"What... is this?" After getting off work, Qiao Anchen changed his shoes, hung up his clothes, and sat down at the dining table, staring at a plate of something black and green in front of him.
"Bitter melon in tomato sauce~" Chu Yi smiled sweetly, resting her chin on her hands, and handed him a pair of chopsticks.
"Try it, it's my first time making it, I learned it from a blogger online!"
Qiao Anchen swallowed hard, and he clearly heard a gurgling sound in his ears. He moved his lips, but still silently took the chopsticks and reached for the pile of unknown solids with a look of grim determination.
He held his breath and put it in his mouth. It had an indescribable taste, a little salty and a little bitter. It wasn't bad, but it was strange.
Qiao Anchen swallowed without changing his expression, then picked up the cup next to him and took a sip of water.
"How was it? How was it?" Chu Yi asked impatiently, and Qiao Anchen nodded.
"good."
"Right! I think so too!" Chu Yi said with a delighted expression, happily serving him rice and soup.
"Then eat more."
Qiao Anchen: "...Hmm."
It's been hot lately, and there's been no rain since the start of autumn. The air feels like a steamer, trapping people inside until their clothes are soaked with sweat in no time.
I didn't want to go out at all on the first day of the Lunar New Year. I bought all my groceries from supermarkets and fresh food delivery services on my phone. Today I even made some bitter melon to cool down my body.
She watched as Qiao Anchen ate several pieces before he was satisfied.
After taking a shower and going to bed, it was still early. Seeing that Qiao Anchen was unusually free, Chu Yi couldn't help but have some thoughts. She tossed and turned her phone and found a romantic youth idol movie that she had always wanted to watch.
This is the highest-rated youth film in the past two years. It tells the story of a boy and a girl who fall in love when they are young and eventually break up due to a misunderstanding.
Although the plot is formulaic, it's not melodramatic. The key point is that the lead actors all delivered excellent performances, and the director's filming was also very beautiful and romantic. As a result, it garnered a lot of praise, with many saying that it brought back their student days and rekindled their girlish hearts.
Chu Yi nudged the person next to her, her tone slightly coquettish.
"Shall we watch a movie together? I've wanted to watch this movie for a long time, but no one has ever watched it with me."
Qiao Anchen put down the book in his hand, thought for a moment, and felt that this scene was somewhat familiar. He couldn't help but think of his performance in the first year of junior high school.
Within seconds, Qiao Anchen took off his glasses.
“Okay,” he said.
It was quite rare that Qiao Anchen was willing to accompany her. Chu Yi was surprised and touched. She immediately threw off the covers and went downstairs to turn on the projector.
"Great, we can finally watch a movie together."
To be honest, the two of them had never dated like a couple and done the things that couples usually do. After meeting for the first time through a blind date, they would basically go out for a meal or a walk together after Qiao Anchen got off work or during his rest time.
Because it seemed that Qiao Anchen was at his busiest during that period, Chu Yi would usually meet him for dinner, and sometimes he would have to go back to work after dinner.
On the rare weekends, she either went to meet each other's parents or missed the opportunity due to other matters. The one that Chu Yi remembers most vividly was when the water pipe in her house suddenly burst in the morning. She was completely immersed in her sleep until other residents came to knock on the door.
...
"Open the door! I know you're home!"
"I live downstairs, and our house is almost flooded by the water! What's going on inside?!"
Um?
The downstairs resident?
The place is flooded?!
Chu Yi was jolted awake, all sleepiness vanished. He sat up with a start, like a carp leaping off the bed, and scrambled to his feet, slipping on his slippers to open the bedroom door.
The living room was a complete mess. The carpet, empty snack bags, and slippers were all floating in the water, swaying and spinning, as if it had become a second Venice.
Chu Yi stared wide-eyed in horror, swallowed hard, and looked toward the bathroom following the sound of rushing water. Water was still flowing out continuously, and the water pipe on the wall had burst, gushing out a fountain like a small waterfall.
Her vision blurred, and she almost lost her balance and fainted.
After apologizing to her furious neighbor and promising to take full responsibility, Chu Yi bit her finger and paced anxiously around the bathroom, her mind filled with countless questions.
What to do, what to do, what to do?
She didn't hesitate for long; her first thought was to grab her phone and call home.
Coincidentally, the chat window that popped up immediately after I turned on my phone was from Qiao Anchen, and it was still two hours ago; he had only sent one picture.
【breakfast】
Because the two chatted about food last night, Chu Yi expressed some curiosity about their procuratorate's canteen, and Qiao Anchen replied that he would take pictures of it for her when he ate tomorrow.
Actually, Chu Yi just wanted to find an excuse to get him to contact her first.
But right now she wasn't thinking about any of that; she couldn't control herself once she saw the message.
【Qiao Anchen!!! Waaaaah, my water pipe burst! My neighbor came up and yelled at me! Now the water is overflowing! I'm going crazy!!!】 This was followed by a series of crying emojis, almost identical to Chu Yi's current expression.
Qiao Anchen was looking at a case file when his phone, which was on the table, suddenly vibrated. He picked it up and his brows furrowed instantly.
