"I can help with other things, but there's absolutely no room for negotiation on this!"
"The landlord has the final say!" Ye Xun retorted. "Our relationship is one of negotiation, not subordination!"
Ye Xun walked into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her, leaving Yang Ke all alone in the living room, which made him both angry and annoyed.
"I'll find a way to get you out of here!" Yang Ke said, waving his fist.
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Chapter 014 The First Battle of Summer Vacation
Updated: 2008-05-08 10:09:24 Words: 0
In the misty morning, while Ye Xun was still drifting off to sleep, the sound of a tape recorder playing outside her door began. Annoyed, she pulled the covers over her head and buried her face in the pillow, but the English audio continued to linger, disturbing her peace. In the living room, Yang Ke was already laughing hysterically. This was just the beginning of his plan; his goal was to keep Ye Xun constantly on edge and eventually kick her out of the room.
Ye Xun stormed out of the bedroom, turned off the recorder, and angrily asked, "What are you trying to do? You're not even letting anyone sleep this early in the morning!"
"Go to sleep! I didn't come to your bed to pull you up!" Yang Ke said rudely. "I need to listen to English. You know there are only a few months left until the postgraduate entrance exam, and I have to hurry up!"
"You can listen with headphones on!" Ye Xun said, barely suppressing her anger.
"That's bad for your ears!" Yang Ke said. "Besides, wearing headphones all the time isn't comfortable for your ears!"
"Aren't you afraid of hurting others with your loud voice?" Ye Xun almost yelled. "I know you're trying to get rid of me!"
"Yes!" Yang Ke said without hesitation, "If you're not used to it, you can move out!"
"Yang Ke, let me tell you clearly, I'm not leaving!" Ye Xun said fiercely. "I have plenty of time to see who can outmaneuver whom!"
Yang Ke thought his actions would be effective, but he didn't expect to be exposed in front of Ye Xun. He had completely lost his way. Ye Xun returned to her bedroom and soon came out with her MP3 player, dancing wildly in the living room. Yang Ke was completely distracted by Ye Xun and couldn't calm down for a moment.
"Can you stop?" Yang Ke couldn't take it anymore. "You're messing up my thoughts. How am I supposed to read?"
Ye Xun showed no sign of stopping. Yang Ke couldn't take it anymore. He angrily packed up his textbooks, slammed the bedroom door shut, and lay down on the bed. Ye Xun's laughter drifted in from the living room. Yang Ke was completely deflated; his plan for the day had utterly failed.
There was still some time before lunch, but Yang Ke smelled a pungent aroma in the bedroom. After a whole morning of fussing around, Yang Ke's stomach was already growling loudly. When Yang Ke opened the bedroom door, he saw that Ye Xun had already set out the bowls and chopsticks, and it was almost lunchtime.
"It smells so good!" Yang Ke went to the dining table and reached for chopsticks, but Ye Xun stopped him.
"There's no food for you here!" Ye Xun said. "Go make yourself if you want to eat!"
"Didn't you finish making it?" Yang Ke said with a smile, trying to please him, "I'll treat you next time too!"
"No way!" Ye Xun refused to back down. "I keep my word! No means no!"
Yang Ke angrily slammed his chopsticks on the table, watching helplessly as Ye Xun devoured the fragrant food, his mouth practically watering. Ye Xun, feigning enjoyment, ate with relish, glancing at Yang Ke every now and then, smug to the extreme. Unable to tolerate this "revenge," Yang Ke retreated to his bedroom.
"Victory!" Ye Xun rejoiced inwardly.
Not long after, there was a knock at the door. Yang Ke was the first to run to open it. It was the restaurant's deliveryman, who placed the food on the table, collected the money, and left. Ye Xun glanced at the table—two dishes, a soup, and a bottle of ice-cold beer. These dishes had pushed her own food to a corner of the table, like defeated soldiers fleeing a battle. Ye Xun's earlier smugness vanished instantly.
"This feels so good!" Yang Ke said smugly, sipping his beer.
Ye Xun picked up her food and went into the bedroom. She sat on the bed and sulked alone, her good appetite from before gone.
