Chapter 9
AFTER A FEW BOUTS OF RAIN, winter entered the game.
Golden ginkgo leaves, damp from the rain, paved the asphalt road.
When a resident of Riverbay Road woke in the morning and opened their floor-to-ceiling windows, the breath they expelled turned into white mist. Jiangdong always saw an unbroken spell of wet weather when the season changed, with only a few rare sunny days brightening the month.
The Liujin River’s water level gradually dropped as it entered the dry season, when the dried-up riverbed became prime real estate for idle schoolchildren to poke and dig around.
Recently, he’d been coming to the new house every day after work to observe the others’ living habits.
Zhang Yuwen retired to his room daily at eight in the evening like a grandpa.
Zheng Weize often ate instant noodles in his room, and he, too, rarely went to the living room after eight.
Yan Jun hadn’t seen Chang Jinxing yet; allegedly, he never returned before two in the morning.
Chen Hong was the only one who was sometimes at home all day, but other times he was nowhere to be found.
“Today Papa is taking you to our new house,” Yan Jun said to Xiao-Qi in hushed tones. She smiled, facing out at the house in front of them. “We’ll be living here from now on, so be good.”
He took a deep breath, unlocked the door with his fingerprint, and entered. Seeming to understand the gravity of the situation, Xiao-Qi behaved herself, simply casting curious looks around.
Yan Jun breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one in the living room, and the housekeepers had already left for the day. Xiao-Qi reached out to grab the decoration on the shoe cabinet, but Yan Jun stopped her and took her into his room.
“Pa-pa!” Xiao-Qi called out.
The room had already been cleaned. Yan Jun set her on the floor and smiled as he went to boil water to prepare formula for her. He’d gotten a kettle and all the baby supplies ready in the room so that he wouldn’t need to keep going in and out.
He would get up at half past seven every morning and take Xiao-Qi to the childcare center, then bring her back after seven in the evening. That way, he wouldn’t disturb his roommates.
Yan Jun carried Xiao-Qi back. “It’s too cold outside, we can’t go out!”
This room was much bigger than the other rented rooms, and he could use the remaining space to roll out a play mat, put out some toys, and set up a spot for reading picture books. He was pleased with the place.
So it was that Yan Jun moved in quietly. On the first day, no one noticed Xiao-Qi. The second day was the same. On the third day, however, when he was bringing her home, he ran into Zhang Yuwen, who was repairing the printer with ink-covered hands.
Anxiety gripped Yan Jun as their eyes met. Zhang Yuwen looked baffled when he spotted Xiao-Qi, but then he broke into a smile.
“Hi!” He hurried away to wash his hands. Upon his return, he asked Xiao-Qi, “What’s your name?”
Xiao-Qi said, “Pa-pa!” Zhang Yuwen burst out laughing.
“Her name is Yan Yuqi,” Yan Jun explained. “She calls every man she sees Papa.”
“Papa!” Xiao-Qi looked up at Yan Jun again from her spot on his chest.
Zhang Yuwen helped Yan Jun take off his backpack. “Have you been sleeping here lately?”
“Mm,” said Yan Jun. His fears, it seemed, were unfounded, and he was beginning to realize that Zhang Yuwen had a magical ability to instantly relax everyone who interacted with him.
He seized this chance to sound Zhang Yuwen out on his daily routine. “You haven’t gone to bed yet? I thought you’d be asleep by now.”
“Not quite this early,” Zhang Yuwen said, “but soon. I grew up with my grandparents, and my grandfather was a doctor, so I inherited the habit of sleeping and waking up early. Aren’t you going to put her down?”
Yan Jun unstrapped the carrier and put Xiao-Qi down at the side of the sofa. Zhang Yuwen clapped his hands at her and asked, “Want a hug?”
Xiao-Qi came over to let him hug her, but less than twenty seconds later she spread her arms out at Yan Jun and called, “Pa-pa!”
Zhang Yuwen handed her back. Surprised, Yan Jun said, “She never lets anyone other than me and the nanny hug her.”
“Whoa!” Zhang Yuwen didn’t catch the plot hole in his words, merely taking it as a polite remark. “Maybe she really likes me.”
“Wow!” Zheng Weize exclaimed in surprise. He’d heard the conversation and come out of his room to investigate. “So cute! Oh my god!”
Zheng Weize came over for a hug, but Xiao-Qi started crying and tried to dodge him. Yan Jun quickly patted her to pacify her. “She’s a little shy around strangers at this age,” he explained.
Zhang Yuwen realized Yan Jun was telling the truth when he said she never let strangers hug her. “But I managed to hug her,” he boasted to Zheng Weize.
