After seeing Chen Kejiao off, the same friendly young man led Zhu Gui and Du Xing into the manager's office. Just as I was about to return to the pawnshop, I received a call from Baozi saying I could leave work early today and needed to meet her at 3:30 at the entrance of the newly opened IKEA store in the city. I asked, puzzled, "What for?"
Baozi was probably still in the shop and couldn't speak easily, but she lowered her voice and said fiercely, "You don't expect me to marry you and then have to live with that pile of junk, do you?"
Then it dawned on me, and I said, "I don't object to buying furniture, but shouldn't we look at houses first?"
Baozi retorted fiercely, "Looking at a house my ass! You mean we should rent another secondhand apartment to live on?"
"Why rent? Let's just buy one. I've already decided, I want one of those duplex villas..."
Baozi was really angry this time: "If you don't want to go, then don't go. I'll have my cousin come with me." Then she hung up the phone.
I just realized that it wasn't her fault. Our combined salaries were just over 2,000 yuan, barely enough to live on in this small city. Both of our parents were ordinary workers who had saved less than 200,000 yuan in their entire lives. After paying for the wedding and furniture, there was barely enough left for a down payment on a house, let alone buying one.
The pawnshop we live in now, although not owned by us, is over 100 square meters and close to Baozi's workplace, so Baozi has always been quite satisfied with it. Although it's a ground-floor shop, its remote location means it shouldn't cost more than 500,000 yuan to buy entirely. But I have a selfish idea: once the Listening Wind Bottle is repaired, I'll use it to trade for a bigger house. Doing so feels a bit unfair to Lao Hao, but 2 million yuan is just a small sum for him; for me, it's a lifetime of happiness.
With 2 million, you can buy any house you want in our area.
When I checked my watch, it was already 3 o'clock, so I decided to give up the idea of going back to the pawnshop first, and just stay with Zhu Gui and the others for a while before heading straight to IKEA.
I only realized I had three missed text messages after answering a call. My phone was set to vibrate, but the vibration is barely noticeable, like an ant farting. By the way, my immediate priority when I go out later is to find a new phone.
The first one is a ringback tone promotion from a website, priced at 2 yuan per month.
The second item mentions a company that provides services such as seal engraving and certificate processing, low-cost loans, used black market cars, and revenge services. The contact person is Mr. Hei, and the phone number is... I won't mention the phone number, but hopefully you don't need it.
The third one is the most interesting. It says: "Congratulations on successfully registering as a member of the Heavenly Court Club. Your receipt number is 7474748. Please consult your referrer for specific rules." This is probably a new trick from the pimping company. What I find a little strange is that the sender is neither a number nor a specific name, but a blank space.
Du Xing now spends all his free time planning his brewing techniques with paper and pen. Looking at his short stature, large head, the wise wrinkles on his face, and his focused eyes, he resembles a scientific genius, or at least a mathematician who knows why 1 plus 1 equals 2.
I deleted the spam texts, hopped on my motorcycle, and headed straight for IKEA. Just as I arrived at the entrance, I saw Baozi strolling in, hand in hand with Li Shishi. I found it strange; why do young women always like to hold hands when they go out together? I was even more puzzled as to why Baozi insisted on holding Li Shishi's hand—didn't she realize how stark the contrast was?
These two women perfectly embodied the four natural curves of the human body, slightly exaggerated yet logically consistent. Even with them embracing, the gap between them was large enough for a child to squeeze through. The only slight difference was that Li Shishi's curves resembled an angry, struggling earthworm, obvious and alluring. Baozi, on the other hand, was like an elegant arc across the sky, leaving one with a wistful sigh—just looking at her face would elicit a scream.
When Baozi saw me coming, she gave me a playful kick, and Li Shishi covered her mouth and laughed.
IKEA is a world-renowned home furnishing chain, and it always makes a big splash when it opens a store in a new location, and this time is no exception. IKEA occupies three floors of this seven-story building. Upon entering, you see a vast space densely packed with three rows of beds of all kinds, along with dressing tables and lamps, resembling countless small bedrooms.
For some reason, Baozi got excited at the sight of a bed. She yelled and pounced on a sky-blue double bed, burying her face in the soft mattress like a fugitive caught in a gunshot wound, moaning with a mixture of pain and pleasure. Li Shishi, probably never having seen so many beds before, carefully sat down beside Baozi, even bobbing her body to test the springiness. Baozi pulled her down onto the bed, and Li Shishi laughed as she struggled out of his embrace. The two of them playfully wrestled like that. Because it was summer and they were dressed lightly, both of them were partially exposed, attracting the attention of passing men. However, there was one thing about shopping here: everyone was accompanied by their wives. When the men hesitated, a woman's hand would usually grab their ears and pull them away.
I coughed, and the two of them stopped playing around. Baozi patted the person next to him and said to me, "You lie down too."
Don't let my thick skin fool you; it only works at certain times. Right now, I'm a little embarrassed, with so many people around. But I can't bear to go against Baozi's wishes. She's slept with me on that wooden bed in the pawnshop for two years. If I don't grant her wish this time, I'd be a terrible man.
