Cheng Ru.
Chen Xu was a little older than them, probably in his early thirties.
When he saw Shen Cong, he smiled first.
“Congcong, you probably don’t remember me, but I still remember how you looked when you came to the school to see Teacher Cheng. You had a ponytail back then, and you walked with a little sway.
And now, so many years have passed, and you’ve grown up so much.”
Hearing this, Shen Cong smiled too and obediently said, “Brother Chen Xu.”
Her mother had taught so many students that she couldn’t possibly remember all of them, but many of those older students clearly still remembered her.
Apparently, yesterday Cheng Ru had already explained everything over the phone, using the reason that Shen Cong and Gu Kai were planning to study abroad together.
With Chen Xu’s help, plus using two properties as collateral along with the Shen family villa as a guarantee, the loan process went very smoothly, encountering basically no obstacles.
They just needed to go through a property appraisal, and the funds could be released.
“I know the people at the appraisal company. I’ll give them a heads-up, and this afternoon they’ll come to assess your properties. Hopefully, the funds will be released within the next day or two.
Go back and tell Teacher Cheng to rest assured. I’ll keep an eye on this here, I won’t delay your use of the money,” Chen Xu reassured them after all the paperwork was completed, then accompanied them out of the bank.
“Thank you, Brother Chen Xu. I really troubled you today. Oh, right, my mom asked me to bring something for you and your wife,” Shen Cong said, taking a plump paper bag from her backpack and handing it over.
Seeing Chen Xu hesitate to take it, she quickly explained, “It’s nothing valuable. It’s some Chinese medicine that my father-in-law prepared himself. The weather hasn’t been good lately, and it’s easy for adults and kids to get sick. This is for cooling and boosting immunity.
My mom specifically asked us to bring it over, and she reminded me to make sure you give it to your family to drink every day, especially the elderly and children. Don’t take it lightly.”
Everyone who knew the Shen family was aware that her father-in-law was a famous doctor at the Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital.
Hearing that these medicines were personally prepared by Director Gu, Chen Xu naturally could not refuse.
He took the bag and thanked her repeatedly.
Shen Cong kept walking for quite a distance before remembering to remind him once more not to forget to boil it for the family.
After leaving the bank, the two of them planned to head to Fulin first.
Yesterday afternoon, Gu Jiashu had already contacted the technician, and they had arranged to take measurements today.
In the afternoon, they would also need to wait there for the appraisal company to arrive.
Sitting in the car, Shen Cong had been quiet for a long time.
Gu Kai started the car, then glanced at his wife. “Feeling uneasy?”
“Mm,” Shen Cong replied quietly. “I just don’t know how Brother Chen Xu and his family are doing.”
When she had returned to Beining, it had been almost two years later, and in that time, she hadn’t really known what misfortunes had befallen relatives or old friends.
On top of that, having witnessed so much life and death, she had grown numb, unless it was someone very close, she didn’t pay much attention.
But now, seeing these living, breathing people, and then thinking about the impending disaster… how could her heart not ache?
“I’ll buy them something as a thank-you gift,” Shen Cong sighed, opening her phone.
No matter how heavy her heart felt, there was nothing she could do, against natural disasters and human calamities, an individual’s power was far too small.
She couldn’t warn everyone about what hadn’t yet happened; even if she wanted to, no one would believe her.
Logging into the shopping website, Shen Cong used the excuse of buying snacks for the kids to purchase a bunch of high-calorie, compact, hunger-satisfying foods: chocolate bars, nut-filled chocolates, cream cookies, milk candies, and effervescent vitamin tablets.
In addition, she bought three foldable helmets and a fully stocked personal defense and first-aid kit, and she had all the items shipped to Chen Xu.
“Hopefully this helps a little,” she murmured as she placed the order.
Not long after they arrived at Fulin, the technician showed up, and Gu Jiashu came along as well.
“Jiashu, how do you have time? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Shen Cong asked, a little surprised.
Gu Jiashu had been working in sales at a company since graduating from university and had now become the sales department manager. He was usually extremely busy.
“I’m on vacation, sis-in-law,” Gu Jiashu explained with a smile. “Tingting has been talking about wanting to go out and play for a long time. I thought I’d take advantage of the slow season to use my annual leave and take her out for a bit.”
Tingting was Gu Jiashu’s girlfriend, and Shen Cong vaguely remembered that the two of them were already at the stage of discussing marriage.
Shen Cong’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively asked, “Where are you planning to go?”
“To Xishan. We signed up for a self-driving tour group, leaving next week, traveling and sightseeing along the way. It’ll probably take about a month.”
