Just then, the front door of the house opened.
A woman who looked to be around forty came out.
Shu Yuwei turned around and smiled at once. “Hello! Is this Meihao Homestay?”
“Yes! Are you here on vacation?”
“No, we just happened to be passing through. Our car broke down, and our phones have no signal, so we thought we’d find a homestay and spend the night.”
“I see! A typhoon is about to hit, so come inside. It’s dangerous out here.”
The woman invited them in, explaining as she showed them around.
“Oh, right. My name is Ye Lan. I’m of an older generation than you, so you can call me Auntie Lan. The young tourists who’ve come to Xingyue Village before have all called me that.”
Shu Yuwei set down her luggage and nodded, then asked casually, “So Xingyue Village is the resort mentioned on the sign at the intersection? Auntie Lan, do you usually get many tourists here?”
“We got a few in the past, but there’s hardly anyone this year.”
“A couple of years ago, a big-shot investor came to our village. He said he wanted to turn our little seaside fishing village into a resort.”
“He put money into renovating the place and ran quite a lot of ads.”
“But later, that big-shot went bankrupt in real estate. The resort project and hotel weren’t even half finished before the whole thing collapsed and was left unfinished.”
“Besides, we’re in a really remote location, and getting here isn’t easy.”
“Tourists travel all this way, but there aren’t any popular photo spots or distinctive cultural tourism attractions. So naturally, not many come.”
As Auntie Lan explained, she went to get the room key card.
When she came back, she led them to the room at the far right.
“I originally ran this house as a homestay, but there haven’t been many tourists since the beginning of this year, so I’ve been living here with my family.”
“Besides the rooms for me, my three children, and their grandparents, and the storage room, there’s just one room left. It’ll be enough for you to ride out the typhoon.”
Auntie Lan used the key card to open the door. Inside was a room of about ten square meters.
There was only one bed.
Shu Yuwei froze for a moment.
Fu Rongzheng glanced at her, then took the key card from Auntie Lan and asked, “Would it be possible to add another bed?”
Auntie Lan shook her head. “We don’t have any spare beds.”
“The room’s small. There wouldn’t be enough space for another bed or even a mattress, so I never bought one.”
“This bed is 1.8 meters wide. It’s big enough for you two. Besides, you’re a married couple—why sleep in separate beds? Sharing a blanket is better for your relationship!”
Auntie Lan teased them with a laugh.
Fu Rongzheng: “……”
Shu Yuwei: “？？？”
Married couple?
She and her boss? A married couple? Sharing a blanket?
Shu Yuwei was stunned. She stammered, “Wait…”
“Auntie Lan, we’re not—”
“Mom!”
Just then, the little girl from earlier came running over, calling out, “Mom! My brother and sister are fighting again!”
“Fighting again? Those two are always making a racket!”
Auntie Lan turned to Shu Yuwei and Fu Rongzheng apologetically. “I’m sorry. My twins are acting up again. I need to go see what’s going on!”
“I changed the bedding on this bed just yesterday. There’s bottled water sealed in plastic in the cabinet, and there’s a kettle, disposable toiletries, cups, and all that.”
“Make yourselves at home! If there’s a problem, call the number on the key card.”
“Oh, and the typhoon forecast for tonight is very severe. Make sure you lock the doors and windows tightly, and don’t go outside under any circumstances. It could cost you your lives!”
Auntie Lan gave them a long list of careful instructions.
“Okay, Auntie Lan. Let me pay you for the room first—”
“No rush, no rush! I need to go discipline the kids!”
After asking their names, Auntie Lan hurried off with a feather duster in hand.
Soon, the children’s cries rang out.
Hearing the kids get a beating, Shu Yuwei felt like laughing. But when she turned around, the tall man was looking at her.
She couldn’t laugh anymore.
A room of ten to twenty square meters wasn’t small to Shu Yuwei; her rental apartment was about the same size.
But when her 188-centimeter-tall, aloof boss stepped inside, the room immediately felt cramped. It seemed that if either of them turned around, they’d bump into each other.
Shu Yuwei could feel Fu Rongzheng’s presence everywhere.
And they had to spend the night together in this tiny space.
Just thinking about it made Shu Yuwei feel awkward.
And on top of that, they’d just been mistaken for a married couple.
She felt even more awkward. She quickly turned her head to avoid Fu Rongzheng’s gaze, not daring to look at him at all.
Shu Yuwei alternated between tugging at her hair and touching her clothes;
then she opened her suitcase and rummaged through it, touching one thing and then another.
She pretended to be busy, though she had no idea what she was doing.
Fu Rongzheng said nothing more.
Shu Yuwei sneaked a glance at him. Her boss was going through the important documents he’d taken out of his luggage.
Silence settled over the room for quite a while.
A bank of dark clouds swept in. Before six in the evening, it was already completely dark outside.
Thunder and lightning crashed as rain pounded against the windows.
“Boss…”
“Shu Yuwei…”
They spoke at the same time.
“Boss, you go first,” Shu Yuwei said.
“You go first.”
They spoke at the same time again.