Zheng Weize felt like crying. His self-esteem would never recover if she didn’t let him hug her today.
Eventually, a tearful Xiao-Qi permitted a half hug, and Zheng Weize took his chance to lean against Yan Jun.
But Chen Hong returned not long thereafter, triggering another round of cajoling and another bout of crying.
It wasn’t until Xiao-Qi wet herself that Yan Jun brought her to their room. He poked his head back out to ask Zhang Yuwen, “Will we disturb you?”
“Of course not!” Zhang Yuwen said quickly. He was drinking milk and chatting with Chen Hong at the dining table. “This house has great soundproofing. Even if she bawls, it won’t disturb us.”
Yan Jun had already tested the room’s soundproofing, and it was indeed great.
“Is your niece spending the night here?” Chen Hong asked.
“I’ll send her home later,” Yan Jun said. “Her parents are very busy; they work overtime a lot.”
“Man, that’s tough.” Chen Hong understood it all too well, though it was hard to say whether his comment was about Yan Jun or his brother and sister-in-law.
“Just call for us if you need help,” Zhang Yuwen said. “We don’t go to bed that early.”
Relief washed over Yan Jun when he saw his roommates’ enthusiasm. “I’m used to it.”
He closed the door and filled the basin with water to bathe Xiao-Qi. Then he dressed her, placed her in her crib, and turned the TV on for her before he took his own turn in the shower.
The new house was a comfortable environment.
No noisy neighbors, plenty of hot water, and no cold drafts in the bathroom.
Zhang Yuwen had already turned on underfloor heating for the whole house, so he didn’t have to worry about Xiao-Qi catching a cold.
In fact, the house was even warmer than the childcare center.
The room was clean, and the air was fresh and free of dust from the road outside.
Yan Jun was grateful to Zhang Yuwen from the bottom of his heart. Zhang Yuwen had saved him.
That night, he observed again, but the others soon went back to their own rooms, and he no longer needed to put up an act. With Xiao-Qi, he went to bed with peace of mind and slept through the night.
As usual, he didn’t run into anyone when he woke up the next day.
The weekend rolled around, and Chang Jinxing kept his promise. He went to the supermarket with Zheng Weize and bought a lot of groceries so he could whip up a feast to celebrate everyone moving in and getting to know each other.
Yan Jun felt a little put on the spot. “I might have to take care of my niece today.”
“Let’s eat together!” Chang Jinxing still had yet to meet Xiao-Qi. “I can make her some baby food?”
“You can even make baby food?” Yan Jun was amazed.
“It’s just mashed carrots and potatoes. Easy-peasy.”
The kitchen was fully equipped with a variety of cooking utensils.
As Chang Jinxing cooked, Chen Hong assisted him, commenting from time to time that his methods were unhealthy.
Together, they made quite a mess of the kitchen.
Zhang Yuwen didn’t mind, though, and anyway, the housekeepers would be there the next day to put everything back to usual.
Overall, Zhang Yuwen was satisfied with his observational subjects. He was never bothered by any of them, though he didn’t know if they bothered each other. Gradually, he was coming to see them as friends and not model dummies—and even beginning to like them a bit.
“You have the day off, right?” Zhang Yuwen asked Yan Jun. “Let Xiao-Qi sit here and eat with us. I’ll go and borrow a baby chair from the café next door.”
“I’ll go,” Yan Jun said hurriedly. “And in that case, I’ll pick Xiao-Qi up later.”
“Bye-bye,” Zhang Yuwen said.
It was still raining outside. Yan Jun was wearing a black, knee-length trench coat and carrying a black umbrella. He was in a good mood. It had been a long time since he’d experienced such a heartwarming atmosphere. His roommates even felt a little like family…
He forced himself not to harbor any wishful thoughts.
After all, the world was full of liars, and people often gave the illusion of warmth and tender affection before their disguises were ripped away.
But even if it was just for one day, Yan Jun couldn’t help but daydream.
What if he was successful in his career?
What if the house was his? What if he had a lover like Zhang Yuwen?
And what if that lover was willing to raise Xiao-Qi with him… ?
It was no easy task to start a new phase in life with so many what-ifs.
He abandoned his what-ifs. It was clear that Zhang Yuwen had no interest in him beyond friendship, and his observation told him that Zhang Yuwen’s friendliness extended to everyone he met. Yan Jun was no different from the rest.
Winter had come, and a flu was set loose upon the city.
Many people wore masks, coughing incessantly.
Yan Jun worried about infection in the childcare center; many parents had already come to take their children home.
He considered keeping Xiao-Qi home for a day.
He could take another day off tomorrow, but how was he going to explain it?