"Ye Xun, do you want to come out and eat with us?" Yang Ke's voice came from the living room. Ye Xun could tell that Yang Ke was clearly provoking her.
"You can enjoy it by yourself!" Ye Xun said, slamming the door shut.
After a satisfying meal, Yang Ke lay contentedly on the bed, burping as he reminisced about his brilliant counterattack. Just then, Ye Xun burst through the door.
"Go and wash the dishes!" Ye Xun ordered.
"I need to take a nap. I can wash up after I wake up!" Yang Ke said, trying to make an excuse.
"No! That will attract flies!"
"What does it matter? Just use insecticide!" Yang Ke deliberately went against Ye Xun.
Are you going or not?
"I'm not going!" Yang Ke left no room for negotiation.
"If you don't go, I'll throw your book downstairs!" Ye Xun picked up Yang Ke's book and walked out.
"Wait!" Yang Ke finally panicked. "I'll go!"
Ye Xun stepped aside, making way for the bedroom door, and glared at Yang Ke. Yang Ke had no choice but to walk out of the bedroom. Ye Xun stood at the bedroom door until she heard the sound of the toilet flushing before putting the books back.
The night came exceptionally late, but Yang Ke and Ye Xun were already exhausted. Their battle of wits and courage during the day was truly evenly matched, with neither of them gaining the upper hand. Moreover, both of them were covered in injuries, but they both knew that they had brought this trouble upon themselves. Exhaustion made them both want to pause their sword fight.
“Nan Ke, I know you’re here!” Ye Xun sent a message online.
"Yes! So what?" Yang Ke's words were laced with sarcasm.
"Shall we make peace? To show my sincerity, I apologize—I shouldn't have put wasabi in your coffee this afternoon!"
"In that case, I apologize to you—I shouldn't have put salt in your water this afternoon!"
"Nan Ke, you're quite something! Actually, I made another mistake. I glued the book you're reading together, including the most important pages!"
Yang Ke was shocked. He took the book and saw that the pages were glued together tightly. He was so upset that he wanted to cry.
"Chigusa, don't be too sad. I've tied all your shoelaces into a knot, so you'll probably have to go barefoot tomorrow!"
Ye Xun crawled under the bed and saw that none of her most beloved shoes had escaped the "interception," each shoe sprouting a "braid." If she were to untangle them one by one, she would probably have to work eight hours a day this summer. Ye Xun grabbed the shoes and rushed out of the bedroom, where Yang Ke was waiting for her in the living room; the "enemies" were especially hostile upon meeting.
"Yang Ke, you've gone too far!" Ye Xun said.
"You're the one who went too far!" Yang Ke retorted without backing down. "How dare you damage my book like this!"
"That's good too. You can read fewer pages and save time to read other things!"
"Then you might as well go barefoot too. It's more fashionable than wearing women's sandals!"
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Chapter 015 Twenty-One Agreement
Updated: 2008-05-09 12:00:50 Words: 0
Yang Ke and Ye Xun returned to their respective dormitories, and their attempt to reconcile ended in failure. However, as time went on, both of them could no longer endure the torment of silence and longed to escape the cold war.
"Perhaps, chaos is much more comfortable than the Cold War!" That's what they both thought.
"Chigusa, you're still here! I've taken your advice, let's make up!"
"Sure! But I have three things I won't discuss!"
What three things will not be discussed?
"First, we will not talk to those who use peace talks as a cover to subvert or attack the other party; second, we will not talk to those whose peace talks are unfair and who attempt to infringe on the other party's interests; third, we will not talk to those who fail to fulfill their responsibilities in accordance with the peace agreement after the peace talks."
"That's acceptable! But both sides should be completely honest with each other before negotiations begin!"
"Okay!" Ye Xun asked, "Who wants to go first?"
"The usual rule—ladies first!"
"Yang Ke, I tampered with your English tape today. I messed up all the labels! If you want to listen to it, there's only one way to find the order!"
"Ah!" Yang Ke jumped up from his chair, opened the bedroom door, and asked loudly, "What method is it?"
“It’s very simple!” Ye Xun stood at the bedroom door and said with a smile, “The most basic method—listen to all the tapes and then figure out the order yourself!”