At this, Gu Jiashu looked apologetic. “I didn’t know you were going to be renovating the house. If I had known, we could have rescheduled our trip…”
“It’s still not too late to change,” Shen Cong cut him off before he could finish.
She finally realized why, in her previous life, after returning from Nan’an, she had never seen Gu Jiashu again, and not even his mother.
Back then, her father-in-law’s health was already poor, and his mental state wasn’t good, so she hadn’t asked much.
Now she understood, he had gone traveling with his girlfriend and had encountered the ground fissure!
Xishan had been among the first areas hit by the earthquake.
Unlike Nan’an, where the earthquake caused a tsunami, there it was a sudden ground fissure.
Flat land instantly split open with massive cracks, reportedly up to nearly a hundred meters wide in some places!
In the face of such a merciless force of nature, humans were completely powerless.
People who couldn’t run fast enough, speeding cars, collapsing buildings, villages, communities…
Even entire mountains and streams fell into the fissures in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
Going to Xishan for a trip at that time was no different from walking to one’s death.
Gu Jiashu’s father had passed away several years ago, and now his mother lived with him.
If he weren’t there, what chance would the elderly woman have of surviving a natural disaster on her own?
Now that she knew, Shen Cong was determined to stop him no matter what, even if it meant her being unreasonable as his sister-in-law.
“Jiashu, go back and discuss with Tingting. Don’t go to Xishan for now. Just tell her we’re swamped here, and since you’re on vacation, your sister-in-law needs you to help keep an eye on things.
Your brother already told you, right? My mom’s side is also renovating. With two houses and so much work, your brother alone definitely can’t handle it all.
Think of it as helping us out. Once the renovations are done, your brother and I will take you two on a European trip!”
Gu Jiashu’s offer to reschedule had originally just been polite, since the trip had been planned for a long time.
He never in a million years expected that his sister-in-law would actually seize on his casual remark and suggest that they not go on the trip!
This was completely out of character for her.
For a moment, Gu Jiashu was so stunned that he didn’t know how to respond.
But after Shen Cong finished speaking, he realized that what his sister-in-law said was actually true.
Last night, not only did his cousin call, even his uncle had called, asking him to find time to help with moving, and apparently they were moving to stay at his sister-in-law’s parents’ house.
Although Gu Jiashu didn’t understand how his sister-in-law could be so persuasive as to convince his uncle, overall, it was a good thing.
At least they wouldn’t have to worry about his uncle living alone in that old house and running into trouble.
Still, whether it was moving or renovating the house, it was a huge project, and someone had to organize it.
If his cousin had to run around by himself… just thinking about it made Gu Jiashu feel uneasy.
Besides, his brother and sister-in-law were the literary type, good at calligraphy and painting.
Talking about prices? Haha, they’d definitely get ripped off!
The more Gu Jiashu thought about it, the more he felt a sense of duty.
As for his girlfriend… well, he’d have to soothe her properly.
“Alright, I’ll go back and talk to Tingting. If she still refuses, I’ll bring her along to help.”
Saying this, Gu Jiashu looked at Shen Cong with a sheepish smile. “Sister-in-law, we’re family, no need for formalities. That European trip? If it doesn’t happen, I’ll still do this work. I wouldn’t dare refuse; even my uncle would give me a piece of his mind.”
Shen Cong didn’t expect Gu Jiashu to change his mind so quickly and genuinely be willing to give up his travel plans for the sake of the renovation.
It touched her deeply.
Along with the emotion, she even felt a little apologetic.
“Make sure to talk to Tingting nicely, soothe her so she doesn’t feel bad. Jiashu, a promise from your sister-in-law is a promise, I’ll keep this gift for you; it will be fulfilled sooner or later.”
The craftsman who came today was there to install stainless steel doors and windows. Gu Kai measured everything after taking a tour and only then realized what had happened.
When he heard that Shen Cong had stopped Gu Jiashu from going on the Xishan trip, he glanced at his wife.
Then he said to his cousin, “We’re done measuring here. Take the craftsman and go to Yingshui, measure that house too, so we can handle everything together.”
“Right, I also arranged for the solar panel technician to come today to take measurements. Once that’s done, you can take him to your place to measure there too. Your house is also a top-floor unit, so it’s perfect for solar panels. We’ll install them all at the same time.”
“Ah?” Gu Jiashu froze.
“No, no, no, brother, you guys go ahead and install them, we won’t,” he quickly waved his hands after realizing what she meant.
Are you kidding me? He had just finished renovating his house less than a year ago, and with a wedding coming up, he still had mortgage payments to handle.
Where would he even have the money to install solar panels now?!
Installing a set like that would easily cost ten thousand or more!
“Just install them if they told you to, stop arguing. This is what your uncle wants, and he said he’ll cover the cost.”