I awkwardly lay down next to her and found that although the bed was comfortable, it seemed a bit small because I couldn't turn over. My straightforward friend immediately exclaimed, "Isn't it too cramped?"
At this moment, the saleswoman arrived, blushing, and said, "This is a standard double bed..."
Baozi said, "Then why..."
I said quietly, "Don't you think we have one more person?" I finally realized the problem: Baozi was on my left and Li Shishi was on my right. That's why the saleswoman blushed. And I hadn't noticed before that she was emphasizing the "double" in "double bed".
Realizing what had happened, Li Shishi screamed "Ah!" and ran away, her face as red as a monkey's bottom... well, like a red apple. Baozi, being rather oblivious, instinctively asked, "Why are you running away?"
Baozi is truly amazing! Could it be that, subconsciously, she doesn't oppose the traditional culture of two women sharing one husband?
That felt really good, huh? Doing nothing, just lying there made me feel incredibly licentious. Although "licentious" is a derogatory term, you can't deny that men who are qualified to be licentious are all very powerful, right? Sigh, the inherent flaws of men.
Even as we were leaving, the saleswoman kept giving us knowing, ambiguous looks, and subtly hinted that the second floor not only had bigger beds, but also bathtubs large enough for multiple people to bathe in…
The second floor focuses more on overall coordination, with professional designers meticulously crafting various living atmospheres for you, from large items like beds and bookshelves to small details like shoe racks and hooks. Baozi is easily interested in those little things, occasionally picking up a delicate shoe rack to ask my opinion, or pointing to a bedside lamp and saying, "How about putting that next to our bed?"
She still uses the pawnshop as a blueprint to design her life, which greatly limits her choices. For example, if she likes a wardrobe, she'll go over, measure it with her foot, and then walk away, saying, "This is too big for our bedroom."
I kept my hands behind my back and rarely spoke, but I wasn't idle either. These combinations all created too little space. Trying to fill a 2 million yuan house piece by piece is clearly not feasible. Maybe I should hire a professional designer? Forget everything else for now. Give me a 10,000 yuan bookcase as tall as Xiang Yu's, and 5,000 yuan worth of pirated books. Basically, anyone who walks in should feel like a cultured person lived here. Ideally, they should buy some foreign language books, but no translators allowed. From now on, when they come back from outside, they'll touch the books without washing their hands. Once those books are covered in black handprints, who will dare underestimate me?
My mind was filled with these random thoughts when Baozi and Li Shishi suddenly stopped ahead. A children's playground, about 10 square meters in size, caught their attention. Li Shishi, holding onto the waist-high railing, looked with great interest at the small slide, rocking horse, and dry swimming pool made of plastic balls...
Baozi said, "Look how fun it is! If we had the money, we'd get one, even just as a decoration!"
I said, "If you like it, just buy it. Should we put it upstairs or downstairs?"
Baozi: "Did a donkey kick your head? How can we do business if it's on the first floor? Where's the space on the second floor? You'll be sleeping on the slide!"
We're not even talking about the same place!
Baozi strolled along, picked out a teapot to carry, and also selected a large pile of deodorizing dried flowers. It seems that her old habit has resurfaced: no matter where she goes, she always has to buy some trinkets to carry with her, otherwise she feels empty inside.
I caught up with her: "Didn't you say you were looking at furniture?"
Baozi said, "No rush. I suddenly remembered that our kettle seems to be leaking. What are we going to use to make water for our relatives and friends on our wedding day? And there will be so many people that day. Would it be better to scatter some dried flowers in the toilet?"
How does her brain work? This woman's mind is as vast and unfathomable as the universe!
Chapter Fifty-Nine: The White Lotus Cult Leader
At the entrance to the kitchenware section, I picked up a small advertisement. It turned out to be for a real estate company: Qingshui Jiayuan. This is a very powerful real estate developer. Before the earthquake, they had advertised everywhere, leaving no stone unturned. It seems that the earthquake dealt them a heavy blow, forcing them to relocate to another company to make a comeback.
Looking at the address above, their sales office is actually located right across from IKEA.
I tugged at Baozi, who was about to go buy a kitchen knife: "Let's go look at the houses across the street."
Baozi said impatiently, "Why do you keep asking about houses? Are there any second-hand houses in Qingshui Jiayuan?"
I retorted, equally annoyed, "Why do you always pick on secondhand homes? Can't we just buy our own?" Seeing Baozi's suspicious look, my anger subsided considerably, and I mumbled, "Maybe we can find something suitable while things are cheap due to the earthquake?"
Baozi couldn't resist my persuasion, and owning her own house is an irresistible temptation for any woman, so she finally agreed. Li Shishi took the brochure and pointed to a 300-square-meter garden duplex villa, saying, "This one looks pretty good." How thoughtful. Baozi snatched it away, flipped it over to look at the affordable housing on the other side, and said to Li Shishi, "You can talk about that after you find a rich man. Your brother and I can't even afford a toilet."
I meant that if we were going to look at the things in the shop, we shouldn't buy them yet. Of course, Baozi wouldn't agree to that. Not only that, she insisted on buying a Wang Mazi kitchen knife to carry with her. We paid for it, and she put the dried flowers and the knife into a pot and carried it. We then turned into the sales center across the street.