The staff from the Neighborhood Office took out the apartment’s original floor plan and quickly confirmed that the young couple’s bedroom had been created by illegally partitioning the living room. They immediately stepped forward and knocked on the door.
The couple answered the door rubbing their eyes, both dressed in very revealing sleepwear. It was obvious they had just woken up.
The man looked extremely impatient.
“So what if it’s a partitioned room?! What’s it got to do with you?!”
“How is it none of our business?” One of the Neighborhood Office staff knocked on the thin partition wall. “This kind of material catches fire with the slightest spark. There are hundreds of people living in this building. If a fire breaks out while you’re living here, no one will be able to escape.”
The woman’s face turned pale.
“We… we’re only renting it…”
“That doesn’t make it acceptable.” The staff member took out a notebook and began writing. “This space was originally the living room. By regulation, it isn’t allowed to be used as a bedroom. The landlord is responsible for the illegal renovation, and you’re responsible for living here illegally.”
The man wanted to argue further, but the woman tugged on his arm.
The police officer spoke up.
“We’re only verifying the situation today. Tomorrow, someone will come to handle it properly. This partition has to be demolished.”
“Demolished?!” The man immediately panicked. “We’ve already paid a full year’s rent! If you tear it down, where are we supposed to live?!”
“We’ve already notified the landlord as well. He’ll come to the police station later so we can discuss everything together.” The Neighborhood Office staff closed the notebook. “Come with us now and give your statements.”
The young couple was taken away.
The door closed behind them, and the sound of footsteps gradually faded as they went downstairs.
The living room fell silent.
After living here for nearly three years, this was the first time Yu Wan had learned that the so-called bedroom had actually been a partitioned living room.
…She had honestly thought this old run down apartment simply had terrible lighting…
She looked at Lin Lang again.
Meeting her gaze, Lin Lang smiled.
“See?” he said casually. “No need to worry.”
Yu Wan: “…”
So…
The noise problem that had been bothering her for so long was actually solved just like that?!
Where did this guy come from?
How could he handle things so decisively?
When Yu Wan came home from work later that day, she saw the young couple packing up their belongings while grumbling under their breath.
She heard that only after the landlord repeatedly guaranteed compliance had the Neighborhood Office agreed to give them one week’s grace period before they had to move out.
In any case, the partition wall was definitely going to be torn down.
For the next few nights, the sounds of them making babies disappeared.
Instead…
They started fighting.
The man shouted while the woman cried. It had once been bodies colliding. Now it was full contact combat.
Lying in bed with her face buried in her pillow, Yu Wan could still hear everything next door.
The man’s voice was loud enough to lift the ceiling off, while the woman cried so hard she could barely catch her breath. Mixed in were the sounds of things being thrown and smashed.
“You’ve still got the nerve to cry?! If you hadn’t been screaming so loudly every day, would anyone have reported us?!”
“You’re blaming me?! You come home in the middle of the night making all kinds of noise every day. Did I ever complain?!”
“I was working! Do you think I wanted to deliver food?!”
“And I was working too! Do you think I wanted to stand in a mall all day?!”
Yu Wan pulled the pillow even tighter over her head.
Just end the world already.
She was really exhausted.
Unable to take it any longer, Yu Wan threw on a jacket and went into the living room to grab a drink from the refrigerator.
Using the refrigerator light to illuminate the room, she had just opened the bottle and taken a sip when the master bedroom door suddenly opened.
Lin Lang, dressed in his gray pajamas, walked out holding a small box.
When he saw her, he handed it over.
“This is for you.”
Yu Wan accepted it and looked down.
It was a box of earplugs.
She looked up at him, slightly bewildered.
Lin Lang smiled, keeping his voice low.
“This is only a temporary solution, but it should all be over very soon.”
Yu Wan looked at him, unsure what to say for a moment.
Wasn’t this guy…
A little too considerate?
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Lin Lang nodded before turning back into the master bedroom. The door closed softly behind him, making almost no sound at all.
Holding the box of earplugs, Yu Wan returned to her room. She opened the package and put them into her ears.
Half the world’s noise disappeared instantly.
The arguing next door became nothing more than muffled background noise, as though separated by a thick quilt.
Letting out a long sigh of relief, she was finally able to sleep.
Before going to bed, she casually opened Taobao on her phone and scanned the earplug box.
The product page popped up.
Price: 268 yuan.
Yu Wan shot upright in bed.
How much?!
Over two hundred yuan?!
She stared with wide eyes, pulled the earplugs back out, and examined them repeatedly under the light.
These?
Two tiny pieces of plastic?
Over two hundred yuan??
Still…
Expensive things did have their reasons for being expensive.
These two hundred yuan earplugs worked astonishingly well, allowing Yu Wan to enjoy a full night’s uninterrupted sleep for the first time in a long while.
The next morning, after getting ready for work, Yu Wan was still debating whether she should return the earplugs.
She had no idea that barely five minutes after she left, the woman from the young couple also wheeled her suitcase out the door without looking back.
The man stood in the doorway with a livid expression.
His lips moved slightly, but in the end, he didn’t say a single word.
Bang!
The door slammed shut. The woman was gone.
The living room was quiet for a moment.
Then the door to Lin Lang’s room opened.
Still dressed in his white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, looking ready to head to work, he casually let his gaze rest on the man for only a brief second.
That single glance was enough to make the man explode.
“What are you looking at?!” the man roared, his eyes bloodshot. “Never seen people break up before?!”
Lin Lang said nothing. He withdrew his gaze and continued walking toward the door.
His calmness only added fuel to the fire.
The man charged over in a few strides, grabbed Lin Lang by the collar, and slammed him against the wall.
“Was it you who reported us?!” he shouted furiously. “You moved in on the first day, and the inspection came on the second. There’s no way that’s a coincidence!”
“Let go,” Lin Lang said calmly.
“What do office workers like you know?! Do you have any idea how hard we work just to survive?!” The man’s face was practically pressed against Lin Lang’s, spraying saliva as he yelled.
Lin Lang calmly raised a hand and grasped the man’s wrist.
Then, as though all the strength had suddenly been drained from him, the man’s arm froze in midair, unable to move any farther.
One by one, Lin Lang pried his fingers loose.
His movements were slow and steady, as though he were doing something utterly ordinary.
Pain twisted the man’s face, but he clenched his teeth stubbornly, refusing to cry out.
“You… you bastard…”
Lin Lang released him and calmly straightened his wrinkled collar.
“My achievements certainly involve a measure of luck,” he said in the same gentle tone as always. “But I don’t believe I’ve worked any less hard than you.”
The man froze.
Looking at him, Lin Lang continued.
“Delivering food is your job. Making presentations and attending meetings is mine. You stay up all night completing deliveries. I stay up all night writing reports. I once went four straight days without sleeping just to secure a single project.”
“What makes you think I don’t work hard?”
The man opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Lin Lang patted him lightly on the shoulder.
The force wasn’t strong, yet it still made the man take a step backward.
“I was the one who reported the partitioned room,” he said. “It was a fire hazard, and people were living there illegally. Reporting it was my right. But your breakup with your girlfriend has nothing to do with me, so don’t spread false rumors about me. If you’re unhappy, you’re welcome to come after me for revenge.”
He paused, the corners of his lips curving into a faint smile.
“Oh, and one more thing. I forgot to mention that I’m a black belt in Taekwondo.”