"Ye Xun, don't get too cocky!" Yang Ke said. "I changed your computer password when you weren't looking today. If you shut the computer down, I think you won't be able to start it up again!"
"What?" Ye Xun said in disbelief, "How did you know my password?"
"It's very simple!" Yang Ke said smugly. "Just make a phone call to Tong Tong and you'll find out!"
"It's Tong Tong again!" Ye Xun felt dizzy whenever she heard this name these past two days.
"If you can accurately put all the labels back on the English tapes, I'll tell you the password!" Yang Ke threatened. "Otherwise, although my password is only six digits, if you try them one by one, you could have to try more than 30,000 times in the worst case!"
Suppressing her anger, Ye Xun brought out Yang Ke's English tapes and related books, piling them up into a small mountain in the living room.
"You win!" Ye Xun said to Yang Ke, who was standing at the door, as she carried out the last batch of books.
"Let's end our prelude to peace talks here. See you tomorrow!"
Yang Ke yawned and went into the bedroom, leaving Ye Xun looking at the huge pile of tapes and books with a worried expression.
The next morning, Yang Ke was horrified by what he saw when he stepped out of the living room. Books were scattered all over the floor, and Ye Xun, wearing headphones, was moving among them, sometimes flipping through the pages, sometimes returning to the table, which was covered with various tools: scissors, knives, pens, scraps of paper, glue…
"You haven't been busy all night, have you?" Yang Ke asked, looking at Ye Xun's bloodshot eyes.
"This has nothing to do with you, don't cause trouble!" Ye Xun pushed Yang Ke back into the bedroom, and as she closed the door, she added, "You're not allowed to come out without my permission, or you'll face the consequences!"
This day was incredibly lonely for Yang Ke. Ye Xun barely spoke a single serious word to him. She was busy labeling each cassette tape in the living room, and her earnestness made Yang Ke feel a pang of guilt and reluctance. He even felt he had been too cruel.
"How did I end up with so many tapes?" Yang Ke thought to himself when his request for help was refused.
Ye Xun fell asleep during her lunch break. Yang Ke planned to secretly help her, but Ye Xun woke up when he took off the headphones around her neck, and he was sent back.
Night fell again. Yang Ke quietly entered the living room. Ye Xun was already asleep on the sofa. Books and tapes were neatly arranged on the floor and table.
This was the first time Yang Ke had truly appreciated Ye Xun's beautiful face under the night sky, and he was deeply moved. Even when crying, Ye Xun's face in the sunlight possessed an indescribable strength and stubbornness, perhaps the last line of defense of her soul—an extremely solid barrier that wouldn't crumble even under torrents of tears, tenaciously protecting her heart. But tonight was completely different. That strength and stubbornness had been concealed by the night, or perhaps melted away. Her face was filled with tenderness and serenity, like a sleeping beauty.
If Ye Xun's stubbornness under the sunlight is endearing, then Ye Xun under the night is a gentle and graceful lover.
Yang Ke was completely captivated by the girl in front of him, and he was even losing control of himself, with an urge to pounce on her and kiss her cheek.
When Yang Ke went into Ye Xun's bedroom to get her a blanket, he saw the shoes with the "braided" laces again. He remembered Ye Xun's red and swollen eyes. Yang Ke felt he should take good care of Ye Xun that night and do something for this girl who had been busy all day. Yang Ke sat down beside Ye Xun and began to untie the knot in the shoelaces…
When Yang Ke woke up, he found himself sleeping on the floor, leaning against the sofa, covered with the same blanket from the night before. Opening his blurry eyes, Yang Ke saw that Ye Xun was standing in front of him.
"You're awake! Sign this!" Ye Xun handed over the several sheets of paper in her hand.
"What is this?" Yang Ke asked.
"Twenty-One Articles of the Summer Vacation Co-living Agreement!"
"Just hearing your name is enough to make you infamous!"
"What can we do? We managed to scrape together exactly twenty-one!" Ye Xun said.
“Then we can’t just delete one!” Yang Ke suggested.
"If I delete one line, it won't be complete! What if a dispute arises?"