【Don't panic, first find the water valve and turn off the water】When Chu Yi saw this message, he calmed down immediately, ran to the bathroom, and was stunned again.
【I don’t know where the tap valve is, sob sob sob】 This time, Qiao Anchen didn’t say much, but directly sent her a video call, which Chu Yi answered in a fluster.
The girl's face appeared on the other side, her big eyes red and watery, as if she was about to cry, and there was the sound of rushing water.
Qiao Anchen didn't have time to look at it much before telling her to switch the camera from the front to the rear.
Chu Yi nodded repeatedly. The scene then changed to what her bathroom looked like at that moment. Qiao Anchen asked her to take pictures of the surrounding area for him to see.
"Wait a moment!"
Chu Yi's phone flashed past a corner, and Qiao Anchen's pupils dilated, causing her to stop and examine it carefully for a few seconds.
"Take a closer look at the area under the sink and show it to me."
The location was rather secluded, and there were pipes blocking the view. Chu Yi quickly walked over and saw a red circle behind it, which looked like a water valve switch.
"Ah! Is this it!" She was so moved she almost cried. Qiao Anchen nodded, "It should be. Try it."
Chu Yi leaned closer, reached out and twisted the circle to the side. Instantly, the cascading waterfall stopped, leaving only a few drops of water, now without support, struggling to slide down from the crack.
The crisis has been temporarily averted.
The nerve in her brain relaxed, and she squatted on the ground, her whole body relieving itself.
"Thank you, Qiao Anchen." She switched cameras, rested her chin on her knees, and spoke to him in a soft voice.
Her eyelashes were wet and covered her eyes, and her eye sockets seemed red, making her look very pitiful.
For the first time in his life, Qiao Anchen experienced a tender yet bittersweet emotion, and his tone softened.
"Is everything alright at home? Could you contact the property management to handle this?"
"Um…"
"Is the neighbor still there?"
"I apologized and left. I'll go down later to check on the damage and discuss compensation with them."
Qiao Anchen paused, "Are you alright by yourself?"
This was the first time Chu Yi had experienced something like this. She recalled the couple's persistent faces and felt a little scared. Her eyes flickered.
"It should be fine... I'll just talk to them nicely."
Qiao Anchen raised his hand and glanced at the time.
"I'll be off work soon. You take care of your own things first, and send me the exact address. I'll come over and go with you later."
"Ah." Chu Yi was stunned, then unconsciously bit her lip.
"Is this convenient for you? Wouldn't this be too much trouble? Maybe we should just forget about it..."
“It’s okay, it’s the weekend, so it’s unpaid overtime anyway.” Qiao Anchen said without waiting for a reply, seemingly getting up and picking up his suit jacket hanging on the back of the chair.
"I'll hang up now, I'm going to get the car."
Chu Yi actually considers herself quite independent. She has been living alone since graduation and has never encountered anything major before. This is the first time she has panicked.
The main problem was that the other party cursed at her first, and the house was almost flooded with water bursting from the pipes, which made her panic.
At this moment, it seemed that Qiao Anchen had resolved the matter in just a few words, and for the first time, she felt that having a boyfriend wasn't so bad.
Ah… she immediately covered her face with her hands, feeling somewhat ashamed.
He's not my boyfriend yet.
Qiao Anchen was quite quick. The property management had hired a cleaner to help her tidy up the house, and Chu Yi was also cleaning up herself. A lot of the furniture was damaged by the water. He arrived when she had cleaned about half of it.
Chu Yi gave him the door number directly. When Qiao Anchen came up, the elevator door was wide open and water was still flowing out. He walked to the door and saw Chu Yi, who was busy and sweating profusely.
"Ah, you've come." She rolled up her sleeves at the elbows, her trouser legs were rolled up, and a few strands of hair fell loosely against her cheeks, giving her a casual, homey look.
Qiao Anchen smiled and said, "Yes, it's not far."
Chu Yi and the cleaning lady were moving the sofa. The two women looked a little strained. Qiao Anchen took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and went over to them.
"I'll do it."
With more people, there's more strength. Qiao Anchen is very capable, and compared to Chu Yi, the three of them quickly cleaned up the living room and made a shopping list to be added later.
The tangled mess of threads seemed to have found its beginning, and then it slowly became clear. Chu Yi seemed to have found his anchor, and unconsciously kept asking the people next to him.
"The legs of this cabinet are damaged from being soaked in water. Should we buy a new one?"
Upon hearing this, Qiao Anchen squatted down and pressed it twice, examining it closely. He said, "This shouldn't be a big problem. Let it dry in the sun these next few days since the weather is nice."
"Okay, so where's this stool?"
"The leather is peeling off, let's replace it. The stool is a small item."
"Okay." Chu Yi lowered his head and wrote it down in his notebook.
As I was checking everything, the door was suddenly banged on. Looking in the direction of the noise, I saw the couple downstairs standing in the doorway, looking hostile.
"Girl, you've been working on this all morning and it's still not done? Our ceiling is all soaked, and there's plaster all over the floor. We're waiting for you to come and clean it up!"
9. Chapter 9
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'll go down now." Chu Yi quickly replied, exchanged a glance with Qiao Anchen, felt less timid, and mustered up her courage to go over.